Living on the other side of the Bay, I don't get much opportunity to dine in Oakland. Meeting some business friends at their workplace, my host brought us here for a weekday lunch in January. Parking wasn't bad as my friend parked across the street on a gloomy morning. When we arrived a little after noon, the hostess led us to a window side table. They likely do quite a bit of cook-your-own BBQ evenings since every table had the stainless steel flat top grill installed. There were five or six occupied tables with local workplace diners judging by their attire, none of which were cooking their own food. After studying the lunch menu, I ordered the beef bulgogi lunch special. Soon after placing our order, our waitress returned with six or seven small appetizer plates (banchan) and a metallic bowl of soup. The banchan were a mix of spicy (kim chee, of course) and pickled items as well as marinated fish and clear noodles. A few minutes later, our entrees arrived with a bowl of white rice and another bowl of spicy tofu soup (SoonDooBoo). Being a soup guy these days and with the unseasonably cold weather, the tofu soup hit the spot for me. The meat was not overcooked, often a problem with this cut of beef, and the onions were just right; the beef was tender and the marinade/sauce paired well with my rice. The fun of Korean cuisine is alternating the different flavors on every bite. Spicy, sour, tangy, sweet, rich, crisp, soft, crunchy, soothing, etc. Service was okay as tea and water were refilled as needed. The lady manager/owner spoke with my gracious hosts after the meal and asked for their opinion and spoke about some recent changes to the restaurant. Our lunch specials were around $11.00 to $14.00, average for most meals these days. Apologies for the lack of photos as it wasn't appropriate for me to click away while working. Would come back if I was in the area. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Requiring people to have a party of two to do AYCE is a really unreasonable rule for people dining alone.

We got the family meal covid deal and it was a TON of food. The older asian couple that helped was SOOO nice. I cannot stress this enough, the gentleman was so accommodating when we asked for sesame oil/salt and extra fishcake. I would definitely come back just for the hospitality itself! We got the bulgogi entree with sauteed pork belly, mackerel and spicy tofu soup. Everything was great and the portion for mackerel was really big! If I had to change anything, I'd probably sub out the pork belly for something different since it wasn't what I was expecting and a bit tough, but can't complain for the enormous amount of food. They also included lettuce to make wraps and four huge portions of rice! Definitely feed the bf and I for days! Pro tip: grab the food and walk over to Lake Merrit and have a great picnic! read more

One of my go to spots for Korean food in Oakland. Pre COVID - great location for big and small groups alike. They provided meat pre-grilled or the option to grill meat at the table - there are tables with and without grills. Usually a line during dinner time. During COVID - outdoor seating and takeout available. Takeout dishes (including all the meat) are still just as good as being able to dine in, with the exception of not getting meat as freshly grilled with delivery time of course. Ordered the spicy kimchi fried rice with beef and topped with a fried egg - delish! Also comes with all the banchan they would give you at the restaurant (they're known for providing lots of varied side dishes). Would def continue to order takeout to support this local favorite. read more

Jong Ga House - Kimchi Fried Rice - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

great customer experience.... charming place. was taken by clients for a work lunch. Tons of fun and great food.

We've been coming here since 2020. Our go to spot for KBBQ, the owners are so sweet and accommodating. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Great food and at reasonable prices with fast service. Deff a solid spot esp with a group and looking for a busy atmosphere.

This has been and continues to hold the ranking of my #1 favorite Korean barbecue establishment in the entire Bay Area! They've been a korean staple in the city of Oakland and has been reaching those from all over the bay area as well as a great place to take friends for dinner that happen to be traveling from far away places. They have the traditional entrées that you can order for pick up and to go if you wanted a quick and delicious Korean meal, however my favorite thing about this restaurant is there all you can eat options for lunch or dinner. Jong Ga House has One set price for the all you can eat option for lunch, and one set price for the all you can eat option for dinner with the exception of a minimum of two people. The set prices are extremely reasonable and great for group eating and sharing. You are able to order as much as you can eat and they don't skimp on the serving sizes. And usually you go to a place where all you can eat can sometimes means a lack of care I love that goes into the food, however at Jong Ga House, The Korean dishes, marinated meats, and ambience of the overall restaurant is authentically a piece of Korea outside of the actual country. This bay area gem is definitely worth visiting and enjoying the conversations you have over such delicious and interactive meal experience with whoever you bring along. And I guarantee you this will be a new program for you as well! read more

See all

I heard about Jong Ga House after going to Gogi-time for 2 years. I'm mostly going to write about the difference of the two. As a Korean BBQ place, I think they do well, family/group family, seems very mom & pop like, but it's a bit old for me. Food was pretty good, their marinated meats taste very similar tho. Gogi-time definitely have the modern eating environment in comparison and their selection is larger. If you want more variety, go to Gogi-time, else if you prefer smaller menu, visit Jong Ga House! I want to go try Ohgana sometime and see how they compare because these three are the "best" East Bay Korean BBQ places. read more

Jong Ga House - Side dishes! - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

The family meal was just terrific. A great variety of food, some of the best panchon side dishes I've ever had, and enough to feed the three of us for at least 2 meals. They say it's for four people and I am very happy to report I think it serves more like six. Jong Ga House is officially on my go-to list. I swear, it was about 15 pounds of food My tip for consuming the awesome family meal would be to BYOL&R (Lettuce and Rice)! There's more than enough protein in the family meal to be spread out among 6 people, if you eat it wrapped in lettuce as any sane person would. read more

Jong Ga House - Family meal with bulgogi, pork belly, flatfish, and tofu soup! Pork belly and bulgogi are only half of what was given to us - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Korean BBQ in SF is overpriced and just.... ehhhhhhh. We drove over to Oakland to get some AYCE KBBQ lunch for $19 here. The two of us showed up around 2:30PM on a Saturday and got seated in about 3 minutes. Service was generally slow, but the amount of food we ate for $19 each was ridiculous. 2 orders of pork belly (sam gyup sal) - pretty bomb! 1 order of brisket (chadol baegi) - super yummy and fatty :D 1 order of mini octopus - good to mix it up with some seafood 1 order of garlic pork belly 1 order of gopchang (intestine) - this wasn't cleaned very well so it burned on the grill. Definitely cook it through so that it's almost crispy 1 order of sirloin - accidentally overcooked so this became to tough :( 1 order of galbi (LA galbi is only served for dinner) - this was our favorite Spicy Soft Tofu Soup (soondubu) 1 order of Naengmyun each 3-4 orders of rice wraps (ddukbosam) Lettuce wraps, tons of sidedishes (banchan), tons of kimchi/garlic/zucchini/jalapenos/bean paste (samjang). Interestingly, the servers we had didn't speak Korean. Service was pretty slow and we had to re-order stuff a lot, which was fine since we needed time to digest on this 2-hour food bingefest. Next time we'll order a mainly pork belly, galbi, and brisket. read more

Food and Service was excellent! Michelle was the best ever !!!! Definitely going to be back !

Such amazing korean BBQ and banchan! We love this place. The service is great and atmosphere is so much fun!

It was my first KBBQ experience and it was awesome! The food was yummy and the service was amazing, especially Michelle who took care of everything we needed! Highly recommended!! read more

Best KBBQ spot in the bay area. My family actually lives in Marin county but we frequently drive an hour into Oakland just to eat here- It's that good! Their indoor dining area is currently closed due to COVID, but theyre open for to-go orders! Check their website for the menu. I called in to pick up dinner (Family set for four people ONLY $50!). Our family set included rice for four people, lettuce wraps, generous portions of appetizers (banchan), bulgogi, sauteed chicken, flat fish, and tofu soup. We also ordered seafood pancake because it's unbelievably tasty! Once I called in my order, it was ready within 30 minutes The ladies who work here were so sweet over the phone and when I went to pickup our food. This is my mom's favorite restaurant and she would be devastated if they went out of business so PLEASE show Jong Ga house some love! We will be ordering pickup more often! read more

Jong Ga House - Family set for 4 people! Everything shown here comes cooked but their website says they also sell raw kbbq meat that you can cook at home! - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

My favorite AYCE Korean Barbecue place in the Bay Area. The meat, banchae are good, and no strict time limit set

Good food, liked the service and the atmosphere. The only thing is they don't give you a box to take your food to go.

The only place I've been to more than once here in Oakland. It always jam packed and the tables are pretty close together. Sometimes you need to share a bench with another party. I love the grid of banchans that comes out with the kbbq. But the table does get pretty cramped with all the plates and the grill. I've gotten food to go and also ordered non all you can eat dishes but the ayce bbq was my favorite option. I wish they had more servers to help accommodate all the people trying to get their attention. You just have to remember what you want them to refill or bring to your table because you won't have much time when you do get their attention. Once we figured out how to get what we want here, we got to enjoy the food to the max. The meats were good and so were all the different side dishes. I've even told my boyfriend if I'm ever sick just pick any of the soups to bring for me in bed. read more

See all

Delicious food and very friendly services. Not many Korean restaurants offer vegan and vegetarian dishes but this one does and they are all very tasty! read more

I am unsure about how to feel about Jong Ga House. Although I love Korean food, and am a sucker for KBBQ specifically...Jong Ga house is truly not anywhere close to having good service and it ruins the environment. My friends and I had a reservation, and we got there 5 minutes early. I completely understand having to wait even 5-10 minutes AFTER your reservation time, as some tables don't leave as quickly as expected. However, we waited close to 50 minutes after our reservation time. The front older lady kept asking us if we had a reservation, for how many, and the name. We continued to tell her over and over. We could see our name on the tablet they have by the front door. She then continued to seat people with reservation times after us. **We were a party of four, and even a couple walk-in parties got seated before us. Thought it was for smaller tables we couldn't fit on, but we were mistaken. Two walk in couples with no reservations both for a table that could've fit 4. Very frustrating. When she came up for the fifth time and directly asked us the same exact questions, in the middle of answering, she stopped us and said "Yea. I already got you. Just wait." There was no one else she could've been talking to, so we were just confused as to why she was upset we were answering her question. We were then seated upstairs. The upstairs room has no ventilation. Nothing to take the smoke out of the room except maybe one single fan in the corner. No windows as well. Our server, a woman in her 20s, had the entire section to herself and we understand how hard that is. The table next to us (family of 7) was ordering, and then claiming they never ordered things. The food runner, a guy around the same age, then just dropped the entire tray of food on the back, unused table out of frustration and simply stormed out. JongGa is good, but expensive (great choices for banchan) . I would say--work on open communication. Don't let the server upstairs drown. Maybe being your own water? We also did have to ask for water a couple times, as well as more orders of rice. We never got the extra rice and just chalked it up to her simply being stretched too thin. Although we would've enjoyed the rice we had been asking for, it's not the end of the world that she forgot it. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Excellent food, swift/personable/accurate service. We had a date night and shared the shabu shabu, lots of food plenty of leftovers. I have to be gluten-free, so I let them know ahead of time and they made great accommodations, (the food was still fantastic without soy sauce which says a lot). read more

Number 1 kbbq in the Bay Area they have the best food and quality. Staff is very friendly, Good for all size parties, big or small group. Flavor is best here. I never go to any other Korean bbq spot anymore. read more

I must say the reviews here are mixed but let's not get it twisted! I reserved a table for 3 at noon on a Saturday. Wasn't too busy which was good. Pretty typical Korean establishment where the waiters/waitress don't keep bugging you about "Do you want more to order" or "is everything fine?". A meal with the family is supposed to be personal. When we wanted something, they were very attentive to our needs! Ordered AYCE, lotsa side dishes to choose from. I loved the spicy soft tofu soup. read more

See all

It is so hard to find close parking but it is totally worth the few blocks to walk and the wait! I was able to put my name on the list via yelp but it was still a good 20 minute wait after our quoted time. This place was insanely busy on a Friday night and I know why. Their prices are very reasonable and you get so many choices on their AYCE korean bbq menu, which included noodles! My friend and I also liked that their meats weren't too salty and everything tasted so good. Even their banchan was good and they give you plenty of choices. For as busy as they were, their service was still decent. I will definitely come back to this place, hopefully they won't be as busy. read more

Jong Ga House - All the banchan were good! - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Come here all the time! Great as always! Awesome service. Favorite thing to order is the spicy chicken!

Amazing food, and great service! The food comes out quick and the servers are amazing and hard working people. Oh and I love the bulgogi, I highly recommend ordering that if it's your first time read more

Love everything about this spot. Food, amazing. Service, amazing. This my spot when I'm craving some bbq. Come here but actually don't because it's gonna be too crowded. read more

So glad we dined here! Michelle and staff were great! Food was awesome. I recommend the spicy chicken, short rib and bulgogi on the Barbi. The tofu soup was delicious. Can't wait to go back again! read more

I've been here twice now, both times on a Sunday for lunch and we opted for the ayce korean bbq. The lunch price $18.99/person is certainly cheap, especially in the weekend where most ayce places usually charge dinner prices. Here, however, they still charge the lunch price and there were only 2 items (LA galbi and one marinated pork) that were excluded. There were enough meat and seafood options to grill and have proper kbbq, and there are quite a selection of kitchen items (kimchi pancake, potstickers, 3 different soup, etc) that would keep you entertained and felt there were variety options. Though LA galbi (marinated bone in beef short ribs) was not included in the lunch price, they offer the boneless version that is actually really tasty and less hassle to eat (bc boneless). The quality of the meat is not very high end, but the prices make up for the cheaper cut of meat they use. Thus, overall, their food is good and I won't hesitate coming here to satisfy my kbbq ayce cravings. What I don't like from this place is the service. The bald young man waiter always forgets your orders and your requests e.g. when you order kitchen items, needed more side dishes refilled, grill change, napkins or water. On both visits he proofed himself again and again to be "the waiter" who is always extremely forgetful. The female waitresses all have pocker faces (except one), they would ignore you flagging them (despite they don't seem to have tables assigned to them and shared the serving responsibilities. To their defense they were always busy and seemed overwhelmed. Overall, definitely a great spot for an affordable meat feast in Oakland, lake Merritt area. Re: Parking, bot times we parked within the block on Grand ave and it was free (because it was Sunday). read more

Cozy atmosphere & the food was very flavorful, especially the sides that you enjoy with your protein. The soup was warm and had the right amount of spice. The staff was very attentive and answered any questions we had. Definitely a must do in Oakland. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Food: 5/5 There was plenty of side dishes which my brother and I appreciated. Their seafood pancake was crispy and there was quite a few seafood there. Their soup was delicious. Service 5/5: We were seated quickly since we arrived before dinner time. The adjoomas there were very nice. Atmosphere 5/5: There are plenty of seating and it's like any other regular Kbbq places. read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

I love the ambiance of the downstairs area, but the small upstairs area is a bit crowded, with low ceilings, and there's no AYCE option there since there's no built-in BBQs or ventilation. We were originally seated upstairs, but luckily they were able to move us downstairs when we asked. Thanks Daniel! I love that there was a huge spread of ban chan -- 14! Highlights were Nokdu-muk (mung bean jelly), Sookju Namul (bean sprout salad), Napa Cabbage Kimchi, Radish Kimchi and Japchae (stir-fried clear noodles). I really liked that there were so many options for the AYCE. There were many more types of seafood, cuts of beef/pork, and non-BBQ options like tofu soup and kimchi fried rice than I've seen at other AYCE places. Maximum of 4 items per round. Here's what we ordered: 1. Calamari, LA Galbi, Shrimp and Mushrooms. 2. Bulgogi, Spicy Pork, Lettuce, Garlic Pork Belly 3. Corn Cheese, Beef Brisket, Beef Sirloin, Kimchi Pancake Loved the calamari, beef brisket, bulgogi, and pork belly. I probably wouldn't order the beef sirloin or LA Galbi again because the stove doesn't get hot enough to sear the beef without overcooking the middle. The corn cheese is novel, but not tasty enough to order more than once. The AYCE option is reasonably priced at $24.99 for dinner. I would definitely come here again, especially for lunch since it's a lot cheaper. read more

See all

Love this place for AYCE. I mean I just really like brisket. The sides aren't the best I've had but good quality everything. Great, fast customer service. Cool sinkless vanities. Kept the door open & vents on also good for COVID. At all ones I've been too, the lady was really receptive to how hot the grill was getting & adjusting it. Other places have been slower from what I recall. Best place if you're looking for something like LA. I didn't try any corporation and tried looking for others but this was the best one and so far, no need to look elsewhere. Parking is tough so be ready for that. Not to worry about an hour limit unless you got a big party or slow eaters. Able to get in and out in 55 minutes. Definitely would come again. read more

Jong Ga House - Outside (next to the Chevron gas station) - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

I would not recommend here if you are intending a good service for those working here. I placed a reservation over yelp 30 min before heading there. Once I came, there were all vacant tables and I did not think the servers were getting busy in any ways; however, I was treating like begging them foods. 3 servers walking around and they did not pay attention when being requested. Most important is that the attitude in serving. Foods are excellent but I don't think I will come back over again there if they keep serving like that. Here is the picture how they were free that time. The only care was given by asking if I were done my food when I saw the manager (a man) came. (02/10/2022) read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

I see most of the people ordered All You Can Eat. I prefer to order a la carte. I've had the worst Bulgogi at Jong Ga House. I've given it a couple of tries, but it's consistently dry and has an off flavor. Additionally, the service here is subpar, especially at night. The Shabu Shabu looks interesting but it tastes off and is overpriced. I live nearby but I don't think I will be returning read more

Didn't realize they have birthday special until halfway through the meal. Very decent AYCE K bbq. Servers are really busy but also very attentive. They sing birthday song and lighted a candle on green tea ice cream too! read more

Jong Ga House - Birthday ice cream - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

service was great and friendly. the restaurant was fairly large. bulgogi was yummy!!! read more

Jong Ga House - Korean Near Me - Oakland, California

Good all yiu can eat KBBQ, decent cuts of meat, and good setting. Service was also good.

I've heard great things about Jong Ga House for years from local friends and the praise did not disappoint. Food, ambiance and service was great. Our server (shoutout to Hope) was attentive and we were able to place orders, get refills and grill changes very quickly (as opposed to other AYCE spots where flagging a waiter can be a challenge). read more

Best authentic Korean food I've found in the Bay Area. We stop by whenever in Oakland for Korean bbq ribs and sides.