Dean W.

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.

Kevin K.

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.

Keri N.

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.

Howie C.

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!

Alyson Lei M.

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!

Michelle W.

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.

Zachary H.

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.

Jeannie Y.

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!

Liz B.

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!

Gina L.

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.

Catthy H.

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.

D P.

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.

Nancy T.

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.