The food is amazing and fresh and our server is The best he attended too us like royalty and Well mannered n friendly hosting. All staff was so inviting. Great experience. I see our waiter Andrew running the show as General Manager in the future. Delicious food" so much fun w/ my husband n our son read more

Came here for a birthday and it was the perfect spot to celebrate. The AYCE Korean BBQ was so good. We tried a little bit of everything and every cut of meat was fresh, flavorful, and cooked up great on the grill. The whole experience was just fun. Sitting around the table grilling, eating, and hanging out made it feel way more special than a regular dinner. Service was fast and attentive too. They kept the food coming and made sure we had everything we needed the whole time. Great food, great vibes, and a perfect place for a birthday. read more

If I could give negative stars I would. Everything was pretty terrible. We had a really large party for a birthday and we had a long wait though we had scheduled a reservation ahead. When you go in, we had a basically private room for the party, which is pretty cool! But when you go in, it's freezing cold. It's like the AC was blasting so hard I was in a freezer. My toes literally felt frozen. It was so uncomfortable.!!! Then the amount of people walking around inside to help was decent, but the time in between getting meat was a little longer than I expected. But the meats were terrible. There was like no quality no taste and some more like Chewy or like even really tough. The kicker was that though there were four separate tables, they charged us all the same price. I understand that if everyone at your table needs to get the same menu. But they really should've told us that it's the whole room and not just by table and if it was the whole room, then they should've also let us know that one table got the premium so we might as well get premium at we're getting charged for it anyways. So not only was the food bad, the service was ok best. But not informing customers was just a kicker. I wouldn't wanna come back. I'm not sure. I'd even try another Gen's again. Their quality has gone significantly downhill. I feel like they're just running on their reputation that was there before. Don't think I'd recommend this place. read more

I really enjoyed the Bulgogi, the Garlic Pork belly, the short ribs (this one literally melts in your mouth) . The KFC is my favorite but I forgot to order it today. The beef belly was kind of dry not going to lie. I wish they would leave a bottle of brisket available to the table. Love the potato salad side as well as the cucumbers. Service was excellent. The waiters were attentive and worked together nicely to change our grills and to get us what we needed. It's a very dark environment and your eyes will need to adjust to the outside haha just a heads up. If you're easily overstimulated consider wearing earplugs just because it can get loud or ask to be seated outside. Ooo I tried the pancake dessert and I must say that was a 10/10 :D Floors are slippery :( Beware If you want to save $$$ aim to come for lunch. Honorable mention: The women's bathroom has a baby changing station which is awesome news as some places don't read more

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2 hours eating limit. Felt unwelcome and rushed during weekday lunch. Slippery floor. Staff did not welcome our party of 5 upon arriving but sounded a little irritated because 6th person was not there. She asked how many people in the party and started explaining all the rules. It didn't feel welcoming. No smiles just straight up rules and here's your table. She said "oh you'd be surprised how many people stay past 2 hours". Well, I don't care for others, I'm not others. We have 6 people but was told only 1 grill. If you ever eat Korean BBQ - 1 grill is best for 4 people or less because of the space. First grill was turned on almost immediately but the second grill didn't get turn on until 30-40 minutes later after a male waiter noticed that the 5th and 6th person was just sitting there in front of an empty grill while everyone else eat. It was just awkward. Only one order of each meats at a time. So if you want 3 orders of short ribs , you would have to order, wait a long time for waiters to bring it out, grill, eat and then order again and repeat. Yes your two hours clock is still ticking while waiting and waiting for your food and waiters. Staff rushed to take our order and take long time to bring out food especially side dishes. I didn't even finish ordering and they had to rush off so I felt rushed ordering. Lost my appetite honestly. It is hard to enjoy any food because it felt unwelcome and rushed and the waiting for food to come out. Staff running around and never made eye contact unless you call for them. The girls like house steak, bulgogi, fried shrimps, kimchi fried rices. All the side dishes are similar to other places- nothing stand out. I personally like the short ribs but here it was not tender or well marinated. For $28 lunch (tips included)- I won't be coming back after such terrible services and meats are not any better than other nearby Korean BBQ places. Be careful- their floor is slippery. read more

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Came out to try for the first time. We had great service and food was delicious. We had Premium (very moderately priced) and had our amazing server, Romeo just bring it! Romeo was very knowledgeable and attentive and brought items at a good pace to not feel rushed. Def found a new fun spot! read more

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It was okay. I've gone to many KBBQ places and Gens used to be at the top of my list, but the food at this location just seemed too sweet. I went around 1pm so it wasn't crazy busy, they were attentive, but you could tell the workers were understaffed. I was in the room without fans and my seat, along with the one next to me, had sauce splattered all over. Wish I could get my money back. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Japchae, rice bowl - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

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What an Amazing first time experience we had tonight for Dinner for my nephew"s high school graduation.. Our waiter Andrew was so amazing. Excellent customer service. And had such an awesome personality. We will definitely be back. B. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Awesome Dinner. Thank you to our Amazing waiter Andrew. B. - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

All-you-can-eat AYCE. Came here for Christmas lunch and had a good experience. The staff was incredibly kind and attentive throughout the entire meal. ​We ordered from the dinner menu, and the galbi and beef bulgogi were the highlights. I appreciated how proactive the servers were with changing our grill at regular intervals. It's a good selection for the price. ​The only downside was the restroom. There was a very intense smell even before entering the door. read more

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A solid choice that's not anything premium amongst the AYCE KBBQ greats of LA but at under 30 bucks, it usually delivers. If you're tryna pig out after a big workout or run and wanna just get six or seven.. orders brisket or bulgogi then cant go wrong with gen. if you think you're down for ayce lunch then its not a bad deal either. the wait is LONGGGG almost every day for dinner and if its the weekend just be prepared to wait like 2 hours lol. service is usually top notch especially considering how busy they get so servers always coming around and making sure you got everything you need. Food: 7/10 Service: 9/10 Atmosphere: 6/10 Value: 7/10 read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

This place seems to be going down. We came for early dinner hoping to beat the rush and there was no rush. The last 3x they have fat ass at the same table in the room on the right in the back corner. You share a table with another group if you are smaller than three people. However, it is not a shareable table. In order for the personwho is sitting on the bench side closest to the wall, they can't get out without your party having to get out and move. Absolutely ridiculous. I'm not sure why they do this. But we always seem to sit here. This last time, we asked for 2 corn cheese & it never came until a manager came over and we had to ask her. Even then, they only had 1 available. Supposedly they were making more but it was never brought to us. They changed our grill once during the whole time which doesn't work with galbi. I also asked for hot sauce, they were out! Umm. Really, it's 5pm. I would have liked more salad but never saw our waiter. The galbi has gotten fattier and there was hardly any meat. I'm amazed they hadn't increased their prices too much throughout the years but there's soo many competitions out there now. SYOY! read more

To begin with my experience started off bad. The hostess was rude, wanted to have her way and gave the nastiest attitude to my husband. Just for asking the approximate wait time for our table that according to her they had to accommodate us because of my baby that needed a high chair which seemed to be a huge inconvenience that she did not care to hide in her face expression. Not only that but she proceeded to talk sh** with a customer who was signing in for a table, saying "a little patience goes a long way" for a simple question that she turned into an argument. After that the server took about 20 mins to come to our table. He did however make everything better for us so shout out to Aldo cuz he changed our whole night! Place was pretty loud, I didn't hear any music playing but there was a lot of loud talk. The food was tasty this is why I keep choosing GEN for my Kbbq. So little advice for the manager at this place. Have your host with the blonde streak on the left side to have a change of attitude. Maybe some customer service classes? She's in need of some. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

This place used to be the it KBBQ spot... back when I was in high school 2015. Quality of meat is not the best and they dilute the dipping sauce. My favorite part! Service here is okay and overall the restaurant is fine. Also, if you get take out they don't even give you any sides... Best to spend your money at Ican Barbeque, Honey Pig or Shik do rak! read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Gen to go - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

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It's a total coin flip on what you're going to be experiencing on any given day, and it entirely depends on the team of servers and runners that are assigned to your section. Sometimes the server is a seasoned vet, sometimes the server is in way over their heads. It's probably just the nature of high maintenance dining, but be prepared to flag down your serving team many, many times if the team isn't that good. However, the food quality is decent and the place is as clean as can be for an AYCE establishment at this low price point. Sometimes your meats come out presented nicely, sometimes it's thrown onto the plate. The only reason we go here is because Costco offers discounted gift cards. read more

We went to Gen on Saturday, May 9th, to celebrate Mother's Day early and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience. Trying to make a reservation for 6 through Yelp prompted us to call, only to be told they don't take reservations for groups smaller than 9 and that we "didn't need to call." Once seated, they squeezed all 6 of us at a table clearly meant for 4 with barely any room for plates or food. Service only got worse from there. We received the wrong meats, the grill wasn't even turned on for about 10 minutes, and we repeatedly had to ask for forks. Our food was already cooked by the time my sister had to get up herself and ask the host stand again. A server eventually dropped off only 4 forks without saying a word or apologizing. One manager handled the complaint professionally and comped my mom's meal, which we appreciated. However, the general manager later came to our table asking the same questions again and then reprimanded our server right behind our table in front of customers, which was extremely unprofessional. As someone who works in customer service management, the lack of communication and professionalism was disappointing. We won't be returning. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - No grill. Meat sat for 10 mins - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

Came during lunch to get at lunch price since I haven't been here in a while to reconfirm if it's mid, unfortunately Gen didn't redeem themselves :( Meat quality was pretty bad. Steak and short rib was so chewy. Beef belly was cut like beef fatty shaved ice?? So it was like tiny minced scraps when it was cooked. Rice paper was hard like it was left out Brisket sauce was lacking flavor They were super short staffed leaving 1 poor waitress to fight for her life on the floor. So things took really long, I don't blame her. Water was absolutely terrible like unfiltered bad tap. Even a lemon couldn't save it I'm sorry I would not recommend or come back. 5/10 read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Beef belly...minced??? - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

This review is for the great service I received from Kyle. He did a great job and was very attentive. I was very happy with my experience today. read more

I always have an amazing experience at Gen Korean BBQ! The quality of the food is absolutely top-tier. I love the new menu, and the tender brisket is so good. Everything is always delicious and Kyle is such a great host. What I love the most was the price. For the amount and quality of food you get, it's incredible. All-you-can-eat with this level of freshness and variety is hard to beat. The sides were just as good, constantly replenished, and the atmosphere is always fun!! Great food, great price, and a fun dining experience. I'll definitely be coming back! read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - food - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

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food was good service was fast , workers and staff were quick and friendly , never waited to long for food

Came in around 3:30 PM for lunch and the place was basically empty. There was ONE server actually working while 3 other employees were just hanging around the bar area laughing and chilling. Meanwhile, one poor worker was trying to handle multiple tables by themselves. As it started getting busier, tables that had been empty for 20+ minutes still weren't cleaned. We were there for over an hour and nobody even came to ask for our second round. By the time we finally got to order again, we were almost at the 2-hour mark, and then waited forever for the food to even come out. The entire experience felt completely ignored from start to finish. Dirty tables, horrible service, zero attention to customers, and honestly the worst GEN Korean BBQ experience I've ever had -- probably the worst restaurant experience I've EVER had in my life. Never again. Never again. NEVER AGAIN. read more

Came here for my Son's birthday. We had a great meal. So many choices on the premium menu but the bulgogi fries were not the what we thoughtthey would be and they were cold. The server was friendly and helpful in choosing meats to order. We went early on a Saturday it wasn't crowded and we for seated right away. read more

We came here because our family gifted us a few gift cards for Christmas and boy oh boy we were disappointed. The slices meats were all bland with no flavor, the dipping sauces were nothing to the imagination. Best thing served was the kimchi which you had to keep asking for as it is served in very small plates. Our server was really friendly and courteous but feel they are short staffed. It's unfortunate as the setting is cool with good music in the background. read more

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Ask for Aldo -- you won't regret it! We've been to Gens a numerous times, but our most recent visit was the best, and Aldo was the reason why. His recommendations were spot-on, he checked in at just the right moments, and he was genuinely sweet with our kids in a way that made the whole evening feel special. It's the kind of warmth you can't fake. Request Aldo. He turned a great dinner into a truly memorable night out. read more

Gen BBQ was an okay experience overall. The meats were alright and came out pretty fast once we ordered, which was nice. However, the service could've been more attentive. It took longer than expected to get some of the other items we needed, and we had to wait or ask more than once at times. While the meat arrived quickly, the sides and other items were noticeably slower, which took away from the experience a bit. That said, if you're craving Korean BBQ and don't want to deal with a super long wait to get seated, Gen BBQ gets the job done. Not amazing, but decent enough for a casual KBBQ fix. read more

It was understaffed on a Sunday for dinner. The side dishes were so tiny, minimal, and unappetizing, that I didn't even try them, and there were like three of them. The meat was on the fattier side. There were several moments where the grill was empty because the meat was not getting to us. The servers were trying to do their best, and I felt bad for them. We ordered soups, and they didn't get to us until the end. There is no steamed egg option. It was $31.99 for dinner, and they didn't have some options available like the Korean fried chicken and hotteok. The fried dumplings, fried fish katsu, fried calamari, and spicy calamari were good. Ambiance was okay, but the ventilation wasn't too great. It was too smoky in there. With several other options for AYCE KBB, I will not be returning. read more

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The food was amazing I highly recommend the honey fried chicken the service was good very funny people and the atmosphere was calm and welcoming read more

Love it here amazing service great food. I've been to few ones. But this one is the spot.

I rarely write reviews, but this experience was completely unacceptable. We visited this location and received horrible service. To make matters worse, after paying at the front, we were never asked to sign a tip the employee just gave us the receipt and proceeded with checking out the next guests yet we were charged an additional $25 tip without our authorization. The receipt we received (the merchant copy!) clearly shows no tip was added or signed for. This is an unauthorized charge and feels like outright theft. I will be disputing this charge with my bank, and I strongly caution anyone considering this restaurant: if the service is bad, don't expect them to respect your payment either. read more

Gen KBBQ has multiple locations across the United States with the most locations in California. This location in Tustin has ample parking in the plaza. We went for lunch on a weekend which meant we got the dinner option and price ($30.99/person). We didn't have reservations but went right when they opened and were seated immediately. What I really liked was the Hawaiian steak and the yangyum galbi. What I thought was good were the k-gochujang beef belly and the spicy pork bulgogi. What I thought was okay were the brisket (chadol), premium steak, and honey soy beef belly. We also ordered japchae, Korean fried chicken, and corn cheese which were all okay too. I noticed that the portions were pretty small; the corn cheese was small and even the banchan was too. The service was good with frequent grill changes and they brought out the food quickly but I wouldn't wait long to eat here. read more

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This location has ample parking, which was very convenient, and there was no wait time to be seated. We chose the dinner option and tried a few appetizers, but they were nothing special. The Korean fried chicken was mostly breading, the fries were just okay, and the fried calamari missed the mark. Also, There was some wait time between rounds. The restaurant had music, and the overall atmosphere was friendly. read more

Great time! Delicious meats- we chose the premium for wagyu options and glad we did. We waited maybe 5 min to be seated for a party of 4 which was nice/ the place was busy, but service still good. Arrive before 8 if you want to enjoy a hyper friendly scene! read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

Service here is incredibly slow. We come here because costco has giftcards but at this point I'm debating if it's worth it. They need to adopt ipad ordering per table or hire more servers. You will get full while waiting for your meat, and maybe thats the point but Id rather pay more elsewhere for faster service. read more

We came here twice in less than 2 weeks, on both occasions we ordered the Premium package AYCE-- and it didn't disappoint. The wagyu beef belly and ribeye were soo tasty! It gets crowded and has higher decibels at times but it's tolerable. The service was also quick. You should give it a try! read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Premium meat - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

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I love going to this location! My family loves coming to this restaurant. The service is always amazing. The whole staff is very friendly. The food is great. I only had one complaint for my most recent visit. The music they were blasting was horrible! I seriously couldn't enjoy my dining experience this time. Maybe next time they won't play the lame music. read more

THIS IS THE WORST RESTAURANT IN ALL OF CALIFORNIA!!!! I went to Gen with my 85 year old parents, thought to try something new? Why not try? If Koreans love it, then white people and Latinos and African American's should all love it! Right?????? 1.) The host sat us without a care to provide menus. So we sat and looked at the walls for 10 minutes as our sever NEO was too busy to help us. So after 10 minutes I asked the table next to us if I could have theirs, luckily they were nice enough to provide it to me. 2.) Neo, came to serve us after 15 minutes of sitting and we ordered drinks and 2 items off the menu from him. 3 minutes after he left a plate of raw meat, Wagu is what they claim it is but was 99.9% fat and grissel. But without any drinks or sauce or anything we just sat there looking at raw meat. 3.) Another 5 minutes went by without drinks so I asked another server to get them for me which he did but made it very apparent he wasn't happy about it. 4.) We were so hungry we just started cooking the fatty meat called Wagu as we waited for something like sauce or rice or anything! 5 minutes after we started that NEO finally made it to our table with a bowl of rice that had 3 bites in it, and 1 tablespoon of watered down soy sauce with 2 pinches of powder stuff for flavor I guess??? (Per a person) As we cooked the meat it reduced down to pure fat and grissel, not even so much as 1 morsel of meat was left after cooking. Obviously the Korean owner is going to meat markets in downtown LA, buying things 1/2 off because they are out of date or too fatty and calling it Wagu to make a buck. And maybe North Koreans who are used to eating nothing call what was served to us food but it was so disgusting and UN-EATABLE we spit it out! 5.) Next, we tried the bone in steak. NEO told us there are no knifes in the building to cut up the steak after cooking, all they offer are a pair of scissors which were old and nobody cares to sharpen. I bet they don't even have a scissor sharpener on the building but yet this is all they offer to cut it with. After cooking my red hot fatty steak I grabbed it with my bare hands burning myself as I attempted to cut it with a extremely dull pair of scissors, turning the fatty steak into mush as I burned my hands. We only had 1 ounce of watered down soy sauce to dip it in afterwards and quickly ran out of it as we ate cooked steak with nothing else. This was utterly disgusting. The worst dining experience in my 45 years on planet earth. My whole life I have worked in restaurants, being held to the highest of standards every time in which Gen BBQ failed at every step. Hiring children with no experience to Host, who could care less, teenagers to serve with zero experience who could care less about service and a Korean owner who hired them to save a buck, probably keeping all the tips for themselves to make extra money while buying the poorest quality of meats , 99.9% fat and grissel and passing it off as Wagu. To top it off the bill was $180.00. $200.00 with tip as we would never stiff a server but guess what, ITS ALL YOU CAN EAT!!! And our server NEO never said 1 word about it? Not a thing? Apparently all the prices are to be found on a QR code on the front of the menu, but 85 year old people don't know how to do that, do they now? And if I knew, I would have ordered all kinds of animal fats that Koreans like to eat instead of only ordering 2 items off the menu. Instead we paid $200.00 for 2 items and a tiny bowl of rice and watered down soy sauce. Furthermore, I called the manager the next day, her name was KODA as she claimed. Another example of the cheap Korean owner hiring a child to handle customer service. She wrote down my complaint and told me she would call me the next day to get me a refund. BUT NEVER DID. Then I called her 3 days later, the host mumbled to cover for her and said she was out running a errand at 6pm dinner time (a lie to avoid me) and took a message and promised to call me back, but never did. Another example of a 22 year old, paid bottom dollar to be called a manager who acts like a child when it comes to customer service. THIS IS THE MOST REPULSIVE AND DISGUSTING DINNING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! And I travel to the east coast and Europe and Australia all the time. I've ate at over 50,000 restaurants. The only reason I have a yelp account is to warn everyone on planet earth not to eat at GEN BBQ in Tustin! Lastly, they obviously pay someone to eliminate negative yelp reviews, as they eliminated my previous post. Let it be known I will repost this over and over and over and over again until you give me every red cent ai spent at this repulsive and disgusting excuse of a restaurant. I'm sure starving North Koreans would love to eat all the animal fat served to us but if GEN BBQ wants to attract customers who are not Korean to their location they need to not provide sub-par EVERYTHING!!!!!! DEAR GOD!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Slow service, greasy slippery floors, no toilet paper, the bathroom door lock was broken, there was a broken uneven seat, grill kept going off, bulgogi meat did not seem normal. The only good thing was the white rice and brisket. I'm not sure how this place has 5 stars. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

I'm really disappointed with our experience at Gen Korean BBQ this time. I've been here before and had a decent experience, but this visit was completely different. We came on a Sunday lunch time. It was not even busy. The customer service was very poor from the start. After we were seated, we placed our order for meat, but no grill was placed on our table. The meat actually came out before we even had a grill, which made no sense and already started the experience off badly. The staff member assigned to our table was not attentive at all. We had to repeatedly ask for basic things like water and other items we ordered, and even after asking multiple times, things were still forgotten. Meanwhile, we noticed other tables receiving much better attention and their orders coming out quickly -- even tables that were seated after us. The food quality was also disappointing. We ordered brisket, and the meat was very dry and crumbly. It didn't taste fresh and the quality was definitely not what we expected. Overall, the entire experience went downhill compared to the last time I visited. Between the lack of service, long wait times, and poor meat quality, it was just a bad Korean BBQ experience. Unfortunately, I won't be coming back. read more

I came here again after having a great experience the first time. 2 times in a week, does that make me a regular yet? Anyways, to my surprise I got the same server who helped me the first time I came, and he remembered us which was awesome and made it feel like a more welcoming atmosphere. He provided the same amazing service, and I have to say, I love it when our servers actually care and put on a smile throughout our visit. So big shoutout to Justin; he goes above and beyond to make sure we're enjoying our visit. I got the premium menu again after I tried it during my first visit. Though it is quite a price jump from the regular menu, I think it's proved to be well worth it. Another visit here at Gen Tustin, and I can't wait to keep coming back! read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Premium menu items - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

I haven't been to Gen in two years and unfortunately it has really gone downhill since my last visit. I used to consider it middle tier for Korean BBQ but now it has dropped to my least favorite spot. Food: 1/5 I dined in with two friends and we were given a portion of meat smaller than my palm to split between the three of us. With such tiny portions and slow service it was frustrating to even try to order more. While the quality of meats can vary at most KBBQ spots, brisket is usually a safe choice, but not here. When we cooked it so much water came out that it crumbled apart like ground beef. The corn cheese side was also disappointing. What we received looked like maybe eight kernels of corn with a sprinkle of shredded cheese, barely enough for one bite. Service: 1/5 Service was almost nonexistent. With the portions so small we were constantly waiting and struggling to flag someone down just to place another order. Once we did manage to order it took a long time for the food to come out. Even when our server walked past our table she never checked in on us. We had to rely on other servers to refill our water. This was before peak dinner hours so I can only imagine how much worse it must be when the restaurant is full. Ambiance: 2/5 The restaurant itself was clean and we were seated quickly which I appreciated. However we were placed right next to another table with almost no space between us. I was so cramped that I kept worrying I might bump the person beside me every time I moved my arm. Overall: Gen has lost its standards for both food and service. There are multiple areas of improvement that need to be addressed in order for them to compete with other kbbq restaurants. Please save your money and time. read more

Gen Korean BBQ House - Korean Near Me - Tustin, California

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5/2026 Andrew made the whole experience something to remember. We came here to celebrate a graduation. It was amazing and Andrew was friendly and attentive. He made it special for our family. Thank you Andrew. read more