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Korean BBQ in Los Angeles: Sixth Street, Eighth Street, Vermont and Western, and the San Fernando Valley

Los Angeles, California

Part of Korean BBQ

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Chapman Plaza, 3465 West 6th Street at Kenmore Avenue, Koreatown, Los Angeles

Korean barbecue in Los Angeles is cooked by the diner, on a grill set into the diner's own table, and twenty-four rooms work that way. Eighteen of them stand in and around Koreatown: West 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard hold eight, West 3rd Street one, West 8th Street and Olympic Boulevard six, and Vermont and Western Avenues three more. Six sit outside it, two downtown, one on Beverly Boulevard in Beverly Grove, and three in the San Fernando Valley, on Reseda Boulevard in Northridge and Sherman Way in Van Nuys, twenty miles north of Wilshire. Charcoal burns at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong on West 8th Street, and smokeless charcoal grills sit under a high ceiling at Jeong Yuk Jeom on South Western Avenue. Northridge and Van Nuys are neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles rather than separate cities.

  1. 3744 West 6th Street, Koreatown. A server cooks each round on the grill at the table, in front of the party.

  2. 3732 West 6th Street, on the same block as Ahgassi Gopchang. Staff handle the grilling and each cut is cooked at the table.

  3. 4001 West 6th Street. The meat is grilled at the table and cut there by the staff, and the restaurant's own site carries a grill menu.

  4. Suite 20, 3465 West 6th Street, in Chapman Plaza. Diners grill their own meat at the table, and staff will cook it tableside on request.

  5. Suite 101, 3450 West 6th Street. The party does the grilling at the table, on meat brought to the grate in rounds.

  6. 4177 West 3rd Street, in Wilshire Center. Staff work the grill at the table, and the menu runs both all-you-can-eat and a la carte.

  7. Suite 123, 3435 Wilshire Boulevard, in Equitable Plaza. Diners work the grill at the table, with salad and kimchi set out beforehand.

  8. Unit 217, 3785 Wilshire Boulevard. The grill in the table is changed between rounds, the seating limit is two hours, and the bar is self-serve.

  9. Unit 100C, 3600 Wilshire Boulevard. Staff change the grill in the table between rounds and refill drinks as they go.

  10. 3136 West 8th Street. Marinated shrimp and squid are cooked on the grill at the table, and the dining room is smoky rather than extracted.

  11. 3101 West 8th Street, on the same block as Soot Bull Jip. Staff cook the meat, and at times the party grills it at the table itself.

  12. 3429 West 8th Street. A round charcoal grill is set into each tabletop, ringed by the steamed-egg moat, with galbi cooking over live coals.

  13. 3460 West 8th Street. The dining room is furnished with grill tables, which put the cooking at the table, in a clean modern finish.

  14. 3330 West Olympic Boulevard. Its own site states that grills are built into the tables and that diners cook the meat themselves.

  15. Second floor, 2585 West Olympic Boulevard. The operator's own menu states that every item is grilled at the table.

  16. Unit B, 856 South Vermont Avenue. A rectangular wire grill grate is recessed into the granite tabletop, with galbi laid across it.

  17. J BBQ

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    901 South Vermont Avenue. A server changes out the grill in the table between rounds and cuts the meat off the bone in front of the party.

  18. Suite 100, 621 South Western Avenue. Smokeless charcoal grills at the table draw the smoke up under a high ceiling.

  19. Suite 305, 333 South Alameda Street, on the Little Tokyo edge. The grill in the table is swapped out quickly between rounds.

  20. 686 North Spring Street, on the Chinatown edge of downtown. The meat is grilled at the table, on an all-you-can-eat service.

  21. 7311 Beverly Boulevard, Beverly Grove. All-you-can-eat, with the diners grilling at the table.

  22. 10151 Reseda Boulevard, Northridge. The operator's own site states that guests grill their selections on built-in tabletop grills.

  23. 9711 Reseda Boulevard, Northridge. The operator's own site states that guests grill beef, pork and chicken at the table.

  24. 17623 Sherman Way, Van Nuys. The second room under the name; guests grill beef, pork and chicken at the table.

Koreatown: Sixth Street and Wilshire Boulevard

West 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard hold eight of the twenty-four, and Ten-Raku makes a ninth on West 3rd Street to the north; all nine addresses fall between 3400 and 4200.

Ahgassi Gopchang is at 3744 West 6th Street and King Chang at 3732, on the same block; at both, a server works the grill at the table and cuts the meat there. Daedo Sikdang is further west at 4001 West 6th Street, where the meat is grilled at the table and cut by the staff, and the restaurant's own site carries a grill menu. Origin Korean BBQ occupies Suite 20 at 3465 West 6th Street, in Chapman Plaza, the suite Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong left; diners grill their own meat at the table and staff will cook it tableside on request. STE 101 is at 3450 West 6th Street, in Suite 101, where the grilling is done at the table by the party. Ten-Raku stands at 4177 West 3rd Street, north of the 6th Street run, and its own strapline reads "The Secret is at the Table".

On Wilshire Boulevard, Moohan Korean BBQ is in Suite 123 at 3435, inside Equitable Plaza, where salad and kimchi are set out before the meat and the diners work the grill at the table. Gangnam Station Korean BBQ by Songhak is in Unit 217 at 3785 Wilshire Boulevard, where the grill in the table is changed between rounds and the seating limit is two hours, with meat and banchan taken from a self-serve bar. Bulgogi Hut is in unit 100C at 3600 Wilshire Boulevard, where staff change the grill in the table between rounds.

Koreatown: Eighth Street and Olympic Boulevard

Six stand on West 8th Street and West Olympic Boulevard, two streets that run parallel through the south half of Koreatown.

Soot Bull Jip is at 3136 West 8th Street, where marinated shrimp and squid are cooked on the grill at the table and the dining room is smoky rather than extracted. Dae Sung Ro is at 3101 West 8th Street on the same block, where staff cook the meat and at times the party grills it at the table itself. Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong is at 3429 West 8th Street: a round charcoal grill set into each tabletop, seated in a stainless surround and ringed by a steamed-egg moat, with galbi cooking over live coals. Seogwan by Yellow Cow KBBQ is at 3460 West 8th Street, a clean modern room furnished with grill tables, which put the cooking at the table.

South of 8th Street, Olympic Boulevard carries two. Chosun Galbee is at 3330 West Olympic Boulevard, and its own site states that grills are built into the tables and that diners cook the meat themselves. TGI Korean BBQ is on the second floor at 2585 West Olympic Boulevard, and its own menu states that every item is grilled at the table — the operator's line reads "ALL ITEMS IN GRILLED ON THE TABLE". The service is all-you-can-eat with a two-hour limit.

Vermont and Western Avenues

Vermont Avenue and Western Avenue are the two north-south streets of Koreatown, and three of the twenty-four stand on them.

Soowon Galbi is in unit B at 856 South Vermont Avenue, where a rectangular wire grill grate is recessed into the granite tabletop, with banchan, chopsticks and salad arranged around it. J BBQ is at 901 South Vermont Avenue on the same corridor, where a server changes out the grill in the table between rounds and cuts the meat off the bone in front of the party.

On Western Avenue, Jeong Yuk Jeom Korean BBQ is in Suite 100 at 621 South Western Avenue, where smokeless charcoal grills at the table draw the smoke up under a high ceiling and servers cook for guests.

Beyond Koreatown: Downtown, Beverly Grove and the San Fernando Valley

Six stand outside the Koreatown grid, and three of those are twenty miles north of it.

Downtown carries two. KB 333 Korean BBQ is in Suite 305 at 333 South Alameda Street, on the Little Tokyo edge, where the grill in the table is swapped out quickly between rounds and the room takes solo diners as well as groups; the venue traded as Manna Korean BBQ before taking its present name. DTLA AYCE KBBQ is at 686 North Spring Street, on the Chinatown edge, where the meat is grilled at the table and the format is all-you-can-eat. PZK BBQ is at 7311 Beverly Boulevard in Beverly Grove, inside the City of Los Angeles, and it is all-you-can-eat with the diners grilling at the table.

The San Fernando Valley holds three. Gen Korean BBQ House is at 10151 Reseda Boulevard in Northridge, and the operator's own site states that guests grill their selections on built-in tabletop grills. Hanoo Kalbi is at 9711 Reseda Boulevard on the same street, and a second room under the same name is at 17623 Sherman Way in Van Nuys; the operator's own site states that guests grill beef, pork and chicken at the table. Northridge and Van Nuys are neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles rather than separate cities, twenty miles north of Wilshire Boulevard.

Frequently asked questions

What is tabletop Korean BBQ, and what counts as one?
Tabletop Korean barbecue means the grill is set into the diner's own table and the meat is cooked there, whether the party grills it or a server does. A gas grate, a smokeless grill under an extraction hood, and a charcoal grate seated in a stainless surround all count, and so does a removable grate that staff swap out between rounds. A soondubu house, a fried-chicken house, a soup or noodle house, and a kitchen that grills the meat and sends it out already cooked all fail that definition, however Korean the menu is. Feng Mao's tabletop grills are real but the room is a Chinese-Muslim lamb-skewer house, so the format is met and the cuisine is not.
Where in Los Angeles are the tabletop grills concentrated?
Eighteen of the twenty-four stand in and around Koreatown. Eight are on West 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard, one on West 3rd Street, six on West 8th Street and West Olympic Boulevard, and three on Vermont and Western Avenues. West 6th Street alone carries Ahgassi Gopchang at 3744, King Chang at 3732, Daedo Sikdang at 4001, Origin Korean BBQ at 3465 and STE 101 at 3450. The six that stand outside are KB 333 Korean BBQ at 333 South Alameda Street, DTLA AYCE KBBQ at 686 North Spring Street, PZK BBQ at 7311 Beverly Boulevard, Gen Korean BBQ House at 10151 Reseda Boulevard, Hanoo Kalbi at 9711 Reseda Boulevard and Hanoo Kalbi at 17623 Sherman Way.
Which rooms burn charcoal rather than gas?
Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong at 3429 West 8th Street sets a round charcoal grate into each tabletop, in a stainless surround ringed by a steamed-egg moat, and cooks galbi over live coals. Soot Bull Jip at 3136 West 8th Street cooks marinated shrimp and squid on the grill at the table and keeps a smoky dining room rather than an extracted one. Jeong Yuk Jeom Korean BBQ, in Suite 100 at 621 South Western Avenue, runs smokeless charcoal grills at the table under a high ceiling, which draws the smoke up rather than letting it settle.
What are the opening hours?
One of the twenty-four publishes them. TGI Korean BBQ's own site gives 5:00 PM to 12:00 AM Monday to Thursday, 5:00 PM to 1:00 AM on Friday, 11:30 AM to 1:00 AM on Saturday and 11:30 AM to 12:00 AM on Sunday. No source states the opening hours of the other twenty-three, so none are given here. Two further facts about timing are stated: Gangnam Station Korean BBQ by Songhak, in Unit 217 at 3785 Wilshire Boulevard, sets a two-hour seating limit on its all-you-can-eat service, and the grill in the table is changed inside that limit; TGI Korean BBQ sets the same two-hour limit on its own all-you-can-eat service. All-you-can-eat is a pricing model rather than a grill format, and it is the format at PZK BBQ, DTLA AYCE KBBQ, Gen Korean BBQ House, Hanoo Kalbi, Gangnam Station and TGI Korean BBQ.
Are Northridge and Van Nuys really Los Angeles?
Yes. Northridge and Van Nuys are neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley, about twenty miles north of Wilshire Boulevard, and three restaurants stand there: Gen Korean BBQ House at 10151 Reseda Boulevard, Hanoo Kalbi at 9711 Reseda Boulevard and Hanoo Kalbi at 17623 Sherman Way. Torrance, Cerritos, Alhambra, Glendale, West Covina, Temple City and Arcadia are separate incorporated cities in Los Angeles County, and Rowland Heights is unincorporated county land belonging to no municipality. Buena Park and Garden Grove, where a further twenty or so Korean barbecue rooms trade, are in Orange County.

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