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    SOT BBQ

    4.5 (373 reviews)
    PriceyKorean, Barbeque
    Open 11:30 am - 10:00 pm

    SOT BBQ Reservations

    SOT BBQ Photos

    Business Info

    SOT BBQ ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Trendy
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - SOT BBQ

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    Reviews With Photos

    steamed egg
    Dung N.

    This is the best spot in SD for KBBQ. I've been here 3 times already! They use a traditional cast iron grill and have premium meats! Service is also excellent because they grill the meats for you! On my last visit, we chose the brisket and marinated short ribs. For marinated meats, they also torch it to give it that extra smoky flavor. I like that the have other non meat options like chive pancakes and honey butter garlic shrimp. If opting for à la carte, the only suggestion I have for the restaurant is to have less portions of meat so that you can try more meats ( when dining for 2). We were full with just the two meats, appetizers, and ban chan. Also, the veggie platter was just lettuce, garlic, radish, and jalapenos. Otherwise, all of my visits have been excellent.

    Amy K.

    Food was so good I forgot to take a pic when it came out. Our boy Gavin cooked our meat gooood. The short rib was so good I was fighting my husband for it. Everyone gives good service. When Gavin was helping another table, another lady stepped in and helped make sure our meat wasn't overcooked. the vibe is fun without being obnoxious. Definitely a higher end kbbq place.

    Violet Y.

    Great spot for high quality korean bbq. The service was great, they help do all the cooking and even grill up some kimchi to pair with the meal. The favorites were the wagyu tongue, tartare, and the marinated short rib. The kimchi fried rice is a nice meal ender as well. Would come back to try more of the other options!

    Somi J.

    This is not your typical all you can eat Korean barbecue. They offer higher and cut of meat, including Wagyu beef. Highly recommend a reservation, and for parking we didn't have any trouble, but it is shared with another very popular Ramen place right next-door. This is a place where your server will help you cook the meat, which was nice, we've ordered separately outside of the sampler plate they do offer. We just ordered some Wagyu and briskets. A portion of these plates are very small so I would recommend ordering more than what you would order at all you can eat buffet. Yes price is higher due to higher quality of meat. Also, the ventilation of this place was a little better than the other Korean barbecue place because we didn't really smell that badly afterwards. Overall, this place was great for service, ambience and for food. Highly recommend. However, for other dishes they offered were very much meh. Do not order anything else but meat here.

    Javier B.

    Korean bbq Kearny mesa Parking available Amex accepted Restrooms inside Indoor seating only Reservations highly recommended Good quality cuts First visit great service. Second visit horrible service or more like no service. Came in as a two top and services attended everyone except us and it was not busy. We wanted to order more and by ringing the bell and still no service. Took 30 min to get the bill after flagging them down.

    Wagyu Sampler
    Yolanda M.

    SOT is a great KBBQ option when you're looking for quality over just stuffing as much brisket as you can. The Wagyu Sampler was great for trying a bunch of different cuts of meat; I loved all the different textures! The banchan was good and I especially liked that they had my 2 favorites besides kimchi: cucumbers and potato salad. Our server Jason was super attentive and cooked our meats to our liking as well! I liked how wide the space was and there was a good amount of space between tables so it wasn't really smoky in there when we ate.

    Banchan
    Agnes P.

    Absolutely phenomenal! You can really taste the quality of all the ingredients from vegetables to the meat. The service was amazing and attentive, they cooked for you in their special grills. We got the SOT sampler which was the perfect amount of food for three hungry people. The presentation and taste of the food was superb. Their cold noodle was also delicious! Highly recommend and will be back in the future.

    Wagyu platter and SOT platter
    Jailen T.

    Came to celebrate a birthday so we weren't skimping out. Wagyu was good quality. I felt it was worth it and will provide a better elevated experience than AYCE KBBQ if that's what you're hoping to get going here. I'd skip on the SOT sampler and spend the extra $$ on Wagyu Sampler. There was 9 of us. We got 2 of each sampler plate and one spicy noodle. More than enough food. We were stuffed. Next time I'd probably order the Wagyu sample plate for 3-4 people. Banchans are unlimited and the grilled kimchi is tasty. Really enjoyed their jalapeño pickled radish. The cooks can be a bit busy so even though they do cook your meat watch out for it as they let ours over cook a few times.

    wagyu platter
    Anthony D.

    Food: 3/5 Service: 4/5 Ambiance: 4/5 This Kbbq spot features traditional cast-iron cauldron grilling, with the staff handling all the cooking tableside. Tonight, four servers rotated between tables on our side of the restaurant, grilling meats and keeping everything running smoothly. While I appreciated the full-service grilling experience, I had mixed feelings about this dinning format. Reason being that at times, it felt like there was always someone flipping meat right in the middle of our conversation, which kinda took away from the intimacy of the dinner. To be fair, the staff wasn't hovering at the table the entire time. They would cook a round, step away, and give us a few peaceful minutes before returning. Still, at times I wished we could slow down, enjoy our conversation, and savor the meal at our own pace, as the experience felt a bit more rushed than relaxed overall. That said, our servers Heejeong and Brittany were genuinely pleasant and easy to talk to, and their attentiveness clearly reflected good service. As for the Wagyu Platter we ordered, the cuts were nicely marbled, with the short rib easily my favorite. And while the meat quality was definitely above average, I expected something closer to top-tier A5 wagyu at this price point. Overall, it's a decent option if you're looking for something different from the typical AYCE experience, but the premium pricing is a bit hard to justify based on the meat quality alone. The strong service helped bring this up to a 3.5-star rating..

    The Prime Sampler Plate
    Fevian M.

    The dining area is very spacious. And I love that they have photos with autographs of the famous people that came to visit their location. The staff was very friendly. Fast working and accurate. We were a total of 3 and ordered the Prime Sampler Plate for $145. The meat was of really good quality. All the sides come with your platter. Potato salad, kimchi, rice, cucumbers and sauces. I loved that they cook the meats for you. We will definitely be back!

    Finger ribs and grilled veg on the cast iron sot
    Bethany M.

    Excellent service (they grill for you, expertly), tender cuts (our favorites were the outside skirt, the garlic marinated beef, and the pork jowl), and tasty banchan (replenished on the house). This meal knocked it out of the park. The cast iron cooking surface is unique; I wish more K-BBQ restaurants in the U.S. would adopt it. It's low-smoke, and the meats cook more evenly/efficiently than they do on a traditional grill. The prime sampler was more than enough meat for two people, but we were gluttons and added a couple of extra à la carte cuts. No regrets! They were all terrific in their own right.

    Alyssa N.

    It's a kbbq kinda day but you don't want to cook for yourself so, where do you go? SOT! My family and I were in a mood for kbbq and decided to try out SOT for the first time. We were seated immediately upon arrival. There was a pretty big variety of combos to choose from and we went with the SOT sampler plate. We figured the plate could feed 3 people well but I still wanted to add some cold noodles, kimchi stew, and steamed eggs because those are my goto. (I believe the steamed eggs were already part of the sampler plate?) Service was phenomenal and the staff were great. They not only cooked well but were super attentive and one of them chatted happily with us and explained to us the different things on the table which really elevated our dining experience. The soju cocktail was great and complemented the meal well (flavor recommended by the waitress). The restaurant is a nice size and we saw a number of corporate diners, friend group diners, and family diners which showed that this was a restaurant meant for all types of crowds. Food overall was great, service adding a cherry on top. I highly recommend trying and I will definitely be coming back soon. Overall Rating: Food: 10/10 Service: 11/10 Menu: 10/10 Restaurant Vibes: 10/10 Price to Overall Dining (POD): 10/10

    Prime sampler
    Cony L.

    I think this place is my fav Korean bbq place in SD. It's definitely pricey but it's very clean and service and food are good! We tried prime sampler plate but it wasn't much for our little family. But the food was pretty tasty and meat seems descent quality. Definitely will come back and try other things

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    1 year ago

    Great food. Really good service. A fun energy'. Really good for groups! I liked it a lot.

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    1 year ago

    Food and service were awesome! Nice place, but a little pricey, however it was worth it.

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    Page 7 of 10

    SOT BBQ Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - SOT BBQ

    Are any items gluten free?

    You could stick to the non-marinaded meats. For banchans, stick to non fermented or marinated items.

    Dumb question? Is there any all-you-can eat options?

    No. Their Sampler platters would be the closest.

    Can you bring home leftover?

    No.

    How much is dining here on average for a party of 2? Party of 4? No beverages. Curious how it compares to other kbbq in that regard.

    I paid about $120 (tip included) for a party of 2 with no drinks. We ordered 2 portions of meat and fried rice.

    Do they cook the food at the table for you, or is that just for pictures on here?

    Yes they cook the meat at the table for you regardless of whether you take photos or not.

    Do i need a reservation?

    No you can walk in, there may be a a wait though

    For the price of the meat are the portion big at least? Haha and its per plate not all you can eat price?

    zero bugs.

    How many people does a sampler plate serve?

    Depends on the size of the plates from 2-10

    Are those prices per person?!

    No pricing is per item/plater. Pretty much everything is shareable.

    View All 11 Questions

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    Grand Ole Bbq Y Asado

    4.3
    (1.2k reviews)
    6.5 mi
    $$

    I had the house smoked pastrami sandwiches Rueben style. It was really good. There was so much…read morepastrami on the sandwich o cold only eat half. The pastrami was lean, a little Smokey, tender and just really tasty. It is only available Tuesday and Wednesday. Definitely worth checking it out. They have info and out door seating. This is a great spot for families with kids and large group. Parking is street parking in the neighborhood. But I always find parking.

    I was craving BBQ. And I've been wanting to try this place for a long time. But, I definitely feel…read morethis place was overly hyped up by food influencers. I liked some of the meats here, but others meats just weren't for me. We got a little bit of certain cuts of meat.. St. Louis cut ribs, tri-tip- brisket, and chorizo link, jalapeños cheddar link and their central Texas hot link. Mac and cheese and potato salad and coleslaw. My husband and I really enjoyed the brisket the sausage links, the potato salad and coleslaw. The tri-tip unfortunately was kinda dry and the ribs were a little tough. And the Mac and cheese were super garlicky. This bbq place is ok, it's nice and big and has a nice relaxing atmosphere. But I would stick to the brisket and hot links and the sides.

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    Pulled Pork Sandwich w/Coleslaw $15.00 (06/11/26). @GrandOleBBQYAsado @ExploreNorthPark #SanDiego #BBQ #Bar #PulledPork #Sandwiches
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    Grand Ole BBQ Flinn Springs

    Grand Ole BBQ Flinn Springs

    4.3
    (1.3k reviews)
    18.1 mi
    $$

    Always the best spot for BBQ, it never disappoints. Tucked away in Flint Springs. A little out of…read morethe way but worth the drive. Today I had the Double Wide BBQ Burger It came with chopped brisket. This burger also comes with fries. Everything is freshly BBQ'd. Also had the George Strait Fried Pickles. (I ordered these just for the name)!!! Also very good. The house pickles are great and they're complimentary. The best Go-To place to visit

    This is an extremely family friendly restaurant. Inside seating for those who don't have kids, but…read moreoutside is prime. I would say the kids are a bit younger, maybe 18 months to 3. There must have been at least a dozen kids or more. I told my 7 year old son not to bring balls but of course other kids did. If you park in the back there is no doubt your car will get hit. But it's softballs, not baseballs. Service is legit. Fast, friendly. They're like get in, order, get out. But we stayed for probably an hour and a half. The live music was great, not too loud. I am sad to confess the food here is not as legit as I figured based on being a San Diego local and a big DDD watcher. It probably depends on which day you come, but on Thursday, the brisket was so average. Del's in Del Cerro is better. Smoky and the Brisket is better. I had my brisket served with that nacho cheese and relish, not nearly as great as I thought it would be based on DDD. I also don't drink anymore, but if I were to have had 2-3 beers + this dinner + the enviornment I would have loved it. My son gave a huge thumbs up to his burger, daughter liked her food. If you want an experience, have time you need to kill and have kids, it's a solid spot, but in no way is this a destination if you live west of the 15. Stick to classic spots.

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