*****Customer Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic***** Jong Ga House has always been one of my favorite spots when it comes to Korean BBQ in the Bay Area. I've been here many times through the years and never had a bad experience. The food and service are consistently good and the owners and staff are always friendly. With the pandemic raging on, they were forced to switch up their business model. Instead of AYCE, they now offer a $50 takeout family meal kit and raw marinated meats and banchans by the pound. I came here on 07/20/2020 to pick up some meats and banchans for my family's Independence Day celebration. The interior appeared to have gone through a thorough cleaning and some safety measures were implemented. I got a pound of bulgogi ($12.99), a pound of spicy pork ($8.99), a pound of spicy chicken ($8.99), and a 32 oz box of banchan. The total, with a small tip, was $45. While waiting for my order, I chatted with the owners' son. He's just as friendly as his folks. He told me they are doing okay business despite the pandemic. I was happy to hear that. Everything was nicely packaged. Thanks to Jong Ga House, we had a wonderful celebration with delicious food. Please go support them if you can. I look forward to the day when I can go back and enjoy their AYCE again. read more

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This place is still as good as I remember! Every time I go to Jong Ga House, the service is great and the food is delicious. I can here on a Saturday for lunch around when they opened and the restaurant was already packed. The restaurant uses a QR code system for the menu. Our waitress was prompt to come get our order. We started off with a complimentary bowl of cold noodles, which was lightly spicy and refreshing. What we ordered: -LA Galbi: The meat for this Galbi is so tender! I like that it was easy to remove the bones to eat. The marinade itself is sweet and salty. This is perfect with rice. -SoonDuBu Korean Soft Tofu Soup with Beef: I love that this soup is so warming and comforting. The Tofu is soft and pillowy. The Kimchi and Pork make a perfect pairing to rice. All side dishes were also great; I liked the fish cake and glazed potatoes the best. Overall, this is a great place to get some Korean Food! I recommend coming for regular dining or KBBQ! read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

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Food was yummy. Service wasn't very friendly but attentive. They changed our grill often and got us what we needed. The ambience was clean and the music was good. read more

Jong Ga House - Beef Short rib - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

This place has a great selection and a full bar! Definitely a go-to spot when I'm in Oakland. They do get really busy, so be aware of planning for bigger parties! read more

Jon Ga House is hands down my favorite KBBQ spot in the bay area!! With both reasonable prices and juicy perfectly marinated meats I cannot ask for more. There also is happy hour nightly from 9-11pm and the service is always great. Some of my absolute favorites at Jong Ga House include the spicy marinated pork, pork belly, short ribs and beef brisket! The marinade that is used on the spicy meat blends is like none other with just the right amount of sweet to spice and the sauce is not weak. It packs a punch and thickly coats all of the marinated meats - making sure you get all the flavor in every bite! I also absolutely love the kimchi (perfectly bitter and spicy) and the sweet rice dessert drink which is a blend of honey sugar water and rice congee. If you are in the mood for KBBQ Jong Ga House is the place to go! read more

Jong Ga House - Spicy marinated pork - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Excellent service, always with a smile. Lovely, close atmosphere. Great with friends, family or date night. Never a bad time here.

Bomb diggity is all I have to say! dishes of bahn chan? No way! Soups, meat veggie, lots of meat. Came hungry. Although last night.. when they are busy was bad. You join the live wait list, and a suggested time is provided. But the server does not clear the waitlist. She'll seat folks with full party. So I arrived at 7:30, waited about 8. Hub's couldn't find parking, so she sat folks that literally walked in. read more

Super sweet and attentive staff, and the food came out very quickly!! I love how they also are quite quick to seat you even without a reservation and during busy days. I love how comfortable I feel chowing down on KBBQ here!! Also, order their bean paste and more fish cakes!! So yummy!! It is on the pricier side, but it's just bay area prices I guess. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

OK, if you are not consistently ordering their new Family Set Meal for lunch or dinner, then you are missing out on the best pandemic-friendly to-go order EVER. The family set meal comes with two main dishes, four sets of rice, one large family size of soup of your choice, all the Banchan you could ever imagine, and a fish of your choice. It's enough food for a family of four to have a lot of food through two full meals. read more

HORRIBLE! I ordered galbi ribs and I couldn't even swallow a bite! That's how bad it was! The meat is old and spoiled. And not even well-grilled! Stay away from this horrible place! I don't know how they still in business! read more

Jong Ga House - Galbi - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Best KBBQ in the area! I'm always on the lookout for a good Kbbq place with good sides and meat options. I also think that Jong Ga House is pretty affordable. I made a reservation in advance for 10 people and they had our table ready when we came in. I came here for a friend's birthday and they have a birthday discount for the individual plus they come out with an ice cream surprise! A Kbbq place really stands out when they have quality sides and service. With how much my group tends to order, I appreciate it when the service is attentive and quick -- and Jong Ga House fulfilled that! I will say that there is a smaller list of meat options here compared to other places, but the options here are really the only ones that matter. I was extremely happy with my experience here and will definitely be coming back! read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Update: Nm, looks like I did eat here before in person (wrote a previous review, haha), and it sucked then too. So, 2/5 stars no matter if you eat here or get to-go. 4/22/22 I want to make it clear, this was a #DoorDash order so part of the problems comes from how they prep (especially heat) and package to-go orders. So, no, I cannot recommend you get food to-go here, but it's possible that eating at the location would be different. I also want to note I've ordered similar things from other Korean places to-go and have had great tasting food. So, it's possible. They're just doing it sub-optimally here. 0. Banchan: I actually think this is the only thing they did better than their peers for a to-go thing. Usually to-go banchan is an after thought, but ours came in a large box, complete with 7 items! No, nothing was especially special, but the fact that many of the basics were represented when their peers don't normally do this is a good thing. 6/10 19. Fried Dumplings $10.99: So, if you're rating this Claim Jumper's style where quantity is faaaaaar more impressive than quality, you might love this cause I counted 11 of these suckas! But.... well, the filling is the Korean equivalent of Burger King "beef" where you're not sure if they used an Earth cow or some cow from Mars. Tastes like flavored mush. 4/10 63. Bi Bim Bap $14.99: So, #1 must be said: right in the middle of the "dish" was a sunny-side up egg...... well, Drowning-Sun-Egg.... like the yolk fell into the ocean on the horizon. It was basically 100% raw egg white and yolk on top of a micro thin later of cooked egg on the bottom. I'm talking to much--basically a raw egg. Is that on purpose?--is that a Korean thing? I dunno. Maybe it is. If it is, let me know and I'll change my rating of this dish if it's supposed to be this way... but it looks like a mistake. Yeah, they just put a raw egg, toasted lightly, on top. They got all the standard fixins of a bi bim bap, but the meat was cold. Mixing it all together with the sauce and rice, it was alright, but like I said, I've had this from other places where they take better care with their temps and packaging, taking it from the restaurant to my office, a trip 30min away, and it was still amazing at my desk. No this. (Note to manager: you need to double your sauce too.) 2/10 78. Steamed Sliced Pork $25.99: This is one of those things I need a Korean to explain to me. I never understand why they charge so much for what should be something so easily prepared. It's always $20-30 for this at any Korean restaurant, but it's basically just sliced boiled/steamed pork. I don't get it. Well, anyway, the score has nothing to do with the price cause it's basically like this anywhere else, just thought I'd say this. My main problem with this is... how are you supposed to eat it? So, they package the pork in one box (good), and all the veggie stuff in another. There's a 1/4 wedge of napa cabbage, which I assume is supposed to be used to wrap the pork? But it's really not possible except for the very outer piece, the largest one. There rest can at best be used as chips, but most are smaller than the pork slices. There's also sliced daikon which can be used to wrap the pork, yes, that's true. Also, there's lettuce, but it's underneath all the other fixins, including the pickles in sauce, and there's only 2, so really can't use it. I just don't get it. Pork itself is a little more flavorful and a little juicier than other places. But my Korean friend told me that it's supposed to be bland and semi-dry (after eating a version from a very expensive Korean restaurant)? So who knows.... Anyway, I wouldn't order this. 5/10 (cuz their pork does seem better than competitors) 2/5 #oakland #koreanfood #koreancuisine #bibimbap #koreanpork #koreandumplings read more

Extra crispy seafood omelet was FAB! Not at all for bbq beef that was very dry & had no taste. In striking contrast , BBQ pork was great!. Excellent service & Soju offerings were delish! read more

Absolutely amazing experience! Michelle was so sweet! The service was great. We had a very large group of people and they did a fantastic job getting the orders right and as quick as possible. read more

Poor customer service from beginning to end, they completely ignored us then tried to seat the group that walked in after us right away, until we reminded whoever it was that finally came over that we have been waiting for someone to seat us for a while (with empty tables right in front of us, one of which they hurriedly put us at when we finally got their attention). Food was middle of the road at best, my dish was I think entirely the wrong item and they just didn't care. Waste of time and money. read more

Very bad service and rude. They keep saying 5 minutes to close When is bearly 10:45 understand stuff is try to go home planni of food on the table. When my self and friends still eating she come to our table and kind of yell us not cool totally no coming back to this place sadly food is very taste read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

One of my favorite spots near Lake Merritt. I usually come here for dinner, but we decided to have lunch. They have great lunch deals! My husband ordered the spicy chicken and I ordered the LA galbi. His order came with a soup-- you can choose between tofu soup, kimchi soup, etc. The spicy chicken was really good! The LA galbi was delicious, but I wish the meat was thicker. What I loved most about Jong Ga House was their banchan. However, it was very disappointing during my visit. There were less dishes and it tasted different. They are very generous with the refills. I love the spicy soup with noodles that they give you in the beginning! There was plenty of metered parking and residential parking. They have Yelp check in and I believe you can make reservations on Yelp as well. read more

Jong Ga House - LA Gal Bi - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

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Oh my, I was on a KBBQ crave like no other a few weeks ago, coincidentally right when SF had to shut down indoor dining again :( Luckily, Oakland's indoor dining was still going on and I made the trek across the bridge to satisfy my craving. I came here on a Saturday and it was not busy at all. The staff followed all procedures to make sure all their guests felt comfortable, safe and confident to eat here. As I was seated, I observed an employee who was actively cleaning their bar top area and entrance. This was my first time here, and as I was craving kbbq, I wanted to do the whole thing, cooking, grilling and smelling like smoke before I left. The AYCE is $24.99 with lots of options and choices. Did I mention they give you lots and lots of banchans? :) My server was very attentive and kind, she made many routine stops at our table to check on us and made sure any replenishing we needed were done ASAP. I took away 2 stars because the meat quality just wasn't there and it was a bit of a letdown for me. We did try several things including pork belly, marinated pork belly, short ribs, squid, briskets and others. The best thing was the brisket. I later learned they were more known for their bibimbaps! Totally didn't get that, but will return next time to try it. Overall, great service and lots of food but if you're looking for an outstanding kbbq AYCE, this isn't the place. Jong Ga House do offer many other a la carte which seemed to be more popular as we did notice the area that was for non-kbbq was more packed. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

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Never in my life have i ever had a single place cure me from months of pain, from not being able to eat fully for months to downing big korean meat. I love jong ga house and all their employees who are so welcoming and helped us right away. the vibe was amazing and i love korean bbq read more

If you are looking for the perfect place for Korean bbq look no further than Jong Ga House! The staff was super friendly and highly efficient with orders (definitely need a reservation though, without a reservation the wait is easily over 20-30mins). They had a huge selection of meats (all very well priced) and their sides were delicious. The corn and cheese and kimchi pancakes were to die for! We also had their lychee soju cocktail smoothie which was a perfect pairing with the meal and comes in a large pitcher! read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Whenever we have a reason to celebrate, my family always likes to come here. Love the food and their service. I have been in to many kbbq but no one beats the ambiance so far. read more

Good food def try again but I won't be doing the all you can eat. I can't eat that much in one sitting I need food to go so I can come back and nibble a little at a time! The customer service was great the women who work there are very kind and attentive! read more

Relatively decent place offering takeout only during pandemic. Looks nice and authentic on the inside, which I sure hope to experience. Food was served very fast and on the ok quality level. Bul Go Gi was a bit on the chewy side and rice was very sticky, where seafood pancakes were to come back for. Will give it another try, once pandemic is over with hope to increase the rating. read more

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*This review reflects my experience during Covid* Jong Ga House offers outdoor seating on the second floor even for all you can eat KBBQ. For dinner last week, we opted for their singe entrees. We tried their pork short ribs, seafood tofu soup and japchae noodles. Flavor was on point and they did not skip on quality. Will definitely be coming back! read more

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The food and service here is great! Michelle made sure we were well taken care of and even helped us learn to cook octopus! Must visit!! Better GEN read more

Jong Ga House - Enjoying a great dec night with friends - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Decent spot for AYCE Korean bbq in Oakland. It's a little cramped and smokey inside, but they have a big menu and food comes out fast. They don't help you with the grilling and cutting so everyone at the table has to be hands on, which can be fun. The AYCE price isn't bad and you can easily get your money's worth. No dessert on the AYCE menu though. Regardless I would definitely consider coming back. read more

Good service. Quality meats for BBQ, I'd appreciate smaller portions when I'm not with a big group. The noodles and soups are good too. I've also had their spicy chicken with rice for lunch, very well made. I like their kimchi too. Service is good, parking can be tricky. read more

Excellent Korean cuisine. My wife and enjoy the array of condiments that accompany our meals. Nice ambiance and attentive waiter staff.

Just had the best time and an amazing meal at Jong Ga House! It was a SHIFT of all you can eat delicious meat and incredible service. I loooooved the galbi and the brisket, and really appreciate that it just kept coming and coming and coming. I can't wait to come back and see Michelle, the best waitress ever, again! read more

Went here with some high expectations but it was so mediocre. I remember going here when I was going to Cal years ago and the experience being better. Came in around 4pm on a Saturday and there was a less than 5 minutes on the waitlist so I decided to not put ourselves on there and just walk in. Was told that since weekends are busy, that there's a limit of 1.5 hours to eat, we said ok. The entire time we were eating, all of the servers (around 6 or so) were all moving so quickly up and down the restaurant getting things together for dinner time. I get why this was happening but at the same time, we had to flag down our server multiple times to get water and forks. There was a group of people they sat down and forgot about them while they clean up all the grill. The table had to flag them down for their meats. The meats did not taste flavorful or fresh at all. Their steak was so thin and so tough, we couldn't eat it. We only got 4 pieces of shrimp. The best meat was probably the chicken. We asked for the check and the woman said ok. We never got it and had to stand up and go to the bar to get our check and sign it. Yeah, go somewhere else. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

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Jong Ga was my go to spot as a kid growing up in Oakland and today I decided to bring my boyfriend and his family to experience it. Food was great yeah but service was very poor. They kept ignoring us and and proceed to check on every table but ours. Walked past and would say yes but couldn't just give us a time for the soup. So we kept asking for it then they came out with multiple soups when we were just reminding them. It wasn't crazy busy. There were plenty of workers. My boyfriends brother car also got bipped right in front of Jong Ga. This was on a Sunday night. Music was nice and bathroom sink was pretty cool. Overall service was just poor and car got bipped read more

Kimchi fried rice was mushy. I didn't like the taste and there wasn't enough side dishes

The meat here was so fresh and delicious. We had amazing quality service and all of the servers were extremely friendly and welcoming! Everything came out immediately after we ordered. Definitely a spot to visit with your friends if you want to enjoy yummy KBBQ in a fun environment! read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

I've been to this place many times. It is my once a week go to restaurant to eat at. I love going by myself because I get all the Banchan to myself and don't have to share. Unfortunately, I have never had the AYCE option but that looks good too. Ambiance : The waiters and staff have always been accomodating and understanding as they let me bring my scooter in so it doesn't get stolen parked outside. There are several tables with grills in the middle and air vents on top. The tables are high quality starry night quartz. Service : The waitress who takes my order is always quick and attentive. The banchan and food always comes out very quickly. I go by myself so I cannot speak to eating with more than one person or in a group. I imagine it will be the same either way. Food : From the first time I ate there, I have always loved their Cold Kimchi Noodle soup to open up my appetite. They give this to me for the Free. There must be something in it because I always crave this soup. In a good way. The banchans are amazing as they hook you up with the usual and then some, Glass Noodles, Broccoli, Kimchi, Pickled Daikon, Yellow Daikon, Fried Potato with some sweet glaze, Coleslaw, Bean Sprouts in Sesame, and I forget the last one. I get the Beef Dolsot Bibimbap, which comes in a hot stone pot, when it gets to the table it's sizzling hot, with a raw egg in the middle, I wait for the rice to crisp up on the bottom and stir the veggies and egg together to make sort of a fried rice. As the rice crisps up I take it out from the bottom to eat seperately as it has a nice crunch. I usually have enough left over to take home and eat later. It comes with a small serving of Gochujang to pour on top. Drinks : Their water is amazing as it is served in a Stainless Steel thermal cup so it comes cold and is very palate cleansing and refreshing. This must be filtered tap water or just plain tap water as I think it comes straight from Hetch Hetchy reservoir in the Sierras. They also serve alcohol which is always a plus and I see daily Soju specials which I cannot partake in as I am usually working when I go on my lunch. I have to try the AYCE option and get the Soju specials at night sometime. As always this is one of the oldest and better Korean restaurants in the area. Although I must be bias because I haven't gone to others in the area. I'm sure they are just as good. read more

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I love the flavor of the meat, especially the brisket. Good service, they bring the food out quick and are always on call for the next order. Can get busy sometimes read more

My new fave kbbq spot in the bay! Locally owned, high-quality meat, fast and attentive service. It's very quiet and well-ventilated inside which is pretty rare for kbbq but so incredibly appreciated. Although there aren't as many meat options for the AYCE, they do have some really nice traditional dishes like naengmyeon that I don't really see at other kbbq places. On top of all this the price is cheaper than other nearby options or any of the chains (although still not comparable to LA kbbq prices lol). My friends and I will be coming back here! read more

I've been here a few times now and feel I can finally give an honest review. First off management is super nice. The meat and sides options are excellent. This is one of the nicer kbbq spots I've been to not in the sense that the inside seems high end. I mean in the way that their air vents on top of the dinner table aren't very loud at all which can be annoying at other spots, the staff has always treated us really nice. It also is an intimate setting somehow even though there are no partitions or booths really. If I had to choose a kbbq place to go to in the east bay it would be this one. The only tips I would offer to the staff is that the chicken looks unappealing because it always seems slimy which makes me feel like it isn't washed before it gets seasoned. And I know that's a practice that's up for debate with some people but not for me. Lol I need my chicken washed and not slimy looking. You can say the heat destroys bacteria all you want idc. If this is their practice that's fine since I don't order chicken at kbbq but I've had people in my party who only eat chicken so this is mostly for them. The other tip I would offer to management is maybe speaking to their staff about becoming impatient or losing their cool with customers. I have never had an issue with the staff when I come here with my partner but I do have friends who have maybe asked for something more than once and the staff had talked back with "ask me again if you want" with kind of an attitude. Which whatever we're all human we're not robots. I get it. But some other patrons might not be as understanding.with all that said 5 stars all around. Keep up the good work!!!! read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

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Meat was so delicious and high quality! Service was also super quick and everyone was so kind and helpful, especially Michelle. Will be coming here again and again! read more

Jong Ga was fantastic! The service was very kind, accommodating, and genuinely patient with our large group (even though our party size kept fluctuating). Despite it being super busy, the service was fast and they were very attentive to every table. Not to mention, the food was DELICIOUS. We did all you can eat and it was so worth it. The short ribs and octopus were standouts for me! read more

For $32 you get all the meat your stomach and colon can handle with fantastic sides to go with it. Went with most of the meats on there and all were flavorful especially with their sauces and banchan that were set at the table, along with the sides you can order. The corn + cheese allows you to add some delicious meltiness to your meats as well. read more