I got the $99 combo 3 with 2 other friends. The ahjuma spent the time to cook everything for us and was very accommodating. She had a large party that left just before we came in so it was a little slow at first coming out with our banchan or heck even taking our order. But at the end of it all, she did us 1up and gave us a free soju bottle that we basically ended up paying it back via a large tip. I think it's some what odd that there are 3 small kbbq joints within two very small plazas. It's like adult video store, kbbq, adult video store, kbbq, liquor store, kbbq. All in all, if this place is packed, just try going next door to see if there is less of a wait. They are all virtually on the same level. read more

Gaboja - Look at that marble - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Like most people, the first time I came here was because the wait at Gooyi Gooyi was too long. But the second time I came to Gaboja was for Gaboja! I agree with the Yelper who said the food is more home style. First time my husband and I got the kalbi and soondubu. Second time we got Combo #1 with brisket, beef tongue, and pork belly. We also added kalbi and octopus and ordered drinks. This was for 5 of us. Total came out to $137, so about $27 per person. Loved the kalbi. Beef tongue was a hit. Brisket good. Soondubu and steamed egg were good, too. My friends thought the octopus fell a little flat (a little undercooked) but I liked it! Minus 0.5 star: Our pork belly came out tough. I think the waitress flipped it too late? We actually flipped it ourselves before she came back (probably still too late) and even took the meat off the grill, only to be told later that we needed to put the meat back on because it wasn't done. It was confusing at some points to know whether or not the waitress was returning to continue cooking our food. Later we didn't touch the fried rice for a long time because we thought the waitress was going to tell us when we could eat it, but she didn't. So minus 0.5 star for this, although the service was good overall. Minus another 0.5 star: While the fried rice looked good, its flavor was less than expected. It was a little sour (from pickled veggies?) and I found the seaweed taste to be too strong. I think it needs meat and some gochujang so that it tastes more like bibimbap. Note that the combo came with steamed egg, fried rice, soy bean soup, and soju or another hard liquor. The soup and side dishes were yummy. I like the shredded potatoes. The waitress was kind enough to make a plate with all the side dishes on it for the end of the table, knowing that the people on the end wouldn't be able to reach the middle, especially since one would have to reach over the BBQ grill. We also ordered some beer - I think it was Hite - which I really enjoyed. Very smooth. Parking in the front is limited, but there is parking available in the rear, I hear. If the wait at Gooyi Gooyi is too long, head over to Gaboja! Or just go straight to Gaboja. You won't be disappointed. read more

Short and sweet. I took my family here because we were hungry. We wanted some Korean food and this place seemed like a good spot to check out. Here is how bad my experience was. Just after parking my car and motioning for the door a lady peeked her head out the door and said snootily, " you're going have to move your car this is a private parking spot". I was a little taken back but I did mention "yeah, we were planing on trying out your business" but before I could finish she cut me off and said you need to park in the back. Firstly, there was no markings specifying "customer only" but that's besides the point as I was hoping to be a customer second, it had no distinguishing marks identifying it as employees only ( if that's what she meant) anyways, employee parking by the front door would be ridiculous. We ended up leaving all together. Okay, maybe not short... nor sweet. Bad experience at the front door... that's a first! read more

Friendly service. Authentic Korean food. It's definitely more Korean than Gen, Qpot, and most other popular kbbq places in the area. The quality of meat is better, and the price is worth it. Highly recommended read more

Gaboja - Look at the thick slice - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

I prefer Gaboja to Gooyi Gooyi. Meat portions are bigger, everything feels handcut and vs a restaurant, Gaboja feels like you're eating at home, which is a good thing for me. I think if you are a regular at Gooyi Gooyi, it's worth coming here at least once. read more

Food is just ok here. The other korean restaurant next door is much better. I recommend just sticking with the bbq. I parked my car in the parking lot that belonged to the business next door because Gaboja's parking lot is tiny and was all full. My friends made me drink too much soju so I had to call a cab to drive me home after dinner. I returned the next morning and found my car gone. Car was towed and it costed me 300 bucks to get it out! read more

It's been a while since I've been here and all I can say is wow at all the recent changes. They expanded their restaurant and now have a nice large back area suitable for large parties. They definitely invested well with their exhaust system as you don't walk out of there smelling like bbq. Their menu has also improved as their offerings are more varietal and meat quality is excellent. This place is located in the same plaza as Gooyi Gooyi, which I've also been to. However gooyi is much smaller and you definitely walk out smelling like bbq after eating. Gaboja is more traditional of a place, and has way better "banchan". The owner is actually well known in the community for having one of the best Kimchi. The side plates there are fresh and great in quality and taste. This place is probably the closest to LA KTown type of environment and the staff here are super nice. Rather than waiting next door for a table, I'd much rather always take my friends and family to Gaboja. I'll definitely be back now that they have a large room for big parties. This place is very authentic to restaurants in Korea. Come check it out, it will NOT disappoint! read more

I happened to stumble upon this place while finding a place to eat with my girlfriend because gooyi gooyi next door was extremely full and i didn't feel like waiting. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. This is my new go to spot for korean food. It is family owned and run, which is rare nowadays, and you can really taste it in their food. Every bite is like an explosion of flavors in your mouth. SERVICE: ONE OF THE BEST. Every time i come in here I feel like I just came home for dinner. They talk to you, COOK FOR YOU (that's my favorite part :] ), they throw in little extras like a little omelette and an egg in your dish that's not normally included. They are extremely nice. I did eventually try the place next door and their service was lacking and felt like they were rushing me to get out, basically shoving food down my throat. FOOD: KIMCHI FRIED RICE IS AMAZING SEAFOOD RICE CAKES- soft but not too chewy like other places Combo #1- I LOVE MEAT and you can't go wrong with this. this will fill up 3 people. Stone Pot BiBimBop- i like the burnt rice :D they have a special sauce they mix in for you and it just brings out all the flavor. UNLIMITED SIDE DISHES- They have the best Kimchi i have ever had. It tingles on my tongue. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PLACE!!!!! I don't usually review places, but this place stood out so much that i had to go back and write one. read more

Place is not very good at all. I would suggest eating next door at Gooyi Gooyi. Service was not at all as expected for it being so empty. The lady just kept standing at the door making sure no one parked in "their" parking spot even though there are no signs indicating it was for that restaurant only. read more

This is one of those Korean restaurants that won't bring out the side dishes for you if you aren't Korean. Two Korean parties walked in 10 min after I did, and they immediately got side dishes. I had to specifically ask for side dishes. They also never refilled my water. Fuck places that do this. Food was good though. 4 stars for food. 1 star for being racist. read more

High quality meats, side dishes and service. The type of establishment you find and experience in South Korea. They have the best doenjang jjigae (fermented soybean soup) in town. It comes with any of the combo meals which is the best value! Me and my friends' "Go-to" spot read more

Neat little Korean restaurant. Half of the whole restaurant is separated into rooms for private parties. We sat in the back room that had a direct access to the kitchen. I peaked in when they opened the door and it has a very home kitchen feel. I came here with my coworkers. The boss wanted a group dinner. He paid of coarse. My coworkers are Korean so I just let them order everything. All the food was pretty good, I really like this spicy squid plate. This was also where I was introduced to Korean blackberry wine. The stuff is like dessert wine. Everything was good but being that I didn't pay for it I feel like I don't know how to judge what to expect. I don't want to bring down their rating so 4 stars. read more

This was an A-OK Korean BBQ joint. It's a little hard to find and parking is difficult. The restaurant is nestled between two adult bookstores and the parking lot is small and their spaces are allocated to each of the stores in the strip mall so parking may be difficult. I think there might have been more space in the back but it was kind of dark and quite frankly given the seediness of the location, I did not think it would be safe to park back there. We originally wanted to go to another Korean BBQ place called #1 in the neighboring strip mall, but they were closed, and Gooyi Gooyi next door had a 20 minute wait, so we came here to Gaboja. The main area is small, with about 6 tables. There was only one other party in here when we came in around 7:30pm Sunday night. The service at this restaurant was excellent. Recognizing right away that we were new to her restaurant, the owner helped us grill our meats. We ordered Combo #1 for $49.95 and it was more than enough for the 3 of us. We had no idea what was in it since the description was in Korean, but it sounded good when the owner tried to describe it in broken English. It came with thin sliced beef, seasoned beef, pork belly, miso soup and a large bottle of Hite beer. The meat was pretty good, especially when eaten with the oil and garlic sauce. Probably not the best quality, but tasty and tender nevertheless. The pork belly was my favorite, and then the seasoned beef. The banchan was about average. To finish off the meal, she brought a bowl of sweetened puffed rice. It was kind of like eating popcorn and was akin to Honey Smacks without all the honey on it. Nice way to end the meal. The owner was funny. When I told her I didn't want any beer, I think she thought I was underage because later she asked me how old I am and if I was 14! She was pretty shocked when she found out my real age. I was a little scrubby looking that day, but not THAT scrubby looking! Oh well, I'll take it as a compliment. read more

You know, if you can't get into Gooyi Gooyi this place right next door in the same lot is not too bad. They don't have much non-marinated meet but I think it's still pretty good. It's not as poppin' but the price is right and the soju is chilled. Just the way I like it. Parking situation is not that great given it's in small lot but we got here at 9 p.m. and we found a spot as others were leaving. The service is good and they come by and cook the meats for you most of the time. Would come again. =) read more

I was skeptical to try this place since there were only two reviews, one very good one, one very bad one. but I cant judge since again, there are only two reviews. so coming here I assumed that this place would be pretty dead. to my surprise, this place was packed on a thursday night. I guess the patrons dont yelp. this place is small, we had a room off to the side to oursevles, which was nice. the service is great here, the ladies are so nice and friendly. the bbq was very good, esp the ban chan, side dishes. I would def come here again, good service, good food, nice and clean. read more

Open late... And the lady cooks for you which is awesome. If your really really hungry my suggestion would be to go to korean bbq palace and get your meat fill in for basically the same price. Now if you are just trying to eat with portion control this is the place to be. After a long night of drinking I would definitely go here to get my fill. Yes the price is kind of steep 60 bucks for two people, but its kind of worth it. Warning late at night the floor are really slippery so watch out for that. read more

WOW! I have never had the worst kbbq experience until I came here. First off I have never had to pay so much to get such little portions. Not to mention that their sauce for their meat was extremely bland! Might I mention that they cannot accommodate large groups! They were not considerate that there was a large amount of people and the only two grills that they placed were at the very ends of the table! Isn't that great?! The people seated in the middle starved like crazy! I literally paid $16 to eat half a strip of pork belly! The only thing I enjoyed was their kimchi tofu soup and fish cake. So I guess if you only like those two things definitely come here! read more

I love the staff. They are sooooooo sweet. They have good quality meat. It's the only BBQ place I will go to and I love all the way in Milpitas. read more

My girlfriends love this spot for our girls night out since they like the lady working there. Unfortunately the service is so slow, they're literally in the back, bringing out all the food themselves, getting their own dishes, etc. A bit pricey for what you get. If I had the choice to pick, I wouldn't pick Gaboja. read more

This place is amazing for group events. I was looking for a place around the Bay Area to host a friends engagement dinner. I wanted to go to a place that had good food, was spacious enough, and had the flexibility to decorate a little. The owner was awesome and she gave us the price per person for a set menu. We were able to reserve this back room and decorate it 30 minutes ahead of time. They can host up to around 30 people as they have additional side rooms they can open up! read more

Gaboja - Back wall of back room - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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-1 star for meh banchan +4 stars for awesome meat So my bf and I canceled our prissy v-day reservation in lieu of the less romantic option of Korean BBQ!!! Unfortunately our go to place was closed so we checked out this hole on the wall place that our old family friends took us too. Only about 6 tables each with a grilling spot. The banchan was meh, but the meat was good and you get a lot for the price. We got the basic combo with chadolbaegi (thin beef) and sangyupsal (pork belly) that came with 1 soup. Also comes with soju, but we opted out for some soda. Total bill was about $65 with tip. Great all-around place, but don't come here if you're not a KBBQ Veteran. Parking is a tight squeeze, and ignore the shady looking customers going to the XXX bookshop next door. read more

PRO: -meats are pretty good -service is OK, but not great -decent size restaurant CON: -rip off! for the quality of the meat, the price is way too high -small parking lot, which is full on the weekends. if dinnertime, you'll need to park at the auto body shop next to the plaza. read more

I came here last Friday night with my girlfriend for dinner. It was empty when we sat down, but people started to trickle in a few minutes later. It's unfortunate that other people felt that the service was lacking because our service was definitely on point. Two workers always came by to make sure everything was okay, and they even drank with us. The soju was chilled, and even made us yogurt soju as well. The servers were so sweet, and even came out to give us hugs when we left. It was a good time. The food was pretty average priced for a KBBQ place. It wasn't AYCE, but the combo plates alone can fill up two people with big appetites. I'll definitely be coming back. Oh and they talked to us in Korean too. WHO CARES!? Language barrier or not, it was still a good time. read more

Great place to go to for late night eats without much wait. Initially tried to go to the restaurant next door Gooyi Gooyi, but wait was extreme. Kalbi short ribs was tasty. Food was decent with a good amount of sides, but fried chicken was a definite miss. Meat was slightly red. Waitresses were nice though. Tried to recook the chicken, but results were the same. Therefore, paid for fried chicken that I did not dare eat. read more

Gaboja - Kalbi and Bim Bim Bop were best choices for the night. - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Amazing place. Good food and great service. Servers were super attentive. The replenishment of side dishes was instant. When I dropped my chopsticks into the flames, and trying to fish it out, they handed me a new pair right away. BEST thing about this place is that you don't walk out smelling like Korean bbq! Love that!! read more

Delicious side dishes and lots n lots of meat!!!! You will not leave disappointed. Excellent for samgyupsal and chadolbagi. Their dwenjang chiggae is just like mom makes. Yummmm. read more

Gaboja - Pork and kimchi....match made in heaven. - Korean Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Why does this place not have 5 stars???? I came here at 10pm, and they still took us even tho covid got everyone closing early. Literally the Korean bbq portions are SO big and the kimchi is actually fermented. But honestly besides the bomb lettuce wrap and grilled garlic and authentic samjang sauce....the service is fire!!! Bruh!!! Gen could never!! Wait time is basically 0 minutes and they have a call button when you need a server. They also have private rooms! Most importantly, Tim is the only good thing to come out of 2020 this man will make you feel like you're his child. read more

Good place to get late night gogi. The ajummas are really nice too. read more

The first date of a very long, defining chapter was here, at Gaboja, under the slightly greasy air, exhaust fans and fluorescent lighting. I have to admit, I didn't realize at the time that the dinner was even a date. If I had presumed as much, I probably would have been initially somewhat disappointed; the parking lot is mostly reserved for the next door porn-emporium, and street lighting is sparse in this community of crumbling strip malls, leaving much to the evil and more sinister imagination. Not exactly Paris romance. Things inside are much, much warmer, friendlier, mostly due to the wait staff than the decor. Their motherly attitudes are sometimes comical, sometimes touching, sometimes too personal but I feel so comfortable with this manner and it makes Gaboja a very personal place to come to, rather than just another eatery. With this in mind, food tastes like home cooking more so than restraunt style dishes. I think this, along with the constant flow of soju and the antics of the wait staff, was and is the reason why Gaboja had become the default setting for various events of my date's life--it was his version of Cheers, the place where everybody knows your name, and where you go to for birthdays, welcoming back parties, going away parties, to kill time or to kill stress, or for no reason at all, or as in my case, for something like... a first date. Because of this, Gaboja is nearly impossible for me to truly review. It is for me, more than about food, it's where many great things happened and continue to happen for me. I love the people here, the late hours, the comfort and the closeness that comes with places steeped in nostalgia. read more

I came to this restaurant only because had to wait another hour to get seated at gooyi gooyi n i was starving. Their service is terrible (not sure if the reason was I don't speak Korean). Their meat smells. I got diarrhea after having dinner there that night. I would definitely not come to this restaurant again. read more

Pretty good Korean food but if your wanting Korean bbq I'd recommend going someplace else this place is going to cost you a grip

gaboja -- "let's go here" pretty much a korean only place and difficult to judge from the outside. front and last page not translated. serves tabletop grill style like llbunjee #1 with lettuce, garlic, ssamjang. not too smokey. just had some prepared kalbi and daeji bulgogi. panchan included buchimgae, and egg omelet i want spicy crab panchan, but guess can't get that up here kalbi marinade noted to be sweet and spicier than usual with a black pepper taste. daeji bulgogi less marinated as say SGD tofu. more raw onions good service, always refilling our panchan. read more

I came here because the first two choices were either busy/closed. But you know what, I am glad that I ended up here. Now I'm not gonna lie, I feel like for the portion size, it's a bit expensive, but the food tastes great! The lady serving us was very caring and attentive. It was empty so we thought the place might not be too good, but boy were we wrong~ We tried the galbi, bulgogi, squid, pork belly and spicy pork. It was all so flavorful. I left as a very happy and satisfied man. I would definitively come back, it's a nice kicked back environment. read more

The BBQ here was pretty good. I liked that the place was clean and the waiters were very fast at getting me what I need. I loved drinking my Makkoli the traditional way out of bowls. The only thing I didn't like was the seafood pancake.. I know all places make it a little different but I didn't like the one here so much. The food was a little more pricey than some of the other spots but still pretty good... I would say Gaboja and Gooyi Gooyi are pretty close to being the same as far as "which one is better" I will be coming back. read more

Time to bash on another Korean restaurant who deserve mediocre to low rating but are falsely rated in 3 or more stars by ignorant hyped non-Korean reviews. Gaboja used be good when it was a hole in the wall restaurant way back, say, 6-7 years ago or even longer. No single chair was matching another and the menu was so limited with less than 10 items but the quality was there to back up the lacking selections. The mama-sans were a bit younger back then, and when they were flirting with the male clients of various ages it wasn't that bad at all, but you could expect some courtesy appetizers on the house on the way, where you ended up ordering several more soju bottles that you were never going to finish. The ladies hooked you up when you were in needs. Maybe it was my underdeveloped tongue palates, or maybe their BBQed meats were pretty good and edible back then. The place had a mystic charm surrounding it. Times have passed. Times are bad, economy is still reared up, and we should be grateful there is another K-BBQ joint called Gaboja we can go to if Jang Su Jang or Palace BBQ is rupturing its stomach digesting all that Chinese and Filipino moneys - right? Wrong. Food quality (primarily their BBQ meat) degraded along with the amount of food. Their menu have been expanded with insignificant and unmemorable additions. One thing they kept same over the years is number of side dishes, but they were already a few to begin with in the first place. I can live with their slow service due to lack of manpower, but it should have been traded with efficiency but here at Gaboja it's long gone down to the sewer far into the ocean. Time is not kind to human beings, especially aging women, and that fact has not forgotten about these mama-sans at Gaboja. I don't like seeing ladies in my mum's age flirting with male beings of all age sorts, usually "charming" the old geezers to feel young and macho again so they can order more food no one's going to eat up or finish. Hmm, maybe we should better think it as a reciprocal relationship of symbiosis occurring between the two parties who want to reminisce about their joyful past. The last company I worked for was so cheap, we usually had "company get together dinners" exclusively at Korean BBQ restaurants, and Gaboja was the CEO's first choice every frigging god given time. Whines, pisses, and disgruntled grumbles wouldn't barricade his grand waltz of victory into this place. They say it's because of his communal relationship of being a regular for the last 10 years but when I come to think of it, it may have been the lil' touch touch flirting poppop shit going on with one of the mama-san at Gaboja. I tried to keep it very concise by giving points why they deserve lower ratings, but my conscience wouldn't let me. I think Gaboja deserves and demands my thorough memoir to understand why I loathe this place. Thank you for reading my short review. read more

After reading all the yelp reviews, A and I knew to drive slow and look for a korean place next to a porn shop. Interesting location...It's on El Camino, and look for a big white sign with green korean writing. When we first walked in the restaurant, it was surprisingly small, like only a handful of tables, but then we later learned that there are private dining rooms in the back. The room we had can probably fit 12 people comfortably. Anyway, the food. The side dishes were pretty average, but I am not complaining about free, refillable food. We ordered Combo #1 and #2 for 7 and it was the perfect amount. The lady substituted alcohol for more meat for us since we just weren't in the mood for drinking. I am fasting right now so I didn't try any of the meat, I know, why would I go to a KBBQ place when I can't eat meat...The whole meal was torture!! O and speaking of fasting, I ordered tofu soup without meat. The combo was supposed to come with soup but they just ended up skipping the free soup and gave me a regular size tofu soup instead. My friends seemed to really enjoy the meat. The waitresses came in couple times to check on us and made sure we were cooking the meat correctly. Beef first, then pork belly. I can't wait to go back as soon as my fasting is over and try all the delicious looking meat!! read more

It was nice that this place was open late and didn't have an hour long wait... but with the pricing being obviously higher than the majority of places around the area and the portions not as large, I can see why there are lines at other locations. The quality of the food itself wasn't too bad, it just seemed the workers were so eager to get us fed and out that it felt rushed. They continuously came over to ask if we wanted more side dishes, about every 5 minutes, which was nice in the beginning but got really old, really fast. read more

I really enjoyed this restaurant. The service was nice and the food and Soju were delicious. The lady who was serving us was a lot of fun and very welcoming. read more

Came here after golf on a weekend with a few friends. Not a big place but excellent service and food was really good. Beef brisket, extra think pork belly and the "Shut the front door" beef steak cubes (think it's rib-eye) was POW! The combo meals are great...simple to order and comes with everything needed for an after golf smack talking delicious meal. I'm a fan! read more

While out with friends in search of a place to eat dinner, we came across this restaurant. It turned out to be a good find with family style portions and incredibly friendly service. We shared seafood pancake, grilled mackerel, and fish roe stew. The tea was unusual because it was made from organic corn silk and leaves, and had a subtle taste similar to roasted green tea. read more