It's my first BBQ experience ever, the food was great ! The waiter took my order with patience and well explained how it worked; such as cold dishes, hot foods and the raw meats. I like this place, I'd be likely to recommend this place to my friends. Thank you SONU crew. read more

Sonu BBQ - Korean Near Me - Oceanside, California

Came here during lunch on the weekend -- no wait! We got there right before the lunch rush...Great food and service. We'll definitely be back again! read more

My boyfriend and I love this place so much. Tonight was one of those nights you really just feel grateful for kindness. We had just sat down to eat, put in our first order when we suddenly got a phone call and had to leave with an emergency. We asked the staff if we could just pay right then because we had to leave right away, but the staff was so kind and didn't charge us because of the circumstances. We insisted but they insisted right back. Will definitely be coming back and leaving a big big tip- they did not need to do that for us but they did. Good people and good food! I love this place! read more

Sonu BBQ may not have the best cuts of meat compared to other KBBQ spots, but having an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ option in North County San Diego is definitely better than not having one at all. The quality of the meat is decent, and while it's not top-tier, it still satisfies the craving for a good KBBQ experience. I recommend getting the meats that have more fat in them and it's easier to eat and tastes better. What really stands out here are the extra side dishes..they're fresh, flavorful, and complement the grilled meats well. From kimchi to japchae and dipping sauces, the variety adds a nice touch to the meal. The service is also pretty fast, with staff refilling banchan and bringing out orders quickly. If you're in North County and looking for a convenient spot to get your KBBQ fix without driving down to Convoy, Sonu BBQ is a solid option! read more

Very rude, judgmental and disrespectful. Female waiter came up to us and told us we wasted food by not finishing 1 little piece of meat and complained we were there too long. We were eating? Tf else we're supposed to do read more

Amazing food, service, and super reasonable pricing! They have all of the best banchan and meats that you would want from KBBQ. We just moved to Oceanside and have been here 3 times already. Definitely a go-to spot! read more

Sonu BBQ - Korean Near Me - Oceanside, California

I don't have the requisite skillset to appreciate the finer nuances of SONU BBQ. with my limited frame of reference, I willingly accept it is what it is: a place to stroll into half-starved and then stagger out of, hours later, in a meat coma. one small suggestion: start with meat that hasn't been marinaded so the grill stays clean a little longer. when they change grills, it takes forever to heat up again and always happens when you're just hitting your stride. not sure how much spicy, fermented cabbage you have to eat to balance the over abundance of dead animals, but don't forget the banchan. excuse me. I gotta shower and rinse off the meat swet. read more

Always top teir kbbq, 10/10 , I'm a Repeat customer forever. Servers super nice, food quality is great, fast service.

We're from LA, so can get picky about good Korean bbq. This Oceanside find was a surprise. Quality meat options at good prices. But what was spectacular was the service! There's a young front desk lady and other servers who just knocked it out of the ballpark. They run a tight ship with excellent cuts of meats. read more

Our favorite dinner place, the staff is attentive. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is fun. Reasonably priced for what you get, too!

Service was awesome! Food was very delicious and high quality. Better experience than the Korean BBQ's we've tried in Arizona.

One of our favorite Korean bbq places. Good atmosphere, good quality food and good service.

Came in 10 min after they opened on a Sunday, staff was super attentive and came to check on us frequently. They have a call button which is AMAZING! The meats are delicious and it feels like authentic Korean BBQ. They basic package is a great price and so so good. By the time we left every table was filled. Plenty of parking, can't wait to return and can't recommend this place enough! read more

Food is amazing as always! Love the staff, so attentive and great ambiance! Not loud at all you can have a conversation without having to shout. Definitely recommend to join the wait-list through yelp on weekends, as it does get packed. read more

Another great spot for Korean BBQ in Oceanside. Very attentive to their guest and friendly.

Great and fast service. The price is very reasonable for the premium menu. Love the beef tongue and kobe beef. A lot cheaper and better quality when compared to other AYCE KBB, in my opinion. They have good side like the steam egg and corn cheese. The seaweed tasted like the one sold in Costco. The combo veggie are: oyster mushroom, squash and onion. Kimchi is too sour but the radish is good read more

Service was great. The food was ok. The meat quality was just ok. Not a great banchan selection. Very small quantity for a party of 5. We ate it in 2 minutes. read more

What we ordered: Premium selection w/ Mexican Coke & Sprite PROS: + Price is pretty competitive & by far the best deal for premium meats compared to other KBBQ places. + Meat quality is top notch. + Lettuce wraps. They have it upon request. + Whole garlic pieces. Yes, you can ask for it! + Complimentary mouthwash. Cute addition to the bathroom that makes them unique. + Customer service. Everyone was nice & accommodating. CONS: + Rice wraps were dry & stuck together. + Bathrooms were dirty. For me, I believe a clean bathroom represents the cleanliness of the restaurant. It's just those little things. Hands down, the BEST KBBQ we ever have by far as of 01/25. read more

My daughter loooooves this place and I have grown to love it. Love the music, love the people and the food is great so come with an appetite. I hate going out to eat to cook so it's not my thing but we come here almost once a week! Get on the waitlist before you go! Service is amazing, their staff is fast and super friendly ALWAYS! Which I appreciate very much! Thank you Sonu! We love you. read more

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Delicious, customer service was good , good ambiance , the servers were polite and kind

This is hands down the beat Kbbq in San Diego area. We come from Temecula just get the great food and service! Thank you Sonu!

Great experience overall and food was great. Definitely recommend if you like Korean BBQ!

The service here is amazing! Everyone is very attentive and so nice!! The menu options are amazing, fell in love with the kimchi stew!! Definitely coming again! read more

NORTH COUNTY KBBQ (4 stars) - FOOD: quality meats - PRICE: very fair - SERVICE: excellent - AMBIANCE: look clean but seats and walls have platter and grease residue. Need to do a better job at cleaning. As I've heard and read "there is always a line". First to arrive at 4:10p on a Friday and line started to form 4:15p (doors open at 5p but they opened up at 4:30p). There are only 2 KBBQ locations in North County/Oceanside and although I had very low expectations - it turned out to be pretty delicious! There are 2 menus (premium and deluxe, deluxe being the cheaper - we settled for deluxe) :: FOOD :: DELUXE MENU ($27.99) - there are 31 items to choose from. Their complimentary sides were just ok - I've had better. Of course my usual favorites are brisket and short rib. Baby octopus and spicy shrimp were also ordered but I usually stick to the meats. All ordered was well devoured. The brisket was quality, super thinly sliced and plated flat with salt and pepper - honestly I suggest they should let us season our own meats. The marinated short ribs were delicious! Each order comes with 2 meaty slabs. We wanted to order more but we're so full which means another visit is in order. HIGHLY RECOMMEND :: DRINKS :: They have a bar but told it's just for display and not open but can order soju off the menu. Went with the usual and popular flavor... peach. :: SERVICE :: 2-hour time limit. That time was ample time. The servers here are VERY attentive and I never had to follow up on a dish we ordered and orders came out promptly. They constantly came around changing our grill (I counted 3x within the 2hrs). They came around frequently but not too frequently and checked on us. They weren't about rushing to get people in and out and let us enjoy our time their. :: AMBIANCE :: Looks clean. Decent ventilation - didn't stink that bad of kbbq but then again our table was by the main entrance. We were here when they first opened so I do expect cleanness. The floors felt greasy. The booth seats were dirty - film of grease residue from the air and a lot of grease splatters on the wall and booth seats. We sat at the first booth against the right wall. I took a napkin and wiped the booth seat (exactly where you sit) and the napkin turned colors. But still looking forward to future eat sessions here. Your menu and quality means surprised me! JABA APPROVED. Until the next review... read more

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Food was amazing, service was amazing & they were playing the jams which made the ambiance a 10/10! ‍

The food was amazing. Everything was full of flavor. Customer service was great. The food came out fast and the drinks also. The variety of food you can get for the price is definitely worth it. Will be coming back. read more

Food is amazing customer service is awesome and you to try their fried chicken! This is our family favorite bbq place!

The best place in town!!! Food, service, ambience !! 10/10 always find my way back :)

The food and service are great. First time here because just moved to Oceanside area last month. I gave 4 stars because -1 for the sauce. I wish they have the Korean sauce (the one with onion and jalapeño). Overall, it is good place to eat all you can eat Korean bbq. I will be back again. read more

We haven't had Korean BBQ in years, since the last time we went to Manna in San Marcos, so when my birthday came up this year we decided to give Sonu BBQ a try! It's the perfect type of experience you want for your birthday (or any occasion) that is a little bit "extra" or unique. Having never been here before and reading the reviews, it was clear we needed to join the waitlist when we were ready to leave. Unfortunately, the waitlist already had 18 people waiting in it! Bummer. Pro-tip: on weekends, join the waitlist at least an hour before you plan on leaving. Even when we finally got to 1st place in line, we still had to wait another 15 min or so to get seated. There are chairs in the entry/lobby area but it's pretty tight on a packed Saturday night. Once seated, we scanned the menu and opted for the Deluxe as it was our first time. Next time we'll do Deluxe again until we've tried everything, then move onto Premium. They brought out ice water immediately and took our drink orders. I a got a large South Korean lager (Terra - $7) and I really liked it. My wife got a Sapporo ($5) and our kid got a lemonade ($3). They took our meat & veggie orders and they brought out the "banchan" - side dishes of seaweed, kimchi, bean sprouts, spicy cucumber and spicy tofu. When the meats and seafood came, we immediately started grilling our food. This is such a cool fun experience that is so different from typical American restaurants. I do wish we had access to more seasonings while cooking our items. Salt, garlic, soy sauce, etc would have been nice but then again we didn't ask for it so that was on us. The music playing overhead and the sheer energy of the place is magnetic. It was packed and servers were running around left and right. You will not be bored visiting Sonu that's for sure. We ended up ordering more things, one of them being octopus but we all wished we hadn't. They brought us a bowl of mini octopus and there was just too much of it. We ate a couple but couldn't down the rest. We were stuffed. They do come around and ask if you want your grill plate changed. By that time we were so full there was just no way we could continue eating. We ended up requesting two macaroons to go as a final dessert. Total: $119.58 before tip. I love the idea of Korean BBQ - interacting with your food and friends while grilling. It's fast-paced and the sheer variety of things to eat will ensure that your night will be full of excitement. This is absolutely a good place to go on a date, or with friends, or that special occasion. I'm glad we checked them out and can't wait to visit again in the future. read more

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Despite what any native San Diegan says, good Asian food is few and far between, especially north county. So when Sonu opened, we wanted to give it a fair try. We've eaten here 3 times. For our first trip, I took the in-laws, who are Korean, and they didn't like the food at all because it didn't taste anything like korean food. The second time I went with just my wife. The meal was good and the service was great, however a waiter spilled an entire bowl of Korean salad on me because he slipped. They did, however, comp our soju bottle and gave us ice cream. Our third and probably final trip was today. The service was good as usual but they got our order wrong which is a huge pet peeve of mine because it usually means the items we want won't come until closer to the end of our meal. Also, it was hot as hell in the restaurant. Maybe it's an Asian thing to not run the AC to save money but it's 90 degrees outside and we're grilling. Please turn the AC on. Pros: - The quality of meat, other than the short rib which is tough, is not bad at all. - Service is friendly and efficient. They check on you often and grill replacements are done regularly. Consider: - If you're expecting Korean bbq, the. You're going to be disappointed. While the offerings are similar to what you'd expect from a Korean BBQ restaurant, the flavors are nowhere similar. All the soups, banchan, and marinades are not Korean at all. It's basically BBQ with Asian flavors, none of which are Korean. - they often get your order wrong. On every occasion we've eaten here, they'll either forget to bring something or bring the wrong quantities of what you ordered. I don't know if it's a pride thing but it seems like they try to remember everything from memory and are often wrong. This leads to getting what you ordered well into your meal, basically when you're almost done. - It's hot as F in there. I get it, you're grilling. It's August and running the AC is expensive, but guest comfort has to be part of the equation. Our last visit, which was today, I found myself extremely uncomfortable. My whole family was dripping with sweat. I was using a coke bottle to cool down my neck it was so hot. Towards the end of the meal, they turned the AC on but by then it was too late and we were already leaving. Bottom line: decent food, good service. If you're craving actual Korean bbq, I'd look elsewhere. Also, if you're eating here on a hot day, bring a towel and a change of clothes. read more

Perfect for a fun, celebratory meal!! Lots of good options, lots of good flavor. Great price for AYCE. I've eaten here several times. However, the service tonight (12/30/2024) was pretty awful. I had to ring the doorbell several times to get service ie. grill changes, asking for items that were forgotten from previous rounds of ordering. At one point I had to just flag down a server because we sat for 15 minutes after ringing the bell for service. The lady who sat us and took our first orders was great, but everyone else seemed spread thin. Nobody offered us drinks either, so we just stuck with water. It seemed like too much of a hassle to order soju or anything else since they kept forgetting things we ordered. I mentioned my birthday when booking my reservation through yelp as well. Apart from poor service, this was a great celebratory meal. read more

They are supposed to close at 10:30 PM. We walked in at 9:30 PM and were told we wouldn't be served because they had already done last call an hour earlier. All the signs were on, and there was nothing posted on the website about an early last call. This was a major inconvenience and very disappointing. read more

So thankful they have a large menu. Food was excellent! Only downside is the strong smell on my clothes afterward, they could benefit from installing stronger vent fans. All good! read more

I'm disgusted over how the general manager treats her fellow coworkers. The amount of times I've seen this miss yell and scream at her coworkers in front of eating customers is disgustingly disrespectful and disruptive. We even had to apologize for her and tell the worker how unfair that is. And to add she even had beef with my sister over a review she left over their bad service. Made them wait over an hour and gave shit food and even had the audacity to sit at her table and question her over a review. What a joke. I will not return and will recommend other Korean bbqs to my friends and family we showed this place to.lost over 10 paying customers. If the owners cares retrain your gen manager or whoever she is. She's ruining it. read more

This place opens so late, no signs posted on the wall of the hours or nothing, I just wanted in and two employees on their phones just sitting there didn't even bother to look up at me even after the door bell rang, they let me sit there for ten minutes then said "oh we open at 430" one of them was even laying down read more

We were craving aycce korean bbq and wanted to meet up with a few of our north county friends, and so they suggested Sonu. We went with the premium menu, because we wanted the beef tongue, but we definitely took advantage of trying as much as we possibly could. I enjoyed all of the selections that they had. The staff was really nice and we got our dishes pretty fast. read more

Good kbbq in Oceanside. Plenty of parking in the plaza. FOOD: There are 2 menus: Deluxe and Premium. We ordered the Deluxe menu since we didn't need the extra menu items in Premium. My friend likes the brisket that can be cooked crispy. My favorite meat was the Black Pepper finger meat. It was seasoned well and when it's cooked, the thickness of the meat keeps the inside tender. Korean fried chicken was good. Corn cheese comes cooked as a large portion. Beef short rib does not come with the bones and seems to have less flavor. The korean pear drink is a nice refreshing drink. SERVICE: Service was good. They brought everything that was requested and was timely when we rang the service bell. To look at the menu, you need to scan the QR code which seems to go with the paperless trend. AMBIANCE: From the outside the building looks dark. From the inside, it's a darker ambiance and you cannot tell what time of the day it is outside which gives the place character. read more

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The food here is great and the service is even better. The people that work here do a great job of taking care of the experience. It is almost like an all hands on deck mind set. Absolutely love it here. The cuts of meats are great and taste is even better read more

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We usually eat here once a month. On Friday 09/05/2026, our party of 3 waited for over an hour. After noticing four parties (2, 2, 4, 2) who arrived after us were seated first, I had to ask the host. There were no apologies but this ruined the whole dining experience for us. Totally disappointed and couldn't even enjoy the food. Coincidentally, we received a Waitlist update (which was not accurate all night) the next morning that stated we were 4th in line!?!? read more

Sonu BBQ - Korean Near Me - Oceanside, California