After a week of watching people eat BBQ foods on Man vs. Food, Bizarre Food, and some random other shows, I developed a serious craving for succulent fall off the bone sweet and tangy BBQ meats. I say meats cuz I want it all, not just pork but beef and sausages too! Only problem is that I'm not too familiar with BBQ joints in San Jose... Then I remembered CJ's BBQ... I ended up ordering the BBQ pork rib sandwich, BBQ pork rib and sausage hot link combo sandwich, and some pork ribs. I've been here before and the food was okay, not exactly anything special but definitely tasty! I did have customer service issues but I think it was more a cultural thing so it was no big deal. I even posted a previous review of the place which was just an average review, but I must say, my two previous visits (which were sometime within the past 2 years but I really can't remember specifically when because my mort retention is next to zero) were nothing compared to last night! I don't know what changed from the last visit until last night but everything was so good that I went back and ordered the exact same thing again tonight!!! You hear that? TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW...ITS THAT GOOD!! The pork ribs just fell right off the bone and were super tender. The waitress, Helen, saw me using the Rooster hot sauce to spice it up a lil and offered me a spicy BBQ sauce, and even showed me a trick to spice it up further! Overall excellent dinner!! ^_^ I even chatted it up with CJ himself, as well as his lovely friend/waitress Helen. They are a friendly bunch and I look forward to going back for more excellent BBQ and great conversations! 5 stars in my book! Peace & Poi read more

Shit customer service, great food, but entirely too expensive. Go elsewhere unless you just need a quick BBQ fix.

Had the lunch special #1 (Chicken and Pork Ribs) which is now $9.99 plus tax. This deal used to be $7.99 and if it were still that price, I'd be more forgiving. There version of American "BBQ" doesn't do the word justice. The meats are precooked and then charred on the grill which I suspect is an electric one. There's not a hint of smoke in any of the meats I've tried. Hence my guess of an electric grill. The charred taste makes it resemble true BBQ but that's really pushing it. I think the Armadillo WIlly's chain restaurant might actually be better. There's hardly any BBQ places in the 95123 area so it's really slim pickings. I would give this place 3 stars but because of the price paid, I really don't think it's worth it. But hey, at least my score is better than a 1-star. read more

Wow.... From reading all the reviews and with 3.5 stars, I thought it would be a decent place. However, this place blows! My goodness where do I start? 1) TOOK FOREVER: Don't even think about eating here during lunch. I placed my order at 12:05 PM and my food came out at 12:52 PM! I didn't have time to eat because I had to get back to work. 2) WRONG ORDER: My order came out wrong! The husband took the order. I said "Ribs" and he thought "beef." 3) OWNER IS RUDE (WIFE): When I told the wife, she was screaming at me in front of everyone arguing that I said "Beef" (She didn't even take my order) and kept pointing at the menu with the BBQ tong she was cooking with. Because she did that, I noticed they over charged me (they gave me wrong order). After I pointed out that she overcharged me, she threw $2 at me. 4) FOOD: Corn Nugget: Everyone seems to like it on Yelp, so I thought I have it a try... To me, it was too sweet. I think they put load of sugar in the batter. Hot Links: Obviously came from Costco BBQ Beef: The better tasting one, but not much meat on the bones Garlic Bread: I was looking forward to this until I saw it was soggy. ewww ENOUGH SAID. read more

Great place for lunch alternative to Mc D or Arby's if you are not in a rush or else you better call ahead. For $5.99, I had the lunch special: 2 ribs, hot links, potato salad, and garlic bread. The ribs were definitely the star of the meal. Hot links and potato salad were just OK. Garlic bread was hit or miss. The slice that came with the meal was soft and crunchy, and sufficiently garlicky. I then bought another piece for $.55 but the second one did not taste as good. Still soft and crunchy without the garlic taste. Overall, I was satisfied with quality of the food, and definitely with the light hit on the wallet. Next up one the docket would be the sandwich, which look mighty meaty and yummy. One less star because the lady at the counter was having a huge bad hair day. Every conversation (me asking for bbq sauce on the side, me saying thank you) was followed by silence and a frown. Sheesh... read more

Me & my husband love this place there combo sandwich is the best BBQ sandwich I've ever had!

Awesome little gem in south San Jose! They have a mix of korean bbq and american and all of it is really good. The owners are super nice and make you feel right at home. We got the mixed platter and the mixed bbq sandwich with Kim Chi and all of it was tasty. During the summer months they are open late till 11pm. Reasonable prices for bbq and would recommend it if you are on the south side. read more

Can't say this is my favorite bbq restaurant in the bay area but it is not too bad which I find surprising. This restaruant is located in a random shopping center that I never drive into. My friend recommended this place and I gave it a shot. Thought the food was good, service wasnt all that but they get a solid 3 stars from me. Place seemed kind of old and run-down but generally clean. (we ordered ribs and chicken...next time i will try the combo sandwich that everything is talking about.) read more

The food is great. My score is based on the wait and price. 8 bucks for a hot link sandwich? No sides or drink. 8 bucks is kind of steep. Just a lit link and bread. That just made me feel that this place turned lame over the years. It's been a year since iv ate here but I don't remember it being so expensive. Also I got here at 1 and it took 20 mins for my "hotlink sandwich" then they rushed me saying we close after lunch at 130. Gee thanks for making me wait forever just to make me rush eating. Next time I want a good bbq lunch I'll go to JC'S bbq on saratoga. At least they have lunch combos under 10 bucks! This place is going down hill. read more

I found CJ's on an app called Eat24. As busy as life can get, sometimes we have to rely on fast food for dinner. I'm a fan of Korean food and wanted to try this place out. First delivery was a success. Ordered the Korean Kalbi ribs, jasmine rice, kimchi, hotlink sandwich, and onion rings. I was amazed with the delivery time and the taste of food. Korean ribs was good. It had a good charcoal taste. Hotlink was slightly crispy. Onion rings were crispy and warm. I loved it. It was definitely better than any other delivery we've (hubby and I) had. 2nd delivery - when we love a vendor or restauarant, we become devoted customers. This 2nd time was a failure!! I received a call from the restaurant stating they were out of kalbi ribs but offered their beef bbq ribs instead. Of course I said OK, no problem. The lady on the phone said you'll love it. When the order came, we recvd 3 orders of HUGE beef ribs smothered in bbq sauce. It was not good at all. It was tough as hell and looked like huge pieces of thrown together horse ribs. It did not mix well with the kimchi and rice. Yuck. 3rd delivery - I thought ok they didn't get out order right last time but lets try them again. Ordered the same order--kalbi, rice, hotlink sandwich, anf onion rings. Today, they FORGOT the kimchi. I called the restaurant to inform them and instead of the lady making an effort to to say sorry and find a way to drop off what I ordered, she was frazzled and said she would drop kimchi off tomorrow! I told her really?!? I'm eating right now!! She goes on saying she will deduct it from our next order. I said nevermind and hung up. Took a couple bites of the kalbi and it tasted boiled. Yuck. Onion rings were soggy. Never ordering from this place again!!! Horrible food. We tried to give this place another chance but gross. Food is horrible. Should've ordered pizza today. I did not feel like cooking because of the big PPV fight, but $80 for horrible service and food? NOT WORTH IT. read more

Not a big fan of eating foods that require you to eat with a bib. However, ribs are a delicious exception. I prefer a dry rub instead of having foods lathered in sauce, they use a pretty basic sauce that doesn't blow you away, but at the same time, I can apprecaite that the ribs aren't drenched. It's not fall off the bone type of ribs, so the technique can be perfected, but it was still super tender and with a slight tug with your canine teeth big chunks of meat will peel off the bone very easily. the baked beans were actually kidney beans, so it tasted more like minastrone soup. the potato salad was just alright. They also throw in a side salad when you order a meal. Decent, no better or worse than a Chili's bbq rib. read more

Just like Paul K. I don't get it. We came with a groupon and came to find out all "specials" on the menu cannot be ordered using groupon. Well, their specials is more than half the menu. Food is barely average. Portion is extremely small. Two orders, rings, kimchi and rice plus soft drinks ran over $30. The man behind the counter is super friendly, the woman (his wife?) was grouchy. If you don't like Groupon, don't sign up for it.. Won't be back. read more

Just tried this place today since no other Korean place was open today on this side of town. I was really craving spicy pork and white rice so I just ordered here based on all the pretty good reviews. 1st issue: originally ordered in the morning at 11 am (through yelp's preorder) and waited 2 whole hours for them to finally tell me there were no drivers available. Not cool. I understand that today is a holiday, but the least they could do was let me know that if I still wanted my food, I had to do my own pickup instead of letting me wait and call. I also called the Eat24 and asked what happened and I guess it was all just miscommunication. I just let it go and decided to wait until they reopened for dinner since I was still craving Korean. 2nd issue: I ordered on doordash right at 515 on the dot since I was guaranteed to have someone at my door with my (EXPENSIVE!!!!) food with in 2 hours for sure. The menu on door dash was drastically different by the way, not sure why. I was just really annoyed at this point since all I wanted was good Korean food and its taking a lot of effort to get it. I really wouldn't have chosen this place, but my favorite place was closed today. So, when door dash gets to my house with the food, I was instantly fed up all over again. All hope for a good dinner, since our lunch never happened, went out the window. The Korean short rib plate literally only have enough meat to feed my little 3 year old cousin. no joke. not only was the portion small, but there was no meat, mostly fat. Next, I ordered the spicy pork bulgogi and they sent me beef marinated in onions and what tasted like soy sauce. and again, the portion was way too small and the meat was dry. I paid a good amount of money for this food and was in no way satisfied. The last thing that bothered me was that I paid 50 for those two dishes and we get no sides?? Most places come instantly with sides. They weren't even up for sale on the menu so I assumed that at least rice and Kimchi came with the plate. Overall, I won't be coming back anytime soon. Unless of course friends or family insist on their American BBQ. But personally, the prices don't match at all with what you get. I feel really sad that I did not get the service and good food like the rest of the reviewers. :( :( :( :( read more

Best place in the bay for some bbq beef ribs. They are huge and great price. I love their food selection. It's quite unique but everything I love. read more

This is a good family restaurant that has a special barbecue sauce that tastes very good. I hear they also sell the sauce in bottles to customers. There is a family size meal or individual plates. There are also BBQ sandwiches and some of them are a Korean fusion. The chicken is kind of spicy and has a tender meat. The BBQ ribs are very juicy and tender. There is a side of beans in a cup and garlic bread too. So good! Definitely should try this restaurant! read more

As many previous reviews said- the female Korean owner is very rude and cold to her customers. She greeted me with a blank stare as I came inside to order. As my wife is Korean and spoke with her, the owner apparently has the unique skill of being rude in two languages. Has posters of Korean food choices all over her restaurant, but unsympathetically told my wife "we don't have" each time she ordered a Korean dish that was on the menu! She was equally disinterested to me in English when I ordered. Food was ok, nothing special, but I would prefer to give my money to someone who cares about their customers and will not return again. If I did return, my wife would probably kill me as she was shocked by the owner's poor manners(in their native language). Seriously, we wanted to go out and enjoy our food on a Friday night, but it was spoiled by the callous owner. read more

We love eating at CJ's! The meat was tender and delicious, and the kimchi ramen was very yummy as well. What I loved most was the service! The woman who was helping us was extremely nice and friendly. As we were finishing up the meal, she even came over and offered us some baked potatoes on the house! I am definitely coming back here again! read more

This is the best BBQ in the Bay Area. The place is little small. You can order to go and they also sell there home made BBQ sauce. It is little prices but it is worth it. I alway order there hot links and BBQ sandwich. It is a family own business. The BBQ ribs are so good and the meats just come off. read more

My family and I have been eating at CJ's for many many years. And we LOVE it. It's not "soul food bbq" but its GOOD!!

I would have to agree this place isn't good. First off they boil the ribs then they just throw it on the grill and rub BBQ sauce on it. That's not BBQ !!! The food is really bland and not worth the price. If anyone thinks this is good BBQ then you haven't tried real BBQ . read more

Wun by de yocal koweans...food was decent, i give them 3 stars for the food but service is fast and good so they get an extra star.

CJ'S is Awesome!! We love the ribs!! Call ahead because sometimes they can get busy! The ribs melt in your mouth and the BBQ sauce is YUMMY!! Try it for yourself... Tell me if I'm wrong!! Good Eating- Lisa read more

Found on Grub Hub. Got delivery that arrived hot and well packaged. I had the pork bulgogi. My partner had the Korean short ribs - kalbi. Great meal! Stopped for lunch today. Got a free plate of fresh kimchi and rice. Nice and spicy. The jimchi potstickers are excellent - hot & fresh! Had one kimchi combo sandwich. While the roll was only ok, the pork bbq, hot link, kimchi combo was excellent. One sandwich fed both of us with leftovers. Owner very friendly. Got some advice from one of the regulars. We'll be back soon! read more

My siblings and I have been regulars here since 2004 and we always order the same thing; combo sandwich with potato salad. Their BBQ sauce is amazing, they give plenty of meat in this sandwich and their potato salad is the the BEST I've ever had! The location isn't the best, but this place is a gem! With only one person working, it can take a while to get your order. It's usually the same lady working whenever i come by and she is very friendly. I would recommend this place to anyone that loves bbq, especially bbq sandwiches! I would not order the ramen here though, it was added on to their menu a few years ago and it honestly tastes like instant ramen. I'm still willing to overlook that and give this place 5 stars because their bbq is THAT good. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself!(: read more

This place is a 2.5. We came here on Sunday noon and it wasn't pack. We tried the comb of 2 pork ribs and 3 beef ribs. They were nothing special. I'm Asian so I know exactly how Asians bbq. It didn't surprise me when I saw a big pot of water and the lady was taking the ribs out. It's a short cut method instead of smoking the ribs. The sauce was not outstanding. It was just ehhh. Another minus point is they don't have restrooms nor wet wipes so after eating we left with our sticky hands from the ribs. It's so close to my house but I wouldn't come for what it is. read more

We walked in and walked out at dinner time. There was no one in the place but 2 tables were piled high with dirty dishes and the lady working there was watching Jeopardy instead of cleaning up; There was no bbq aroma when we entered and no food to see. Behind the counter on the grill area was a dirty bowl with sauce remnants and something else that looked like it should have been put in the sink to wash or atleast refrigerated. After seeing the condition of the place and the fact that this was Friday night at 7 and there was nobody there, we decided to go somewhere else. We had made a special trip from Saratoga to check it out after reading the yelp reviews. Maybe we caught it on a bad night but we didn't want to take a chanceI I wouldn't have given it a star at all but I guess you can't give 0 stars. read more

My daughter loved this place and she is REALLY hard to please! I had the ribs and they were tremendous - she has the pork sandwich. The sweet potato fries were fine but not great for delivery...! I give this place two thumbs up. In fact, we're off to this joint again tonight! :) read more

yum yum yum! This is one of my favorite BBQ places around town. I never eat here because, I don't know. I always order to-go and by the time I get home 15,20 minutes later, its still delicious as ever! I always get potato salad and garlic bread for my sides and a full slab of pork ribs. I love how their ribs are perfectly cooked and their sauce is heaven. Nice sweet and tangy, the way I like it. I totally recommend this place for goooood BBQ. read more

This is one of my favorite BBQ spots, Their Beef BBQ Ribs are off the hook and their homemade BBQ sauce and potato salad are really good! =) read more

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I love CJ bbq! Like Stine H, I always get my food togo. I never really thought to eat there...but that could be because CJ is about 5 min or less (depending on lights) from my home. I've had the chicken, the pork ribs, baby backs, and the beef ribs. All are delicious. I usually get my sauce on the side (cleaner to eat), but either way the ribs are awesome. Perfectly cooked, tender, juicy, and flavorful. We get the dinner combos, my boyfriend gets the potato salad, and I get the bbq beans. The beans are something like a hybrid of baked beans and chili beans...substance of chili beans, but sweet like baked beans, with pieces of bacon...you also get a salad and garlic bread with the dinner combo. You get a ton of food for a decent price. I first gave them 5 stars, but then my boyfriend reminded me that I don't like the garlic bread and never eat it. ;) 4 stars! The family that owns and runs CJ's are very nice. I definitely recommend CJ's bbq. :) read more

i broke my cj bbq cherry a couple weeks ago and i am very happy i did! my friends raved about it 24/7 so we set out a day to try a few of the items that they had to offer. we had the combo sandwich, beef ribs and pork ribs, potato salad, and garlic bread to share amongst all of us. first, the sandwich had a HUGE load of meat on it! i was like (O_O).. this was a good thing though, i was hungry! i grabbed a fork and ate all of the delectable meat that was overflowing from the bun. delicious, i must say, especially with the bbq sauce to top it off. i could have just eaten the meat without the bun. i was gonna get the sausage sandwich, but ended up with the combo sandwich (it has both sausage and meat). i'm happy i did, because i think all sausage would be tiresome. the garlic bread was great, and the potato salad was greatER. =] rib-wise, the beef and pork were equally yummy, although i prefer the beef's texture. great experience! just one suggestion- have a fountain drink machine! something about drinking from cans/bottles without ice and a cup.. it's not as refreshing.. especially with bbq lol. i'm coming back! read more

3 Stars for the food 0 Stars for the service!!! We chose this place because of yelp and wanted bbq beef ribs. Already been to Sam's, JC's and Texas Roadhouse so wanted to try a new place. It's owned by Koreans. I think they own JC's too. The lady owner asked us how we found out about her place. Right when we told her we found her on yelp she got all bipolar on us. The nice little Korean lady was replaced by this mean ass biatch!!! All of a sudden she was very short with us and responded to our answers with sarcasm. I don't know if she was under the presumption that we were yelpers or what not but it's as if she was doing us a favor by serving us food and water. I think the husband noticed what a bitch she was (for no apparent reason I might add) and acted nice towards us with his smiles and gestures. He might have scolded the mean old lady but I'm not sure, don't speak Korean. Anyways, the beef ribs were okay. Precooked and then reheated on the grill. Can't verify if it was boiled or not. Sauce came out of a bottle which is drizzled on after the meat is grilled. Exactly the same as JC's. Don't come here unless you want to get bad bad bad service and have mediocre ribs. Sorry Mr. Korean owner, I feel for you! read more

Ehhh. Tastes good but portion was small. I didn't get filled the way I expected. I paid close to $16 with a soda and small rice andwasn't full at the end. I was planning on going to Kenzo sushi which is right around the block and have all you can eat sushi for $21. There was too much lettuce and the rice was kinda smooshed together. No disrespect to the owners, but they need to increase their portions. For god sakes we are in America and we eat a lot. I've been to other countries and they serve limited like this place. Imagine I'm a smaller man saying this. What would and average American would say about t read more

I finally got the chance to try this place. I came here before but had to leave because the wait time was very long. For this experience, I used an online ordering app. Then I called the restaurant to ask to prepare my food already as I was on my way. When I got there, the food was pretty much ready. I ordered the sweet potato fries and the combination bbq kimchi sandwich. I was definitely not disappointed. The fries taste fresh just like what everyone else said. The sandwich was oh so delicious. I am definitely looking to try more of what they have to offer here. It is worth it. Although one star off because I felt this place can definitely use a helper in the kitchen. The lady sound and look very stressed, running around doing everything. Typical small business problems though. But if you're not in a rush go and try it. read more

When it comes to bbq sandwiches this is about as good as it gets. They have more quality than quantity. They do bbq and they do it well. There are no fancy seats, no fancy decorations, and nothing to distract you from what really matters in a hole in the wall bbq joint, the food in front of you. The combo and pork rib sandwich is what I recommend. 5 stars for some simply damn good food read more

Visit because of Groupon. I was VERY disappointed. Foods were not food and portions are TINY.

Love the garlic bread and the potato salad here! It comes with every meal! My husband really likes the ribs here! He says the sauce is yummy! I am a vegetarian, so not many options for me but I do enjoy the sides here. The lady working at the register as well as making the food is a hit or miss. I believe she may be the owner. Sometimes she is in a good mood and will answer questions, but other times she will not say anything to you as you walk in. We prefer to take the food home versus eating here. They do have a sitting area, but I have yet to see people actually sitting there eating. My stars are based on food only. If it was based on customer service I would remove a star, but I feel like the lady in the front is a hard-worker and she has bad days like we all do. read more

my name is willie, cj barbecue has provided my family with many meals during weekdays and holidays. service is excellent and food is fresh. i recommend to all who is looking for homestyle barbecue. good job cj's read more

To all that eat or have eaten here. I have lived in this area for over 10 yrs and I really haven't found a perfect BBQ joint, but CJ's is close. Every time I have eaten there I got good service, quickly made hot food and far prices and always leave full. I see some of you complain about one woman, well I know them all as I made friends from going so often, so before you JUDGE know some facts, some people have bad days and so what its run by Korean's, the father who started this business was in WWII fighting for the US. This is run by his daughter and her husband with a Korean lady friend who herself has had a loss in her family and I am sure is still dealing with it. Yes its a small store, but most people take it out anyways so stop your complaining. If your on the fence about this place give it another try, I'm sure you have a better experience. As for the style of BBQ, for those WHO don't know anything about making BBQ there are a handful of ways, one is to pre-boil the rims to make them soft which I believe is how they prepare there, then grill them. So instead of guessing or making assumptions, ask them how they make there food. I've eaten at alot of other places, this place is in the top category of BBQ in my opinion as I like there style of BBQ. As of other side items, every place I tried make there BBQ beans (there not baked beans as one lady couldn't figure out what they were) and potato salad different, if you don't like there style doesn't mean it sucks, you just don't like there style and you should word it that whey. Also not they have a $5.99 lunch special which is pretty filling and good and for about $10-$11 you can have a filling dinner. So give it a try and come back to Yelp and comment with a open mind. read more

If you like your bbq prebaked in an oven then dredged in sauce and reheated before serving then this is the place for you. Real bbq is slow cooked with wood. read more