This place needs work. So come prepared for great BBQ but service that could be better. The concept itself is great. All you can eat KBBQ is a wildly lucrative idea especially in a gastropub oriented, college town, such as tucson. That being said, the staff could improve in their demeanor and handling of issues. First off, we are told an hour and fifteen minute wait, which we agreed to. The problem arises when after 30 mins of waiting a similar sized party comes in to put their name on the list and they are told 10 to 15 minutes wait -- you do the math. Standing next to the host stand we are curious, and then confused when that same group gets seated before we do. Eventually we get sat in an area where they are about 5 open tables that could have seated us -- which remained open during our meal so that knocks out the "reservation" reasoning. So it comes down to the hosts being unaware of what's going on or something else. Not sure. Our side dishes arrived first, and we had no utensils to eat. The server gave us chopsticks, one member of our group asked for a fork and we had already received our first round of meat and finished cooking it before we had to ask her again for the fork. Things needed to actually eat the food should be top priority, not to mention on the table before guests sit. Bathrooms were dirty. Staff seemed untrained and unbothered. No clear management presence. No apologies for mistakes. No ownership of bad experiences. This staff and management needs a revamp to make a fantastic business idea take off faster. Hosts should be friendly and promising, making it a best case scenario that makes people willing to wait. Servers should make sure guests have everything they need at the beginning of service and be welcoming. Management should be checking in on tables and getting feedback and doing what they can to make every guest experience good. I hope the service side of this place gets turned around, as we will not be returning anytime soon due to the past three visits being subpar. read more

Loved this experience, been there twice and it was fun! Tried things I hadn't eaten since I was overseas food grade is 4 star and service is great a little smoky but it's expected! read more

Really...really annoying this place. It has the potential to be great, but appears poorly run Food: The meat was fine. You have to cook everything yourself. Portions are small likely because they are concerned about waste. If that were the case, they can charge for leftover meat, etc. An order of shrimp is 3 with head she'll and tail...very messy. The steamed egg was probably the worst thing I've had in my life. Over steamed and likely sitting in the steamer for hours too long. Overcooked, tough, and smelled rotten. Plus they do not provide you with lettuce. No lettuce?! Service: Also terrible. There was one set of chopsticks on the table. We asked for more and spoons. He brought one spoon. We had to ask for another spoon and chopsticks (ie we had to ask for our utensils!). When asking for more meat, we had to flag down the guy bussing tables to place an order because our waiter was floating around doing who knows what. Not to mention the place was very smokey because people were not lowering their vent. I wouldn't expect them to do this ..the wait staff should be keeping an eye on this Save yourself a trip. If you are really craving Korean bbq and will go crazy without it, then go here. If you can wait, make the drive elsewhere. read more

This is the best all you can eat Korean bbq I've had!! Reasonably priced with a great atmosphere!! The drinks were also amazing! Highly recommend!! Beef Bulgogi was my favorite!! read more

Taegukgi - Korean Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Cute Korean bbq restaurant finally in tucson! i really liked the atmosphere, it reminded me of the restaurants in Korea. There's a bit of a wait to get seated but once you order your food, it came out pretty fast. Bayou was our server, he did a great job. We also received fantastic service from the bartender, Jojo. She was very detail oriented and was observant to the customer's needs. We did all you can eat for 2 hours for $35 premium order for the meat selections. Thick cut pork belly, spicy pork bulgogi, chicken and octopus. The only thing I didn't like, was that they didn't have lettuce. Traditional way to eating Korean BBQ is in lettuce wraps. 4 stars. read more

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Our first time there and I can say we will be back food was great service was pleasant and friendly

Very happy to know there is a NYC-comparable Korean restaurant in Tucson! The side dishes were very tasty, especially, the cabbage kimchi & cucumber marinated with hot sauce were excellent. which reminded me of the kimchi my mom used to make while growing up in Korea. The pepper pickles were delightful. All-you-cat-eat meats/seafood along with banchan & a bowl of rice. What a good deal but after the second round of the premium meats, we were so full ! Fairly good selection of various kind of Korean sojus. Beers. We ordered the premium choice of the meats /seafood, which was superb. As soon as I tasted their kimchi, my initial skepticism about this new Korean joint was quickly disappeared. The service was effective & friendly. I wish they serve other traditional Korean dishes other than just meats though! What a nice fine addition to this beautiful city, Tucson, Arizona , one of the top 52 places to visit in 2023 making The NY Times list! Highly recommend! read more

My first time in experiencing KBBQ! My wife and I were invited out for a birthday dinner for my brother in law here. The outside looked decent and there was a nice roomy parking lot available. The hostess greeted us at the door and once we walked to our table, all the staff greeted us. Very pleasant start. Our group decided to go for the premium choice menu (keep in mind if one person gets the premium everyone must. I assume it's so you don't share premium cuts with others who didn't pay for it). We were served drinks and all the sides first. It took a bit for our meats to arrive. We started with Beef Sirloin and Beef Bulgogi. Both very flavorful and well seasoned. The beef sirloin being the group favorite. We also ordered the Beef Short Ribs which was okay. I've had short ribs before but these didn't have a whole lot of meat on them, more fat and cartilage then meat. A little disappointed. Overall the food was delicious. Some cons: They took a considerable amount of time to bring out each order of meats. It wasn't super busy that night otherwise I would understand. Plus considering you are given a 2 hour time frame to eat you should be given the meats rapidly. As well as the sides, they took a bit to replenish those too. Unfortunately I left there still a bit hungry. Food was good for the most part but some cuts of meat were a bit under quality for the price. Pros: The staff were nice and all wearing masks. Tables and seating had plenty of distance between them. For the most part the food was delicious and prepared well. It was very nice to try different sides and combinations of flavors with everything. They also were very willing and quick to change out dirty grills when asked. Plus I was never out of a drink. Overall a fun experience. A bit expensive for my tastes so this is a once in a while thing for me, but be sure to give it a try! read more

Group of 6 came in on a Tuesday at 7pm. I made a reservation just in case and we were seated immediately. Due to COVID precautions, the restaurant was running at 50% capacity and each table will only hold up to 6 people max. Coming in I was thrown off by the lack of smoke, as I'm used to leaving a KBBQ place smelling like the meat itself. I would soon find out as to why that is, but let me talk about the food first. Food: The food itself was fine. Nothing spectacular and nothing bad. I recommend the beef belly and bulgogi. You're only able to order 4 different kinds of meat at a time, but multiple of each are allowed. I would definitely suggest ordering at least 4 servings of each meat as the portions are fairly small. Service: This is why I'm giving a 1 star review. Our waitress was friendly but the problem was that we rarely ever saw her. Not once did she check on us to ask whether we were doing okay. Seeing that you're given 2 hours max, its almost necessary that the server come by frequently enough to where you would get your money's worth in food. For example, I had asked for refills on my water and side dishes and only got it towards the end when my group and I were just about done. We put in a total of TWO orders for the 1.5 hours that we were there. My friends had told me they experienced something similar when they went a couple months ago. I came hoping things would be different by now but this sadly wasn't the case. Grill/heat: Not sure if there was some unspoken rule but it seemed that we were not allowed to adjust the heat higher which only wasted time as we would wait a while for the meat to actually cook. Every time we adjusted it, the waitress would come by and lower it back down in a covert manner. Interesting how she came by frequently to do that but didn't ask to see how we were doing concurrently. She would just walk away not to be seen again until 30 minutes later. Overall: I wouldn't recommend this place. For about $40 per person, its not worth if you don't even get the chance to order your food. If you do eat here, save your receipt cause at least you'll get a discount for the boba at Korean Rose next door. read more

Death by a ton of proteins. Best Korean bbq in Tucson. You'll have to pace yourself BUT you have two hours at the table, so it gives you a sense of panic that you may not get to try everything. Trust me, it's enough time, take it slow. read more

Overall disappointing and will not return or recommend. Pros: lots of seating for dinner parties or groups, TVs for watching sports/entertainment, full bar with signature drinks, and family friendly. Also, a tea cafe right next door. Cons: inconsistent customer service, inaccurate wait times/long wait times, mediocre and inconsistent side dishes (banchan), meat selections lacking variety, average meat quality, bulgogi was too sweet, small portions of seafood and vegetables, and they were out of many menu items. Our experience this particular night ruined our dinner here. We had a group of 6 adults, 3 kids and checked-in under 2 parties and asked if possible, to be seated near each other but if not, no problem. The hostess spoke with the manager and told us they would accommodate us and it'd be a 45 min wait. When we were notified our tables were ready, the manager told us he wouldn't seat us together b/c it was unfair to his servers since they wouldn't be getting 20% gratuity. He offered to get a second opinion from his supervisor and we accepted but instead of actually doing that, he arranged separate tables (about 20ft or so away from each other) for us. There were available tables to sit us at which were near each other but he chose not to. Our parties sat separately without a fuss. At that point, we were all hungry and our +45 min wait turned into an +1hr wait. Thankfully our main server made up for the lack of customer service the manager was missing but another server that was helping deliver our food had a piss poor unprofessional and unwarranted attitude. No apology and cooperation from the manager about our request. Just another customer that he couldn't be bothered with. read more

Loved getting on the waitlist through Yelp! We waited about 5 minutes and was seated immediately. Our server looked a bit overwhelmed as he was taking orders for the entire restaurant, but they started the grill quickly and the meats came out super fast. Everything from the banchan to the marinated meats was absolutely perfect and exactly how Korean bbq should taste. We especially loved the cucumber kimchi. Our favorite meats from the regular menu was the spicy pork belly and the beef Bulgogi. Great service and atmosphere, get yourself a boba next door afterwards if you're not totally full! We'll definitely be back. read more

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Food was good, we tried almost everything that was available besides the chicken. They ran out of ribeye, brisket and corn cheese on a Monday so that sucked. But all the sides "besides the kimchi" and what were ordered were on point. Service was great besides getting rushed by the small asian guy when we were almost done. Even had the nerve to ask if we knew what last call was. Seemed like they were trying to close early. Would've been 4 stars if wasn't rushed at the end read more

We visited for my birthday dinner and this place did not disappoint! The meat was great quality and you get a lot of options without needing to upgrade. All of the sides were fabulous and the staff was very helpful in answering our questions about the various options. Big kudos to the designers of this restaurant as it had such a fun interior design. One tip if you plan on visiting during the weekend is to make a reservation a day prior to your visit. We came on a whim and had a 1.5 hour wait. Not a big deal because there is a yummy coffee shop attached where you can hang out and enjoy a drink. read more

So much fun!!! First time here and I LOVED IT. The staff was very helpful and the whole experience was great. Not to mention the great food! Can't wait to come back! read more

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So first time here and for my 50th birthday (Thank you to my wife and daughter) So unfortunately we didn't take many pictures. ( too much excitement) Anyway let me say this...IT WAS AWESOME!! We had sirloin, brisket, spicy shrimp and my personal favorite beef bulgogi. The fixing and everything, I mean come on some say it's too expensive but come on ALL YOU CAN EAT!! My waitress Jessica was extremely on point awesome and the absolute best. She really made the experience memorable . Thank you Jessica and the entire staff/family at TAFGUKI!! read more

Taegukgi - My birthday pie, again to much excitement forgot to say what kind. Moon pies and ice cream - Korean Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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So, we lived in SoCal next to Garden Grove Blvd. which is Korean BBQ Row out there. My hubs is 1/2 Korean. We KNOW our BBQ. To find a place in Tucson that has AYCE and nice servers gets a 5 star rating from us. They don't know all the Korean words for the dishes but that's ok-- we can point! Great job on the Kalbi and the promptness of our sweet server, Victoria. It was a pricey dinner at $36/person but we aren't in Garden Grove so I know the prices will be higher. It was a special dinner for my Mom's 74th birthday. Would be nice to have two grills for 5 or more people. We will be back! read more

Hands down, best Korean BBQ in Tucson, maybe anywhere. Everything is so good! Especially the Spicy Pork Belly and Beef Bulgogi. Just make sure you come hungry because it's all you can eat in 2 hours. read more

I mean... it's Korean BBQ! I think there are a few key things to improve on but the experience, and quality of protein is fantastic. Price point, well, it's the only KBBQ joint in town. So there's that. When service gets going, they won't leave you alone (it's a good thing). Tip well, eat well, be merry and appreciate Koreans for making your lives so much better! read more

First time eating here and we absolutely loved it! The environment was fun and made a perfect date night. The Beef Bulgogi was amazing, my husband ordered seconds. The waitstaff was very attentive and everything came out quickly. We will definitely be going back and bringing friends next time. Highly Recommended! read more

Taegukgi - Korean BBQ Beef Bulgogi Beef short rib Spicy Shrimp - Korean Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

This place was amazing I loved the beef and other food. It was very good. And a good experience I would go again.

We have been to this lovely place a couple times now. We love the quality of meat and attention the servers and staff give each table. We have been so lucky to have the server Jessica three times now. She is AWESOME!! We love the premium AYC. We always make sure to get pork belly and the sirloin! Yum yum! You have some new regulars! read more

Taegukgi - General set up! - Korean Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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This place is a great to go for an experience. If you were going out to eat to skip cooking then perhaps come back a different time. This is a traditional Korean BBQ, offers great quality cuts of meats at a great price point. The service can be a little slow at times with the servers which hold me back from getting to the 5 star mark but beyond that coming here with friends or family it's always a great time. read more

Good Korean bbq for Tucson Arizona! I wasn't expecting this restaurant to be as good considering I've had much bbq in Orange County but I definitely wasn't disappointed! This is a must try if you're in Tucson and craving Korean bbq. read more

I was excited to try this place cause I LOVE KBBQ but I was kinda disappointed. Upon entering we were greeted and gave an estimated time of 10 minutes, which was perfectly fine since it was around lunch time. Its super smokey inside, so letting you guys know in advance! Food: the prices are on the higher side, I believe lunch was around $18 and can go up to $35 depending if you want more options or not. My hubby usually goes for the protein and I'm the type of gal who goes for ALL THE SIDES. I love sides! BUT *sad face* the sides were on the salty side. Not just one of them, but most of them were just too salty. The meats were good, fresh and flavorful. Service: this was a little tricky. Either they were way too busy, only had one waiter or because we were stuck in the back cause we could not find anyone to help us! Drinks weren't refilled, our area was smokey and wasn't replaced and when the waiter did come back he told us not to mess with the temperature or else it'll start to smoke....which we didn't touch! So he turned it down and left. After a few minutes we noticed our meats weren't really cooking and tried flagging someone down. They came over and told us not to mess with the temp because we TURNED IT OFF. Which we didn't. So that was upsetting. Also, their soda machine wasn't carbonated that day and when we complained, nothing was really done to fix it and our drinks were never filled anyways. I'll give it another shot since I believe this is the only KBBQ in town. Maybe we'll get better luck next time! read more

We went during the soft opening so the bar was not open. We were sat every other table for social distancing. The staff was very attentive; rarely any wait for getting our orders in, getting our orders, and getting the table cleaned of unwanted plates and etc. Great first time experience; deff recommend and would visit again! There's also a cafe next door and there are many seating to chill if u have to wait or even after meal for dessert. read more

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Proteins not great, some were not seasoned at all. Sides were subpar, extremely overpriced.

I reserved a table to try it out during soft opening. My friends and I were all very excited as we've heard many good things about it's SD location. This Tucson location didn't disappoint us at all! Great quality food and service, tables are also reasonably distanced and cleaned. I will be showing up here often for sure! read more

Taegukgi - Banchan - Korean Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Ive driven by this place plenty of times and always wanted to try it. It was crazy busy, but figured that was a good sign. They were out of like 4-5 things, so the AYCE menu was limited and there were no a la carte options. Only a very expensive AYCE or a more expensive AYCE. We were told we could only order four meats. We ordered the bulgogi beef, beef belly, spicy bulgogi pork and spicy squid. All were great except the beef belly had no flavoring to it. For our second round, we got more bulgogi beef, squid and a baby octopus. Now, this isnt my first rodeo when it comes to Korean BBQ, so I will say the price does not match the quality or variety by a long shot. For two people and one soda it came out to a little more than $90 before tip. read more

I had been here once before with my husband and 2 children and had a great experience, the food was amazing and the service was excellent. We decided to come again for my daughters 15th birthday dinner and to say we were disappointed is an understatement. The service we received for the price we paid for not just my husband and children but my brother and his family of four and my other brother and his daughter is insane to me! Our server LIZ was so unprofessional and lazy I don't even know where to start! We got there and waited an hour for our table, and once seated we had cups with ice there but no water so I requested water and waited for 20 minutes before she delivered any. The first thing that was irritating but tolerable was how extremely hot it was inside the restaurant, everyone was sweating even my 3 month old baby! We ordered our meats and those came fairly quickly however I also requested forks for our small children and those never came, my son started to eat his rice with his hands! She never once cleared the table of old plates (what the raw meat comes on) or asked anybody about refills. We had to constantly get her attention to ask for anything we needed and still had to wait for it to be delivered 20+ minutes if we were lucky to get it at all. At one point she put down octopus directly in front of my 2 year old son who tired to then grab it and responded with "my bad, I should know better" while laughing and still not placing any of the other raw meat any other place but in front of my 2 year old. Requested water again, it never came. Requested a grill change because ours was burnt and we could not cook anything else on it, had to wait 20+ minutes for that to be done, and that wouldn't have been done had we not asked a random server passing by. After 2 hours there we informed that our time was coming to an end and asked if we wanted to place one last order I refused as I could no longer tolerate the service. Needless to say after $400 we all left STILL hungry and thirsty! I will never come back here again. Highly disappointed I do not recommend! Oh and we never did get any water besides the initial time she brought it. It's a shame that it's 20% gratuity for large parties because LIZ did not deserve a penny of a tip! Just flat out awful service. read more

This location was very disappointing. The only thing prompt was the request to change the cooking cover. Service was extremely slow, wait staff took forever. The spicy chicken had no spice, same as the BBQ chicken. It even took 15 minutes to even pay the bill. Wait staff kept walking by so we walked up to the searing hostess, stated goodbye, as I stated we wanted to pay the bill. Could've walked out with a free meal is how inattentive they were. I will not be returning here ever. read more

This place is great. The food is delicious, they have a good selection of drinks and the staff is very nice and attentive. They are constantly changing out the grills, even if the grill is completely full of food, which I found odd. My only issue is the portion sizes. I went with two other people and when we ordered certain items, they were ridiculously small. We got the king oyster mushroom and it was a single tiny slice of a mushroom-for three people. I got the beef intestine and it was a single two inch section. Other than that, this place is really nice. read more

Taegukgi - Korean Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

We have been waiting for you guys to open all year and you did NOT let us down. The meat was flavorful, the sides were awesome, and you guys definitely kept the food coming. And great service! Thank you! read more

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So glad to have more korean BBQ in Tucson! We went for lunch on a Monday which was awesome because there was not a ton of people there, so the staff was super attentive to us. We did the AYCE lunch menu. Every time we were getting close to finishing the meats we ordered, someone was there within a few minutes to clear our plates and take our next order. They changed out our grill plate three times without us even needing to ask. I definitely appreciated how on top of it they were! My favorites would have to be the pork belly and bulgogi. Loved all the ban chan too! Definitely order the cheese to dip your meats in. So good! read more

Taegukgi - Korean Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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My partner and I came here for dinner! Super busy and unfortunately there wasn't enough staff for the amount of fokxs that were seated. We didn't have a waiter, so it was hard to ask for items. When we did get a waiter, they tired their best to accommodate, but their section was triple sat at once. Heads up---if it's busy/dinner time, be prepared to wait for items, ask for missing items, and wait to pay out. read more

This place is awesome! The staff is so helpful and polite!! I had never been to Korean barbecue before and it was an experience like nothing else. You cook the meat right on the pan and there are a million yummy side dishes that are so fun to try. My favorite was the beef and pork bulgogi--so flavorful. The food was DELICIOUS and the atmosphere was perfect. 12/10 highly recommend:) and yes I loosened my belt after read more

I'm giving it 5 stars for our waiter Carter. He was fantastic! His attentiveness was on point ! he paid attention to our needs, we never had to flag him down or wait for our grill to be changed. He definitely made this dinner experience great! But if your still reading this then here is where I will get into the meat of this review ;) I will say the selection of meats was decent for the price. I've been to several Korean BBQ joints and the traditional pairings for the meal you'll get maybe 8/10. I've seen many posts about the missing lettuce and a few other items. But you also have to be a realist and make note that for the price compared to other Korean BBQ establishments that meet the mark for our more fussy patrons you get what you pay for. And if the lack of lettuce and salad really hit a nerve then this might not be the place for you. But if this is your first time and you just want to enjoy a nice dinner, or just something new to try that won't break the bank then you might really enjoy yourself. read more

Great food, had to ask for a new grill often, But was very surprised to be brought my bill for us only being seated after an hour 20 mins, unfortunately left a bad vibe in the restaurant read more

Long wait Expensive too loud food was little amount even if it's all you can eat Staff doesn't come often will not go back

We went in with a big party so 20% tips automatically applied. They greeted us for the first 5-10 minutes and started to neglect the party. We were a big party so we do need service pretty frequently. The restaurant was not busy but we had to physically go get a server's attention to change the grills or to help us with anything around the table. The 3-4 of the food that we wanted was out of order even though the sign was empty and did not stated anything was out of order. The tips ended up to be 70$, we don't mind paying but it needs to be deserved. read more