"My only minor complaint is the akward portions of soju they serve."
(in 10 reviews)
"great happy hour, cool music and anime movies."
(in 22 reviews)
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Imo
Rating Details »
Categories: Sushi Bars, Korean [Edit]
Neighborhood: Pioneer Square704 1st Ave
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 264-9570
- Hours:
Mon-Sat. 4:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Late Night
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
75 reviews for Imo
Review Highlights
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I enjoy going to IMO and bring me a lot of happy memory in Seattle. It is a nice Korean Bar to hang out with friends and I like the Karaoke at night time. Also, I enjoy the Soja drinks and they taste really good. You don't get drunk easiler because it tastes like Milk.. I love it a lot. I can drink 4 or 5 shots...
The food is really good too. Last time we went there for HAPPY HOURS and i love the California roll..... GOOD food and GOOD Prices...
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3.5 stars.
Good Korean food. Good portions. Good prices.
Low-key joint with a great happy hour, tasty Korean entrees, and good drinks. The establishment is clean and prices are reasonable for the amount of food you get. Lots of seating for groups, some more private booths, and two levels. There's also karaoke. Drunk karaoke is actually kind of funny to listen to.
Service was sub-par, but the food was good enough that I would go back. Nice place to grab a bite to eat before heading out to a club or lounge in Pioneer Square.
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This place is right near my work so I go here every once in a while. The sushi is always good. Prices are moderate but yes, service can be pretty slow and you can feel like you're being ignored. Often my hour-long lunch isn't enough time!
If you want good sushi for lunch, get their special. It's a LOT of food. Miso soup, Salad, this other salad stuff and then two main choices (sushi, teryaki, etc)
My suggestion is to order it to go. I've often called in an order and gotten it to go 20 minutes later. It's usually ready when I get there and then I don't have to worry about all the waiting.
I would give them more stars but everything you hear about the service is true, despite the tasty food.
This restaurant is bar. The food is somewhat okay but not very great. The price, the quantity and the quality is average.
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Yum! Great happy hour, cool atmosphere.
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I've been here for lunch a handful a times. So it's not one of the better places in town but the staff was friendly (somewhat slow though and I was sitting at the sushi bar!)... I can't say it is fabulous, but it isn't the worst I've had.
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I go here when I'm craving Korean food and a little bit of everything because I usually get nachos, sushi and then something spicy. Sushi portions are large, I got full off 2 rolls. Prices are decent, don't expect fancy schmancy 5 star restuarant food, it's just a great casual place to go when you have the munchies. I feel like service is slower when I'm sitting upstairs and it's super dark at night where I feel like I need to bring my own flashlight to read the menu. But they've always been friendly at least. I come here often and there's tons of space so I've never had to wait for a seat. Good place to take a large group of people too.
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Worst service. Went during happy hour where only 2 other tables were occupied. 4 of us total, and we ordered drinks and some appetizers. Drinks came after 20 min. No food for over an hour! When I asked the server (who never came to check on us), she gave conflicting excuses, "The system is down," "Oh, the other servers told me they served you."
It was better before, but definitely a place to AVOID.
YES! I tried it again twice after those other experiences...... and it was GOOD!
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2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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4/19/2009
I went there again to try it out. Last time was a nightmare but this time I dont know what you want… Read more »
Still 2 stars. And that's for our server.
It was the last happy hour our work friends would come to as work friends. Today was their last day with the company as we've been downsizing admin. This was the only place that could accommodate 20+ people unannounced. I was hoping it would be better than the last time we were there.
This place is strange and i don't like the lay out of it. There is a bar out front, you walk up the stairs to a smaller dining area then go down to the first level (that has an entrance on 1st ave) and you're in the karaoke space and finally in the space that has the sushi bar.
I don't like coming here for a reason. That reason is that it took 20 minutes to order my beer and another 30 to get it. God forbid you ask for another. i waited for FOREVER for the 2nd beer. Granted our group was large but we weren't unruly and demanding. I could see our server was running all over the place and it wasn't his fault our food was taking forever.
The food!!!! I'd recommend eating somewhere else. The food is quite tasty, actually but it will take you an hour to get it from the time you order it. 1 Seattle Tempura roll. We literally waited an hour. I was kinda sorta' starving.
If it weren't for my friends and this being their last happy hour and the atmosphere of our company turning more somber, I would never step foot in here. This is just another reason.
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/12/2008
I'm concerned about my health. Regular normal Quinn is ALWAYS hungry and could eat ANY TIME. I… Read more »
I'm not sure whether to like IMO or not. There are definitely positives and negatives to the place.
Positives:
*The space is actually quite large, and is kind of a maze at some points... plenty of room for a large group!
*Big comfy leather couches to sit in, with lots of seating around the karaoke screen, which is huge!
*Cool lighting
*We ordered the french fries and the portion size was huge - perfect for that late night drunken food craving...
Negatives:
*They only appeared to have 1 bartender for such a large place. I would stand at the bar for sometimes 2-3 minutes before I could helped, simply b/c he was too busy making drinks for all waitresses to deliver to tables.
*Even though he makes a mean martini and took a lot of time/care to curl long lemon peels for them, he was very slow at making the drinks.
*The wait staff (bartender included) weren't very attentive... they would often just walk right by you and nobody would ask you if you had been served or needed help.
*They karaoke book is huge, but it is probably 75% korean songs... the english section is really small, which is really only a negative for us white people wanting to sing :D
Oh yeah, and as far as drinks go, my recommendation is either to get a beer or get the martini. I ordered a gin and tonic for my first drink, and it tasted like it barely had any gin in it at all... my boyfriend ordered a tequila and lemonade, and again, it tasted like it was almost all lemonade. Definitely if you're looking to drink, I suggest being cautious with what you order, otherwise you'll feel like you're paying for not a lot of alcohol content in your drinks.
Overall though, IMO is a cool atmosphere - very large, w/ good lighting and has a good menu. As far as karaoke bars go, I'd give it a thumbs up. The only thing I think it's missing is the Rickshaw's Chinese Donuts.... Hhhhhhmmmmm
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Imo is a cute japanese/korean restuarant in the Pioneer Square area and is a good place to check out for food before clubbing down there. The food isn't that authentic, however has good taste. The bartenders can pour a decent drink and the Imo Punch definitely has a kick and isn't for the weak hearted.
Staff are ok...nothing wow-ing although have their moments of greatness and moments of WTH?
Layout is weird and parking sucks down there...Nice feel and good atmosphere though.
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The food is OK and the atmosphere is fun. It's worth a trip now and then, but there are many better places on first.
It's also funny that they cook "beef yakitori". Yakitori means grilled chicken in Japanese, so they're serving beef grilled chicken.
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Their hot foods weren't too shabby, but their sushi was so disgusting..
first off they gave us the wrong type of sushi, second they gave us frozen sushi.. but lastly... they told us no karaoke? wtf.. we are asian, and we have one korean girlfriend with us.. and you say no karaoke? hahahahhahahah you know how we like the karaoke!! hahahahahhahahahahhahahhaha jk.. well not really.. but it was a great vibe though, very homely, and since I was with my girls, it was just great.. so I can't say I hate it, but I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone wanting good food. But a fun place to hang out before going to pioneer square to hang out.. and I mean if you actually really want to go to pioneer square.. not that I do or anything .. because that's totally not my scene hahah
the end hahahha
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My husband and I love this restaurant. We discovered it after we moved from San Diego and were disappointed by more expensive sushi restaurants in the area (we were used to eating lotsof sushi-cheap!) Their sushi happy hour is great. We have had a few days where service was pretty slow but we generally have a good experience and great service. Sometimes it can take a little longer to get in and out (though my husband and I enjoy leisurely happy hours here and aren't in a big rush). The layout may be part of the reason as it has 3 sections, an upstairs and downstairs and is pretty spread out which I can see makes it more difficult for the servers. All in all we are glad we found this place and come here often.
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Imo's has to be one of my favorite places to get sushi. This is the only place where my boyfriend and I eat. Our favorite is the Las Vegas and Seattle Tempura rolls. They're delicious.
Happy hour is the best time to go because its cheaper!
The service is not very good though. We spend a lot of time waiting for our drinks to be filled and for our check to come. We usually just stand up and try to flag them because they don't come by as often as they should.
That won't stop me from going there, because the sushi is THAT good.
I stopped in here for lunch last week with a couple of friends and would likely come back for lunch if I was in the area.
The lunch menu offered a decent range of options from sushi/sashimi to noodles and katsu. I opted for the build-your-own bento box, which came with miso soup, a salad, rice, and two additional items selected from their menu. I had the pork katsu (pretty good) and a Seattle roll (not so much). Considering the price though, I found it a decent value.
The service was bad to nonexistant. Had I been in a rush I would have docked them a star, but they had 22-oz Ichibans, so it's a wash.
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FYI, don't be a moron and come here for dinner. This is a bar/karaoke/late-night-snack joint. A good place to drink, mingle and sing.
There are only handful of places to go enjoy Korean food in a relaxed environment in Seattle and if you are craving "dduk bok ki" or "soju", this is the place for you.
Been here 5-6 times and I enjoyed it every single time and ended up making new friends (and met cute girls there too)
IMO, Imo is the perfect place to catch some drinks and belt out some Ne-Yo before you head out to trinity.
It's a single serving place to have single servings of (food/drink/Ne-Yo). To expect anything else is to elevate your expectations beyond what this place is good for.
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I came here for my birthday as it was in a central location and I couldn't think of anywhere else to go that wasn't a club or a bar that would cost an arm and a leg.
We sat up in the bar and occupied a nice corner of the room. The service was good and everyone had a good time. The food is OK...it isn't great and it isn't bad either. They have a large selection of Asian food items ranging from ramen (which is that spicy Korean instant ramen) to takoyaki. The price ranges are from $1 to $10 so no matter what your budget you are likely to find something to eat.
You come here to drink and snack on food...that is pretty much it. If you are looking for more than that then you should probably go somewhere else.
Don't come here for the food.
Maybe to snack
Or prepunk before Trinity.
This place is Korean own,
so stick with the Korean food.
Not sushi.
They're popular for the karaoke.
Depending on the server and how you ask..
You might get free soju shots for the group because of the bday girl.
HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY TUESDAY!!!
HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY TUESDAY!!!
....
Ahem.
Yeah. Foods decent. Not great, but worth it if you are in Pioneer Square.
Service is iffy sometimes. It's been 75/25 towards the good side.
:)
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Imo's is totally, Korean-pojang-macha-meets-Pioneer-Square!
Restaurant and sushi bar downstairs, bar and lounge(?) upstairs.
Overall, this is a fun place. I've been there about 5 times now, and had a pretty good experience each time. Drinks are legitimate, and the fusion sushi is decent (Baked Scallop Roll please!) The lists of extremely cheap, small portioned side dishes (an-joo) really help to make it a real pojang-macha experience. Karaoke is always fun!
My only minor complaint is the akward portions of soju they serve.
What's funny - my friends and I ended up hooking up with girls, 3 out of 5 times I've been there.
And there wAs one time the staff surprised me. It was a real busy night, and my buddies and I had been seated upstairs, close to the cat-walk. When I complained that the lights were unusually dim, they brought out a standing lamp for the corner, brought a couple of candles for our table, and offered a free pitcher of beer.
Great place to warm up for the night.
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So it was the first Thursday of the month with a 3 day weekend ahead. I got let out of work early, and logically I decided to head downtown and try HH at this place I'd walked by but hadn't been in while waiting for my friend to be released from her cubicle.
Imo's tiny bar (It appears to seat about 6 at the bar on stools, with a couch set-up and two round tables against the wall) is pretty cute - there's some Anime prints on the wall-o-booze, and the bartender was nice and welcoming. One problem: they use those metal chair-bar stool hybrids, which are kinda uncomfortable!
HH drink choices are: $4 margaritas, IMO punch for $7 (some kind of scary blue cocktail, containing at least 4 kinds of booze), $3 wells, $3 house sake, and $2 Coors Light (ew!). I chose the margarita - rocks of course - which may not sound like it goes with sushi because well...it doesn't. It was alright. STRONG! Very, very strong, and little less lime-y than I prefer, but overall not bad.
They also have a lot of food options here - starting at $2.95 for some of the fried stuff. The best deal being the 3 rolls for $9.95. After my friend arrived, we chose the spicy tuna, the Philly, and the California. All were pretty tasty, and well worth the special price - even though we had to wait about 45 minutes for them! I'll forgive, it was busy in there.
I'd probably go back again just for the food, as tasty & cheap sushi is relatively hard to find - but I'll probably stay away from the margarita and move to wells (unless I'm looking to get tanked!).
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Still a great lunch spot, however I need to change the time. Get there before 12pm if you don't want to wait an hour to get your food. I still enjoy going here but I'm not making the mistake of showing up after 12... get there early, you'll have a much more pleasant experience!
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/7/2009
Great lunch specials. I eat here once a week, partially because it's conveniently located one block… Read more »
The menu's huge and the food's decent. I like their "sogurt" drink, which is a mix of Korean liquor "soju" and yogurt. Happy hour is pretty good here, too.
The only complaint I have about this place is the horrible karaoke singers that dulled my appetite a bit.
This is a good place for cheap eats, adjust your expectation accordingly.
The sushi was fine, but nothing spectacular. The restaurant is cute, and clean, but the service is NOT good. We went in for lunch and sat at the bar. Our waiter was fine at first, but then he messed up our order, and was completely unattentive. He had the manager come out to talk to us about the order mistake, and she was not anymore helpful then he was. Basically just shrugged it off like 'ok, sorry. what do you want me to do about it?' The obvious answer would be to fix it, don't you think? They didn't give us a break on the bill, and we missed our ferry because we had to wait so long for the server to come back to run our card. I guess he was too busy eating his own lunch in the kitchen.. (that's not a guess; we could totally see him chowing down back there).
I'll give it one more shot because maybe it was just that one server, and the sushi itself was ok.
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I went there after dinner, so I didn't try much food items. As far as drinks, Korean shoju experience was awesome. I tried one with calpico, strawberry yogurt (?), lemon drop. They're all good since I love sweet fruity cocktails.
I had some california rolls and tarantula rolls, and they're ok: nothing really wowed me. I thought their menu layout is neat, because it's categorized by price, and you can make your own combo with a drink.
The layout of the restaurant was weird with 3 levels of long hallways, and the different music was playing at different section while someone was doing karaoke on the 1st floor. It looked somewhat cheap, but it was dark inside, so I didn't care much. A server in afro and a bartender girl were awesome.
Having worked in Pioneer Square, Imo's was a great place to go for Happy Hour and Sushi during lunch or after work. It is a great atmosphere with a young staff that is eager to serve. The Sushi is also priced fairly well and acommodates groups pretty well. it is a very cool laid back atmosphere as well. Parking is tough because it is located downtown off of 1st, but if you're in the area and feel like Sushi, I recommend it.
The food's not really good. Sometimes the service is spotty.
But, hey, you can always get beer. Oh, and if you're going to get food, go during happy hour and get the sesame chicken bowl.
It's a multi-roomed, semi-classy, restaurant/lounge/karaoke joint in Pioneer Square.
I went in expecting horrible service based on some of the reviews. I've read the horror stories and knew what I was getting myself into so if the service was bad I couldn't complain really. I walk in and am amazed at how big the place is and soon realized how people could get forgotten in this place there are so many nooks and crannies around one could get lost if they don't leave a trail of bread crumbs or in this case rice.
We take a seat and are soon provided menus. Water shows up and I order a cocktail, one green tea adult beverage thingie for me, it was very green but very refreshing and tasty too. For food I went with the Las Vegas roll I'm tasting them around town to find the best. Imo's wasn't the best but it wasn't bad. I also shared something that sounded like Obi-Wan Kenobi but I know that's not it's name you'll have to ask Michael what it's really called. It was an omelet like thing with veggies on the inside and delicious sauces on the outside it was yummy.
So over all my happy hour experience was a good one, food was good, drinks were good, and service was good so either I'm special to have not been ignored or I just went on a good day. I'd for sure go back to Imo's for happy hour again and to have another Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Michael let me know it's called Oknonomiyaki (O-ko-no-mee-yak) not Obi-Wan Kenobi though I think I like the sound of Obi-Wan Kenobi better than Oknonomiyaki.
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Imo. In My Opinion, this place sucks.
Let's just say, that I have never had service this bad before in my life. We had to flag down our server, four times, just to get an order put out. Then it took a good 20-30 minutes for hte drinks to come out. Then we had to flag her again for the food to come out. Which took an additional 15-20 mintues. Then when we ordered more drinks, it never came. WTF? Then we couldn't even get a server to bring us our check! Do they want us to not pay? Do they not want us to never come back? It was absolutely ridiculous.
A restaurant is a place wher eyou go to eat and drink (c'est non?)with convenience but they obviously could not understand this simple concept because they made it nearly impossible to enjoy both.
I understand that this was my first time going to Imo's and perhaps it was a fluke.. for their sake, i really do hope so.
blagh! (thinking about their service makes me want to puke a little)
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Well. Um. If you're hungry and looking for a place to eat sushi quickly, this is definitely not the place you want to go.
If you don't want to be bothered by drunk ass-hats singing karaoke, this is not the place you want to go.
That being said, if you've found a good parking spot and you're lazy and/or unmotivated to go anywhere else, AND you're already in Pioneer Square looking for a place to have sushi and you don't mind waiting forever to get served, then go here.
I won't join you, though.
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Its kind of an odd mix of asian food as its overtly korean, but serves sushi (note it was formerly bonzai bistro) and some dim sum dishes. In any case, the prices aren't bad and the food is quite good.
Oh and a tip for folks looking to get drunk for cheap - order a bottle of soju, its $10 and you'll get quite a few shots out of it. So you do the math.
Anyway, if you stop by tell my friend Jenny I said hi... please tip her well too :)
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I was really in the mood for some udon or Korean food, but they don't serve those items during lunch. Instead, I ordered the chicken katsu, which was done very well. The portions were huge and came with miso soup. The teriyaki-like sauce was delicious and I love that they added srambled egg to the dish. The only thing I'd change is that they not pour the sauce over the chicken, as it makes it really soggy and ruins the crispy texture. I'll have to check this place our for dinner sometime and try out their Korean menu.
Also, walking back up the steep hill to 4th Avenue (where I work) from this place, in heels no less, is a real bitch. Agh. I will think twice about making the trek down to 1st Avenue again or at least make sure I'm wearing appropriate footwear. Wah!
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I'd say this is kind of a mix between a Korean bar with Korean bar food with Korean "tapas". All the dishes were very reasonably priced. Pretty laid back atmosphere and a good comfy place to hang out with your friends.
Not very traditional style Korean food, but not in a negative way. So I think it's pretty safe for your non-Korean friends. The kimchi "hot pot" is really kimchi jjigae, but sorta with a twist in flavor. The spicy dishes are all very spicy. The sashimi salad is kinda of drenched in hot sauce, so beware. The pork belly is all precooked and the pieces are really thick pieces, I enjoyed it. Washed it all down with a pitcher of OB beer.
I have no idea why I return to this place. I must be a glutton for punishment, OR, I generally find some shred of positivity to return. I am the posi girl so I guess that's why I try and try again.
The service sucks balls. Seriously. We watched a waiter help himself to our dish that was sitting on the bar waiting for the server to walk the plate up the stairs to our booth. You think I am kidding? He did. Just reached down and tore off a piece of chicken skewer and ate it. They claim he thought it was a co-servers dish and that they wouldn't mind. Balls I tell you!
The order is usually messed up. Nothing comes to the table in the right order. Generally everytime we have been one person's meal is totally finished before another's even arrives. The server's don't know the menu very well and have to 'go ask' the chef about anything you question around the sushi menu. They are the disappearing staff I tell you!
The menu is very entertaining and one of the reasons I enjoy this Balls of a place. There are some comical choices and random entries on the menu that you just have to smile at.
Karaoke is annoying to me but when a bunch of drunkies are on it can be hilarious ... at their expense of course.
When the food DOES get to you and is what you ordered .. its good. The sushi is fresh and just the right size. The rice ball is always spot on .. oh Rice Ball!! haha! .. anywho ... the place is inconsistent but they actually let us come in and have dinner the other night on a closed night. They were setting up for a private party for the SnoCon peeps and let us come in and order dinner prior to the party. We had our noses pressed to the window .. the waiter saw us .. invited us in. We ordered and it was all wrong, but we ate it and it was good.
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It's not actually very good food, or a great bar, but something about this place is comforting, and they can handle oddly sized groups that keep changing dimensions. If you order "o-sip seju" they'll actually make it for you, though it'll not be very cheap, but I suppose that's because soju and baek seju aren't all that cheap in Seattle. Even so, it seems a bit much to pay for cheap soju. But I tolerate it, because there's nothing else quite like this place in Seattle. There's that spooky-looking place in the U-District, which I actually like a bit more, but you have to be willing to brave the wrath of that ajumma if you come with an oversized group without a reservation, or in a small group when there are two big tables are empty but reserved.
Part Korean watering-hole, part sushi place trying to pass off as an Asian fusion restaurant with a heavy stress on drinking that's open until late. In short, it's a Korean pub that serves sushi too. Food isn't bad, and neither is the alcohol. It could've been cheaper, but Seattle doesn't have too much to offer in terms of Korean watering-hole establishments. I guess the open public noraebang in the middle of the place makes up for the semi expensive prices. (By public noraebang, I mean...non-private karaoke singing!) Overall, not bad.
Dear Waiter-Chris-Who-I-Thought-Was-Korean-But-Was-Actu ally-Filipino,
Can I clone you and bring your clone to Southern California?
Love,
Drunk-Girl-You-Thought-Was-Korean-But-Was-Actually -Filipino-Too.
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