Order Yoo's Place Takeout or Delivery
YOO'S PLACE · YELP ASSISTANT
Ask Yelp Assistant
Yoo's Place Photos
Yoo's Place Popular Dishes
YOO'S PLACE ATMOSPHERE
You might also consider
More like Yoo's Place
Recommended Reviews - Yoo's Place
Start your review...
Reviews With Photos
Yoo's Place is a solid spot for Korean food that isn't just KBBQ! If you want to avoid the nightmare parking situation at Diamond Jamboree just a few blocks north of here, this is a great spot with much better parking... for now. Coworker has been raving about this place since I knew him - so we finally managed to grab lunch here on a Thursday. Service is typical Asian restaurant - fast, efficient, mildly friendly. You know the food is good when they don't make small talk. There's tons of seating inside, and one table outside - but not sure if the one outside is just for you to wait for your table inside. Despite it being packed for lunch, we were able to hear each other just fine. Plates, bowls, utensils, cups are all on your table - which is a huge plus - no need to flag anyone down. There's a pitcher of water, and a thermos of their famous bone broth - which was my choice of drink for my meal. I left all the ordering to my coworker - who was careful to order non-spicy selections - since I have a low spice tolerance. Our orders: * Dolpan Mushroom Bulgogi - this was a delicious dish in a hot stone. Mushroom and beef over rice with a semi mild spicy sauce. My tablemates were forgiving in that they ordered everything without spice, and added spice on their own. * Fried Squid - sorta like calamari, but prepared differently. This was great on its own, has a bit of a tempura type of coating. *Braised Short Ribs - this is the dish that my coworker has been hyping up! It's like a short rib stew sorta thing with fish cakes, veggies, in a rich, thick broth. The short ribs were perfectly tender and each bite was full of flavor. Beware - this entree is $70 to $90 - not a typo. It's easily 3x to 4x as much as any other entree on the menu. We were served purple rice - which I thought was awesome - perfectly soft, moist, and fluffy. We also had a great helping of banchan - table favorites were the Korean cubed jelly, fish cakes, kimchee radishes and the squash. As mentioned, service was prompt and attentive. Our banchan was refilled without us having to ask. Parking CAN get messy. I parked on the surface, but there is supposedly an underground parking area underneath the shopping plaza.
Where do I begin? Firstly, the owner's daughter (I didn't catch her name) was the most accommodating and kind . Upon ordering, she recommended the Jjampong, which I was a bit hesitant about since it's very easy to get wrong unless you specialize in Chinese/Korean food. But boy, was I wrong! One of the best I've had. Now, starting with the Soon Dae, this might be the first location, besides Garden Grove, that specializes in Soondae and actually gets it right. Yoo's Place got it perfect! The spicy cold noodles were chewy and had the perfect amount of spice. I loved the sweetness that balanced everything out perfectly. The finale was the Galbi Jjim. The meat was the most tender, and the sauce was absolutely perfection. I added cheese, which melted perfectly, but it was a bit much for me in terms of the volume of cheese. Still, it was top-tier. This place should be sitting at 5 stars. It was one of the most pleasant surprises, and so far, the best I've had in Irvine.
Our go to when we are craving korean food in Irvine and don't want to drive out to Buena Park. Wait typically isn't too long and although it seems like they tend to be understaffed, you can tell the workers are working hard to accommodate all the customers. They start off by giving us cups with a jug of water and thermos that has broth from gomtang inside. The menu is pretty extensive a good variety of cold and hot soups and entrees. After you order, they give you a variety of sides to complement the meal which is great to snack on while waiting for the meal. If you have a bigger group, the kalbijjim is perfect to share as it is huge and comes with a lot of braised short rib, veggies, and noodles that have soaked up the sauce. The short rib is so tender and is very rich in flavor. The naengmyeon is cool and refreshing especially on a hot day. The seolleongtang is warm and soothing with salt to adjust to your liking and the purple rice to soak up the depth of the soup broth.
Yoo's Places is packed on a Sunday afternoon after church! They have a wide variety of dishes, from multiple cold noodle dishes to soondubu to bibimbap. They have mandu and mung bean pancake and bossam. We received seven different panchan along with hot broth in a thermos on the table. The panchan were pretty good, but their kimchi could use a little more fermenting as there wasn't that much depth to it. Dolpan Bibimbap - This was a generous serving of rice, veggies, ground beef and fried egg served in a hot, stone pot bowl. It had a perfect balance of each ingredient and the dish had a ton of flavor once I added in the gochujang/red bean paste. I would get this again. The gave our table complimentary spicy buckwheat cold noodles and they were really good. A mix of red sauce to go with cucumber slices, radish and chewy noodles. Super refreshing on a hot summer day! The food came out in normal time and our panchans were constantly getting refilled, they are really on the ball with that. If you or your group is craving Korean food, Yoo's has a little of everything to pick from!
Great variety of foods if you want to try something other than Tofu Soup. We ordered the seafood pancake, deep fried squid, mackeral, and tofu soup w/ galbi combo. They gave us a bowl of complimentary cold noodles as well, which was my favorite thing out of everything we ate! It paired well with the mackeral. Their service was quick, and the ladies were very nice. I'll be back soon to try more items on the menu!
It wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing. It was a very solid Korean restaurant but I couldn't justify the price point. My bowl of jjamppong was around 26-27 dollars. The flavor of the broth was spot on. It was slightly thick and had that slight smoky flavor. My only complaint is I wish the noodles were a bit chewier. Service is great, they gave me a small complimentary portion of black bean noodles which I appreciate. And they fill up your side dishes whenever they are you are low. I wouldn't say I'm a stickler for not paying for good quality food but I think the price for the quality/complexity of the dishes served is slightly unreasonable and is preventing me from wanting to come back.
Stopped by around 7 PM on a Wednesday. The restaurant was busy, but we were seated after a short wait. Parking in the main lot can fill up quickly, but there's an underground garage with plenty of space. The dining room is bright with high ceilings, giving it a very open feel. There wasn't any music playing during our visit, but the atmosphere was still nice because no one was trying to talk over the noise. Service was excellent throughout the meal. The staff was attentive, and we were pleasantly surprised when they brought out a complimentary bowl of jjajangmyeon. The black bean sauce was smooth and flavorful, and the noodles had a great chewy texture. The banchan were all solid. I especially enjoyed the crunchy cucumbers and the daikon radish, which tasted very fresh. The acorn jelly was another standout with its soft texture. The fish cake was the only side that didn't quite impress me, as it was a little on the dry side. We also ordered the mandu, which had a crispy exterior and a juicy filling. It's an easy appetizer to recommend. For our main dishes, the naengmyeon was light, refreshing, and slightly sweet with just a mild kick of spice. It was a great contrast to the richer dishes on the table. The bossam was another winner. The pork was incredibly tender, and the kimchi and ssamjang served alongside it added just the right amount of heat and acidity to balance the richness of the meat. Overall, this was a really enjoyable meal with attentive service, well-prepared food, and several standout dishes. I'd definitely come back, especially for the bossam and naengmyeon.
This Korean restaurant is pretty spacious inside, with decent service. And honestly, if the service is overly friendly, I start questioning how authentic the Korean restaurant really is! Hahaha! Not that Korean service is intentionally bad, but it's usually more about efficiency and getting food to customers than making small talk or giving everyone special attention. And this place was exactly like that! The chicken was fresh, although the fish was a little too salty for my taste. The noodles, however, were delicious and tasted very authentic! They even gave us complimentary steamed dumplings, which were HUGE! Overall, not a bad spot in Irvine if you're craving a wide variety of authentic Korean dishes. Come for the food, not the small talk!
There is underground parking w/ plenty of space so no need to wait for a parking spot at the storefront. The nengmyun (cold noodle soup) was amazing and the clear favorite of both my boyfriend and myself. Soondae was also pretty good. The jjajang myun ran a bit on the sweet side for our liking. Service is quick and efficient.
This authentic casual Korean spot has grown more popular online since my last visit, and I'm happy to find out that the quality has not changed at all! Their broths are some of the most flavorful and comforting that I've had in OC. This time I tried the sundae guk, which came with a rich pork broth and plenty of sundae. The banchan was also generous and they came by to refill it frequently. And of course, the standout of this spot is the complimentary bone broth they give you at the start of the meal. You can tell that this is an authentic family business, and it's still one of my favorite restaurants in OC!
I visited Yoo's Place on a weekday around 6 pm and was seated right away. Service was also pretty quick throughout the meal. We ordered the Jajangmyeon and LA Galbi. The LA Galbi was good, but the Jajangmyeon didn't really stand out to me compared to others I've had. I do feel like I missed out by not trying one of their cold noodle dishes, since that seems to be one of the highlights of their menu. Overall, Yoo's Place is a decent option for Korean food, especially if you're already in the area, but there are other spots I personally prefer.
Food = 4 Stars Service = 2 Stars As regulars at the Buena Park location, we love the food, and it was just as good today at the Irvine spot. The general staff is usually fantastic, but our experience taking orders with the owner (a Korean woman with short hair) was disappointing. She was pushy and unfriendly. Since we placed our order in Korean, there was no language barrier involved.. just poor customer service on her end. Great food, but she shouldn't be handling customer-facing orders with that attitude.
Hype is real. Have passed by this place every so often and have seen some IG reels on this place. Decided to stop by on a weekday dor lunch and was definitely not disappointed. I love dining solo and this was a very solo friendly dining experience. I arrived around 1:30pm, and was seated right away. Right as I was seated, I got steaming bone broth in a little thermos placed on the table along with cold ice water. Two of my favorite things to start off with. Came here during a heat wave and boy was it a great choice. Bone broth is steaming piping hot with notes of garlic and was nice and milky letting me know that the bone both was well steeped and packed with collagen. Love that this was a part of the meal and no added cost. The set up of the menu is straight forward. Ordered the cold noodle combo with the sliced pork hock and green chive kimchi $32, for this combo. Well worth the price. Portion was generous. Ban Chan arrived tk the table first. Standard ban chan but the stand outs were definitely the kambocha squash with creamy garlic mayo & the acorn jelly. Kimchi were nice and fermented but still fresh, a bit more noted on the sweeter side. Cold noodle arrived in a glorious giant metal bowl. Noodles were so fresh and had a perfect chew. So refreshing and perfect for the hot heat. The Jokbol (pork hock) was also delicious. Missing a bit of the fresh garlic and the bean paste but the chive kimchi was a good accruement. Ate half and saved half for home. Definitely recommend to eat the cold noods in one sitting cause left overs mean soggy soft noods. Service was your average experience at a ma and pop Asian restaurant. I can tell that the waitress got scolded cause she gave me ban chan dishes that looked like is only for 2 or more, versus the TINY little small strip of ban chan on a small silver platter. I noticed the small silver platter for the other diners dining solo didn't include all the banchan. I ate everything and if not brought everything that I didn't finish back with me, but seemed kinda unfair that not all the banchan was given to the other solo diners, so be sure to ask if you see something missing. No one seems to check in on you but again am I surprised, no. Service was straight forward and nothing memorable but also not necessarily bad. Restaurant is very clean, has good AC, and most of all excellent food. Would come again to try other dishes.
10 months ago
3 months ago
Came here to see if their galbi jjim stacks up to the reviews on here. IMO, it does. It was quite delicious. We went with the spicy one. The meat could have been a little more tender, but the rice cakes were a perfect texture, the noodles mixed in were a perfect complement, and the sauce was on point. We also ordered the spicy pork bulgolgi and combination soonduboo combo. Bulgolgi was decent, but it was kind of like a stir-fry. And the pepper they use gives it a Chinese flavor (which I didn't like, but maybe you do). I enjoyed the soonduboo, but I felt there could've been more tofu. -banchan was sold but I would have preferred odeng and mashed potato over a few of the items -purple rice looks fancier, but I prefer softer white rice for this read more
People are sleeping on this place. The Mul NaengMyun is soooo good here and you can combo. Their Mandu is meaty and hand made. I love this place and it's crazy fast and the owners are super nice. For me I like a non fussy place, fast, good, and good value. I didn't say cheap. But this olace is a great value. Probably too casual for a date night but it's perfectly for a family meal. Great service and balanced menu. Filled our drinks and ban Chan when low. The squash ban Chan is so good. I will return. Perfect for families and work lunches. Highly recommend. In the Irvine area there is a need for a place like this. The other Korean places are good but they are either over crowded, slow or over priced for what you get. Also not snobby and the servers don't have a disdain for you the way some places do. They are genuinely happy and for me that counts a lot. read more
4 months ago
8 months ago
1 year ago
This place has really good Korean style comfort food. The owners are super friendly and give great service. It's clean and in a convenient location. The bone broth, kalbitang was delicious and pretty much everything on the menu tastes amazing. They use old family recipes. My son is a picky eater sometimes but he loved their jajangmyeon. Highly recommend this place. read more
Let's get this out of the way...the food here is GOOD. I was feeling under the weather and I needed some Korean comfort dishes to heal and revive my soul. This definitely did the trick. The prices were a bit on the higher side, but once I tasted the food I understood why. Everything tasted so fresh and perfectly seasoned. The ox bone broth was perfectly balanced in flavors. The spicy cold noodles were not too spicy but had a good amount of veggies and meat. I liked that they had bowls and cups on the table so you can get as much as you need without having to ask the server. The banchan was also delicious. I judge a korean restaurant based on their kimchi and their kimchi definitely does not disappoint. It's the right amount of spice with the fishy flavor. I took off once star because the lady (she was very sweet) messed up our order and placed a bulgogi dish on our table and said it was part of our combo. Due to the language barrier I didn't protest but it turned out it was supposed to be for the table next to us. We paid the extra charge for the bulgogi even thought we did not originally order it. I would definitely come here again. read more
1 year ago
1 year ago
2 years ago
Overall this place was just okay! We only had two dishes so I'm unsure if we ordered the wrong thing but I think with such high reviews I kind of thought everything would be tasty. //CONTEXT// Came here as a party of two and was seated immediately! It was super busy on a Sunday evening. //FOOD// * Black bean or Jajangmyeon - unfortunately this dish was not that great. There was no flavor to it and was pretty bland. My friend also agreed and said it was okay. *Bibimbap - this was pretty good! However I guess I wasn't wowed or anything but it's good and what you would think of bibimbap! //SERVICE// Believe it was the owner but she was very friendly! //OVERALL// I would maybe try another dish but this wouldn't be a place I'd recommend unless a friend wanted to come then I'd want to try their cold noodles or something read more
Very authentic food, we are glad we chose this place for today's lunch. As soon as we got seated we were served with ice cold water and seven different kinds of banchan, everything was really delicious. Galbi was tender and tasty, soon tofu soup felt a little salty but good. Bibimbap came in a huge stone pot and it's really hot! Tangsooyook was delicious with the right crispiness in each piece, they separated the sauce so it's all good. Service was great, they didn't stop topping up the banchan and ice water. Tables are cleaned thoroughly after each guest. We would definitely revisit! read more
8 months ago
What a great place! We got Galbi entrees, which were way thicker than BCD! Staff was incredibly nice and accommodating to my friend with food allergies. The host even hooked us up with free soup and some extra Galbi for FREE! Will definitely return for great service and BOMB donkatsu. read more
11 months ago
4 months ago
10 months ago
8 months ago
1 year ago
Great Korean food. The tofu soup is so good. So is the bulgogi. The stone pot rice is pretty good too, but not super flavorful. They have soup in a thermos at the table! A little pricey but worth it! read more
Wow. Just wow. I remember trying this place randomly during a lunch break years ago, i remember it being good but not this good! the spicy cold noodles and sweet/sour crispy pork were perfect! The pork was fried to perfection each bite had the perfect texture and it was not dry at all. Workers may speak broken english, but they were all extremely friendly and ready to help out! This is the best spot to satisfy any korean food craving. You best believe i will be coming here more often and will be return to try their spicy braised beef ribs! read more
2 years ago
2 years ago
I recently tried the spicy Korean cold noodles and really liked this refreshing and delicious dish. The noodles were perfectly chewy with just the right amount of bite. The toppings were fresh and well-chosen--thin slices of tender beef, crisp cucumber, crunchy pickled radish, and a perfectly boiled egg. The only issue was that there were only 2 small slices of beef. read more
11 months ago
11 months ago
9 months ago
2 years ago
My friend and I arrived on a late Sunday night and was surprised to find a bit of a wait at this place. We wrote our names on the whiteboard outside, and we were seated around 15 minutes later. There were only two people serving tables so we were understanding about the wait. The menu is very extensive from your typical Korean stews to the cold noodle combos and other specialty dishes. My friend and I opted for the cold noodle combo which came with a bbq meat on a sizzling plate. The cold noodle portion was plentiful but I did find the flavor a little bland. Yuchun seemed to have more flavor in their cold broth. Besides that though, service was very kind and attentive! read more
I'm absolutely obsessed with the spicy cold noodles here with raw fish (Chic Saekimi Maengmyun). The combo is such a good deal - you get a bowl of noodles + jokbal for only $30ish dollars! The service is super friendly and they're always checking on you even when understaffed and busy. I also love the variety of banchan. It was busy on a Friday night but no waitlist (surprisingly). Definitely recommend coming here for lunch as well :) read more
5 months ago
9 months ago
10 months ago
1 year ago
2 years ago
Perhaps some of the best all around Korean food in OC. Forego all the all you can eat joints and other quantity over quality, Yoo's has the best soups, stews and other dishes. Her dumplings are to die for. Her naengmyung will have you asking for a straw. The banchan is phenomenal. Flavors, variety and uniqueness are over the top. The one dish I have never ever cared for anywhere: yukaejang, she has me ordering weekly. Great quality meat, hearty and delicious. Definitely worth visiting. And frequenting... read more
coming from a korean person - there's no place like yoo's for good korean food in irvine, just tried the spicy pork bulgogi for the first time it was absolute gas any stone pot dishes too especially love the bibimbap the portions are great can easily feed 2-3 people again the owner and the ladies who work here are the sweetest people ever, i alr come here at least once a month, i put all my friends on, but if i could come everyday i would. cozy home-y vibes read more
2 years ago
1 year ago
We waited 20 min for party of 2 because this lady told us to put a name on the waitlist. The other customer that were not on the waitlist just walked in and she let them in because they were Korean. It's stinky inside of the restaurant and it's 95 degrees outside and no AC. Just horrible place overall. read more
2 years ago
Hey Beautiful People! This is the first K-Food restaurant I've been to that's given me both those ice cold bottles of water for thr table AND a bone broth flask too! Wow! Although their trational Korean dishes and service aren't as good as a place like Kaju, I did appreciate their twists on Japanese and Chinese dishes. So what should you try? 1.) Omurice! But you must be a fan of ketchup. 2.) Spicy pork - Tastes and looks nothing like thr usual spicy pork...has a hint of bulgogi flavor. Tasty! 3.) Sundubu (or Soondubu) with Beef The boring tastes homemade, and mine had a generous amount of soft tofu So give it a try and let me know what you think! Cheers! read more
1 year ago
Our family's visit to Mr. Yoo's K Restaurant in Irvine was an A+ overall. Sunday lunch time, this place was like a zoo, but the two pleasant ladies refilled eveey thing we needed before we even asked. All the dishes we ordered were delicious. Especially Galbi Jjim was great. Texture was very soft and the seasoning was perfect. The pork dumplings were huge and have a great taste. . I should bring a lot of friends with me next time. read more
Seolleong Tang * ox bone soup with clear glass noodles * white rice served on the side Chic Mul Naengmyun * sliced beef and vegetables over noodle in cold broth * most refreshing cold dish ordered Chic Hwe Naengmyun * noodle with raw fish in spicy sauce * cold broth from Chic Mul Naengmyun served on the side Chic Saekimi Naengmyun * noodle with raw fish and sliced beef with spicy sauce * fish had bones and fried texture * cold broth from Chic Mul Naengmyun served on the side Chic Bibim Naengmyun * sliced beef and vegetables over noodles with spicy sauce * on the spicier side Mak-Guksu * buckwheat noodle dish served in a chilled broth * very nutty from generous amount of sesame seeds * complimentary beef bone broth and side dishes (kabocha and cucumber kimchi were my favorite) * big portions for a reasonable price (even had leftovers) * items ordered did not particularly stand out in quality or taste 7.5/10 read more
2 years ago
Can I just say how HAPPY and GRATEFUL I am to have legit Korean Chinese food here in Irvine!!!!! Stumbled upon this gem because I used to work in this area and visited the plaza that I used to have lunch at all the time. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) all the restaurants that were there a decade+ ago are all gone, but this new GEM is now here!!! If you are ever craving super flavorful legit Korean Chinese food and cold noodles, look no further!!! Portions are HUGE and everything, including all the bank-Chan (side dishes) were soooooo good!! My kids enjoyed everything as well and totally a kid friendly place! read more
This is a homestyle Korean place. Most of the patrons on a Tuesday night looked Korean which is a positive sign. The banchan had different choices like pumpkin, flavored gelatin and tasty cucumber kimchi. Another value add was the carafe of broth with your meal. We had the duk mandu guk (needed more duk and mandu to be honest), tonkatsu (good job) and ojingo tikum (deep fried battered squid - too much batter). I wouldn't say the entrees were particularly anything special but overall I loved the extras provided. There are so many items on the menu (they have bin dae duk!), I want to give the others a try next time. They also have Korean/Chinese food on the menu, and I may give it a shot, but I'm plenty happy with Chai Lan. There is ample free parking in a nice strip mall in the business district of Irvine. read more
More info about Yoo's Place
Yoo's Place Reviews in Other Languages
Ask the Community - Yoo's Place
Regarding their waitlist- do they text or call you when your table is ready (allowing you to wait in your car)? or do they make you wait standing outside the door?
You might also consider
Why does Yelp recommend reviews?
31 reviews that are not currently recommended
The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.
3 years ago
3 years ago
4 years ago
1 year ago
8 months ago
9 months ago
18 days ago
3 years ago
3 months ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
1 year ago
4 years ago
4 years ago
4 years ago
