You know a Korean restaurant must be super duper good if it has an esoteric name instead of something that makes you instantly hungry. And it also has a suspicious run-down entrance to boot! And it is in some derelect plaza where the parking is a bit tight It's amazing but also a bit expensive. Only come here if youre looking for some sort of novelty experience -- as in, youre tired of these overhyped and loud spaces and hungry-sounding restaurant names. Inside this place, it's a bit darker and warmer making it a cute date spot. It has wooden decorations and the cups are metal, and they give you your own pitcher. The army stew came in a metal pot. So really, it's like living in a tough past. A novelty experience And because it's expensive, youd want to be here with someone anyway to split the bill. These portion sizes are crazy. But if youre an extreme foodie, maybe youd find it not worth the bill -- the food itself isnt anything spectacular or michilin star, just good enough Cheaper menu pls haha read more

The Past Memories - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Late night eats meet meats worthy of meeting. Maybe more. I've been 5 times in 6 months. Omurice? Omygod. Chicken wings? Wangin. Corn cheese? Don't know wtf that's about but its bombbbbb. Little bit pricier than others, but you pay to play. And play you must. 5 stars. The hostess might knit at the booth next to you. Will return. read more

The Past Memories - Said knitting. - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Had a great time, great place to hangout with good foods and the place felt like you're in S Korea neighborhood bars. Been here couple of time and plenty & easy parking since big parking lot. Clean and great vibe inside. Abit dark but good enough to see the foods. Great menu both for foods & drinks. The foods are tasty and well seasoned. Service can be slow but if you're in no rush, you can overlook it. Overall, enjoyed the foods and drinks and hangout with friends here. read more

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We went on a Friday night and there was plenty of seating and parking. We had to wait a while to place our order but the vibe was lively and fun. The seafood pancake was dense and yummy. The fish cake soup had just the right amount of spice and paired perfectly with a shot of soju. The spicy rice cake was delicious as well. The bulgogi fries were too saucey for my liking. All of the dishes were easily shareable. The beer tower is equivalent to two pitcher of beer and comes with a complimentary bottle of soju. We did order another bottle. It was good for our group of eight girls to enjoy. read more

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Felt scammed eating here as they gave us tiny paper plates and plastic utensils and charged an automatic 18% gratuity on the bill for crap service. The food was okay but a bit overpriced for what it was. Not coming back here as there are plenty of better Korean spots that have better service, food, where you don't feel scammed. read more

after ordering to-go, before i turned to leave with my order, the woman with the fire bob asked if I wanted side of kimchi it made me emotional because usually when I pick up food it's very busy and quick, I expected the same today but I said yes please and she went to the back, packed it in big box so nice even though she was very busy taking care of other diners too even before this moment, while still serving other tables, she gave me updated time for my food when she walked by me waiting by the door it felt very personable and I felt taken care of, I brought home the food with the side of kimchi, then my brother started going crazy over how good the kimchi is too. Coincidence for us to have such strong feeling in one night, haha. I don't know a thing about kimchi quality, but I know when my brother really likes his food. dinner was a good meal this service and side of kimchi made me and my family very happy tonight this moment was really worth my first yelp review read more

The Past Memories - kimchi - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Love Past Memories. This is the go to place for drinks and pub food. Definitely get the bossam, galbi, or the bulgogi fries. The service isn't the best though. It's kind of inconsistent depending on who you get and they sometimes forget orders. So half the time you'll need to wave them down for stuff. The one thing I'll say is later in the night they do turn up the music to loud so you'll kinda have to start yelling at each other to talk. After a couple drinks though, the yelling is natural lol. Love Past Memories and always the go to spot for drinks, food, and a good time. (Shout out to Sharon. She's the best!) read more

The Past Memories - Galbi - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

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What I Ordered: Kimchi Fried Rice * rice was mushy Spicy BBQ Pork with Cheese * very oily Stir Fried Pork with Octopus * more pork than octopus * serving sizes are filling 6/10 read more

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This is one of my favorites spots without a doubt. I'd recommend this spot to anyone in the OC regardless of the drive. The lollipop chicken, kimchi rice with a nice ice cold Sapporo... it's as simple as that. Service is attentive and sufficient. read more

Really great ambiance, food is great too. Leaving couple stars off for lack of variety but taste is on point

Loved this recommendation by our friend and came to celebrate a birthday! Food was good and the service was great! Would definitely come back again for more soju and beer. read more

Surprised it was not too busy on a Friday night! Ordered and the food came out so quickly - literally in 10-15 mins if that. We shared the following: Bulgogi Fries - not too bad, Parmesan was sprinkled on top. The sauce reminded me of a creamy salsa verde and had a nice kick to it. Glad we got it on the side since one of our friends doesn't like spicy food. Surprisingly hard to find Bulgogi fries in the area! Sweet and Spicy Chicken - never seen fried chicken prepared like this, but I'm not upset - it was actually more convenient to eat! The chicken was nicely battered and fried. The sauce was tangy and reminded me a little too much of American bbq sauce. Kimchi Fried Rice - this was little too soft for me, and could've use more kimchi. The server had been kind to bring some earlier on the side so it worked to add the extra we had. There are other dishes I want to try so will definitely be back. read more

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To start off, service here is insanely terrible. One server, attitude is there but I get it, being the only server is hard but when it's not busy it shouldn't be. The boss, short hair blond, extremely disrespectful. We ordered the beef tartar thinking it would be fresh and vibrant in color, but no it was browning so we called the boss over and not only did she not apologize she just said "it's okay" and left with the dish. I will not be returning ever again to this place as other restaurants have better things to offer. Extremely disappointed to how this place turned out after loving this restaurant before. It's empty for a reason. read more

Food is on the pricier side but portions are HUGE. Good ambience as it's meant to be more of a late night hangout spot and they play good music! Friendly service and good food. Plentiful parking. My sister recommends the bulgogi fries. read more

Came here for my sister's 21st birthday and it completely ruined the night. My sister tried to order soju and the waitress tells us that she needs to check all of our IDs. We asked why, and she said every single person at the table had to be 21. The only person under 21 was my other 18-year-old sister, who wasn't drinking and never tried to order alcohol. Half of the people at our table who were over 21 weren't even planning on drinking. We were just there to celebrate. My older sister then asked if she could at least order one drink for herself since it was literally her 21st birthday. The waitress said "No," rolled her eyes, and walked away. Horrible attitude for no reason. And then we see the table literally right next to us had a toddler and a teenager no older than 15 sitting with them, and they had bottles of alcohol and shot glasses all over their table. How does that make any sense? If that's actually your policy, then be consistent. Maybe apply it to every table instead of just ours. On top of the terrible service, the food wasn't even good enough to make up for it. You can't have shitty service and shitty food. Pick a struggle. read more

It's been a while since I've been here but it's a yummy Korean spot. The food was delish and presentation was on point! read more

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Food: 5/5 Fried squid, pork bossam, and Ramen soup were all very delicious. Highly recommend the pork dish! Add in a couple drinks and you have a really good meal! The fried squid was crispy and season perfect. Service: 4/5 Quick staff, very attentive and helpful. Ambiance: 4/5 Bar style so the decor fit the theme. The loud TV playing korean music worked well with the vibe. Great place for friends or some after work hangout. Highly recommended with plenty of parking! read more

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I love Past Memories so much! This is my go-to spot for good Korean food! It's one of the OG Korean restaurants in Garden Grove with the pocha/drinking vibe. They have the best food and for the best price! You get so much food and everything tasted amazing! The staff is super nice and helpful! My go-to order include: Sweet and spicy fried chicken wings ($20) - this is def one of their signature dishes! I have yet to have something similar at other Korean restaurant, especially how they use the bone to create this lollipop shape! The sauce is on the sweeter side though! Beef Kimchi Fried Rice ($15) - you can't go wrong with their kimchi fried rice! There is a lot of beef in the fried rice and it's a huge plate for only $15!! Such a good deal! Spicy Seafood Ramen with Soft Tofu ($15) - my mom love the seafood soup here, but it only comes in one big order. This ramen is the smaller version of it! Lowkey shook that this giant thing is only $15. There is a lot of seafood in here! This is a drinking place after all, so it can get pretty loud with the music and other customers. Not suitable for a quiet family dinner. read more

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This spot is ideal to grub on some food to pair with your favorite drinks on a night out in town! My friends invited me to The Past Memories, and we all arrived until we became a big party. There are many tables around for big groups so this would be a nice choice for that. The menu has just enough of common Korean dish staples for drinking and had different types of Korean alcohol (soju, beer, & wine). Garlic Fries (3/5): These were just alright, a bit dry but not skimpy on the garlic. It could also use some salt too. Bacon Fried Rice (3/5/5): Didn't get a whole lot of flavors from this rice either, maybe I just prefer crisper bacon, but the meat didn't have much flavor from the bacon or maybe didn't fry the rice enough. BBQ Ribs (4/5): This was galbi and they had a nice marinade on them. It was served on a hot plate and cut into big pieces. Sweet & Spicy Chicken Wings (4/5): Never had chicken wings lollipop style! I preferred this way of the chicken prepared as it made eating easier. I liked this dish the most and felt like it was the most unique. Overall, the food here is typical Korean bar food so I'm not expecting the food quality to blow my mind. My rating for the overall restaurant would be 4 stars! Our service was attentive, and we received our items pretty quickly. read more

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Decent food and ambiance, service not the best. The restaurant is dim and music is very loud, but that was expected for this kind of place. Came on a Friday night and there was no wait. Service was pretty slow, we had to look for and wave someone down to order, for the check, for water, etc each time because they didn't come to our table. They also forgot one of our items. Food was okay. The tteokbokki was good, seafood pancake and chicken was decent (I recommend the plain over the seasoned, which was too saucy). The corn cheese came with the cheese kind of solid as you can see in the picture lol. Wouldn't come again just for the food but can see it being a vibe for a night out or if you're gonna order drinks! read more

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V reliable place. The food is decent. I will say, maybe this is just the nature of Korean food, there aren't a lot of non pork based dishes so be mindful if you would like to come. The soju cocktail needs mixing also. It seems the alcohol settles at the bottom. The service isn't attentive in a way that means they constantly check on you by coming by, but it isnt hard to flag someone down. Be assertive The vibe is nice. Good for a pregame or a chill night w friends read more

This was a Yelp let down. I wanted to like it, but I really couldn't. Maybe it is because I don't eat pork, and the menu is port heavy, but the other stuff is at best eh. I figured I would get some good KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) wings, but what we had were not up to good bar food wings and tasted like the oil wasn't changed enough. The kalbi ribs were plentiful, but not very tender. It just wasn't good. But at least it was loud, with competing KPop music videos (only one had the volume on). As a group spot, maybe it would work, but it wasn't for me. read more

In the middle December, my friends and I decided to go to past memories for a birthday dinner. Prior to this that last time I went to past memories was a month ish ago. This time I noticed they had changed their menu a bit. There was no JP love and a few new additions to the menu. I had come in expecting the usual experience here. Long waits which is fine because it's busy, but good food and vibes. The food was not what it was a month ago. The fries and the chicken in the picture below look like they were from the freezer and quickly prepared. Then they slapped a piece of cheese on top put it in the microwave and then served it to us. The food items came out nothing like the picture. It was also so pricy for what it was worth.. So disappointed and so confused as to why they changed some of their recipes. The quality has declined. Not sure if it was a bad day but I don't think I'll be coming back any time soon.. read more

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Oh, Past Memories, you never disappoint... in the best and most hilarious ways. I used to hit this spot with my homegirls in college, but today, I decided to introduce my two teenage daughters to my legendary Korean drinking spot. Apparently, I forgot how "memories" can be a little different when you're not in your 20s anymore. I ordered my usual Soju, and the server, very seriously, asked if they could check with the boss first, because they had to "ID the whole group." I blinked. I was like, "Uh... those are my kids, they're not drinking my soju." The server still went to the back like I was trying to sneak in a round for my 14 year-old. Eventually, the manager comes by, hands me my drink and brings waters for the kids. Apparently, it's their strict no-underage-drinking rule in action, which is both responsible and, in my case, way too serious for a family holiday dinner. But anyway, enough about my "mom moment." The food here is STILL top tier even after 25 years! Here's what you really need to get: Kimchi fried rice - 10/10. It's the spicy, garlicky love you never knew you needed. Chicken lollipops - 9/10. Perfect for pretending you're at a fancy gala, even though you're just sitting in a booth. A lil smidge sweet though. Teobokki - 9/10. The chewy texture will make you rethink every other rice cake you've ever had. BBQ short ribs - 10/10. If you're not ordering these, what are you even doing with your life? Cheese corn - 9/10. It's corn. It's cheese. You get it. So, Past Memories, I'll be back for the food, but maybe next time I'll just bring my friends instead of my teenagers. Also, here's to hoping my Soju gets a little less side-eyed. read more

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I've been coming here on and off for about 10 years, and my most recent visit was disappointing. I understand the place may have gone through different ownership over time, but the quality seems to have declined. It's still a spot where people come to hang out, drink soju, and play drinking games. But if you're coming here mainly for the food, it's hard to justify the prices now. Most dishes are around $25-$30, and the quality just doesn't match the cost. It's honestly sad to see how much this place has gone downhill compared to how it used to be. read more

TBH food was bland. Fried shrimp didn't have much flavor. Salt would've helped. Green dipping sauce was lacking also. It's fried nicely too, just sucks to be so bland... Stir fried squid and pork belly was deep red but no strong flavor, which is weird. No ban chan prior to meals, no rice or anything starch given... What a waste of time energy and money. Drinks are fine I guess. SERVICE was barely decent. 2 servers for an entire restaurant on a FRIDAY NIGHT... not cool read more

This is definitely my favorite spot for Korean bar food. Everything was really good and I liked that they were playing kpop and had music videos playing. We ordered 3 dishes for 4 girls and had a lot leftover Everything was a 5/5 out for me, and I would recommend all of these dishes (spicy rice cakes, kimchi fried rice, sweet and spicy chicken wings) read more

The Past Memories - Spicy rice cakes, sweet and spicy chicken wings, kimchi fried rice - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Past Memories is a Korean pub that's a favorite among locals. The warm, moody lighting, wooden booths, and decor create a nostalgic atmosphere that is true to the restaurant's name. My "past memories" include the seafood pancake and the spicy and sweet chicken wings. These are non-negotiable for me every visit. The seafood pancake has crisp edges with a soft, almost gooey center filled delicious fried batter, squid, and green onions. The spicy and sweet chicken wings are presented in lollipop style, and are more sweet than they are spicy. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so that is perfect for me. My party will order other items here and there but nothing really impresses me as much as the two that I've called out by name. I do wish that Past Memories had a bit of a better variety in their menu. For example, I wish they did like a loaded bulgogi fries... I try to DIY it myself by ordering the butter cheese fries and dumping bulgogi on top, but it really isn't exactly what I'm looking for. My favorite "past memories," however, have to be drinking soju cocktails with my friends. I like to get the yogurt and lychee soju cocktails. You can't taste the alcohol too much, and they are yummy and sweet. They are the perfect complement to their smorgasbord of Korean pub food Past Memories has to offer. read more

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Food is good and well prepared, however the prices are not justifiable. Savings need to be made across the board, without sacrificing the food quality; be it water bill, electricity, etc. Dare I suggest a dessert menu that caters towards multiple guests such as Binsoo. I recommend utilizing diffused lighting with LEDs inside acrylic pipes instead of exposed LED lamps. I also suggest utilizing natural cooling during late evening outdoor temperatures, enhancing alcohol effects and outdoor effects. A 3 star would indicate a decent establishment with decent standards, however, it definitely has room for improvements with evolving economics and communities. read more

The Past Memories - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Definately a "MUST TRY MUST GO" !!!I love this place . Great place to go on dates... re-unions, or special events ! Definitly a MUST GO spot. Food is amazing with service that comes with the vibe!! read more

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been to past memories a few times with friends and these dishes will always be go tos (with the addition of their army stew)! big portions, good flavors, and decent prices to share with large parties! they're open till pretty late so ambiance is always very casual and fun for a late night spot with friends. service has always been friendly and fast so would definitely recommend to others! read more

The Past Memories - kimchi fried rice with beef, rice cakes with ramen, and sweet and spicy chicken lollipops - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

the food is good here and so is the service, but the only thing that keeps me from coming back is the blasting music they always have. i understand that it's a late night drinks and eat kinda thing, but the music is way too much and it makes it hard for me to enjoy the food. sometimes my friends can't even hear me when i try to shout over the music. read more

The Past Memories - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Very mediocre food and service is nonexistent. They progressively turned up the music while we were there to the point where my friends and I were screaming to each other across the table. The tables were also sticky and felt dirty. read more

The restaurant is slow during the weekdays. The food is good here. A good place to talk. - Fried Chicken 1.9/5 Very dry. Sauce is ok. But so so so dry! - Sea Snail Salad with noodle 5/5 So tasty! The sauce is perfect and the dish is huge. [RECOMMEND] - Green Onion Pancake 5/5 Crispy on the outside. Very tasty! Free parking in lot. read more

The Past Memories - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California

Service was mediocre, a smile is hard to come by from both the staff we encountered . It's very loud with Korean pop songs / videos blasting through the TV in Dim lit room. Need attention from any of the staff push a button on the wall next to the table. Dinnerware consists of styrofoam cups/bowls . Our orders include 4 small bowls of assorted ban chan . Beef bulgogi was alright , hubby liked their spicy squid onion stir fry and kids find the shrimps tempura "not bad ". Only good thing about here is they open late . Other than that food, service, and house keeping needs improvement . read more

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Would not allow me to drink after 12am on my 21st birthday??? They told me to wait until their next business day to be able to order anything. read more

I haven't been here since high school but the vibes are just the same, maybe even better and less busy! My friends and I shared the Bossam, Seafood Soup w/ Ramen, & Kimchi Fried Rice. We also got a bottle of Terra to share. My favorite dish is bossam but I wish the pork slices were a bit thinner. The soup was filled with so much of everything and the rice was delicious! We didn't have a wait coming on a Friday night. The place was great for drinks and catching up! I'd consider this place more often after trying it again for the first time in a while. read more

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Came in on a Friday night and didn't have to wait to get seated. It's cute inside, made to feel like you're hanging out on a pocha street in SK with KPop w/videos blaring in the background. I dont really care for the food here but fun for casual drinks. read more

Pretty decent Korean street food and the vibe in there is fun. Portions are huge though so I recommend sharing with a groups or going very hungry lol. read more

Came here pretty late at night at around 11 ish o clock and there was no wait time on a Wednesday night. The ambience is very chill, playing kpop music on the speakers and have a very authentic look to the interiors as well. I have came here before and was happy with my food and experience so I had to introduce a friend of mine to this place again. Half and Half Chicken Wings 4/5: This would've been a 5/5 but the only thing about it was that the non sauced up chicken just needed an extra option for dipping sauce or something. It was a little dry without any sauce. Other than that I loved the sauced chicken and it was perfect the way they lollipopped the wings. We also ordered drinks on the side but they took forever to come and I had to mention to one of the servers to bring our drinks but I don't blame them for it. Other than that I would come back here again for a good late night eating and drinking option with friends! read more

The Past Memories - Half and Half Chicken - Korean Near Me - Garden Grove, California