We came here for my mom's birthday. It was her first time having Korean bbq. It was a good first experience for her. This was my first time coming to this place and I had a pretty good experience. Service was great and food was yummy as well. I definitely recommend. read more

It was my first time here. It was a full house but that didn't disrupt the quality or attention we received. I went with a large party and the staff was so accommodating and organized. The food was good too! There is plenty of parking and I would go back! read more

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Food was great and the service was great. They had a great selection of meat on the menus. read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Pork short ribs , Lengua and tortillas. - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

Great kbbq and definitely the best I've had in SD! We loved the beef belly, brisket, and the short ribs. Amazing . Just be aware that there is a long wait and no type of online check in system. Also, the parking lot is pretty small so I would suggest coming early! Would definitely come back! read more

Approved by my Korean extended family!! I've been here multiple times because this is the one Korean restaurant my parents, aunts, and uncles all love the most in Convoy! Our favorites: -Yookejang 유개장: my favorite soup here, hearty and flavorful here with SO many veggies and noodles in the soup -Galbi "lunchbox": comes with galbi, salad, miso soup, dumplings, and side dishes -Cold noodles: a classic to go with your galbi or other bbq order read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Yook Gye Jang () - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

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0 for food and 0 for service so 0 star. Do NOT come here if you spend less than $20 because your food will have NO side dishes. Buga is terrible for both food & service. I have been a customer at the restaurant for 10 years and have referred so many people local & out of town to dine here as well. After today, I will tell them NOT to come anymore. 0 for food quality. This afternoon I ordered a $20 chap jae for my daughter and less than 5 mins later the server then said oh by the way there would be no side dishes because chap jae is an appetizer. I took my 6 years old daughter to Korean restaurant after her school because she wanted the side dishes. So after the server said that we were about to walk out but the jap chae was brought out any way. It must have been premade so it came out so fast the quality was terrible. My daughter had literally 5 bites and said it was not good today mommy. No problem if you guys have changed the policy but you would need to ask the customer first if it would be ok if the food would come with no side dishes. I have ordered just chap jae at least 4-5 times before for my daughter and side dishes were always served. The last time must be about 3-4 months ago only. I guess your business must have gone down hill so you have changed your policy. You can't even afford to provide a few slices of kimchi with a $20 chap jae. And the $9 chap jae at Zion is better than the quality of the chap jae at Buga. 0 for service. I miss those nice friendly middle- aged server ladies. They know me and my family well. There were a bunch of young male servers today and they all had attitude. If you guys are too cool to work as servers for middle-aged Asian people like me then don't work there. Imagine if your middle-aged parents go to a restaurant and got treated by other servers like the way you guys treated us. Bye Buga. We will never see you again. read more

The food is soo, soo good. The only thing better was the service, absolutely fantastic all around. Can't wait to go back. read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Soo much meat! Soo good - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

AFTER LEAVING THE MEXICO BORDER, THIS PLACE IS A MUST HAVE BEFORE COMING HOME! I love all things Korean bbq, but this one had a hint of something different, And we absolutely loved it! I cannot wait to go back! Food: 10/10 Wow, I was really blow away by the cuts of meat, the sides, and the dang cheese corn. The cheese corn was cooked to perfection, and really the best part of my meal. I wrapped the corn cheese, meat, and spicy pickles on a rice paper sheet and it was so good!!!!!! If I'm being honest, all the Buchanan sides were delicious. My boyfriend even bought me a dessert and ah. Amazing! Customer service: 10/10 The ladies were so very nice to us, and I'm thankful that they were because good lord, we had a LONG drive, and one hell of a vacation in Mexico. We really were just so glad to be back in the states, and this meal just made us feel so happy, haha. The group of people serving us made us feel so at home. Pricing / all around: 10/10 I felt the price was high, @ $100.00 for two. But, it was so very worth it. We will 100% be back for more! read more

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Week before Xmas- made a reservation for a party of 8; something came up and our party size changed to 4 people after being seated. A thin, older aged female employee began complaining and making rude gestures on her face to us. Telling us "oh you guys were 7 minutes late," "you guys' time start at your reservation time," "you can't make reservations for a party of 4," etc. I'm pretty sure she doesn't say this to every party that makes a reservation. We don't work here so we don't know the rules, lady. It's unfortunate because the food is decent for the price but after dealing with her, we will consider alternatives for kbbq. read more

I very much enjoyed dining in. The air inside was a bit thick, but that's not unexpected. Service was good, but mainly covering the essentials. The food was very good, but not great. Yet, a very good good enough that I will go back if again in the area. Their menu is quite comprehensive. So, you have a lot of options. Good prices. They got parking. Overall, a nice option if you are in the area! read more

Loved the sides and meat selection, great service and great prices compared to other Korean BBQ places. I have tried.

The meats were quality. Everything was very flavorful. All of the marinades and seasonings were chef's kiss. This place offers simply great Korean BBQ. my bf is the pickiest eater and i would not think twice about taking him here. Really enjoyed everything and i do recommend! read more

I come here with my family All the time. I recommend you get the soy bean soup because it's super authentic, and the steamed egg is really good here too. I can tell that they cook it well. I also really like the cold noodles here too read more

Went here yesterday Aug 10 2025. Was placed on a corner booth and after 5mins was asked to move to another booth to accommodate another party/group. New table didn't have place setting. Spent time looking at the menu and when we ordered we were told what we want is not available. It would be nice to be told this before wasting time looking at the menu. Half of the sides taste stale and tough- dumpling, fried rice, noodles and sesame seed balls. Desert not included. Bulgogi was okay but other meat not impressed. Exhaust was not turned on. Service was slow to come by. Not coming back. Will continue to look for another Korean bbq place. read more

None of the pork dishes were good at all, tried spicy pork bulgogi, thinly sliced pork belly and garlic pork belly. Did not taste good. Only the sides were all good read more

My husband and I came here after finding our favorite KBBQ spot had permanently shut down and Buga knocked that out of the park honestly. The prices were so good (we always came for happy hour) and the food was even better than our original spot. Our favorite is the marinated beef belly and beef bulgogi. They have great service and are always attentive and quick with bringing our orders. The grills here don't really need to be changed but when they've seen it needed to, they have done it quickly. The ambiance is your typical KBBQ spot. It's spacious with other guests so you're not too close to people and good air flow through there. The parking is always easy to get and we always get seated right away. We've come on weekdays during happy hour so I'm not sure if it's very busy at other times. This is hands down my favorite KBBQ spot Ive ever been to. read more

The Buga Korean BBQ is a hidden gem. We decided to venture away from the busy area, referred to Yelp search, and found Buga located in Clairemont Mesa near Interstate 805. We visited on a Sunday, around past noon. Plenty of parking spaces. The servers were friendly and welcoming. The interior was well kept. There were only a handful of guests which we have likely anticipated as planned. The leather seats were huge and the table grill was thoroughly cleaned. The menu selections can either be A, B, or C, affordability of choice in descending order. We opted "C," approximately $28.99 per person; an optimal choice for 6 people in my opinion. We ordered the ff. food items and they came in batches: - Thin-sliced brisket - Spicy pork bulgogi - Seafood: Shrimp & Squid - Assorted banchan: Rice paper, kimchi, chap chae & dubu jorim. - White rice - Bowl of salad - A free mochi after a confirmed verification of a favorable Yelp review The delivery was plentiful, everything was flavorful and we all ended up leaving with a belly full. We will certainly visit this place again. read more

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They never come by to check how everything is going. Paid more than $60 per person and we cooked all the meats ourselves. Very disappointing service.. I won't come back read more

Worst korean bbq place ever service was horrible employees especially the counter person looked like he hated life walked by us multiple times without saying a word waited for 40 mins not one word oh and no one was in line the owner should really hire someone that actually cares about the job they are doing we finally sat food mediocre not bad but not good either other bbq restaurants have the same quality or better i definitely dont recommend this place you could try for yourself i regret giving this restaurant any of my money i regret every dime i spent every other korean restaurant i have been to in san diego customer service is very good but this place absolutely sucks i will let the people i know in the korean community in san diego about this place and to never go highly disappointed i would not be so upset about the employees if the food was atleast good but for the quality of food not worth my time or money read more

With so many positive reviews, I was surprised to have never heard of this place. I think it even has more reviews than Kogi KBBQ which comes as a shock to me. Overall, I was a little let down, maybe I had too high of an expectation. The meats were standard but nothing stood out. All the portions were extremely small too and this hit harder because service was a little slow. Granted it looked like they only had two servers working but at least have bigger portions then. For the amount we were paying per person, I would have hoped to get more rounds in to make my money's worth but there were too many points where we were waiting to order and just got full faster. With so many other options in Convoy, I don't think I'd come back again. read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

Easily one of the best Korean bbq spots in San Diego. LA Shortribs were incredible, as was the ribeye; and, really, everything we got. Don't be dissuaded by some of the other reviews either. I mean, honestly, how dumb are you to think you can get your leftovers to go at an all you can eat restaurant? That isn't a thing. Also, who the heck brings their gross dog to a restaurant? That one lady who gave one star because she was not allowed to have her dog in a stroller at her table is just nuts. I have no idea what some of these people are talking about with the service either. Everyone was incredibly attentive! Finally, loved the music choices; so stars for ambiance as well. All in all, five stars out of five. Highly recommended. read more

All the servers were super nice and worked hard--no complaints about the food or service from the actual team. But there's this one guy--probably a floor manager or something--who gave off a terrible vibe the entire night. He wasn't helping the staff, wasn't greeting guests, and wasn't doing anything useful. Just stood there with his hands in his pockets or arms crossed, looking around like he was above it all. No smile, no engagement, nothing. It was a busy Saturday night, and this dude was parked right in front of the TV like a statue. Why? When I was leaving, I made eye contact with him--no smile, no thank you, just a blank stare. It's frustrating because everyone else was great, but this one arrogant guy made the whole place feel uncomfortable. I want to support the people working hard, not someone just standing around like he's better than everyone else. Hope the owner sees this and takes action, because without this guy, the experience could have been so much better. He wears glasses, short and skinny, medium long hair read more

Came here on a Saturday night. Super duper busy but we got seated pretty quick considering it was almost 7pm Seating: very small table, not much room for a party of 4. I didn't enjoy the grill style either. Very easy for meat to fall into the fat gutter on the edges. Meat selection: not used to this either. There are 3 tiers. We opted for the $34, or option B Meat quality was OK. Sides are small and very individually sized per person. I appreciate the service that was given considering how packed it was. read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

Awesome service , beautiful interior and exterior , food was good just wasn't a fan of the marinated flap tail and the thin slice pork belly , everything else was yummy read more

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First time here! Parking here is free! Reservations are recommended but not required. Was able to walk in and get seated really quick! Service here is excellent and the price is decent for ayce! Great place to come if you're hungry! read more

Buga Korean BBQ - First time here. Ample free parking, service here is excellent! Well worth the price if you're hungry! - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

I personally wouldn't come here again. The servings were pretty small compared to other KBBQ places I've been to and the service felt lacking. The ambience wasn't bad but it felt more oriented towards family's rather than adults. I came here with my friend I hadn't seen in forever and well we enjoyed eating KBBQ but the vibe just didn't fit well for us. read more

Great dinner here! The service was wonderful. We got the C set, which is the cheapest of the three offerings. Your boy loves brisket... I could eat buckets of it. I also recommend the beef bulgogi and the barbecue chicken (chicken takes a long time to cook). So many good side dishes, too! Japchae is a favorite! And the steamed egg! Another pro tip: wrap the meat and some salad in the rice paper. I recommend getting here early on a weekend (and making reservations!). You can make a reservation for a group of less than 6 people, even though the website says 6 or more. You won't regret it. And if you write a Yelp review, you get a free dessert! read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Oodles of brisket!! - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

Do not come here, there's much better options. My party and I waited 45 minutes for our food to come out. At the time we came, the restaurant wasn't packed. Our side dishes weren't served until after our main courses were, along with our water cups. We attempted to wave down any server, but all of them were inattentive. The food came out and the yook gye jang was extremely watered down and had a foul tangy taste to it. The cold noodles' noodles were stuck together and impossible to pull apart and the soup was essentially flavorless. It had a foul sweat smell as well. The meat was good, but nothing special. Very Americanized. Their free mochi for writing a yelp review was gross. It wasn't chewy and soft and chalky. I typically love mochi, but I spit this one out. Their menu is overpriced for what they serve. Come here within your own means. read more

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Sadly the food was absolutely delicious. But the service was awful. Sat down and got one round of meats and then our server was nowhere to be found for another 30 minutes then proceeded to pass our table multiple times and ignored us. Pressed the call button on the table, no help. Save your money and go to any other KBBQ in the area. read more

Came here yesterday for the first time on Fathers Day. I had a really great experience. The meats were really tender. The service was great and there was no wait, so we were seated really fast. The establishment is very spacious. Only downside was that a few meats were limited in terms of how many times you can order it but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed eating here. read more

Great food great price three kids loved it. Would go back and recommended if your in the area. read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Kids enjoying dinner after ending the school year. - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

This place was really good but they could have been more attentive. The table had a button to push to call for help but even after pushing the button we had to wait pretty long before anyone showed up. Maybe they are short staffed. The food was good. We opted for menu B. We felt it was a good happy medium between too many options and not enough options. The portion sizes were great! Nice and small which gave us the opportunity to try more types of meats. I'd give this place a second chance because it was good but hopefully next time they have the right amount of staff to accommodate their restaurant. read more

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Absolutely horrible service. A group of my family and other individuals about 15 people made a reservation ahead. They had to wait about an hour and when we got our orders all the tofu soups were bland without any seafood literally a block of tofu and it tasted super bland and disgusting. Customer service was trash and the food was Terrible. Also, the chefs or the cooks in the back had a Fight and that's why it took more than 1 hour and 10 minutes for all the tofu soups to come out. Although we understand that there's currently a shortage of workers, this was totally out of control. The tofu soup had one tiny shrimp and that was called a seafood tofu soup. How upsetting our dinner was after a long trip to San Diego. I truly wish they make sure to take care of people who made reservations or just don't take reservations and also serve food that's edible. Very disappointed with a Korean restaurant treating customers rudely. We would give a 0 star if possible. read more

Love the tofu soup with veggies. I ordered mine mild... with the rice and side dishes it was perfect. The Bibimbap was delish as well. They have a huge menu. Staff was fairly pleasant. read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Tofu soup - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

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Experiencias was good, nice time to spend with friends and family. Love the meat menu and the shrimp. Sapporo beer premium is the best. Service was ok ! read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

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yummy food! love the cheese corn! selection of meat and sides for a reasonable price.

Read reviews before coming here! Based on my experience, I will not come back here again. Decided to celebrate my birthday here since it's my first time going to this place for AYCE Kbbq. I wanted to try a different kbbq this time, So I checked this place out. I called for reservation for 12 people and at the end of the night, we GOT CHARGED FOR 13 people -.- (which we didn't realize until we got home). We have not called to dispute the charges, yet. And don't know if we should. Our bill also included a whooping $109+ mandatory gratuity charge. Total bill was almost $1k. We all had the AYCE Option B. We were gonna go for the most expensive AYCE Menu but after reading the reviews, we decided to go with the B. We had the middle room, and it was okay. There was a TV in the room we were in but it stayed completely off the whole time we were there. There was also no music at the restaurant or whatsoever. They had 2 big tables set up in the middle room, which is totaling to 4 grills, but we were only seated on one side. So we only had 2 grills in total. The grills does not get hot enough to cook the meats. It literally takes at least 15 min to cook a brisket and beef belly! And the other grill close to the wall was barely working. It took us forever to cook the meats! Which was sad because we were so hungry and by the time the meats were cooked, we were getting full by drinking water! We didn't even get to order that much because the cooking part was taking forever! The meat quality was okay and so as their marinated meats. Their steamed eggs comes in a small cup, not like the other kbbqs (they come in a clay pot) . The steamed egg I had was barely cooked! Top part was cooked but once I got to the middle, it wasn't cooked properly. You literally get full from the side dishes you order bc the meat takes forever to cook! Giving this place 2 stars because my experience. We had fun but that's bc the people we were with.. The staff were nice and accommodating. Although, at some point, I felt a little bit off-energy from one or 2 of the staff. Overall it was a good experience, but I'll stick to my usual kbbq spots. read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

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Hmmm to be fairly honest with everyone, the food was pretty good, but did not like the customer service at all. Me and my wife went on a weekday and there was not that many people at all. We barley got attended to and every time we wanted more meat, they took forever to service us. Personally I love manna with your own personal robot, but I love trying new places. Like I said the food was good, customer service needs to be worked on. read more

My brother and I took my mom here for Mother's day. She's been wanting to try KBBQ. We got $35 all you can eat special and it was perfect. They had a great meat selection and the sides that are included with the special were delicious. Loved their cheese corn and their fried rice. Their bulgogi Beef and beef short ribs were my favorite of the meat options. They had great service. Everything came out quickly. Definitely recommend trying this spot out! read more

Buga Korean BBQ - Cheese corn - Barbeque Near Me - San Diego, California

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Another great Kbbq place with wonderful service and good selection of meats in Clairemont. The staff is so friendly and attentive which made my experience lovely here. It was my first time and I got lunch menu C. It has all the meats I wanted and my favorite side which was the steamed egg. They know their portion sizes here and I felt they gave the perfect amount for two people. The ban chan we were given was fish cake, japchae, white pickle radish, and kimchi. All of which were delicious! The grill cooked our meats well, everything came out on time, and everything was fresh! I would make this my go to spot for Korean bbq as I feel like they have the best selection for the meats I wanted to eat. read more

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