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Mon. 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
"Five stars for the BBQ ribs and chicken, sauce, price, good service, easy parking/access, and no hype. What? BBQ? Here? This place is in…" read more »
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$10 All-you-can eat versus $18? (limited types of meat, of course) All you need is Brisket, marinated beef, marinated pork and rib fingers and you're set. you don't need tongue and heart, do you?
Love the food. Love the service. Love the food.
Every time I ring that bell, they come. Anything I need, they bring. I'm ringing that bell every 10 minutes.. I don't blame them if they start ignoring me LOL.
Parking is a total bitch, though. AND this place somehow became trendy for young people. BOO!
The short ribs and marinated beef were spot on. the intestine, tripe and cow stomach, not so much. I could not eat the latter, and I lost my appetite when my friends were chowing down.
service was very poor. another friend went and filled up our pitcher of water. not sure where she got it from, but that should never happen.
the good thing was they kept bringing the meat and I was damn full when we rolled out - but for some reason I just don't think overloading on meat is a healthy way to eat.
Wow, this place has changed a lot since I last visited 3 years ago. The quality of the meat has gone downhill. The service was always bad, but it seems to have hit rock-bottom as of late. We were one of 2 tables in the restaurant today and it took eons for the waitstaff to fulfill basic request (ie. "can I have a napkin?").
Low quality, cheap price. This is a classic student joint. Not recommended for anyone outside that demographic given the 1000+ other Korean BBQ spots in the LA vicinity.
I haven't written a review in a while and now that i'm home for thanksgiving break i feel like it's only fitting to write a review for a place i always enjoy going to with my cousins when we're all back home from school.
For the price, this place can't be beat. it' 9.99 for all you can eat MEAT! the quality definitely isn't the best but it's edible and tasty. i guess what adds to the flavor is that i always end up ordering a few (actually many) bottles of soju since we've discovered that meat is the ultimate chaser
The service here fluctuates more than the weather. the first time i went the service was almost flawless (flawless for a korean restaurant, not regular restaurant flawless lol) and it brought me back in a second time. Round 2 however was down right ugly. waitresses were yelling, giving dirty looks when we asked for more meat, and repeatedly ignored/forgot everything we requested.
luckily for san ya my cousins and i are all cheap, meat-loving college students looking for the most bang for our dollar and we decided to try it again (and again) every time we're all back in town. After coming for a while we've figured out that to get decent service you must follow the rule of three.
the rule of three implies that when ever you request something, it must never exceed a total of three items at a time. For example you want soju, chopsticks, and more briskets? DONE. You want soju, chopsticks, briskets, AND water? NAHHHHHH. at this point the korean lady pretends to take your order but automatically forgets it as soon as she is out of your proximity
so far it's worked well for me and has lead to a good dining experience.
p.s. the bathroom smells like skittles.
Our to-go place for cheap and delicious AYCE KBBQ. Only $9.99 p/p, or $14.99 for more variety. When we first discovered this place, we'd visit at least once a week. The food is so yummy but the service is lacking.
Onetime David went with his friend and ended up yelling at a waitress because she was leaving even before he was finish speaking ! That got her attention ... and ever since that incident we've seen marked improvement in the service and attitude for our subsequent visits. =)
Place tends to be packed and loud. Last time we shared a joined table with another group and had to eat in silence because we couldn't out-shout them. It's best to go early to avoid the crowd and get more attentive service.
This was my second Korean BBQ experience, and my first AYCE, and I loved it!!! Was sat promptly, brought some Soju, and our waiter set out side dishes and kimchee immediately. We were 2/8 waiting for almost an hour, but our water was refilled, our waiter checked in periodically, and as our party trickled in, they promptly brought our meat, without that awkward wait time when they know that we know what we want...
Extras bonuses:
Bathroom was clean, smelled like fruit loops
Cash out was easy and seamless considering that we had to split checks
All of our dishes were replenished without asking
Serving portions were generous.
I've been here several times, and every time has been a different experience. In the past, I would have rated this place a 2 or a 3 based on service and quality of meat, but tonight's trip was definitely 5 stars.
Let's start with the bad. The last two times I went, the place was packed, and we had to wait 30+ minutes for a table that hadn't even been cleaned yet. We sat at the dirty table for another 15 min and, after attempting to flag down 3 busboys, finally got someone over to clean it up. Then came the difficult process of getting our food: like someone else mentioned, you have to ask for everything here. They give you the basic side dishes (salad, bean sprouts, seaweed, kimchi, radish, potato salad, two kinds of sauces, and rice paper to wrap your meat in), but you have to ask for water, rice, steamed egg, and everything else. The brisket was dry and tasteless, and when they ran out one night, they substituted it with some cow part that probably wouldn't even have been fit to go into Yoshinoya's beef bowls.
That was then, though. Tonight was an entirely different story. Perhaps it was because none of our party spoke Korean, or maybe it was just because it was late and not too busy, but the service was fantastic. They seated us at a clean table immediately and brought our side dishes/meat within 5 minutes. Usually getting what we want from the servers is like pulling teeth, but tonight they kept returning and asking us if there was anything else we wanted, and they fulfilled each of our requests immediately. The brisket was tender and not too fatty, and the bulgogi was fantastic. The side dishes are always great, but the potato salad was particularly good.
Moral of the story: if you're going to go, DON'T go when it's busy. The crappy service isn't worth the $5 you save by not going to better AYCE places. When it's late, though, $10 for AYCE Korean BBQ at San Ya is a really great deal.
Of all the Ktown AYCE KBBQ places I've been to, San Ya has got to be the most greasy of them all. And I'm not talking about the meat or the grill here; I mean the actual restaurant itself! If you come later in the evening on a busy night or just on a day when they haven't cleaned for a while, you can literally slide your way across the floor or feel the coating of grease on the walls! No really... that's just gross... Minus 1 star for that.
Howeverrrrrr... on another note, at an AYCE price of $9.99 for a selection 8 different meat varieties http://www.yelp.com/bi..., San Ya looks pretty good when you're craving KBBQ but not wanting to do too much damage to the wallet. It's not the best quality meat (aka, lots of fattiness) + the marinade isn't something I'd drool over, but it's decently good + hits that meat craving right on the nose.
The 8 meat varieties you can get for $9.99 are:
Beef Brisket (chadol)
Pork Belly
Marinated Beef (bugolgi)
Marinated Pork
Marinated Chicken
Rib finger meat
Beef Belly
Pork outside skirt
Then for the $15.99 price, you can additionally order these:
Beef short rib
Marinated short rib (galbi)
Small intestine
Abomasum / Stomach
Honeycomb tripe
Beef tongue
As galbi is my favorite, it makes me sad that it's not on the $9.99 menu... but oh well, I'll live. And no, the Rib finger meat is definitely not the same thing. The side dishes (banchan) are minimal + your typical fare of salad, kimchi, potato salad, bean spouts, broccoli, etc. http://www.yelp.com/bi... One thing that makes me happy is that they do have the rice paper to wrap your meat in, which not every place seems to have. Other reviews seem to say they "run out" after a while, but I've never experienced that problem despite the 3-4 refills I tend to go through just by myself. The steamed egg is fluffy + yummy, but we had to ask for it... just like everything else.
Sure most places in Ktown aren't known for their fabulous table service (which is why I've assumed they have the service buttons on the table), but this place reallyyyyy lacking in that department. Even when only 1/2 the restaurant is full, the waitresses aren't very attentive. Yes, you have to flag them down or push the ding-dong button at least once to get them to your table. And even then, there's about a 75% chance you'll actually get what you asked for within 5 mins. They often forget about part, if not all, of what you requested.
Other not-so-fabulous things include the fact that they let random solicitors into the restaurant to try to sell things to you. Wtf? Here's a photo of the solicitor who was trying to sell us seaweed... http://www.yelp.com/bi... Yea, not cool. Also, parking here sucks. There's a tiny lot out front with like 15 spaces that the whole strip mall shares. If you don't want a door ding + don't mind walking, I'd recommend trying street parking in the residential areas nearby.
Lame... but hey, it's only $9.99 + the food itself is fairly good in part just because you can get so many meat varieties. However, if you want better meat, better service + a waaaaay more sanitary place to get your fill on meat, then go elsewhere. Tahoe Galbi on Wilshire + Wiltern is my favorite in particular... *nudge, nudge*
No doubt about it, this place is the absolute business when it comes to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ.. $9.99 are you out of your mind! 8 choices of endless mouth watering meat for you to satisfy your carnivore cravings. Beef brisket to marinated pork.. they're all excellent. Not to mention the handful of appetizer sides they bring to your table. The potato salad is my personal favorite.
The place itself is spacious and the service isn't too bad, but it definitely can use some improvements. Parking during dinner hours is a pain especially on the weekends. For what it's worth, this place can't be beat. Especially for the price!
I personally agree with Annie Y. Every visit has different experience. It would be rated 5 star if they are not busy and service would be good. However, if they get busy, services are lousy and slow and they just simply ignore your request no matter how many times you ring the bell to get their attention.
It's a good restaurant to go for $9.99 all you can eat, lunch and dinner or anytime.
I had a great experience even though it was busy. Our waitress gave us everything we needed every five seconds we called her. From the water mixed with tea, to more rice paper, to more meat. Of course, the marinated pork was my favorite. This place is great. I can see why it's very crowded.
I wouldn't come here unless you're really craving Korean BBQ and can't shell out an extra $5-$10 for the bazillion other places in K-Town that serve AYCE meat. You must also be prepared to be aggressive about what you want, flagging down waitresses, and asking for banchan/meat refills.
That said, the $10 option is super appealing and on regular hours (granted I went on a weekday) it's not packed.
Had the brisket and all the typical meats-- can't really recall all of them, but they were the ones available in the $10 section (you can pay $15 to get more of a selection, but unless it buys better service and a surprisingly better quality of meats, I wouldn't bother).
I thought the spicy pork was great, saved the night from being a 1-star deal for me. 'Twas the best of it all. Their banchan was blah, pretty tasteless in my opinion. Also, like so many have mentioned before me, they always "run out" of rice paper. I sort of think that is a lie; I think maybe they just ration out rice paper throughout the week.
The servers were nice enough at first, but upon our request for a third plate of meat (keep in mind the plates are smaller than other places), they were already giving us that exasperated look and ceased eye contact. That's when you gotta get into aggressive mode.
One factor to their credit, they changed the grill without us having to ask, but I don't know if that was more of a reminder that we'd been there awhile haha...
I don't know about you, but when I hit up AYCE K-BBQ, I want to enter auto-eat mode and not have to work so hard to get decent service. Price/convenience is what San Ya has going for it, but if you want quality marinades, go elsewhere in K-Town.
So 13 of us just went to this place because the "boss lady" said so. If you have an ounce of UCLA blood in your veins - you are unwelcome here because this is a huge USC hangout. Why? Because it's frickin' dirt cheap. And we all know how cheap those USC bastards are right? ;) However, I was able to sneak in unnoticed through the shroud of maroon and gold - because I still qualify as a cheap bastard. $9.99 for AYCE. But that comes with a price as well. So the greasy tables are engulfed by clientèle of starved multi-cultural students or hardcore-looking Koreans (who get a hell-of-a-lot better service than softcore-looking Asians.) And let me tell you, every single review of this place so far (26 to my count) are all SPOT ON!
We pretty much experienced the gambit from just one sitting. From:
1) "we lun out of dduk boo san (rice paper) no more no more"
2) If you come for the Chadol (brisket) that's pretty much in par with other AYCE places.
3) The Bulgogi was substandard and its consistency was that of reconstituted beef.
4) The banchan consisted of seaweed, bean sprouts, daikon, potato salad, and kimchi. You get steamed egg and/or rice only if you ask for it.
5) The waitresses weren't rude-per-say, it's just the typical Korean server mentality. If you are blatantly rude to them, they treat you nicer. But if you are kind and gentle to them, they treat you like crap.
6) Always had to flag them down to refill the barley tea and take empty plates.
7) Get ready to do the splits here. The floors are so slippery from the grease you'll go slip-slidin'-away.
8) Parking: Awful.
Will I be back? For the brisket - probably. But I have experienced hella better. I mean, come on people, for $9.99 I guess I can whore my culinary values and tastes out once in a while to fill the belly.
All the beef brisket, bulgogi and "rice paper" that I can eat for 9.99. Who can beat that? Definitely come here for all you can eat kkbq without breaking your budget.
Went here to eat right after the "1st annual Korean BBQ festival in K-town"
Summary: Great place for cheap food if you have the patience and time.
Pros:
$9.99, you can't beat that for the variety you get. The quality of meat is above what I would've thought you would receive from an inexpensive place.
Cons: The wait time between plates is ridiculous. Service, don't know if its on purpose, but is always slow. I would think they would want to feed you and get you out asap to bring in more customers.
You get all the little dishes and eventually you'll get all the food you want, but the wait sort of kills the appetite if you are looking to chow down 7 plates in an hour (like I was).
Watch out for the slippery floors when heading toward the bathroom in the back because of the grease pile that's all over the place. Ventilation in the inside area of the restaurant is seriously unhealthy, but luckily my party got placed in the patio area with the windows open (found parking right in front btw which was awesome, otherwise you have to drive around for a while to snag a spot).
Verdict: If you spend an extra $6, you can get awesome service and be in and out within 1-1/2 while getting your fill somewhere else. If you just wanna hang with friends, chit chat, eat some food, and at the same time turn into a grease ball...this is your spot for $9.99/person!
I will probably go back, but this time i'm gonna put on some old clothes before I go there!
Went here on a Sunday night...
I dont know what people are saying, the meat was utterly disgusting. The oh so popular brisket was grey upon cooking. The meat was dry and bland, to the point where the food tasted like the grill residue rather than beef. The chicken was bad quality too, the pieces were tasteless and bony. We also tried the Hanging meat, that tasted like oversalted beef-steak that is made in a halfway home kitchen. We also had the marinated beef, which was not surprisingly the same color as the brisket, it was bland and tasteless. In fact i dont know if bland is the right word because at times the taste was repulsive.
This place has a B grade, which is well deserved because the tables were oily and sticky and one of our napkins was dirty when we were served the silverware and chop sticks.
As for the service, this was the worst service i have ever experienced. We rang the bell over 15 times to get another pitcher of water, and it also took about 4 times of reminding so we could get our steamed rice. The rice paper is advertised as endless, but we were told that there was no more of it, which my friend told me happened in his past visits to the place (i subsequently started questioning as to why he would go to this place more than one time).
The best part of the meal : it was the lollipop which was brought with the bill. That was the best part by far, the candy was tasteful and worth the 9.99.
Sitting at the restaurant i wondered why so many people were there, eating that disgusting food. And i get that its 9.99, but who cares, when it tastes repulsive. Id rather pay an extra 5 dollars at another place and eat normal food.
Definitely if you have working taste buds, do not go to this place and waste your time and 10 dollars. Go elsewhere, in fact subway would be superior.
This place is alright. You get what you pay for. I mean what do you expect for $10 all you can eat right? The service left a little to be desired, but I'm pretty sympathetic to waiters/waitresses in general so usually I give them a pass if they don't totally get my order wrong and aren't just blatantly rude. The food came out fast once we were able to flag down one of the waitresses.
You get a good amount of choices considering the price. I believe you can order 8 different cuts of meat (beef, chicken or pork). My faves were the pork bulgogi (which was a bit spicy, just the way I like it) and the meat that looks like a fatty piece of bacon (i forgot what it's called but it tastes like a combo of pork chops and bacon). As usual with these places, I tried to eat as much as I could to the point where I am slightly uncomfortable.
One more thing to add- parking was kind of difficult on a weeknight, since there are other restaurants around this place.
While I'm not familiar with LA Korean BBQ joints, this is definitely the better of the only two I've been to because it offers more choices.
$9.99 all you can eat korean bbq woot bring on the meat! Includes brisket (my favorite), marinated beef and pork, chicken, and the fatty pork strips (don't know what they're called)...and you get unlimited side dishes! 100% worth the money. You might think quality is compromised, but I don't really think so; I've been to "better" korean bbq places in k-town, and I actually prefer this one. There's another meat option all you can eat for $16.99, I believe, that has more meat choices.
The cons...aren't significant enough to keep me from giving the place 5 stars! Servers are slow and get annoyed sometimes, but I don't mind so much because I always have them running back and forth refilling stuff (sorry!). Parking is a disaster, lot is way too tiny. You smell like the stuff when you walk out. And go with people who can man the grill so you don't have to do it the whole time! =P
3.4
The choices for the all you can eat is limited but it includes what most people get anyways. i forgot what the choices are but its still worth going there to eat without knowing. HEHE. oh their sam kyup sal is the thick ones so when you ask for that only one or two comes out. but its okay because you can just order more. :))
the parking lot is tiny but once you've found one.. you won't be upset. :))
11/21/09 UPDATED:
the service got A LOT BETTER because i think they're losing money to O-Dae-San, another all you can eat krn bbq place RIGHT next to them. They're a lot more willing now to listen to you ask for things and actually bring it out in a timely manner. Although, I went on a Saturday night and it was EMPTY. :(( I don't know why I always go to San Ya and not O Dae San because supposedly that place is a lot cleaner and prettier and better service. The choices of meat you can get is smaller than the choices at San Ya but I only usually get Cha-Dol (beef brisket) anyways..
$9.99. All you can eat!
I wish I could give this place a 3.5....
The quality of meat is bargaintastic, but the sam gyup sal is a bit fattier than usual, and they don't have the salted sesame oil. Other than that, I couldn't complain. $10 is so incredibly cheap for AYCE I almost wondered where they got the meat from...But if you want any fancy pants marinades you gotta buy the "B" option which is $15.99 per person.
The service was ok, one lady in particular was rude as all get out. A short haired ajumma was super sweet and attentive, and even a bit excited when she realized I could speak korean back to her ^_^ They serve chilled bori cha so that totally makes my day!
9.99! JAckpot! its just hard to order more food cause ll the servers are pretty occupied with other tables.but all in all good grub for hungry KBBQ lovers =)
All you can eat Korean BBQ @ $9.99. 'Nuff said.
The tofu skins are reaallly good here. Thin and consistent sizes.
Crappy food almost always results in crappy bowels. And a gorge-fest at AYCE KBBQ places often tells me I gotta go but my ass says no. Instead, it speaks to me in kimchee farts. And relief only comes after dropping some potstickers in the toilet bowl. Dang, that's just hot.
San Ya definitely leaves me begging to the bowel gods for mercy. AYCE KBBQ here starts at $9.99 per person. If you want more meat options, you can pay a little extra...but for $9.99, the beef brisket and bulgogi beef works for me. Although they serve enough banchan to cover most of the table, they're very basic dishes and a bit different each time I come here. Just don't expect the 'fancier dishes' like the sizzling egg stone pot or the pickled crab.
The meats are usually decent, marbleized fatty cuts. But once, it was just plain fatty...with gelatinous goo that clings and dominates the meat.
Their other dishes are also a hit or miss. The Yook Gae Jang (spicy beef stew) is quite flavorful and spicy......but once, it was over spiced to the point where it tasted slightly bitter.
The only consistent thing here is the inattentive service. The servers are not rude but if you need something, you might have to go right up to their faces. I've seen customers get up to fill their own water cups with the pitcher sitting next to the kitchen. And, what is up with Korean places and tiny water cups anyways?
Spotty service...inconsistent offerings, decent quality. At $9.99, it's worth a gamble.
3 generous farts.
All you can eat korean bbq for only 9.99? YES!
For such a low price the meat is awesome, the brisket is a bit fattier than normal but I thought this gave it more flavor. The marinated meats were all surprisingly good cuts as well.
The waiters are pretty good at coming over when you ring the bell but when it's busy you might have to ring it a few times to get their attention.
Strangely every time we asked for brisket they sort of paused for a second before giving us a "yes" that implied "...maybe", we later found out they were running out of brisket (although they never did completely run out :D)
Best part of the night was when I paid just sixteen dollars for my portion (and that included a bottle of hite and a nice tip).
I'll definitely be coming back to San Ya in the future. The great price coupled with delicious meats won me over handily.
Oh but the floors are slippery. Watch for that.
I can't relate to the bad experiences people have had here at all! I don't know if the staff read the terrible yelp reviews and have since cleaned up their act or what, but I had a great time here!
I came here with a big group and I would say that for $9.99, the quality of the meat was good. The servers were super attentive, always refilling our barley tea and asking us if everything was OK. Some guy who appeared to be the manager even brought us special meat when we only paid for the $9.99 deal. In my opinion unless you really, really want those certain cuts of meat, the $9.99 deal is way better than the $15
I want to come back here!
PS. No, none of us were Korean
I came here for a friends bday and left with a few observations:
1. It can be insanely cheap for kbbq. There are two options for all you can eat. The $15.99 variety where you can order anything, and the "A" $9.99 version where you can order only Chadol, Samgyup, and bulgogi (cow, pork or chicken). We opted for the A and the total bill came out to something along the lines of $130, for 10 people, including 3 bottles of soju.
2. The meat quality is actually not too bad. For AYCE. Which isn't saying much.
2. The service here is horrible. I know a lot of yelpers have been quick to label them "racist," but I think "forgetful" is much more accurate. Obviously there is a big difference between the two. I came with a bunch of Korean guys and they were just as inattentive to us as to everyone else. Like others that were "discriminated" against, they "ran out" of dduk for us strapping young Korean men as well. If we asked for something, we usually had to ask for it multiple times before getting anything close, and even then it was a crapshoot. We probably pressed the button no less than 87 times during our visit. They must have forgotten that they were in the service industry, or they could have just been dumb. Either way, we came for the meat, and we got plenty of that. Lack of service at a place like this doesn't really bother me, as I didn't expect much and got just that.
All in all, if you are stickler for good service, than you probably don't want to come here. In fact, you probably don't want to go anywhere in ktown. They have those buttons for a reason. They could care less about you until you chime them over.
The 'Go-To' Place for All-You-Can-Eat.
I am glad I read some of the other reviews here before I submitted mine.
They do get quite busy so sometimes one may have to wait a little for a waitress to come over or once in a while ask for something twice. But I have never seen anything resembling 'intentionally bad service, rudeness, meanness, racism' or anything else some other reviewers mentioned. On the contrary, when the waitresses get a moment, they will come over and ask what else they can bring and they have always been friendly and I have never (besides some reviews here) heard of people being denied more food.
The food is good (not the most amazing in the world but....) and consistent. Just know what you like and stick to that. As with many restaurants, knowing what to order can make or break your experience. I myself don't like their pork belly so I stay away from it but plenty of other people I know love it here.
The floors can get a little slick, with all the high volume of people and food; it's not the most spotless place.
It's very homey and many people come here for the good food, good company (larger groups okay) and to enjoy the time, rather than be overly concerned about decor and such.
Another stop in my ongoing quest to eat my way through K-town...
Lots of menu options but the $15.99 AYCE which came with all the usual suspects (galbi, bulgogi, chadol, samgyupsal, marinated chicken, spicy pork, large and small intestine and honeycomb tripe) was the obvious draw. The banchan was plentiful, but to me, kinda mediocre. Even the kimchi was not so hot, but thankfully, the salad (and dressing) were good. No dduk or fermented soybean paste either, which I seriously missed. Steamed egg was, well, steamed egg.
As for all that meat, the pork belly and galbi were pretty good as was the bulgogi but I could have done without the spicy pork which, although not as sweet as some, was still over marinated for my taste.
Despite complaints of others, the service was as peachy as it could be given the language barrier. Almost as good as the thoroughly entertaining Korean variety show that was on, complete with English subtitles. Who knew that Ivy was dating a tall, handsome songwriter she attends church with every Sunday?
All in all, not too shabby if you're in the area, but when it comes to AYCE kbbq, I'd still have to say I prefer Yi Ssi Hwa Ro, Gui Rim, LA Family House, Mu Dung San and Gui Mok (in that order), though definitely a notch above Tahoe. Overall, about a 2.5 star in my book, but I'm feeling generous and rounding up.
Well I would give a review of just 3-4 stars if the price would be higher but the price it;s JUST $9.99 yeas just $9.99 with unlimited pork belly (sam gyok sal), Thin beef (cha dol), bulgogy, and three special meat.
The quality of chadol it's pretty good cuz is angus beef (I know the company who sells meat to them and they have quality meat) , the staff it's pretty good, the place it's full so you don't get full attention but you see all the staff really busy and still get good treatment
After eating you get gookbab, or nuroongj. amazing for $9.99
you really have to go I mean just $9.99 for dinner with NO LIMIT meat what else can you ask?
Good food for $10! If you are a simple eater and you like meat, this is the place to go to. Don't spend $30-40 at other places...this will do!
I came with my sister who came back from Iraq for the first time. I heard they had a variety of meat instead of just pork (sam-gyup-sal) and beef(cha-dol) So i came in with my boyfriend and sister, and it was packed, but there were like 3 tables empty, not cleaned yet. So I told the waitress that we were a party of 3 and they told us to wait so we waited for like 15 min. We understood that it was very busy. BUT not the part where another party came in, a group of 6, and they sat them down RIGHT AWAY. &another party of 4 came in, and they got their seat!!!! Everytime those 2 groups came in, i reminded the waitress that we were waiting for 20 min. at that time. and all they would say is OKAY OKAY. so, i waited for another 20 min. and FINALLY got my seat. My sister was pissed. and we sat down, and they wouldnt clean our table nor change our burner!!! so we waited another 10 min. and they finally cleaned it, but they wouldnt give us the plates, salad, chopsticks, and or NOTHING. so i finally complained to the waitress that was passing by the most, and nicely asked her, "how can you guys make a customer wait 1 HOUR and give the group that cam in after us a table before us??" and she made a big frown, and she got the stuff we needed but THREW IT AT OUR TABLE!!!!! so i started getting really mad and just left. thats a place i wouldnt EVEEEEEEEER want to go!!
Its cheap for an all-you-can eat bbq with many variety of meat, but DONT EXPECT GOOD SERVICE AND ATTENTION!
This was definitely a bargain - we paid $9.99 per person for Korean BBQ. Crazy. The $9.99 comes with pretty much all the types of meat I like, so it wasn't worth it for me to pay more for steak or kalbi. The thin meat had more fat than I liked but really, I've had other fatty meat and paid more in the past. Service was prompt - but I think that may have been due to the fact that we were sitting right next to a larger party of Koreans. It seemed like the waitresses were coming by their table (hence, ours) every five minutes. We didn't initially get the soupy egg thing, but once I saw the party next to ours got them, I asked and we got ours. I am not sure we would have gotten them otherwise, but we ultimately did, so I won't complain (too much) about it. The salad was good with an interesting orange fruity taste, and I really liked the potato salad and moo. I had to ask for the salt and oil dip, which I didn't like much bc the salt was in big chunks so I got mostly oil when I dipped my meat in there. They changed the cooking iron a couple of times without our asking - I found the service to be pretty good and would go back. We didn't get any hot soup at the end or noodles, but I guess that would be too much to expect for $9.99 a person....
Oh, and be careful bc the floor is really slippery, and I felt this way w/ tennis shoes!
I was definitely going to avoid this place due to the racist reviews and extremely bad service, but we were broke and they had a 9.99 AYCE option so whatever we figured we would just try to deal with it. We did not receive warm service, but it was not bad service by far. We made reservations but arrived early and they still sat us down right away. They changed out the grill and then put down all the ban chan. The ban chan was ok, there was picked radishes, kim chee, bean sprouts, potato salad and kelp salad. All of them were pretty good, my favorite being the radishes and the bean sprouts. Also they gave us 4 different sauces, fermented bean paste, chili paste, sesame oil with sea salt, and pickled jalepenos with soy sauce. The salad had some kind of orange dressing that resembled the sauce that Japanese restaurants put on their oysters, it was pretty good, tangy and sweet.
Then they brought out the brisket (cha dol bae gi) and dumped it out on the grill. It didn't really bother us because we were all really hungry, but one of my friends did not eat beef so it was kind of abrupt considering we ordered other meat with the brisket. The other meat came separately pork bulgogi, beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, and pork belly (sam gyup sal). The meat was kind of fatty, but it was AYCE and the marinades, at least, were really good, not too sweet and savory. The chicken was really juicy and charred up nicely with the marinade. The spicy pork was good and not too sweet. The beef bulgogi was probably my least favorite out of the marinated meats. The sam gyup sal was really fatty, but it was basically uncured bacon and was really good. Then they brought out steamed eggs, we had 6 people and they gave us 3 steamed eggs, they were really good. Steaming hot and soft, the eggs were finished pretty fast. We didn't get any dwen jiang chigae, soy bean paste soup, that the other reviews mentioned and I do not know if it came with out meal.
Overall, the experience was pretty good. Whenever we called the lady over, she got whatever we wanted fairly quickly. I actually started feeling bad for her because we were re-ordering practically everything. 6 to 7 refills on rice paper, 4 refills on salads besides the numerous times of meat and ban chan since we were there for over 2 hours. She didn't do it with a smile, but it was extremely prompt. For 9.99, it was definitely worth it and I would come again.
FYI when they change your grill, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT look into the grill, under the grill where the oil drips, they do not clean it out between table changes, IT WAS DISGUSTING. It almost made me not want to eat anymore, almost :D
I was driving down koreatown and was noticing the all you can eat joint prices going down.. 16.99...13.99..9.99..wat 1.99?? So i get here at 4pm and no one is here except couple of family. First i checked out the other place next to it.. i think its o yan san.. but thy only offer two meat for 9.99..it was fancy.. but im not there to look at their nice expensive new grill.. so i went to San Ya... I ordered the 9.99 since its my lunch at 4.. the bacon and briskets were really good.. and also i tried the marinated beef... all in really good! didnt try the pork or the chicken.. all the side was good.. and the egg too ahh.. if i wanted the steak id try the 16.99 next!
Best for all you can eat buffet. I wouldn't give it 3.75 - 4 stars if it was rated on Korean BBQ alone.
Manna's marinate is too sweet and so I can't eat much there. This place has less sweet marinade.
The other places are more expensive and you get the same amount of quality or a bit less. This place is less crowded because people do not know about it and better service.
I would highly recommend this place for a buffet.
UPDATE: Thanks to rising gas and food prices, the ALL YOU CAN EAT went from 13.99 to 15.99.
Just opened 1 month ago.
AYCE for $15.99....not bad.
Service was quite friendly.
Seems like a mom and pop shop.
Nice decor.
Clean.
Food was only OK....
Was open until 11PM on a Sunday.
We were supposed to hit Parks BBQ but last minute change landed us at San Ya. First impression was good, I mean the place was clean (floor was bit slippery and oily) but overall it's nicely ventilated. Of course we came well prepared with our special weapon, our Korean Speaking friend HKSaram, and we're all set ready to go to war.
Panchan was just ok, not enough selections, no rice cakes and they didn't serve us the Egg Soup!!
Meat was deliciously marinated, although all I mostly ate were Kalbi and Beef Tongue. 3 Star for the meat quality!
As the night progress, service got slower and slower, even with our secret weapon, both Ajima were Gone with the Winds.....maybe at the back playing cards or something??!!? 1 Star for Service.
All in all, we were all in good spirit and most importantly were full. It wasn't too crowded, so parking was a breeze, right outside the restaurant. I give this place a 2 Star.
THESE ARE THE MOST RACIST KOREANS IN LA. DO NOT EAT HERE.
I suggested to my girlfriend(who is Chinese) that her and her friends(off all Asian ethnicities, but only one Korean) to try San Ya as a KBBQ alternative. The service they received at San Ya not only humiliated me for suggesting the place, it also made me ashamed to be Korean.
Elitist Koreans like these people give all other Koreans a bad name. If you're not in a majority Korean group, they'll treat you like crap. Sure, the Chinese waitresses in Monterey Park may yell at you and seem rude, but at the end of the meal you've been provided the service you paid for. The servers at San Ya were more than rude, they were MEAN. What kind of all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ demands that you can only order one plate of galbi, while all the other tables got multiple plates? And claims to "run out" of rice paper(dduk boo san) for your table but gives other tables as much as they want? How do you explain servers that look at you and ignore you when you call ask them for service, and then hover over you while you're counting out money for the bill?
In the end, I had to keep reminding myself that these are uneducated middle-aged ahjumah waitresses who have nothing going for them except having to clean up the leftovers of others.
DO NOT SUPPORT THESE RACIST KOREANS!
I liked Tahoe better...(the only 2 comparable places I went to for AYCE Korean BBQ) but this place is still a good place to go for ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT Korean BBQ. Cheap and good! Service is good - but sometimes you will have to ring the bell but they're attentive to that.
Open for Christmas & New…
Neighborhood: Pasadena
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Neighborhood: Koreatown
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Korean
Whittier, CA
Category: Restaurants
Rosemead, CA
Category: Restaurants
Los Angeles, CA
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Category: Korean
We love all you can eat meat, but we'll only make…
