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    Matko

    4.3 (50 reviews)
    ModerateKorean, Fast Food
    Closed 11:00 am - 7:30 pm
    Updated 2 weeks ago

    Order Matko Takeout or Delivery

    Matko Photos

    Business Info

    MATKO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Outdoor seating
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Matko

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    Reviews With Photos

    Pierogi with noodles, kimchi, corn.
    Brent S.

    The service was top notch. Was friendly and helpful to guide to our decision. And the food taste and smell fresh. Would definitely recommend it if you want some Togo options for Korean. The vibe was chill and plenty seating.

    Savory Chicken Bowl
    Annie L.

    Matko serves Korean lunch bowls which are quite delicious! First you would choose your protein, we opted for the beef bulgogi and the spicy chicken. Second, you would choose your base. I chose half rice and half japchae and my hubby got all rice. Third, you choose any add ons. I ordered the kimchi with the gochujang (medium spicy sauce). I would say the meats are good quality especially the bulgogi was mild and when dipped in the sauce gave so much flavor! The purple rice was soft, warm, loved the side of corn, radish and cucumbers. Not fatty pieces on the meat. Nothing was soggy or oily. Overall, a solid place to have lunch and I would be back!

    Soft Tofu Kimchi soft & side of purple rice
    shannon m.

    I had no intentions of eating out for lunch today but I ended up walking to the Market - looking around and ventured over to Matko to check out their menu. First, the two ladies working there were so friendly and made me feel welcomed; they even offered to give me some samples to try. I've had their beef hangover soup which is tasty but the soft tofu soup grabbed my attention. Let me tell you the soft tofu soup was absolutely delicious. The soup's vibrant red color would make you think it's super spicy, but it's not. I love tofu and kimchi so having it in the soup together was a match made in heaven. One of the ladies suggested eating the soup with rice and so I got a side order of purple rice, and she was right, it was absolutely delicious. I don't believe I've eaten purple rice before but I will surely order it every time I see it now. The rice was so flavorful- eating it by itself was good but preparing it with the soup really kicked it up a notch.

    Soft tofu bowl with japchae and double fish cake
    Christina C.

    One of the few eateries left within The Market and it's pretty good. I've been back several times during lunch for the soft tofu kimchi bowl and change up the base and sides. The kimchi sauce is mild but sometimes, mild is what the day, and my tummy, calls for. I'll have to come back and try the meat bowls. Ordering is self-service, then the friendly staff assemble your order, and call your name when it's ready. Plenty of tables and chairs within The Market to sit down and enjoy your meal.

    Beef Bulgogi Bowl with Gochujang Sauce
    Milind L.

    A great spot for quick Korean food. Feels like many Korean food options are far from Mid Market/Civic Center so I'm glad there's one around! The beef bulgogi bowl was delicious. The meat was cooked well and thin strips. However, it wasn't that flavorful by itself. But if you get the gochujang sauce, it adds a large dimension of sweet, savory, and spicy flavor. Definitely will be getting again when I need more Korean food fix. Comes with cucumber, corn, and pickled radish for free sides. Quick service for lunch on a Friday and there's lots of seating in the Market area.

    Spicy Pork Belly Bowl
    Anna Z.

    What a gem! This place is located inside Whole Foods - esque market called The Market. It's on your left in the back when you walk in. There's ample seating inside and outside of the food court - quite spacious. I went here for a late lunch, not expecting much. Either I was really hungry, or this place is amazing! base: I chose purple rice and japchae. Banchan: pickled radish, kimchi, fish cake and cucumber. Toppings: sesame seeds, scallions and crisps onions (all!!) Special sauce: magic aioli I'm writing this down so I can remember to get this same order again - this does not taste like food court food!! The portion is BIG. Just drooling looking at my picture again. I really recommend if you're in the area!

    Beef Bulgogi Bowl with pickled radish, fish cake, bean sprouts, and kimchi
    Jem T.

    A great vendor inside of The Market and a very convenient bowl lunch near my job. The bulgogi with purple rice and banchan was not only delicious, but was served a generous portion. The staff only greets you, but nothing more beyond that. It was semi-busy during the lunch hour, which was expected. Since this is located within the market there is a bustling ambiance, but that does not interfere with the quality or portion of the food. The price is average for the City, depending on your appetite, there can be leftovers for snack

    Beef Bulgogi
    Adam B.

    Way better than the Matko I tried at 1 Market Street, right around it's first opening. Seems like they've had some time to improve their meat cooking techniques and textures. If you ask for the family size portions, you can get containers of just meat for only a little more than the mixed bowl. Totally worth it! Beef Bulgogi: Pretty solid for a grab-and-go counter. Full of marinated flavor. Thinly sliced with good bits of fat strands to enhance the flavor of the meat. Doesn't have the nice char you'd get from doing KBBQ at your own table, but still flavorful enough. Spicy Pork Belly: Wow, really really rich. Tasted like there was a ton of gochujang in this, in addition to other spices, so very intense. A little bit of a spicy tang by lunch counter standards, but not anything like the spicy level when you ask for spicy at a Korean restaurant. The slices of meat were very thin, like bacon slabs, not like thick Chinese or Filipino pork belly chunks. Japchae: A more exciting carb than rice. Slimy noodles with a little bit of sauce flavoring. Goes great with the intensely seasoned meats though.

    Montage of images from Matko
    Ed U.

    ** The following review reflects my takeout experience DURING the shelter-in-place order currently in effect. ** Oh yeah, I've been to the other Matko at One Market Plaza, and actually I didn't even notice they had an operation in The Market on Market. It's part of that crowded bar island next to the Slice House, so if your nose veers toward pizza ovens versus Dutch ovens, you may not notice them either. There's quite the collection of green and orange Creuset pots on the counter each of them containing a warmed component of a customized build-a-bowl creation. Just call it a Korean-style Chipotle. The menu of selections was pretty extensive and requires studying if you've never tried it before. For the reasonable price of $11.95, you get a base, a protein, four banchan accompaniments, and up to three toppings. Yep, that's one hearty bowl. Since I've been getting predictable choosing mixed greens over purple rice, I went for Japchae Noodles instead as my base because the sweet potato chewiness sounded appealing to me. For my base, I went for the mild Savory Chicken since it was dark meat made even more moist by soy sauce. The banchan choices were easy for me: pickled radish, seasoned cucumber, sweet corn, and fresh kimchi. And of course, I ordered all three toppings: sesame seeds, chopped scallions, and crispy onion. When I brought the creation home, it was quite a tasty combination of flavors and textures from crunchy fresh to marinated supple (photo: https://bit.ly/2VK09LE). I kicked it up a notch with wasabi sauce because that's what shelter-in-place is all about - setting my tongue aflame in the privacy of my own home. FOOD - 4 stars...really hearty bowl of Korean-style goodness AMBIANCE - 3 stars...my experience was takeout, otherwise rather crowded in here SERVICE - 4.5 stars...quietly efficient, meticulous in presentation, and generous in portion TOTAL - 4 stars...who needs Chipotle? RELATED - In the mood for Korean? Here's a collection of places I've tried and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2vxIt8t

    BYO Dosirak Korean Lunch Box!
    Cherylynn N.

    3/3/20 UPDATE: I've returned three more times since their soft opening and I'm really disappointed that the portions have decreased with each subsequent visit. Today, my Dosirak with 1/2 rice, 1/2 salad had a one fistful of greens and about 2-3 ounces of purple rice. And, the protein and banchan was half the portion than my first visit. I don't know if they're trying to ration since their food is cooked at a commissary kitchen or if it's a training issue but I hope they work on being more consistent because I'm still hungry after eating my Dosirak today. =X ******************************************************************************* 4.5 STARS They say, "To Save Money, Never Shop When You're Hungry". Truth. Especially at The Market in the Twitter Building. It's double paycheck compared to Whole Foods (i.e. $11 for 8 oz of pre-packed asparagus?!) but hey, sometimes convenience wins when you need a healthy snack. I was shopping for bananas at The Market this morning when I saw "Secret Open" Sign for Matko at the cheese counter across from Slice House. I saw Spicy Pork Belly on the menu... *STOMACH GROWLS* So, I returned for lunch. No wonder I'm broque. Matko is a fast-casual eatery serving BYO Dosirak Korean lunch box (similar to HoM Korean Kitchen). This is Matko's second SF location. For your Dosirak, choose the following: https://bit.ly/2txHSq8 (1) Base: Purple Rice (Japgokbap), Sweet Potato Noodles (Japchae) or Mixed Greens; (2) Protein/Entrée: Bulgogi (+$1), Spicy Pork Belly, Seoul Pork, Savory Chicken, Flaming Chicken, Tofu Kimchi, or Mushrooms; (3) Banchan (choose 4): Pickled Radish, Kimchi, Cucumber, Sweet Corn, Fish Cake, Seaweed, etc; and (4) Toppings: Sesame Seeds, Scallions, and Crispy Onions. **Sauce (+$1): Gochujang (spicy), Pineapple Teriyaki, Gochujang Aioli, Ssamjang (fermented soybean paste). PRICE: 1-item entrée - $10.95 or 2-item entrée - $12.95. For the soft opening this week, it's 15% off so I ordered the 2 Item Entrée ($12.95) w/ Spicy Pork + Bulgogi (+$1), 1/2 purple rice, 1/2 salad, pickled radish, kimchi, cucumber, fish cake, sesame seeds, scallions, and crispy onions: https://bit.ly/3bbS4FL. For fast-casual Korean fare, the Dosirak was tasty, healthy, and filling. The purple rice was nutty and the mixed greens were fresh. Of the two proteins, I liked the pork belly a lot more because it was more flavorful with a good kick (the bulgogi tastes boiled but it's not). The banchans were surprisingly solid especially the kimchi (good pickled flavor and heat) and fish cakes. The pickled radish needs more acid. With the soft opening discount, it was a great value for the amount of food I received. I have enough food for two small meals. Service was very friendly. They're new and working out their kinks but their goal is to build your meal in less than 60 seconds. Open seating in The Market, café area, and outdoor patio area. Overall, I enjoyed my Dosirak. If you're in a time crunch and can't travel far for Korean food on your break, Matko is a good option. It's just one of the many new food vendors that's starting to pop up inside The Market which is great for those of us who work in the area!

    Tara A.

    Best new place in the Market!! I was there for their secret soft opening (15% off, yay!) and everything was delicious and super affordable. I ordered a 2 protein bowl with savory chicken and spicy pork belly. In hindsight I wish I tried the beef, but there's always next time! For my base, I ordered half purple rice and half japchae. I loved both of them and will probably get the same next time. For the banchan, you can't go wrong with any of them! I got the kimchi, seaweed salad, fishcake (so glad they have this) and sweet corn. The bowl was so big that I was able to save half for the next day's lunch! Super worth it and under $15. I can't wait to come back!

    Benny W.

    I ordered the Beef Bulgogi. The beef was tender and trimmed, which I really appreciated. The other items that came with it were fresh and delicious.

    Half tofu half chicken bowl with cucumber and corn
    Anvita S.

    Huge portion size and flavorful bowls packed with noodles, veggies and meat. My favorite is the glass noodles with pork belly, kimchi and crispy onions/garlic on top!

    beef bulgogi bowl w kimchi tofu, half spinach half purple rice base

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    Ask the Community - Matko

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    My friend took me to this restaurant for my birthday after wanting to try it for the longest time…read more We went hiking and had some food around the city before coming here. When we arrived, the place just opened and was empty. We had reservations and the server asked whose birthday it was. It started to fill up slowly but there was plenty of seating. We ordered a few things to share as the server recommended and was just enjoying catching up. The food was really good, I would give it a 8/10. Everything was portioned to share and the many had a lot of variety. There were two servers that helped us; the first one at the door and then another one who might've been the runner. The server who initially greeted us and walked us to our seats told us that we were approaching our time limit and there were people waiting for seats. We were finishing up our food by then and did not even get desserts yet. The runner had asked us what we wanted for desserts and then decided not to follow up after the first server gave us the check. There were also a lot of open tables with the restaurant half empty. For the price that you're spending, it was a big turn off.

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    YakiniQ really said "leave hungry? never heard of her."…read more Pulled up with my homie Jun because this man treated me to lobster last time and you already know... Asians keep receipts but in a wholesome way We don't split love, we rotate blessings. For $49.99/person, this AYCE Korean BBQ was straight violating my self-control. The short ribs?? HELLA BUSSIN. Like actually criminal. Every bite had me ascending like a TikTok food review in 4K. Meat so juicy I almost stood up and thanked the cow personally. The grill smoke got us smelling like seasoned warriors walking outta there but honestly worth it. Staff kept the meats coming faster than my auntie asking why I'm still single. And let me put y'all onto some elite Chinese vocabulary real quick: "好吃到舔手指" (hǎo chī dào tiǎn shǒu zhǐ) = "so good you lick your fingers." That's EXACTLY the vibe. Finger-licking good fr fr. YakiniQ got me fighting for my life, unbuttoning my pants in the parking lot, and already planning my return. 10/10. No crumbs left. Their "Red Hot" peanut sauce is the carry here - no doubt. Highly recommend with my utmost respectful regards!

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    The service here was so bad that I think about it almost a year later and finally decided to leave…read morethis review. I almost never give bad reviews. The ONLY reason I give a 2 star is 1 star for the food which was decent, but nothing I couldn't get at another restaurant to be honest. And half of that star goes to the sweet waitress who tried her best with us. I came in with my boyfriend maybe an hour before break time midday (unbeknownst to us) as the sign outside is faded and in LIGHT blue marker on a soju standee. Pro tip: maybe you should update that off to the side sign in small letters as well as your closing time on google + Apple Maps before you grumpily yell at your customers to leave AFTER taking our money and giving us food (which btw we were there about 30 minutes). Or don't seat us at all. Thanks! Would not recommend.

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    4.7(240 reviews)
    0.5 miTenderloin

    While in SF, you have to visit this cozy establishment on the corner of the street. After my…read moredaughter and I checked in to our room, she was famished. This was her first long drive by herself (we took separate cars). I pulled up my Yelp app to see what was nearby. Not only was it one of our favorite foods to eat, Yasijang has a pretty good start rating as well! Now... if we could've only walked in the right direction, we would've been here within minutes from our hotel, lol! While it was still bright at 7 p.m, as you walk in, the windows are darkened and outdoor lights were strung up inside to set the mood. It felt like you were transformed into another world. Inside seating is limited and each table has a touch lamp. This makes for a more intimate setting. For my daughter and I, we were excited to try something different. Midori was our server. She quickly got us some waters to start. We ordered an apple mango Soju. Soju is a popular alcoholic beverage in Korea. It was very smooth and slightly sweet. My daughter enjoys these. For me, it was too sweet, but I'm someone who doesn't drink juice or soda, so my opinion on being sweet doesn't count, lol. For dinner, we ordered 3 rolls: The Rainbow Roll The Lion King Van Ness Roll All these rolls were very tasty, and my daughter's favorite, The Lion King. She normally goes for this one at any sushi restaurant, but here at Yasijang, the Lion King was unique. It was darkened on top. It seemed to be cooked more to give it extra texture. It was interestingly delicious for me and super delicious for her. I enjoyed all the rolls, but if I had to pick one I liked the most it would be the Van Ness Roll. I like rolls with texture (the cucumber), and this rolls has the thinnest slice of lemon in it.. it made it taste refreshing! My daughter isn't a fan of Wasabi or ginger, so that leaves it all for me... and I do enjoy bites of ginger and here and there. I will put the Wasabi on straight... although ending with that slight burning in my sinus... I don't put it on every roll... but I do use most of what I'm given depending on my mood. While sitting, we watched Midori serve the other tables some interesting dishes, like the Samgyeopsal Gui.. grilled pork belly with kimcheein on a sizzling plate. The smell was beautifully intoxicating for me. They also ordered a soup that cooked at the table. I want to come back to try those! While we had such an amazing experience here, I wouldn't recommend coming here with large groups as it seems to only be able to accommodate 1 larger group at a time and the rest of the tables for 2-3 comfortably after the food is out. However, I highly recommend coming here to try their unique flavors. Yasijang is at the top of my places to go when I come back to visit SF!

    My friend and I came here right at 5pm before seeing a 7pm show at the Orpheum on a Tuesday…read moreevening. The place was much smaller than I originally thought and the seating arrangements were interesting. What turned me off was the place smelling like cleaning solution because I'm guessing they cleaned right before opening. It went away after a bit, but it wasn't a great first impression. Food was surprisingly good. - The Spam Roulette was a fun appetizer if you and your company are daring enough. I didn't get the wasabi bomb, but my friend said it was packed - be warned! - The Mini Jeon was very crispy. It was good on its own or with the sauce. Solid choice for something crispy. - The corn cheese was the star. This was by far one of the best that I've had. It's creamy, buttery, and the corn was sweet. The best part was that the cheese had a really nice char flavor from the blow torch. It boosted the flavor of the entire dish. The flavors just worked beautifully in that dish. Highly recommend. - The Sooyuk was a sleeper. It was good but I've had better. - The Volcano Roll was solid. I was hesitant getting sushi at a Korean forward spot, but it was good. Service was okay. There were times we had to signal to the server we were ready or needed their attention because they were talking to another staff. This was when it was just us inside the restaurant. When there were more parties, the service was better. The food came out at a good pace and the server checked in on us multiple times so that's a plus. If you need a place before a downtown show, this is a solid spot that you can go to. They take reservations too which is nice.

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    Yasijang
    Yasijang - Corn Cheese

    Corn Cheese

    Yasijang - SPICY TUNA TOWER

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    SPICY TUNA TOWER

    San Wang Restaurant - Dry-Fried Chicken

    San Wang Restaurant

    3.8(695 reviews)
    0.9 miJapantown, Lower Pacific Heights
    $$

    Went there during the Fillmore Festival at around 11:30. Was surprised there weren't more…read morecustomers. I first started eating at this place around 1990 and have at times stopped going once I moved out of the city. I try to go at least once a year. Have always enjoyed their clams, dried fried chicken, jia jiang mian, and seafood noodle soup. Clams were still plentiful, plump, and very fresh. Noodle were still good. The owner recommended I try the Jjamppong and tubot. The jjamppong like their other noodles were good but the standout was the turbot: steamed to perfection, fresh, and tasty. I can't compare it to other fish but it was soft, smooth, and buttery. I have seen the owner before cooking in the kitchen but it looks now father time has caught up and he is thoroughly enjoying helping out in the front. He was talkative and pleasant to talk to.

    This place was really good. I found it through yelp. After being at the Japan town mall waiting for…read moremy family to finish shopping, I wanted Chinese food that was further away. So I found this place and we walked in with few customers. We ordered a soup, and were about to order something else when the server/cook suggested we order the meal for 3. He let us substitute the white rice for fried rice and cashew chicken for lemon chicken that we wanted. Boy was it a real treat. We added a chicken chow mein and we weren't disappointed. All in all, we came out stuffed with leftovers, and great service to boot. We were the only ones in the restaurant at the time which was surprising, how great the food and service were. Come here and you won't regret it!

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    San Wang Restaurant
    San Wang Restaurant - Dry-Fried Chicken

    Dry-Fried Chicken

    San Wang Restaurant - Pickled kimchi

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    Pickled kimchi

    Matko - korean - Updated September 2026

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