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.
A Korean gem tucked away in Irvine! Absolutely loved my dining experience here. The staff were consistently friendly and attentive throughout our meal. I was stuck deciding between a few dishes, and the staff gave me their honest decision as to what I should get. I ended up getting the mushroom stone rice. I was wary about it since this type of dish is usually a hit or miss for me. This dish had great flavor despite the ingredients being so light. The portion is huge!! We also ordered the crispy squid. My only issue is that the breading was a little thick, and the squid would separate from the breading with each bite. The banchan tied the whole meal together and offered a wide variety of flavors. Can't wait to come back for more! Highly recommended! read more
1 year ago
3 years ago
The best Korean food ever Exactly Korean taste . The environment is clean and people are nice here read more
2 years ago
2 years ago
3 years ago
This is just a review about customer service. The food was ok. I don't like how they pulled a fast one on me. I had a cabbage and beef rib soup and a seafood tofu stew. I never am able to eat all of my food in one sitting and like to take home the leftovers. I asked one of the staff for carry out containers and she brought them to me. Later, when I got the bill, I saw an extra $2 charge. I didn't know what the charge was for so when I asked a different staff member, she said it was for the to go containers. I wouldn't be upset if someone told me ahead of time. I wouldn't be happy with having to pay for the containers but at least I should have been given a heads up about the charges. read more
Business owner information
Abigail Y.
Hi Evelyn,…
3 years ago
We've ordered a number of times from here since initially coming during soft opening. Often ordering to go orders. Also this was my first real meal I ate after giving birth to my daughter. - got a delivery of the cold noodle soup combo- mul nengmyun and soondae (notably that particular order the egg was a double yoke). My husband enjoys ordering the jjangpong and a few other dishes. When the weather gets colder I'll try more of the hot dishes. read more
Business owner information
Abigail Y.
Thank you so much. We can't wait to see you back with your family!
2 years ago
Saturday night at 7:45pm it was super busy. I felt bad for the waitress who was literally running from table to table! My hot stone bibimbop was great, came with all the delicious veggies and crispy rice. I do wish there was more meat in it but the veggies are the main star here. read more
3 years ago
This place is okay to visit once, but probably not after that. The food was okay and they got the flavors down for most of the items, but the place is not clean despite the white interior. I will not come back for this reason. My party ordered 4 items: Yookgaejang (spicy beef soup, $17.95), fried squid ($15.95), and 2 Chic Naengmyun (spicy cold black noodle, $17.95 per). Obviously, there is an Irvine premium on these prices. The banchan (free side dishes they give you at the beginning of your meal) was just okay (see the pic). The napa cabbage kimchi, cucumber kimchi, and turnip kimchi were all tasty. The rest of them, I wasn't pleased, especially the acorn jelly banchan. It looked like they took scrap veggies and boiled them together to create a banchan. Then came the fried squid. You will see from my pic that it looks nothing like the pic on the menu (which you can also see). The menu shows long pieces; what I got were cut-up pieces, clearly an attempt to give less amount of squid. The batter wasn't even authentic; they used cheap batter to coat the squid. I was mad that I had to pay $16 for this. Do not let this be your entire experience for Korean fried squid dish. The cold black noodles. This wasn't Chic Naengmyun (arrowroot noodle). The noodle was just regular, grocery market level noodle. Also do not let this be your only Chic Naengmyun experience; go to L.A. when you have the opportunity to experience the real deal. The sauce, however, was great. I got 3 slices of beef to eat with my noodle but my friend got 1; not sure why. The Yookgaejang was also just okay. Nothing to write home about. On your table are the cups, a water jug, and other utensils for you to set up yourself. The cups were so dirty. 3 out of 4 had stuck on food inside the cups; I Kid You Not. Since that experience, I started to look around for other signs. There were large food pieces on the floor (and I was there before the dinner rush). The front of house lady had dirty hands and she was touching everything, even the "cleaned" utensils. I saw through the curtains to the kitchen that the workers were not wearing hair nets. This place struck me as a restaurant that serves nice looking food with good flavors, but they use a whole bunch of artificial flavors to make that first bite striking, fooling you into thinking that it tastes great. More importantly, I couldn't trust that my food was made in a (relatively) clean environment. I will not be back. read more
1 year ago
This Korean food was so yummy! The banchan was delicious. I grew up in OC and now live in the Bay and this reminded me what good Korean food tastes like. I would rate the food 8/10 and would def come back! So good on a cold day. read more
10 months ago
Business owner information
Abigail Y.
Thank you for your feedback and for the kind words about our…
1 year ago
3 years ago
The parking lot in this area is terrible. And if you manage to find a spot, congrats, you've won the parking lottery! The service is friendly, and if you speak Korean, the service will be even better. The tables look white, but they felt a bit sticky. Some cups are dirty. ---Banchan: They all tasted the same, probably seasoned with the same gochujang, sugar, and soy sauce. Every banchan is vegetarian, even their gochujang is vegan, and the sauce is one tone. The Kabocha squash tastes bitter. Mind you, bitter-tasting Kabocha will make you sick for days. The restaurant should taste it before serving. ---Kalbi: It's overly sweetened, cold, and chewy. Skip it. --+Kalbi tang: Watered-down, boring Kalbi tang, and it's pretty sweet for my taste buds. There weren't many short ribs in the soup, and the jujube looks like they threw it in as an afterthought for garnishing. The restaurant could have served banchan with better quality instead of quantity. They could have avoided bitter Kabocha or checked the temperature of the Kalbi before serving. I've never had Kalbi and bitter Kabocha like this in any restaurants. Bummer! read more
2 years ago
Came here during lunch on a weekday with a colleague, the service was great and food was delicious. I had the mushroom tofu soup. It was fulfilling and all the side dishes were so good. This is my first visit and I would definitely come back to try other dishes. read more
2 years ago
Yoo's Place is always amazing! Love their bibimbap, noodle soup, and tofu. We tried the cold noodles tonight and it was so good! That might be my new favorite there. Also the hot broth they bring out at the beginning is one of the best things ever. This is the only Korean place I've been where they serve that and it's incredible. The pumpkin side dish is also really good. The only thing that compares to their food is their service. Super friendly and kind, always making us feel so welcome. Highly recommend! read more
1 year ago
3 years ago
Food is amazing. Everything was great including the cold noodles. I would also like to mention that I hate any kind of cold food but this was good. Braised short ribs is to die for. You probably get close to 1.5-2lb of meat for Medium. Only cons I had was that I literally got 1 piece of rice cake cut in half, 3 pieces of squash and like 1 carrot. I wish they added more rice cake because idk what they did to or where they got it from but that thing was the best little bitty rice cake I've ever had. Super fresh. The fried pork was juicy despite being deep fried. The batter was light and crispy and had plenty of flavor without using the sweet/tangy sauce that came with it. I think it's the same pork they use for their fatty pork dish or at least the same seasoning. Service was great. The 2 ladies were friendly and made sure we had everything we needed. Atmosphere is something you don't really see that often. A fully white restaurant looks pretty cool but if you know anything about white,it's that things stain easily. The tables and chairs look like something off the ikea showroom floor. I wonder how it'll look in a year. read more
2 years ago
11 months ago
1 year ago
portions are freaking MASSIVE!!! highly recommend the naengmyeon and kalguksu. their soup is so tasty and deliciously flavored!! we got the galbi too, but it was just alright. read more
10 months ago
1 year ago
10 months ago
My family and I have been desperately waiting for this place to open! Right before COVID hit, we visited the one in Buena Park and the owner had told us about the upcoming Irvine location. We were so excited and I would frequently check if it had opened or not. Low and behold -- it's finally here! I always LOVED Yoo's place. I feel like it's such a homey and solid spot. No frills but consistently reliable, delicious Korean staples. Love how expansive the menu is; there's bound to be something for everyone. I came by with my sister for dinner recently and I got the Soondae Stew, which is one of my all-time favorite dishes. They do an amazing rendition if it, with a generous portion of soondae and a ultra umami soup base. My sister got the Mixed Soft Tofu Soup and she only had good things to say about it too. Apparently it tastes more homemade compared to other restaurants and has more veggies and toppings compared to soups from chain spots like BCD. My only wish was that they offered more banchan here. Their menu is huge, but their side dish spread seemed a bit limited to me. Hopefully this is something they can expand on because I will definitely be back!! read more
Business owner information
Abigail Y.
Thank you for your kind words and for all your support! We love that…
2 years ago
Very good food with the perfect portion sizes and reasonable prices for the taste. I live on the east coast where you need to pay for parking for many restaurants but here of course it's free. And if you don't find a spot in the parking spots by the restaurant, there's a parking garage hall a block away. This place was very busy so thankfully we were seated right away. It's very casual inside but looking around, I could tell it is a local favorite. The flavors were delicious. For me, I ordered the spicy pork bulgogi (pretty much the only dish I order when eating Korean because it's my absolute favorite and am very critical of) and found it to be perfect. I would certainly go back for more next time I'm in town. My wife had her usual bibimbap (one of her favorites), which she couldn't finish because there was so much food. My daughter had the galbi and soon tofu combo, which she raved about. read more
11 months ago
3 years ago
Top 3 Things I Liked about my 1st visit: 1. Very friendly customer service; felt like I was just visiting a relative that always preparred comfort food. They automatically refreshed our banchan, gave us more water, and asked if we needed anything (to note though, it was during the dead hours of ~3:30 pm on a Thursday, so idk how about peak times if the quality of service changes) 2. Variety of side dishes (banchan) along with bone broth soup!!! (I do not recall having eaten at a Korea food place in Irvine that offers REFFILABLE bone broth soup). I even wanted to take some home because of how good it is but alas they do not give out to go container for it . The soup just hits the right spot! 3. Good quality food for the portion and price. I came with 2 of my friends, we only ordered Bulgogi and Beef Soon Tofu and we had left-over Bulgogi (for comparison though we were 3 less than 5'3 Asian women ). The soon tofu broth and the meat was more rich (compared to my experience with a popular tofu place). The beef bulgogi was great. However, I can say I have had better. For the price and portion of it, it is very good though! 2 dishes, 3 people, some left-overs: less than $50 (including tip) Overall: Highly recommend if you are craving Korean comfort food! I will definitely come back to try other dishes read more
2 years ago
This place is my new go-to spot for delicious authentic Korean food. The aunties that run this place are very nice and welcoming. Haven't tried anything here that I didn't like. Portions are family size unless you're getting the tofu soup+ meat combo . Restaurant is very clean and tables come ready with bowls, utensils, cups, and napkins . They also give you a pitcher of water and a nice broth to drink. I will be back to try other items , definitely recommend this place for Korean food . read more
3 years ago
Came here on a Friday night dinner and it was popping! We had a large group plus 3 little ones and the servers were able to accommodate us along the bench tables. The space is clean and open but THE FOOD was the star of the show. We LOVE naeng myun and the 4 kinds they have here do not disappoint. We got one regular broth and one spicy. Personally, I loved the chic mul naengmyun. The broth was perfect and the texture of the noods was spot on. It was definitely cravable and I would not hesitate to come here on a hot day - especially with the weather heating up. We also ordered a bunch of meat! Chicken wings, kalbi, kalbi jjim, katsu, and the deep fried squid legs. Everything was delicious but I still loved the noodles above anything else. The menu is very elaborate. There's so many things to choose from! I think next time I'll order the soondaeguk and try the bossam. The restaurant was packed when we went, but the servers still got to us quickly. They were kind and smiled at the babies even in the middle of the bustling dining room. With every seat in the house full (literally no empty seats anywhere and groups waiting outside), it can be hard to attend to refilling waters and that's pretty much the only critique I have. Overall a great experience. Would I go again?? Definitely. read more
2 years ago
This place has the best Korean food I've ever had. Better than BCD tofu house and sun non dan without a doubt. Service is excellent, when we visited for the first time the owner gave us an on the house dish. The ambiance and vibe screams mom and pop shop, it feels like you're eating back at home with the folks. 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
