I went there two times and it made me fall in love with Korean Food. I love their Korean pancake, very crispy and rich in texture. I like their Barly tea, it's very refreshing and I believe it's free of charge. The place is quite expensive for college students, but definitely worth every penny. Hint: You'll notice that most of the client are Asians, which should tell you that the food is quite authentic. read more

Comfortable environment. Good service. My kids liked the side broccoli and the waitress added two times for them. She also tried several times to find hot sauce hot enough for us. The food taste decent not very special for Korean cuisine. The hotpot stew was pricy. $29 for a pot mostly vegetable. Bibimba was not as good as I had in other places. Bulgogi was a little too sweet. I would give 3.5 star. read more

Garlic & Ginger - Bibinba - Korean Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

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There hasn't been a dramatic change since this restaurant was revived from the old Korean restaurant/karaoke joint. The prices are a bit steep for the college crowd but it's a good option for eating Korean in Gainesville. I wasn't overly impressed with the soon doo boo. My gf enjoyed her hae mul dol sot. They do offer an option to eat sam gyup sal (pork belly) in the outside seating area. read more

I think I may have had the wrong expectation of this place. It is true Korean food, which I now know I have not really had before. I ordered the spicy tofu combination soup, which had good flavors but was very mushy. I just could not get past the consistency and texture. I was one of only 3 tables in the restaurant at the time, and the service was pretty nonexistent. I have since learned that the short ribs are supposed to be very good, will give it another try and update my review. read more

I think most reviewers that give this place less of a rating is because they don't understand or are not used to real Korean cooking. I have been here about 3 times already within a month. I cannot get enough of this place. Twice I've had Jajangmyun, which is excellent. And the other time, my boyfriend and I tried a hot pot and it was so delicious and so much food that we had left overs to eat again together. I also love the appetizers they bring out with the meals. My plan is to do another hot pot with the Bulgogi. I am a fan of South Korea, I'd love to go there one day and it all started with watching Korean dramas. I've always wished I could have the food I see on the shows and now I can! I've lived here for two years so far and didn't know about this place until now!! read more

In area where asian food is not as authentic this place rocks Moved from Fort Lee NJ and NY years ago, this place is as good as I can remember back up there. JapChae is awesome, Kalbi as goood as it gets so does the occasional Gam Ja Tan Su Do Bu and Kim Chi JiGae are exceptional. I wish Gainesvaille will also have Korean Fried Chicken@!!!! read more

Moved to Florida two years ago from having lived in Alaska and Washington where Korean food is excellent and plentiful. We have been driving all over central Florida trying Korean restaurants but, no more. This place is the best! We ordered the house steamed mandoo and kimchi soon tubu jjigae to share; I had tofu dolsot bibimpap and my husband had dolsot bulgogi bibimpap. The portions were generous; the flavors, spot on. My husband has never been a fan of kimchi but he loved the jjigae. The banchan was tasty and more than enough considering the meal. Got some tofu japche as a take a way for our daughter and they included a nice assortment of banchan. Loads of veg in the japche. The service was prompt, friendly, and welcoming. We will be back, yum! read more

I wanted to update my review because the restaurant continues to serve consistently great food year after year. I recently did a take out order and everything was packed super well and steaming hot. We had a great "restaurant" experience leisurely at home. The seasoning for every dish is always spot on. You never feel like it needs more salt, pepper, chili or acid. Thank you Garlic and Ginger! read more

I love their BibimBap and it's just perfect My husband ate Bulgogl. I try a little, it's sweet and salty, he likes it. The waitress is very helpful. We had a great time there. read more

I was there for lunch. The wait staff was very attentive and accommodating. Though I am somewhat versed in Vietnamese, Japanese, and Thai food, I am relatively new to Korean cuisine. However, There was a constant flow of Korean customers, dining in and getting take out the whole time I was there... Which speaks volumes. And the food was good. I am looking forward to trying it again. read more

Good korean food considering it is not located in a major metropolis. Nice ambiance. Price is average. Lunch specials are a good value. soondubu was spicy. jjajangmung was lacking in taste. spicy marinated pork was good. grilled galbi was well done. read more

my art teacher from high school recommended that i try out garlic and ginger. having moved here from seattle, i sometimes get a little homesick while bumbling around the lack of diverse and authentic asian dining. like someone said before, everything is pan-asian and next to a frozen yogurt place. sometimes i want a legit roasted duck. sometimes i want tripe and other crunchy bits floating in my soup. i do love hot pots -- mostly because i like my seafood and red meat barely cooked. there's something about kim chi and pickled vegetables and spicy broth that really makes life worth living. when i heard that garlic and ginger existed (albeit existing in an obscure part of town) we decided to go merely hours later. thankfully, there's no sweet and sour chicken on the menu. we ate on the patio, and it was a nice night to do so. eating on the patio gains you access to grilled food, but we were pretty set on the idea of a hot pot. we ordered the bul-nak jun-gol: a spicy broth with octopus, udon, and beef bulgogi. i was pretty skeptical about the idea of octopus. i can count the times i've had fresh, tender octopus while only using two hands. we also ordered the shumai -- because, duh, shumai. i don't really know what they were doing there, but i like shumai. our waitress was very sweet and nice and attentive, despite there being what seemed like a five generation family reunion on the other end of the porch. we got our shumai. they were tasty. i was begininning to have an emotional crisis due to missing eating dim sum in the mornings when a buffet of sides and accompaniments landed in the middle of us. shortly following that, she added a butane stove coil to the table; and shortly following that, she brought the hot pot jacuzzi. it says it feeds two, which i guess would be accurate if you were eating with one of the dragon ball characters. oh, but then it happened. shit got real. our adorable waitress picked up scissors and fished out A WHOLE OCTOPUS from the hot pot. there was an octopus in there? i had no idea. she began clipping away at it, my eyes glazed over. it simmered for about a minute before i nabbed some leggies -- some toothsome, delicious octopus. it became very quiet as we dabbed in the kim chi and added some rice and stirred in some radish and oh, it was good. it was the perfect amount of spice for a warm night. it's not the kind that attacks you, but the kind that lingers and reminds you that you're eating food with flavor. i ate the leftovers the following morning. they're still allowing the menu to naturally expand. they now offer noodle dishes -- one of them being a spicy seafood soup, and another being a chilled noodle and broth dish. i am saying this not so much as a head's up to anyone else, but as more of a to do list for me. read more

Four stars because I think the food tastes amazing, but not five because I think the portions should be a little larger. Seventeen dollars, as a previous Yelper mentioned, for one plate of barbecue meat? Said Yelper also took done accurate pictures if the servings. It's a little disappointing but hey, the Korean food is great! From what my Korean friends say, the dishes and presentation hit pretty close to home. I would totally recommend their seafood pancake and beef patties for appetizers! Their barbecue items also come with small bowls of kimchi, pickled radishes or something else they may have on rotation, seasoned red beans, maybe soy bean paste, and a serving of rice. Sometimes romaine lettuce so you could make your own lettuce wraps :P. Service here has always been pretty awesome. And might I add... the drink they give you at the end of a barbecue meal (sweet rice and ginger drink) is so refreshing and unique! read more

When I first visited in 2015, this was one of my favorite restaurants in Gainesville. In the last 2 years the taste and quality of the food has noticeably gone downhill. Every take out order I've even placed has been put together incorrectly, missing integral parts of the meals. The kalbi is fine but for the cost, there's better BBQ in Gainesville. There's no point in getting the dolsot bibimbap as the last 4 times I have ordered it the rice has been soggy, without the crust thats basically the point of the dish, even after specific request to cook it appropriately. Even their most consistent Kimchi jiggae has fallen and as of now there isn't much more of a reason to keep going. read more

So good for Gainesville, I did not expect to find such a great Korean restaurant here. I think it's even better than any of the ones in Orlando... the waiter we had was super fast I didn't even understand how he got around so quickly. The lunch specials were a great deal. Can't wait to come back! read more

Great Korean restaurant with a friendly owner. Portions were big and nice assortment of side dishes.

Probably the most authentic Korean restaurant in Gainesville, and that's coming from a Korean person! Although the food is pretty great, the prices don't match quite right. It's a little overpriced for the food you get, but everything also comes with infinite side dishes (banchan) so it's not too bad of a deal. My personal favorites here are the dolsot bimbimbaps. I would definitely recommend a visit if you're looking for classic Korean food. read more

Hands down the best Korean food in Gainesville! The Korean BBQ was fantastic. The meat was amazing. I am planing go back again to try their Bim Bim Bop. read more

Love this place! They have a fantastic selection on their menu and everything we had ordered was delicious! Their banchan was a nice little spread; the kimchi was very good, and just spicy enough! The staff was so nice and very nice which completed the cozy atmosphere. read more

A Korean restaurant, with mostly Asian clientele (and Asian waitstaff). The menu is largely Asian, and there are some excellent entrees for 2-4 people. There are decent Asian wine, sake, and beer choices. Prices are fair, and the service is generally good, including a willingness to explain the menu choices. My favorite feature: everybody gets a range of oriental appetizers (for free), which we have found to be uniformly interesting. Also, their kimchee is excellent, and available for sale. They offer takeout as well. read more

I'm visiting my brother and wanted a nice lunch for my birthday! His friend recommended Garlic and Ginger as a great spot. We arrived late around 2pm on a rainy day. The owner greeted us and was very engaging. We asked for recommendations and he was very helpful. The food was excellent. I enjoyed every bite and the owner brought us some additional tastings to try. I would say if I lived in Gainesville I would be a regular. When i come back i will go again. It was a very happy birthday for me even with all the rain. read more

My family and I love eating at Garlic & Ginger. The food is delicious and the staff is extremely friendly. Our go-to place when we crave for some Korean food, which is usually every Friday night! read more

This place was an experience! You can definitely split every entree/soup/noodle with a partner. The seafood stew and pork & bean noodle dish were fabulous! The picture menu helped but they could use a small plate menu. read more

We had never had Korean food before, and we loved it. The veggie gyoza were good. My husband had the chicken teriyaki and I had tofu sweet potato noodles. We both really enjoyed our entrees as well as the small plates served before. Everything was very flavorful. We will definitely return. read more

I love this place. Since they opened, I have been eating here or ordering takeout several times a month. When I am sick, no matter the cause flu, cold, hangover, heartsick or stress their kimchi jjigae is the automatic cure. I have never had a bad meal here. I would give 5 stars, but, they recently raised their prices and I think they are a bit excessive. read more

This place wasn't around when I lived in Gainesville, but I was excited to try it when I heard about it. The final verdict on this place is that it is an adequate, pretty average Korean place. I had the short ribs which had a pretty good flavor (although I felt like they were a little rubbery for my tastes). The service is adequate. The prices are a bit on the high side. Bottom line is if you are looking for Korean in Gainesville, this place will do, but you won't have your socks blown off. read more

I am constantly craving Garlic n Ginger...it was my first korean food experience, and it was fantastic. I wish the hot pots came in a smaller/cheaper version though, $30 is a bit steep for a college student. Love the seafood tofu and the appetizers- something different everytime I go. Depending on the time of day, service can either be excellent or very poor- but that's just a part of the restaurant business. read more

Seriously? Best Korean place in town? How about ONLY Korean place in town? This place has really bad and slow service. I can usually accept that if the place is packed and/or the food is good. But the place wasn't all that packed and the food wasn't worth the bad service. read more

This was my first time at Garlic and Ginger and it was great!!! The food was delicious and our waiter was amazing and so helpful! I'll definitely be coming again to try other dishes! read more

Garlic & Ginger - Chicken Bibimbap - Korean Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

We love Korean and are always on the lookout for a good Korean joint. Was a big party of 6 adults and 5 kids. We had the Spicy Pork, Chicken Teriyaki and Beef Bulgogi. We didn't cook it at the table ourselves, only because there was so many hungry kids - so we thought it would be best to get the precooked hot plates instead. Everything was definitely good, but was expecting Chicken Bulgogi instead of Chicken Teriyaki - probably good if you have picky kids, but the clear winner is usually the Beef Bulgogi with everyone. The Pork Bulgogi was good too. We ordered the Kimchi Jji-gae (Kimchi Miso-type soup) which was excellent and 2 orders of Ssam (which is the lettuce and banchan - or side dishes. Can't remember them all but they served standard kimchi, Kongnamul (beansprouts with sesame oil), Kkakdugi - (radish kimchi), Fish Cake and one other thing, which I can't remember. We also had to order extra rice as it came per serving of Bulgogi and we didn't get 11 of them. Pretty decent sized servings, so we ended up with 4 Beef, 1 Pork, 1 Chicken and it fed all 11 of us comfortably. (and usually all 5 kids can't get enough of the Beef), not to mention the Dads! Don't forget to ask for the Doenjang (spicy bean paste spread) if you like extra spice on your lettuce! They definitely have a good menu filled with other great Korean dishes and based on what we had, I would definitely recommend it. I will definitely want to try the other dishes too - next time I am in Gainesville!! My gf mentioned that they were under new management from the time they were there a year ago, so she was pretty happy with it too. read more

Excellent service! Dolsat bib bim bop (sp?) delicious! We just moved here from Southern California and didn't think we'd find good Korean food. We were so happy to find this place! Can't wait to try the Korean BBQ! read more

Traveling from Indiana to Florida. Pulled up yelp to find lunch and the review for Garlic & Ginger pulled us off the interstate. Glad we did. Nice atmosphere , good lunch menu , good food. Good prices. Our server was exceptional. Friendly read more

I was hoping for a more refined sustained tastes bud satisfaction for a Korean restaurant which has been present here for a long time. ( That's what I heard ). I am new. Been there like 4 times in less than 2 months. Don't write reviews on first visit. Get them time. There can be bad days. And good days. The trouble with those one, more bad days than good. New cook, was told last time. That was with in a month. Burned the chicken crazy. Couldn't eat. Inconsistent service, food and overall underwhelming experience. Servers are pleasant. Try to get things on time. Owner doesn't care. read more

This is our favorite korean place in Gainesville. The glass noodles with beef is really tasty - lightly sweet, with the taste of soy sauce and some other flavors. The beef ribs are awesome as well. read more

This is a great spot! Our favorite thing is the kimchi pancake!!! Its super crispy and sooo yummy, especially with their special flavored soy sauce. Their picture menu is especially helpful and they are accommodating with special requests. I like their vegetable fried rice, its unique, definitely doesn't taste like your typical Chinese fried rice, I liked it better than the bibimbap. Everyone liked the gyozas. The short ribs (Kalbi) are good as are the sweet potato noodles cooked with beef and mushrooms at your table. Do not get the corn cheese!!! We thought the name was hilarious and so with a big group we just ordered it to see what it was...it was truly awful. I also didn't like the tofu jab chae, it was flavorless and the tofu wasn't cooked, just heated up. Everything else though is great! read more

Very traditional, delicious Korean food. Served "shared" style, so meals come with six little sides that the table shares. The bulgogi is my favorite, and the pancakes are crispy and flavorful, but there are a lot of excellent dishes to choose from. Most meals are between $10 and $15, with some more expensive dishes costing around $30. Portions are hearty and very filling, and the service is fast, friendly, and welcoming. Worth a visit! read more

Chances are, anything you order will tastes great. I do recommend the seafood paradise, kalbi dolsot bibimbap, pork bulgolgi, and jab chae.

I was very impressed by this restaurant. I've only been to a Korean restaurant a couple of times, but this seemed very authentic. The kimchi was spicy and delicious, and you get several small bowls of appetizers with any meal. Watch out for the spiciness, though, because the menu doesn't always warn you. The prices for individual entrees bottom out at the $10 range, while you can get some very large hot pots to share for around $30. Like many casual restaurants, the place has too many TVs. Seriously, what is the point of the TVs? Unless it's a sports bar, they serve absolutely no purpose other than as an annoying distraction. read more

Yay! I was a big fan when I was in Gainesville. Really good tasty Korean food. I usually order the seafood tofu soup, seafood Kimchi Pancake. The beef intestine hot pot for 2 were amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Walking in several tables had dirty dishes all over them. I ordered theBibimbap. Hot meat, cold egg, seaweed on the egg, ferns or mountain vally greens, and vegetables. Not my thing maybe others will like it. Served with acorn jelly (flavorless weird brown jello), fishy something, spicy cabbage, greens. Most Americans were seated outside where there are grilling stations in the table or something. I ate here for lunch. The overall feel inside was that they didnt care too much.... as I said several tables had dirty plates on them. I felt I needed an interpreter to figure out the menu. If you are not Korean you should eat outside. I felt kind of topsy turvy after eating here and can't go back to try the outdoors experience. read more