My partner and I came here for an impromptu date during a busy week where we just needed some drinks and good eats. We were lucky to be seated immediately upon arrival in Collin's section. My partner and I remarked that it was some of the best service we've received from a server PERIOD. He was super friendly and attentive. He gave us suggestions on his favorite food and drink that turned out great. We always have an amazing time at Gen! It will now be our regular date night spot. read more

I know everyone in the reviews says this place is understaffed and slow, but my experience was the opposite. Our waiter was attentive and kind, he always took our order when we finished a round and brought out the food quickly. The all you can eat lunch special is a really great deal. 21.99 for endless rounds of beef? Count me in! All the cuts were pretty good, but my personal favorite was the beef brisket. It wasn't seasoned or marinated, but gen provides a variety of dipping sauces that you can flavor your meat with. Great place for all you can eat! read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Cooking beef - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

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I rarely leave negative reviews, but I feel it's important to share my experience. My family and I visited the Saratoga GEN Korean BBQ on June 8, 2026, with a party of 10, including a 2-year-old child. We attempted to make a reservation but still ended up waiting about an hour to be seated. At the end of our meal, I later realized we had been charged for 10 adults, even though one member of our party was a 2-year-old who should not have been charged as an adult. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the mistake until after I paid. I initially left a $40 tip because, in my opinion, the service did not warrant more. However, our server came back after I signed the receipt and told me that because we were a party of 10, I had to leave a minimum 18% gratuity. Feeling uncomfortable and put on the spot, I changed my tip to $64.14. What disappointed me the most was what happened afterward. Instead of immediately posting a negative review, I made every effort to resolve this directly with the restaurant. Over the following weeks, I made multiple phone calls and spoke with several employees and managers, including Jasmine, Melissa, Cormac (who was covering from the Sacramento location), and Gianna. Both Cormac and Gianna informed me that I would be receiving a refund for the gratuity and the charge for one adult. Based on those conversations, I believed the issue was being resolved and waited patiently. Unfortunately, despite those assurances, I never received the promised refund or any follow-up communication. Mistakes can happen, but what matters is how they're handled. I gave this restaurant multiple opportunities over several weeks to make things right before writing this review. Instead, I was repeatedly told someone would follow up, and no one ever did. I hope management reviews this situation, improves its billing practices, and ensures customers aren't placed in the uncomfortable position of feeling pressured to change a tip after they've already signed their receipt. read more

Lunch for 4. If this is "all you can eat," it comes with an impressive number of asterisks. We were repeatedly told what we couldn't order. No edamame. No potstickers. The menu says four meat orders per round, but apparently three orders of beef belly is where freedom ends. When we finally placed orders, replenishment took so long that we started wondering if the cows were being raised between rounds. We asked for tonkotsu sauce four separate times before someone finally admitted they didn't have any. That information could've saved everyone a lot of unnecessary cardio. To top it all off, getting the check felt like one final endurance challenge. The meat itself was decent, but AYCE should mean "all you can eat," not "all you can negotiate." If you're going to put restrictions on half the experience, it would be nice if they were explained up front instead of discovered one disappointed request at a time. read more

You like dry, bland, tasteless, beef brisket, then Gen Is for you! I ordered food through Uber Eats, and two things happened. I was missing one of my two meats for one meal, and they gave us overcooked beef brisket. I mean do you need to watch a YouTube video or a Tik Tok short, to know how to season your food? It was so terrible that I had to used my own Korean bbq at home to make me edible. I won't be ordering from this location ever again. A waste of money and time.. read more

This is an ayce Korean BBQ place. Each person is $31.95, if you want premium meat, it's $20 more. The pickle dishes are soso, the appetizers also were only ok. But the meats (regular) are good, we got the beef short ribs( best), pork belly (also very good), and the beef bulgogi ( a little too salty). Our server was very good, even though the kitchen was backed up and slow. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Gen Korean BBQ House delivered exactly what you want from an all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue experience: great food, a lively atmosphere, and excellent value.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] My group opted for the AYCE menu, which gave us access to a wide variety of meat selections, and there was plenty to enjoy throughout the meal. The quality and variety of the meat was all very decent. The staff did a great job keeping orders moving and checking in throughout the meal. Despite the busy dining room, service remained attentive and efficient. If you're looking for a place to enjoy quality grilled meats and get the most out of an all-you-can-eat menu, it's an easy recommendation. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Assorted meat - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

1st time out hea, the vibe and service outta hea!! 2 bottles of Sake and a great variety of meats along with a dessert,later... Man was I a happy camper!! Thank you folks for a wonderful experience!! Highly recommend this concept of cooking your own food... it's all marinated..Not so bad!! read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Before we begin!!! - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

Came here for lunch to celebrate hubby bday on weekday and even tho there's barely anyone inside, we had to wait 10min to be seated. Turned out there's only 1 person working in the kitchen so took us another 30min for our first order to arrive. Since they only limit 4 items total each round for 2 of us (including appetizers), we only ordered our appetizer during 2nd round and of course due to the wait, we don't get them until almost end of our meal. Food is pretty good for only $21.95, especially if you combined with the Costco gift card deal. Our favorites are the thinly sliced brisket and beef belly (both plain & honey). Next best things are pork cheeks, pork belly & bulgogi. I won't get the beef finger short ribs (meat is pretty tough), japchae & bulgogi fries again tho. I won't be back for birthday tho because they don't have any bday perks, not even free drinks :( read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Bulgogi fries - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

Haven't been to GEN in a long time, and I finally revisited yesterday. No reservation, so we had to wait about 30 minutes for a table -- not too bad. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Once inside, the vibe was great. It's definitely a solid spot for after-work chill + Korean BBQ.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Love that it's AYCE for only around $30/person, which honestly feels like a steal these days. We ordered a bunch of meats like steak, pork belly, chicken, and more -- everything came out super fast, and the service was surprisingly good and attentive. Dessert was the Korean pancake, and it was a nice finish -- highly recommend everyone try it. One note though: the beef was average -- good enough for AYCE but not outstanding. I feel like the premium add-on (about $20 more) might be worth it next time if you want higher quality cuts. Only downside: the tofu soup was way too salty for my taste. But overall, for the price, everything meets expectations and matches the value. Would come back again when I'm craving AYCE KBBQ. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

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Ummm.. i would say I saw alot of reviews on staff but I honestly dont think thats the problem, the food itself is where i would say is lacking first time here at gen but ive been to many different KKQ and this one i would probably never go to again wired chuncks of meat when its supposed to be beef belly "thinly sliced". [[HIGHLIGHT]]Another big ick to me was the grills its self it was not clean thats for sure, black charrr was left from prev people i assume but this is the first time a grill has made me loose my appetite[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

Food is as you'd typically get from KBBQ, the meat is alright, relatively tender, the slices were decent, I think the best thing here is the beef belly. Here's the biggest kicker: we have a party of 7. Parties of 5-6 around us were given tables with TWO grills. Common sense, give us 2 grills out of everyone else. I don't know who was hosting and did the set up but my god, do better. TLDR: food alright, planning is terrible read more

Went on a Saturday night as a party of 8, we had the bad luck to pick the same night as a large tour bus group and the wait was about an hour. There were a lot of stores in the same shopping center to browse while waiting, so it wasn't a big deal. The food is good and your basic kbbq fare. What I was really impressed about was the service. Our server was David F and he was phenomenal. Meat plates came out quickly and he came by to check our table and change our grill regularly. Drinks were refilled often and we appreciated his attention to our grill and beverages! Honestly, this was the best table service I've had in awhile. read more

We only go for the weekday lunch deal, I believe it is $20 per person for AYCE (Mon-Thurs lunchtime). Meat is good, nothing crazy, and they have appetizers included as well. Bulgogi fries were fresh, crispy, and delicious! [[HIGHLIGHT]]It can get very busy, especially in the evenings, and they usually seem short-staffed.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I stopped coming here for dinnertime because of this. But for lunch, it is a good deal if you are hungry! read more

I always enjoy eating at Gen BBQ, [[HIGHLIGHT]]the ambience is great[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] and [[HIGHLIGHT]]like the seating too[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. Meat is good, food is tasty and service is nice as well! Highly recommend ! read more

This has a large variety of options. They also have more Mexican base options too compared to the usual kbbq place. They have carne asada and al pastor. Service was good. Our waiter was attentive and changed our grill multiple times without us having to flag her down or ask. And this place has the usual gen atmosphere. Music isn't too loud but enough that makes the place fun. The only thing about this place is that the quality doesn't seem as good as it used to be or compared to the places nearby. We got the premium brisket and there was not fatty part on the meat and was a bit tough. The cheek also wasn't as premium too. So overall, there is a larger selection but the quality doesn't seem as great as before. We went at 5:30 and waited about 25minutes to get seated for a party of 2 on a Saturday. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Menu - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

Me and my partner visited during labor day lunch after craving some korean bbq. Our hopes were high and perhaps it's the location but this location seemed to be understaffed. There were many tables open but there was a long wait outside with lots of people. They did have a yelp waitlist where you can track your spot. But you have to check in with the host first. Overall the service was lacking. Going to our table, the server was clearly tired and overworked. She was not too attentive and did not offer to help with any recommendations when we were struggling with the many options. We noticed that our plates and also the initial grill came out dirty. Perhaps the backend staff was overworked as well as it was not washed properly. Also says alot that the server that put the grill on was probably too overworked to properly see the grill, as they put it on anyways. Lots of places now have ordering through a tablet for example and that can help reduce the workload of the servers. Food wise was nothing special, the two soups that they have on the menu were very salty. There was a strong smoke smell near the front desk but the smoke evac system at our table worked great. Overall i would not come back again, there is alot of options out there. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Dirty grill that was put on when we sat down initially - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

Came here on a Saturday around 2pm. The place was half empty, but we still had to wait about 30 minutes for a table of two since they seemed short-staffed (looks like that's a common issue from other reviews). After we got the text to check in, we had to wait another 10 minutes because the table wasn't ready.... kind of frustrating since that should've been prepped beforehand. That said, the value is solid. AYCE KBBQ with unlimited sides at a good price. The fried shrimp and calamari were standouts... perfectly crisp! The corn cheese was a miss for me, way too runny. The meats were great. We did two rounds and it was plenty. Favorites were the gochujang beef belly, galbi, and honey soy beef belly. Service really saved the experience. Bruno was amazing, super attentive, and checked in often. Huge thanks to him for making up for the long wait. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Gochujang beef belly - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

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I came here today and waited 40min for my 1st order of 4 meats. By the time I even got the 1st plate, the person had to ask me if that was even my meat so basically they lost my order thats why my 3 other meats never showed up. Overall this was a horrible experience, I saw everyone around me get their orders multiple times and I was the only one who waited on the 1st order for so long. I should have been outta there less than an hour since I came alone, but ended up taking 2 hrs cause of bad service. read more

Unfortunately, I never write reviews but our second time going to this Gen KBBQ location warranted it. Like many other reviews have already stated, it truly is the management that's taking this place down. My partner and I went in on the night of the Fourth. We weren't sure how busy it was going to be but it was pretty slow when we walked in at 9:30pm, granted they didn't have much of the restaurant open. The host was incredibly sweet, informative and even got a jump start on our order when she sat us. Asking if we wanted water and banchan which I really appreciated. Our server, I unfortunately didn't catch his name, did such a fantastic job despite being the only server on the floor... We realized almost immediately that he was alone and our server later confirmed it himself. It was clear he was spread too thin. My partner and I saw more tables walk in, adding more to his plate while again, being by himself. As someone who has managed at a restaurant and has been in the industry for years, it was honestly appalling to see management standing around when their only server clearly needed support. That's what management is there to do! It is a HUGE part of the role especially when it appears the restaurant is understaffed. Not to mention, the male manager made no efforts to check in with tables, when he was making his rounds he did not care to interact with customers. The female manager was hanging out a couple feet from our table and was observing the floor but doing nothing. Between the two of them, they must have passed by our table with our card CLEARLY out and ready to pay the bill at LEAST 8 times. It wasn't until I literally stepped out of the restaurant that the male manager finally came over to process our payment. The fact that our server felt the need to apologize for being overextended made me really upset for him. It's obvious management needs to reflect on the way they manage service because after that experience I don't know if I'll be back. The front of house staff really makes the experience, too bad management can't seem to see that. read more

Wonderful time! Six of us had dinner here tonight and it was a wonderful delicious time! The ambiance is very inviting and comfortable to be in. Our service tonight was very good given how busy this place is. You can see the service and delivery people in constant motion that must run all night long. We let our kids do the ordering since the rest of us had never been there before. They ordered appetizers and the main courses. Everything was delicious! My wife and I enjoyed the bulgogi and thought it was very tender and tasty! Kids really loved the pork and beef belly offerings. Everything was delicious! Please see the pictures below and let your eyes do the feasting! read more

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This was the most horrific experience I've ever had at a restaurant. TLDR: Ate 1 round of meat in 1.5 hrs for 6 people. They ran out of bonchon and meat only to later find out they did have it just lied about it??? Our grill was broken, cooked 2 orders of brisket in over 30 mins and instead of moving us to a different table, spent 30 mins trying to fix it. They couldn't fix it and ended moving us to a different table. They did give us a full refund. When we got seated, we asked the waiter for water and kimchi. The waiter told us they ran out of kimchi and all of the other bonchon items. We later asked a busboy for some kimchi because we saw surrounding tables with it, and he was able to miraculously bring some for us. Once we got our first round of meat, we found out that our grill wasn't working properly. Only the center of the grill was hot enough to cook brisket. The outer edges of the grill wasn't hot enough to even cook brisket. We had 2 orders of brisket and it took us over 30 mins to cook all of it. Normally brisket takes like 5 minutes. We told the waiter about it and he fiddled with the grill a little to try to fix it and told us try it out. Nothing changed. He brought his manager over and he used a napkin to take off a part of the grill and replace it. That didn't work either. They spent another 30 mins fiddling with the grill, trying to fix it. Nothing worked. During this time, we ordered 4 more meats: 2 short ribs and 2 beef belly. We asked to switch tables so we could get working grills. By this time a little over an hour had passed. The new table and grills seemed to be working well. At the new table, 15 mins later, the waiter comes back and tells us that they are out of short ribs and beef belly! Then lists about 7 more items they are out of. The only beef left was the bulgolgi. We were pretty frustrated by this time as we'd only eaten 1 round of meat in an hour and a half. We ordered the bulgolgi as that was the only thing left. 10 mins later, the waiter comes back with the bulgolgi and says "we actually do have some beef belly if you guys want." We are all confused now and had decided to just leave because the price was not worth the little selection of meat we had left. They did end up giving us a refund for the meal and the district manager was very accommodating about it. This was a really disappointing experience overall. read more

Galbi (marinated short ribs) was good. It seems better than the Mountain View and San Jose locations. It was well marinated but not too strong of a flavor that you don't get tired eating it. Every slice of short ribs had tender meat, not chewy hard. The ribeye had good amount of fat to lean meat ratio. Was also soft. Beef bulgogi was also good. Not overly sweet nor salty. All the other cuts of meat we had were pretty good quality. Didn't have the tendons or gristle on the meats, that a lot of KBBQs have. Shrimp always sweet. The Calamari steak was not rubbery at all. We also had japchae which was ok. They ran out of potato salad which was disappointing. Our meat orders came out so quickly ever time. They were super fast. Will definitely return to this Gen location. read more

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As someone who actively avoids chains, Korean BBQ is one of those cuisines where I occasionally have to make peace with reality. The most beautiful, buzzed-about spots I initially scoped out were stunning--and also casually charging $200-$300 per order, which felt... aspirational, but not tonight. So yes, we landed at an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ spot. And honestly? I'm glad we did. We went around 6 p.m., no reservation, just the two of us, and were seated immediately--even though I've since learned they often have lines out the door. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The vibe was lively but not chaotic: lots of couples, lots of grills sizzling, and that unmistakable energy of a place where food is also an activity.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]I love meals that feel interactive (hot pot forever has my heart), and this hit that same sweet spot--hands-on, social, and genuinely fun.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The service deserves a moment. For a restaurant with massive sections and constant table turnover, the staff was impressively attentive. Our grill was cleaned regularly, plates swapped out without asking, and everything kept moving smoothly. No lingering smoke-cloud panic, no waiting forever for refills. Now, the food--here's where strategy matters. Order the meat. Skip most of the rest. We started with the bulgogi, which was the clear standout: flavorful, tender, and exactly what you want from a place like this. Seasoned cuts really shine here, and you can tell which items were designed to be cooked tableside. The steak, unfortunately, fell flat. Not terrible, just underwhelming--one of those moments where you're reminded that this isn't a steakhouse, and that's okay. Same goes for the appetizers: the potstickers and bulgogi fries tasted aggressively pre-packaged. And listen, I love fries--possibly more than I love most people--but these weren't it. Think frozen shredded cheese energy. That said, the core experience still absolutely works. The meat quality is solid for the format, the kimchi is plentiful, and the overall meal feels satisfying without being heavy or chaotic. It's the kind of place where you learn quickly what to order--and once you do, you're set. Would I prefer a smaller, non-chain Korean BBQ with artisanal cuts and a hidden-gem feel? Of course. (And if anyone has recs that aren't chains or all-you-can-eat, please tell me.) But within this category, this place does what it does very well. Final verdict: Fun, interactive, and ideal for couples or groups Attentive service despite the scale Stick to seasoned meats--especially bulgogi Skip the pre-made appetizers I'd absolutely go back, I'd bring friends, and I'd happily make this a repeat dinner when the craving hits. Sometimes the experience matters just as much as the food--and this one delivers on both. read more

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PAY WITH CASH ONLY OR THEY WILL CHARGE YOU EXTRA AFTER YOU LEAVE. I have multiple charges on my debit card after eating at Gen, one is correct, the rest were added later. Don't give them a credit card to fleece you after you leave. read more

Solid, big chain style kbbq. This is a good place to start if you're new to kbbq. Prices and food are fair. If you want high quality meats, check out other spots. This place gets the job done and we always leave full and satisfied. It gets super busy so service is inconsistent but makes sense b/c the servers have their hands full. read more

Food is average to meh quality. Drinks ordered at the start took till midway through our meal to come. Sides ordered at the start took until we had finished eating altogether. Staff are doing their best, but the place is clearly understaffed for its size. I guess you get what you pay for. read more

If there was something less than a one star, it would be given. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. If you're not on a time crunch and you want a four hour lunch this is a place to go. We had to go up and ask to be help multiple times. Never going back here. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - There been people waiting at the front for 20min. With no one greeting them or anyone acknowledging them. - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

Quality has gone down. But price point is still cheaper for an AYCE meat choice. Staff looks over worked with tables and orders or and wait staff barely has time to check on missing orders. We can at 130pm on a weekday so place wasn't even that busy and yet servers are not able to keep up. read more

I honestly hate leaving bad reviews, especially for a place my significant other and I genuinely loved coming to, but our experience at Gen Korean BBQ in San Jose (Saratoga location) was beyond disappointing, and I have the time today. We came in as a group of 6 just wanting to enjoy dinner together with family, and from the beginning everything felt completely unorganized. First, it took almost 40 minutes just to get our drinks and two of those drinks were literally just bottles of soju. I do want to make it very clear that NONE of this was our waitress Cynthia's fault. Cynthia was honestly amazing the entire night. She was apologetic, reassuring, attentive whenever she could be, and you could clearly tell she was doing the best she could in a chaotic environment. We still tipped her 20% on an almost $400 bill because she absolutely deserved it. The bigger issue was management. Our grill was malfunctioning the entire night and had to be restarted about 5 different times by staff before a manager finally came over. When he approached, he didn't introduce himself, didn't explain what was wrong with the grill, didn't apologize, nothing. He honestly just looked irritated to even be there. When I asked if he was the manager, he literally hesitated before answering yes and gave me a strange look. What made the situation worse was that before this happened, we could clearly see the floor "manager" and what looked like either another manager or chef standing in the corner of the restaurant watching a basketball game while the rest of the staff were running around overwhelmed. I have genuinely never seen management behave so lazily or so inconsiderately toward both their staff and customers. Because the grill kept shutting off, our first round of meat was left sitting cold on a grill that kept turning on and off. I politely asked if we could have the meat replaced since it had basically gone cold and wasn't cooking properly anymore. Again, another hesitant look before he just nodded his head with attitude. Then when they brought replacement bulgogi, it was portioned enough for maybe 2 people... despite it being very obvious we were a table of 6. After that, he immediately walked away back to the corner to continue standing around while staff struggled throughout the restaurant. No apology, no explanation, no attempt to accommodate us whatsoever. Nothing was removed from the bill, no compensation offered, absolutely nothing. It's honestly disappointing because this used to be one of mine and my boyfriend's favorite date night spots. We brought family hoping for a great dinner experience and instead left frustrated and shocked by how poorly management handled everything. Again, huge thank you to Cynthia because she was the only reason this experience was even remotely tolerable. read more

Things have certainly turned around here. Did we come when management and good staff were in? Not sure but upgrading my review. Gave out plenty of meat and super fast. Super friendly service. Meat was great and had a great Valentine's Day. read more

Initial bout of customer service was great. We were sat quickly and were asked about our first round fairly quickly as well. However, the attentiveness was not consistent. Potstickers we ordered first didn't come til towards the end of our meal. We had to ask multiple times for the sauce/dipping trays (they're usually at the table when we're seated). And we had to ask multiple times for a grill change (as a reminder to our server that we had already asked for one ~10 mins prior and no one came to change it)...we were practically sending smoke signals that everyone except the staff could see. Honestly, the pic doesn't serve the final look of the grill plate justice, cuz that thing was BURNT before someone finally showed up with its replacement. Food itself was ok. Variety is still decent as before. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Grill plate that needed changing... we had to ask multiple times in the span of 15 mins to get this changed. - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

We were seated in Jacob's section and it was bad from the start. We ordered our food choices, Jalapeños, a glass of wine, water and a Sprite. He said he would "have to check" on the Chardonnay. After a few minutes, he asked if I wanted a bottle or a glass because "we are having a hard time figuring out out the price" What the heck! I said the price is on the menu, he then said "I know.... When he brought my wine it was in a martini glass, when I questioned it, he said they ran out of wine glasses. It was about 1pm, your out of wine glasses? We asked for straws for our water, he said he would be back. Nearly 10min later he brought them. The table next to us tried to re-order Coke, he came back and said we ran out! I witnessed him running his fingers through his hair! Then go help a customer. He took a break and never told us while we were waiting to order more food. My first visit to this place, it will be my last and plan to let others know. Highly disappointed in the server! read more

My family and I had dinner at this Gen location 2 nights ago, and while the protein choices were fine, the service and environment were significantly below my expectations for the price and comparison to different KBBQ restaurants. We had to search for our server 3 times to change our grill, which obviously needed changing from the smoke and charred bits, we had to ask for the Banchan, which was frozen when we got it, we asked for vegetables with the meal and never got them, and [[HIGHLIGHT]]the floors by the restrooms were incredibly slippery, making me question the safety and cleanliness standards.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] When the staff helped us, they were service oriented, but it was a matter of catching them. Note that the restaurant wasn't full by the time we were seated, and I saw the servers pause to talk with each other a lot by the bar. The restaurant business is challenging, and I've seen several close through the years from neglect or lack of interest. This location needs to be more attentive if they intend to be profitable and survive against their competitors. read more

"McDonalds of KBBQ" about aptly sums up my experience at Gen, with it being essentially an extremely budget KBBQ experience at a pretty darn good price with few of the frills and niceties of most other spots. That said, those niceties definitely make for a far better experience. A lot small issues add up to a nice meal I'll likely not return for. Solid if you prefer having value at all costs, just be aware of the downsides. Servers are quite nice and the place is well kept and clean, but folks seem rather overloaded with duties as it took a while for us to get initially seated and many of our orders were either lost in the hullabaloo or given incorrectly. It's an AYCE though so it wasn't hard to reorder things, but it was a hassle to keep (trying) to follow up. Ventilation gets the job done, but could afford to be stronger...we definitely smelled particularly strongly after our time here. To their credit though, they were not slow on grill changes and plate removal was reasonably paced. Food quality is noticeably lower than comparable spots in this price range, so I'd say it's lower on the end of the quality vs. price tradeoff. You're not leaving hungry to be sure, but a lot of icy (like straight from the freezer) meat platters and some of the cuts didn't have any integrity whatsoever and fell apart as we transferred it to the grill. Banchan was pretty bare bones and also slightly iced up. The "Korean Fried Chicken" can barely be called that and was just about the worst fried chicken I've ever been served. So yeah, lots of ups and downs. Cheap KBBQ for ya huh? read more

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The service is just so underwhelming, it's so hard to justify the value. Getting the side dishes take a long time and most of the time get missed if we don't follow up multiple times. It takes so long to even get the salt and oil sauce that you're halfway through the meal before they remember to bring it by. I ordered the mint cucumber soju lemonade and it was a zucchini in it instead... definitely not worth the $8. And when I brought it up to the server, they said that they were told it's a cucumber with nothing they can do. All in all, I wish the experience was much better than what's it's been. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - "Cucumber" mint soju lemonade... but actually zucchini's - Korean Near Me - San Jose, California

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I had more rice than meat. Some reason they brought out more rice but never came by for the meat. Too hungry so I just ate rice banchan some meat and called it. Not worth read more

Stopped by for dinner with a friend. We got the all you can eat KBBQ package, which lasts two hours. We were seated quickly and were able to place an order for our first round of food. However, things started to go wrong after that. The restaurant was short staffed and did not have enough people to manage the amount of diners in the building, and [[HIGHLIGHT]]the ventilation system was not strong enough to handle the smoke that was being produced.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]This made it really hard for me to breathe and we were unable to order any other rounds of meat.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Since our meal was limited by time, I left feeling very frustrated by the lack of service. read more

It's all you can eat Korean BBQ style. AYCE totally tested my sin of gluttony. You can order 4 items per time per table, for a total of 2-hour meal time at $31/person. Food ranges from raw meats to appetizers. We cooked a bunch of meats on centered stove. Most of them came out juicy and tender. My favorites were bulgogi, premium steak and spicy chicken. Mixing meats with sauce, salad and rice would bring the dietary balance up a notch. The appetizers of deep fried mandu (korean dumplings) and cheese katsu were both delicious! Food quality was top-notch. Service was friendly, prompt and attentive. Server worked diligently on getting our orders out on time. Manager dropped by to ask about our experience. I felt being taken care of. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Interior decor was neat and charming. Industrial aesthetic setting gave out a modern vibe, exemplified by a bustling open kitchen and an illuminating corner bar[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. Smoke exhaust pipes were all over the ceiling, yet your clothes will still smell like barbecue. A very good experience that will guarantee my second visit. read more

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Gone downhill. so upset this is the closest Gen to me and the one we usually go to. My family and I came here on Christmas Eve dinner. It took 20 min to bring out each round. [[HIGHLIGHT]]It is so cold inside despite it already being pouring rain freezing outside.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] There is a really rude bald manager wearing a quarter zip who was YELLING at people for trying to go to the bathroom. [[HIGHLIGHT]]It's not the customers fault the signs are unclear and TINY and the way the tables are set up you quite literally have to go through a certain section to go to the bathroom???[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Left not feeling full and this is the closest GEN to us and used to be great idk what's happened. The management there needs to be fired the servers are nice and trying their best. Food didn't taste fresh either. read more