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Playground

4 star rating
based on 341 reviews

Categories: Korean, Karaoke  [Edit]

Neighborhoods: Pacific Heights, Japantown
1705 Buchanan St
(between Post St & Sutter St)
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 929-1471
Hours:

Mon-Wed. 5:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Thu-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Good for Kids:
No
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Parking:
Street
Attire:
Casual
Good for Groups:
Yes
Price Range:
$$
Takes Reservations:
Yes
Delivery:
No
Take-out:
Yes
Waiter Service:
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible:
No
Outdoor Seating:
No
Good for:
Late Night
Music:
Music Videos
Best Nights:
Fri, Sat, Sun
Happy Hour:
No
Alcohol:
Full Bar
Smoking:
No
Coat Check:
No
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341 reviews for Playground

Review Highlights   

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"Yogurt soju is by far the best of the cocktail soju." (in 174 reviews)
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"I loved the corn and cheese concoction, and it was free." (in 29 reviews)
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"Reservations for the private karaoke rooms book fast, so plan ahead." (in 10 reviews)
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Sort by: Yelp Sort | Date | Rating | Elites'
Photo of Anna R. G.

 

30

74

Anna R. G.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
Updated - 10/26/2009

Went for a going away party for my cousin, met all his friends from the East Coast, drank way too much beer and sake, and sang too loud for too long (my throat hurts) on a Saturday night. The place was full, both downstairs (regular dining and bar) and upstairs (three private karaoke rooms). We stuffed about 12-15 people into room #3 and paid at least the minimum of $25 per person (food/drink orders). If we hadn't ordered so much beer and sake, the room would have cost us $30/hour, according to my cousin, who had been to Playground before.

Overall, a fun night, service for the upstairs karaoke rooms is sweet, you just call down on the phone in the room and make your order and they bring it up. I guess that's also why they charge an 18% gratuity fee on the rooms. Hmmm.

Also, nobody could figure out the crazy remotes for the TVs/karaoke systems because it was all in Korean.

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1 Previous Review:

  • 4 star rating
    10/25/2009

    I'm wasted from this place...update when I'm sober. Heeeheee.

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Photo of Avery H.

 

3

13

Avery H.

San Francisco, CA

3 star rating
11/8/2009

Delicious food!  They do a great job on the Korean shortribs (and I LOVE Korean shortribs).  And they have lots of side dishes!  Don't visit this restaurant without trying their cheesy corn (I have no idea what it's called)!  It's making my mouth water just thinking about it!

I strongly suggest making a reservation ahead of time if you want to come here to sing karaoke.  The rooms are super spacious compared to a lot of the other karaoke joints in the area.

And if you're here for the Soju -- $25.00 for a carafe of flavored Soju.  I think it's pretty steep, but I also haven't tried shopping around for it.  I always order the yogurt Soju!

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Photo of Stephen W.

Elite '09

15

176

Stephen W.

San Jose, CA

2 star rating
10/5/2009

So yes, it has food, drinks and karaoke, but bad drinks + bad karaoke selection and ghetto TV does not make a good karaoke bar.

Might be a good idea if you want to have all three at one place, but honestly you're better off going to two or three different places instead. The flavored soju was sickly sweet and had about about a thimballs worth of alcohol for the entire (L) size container. Seriously you'd need to drink the whole think unless you're a featherweight.

Song selection (at least english) is weak. Tried to find a few half dozen of my "regular" songs that I normally do at other places and no luck finding them here. Sad sad sad :(

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Photo of Kathy H.

 

0

3

Kathy H.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
11/8/2009

I'm from Socal so it's hard to find a good korean place in the city. I thought the food here was pretty good for bar food. I had the budaejigae (ramen, spam, sausage army stew), rabokki (ramen with rice cakes), fruit mix, and yogurt soju. Everything was good and spicy. This place reminds me of Crazy Hook in LA.

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Photo of Alice M.

 

0

6

Alice M.

San Mateo, CA

4 star rating
11/20/2009

1 star down because it costs too much, otherwise it would be a 5!  Fun times

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Photo of Cynthia C.

Elite '09

81

343

Cynthia C.

San Francisco, CA

2 star rating
10/5/2009

Honestly when I walked in here last night.. my first thought was uh... how do I call my friends to go to the Berkeley karaoke instead... but I decided it was too much trouble to rearrange everything and give this place a try...

If it wasn't for the food, I would've gave this place a 1 star.

This place isn't setup for non-Korean speakers/readers. The remote controls were in korean.. the waiter was korean but didn't know how to read korean to help us with the remote. There isn't that many English selections to choose from... Also the system is pretty ghetto... the tv was broken for 15 minutes until they reset everything.. All the videos were the bootleg ones with weird backgrounds.. we were singing to guys doing hula and some naked kids running around th beach... (yes I'm not kidding. WTF!).... for what it provides the hourly rate was pretty expensive.

The food was pretty good though. One of the main reasons why I picked this place in the first place was that it's one of the very few karaoke places that have private rooms and serves alcohol. We ordered the usual korean selections like galbi, black bean noodles (their noodles were chewy just the way I like it!), spicy rice cakes, bibimbop (not very good, it was cold), cold spicy noodles with egg, seafood pancakes (yummy!), and corn with cheese (this was free).

Honestly with the limited song selections, it's really not worth it.

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Photo of Lisa L.

 

27

61

Lisa L.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
10/12/2009

Journey, check! Earth, Wind, and Fire, check! Madonna, check!
My friends and I celebrated a dear friend's birthday at Playground this past weekend.  Overall, we had a blast.  Janet and Jin were very helpful.  I changed my reservation three times...oops; and they were always so accommodating. The food was delicious.  The soju kept on coming.  Our karaoke machine down on us.  Probably due to all the awesome singing...it couldn't handle greatness.  LOL

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Photo of ruggy j.

Elite '09

4992

692

ruggy j.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
9/8/2009

There's karaoke... then there's karaoke at Playground.

When it comes to unleashing my inner rocker (or diva, depending on song selection), I'm more familiar with the 'white guy' version of butchering pop songs than I am the Asian version. What does that mean? Well, I typically find myself at bars, surrounded by drunk frat guys and sorority sisters who seemingly only know five different songs.

-Love Shack
-Friends In Low Places
-I Will Survive
-Bohemian Rhapsody
-Baby Got Back

But now that I've had a crack at grippin' the mic like our brothers and sisters to the east, I've got a newfound love of karaoke. Nothing beats having 15-20 rowdy friends packed like sardines in the same room, making collective choices on what to sing next. No more sitting through 50 year old Gloria Gaynor songs or listening to some ass wipe completely shit on the grave of John Lennon... it's all about gelling with your buds and singing in unison!

Playground has a pretty swell setup in the upper karaoke area. Three rooms, all differing in size, and running at about $30/hour. Not a bad deal considering you get a private room JUST for you and your crew.

They also have a pretty great selection to choose from. Though I still haven't found anyone with Ice Cube's "It Was A Good Day" on karaoke (automatic 5 stars for the first place I find rocking it), they had some pretty unusual offerings... like Lonely Island's "Jizz In My Pants." For the uneducated (all four of you), enjoy: http://www.youtube.com...

The best part is that if you get a little parched from banging out soul jams, you can just pick up the phone from the room, and they'll deliver you icy cold brews in three shakes of a lamb's tail! Pretty cool, huh? You can also order grub, but I wasn't very hungry, so I can't comment on that end of the deal.

Overall, a pretty unassuming, but really fun hang in the middle of Japantown. If you find yourself in the 'hood with a surly mob of wannabe vocalists, stop in for a few tunes. You'll dig it!

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Photo of Alex P.

 

22

72

Alex P.

Dublin, CA

3 star rating
10/11/2009

I might be a little biased here since I just moved back to the Bay Area from LA recently and frankly this place, in light of the places in K-Town in LA, is average at best.  

The food was decent and actually I'd say the Boo-Dae Jigae was one of the better one's I've had.  (For the uninitiated, Boo-Dae Jigae is a spicy Kimchi stew/casserole with spam, sausage, ramen noodles, slices of rice cakes... basically one of the greatest bar food creations in the entire bar-dom.  It goes down well with either a cold shot of Soju or a refreshing glass of OB/Hite or both.  It can feed 3-4 ppl.)

So why the average rating? The place is sorta dumpy.  Now if you've frequented many Korean bars, you know that some Korean bars actually go for that look (i.e. Back Alley in KTown). But this place I think is just old and outdated.  It could really use a little sprucing up, in my opinion.

Food Rating: 4 stars (really for the Boo Dae Jigae)
Ambiance Rating: 2 stars

I'll probably go back because the food and service was decent and frankly there isn't too many other options.

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Photo of Hazel G.

Elite '09

593

189

Hazel G.

Felton, CA

4 star rating
9/4/2009

Damn my throat is still dry from this place. I need something smooth to coat my throat... *Swallow*

Yelp event after party...

Yelp dominated upstairs...

Sexy men and women getting down and dirty with various cheesy karaoke beats and karaoke backgrounds.... my all time favorite was the squirrel eating a NUT and then back to the sad woman on the beach! :)

"Playground Thanks you!"

I will be back to actually eat the food :).

*sips on throat coat*

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Photo of Kathy D.

Elite '09

381

399

Kathy D.

Sunnyvale, CA

5 star rating
9/11/2009 1 photo

Corn and cheese! Corn and cheese!

*that was the highlight of my night* and of course the company that I was with. :)

I had a great time here after the YEE @ New People. I came here to meet up with some fellow yelpers and boy were the rooms packed like sardines upstairs in the karaoke section!  So I decided to hang out with couple of yelpers downstairs in the lounge area!  Our friend knew the people pretty well here so it was awesome!  Service was great and overly friendly! I love korean people!!

Located upstairs right across from the Japantown center! $30 karaoke rooms!  It tends to be a bit small for super large groups though!

Played the Titanic game and flick the bottle cap games several times!

Yogurt soju beats Pineapple soju + OB Beer.

Complimentary soju bottle on the house!

Supposedly we were getting too rowdy and noisy so a group of koreans next to us told us to TONE IT DOWN.. we were all like eh?!?!?! It is a korean lounge... we were so confused but alcohol didn't stop us!

Janet our waitress was awesome!! She even offered me a cup of froyo with cereal at the end of my visit to eat while i drive back home to san jose! It was so sweet of her! How could i deny some frozen yogurt?!?! It was a good balance of creamy and tarty.. perfect to wake me up from the buzz i was trying to get rid of!

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Photo of clarisse c.

Elite '09

51

219

clarisse c.

Hayward, CA

4 star rating
10/1/2009

I've heard many things about this place and as a last minute decision my friends and I came here to begin the celebration of our friend's bday that would go well into the evening of the next day.

We found parking 'far', but it was walkable, later we discovered there was actually plenty of parking near it. Ha. I have a healing broken ankle so I'm not good with stairs or uphill battles, but I don't think there was an elevator to get up to this place.

We walked right into the place and waited maybe 10 minutes to get a table for 5. We ordered a soju right away and had some cheese corn, which is just cheese on top of corn. Nothing fancy here.

We're also cheap so we ordered a platter of bulgogi to share.

I'm writing this review far too late from when I actually went, so my memories of it are far into the back of my mind, or have already been erased from the continuous drinking we did that weekend and the next.

Long story short, it's good here.

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Photo of John H.

Elite '09

191

306

John H.

Hayward, CA

4 star rating
9/7/2009 4 photos

HA!!!!!

You are the place I couldn't remember. But I do remember...........

1. Being told to go upstairs.

2. Honey lady, I and 12 other Yelpers in one room.

3. There was a tambourine in the mix.

4. Beer, food...............

5. LOST MY YELP LUNCH BOX HERE!!!!!!!!!!

-1 star for my missing box................ But I did have fun. Even posted the video on my Flicker account!

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Photo of Catriona C.

 

21

109

Catriona C.

San Francisco, CA

3 star rating
10/1/2009

I would say this is a 3.5 - but I don't believe in half stars. I've used other Karaoke rooms before and would say the following:

1) Although it's cool to have a restaurant/karaoke place, I don't like the fact you are enforced to buy food and drink. I mean, I would buy a drink anyway, why make it an issue and a $10 minimum

2) The $10 minimum doesn't really matter as the majority of the food is over $10 anyway. Neither me or my friend were particularly hungry, so we ordered a combo plate for just under 20 smackeroons. Pretty poor quality food and definitely not worth the price. Should have stuck to 3 or 4 drinks to go over the minimum.

3) 18% enforced gratuity. Really? For the enforced food and drink order? That's mean, people.

Overall, I love karaoke, so I had a great time, but it was expensive. I've seen multiple reviews saying the food is great, but that isn't the experience i had, so maybe it's worth trying something else next time but to be honest, I am not sure if I buy into the novelty of restaurant/karaoke - not when I am forced into both at the same time. It makes for a night more expensive than it really should be. The English song list is pretty small as well - maybe if they expand their selections I will be more tempted to go here over Do Re Mi.

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Photo of Jeff P.

Elite '09

11

199

Jeff P.

Dublin, CA

4 star rating
9/3/2009

From what I remember, this place is awesome. We came here last Friday for my birthday and we had a great time. Pretty much made our night

Things that I remember:
Sweet Caronline
Carafes of soju and orange
Tambarene
A room with a roof that was a little too short

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Photo of Angeline P.

 

19

70

Angeline P.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
9/19/2009

My Friday night here was a night well spent.

+1 for bringing food into your karaoke room. Ideally, you order through the phone, but our phone was broken, so we had to go downstairs and put in the order. But this method is infinitely preferable to just sitting and waiting around for food, because you're biding your time singing karaoke. You don't even notice how long it takes! (and at this place, not long at all!)

+1 for having neng myeon. I seem to never end up at a place with neng myeon when I go out for Korean food, so I was pretty stoked to have it here, especially considering how hot it was the day we came.

+1, -1 for food overall. The dduk was really tender and fell apart while I was trying to pick it up, not rubbery and chewy like I've had at some places. It was super fresh. The yang nyeom chicken was okay, but I've had better. The haemul-pajeon didn't have much haemul in it, if you ask me. But the boy loved all the spring onions. The mandu was tasty, and enough for all of us to have two each. I think next time, we'll pick food that is easier to pick up with chopsticks though, because even the nengmyun was a little difficult to eat while karaoking.

+2 for service. The guy who served us was super attentive, and made sure that we had bowls and spoons for the neng-myun and that we had enough water, soju, and beer. After we had started to get into the swing of eating and singing, I told the boy to ask for the tambourine downstairs. He came back, with nary a tambourine, and said they didn't have one. The server came back a few minutes later, and asked if we needed anything else, and I asked him for a tambourine, while the boy said, he'd already asked for one downstairs. He said, if the lady downstairs didn't have it, then we probably don't have one available. I thought that was the end of it, and resigned myself to a tambourine-less night, when two minutes later, the lady comes in with my tambourine! I was stoked.

Reservations for karaoke rooms are good for Friday or Saturday, but make sure you keep it or else they charge your credit card anyway. Rooms are $30 an hour, with a minimum of $10/person/hour on food and beverages ordered in the room. It can get pretty pricey, and last night was $40/person for 2 hours, but it's a good time. One stop for Korean food and karaoke! I'll be back.

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Photo of Tisha K.

Elite '09

124

130

Tisha K.

Fremont, CA

4 star rating
9/7/2009

Came here after the NEW PEOPLE YEE on 9/2. All I remember is going upstairs, singing loudly while banging our tambourines, drinking, lots of mayhem, remarking how tiny but cute the bathroom was downstairs, and that I paid $5 for 2 bottles of SPARKLETTES water. Yah, the stuff you get a case for $3 from Smart and Final. Whatever!

I'll be back to try this place out sober. I don't have to be sober when I leave though. Mwahahaha.

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Photo of Oliver N.

Elite '09

162

220

Oliver N.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
9/2/2009

I wake up early after nights of drinking.  So it's 9:30am, I've been at the office for an hour and up since two hours before that, my throat is killing me, the room is spinning ever-so-slightly and every time i shift my body i have to concentrate on settling my nauseous stomach.

But goddamn I had a hell of a time at Playground last night.

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Photo of Lisa L.

 

0

1

Lisa L.

San Francisco, CA

2 star rating
11/5/2009

Food: moderately fine. We got appetizers #21 and #30. They were nice, but nothing spectacular.

Service: Atrocious. We waited 25 minutes for drinks to be brought up to our Karaoke room, and when went downstairs to place our orders in person, they chastised us and told us to order from upstairs. The wait staff was rude, unable to speak English, and was not attentive to our group. Aside from barging into the party to discuss the bill, they never came in to check on us over the course of the 3 hours. There was an agreed upon fee up front before the party of $400, but after the party, the bill was $450 and they refused to honor our agreement. If you are having a large party, be sure to get your quote agreed upon in writing.

Karoke: Good song selection, a bit dated, and one of the microphones did not work. But overall, it was good.

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Photo of Peter C.

 

3

20

Peter C.

Oakland, CA

4 star rating
11/4/2009

Great place great food nice ambiance and clean decor.  Food was pretty good too. The budae jjigae or army soup  was nice spicy and full of meat! Tong dak was good but not as good as the old Koko house tong dak and yes people you know that is so true! Other than that service is good and I would definitely come back!

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Photo of Donna Y.

Elite '09

309

553

Donna Y.

San Jose, CA

3 star rating
10/6/2009

After Yoshi's we decided to walk around and end up in Japantown.  Of course I had a few drinks I remember Cobber talking about a bar named Playground.  It so happens we find it and I wish I just kept my mouth shut. Cuz the next thing we did was order SOJU. Blueberry soju as a matter of fact.  It is pretty sweet but not bad.  If you all know SOJU is not my friend just as much as Gin.  I can see this place to be a party place during the weekend but Monday's nights are pretty dead.  I might be back but we will see.

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Photo of Mike S.

Elite '09

83

87

Mike S.

San Jose, CA

4 star rating
8/14/2009 2 photos

This spot is a fun place to go for drinks, as the name really says it all. :) I've been here a few times, and every time I leave I'm usually pretty buzzed. Last weekend after eating some sushi, we still felt like drinking more so we ended up coming here to play!

That night we ordered:
- Large Yogurt Soju (http://static4.px.yelp...)
- Seafood pancake (http://static3.px.yelp...)

Yogurt Soju (4 Stars): So good, delicious, and it totally sneaks up on you.  This is an alcoholic dessert drink at its finest. YUM!

Seafood pancake (3.5 Stars): A flat pancake mixed with seafood that is full of crispy deliciousness. It's pretty good, but a bit on the expensive side.  I think it was around $15 bucks or so.

Cheese Corn (4.5 Stars): They give you complimentary Cheese Corn dish, and it's so good and delicious! Canned corn has never tasted so good, you have to try it.

Summary (3.75 Stars): A fun place to hang out with delicious flavored soju drinks and food (try the cheese corn)!

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Photo of Melissa C.

 

9

10

Melissa C.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
9/7/2009

I love describing this place to friends who have never heard of it. It's a Korean karaoke bar that offers a great selection of American music in the middle of Japantown and it also serves Korean food and drink. Put that into your cultural pipe and smoke it!

First came here with a group of co-workers, and you know how us accountants do - we like to get pretty tipsy. The soju was great of course - i recommend yogurt, lychee, and especially mango for those who like the sweeter stuff. Also try mixing the sojus together for new tastes as well! Also go for the chicken wings (dry).

It seems many people don't remember what they do here, which is great. :) I mean, how could you? You're singing, you're drinking, you don't really have that much food...

It gets pretty pricey here - a room is $30/hour, soju is $25/big carafe, plus food which is usually in the $teens. last time i came, we ended up paying $60 each for 5 people. Then again, we were there for 3 hours. V^.^V

Be careful when you come down those steps if you're drunk. They wind and will add to the drunken effect you are experiencing. b^.^

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Photo of DAVID N.

 

116

101

DAVID N.

Brisbane, CA

4 star rating
8/27/2009

Came here with Euge, need I say more...Yes, yes, we found our car and drove home safely!!!

Food, overall is pretty decent when sober but excellent when mixed with Soju and Hite. Love the egg soup, particularly.

Jin, thank you for being a good host!!!

Cheers!!!

=)

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Photo of Ronald L.

 

2

45

Ronald L.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
9/5/2009

My first time having dinner here.  I remember this place as a Karaoke bar, but now its sort of a restaurant.  The food is decent, but the atmosphere was disappointing.  If you plan on having dinner and talking to friends forget it, its more like yelling.  Plenty of decent food and a full bar.  Why I found it disappointing was, if i wanted to go clubbing I would goto a club.  I wouldn't want to eat there.  It was crowded, drunken people yelling, and loud music.  I found myself yelling across the table just to have a conversation.  I don't know if I would go here for dinner again, unless I wanted to have dinner in a Karaoke bar.....

Gave Playground a second chance and the food was just as great.  The service was wonderful and pleasant staff.  I guess the music was not as loud as long as u sit towards the front of the restaurant bar. Corn and cheese is great and its complimentary...

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Photo of Nancy T.

 

11

28

Nancy T.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
7/31/2009

We went there for my friend Golden birthday. It was a great fun. Food was ok. My favorite is the Fried Chicken wings -  sauce was de-licious.

Minus one star -
the karaoke room was a bit small for a group of 12.

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Photo of Peter V.

 

0

12

Peter V.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
9/3/2009

Gun Bae!  Playground is a Korean drinking joint and No Rae Bang (private karaoke rooms).   Grab some Soju and Anju, and a bottle of Hite (a 1.6 L bottle, that is, cuz 40 oz just won't due...) and prepare to enjoy yourself.  

If you've come for karaoke, there are a few rooms, which are clean and well maintained, and offer food and beverage service (which you can't get next door at Do Re Mi).  On the other hand, the English song selection is not that extensive...

The food is decent , but you can't really do this place justice by evaluating it's component parts.  It's all about the vibe, and here the vibe is drink and be merry.  

Bottom line, this is a great, lively place to eat, drink and have fun with your homies.

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Photo of joce l.

 

24

710

joce l.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
8/23/2009

LOVE the Soy Garlic fried Chicken here!
SO good.
There was a spicy seafood noodle that we got which was HUGE and very good too.
The cheese corn was ridiculously yummy and was one of the free korean apps.
I thought the prices were pretty reasonable since the portions were Huge.
The ambience is definitely more bar than restaurant, but i'd come here for the food and not really the karaoke
the karaoke room was kinda old and cheesy and...dirty?

Anyway. would come back here for the food for sure

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Photo of tammy m.

 

6

55

tammy m.

San Francisco, CA

1 star rating
8/23/2009

Don't do it.
Food: Mediocre, nothing special. Definitely not worth the prices.
Songs: Very old. Usually Karaoke places update their songs to include at  the very least 1 or 2 Top 40 hits. Songs differ in the two binders we had so it was very confusing to be flipping two books at a time to look for one song.
Service: Attentive but unrealistic. Warnings should be given out with at least 30 minutes to go. Not 3 minutes after you serve 12 platters of food.

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Photo of emy s.

 

24

82

emy s.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
9/10/2009

nice workers, funny people, yummy drinks, fried foods, and karaoke. yay.

but i remember coming here once when they had softcore porn as the videos that went w/karaoke songs?!?!?! LOL, that was a night to remember.

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Photo of Sarah F.

 

26

68

Sarah F.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
8/15/2009

I always seem to end up coming here during the later hours of the night.

We come here for their flavored soju, yummy korean food and for karaoking.

Some of my favorites here:

-The complimentary corn and cheese
-chicken gizzards
-sampler (mozzerella cheese sticks. YUM)
-seafood korean pancake
-Spicy rice cake with ramen
-chicken wings

There's actually nothing that I have tried that i did not like here.  Their variety of flavored sojus are great too. All my friends always have a good time here.

What more can you ask for? Soju, korean food, karaoke and a good time.

One thing I do not like is their small karaoke rooms.  It's not usually big enough for my party of friends.  The ceilings are low and its pretty stuffy because its upstairs.

Overall a great place to hang out drink and eat.

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111

Tim L.

Redwood City, CA

3 star rating
10/7/2009

Been here a few times in the past.  Food here is Korean, quantity over quality.  The waiters are Korean and they speak some Engrish.  I've had the soju, soju and soju here..  all good, ask for the soju.  Crowd is young and primarily.. Korean.  'Nuff said, you do the math!

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151

HY C.

SOMA, San Francisco, CA

5 star rating
Updated - 10/19/2009

and is STiiiiiiiiL my FAvorite Korean spot!!!

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2 Previous Reviews: Show all »

  • 5 star rating
    9/17/2009

    I am convinced this is the BEST place for Korean eating & drinking.  There is nothing else like it… Read more »

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Elite '09

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353

Vandana M.

Oakland, CA

4 star rating
7/22/2009

I am a frequent vocalist at Do Re Mi down the street, but their steady crackdown on people (like me and my friends) who bring in our own alcohol has started to get annoying. I understand it's not their fault, but how can you do karaoke sober?

Anyway, a friend told me about Playground, where they bring the drinks (and food, if you want it) to you. Holla! The staff were SO NICE. We made last minute reservations and they were totally accommodating. When our room was ready, the hostess led the way upstairs with tambourines! And when I had a remote control-related accident that left me with a bleeding finger, she bandaged me right up.

Minus one star for not having Phil Collins "Against All Odds" on the songbook.

Night owls take note -- they close at 2:00, so be prepared to take the party elsewhere.

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Mari M.

Hayward, CA

4 star rating
7/17/2009

Damn those scary stairs going to Playground.  All I am saying is, if you plan to leave there drunk, put on some comfortable shoes.  But that's probably just due to my complete inability to walk in heels.  

But damn!  That Yogurt Soju sneaks up on you!  It is so easy to drink down, you think you're good all night, until those wood stairs forsake you as you leave.  It's crazy delicious.  I am totally going to get me some Yakult next time I drink. (It's also good for your digestive system!)  Warning:  Don't try to to make yogurt Soju from some Yoplait mess.  LOL.  Believe me.  A friend of mine tried with horrible consequences.

That corn cheese stuff is disgusting AND delicious at the same time.  You should try it!  As for service, it's decent.  It might take awhile for them to notice that you need some service, but they spot you, they are pretty nice and get the stuff to you as soon as they can.  The crowd was also pretty chill.  Make a friend in the long bathroom line! :D

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Kev M.

San Francisco, CA

3 star rating
7/22/2009

Went here with some Asian friends that always end up going to an Asian bar or restaurant at some point of the night and as the token white guy felt a little out of place, but not worried or anything.  
Had the big carafe of the fruity soju and ended up feeling pretty darn good.
Didn't karaoke or eat.

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Tuppy L.

San Francisco, CA

4 star rating
8/8/2009

Let me see if I remember correctly.  Got there at 6pm -

Ordered #17, 24, 44,    oh, heck.   Just order, already!    Food is great!

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Elite '09

26

122

Cristofer P.

Berkeley, CA

5 star rating
Updated - 7/2/2009

When I came to Playground back in February, I had a horrible experience involving poultry that we'll just say was 'less than fresh.' As I stressed in my previous review and I'll repeat again, I had never had a bad time at Playground in any of the dozens of trips I had made here before that night; probably the only thing that had kept me from giving the place a single star.

In all fairness to the restaurant, I probably should've said something the moment I noticed a problem with the food. Janet, the hostess/owner, has been nothing but courteous and accommodating whenever I'm there with friends and I'm sure she would've taken care of any problems immediately.

Well here we are nearly half a year later and after a number of return visits back to Playground, I'm happy to report that night in February seems to have been an isolated fluke. The service still (understandably) lags when things get busy at night, but the food has been top notch. A number of their dishes are much better than many, if not most of the Korean restaurants in the area. Quite an exceptional feat for a place that's known more for being a drinking spot than an dining destination. Throw in private nrb rooms and yummy cheese corn! and you've got a formula that can't go wrong.

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1 Previous Review: Show all »

  • 2 star rating
    2/18/2009

    I've been coming here about twice a month for the past two years. The service can be spotty at… Read more »

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Elite '09

120

246

Michael C.

Saratoga, CA

5 star rating
5/12/2009

Excellent service, excellent food, excellent beer.

Came here after a fundraiser event for the Taiwan Cultural Festival one night after it was suggested by another friend.

I was just expecting another Korean establishment similar to Brother, but boy was I surprised.  First, this place was packed at 1 am when we arrived, and a good portion of the patrons were Korean, so I figured it had to be pretty good.  The place was well lighted and pretty clean, and had a good vibe going on inside.  

We ordered the fried chicken and army soup, and maybe a few other things, but don't really remember as it was way past my bedtime.  

The army soup (or budae-jigae for those of you who prefer the Korean name) definitely had a kick to it, and boy was I paying for it the next day.  But it was so good, I didn't care, and kept attacking it.

But the real gem here was the fried chicken.  I really like 99 Chicken in the South Bay too, but it seems like 99 Chicken's specialty is that sauce they put on it, which I am not a big fan of.  So comparing the non-sauced 99 Chicken and the fried chicken at Playground, the fried chicken at Playground wins hands-down.  I don't know if it's the batter that they use to fry the chicken or something else, but it was so good that we were considering to order another large plate for the table, but since we were all watching our girlish figures, and since it was already 2:30 am, we decided not to do that.

The waiters were quick and attentive to us, and with so many people in the place, and the fact that it was so late into the night, everything came out pretty quickly.

I will definitely have to go here again someday to try out the other dishes, and more importantly, when I am a bit more sober...

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Elite '09

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185

Darryl P.

Oakland, CA

4 star rating
4/25/2009

I came here with a friend tonight! We also ran into a few people that he knew here! Janet, the owner of the place was pretty cool! This place was freaking packed! We had to chill at the bar for half an hour to get a table, but it was cool!

I have no clue what we ordered! We just asked the waiter what he would order if he was drunk! LOL! He brought it out along side the typical Korean sides like kim chi and other goodies. It was some type of sweet and sour chicken dish!

I think out of most Korean bars that this was pretty crackin!

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