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Mon-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
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I have enjoyed their food for several times so far, and I always leave the place feeling extremely happy every single time I go there.
One time, I went to Mandalay for dinner with my then-boyfriend. We were seated at the same as these two White girls next to our table. We waited for 45 minutes to have the first dish that night, and we were so mad that we just couldn't stay there. I had never been so mad at a restaurant before.
To alleviate our anger and disappointment, we came to Brothers. And our mood completely turned around! After eating here, we became so happy, full, content and satisfied. That was amazing. It felt like I had a fight with my boyfriend and then made up and had great sex right after that.
Korean food in San Francisco isn't as good as the one in Oakland. Not that I've been to all the Korean places in the city, but this restaurant never fails to reaffirm my Korean pride. I've actually never had their BBQ because it takes too long to be seated, but I'd love to try it one day.
My favorite dish here is haemul pajun (seafood pancake), and all of their chigae (soup) should be able to make you happy. Did I mention that they serve you like 10 panjang (small side dishes)? It's like you'll be half full before you actually get what you ordered.
I give only 4 stars because nothing compares to my grandma's home-cooked Korean food. Ahh I wish she were still alive!
"o brother where art thou??""
I want my old Brothers BACK!!!! It has been awhile since I last visit, but what happen ?? I always recommend you to others too, and now I can't recommend anymore.
The ban chan still good with fishcake, seaweed, etc, but the main dishes were very disappointing
Bulgogi - small little plate of not so flavorful meat with juice on the not so sizzling plate; This place is famous for the charcoal grill, this taste and looks more like boil than charcoal...
Beef stirred fried rice cake with kimchi -- This was very sorry looking too... the rice cake was not chewy, and the beef was smaller than bite size
I think I will go to other places in the city.. If you got to come here, make sure you do the grill yourself to get one of the few places that do charcoal grill!
excellent good, and friendly staff.. can be long wait though
Great place to go for BBQ. They give you the option to cook your own meal over a hot charcole grill or they will cook for you. The place smells sooo delicious because of the grills around the room. The best part about Korean food are the little sides you get with your meal; people think they're appetizers, but they're condiments for your dining!
Wear clothes that do not need dry cleaning as you will smell like BBQ when you leave.
I've had the BBQ Spare Ribs, BBQ Beef, BBQ Pork, Tempura, the noodles and fish there... I love them all expecially the BBQ Spare Ribs!!!
YUM YUM YUM!
Unfortunately it's hard to find good Korean in San Francisco. In fact, we have yet to find it. It doesn't measure up to SoCal. Or in fact many other places I've had Korean food.
The meat was okay but not great. The marinades could use a lot more care; they taste like they take too many shortcuts--chemicals, fake flavors, etc. Soups and stews also sub-par. We also got some pan-fried squid that was rubbery and tasteless. We couldn't eat it.
The pan-chan's (small dishes) were not that fresh. Soggy cucumbers and stale anchovies. Kimchi was okay at least. If I was desperate I'd come back here but otherwise not.
[M]ona: 2.5 Stars
[W]ayne: 2 Stars
Average: 2.25 Stars
+ Good if you have more than 4 people so you can share the meat
+ Good BBQ Chicken
- Overpriced
[W] If you go to Brothers, expect to grill more and steer clear of the rest of the menu.
[M] I am a HUGE fan of Korean cuisine but Brothers Restaurant was a disappointment. Service at Brothers was okay. They just drop your food on the table and leave until you're ready to pay - that's when they give you all the attention. Very typical Asian service.
Wayne and I had the Bibimbap with raw beef and steamed rice cakes with dumplings. The Bibimbap was a pretty dish and had quite a unique taste. It was veggies and shredded beef topped with a raw egg and served with steamed rice. I wouldn't have known that there were beef in there unless I someone told me. They looked like bell peppers! The dumplings were overcooked so they break apart when you try to pick it up so you don't get a full piece. The soup was also very bland. Not worth the $35 for 2 dishes.
Our friends ordered the BBQ chicken and beef. The chicken on the other hand was tender and juicy, but beef was a tad dry.
Make sure you bring some fragrance or cologne, because you'll end up smelling like Korean food when you leave.
Its the middle of the road as far as Korean BBQ's I've been to . The meat qaulity is good as far as I can remember. I've been to many good ones in Los Angeles. There are many good ones in Santa Clara.
I'm korean. this place is over-rated. they haven't remodeled since Jesus Christ walked on water... and the service is sooooo slow. but mostly, it's the galbi. that galbi is not THAT good for the price you pay. This place is living off it's reputation. ya know. the one from the 80s... when there were few korean joints in town.... anyway. do yourself a favor and drive out to sunnyvale and go to palace bbq. you'll thank me for it.
FOOD:
The meats are tender and flavorful (4-stars). The Jap Chae is delish and peppery. Sides are good and generous. The complimentary soup, I find boring, compared to the dishes offered at other places.
SMOKE & AMBIANCE:
There is no ambiance (knock off 1 star)
The air quality when inside Brother's is a lung choker, a level-10, carcinogenic, smoke stack. Without a doubt, they need better ventilation. Are the hoods even functioning??!
Our clothes reek the most from this Korean spot. This alone makes me reconsider dining here.
SERVICE:
Good. Sometimes you have to flag a waitress down - and once you do, they are responsive.
My friend introduced me to Brothers, since I am such a big fan of cooking and restaurants. I loved the concept of cooking your own meat and was excited to test my skills.
Ordering was incredibly easy, you just pick the types of meat and they bring everything else. All these little containers of stud - pickled this and that, Kim Chi, Seaweed Wraps, Cucumber, Sardines, Tofu and much more that I could not name at all. We went with the Chicken and Short Ribs, which were pre-marinated. One piece was so marinated it caught on fire, between laughing and taking a photo - the waitress came over and put the burning chicken out.
To drink we had a 22 of O.G. Beer, which I thought was excellent. Light and bubbly , so tasty. I had a great time and enjoyed myself very much. I will definitely be back for more.
OK, I do love the occasional backyard barbecue gatherings, but when I find myself flipping burgers, chicken wings, hot links, ribs and skewers one time too many, it gets dull and boring. So to perk up my attitude towards barbecue, I go grilling...Korean style!
At Brothers, you can choose to order cooked dishes from their kitchen, or raw dishes that can be grilled at the table. Here, I would always prefer to grill at the table to my preference of char and doneness of the meat. Plus, I just love the aroma of marinated meat cooking over the smoky wood charcoal!
On this visit, BF and I ordered the Beef Bul Go Gi and Pork Bul Go Gi. They were both sliced paper thin (which cooks much faster), marinated in their delicious house special sauce. It is dished up with 12 different kinds of banchan (side dishes) and white rice served in a tin rice bowl.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
The banchans were a perfect compliment to the meal, plentiful, fresh and appetizing. I couldn't stop myself from picking at it and had to ask for more, (yes the twelve banchans clearly wasn't enough). Both meat dishes were very tasty. It had the right amount of spice and flavor to it. The only thing I didn't like about it was how they plated the raw beef and raw pork together on to one dish. The pork and beef juice at the bottom had cross-contaminated, and needless to say, we had to cook the beef all the way through which eventually turned out a little tougher than preferred.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
At the near end of our meal, the wonderful owner offered us a bowl of Sundubu Jjigae on the house. It was served on a stone cookware, which keeps the piping hot temperature within. The broth was full of flavor with loads of tofu, veggies meat and clams, good enough to serve two people. It was a bit spicy, but so satisfying! SWEET!
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
The ventilation here is extremely poor, so if you're not up to smelling like you've been working the pit all day, stay away. It is also a little pricey, but I honestly think it is well worth it. I'm definitely a fan!
*On another recent visit, we order the Bul Go Gi and Shrimp Skewers. The Bul Go Gi are always consistently tasty, but the shrimp skewers were very disappointing. All the four skewers were bland and tasteless. This is a dish I will never order again at Brothers.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Brothers, I think about you almost every day. You are the active person's fantasy meal.
I learned about this place because my BF dines with a bunch of fetish models there (it's a ritual for them....BBQ + fetish= good combo) and he starting inviting me to come.
We had our 2 yr anniversary dinner here with a bunch of our friends. We ordered 3 group meals that were supposed to feed 15 people. OMFG!! The food kept coming and coming out. They comped us a ton of dishes and were super gracious. We all left with doggy bags, including extra containers of food to feed the homeless.
Aside from the mass amounts of food we were given, everything was delicious. Order the pork!
for sf, it's pretty decent korean food.
The meat quality isn't that great.
the banchan is good.
The rare beef w raw egg is too sweet.
their bean paste soup is not good.
it's very expensive.
Had lunch there today so not as busy as weekends or dinner time. They use real charcoal which is why it gets smoky in there but better flavor for the meats. Short ribs are the best!!! Good choice of side dishes.
It is pricey compared to a lot of other Korean restaurants but it's that real charcoal!!
yo wtf. people are always talking about this place like its the shit. why?
maybe it's cause i didn't come here to grill my own bbq, but my experience at brothers was mediocre. i mean if im gonna step foot in any place that leaves my clothes smelling like a delicious korean forest fire for the rest of the day, i expect it to be pretty great. especially with all the hype this place has.
the two of us ordered seafood soup and some kalbi. the soup was decent; typical korean restaurant fare in my opinion. the kalbi was good--don't get me wrong, but for nearly 20 bucks i want bigger portions. times are hard, man, and i got KIDS TO FEED.
ok i don't have children, but if i did, i WOULD NOT TAKE THEM HERE TO EAT KALBI. they would probably dislike the soup as well.
Came here last friday for dinner hoping to get our fix of korean food. Since we were here before the 7pm dinner rush we were able to get a dinner right away. Nothing fancy about this place at all...just your tables to bbq the food and chairs. One things for sure, sure smells like korean bbq in there!
We ordered an order of kalbi, pollack stew, and this other beef soup thing. All the side dishes came and at first thought I thought "wow there's alot!" Then I notice that there was double sides of kimchee, cucumber, bean sprouts, sardines, bean paste, and lettuce. No wonder there was 15 plates of small fishes - 6 of them were just doubled! Lame. The kalbi was pretty good and very flavorful. The pollack soup was a disappointment - only a couple of pieces of fish eggs, and tons of tofu. Geez, I feel like we had ordered tofu soup. The beef soup was good, but nothing special.
Overall kinda sucked that half the side dishes were just duplicates of each other. They do use actually charcoal to bbq, but I don't care too much for that. Prices here are much higher than other korean bbq places. I used to really like this place, but now I'd probably only come back if I had to.
Brothers, brothers, brothers...had better expectations, and you didn't quite live up to my standards.
The meat...ok. It was just ok right off the grill. But after like 20 seconds it would get hard....so weird it's not like it's cold...the meat is still warm but it would get so hard...and I couldn't grill it anymore because the fire is too fierce. The taste was ok..sweet,..spicy for the pork...
So in Korea, we would get free bean paste soup, or a cheap one, which would taste pretty decent, but I didn't expect that here...but my friend and I still wanted it to go with the rice, so I ordered it. Well it was the weirdest tasting bean paste soup ever. It tasted like spaghetti sauce...or butter? Something that normally does not get added to bean paste got added here. Was sort of unsettling. My friend and I kept guessing what it could be. WTH could it be?? Anyone who knows let me know...didn't want to ask the owner in fear of being rude..
Anyways two orders of meat and bean paste soup...like 30 dollars per person. My friend got so mad..she was visiting me from Michigan, and this price is unheard of there. I sort of felt sorry for suggesting this place.....................don't think i'll come back.
I let my boyfriend choose how many stars Brothers Restaurant deserves.
I've always wanted to try Korean BBQ because all the rave about it was driving me crazy. A friend of mine recommended me this place, and another friends loves this place.. so why not try it out? After coming from the new museum Walt Disney Family Museum, we were starving! So, we hit this place up. The atmosphere and decor of the restaurant wasn't that great, there were flies flying around though which was disturbing. When I think of eating and having flies around, that's eating outdoors at a picnic or something but we were in a restaurant for crying out loud! My boyfriend and I ordered the Kal Bi. I liked it but my boyfriend said it was nothing special. Maybe it's because we didn't BBQ it ourselves? But whatevs. In my opinion and my boyfriend's, it really isn't anything special. I would love to eat there again but only if I'm near there or really craving it because it's really out of the way and far. My boyfriend and I were just around the area. I think this place is those type of restaurants are a hit or miss for people. After the eating experience, my boyfriend left hungry. That's all.
Trust me my wife is Korean. We eat Korean food all the time and I've been to Korea many times. This place is not authentic Korean food and while it is edible (didn't make me vomit) I won't be back ever.
It's 2 star food at 4 star prices. $22 for a plate of Karlbi. That is just outrageous. I would have left if I not been so hungry.
The mundu (dumplings) weren't homemade and tasted pretty nasty.
The beef was below par...fatty, chewy.
I'm convinced that the only reason why this place does so well is because non-Koreans know how to pronounce the name of the restaurant!
Let this be a tip to all you future Korean food entrepreneurs out there!
The wooden charcoal is not all that. There is nothing special in the flavors or dishes that really… Read more »
Craving for some BBQ and was in the area so went to Brothers. Holy smoke!!! Literally!! Word of advice. Make sure you and your guests and eating partner are healthy, have good lungs, no breathing issues or asthma because this place is S-M-O-K-Y! In fact, I felt an oxygen tank should be right next to each table. I felt like I was inside a chimney. Long line (to be expected) so went to the Irish bar down the street and chugged some Guiness down while we waited. No need to wait in that smokehouse longer than you need to.
OK, now to the food. It was delicious man! The kalbi was tender and good balance of sweetness and garlic. There was a good variety of side dishes. The daikon banchan was the best I had. Great crunch and texture. Also the small fish or sardines with jalapeno had a nice sweetness and spice to it. Excellent side dishes for rice and tofu soup. The tofu soup was not over flavored with MSG.
The prices were not cheap. $24 for Kalbi? $50 for dinner for two is pricey - and we didn't order drinks. Then again, I knew it was on the pricey side so it wasnt sticker shock.
I would recommend this place highly. Just be prepared to pay more but for good Korean BBQ and tofu soup. Also, don't plan on going to a show or movie afterwards - head straight home to the shower!!
If you love cooking your own food, sweet and tasty meat, and a unique experience, Brothers is hands down the best Korean BBQ you can find.
Ask anyone where to find good Korean BBQ. If they have taste buds that operate correctly, they will point you in the right direction.
I came here on a double date one night and our half only came to around $30. That's what I call AMAZING.
Be prepared for a wait though.
We came here on a Saturday night and made reservations. Although we were 20 mins late, they seated us right away. 1 star for that! :)
Since there were 7 of us, we ordered lots of food...to be honest I can't remember exactly what we ordered besides the kalbi, bulgogi, and spicy pork that we grilled ourselves...as well as the jap chae. The meats were excellent especially since I didn't have to cook it ;) - the jap chae was good but I've had better. The grill actually used real charcoal rather than gas, which brings out the flavor more (in my opinion).
On top of what we ordered, we got a bunch of complimentary dishes - soup, pancakes, and spicy squid...I swear we had so much food leftover that we could've had another meal the next day.
Overall, if you are ever in the city and want great Korean food, I would definitely recommend coming here. I'd definitely be back!
A great favorite to go to when people say 'I want Korean BBQ in SF, where should we go?'. Everytime I've gone it's usually been with out of towners, and it's consistently a hit with good food and decent service.
A friend was visiting from Boston and wanted some good Korean BBQ, so four of us came here last week to indulge. We came on a Monday night and luckily we didn't have to suffer the usual 2 hour wait. We were seated right away at a grill table and got started. We had kalbi, spicy pork, jap chae, and grilled fish pancakes (the little ones, not the large one). Everything was delicious! The banchan was plentiful and came with lots of things like kimchee, cucumber, fish cakes, daikon, etc.
We also got the complimentary large stone pot of soondubu! It was great and we all gobbled it up. They also made it vegetarian for one of my friends.
I don't know if I think the place is pricey. It was $100 for the four of us, not too bad all things considering! It's probably not as value for your money as Palace in Santa Clara, but this isn't all you can eat, so big difference!
Hands down the best korean bbq in town!
I believe this place has the most side dishes AND most delicious compared to other korean restaurants. The wait can be horrifying long. Though I do like how they seat people in the order on the list regardless of your party size, unlike all other restaurants.
And i love the rich punch they give out at the end
This place is quite pricey, ~$20 a plate of meat, and requires 2 plates of meat minimum to let you bbq. Soon doobu (spicy tofu soup) comes free! yay!! And I absolutely love the rice punch they serve at the end.
Brother is an old favorite. I just don't get around visiting as often as I like. They are usually too crowded and too smoky for me. During this last visit, we went really early 6pm, it was nice and service was good. The food is usually really good; I like the side dishes also. This time, I order the raw beef, wow, I would go back just for that.
If you're looking for some good no frills grilling your own meat Korean BBQ then this is the place to go. The marinated meat rocks and 11 side dishes...Nice!
For those of you who complain about the smoke, whatever, get over it, it's Korean BBQ...it's supposed to be smokey! Yes you smell for days, but that's part of the experience.
There's usually a wait (put your name on the white board list) and the decor is nothing special but you come here for the food. This is the original location and better than their second location (a block away). Get some Hite beer, it's light and goes good with the meats.
Brothers, can you spare a deodorant?
A Friday evening at 7PM is definitely not the optimal time to go to Brothers. Packs of hungry hipsters, mostly of the Asian persuasion, huddle around the mini-whiteboard waiting for the bellow of the frizzy-haired veteran waitress. Jamie W. and I came here after a bumpy, buttcheeks-in-my-face ride on the 38 from the Transbay Terminal. We were in no mood to deal with a wait, but wait we did for a sturdy forty minutes. Finally seated at the table next to the restroom, we ordered right away since we had plenty of time to study the menu taped to the front glass window.
We didn't know quite what to expect, but the servers went right into the routine they've probably done thousands of times. Immediately we were handed ten little bowls of banchan, appetizers that were mostly pickled. They make you get two full orders of meat - about $40 worth - in order to justify firing up the hole in the table. The Kalbi (Beef) and the Dweji Bulgogi (Spicy Marinated Pork) came on a huge platter with two big sets of tongs, a pair of scissors and no instructions. As I was considering dropping the meat in the bottomless pit, along comes the guy with the box of hot coals ready to plop them in the hole with a well-used grill. Let's call him Heat Man.
We started to place the meat on the grill, but then along come the Sundubu Jjigae, a big bowl of soup with velvet-soft tofu, clams, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, scallions and a big dose of chili. Tastiest part of the dinner if you ask me. And before we could turn the meat, the Bibimbap that Jamie W. ordered came in an even bigger silver bowl. The heat of the grill was really getting to us as we chomped on the meat and pretty much everything else. There was a nearly overwhelming combination of exhaustion and humidity that overtook us after dinner, and the complimentary rice juice didn't really help. Too sweet. Ah, but Heat Man came back to pick up his coals, so we knew it was time to leave. Oh Brothers...
FOOD - 3 stars...a whole lot and reasonably good
AMBIANCE - 2 stars...do I smell like BBQ? do I really??
SERVICE - 3 stars...machine-like but they do their jobs
TOTAL - 3 stars...Korean BBQ-palooza
SO MANY REVIEWS ALREADY FOR THIS PLACE! lol! :)
Well as you can tell, this is a very highly reviewed spot, and for me, the best Korean food out there. Absolutely delicious. I could eat here everyday, literally.
Pros: Ok, the food is delicious, good service, lots of goodies come with the entrees and if you get the lunch special (until 2 pm) you save a bundle.
Cons: How can a 5-star restaurant have a con? Only one thing... After 2 pm, the prices kinda skyrocket. The way I rationalize this is b/c the food is so damn yummy and I cannot cook it myself, I dont mind paying some more for it.
Overall: GREAT! One of my fave spots ever.
Food:
This place is not that good. If you really know your Korean food, then you'll probably agree with me, but if you just like eating BBQ beef, then eh, maybe it's just okay I suppose. I should have known when I walked in...the only Korean customers were me and my cousins and it was our first time there.
Beef was cheaply marinated at best. I can understand why though. They probably go thru such volume, why waste money and time adding other essential ingredients to the marinade? More profit in your pocket if they skip some of those things. Side dishes are not worth remembering either, and even other things like kimchi-jeegae, dwenjang-jeegae, and bibimbap I would give it a poor rating. Don't get me wrong, I didn't sick eating there, but it's not a place I would think of when wanting to go eat authentic.
Value/Price:
No value. Felt like eating $8 food at $15 prices. Higher than average prices for less than average Korean food.
My family and I've gone to this place for over 20 years. For a Korean American with a chef like skills mom, if I can't get mom's food, this is it.
I try to make a point to go here every time Im in the bay area.
Order more than 3 servings of kalbi, you'll get a "service" dish (free soup or some unique side dish). You can ask for the grill to be switched out if need be. Be nice to the ladies that are there. They're uber busy, but are so kind. There is one particular lady, Ms.Yang. my family and I adore her.
The price isn't cheap, but it's well worth it. Side condiments are refilled when you ask, sometimes when you didn't even ask.
I love this place. I don't even mind waiting 1hr+ outside in the cold. It's one of the best.
Well, I've been here in the past and have enjoyed it. Service has always been spotty at best, but since I am expecting it and consider it part of the overall dining experience, I am OK with it. I also expect to pay high prices, so that is already budgeted into my plans. What I was NOT expecting is that they are now skimping out on the meat.
In the past, I would order X and Y and we would get an OK, not great amount of meat. But in my last visit, my family and I decided never to go back to this place. We were both shocked by how little of the beef and chicken you get. Clearly they are out to increase their profit.
Over $22 for the short ribs, and over $18 for the chicken, which was poorly marinated. For the chicken, I swear, it was a small handful at best. The ribs weren't any better. Both items are placed on one plate to look like there's a lot of food where in reality, it isn't a lot at all.
The ventilation is not turned on to save money on the utility bill, no doubt, but there is no doubt they are squeezing every drop of profit they can get from the customer. Like I said, I expect to pay a lot of money to eat here, but when they start to give you less for the high price, that's when I knew it's to end our relationship to this place.
When I go into the BMW dealer, I expect the cars to be expensive, but I also expect that I will get a car that drives great and have a great engine. Here, I am paying BMW prices for a Yugo. Now why on earth would I want to do that? In the past, I paid BMW prices for a Toyota, but it's dropped down to a Yugo. Well Brother's this is it for us, we are never coming back.
My wife and I feel that it is actually better value for us if we eat at Palace Buffet in Santa Clara. It's not cheap, but at least we will not be disappointed by the volume of meat. We can eat as much as we want and the short ribs there are real short ribs, not the scraps we were served.
Bad service at this restaurant doesn't bother me, in fact, I think service has gotten better. Smoky BBQ air doesn't bother me, I can deal with it cuz I am there only for dinner. I don't live there. Spending big $ to get less food, I cannot accept.
From here on, it's Palace for us, and parking is easier down there too.
Bring an extra change of clothes because this place will stink you up, guaranteed or your money back.
I grew up eating Korean food in NY. I know what really good Korean food is. Is this really good Korean food? No!
On a scale of 1-10, I'd give this place a 4, and I'm being generous. The only authentic characteristic of Korean BBQ dining that this place replicated well was the smell on your clothes it leaves you with after being stuck inside its small non-ventilated smokey room.
I'm glad I tried it since it gets so much hype in SF. However, I'm probably never coming here again. Sorry Brothers. Perhaps if you named yourself Seoul Garden instead, it would've been better. Oh wait, someone already took that name...
Very overpriced, small portions, lacking bon-chon, but most of all, poor quality...
went there hungry, left there smelling like bbq, and in between we had a great korean feast... we had the spicy squid, poo go gee, spicy pork, and whole bunch of the little korean side dishes... korean bbq with nice cold beers, what else can you ask for???
when we were dining at brothers, there were 4 other large tables, so the entire place was smoky... it didnt really bother me, but i can see how it could bother some people... either or, the food is still very good... h-100...
I've never tried Brothers 2, just wanted to say that.
This place is great for lunch, their lunch menu is really cheap. Kalbi for 10 bucks and you get rice, soup, and all the little thingys. They always treat us really nice, we get free sodas all the time. Just a really nice place for lunch.
The only bad thing is parking sucks.
Don't wear anything nice, you will leave smelling like meat. Your hair, your face, your clothes..everything! When you go home, if you have a dog like I do, he will attack you trying to figure out where you're hiding the food.
Yum.
Kalbi
Bulgoki
Dak Gui
Kimchi Chigae
I love it all.
Endless banchan.
Complimentary japchae & soon dobu.
Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Hell yes.
I try to come later at night after the dinner rush has ended, otherwise your wait could be as long as 2hrs. I love Korean food but I don't know if I'd wait 2hrs for it. However, the absolute deliciousness of Brother's brings tears to my eyes.
A good Korean BBQ always makes me cry... literally.
My fellow Yelpers, I impart to you my years of accumulated wisdom on Korean food:
1) Good Korean restaurants are NEVER CLEAN! They are hole-in-the-wall places with poor ventilation. Intended or not, if the patrons are marinated in smoke, then food will taste better (probably because everyone is suffering from acute delerium due to carbon monoxide poisoning).
2) If you're eyes aren't watering and you're clothes don't smell like smoke for at least a week after visiting, then you are NOT eating at a proper Korean BBQ.
3) If you are not served a minimum of six side dishes and do not get comped a free tofu soup, go find yourself another Korean place.
4) If your garlic breath does not curdle milk, then you are eating at a half-assed Korean joint.
5) If your grandma can tolerate the spiciness of the food, it ain't authentic Korean.
Go to Brothers Restaurant.
You won't have any friends because of the way you smell, but you'll get a good stick-to-your-ribs meal.
Don't need to say more than this is the closest you can get to la k-town bbq goodness. they use real charcoal. but it's pricey...i guess i just make do with what i can up here in norcal.
When I lived in SF, I'd eat here once a month. Now that I live in Plano, I eat here anytime I am back in the Bay Area.
Best Korean BBQ place in Bay Area!
The GOOD:
-- awesome kalbi. the wood charcoal makes all the difference!
-- freebies. the restaurant usually throws in a freebie dish. this time it was free sauteed squid.
-- pretty good service considering the place gets packed.
The BAD:
-- the wait can be VERY long. best time to go is before 6 if you want to eat right away.
-- you will smell like smoke. don't plan on going anywhere fancy afterwards.
This time around, ordered the cod soup and 2 x kalbi. Sauteed squid was on the house. Total damage was about $80 including tip.
It's been close to 2 hours since I've eaten and I'm still stuffed!
Damn. It's. Good.
I've been wanting to try Brother's for years (YEARS!) and am kicking myself in my fat tookus for not trying it sooner.
In a nutshell --
Bombest (?!), most authentic Korean BBQ in SF.
Bombest side dishes
Bombest shikeh (after dinner rice drink)
Bombbidy bomb bomb bomb!
1. 7pm = gets busy!!! (but moves fast!)
2. $$$ (But worth it! $15-25 per entree)
3. Leave smelly! (Make your friends jealous!)
This has definitely moved to my top list of all time favorite Korean restaurants to eat at. No matter how many times I've eaten Korean food that week, I'll never pass on a opportunity to eat at Brothers.
Even though there are two Brother's located on the same street within a couple buildings of each other, this one always gets the better reviews for good reasons!
Walking in you'll catch a whiff of the smoke and people cooking all their meat on the grill. Even when going in there with the intent not to order the meat I always end up doing it after seeing everyone scarf down their grilled meat. They are quick with the service and brought us the mini side dishes quickly to eat while we waited for the main dishes we ordered to come. Which is a good thing since must of the time I'm already starting to drool from watching people cook and eat their food. After the anticipation of waiting for the main dishes to finally come, it hit the spot....
BBQ meat - DELICIOUS!
Cold noodles - DELICIOUS!
Bi Bim Bop - DELICIOUS!
They even threw in a free stone pot of tofu soup for FREE! How wonderful is that?
Service was also very fast and attentive. Local mom and pop store which made the food extra authentic.
Loving you Brothers! See you next time!
Happy Hour Draft Beer $1.75!
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
99 cents beer & hot sake
Neighborhood: Excelsior
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Barbeque
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
Category: Korean
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