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    Wako Donkatsu

    3.9 (764 reviews)
    ModerateKorean, Japanese
    Open 11:00 am - 9:30 pm

    Order Wako Donkatsu Takeout or Delivery

    Wako Donkatsu Photos

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    WAKO DONKATSU ATMOSPHERE

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

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    Recommended Reviews - Wako Donkatsu

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    Chicken Cutlet Combo
    Jenny S.

    Great place for donkatsu. Always consistent, never disappoints. Enjoyed the chicken cutlet combo with udon and the fish cutlet. Love grinding my own sesame seeds for the sauce. Great service, large portions. Will always go back.

    Tim H.

    Behind this longtime favorite is a story of grit, family, and flavor -- Owner Jane, a single mom who journeyed from South Korea in the '90s, took a chance on a sleepy neighborhood spot and turned it into a katsu haven. For decades, she's poured heart and hustle into every batch, drawing in regulars with crispy cutlets and a secret sauce that keeps folks coming back. I still miss their Wilshire location, but I'm so glad they're still around. Their katsu game remains strong -- consistently crispy, juicy, and satisfying. Lately, they've leveled up with smoky donkatsu and a late-night menu that keeps fans coming back. Food: 4/5 - Pork, chicken, and curry katsu (カツ) are still my go-to classics. - The hamburger cutlet (ハンバーグカツ) has an interesting texture -- not quite a burger patty, but definitely worth a try. Service: 3/5 Pretty average service -- food arrives quickly, but no real check-ins or follow-up after that. Parking: 3/5 (Difficult) They used to share parking with a nearby building, but that's no longer the case. Street parking is available, though it can be hit or miss depending on the time of day.

    Pork Cutlet
    Anh T.

    I came here with some friends on a Monday night, and the restuarant was about half full. Their menu selection fits on page, which already spoke to me as being quality over quantity. The restaurant itself has a calm and cozy atmosphere, with many of the tables being split wooden bars. I ordered their Pork Cutlet listed under their favorite session. Our order came out in around 10-15 minutes. I love the idea of being able to grind your own seeds so that you can later add to the dipping sauce. The meal came with shredded cabbage, miso soup, and rice, which added to the more than generous portion for the dish. The pork was crispy on the outside and not too dry on the inside, and the breading was a nice golden color. It was delicious and not too heavy!

    Interior
    Carlo G.

    Big portions and indulgent food, one of my go-to spots in LA's Koreatown! I visited this restaurant for a Sunday lunch and my experience here was great. Firstly, after you place your order and if you order one of their katsu dishes, the servers give you a small bowl of sesame seeds to grind which was a fun little activity to do while you wait for your food. When you're done, the server will come by with the katsu sauce to pour in your bowl. The tangy sauce mixed with the nutty and fragrant sesame seeds was very tasty. They also give you complimentary barley tea as their "unlimited water cup" which tasted nutty and healthy. For my meal, I ordered the Cheese Katsu and it was delicious. It came with cabbage with dressing, pickled radish and jalapeños, miso soup, and rice. The portion was big! Firstly, the cheese katsu itself was so delicious. Crispy panko breaded exterior, juicy pork interior, and stuffed with super melty cheese. Dipped into the katsu sauce, it was a flavor and indulgence explosion. It paired well with the side rice which soaked up all that richness. The salad and pickled veggies provided a fresh balance to the meal. The miso soup was also nice as well. The interior of the restaurant was nice with traditional Korean elements. Each table has a buzzer which you can press to call the servers. The servers were pretty nice and attentive. They also let us split the check evenly for our part of two. For parking, there's a free lot near the restaurant with a decent amount of parking. Overall, great experience here as always and I will keep regularly coming back.

    Piyathida R.

    The tonkatsu was fried perfectly, crispy, not greasy, and the portion size was very generous. Definitely great value for the price. I went during the lunch rush, and even though the restaurant was quite busy, the food came out quickly. Another plus: they have parking available in the back, which makes it super convenient.

    Pork Cutlet Udon Combo
    Leonard K.

    I moved to La when I was 16. My grandma wanted me to live with my mom. She didn't want me anymore, until much later in life. But she's passed now and I miss her dearly. When I first moved to La, my mom would take me to Korean restaurants she enjoyed. This was one of them. It's been over 20 years and I still come here. The food is just so good. Sure a new tonkatsu place will pop up every now and then and I'll give it a try, but I have yet to find a place that is comparable in quality to Wako. I typically get the pork cutlet udon combo, which also comes with shrimp, a potato croquette and the cabbage salad you find at many Korean places. In addition, they give you plenty of little radish square kimchis and enough little pickled jalapeños. Before the meal comes out, you will get a Suribachi, which is a Japanese grinding bowl or mortar, alongside a pestle and in it there will be sesame seeds. As you grind them, you get a sensory experience from the smell of the seeds as they are ground down. Once your meal comes out, your server will pour a sauce over the seeds, which you can mix together to get one of the best dips you'll ever experience for tonkatsu. I really do love this place. The food here is great. It's comforting and the prices haven't really gone up too much after the pandemic. It's still affordable and is definitely quite a satisfying experience. If you want crisp, tender tonkatsu covered in a flaky panko crust, this is the only place you need to go in ktown. My least favorite thing on the menu is the curry but others love it. You can't go wrong with anything you pick here too. Plus if you opt out of the udon or soba combo, you still get a satisfying miso soup. I really like the udon here too. If you really like udon, you might be able to look at this place as a discount udon place because you get a tonkatsu in addition to an udon. Due to that, it makes it hard for me to want to get udon elsewhere because the price difference between an udon elsewhere and a tonkatsu udon combo here is just a few dollars. The service is great. Everyone is attentive. The ambience is nice as well as you get to feel you're somewhere in Asia when you're eating here. It's not decked out, but it does have a good vibe to it. I hope I can keep eating here when I'm in my late stages of life. This is truly one of the staples of KoreaTown.

    Was in the area and stopped by!
    Steve F.

    I have a couple of good Katsu places near me, but I was in Ktown to buy something and it was about 5pm, so I stopped by. Still good, can't go wrong!

    Menu 12/30/23
    Aaron M.

    Still the best katsu in koreatown. I've been coming to Wako for 20 years now and they taste the same as when I first tried it. My go to is the chicken katsu but time to time I get the cheese. Wako always hits the spot. 4 stars because the service is always lacking a little and we never get enough side dishes

    Sesame seeds
    Cynthia Denice O.

    Introduced by my boyfriend, we came the other night for dinner. I was interested to see the low star score of the place, but came with an open mind to see why the rating was low. We ordered 2 Pork Katsu plates. We were given a small bowl is white and black sesame seeds to crush and they added a katsu sauce we used to mix. I liked that small detail! The server was friendly. The plates finally arrived and I was impressed that they had a mini cooling rack where the katsu was placed - genius and loved it be side there is nothing worse then getting a fried item that gets soggy underneath. Great detail here and the food was amazing ! The only feedback I have is that our waitress did not offer to refill the small accompanied sides. We will be back soon!

    They make you crush your sesame seeds before adding the don katsu sauce... how HORRIBLE! (Jking... it's actually a cute idea)
    Michelle K.

    They have a combo special that's a pretty good deal. Comes with substantial portions! The katsu came with a very buttery potato croquette and a bit of a lackluster shrimp. The salad, dressing, and katsu sauce were good, though. I like how they give you sesame seeds to grind fresh before they pour in the sauce. The soba was ok, but I would pass on the shrimp pops because they were super bready and comprised of smaller shrimp (had one that contained 2 tiny shrimp). The biggest reason I'm giving Wako Donkatsu 4 stars is due to the service. R very attentive and kind wait staff. They also have a parking lot if you drive down 2 driveways.

    Shrimp and pork katsu plate
    Yuri J.

    Solid katsu spot in ktown!! The portions are HUGE - can def share a plate ~ comes with miso soup, rice and side cabbage salad. The shrimp and pork katsu were perfectly fried and crispy, and the sauce is def sweet delicious pairing. Check in on Yelp for free potato ball! Also a major plus that there's a parking lot in ktown :)

    Chicken Cutlet Combo
    Catherine M.

    Wako is one of my favorites! I would still visit sometimes even when I was still living in San Diego and Orange County. The chicken cutlet combo always hits the spot and is more than enough food. I ordered it to-go for the first time and it came in a nice, secure box. The udon broth was delicious and the my katsu was perfect.

    Donkatsu/Tonkatsu

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    6 hours ago

    Too salty too fried, miso soup isn't authentic Japanese, I would improve the frying and the sauces

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    3 months ago

    Definitely one of my go to katsu places and a favorite for my kids. Love that they are consistent every time!

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    Page 1 of 20

    Wako Donkatsu Reviews in Other Languages

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    Hangari Kalguksu

    Hangari Kalguksu

    4.4
    (3.3k reviews)
    0.7 mi
    $$
    Women-owned & operated
    10 years in business

    I came here with a big group of 10 people and we were allowed to make a reservation! Since we did…read morehave a lot of people we were excited to eat family style. The service was also quick. The restaurant was kind of small but it was clean. Everything was so flavorful and delicious! Seafood kalguksu 9/10: it was def filled with various seafoods. The flavor was super bold and a bit spicy but not intolerable. I love the texture of the noodles. Perfectly cooked. Bossam 9/10: also such an amazing dish! Perfect ratio of fat to meat. I do wish that for this large plate they gave us more cabbage. We ended up ordering more for $5 but I think it should be included given the amount of meat. Parking was valet and it's a small lot. I think we paid $5 for parking. I think there's also street parking but we wanted to play it safe and just do valet. Overall it's such nice place to eat with a group of friends. The portions are large and food taste better shared!!

    Good but not amazing. I was expecting to be mind blown by the amount of people who rave about this…read moreplace but I think it is pretty on par with many other Korean places in ktown. I especially wanted to try their bossam but didn't think it was out of the ordinary. With that said, food was still very good. Parking was difficult to find (obviously it's ktown) but they do offer valet. Food comes out very quick. I would recommend coming with a group because portions are large so you can try many things.

    Photos
    Belly and Jowl & Chicken-KALGUKSU
    Belly and Jowl & Chicken-KALGUKSU
    Bossam jowl combo
    Bossam jowl combo
    (MEDIUM) Hangari Bossam (Serves 2)

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    (MEDIUM) Hangari Bossam (Serves 2)
    Kobawoo House

    Kobawoo House

    4.3
    (1.6k reviews)
    0.7 mi
    $$

    Found this place by mistake. We were in the area due to the Mexico/Korea match and were starving…read more We consulted yelp and Google and settled on this place. I really wanted authentic Korean food that was not kbbq and not tofu and this place delivered! This restaurant is in a small strip mall. The strip mall has other Korean food options. They have a valet parking system of sorts but we didn't pay, we self parked. The attendant told us we were fine. It was approx 9pm when we arrived and also a week night. I have no idea how much valet parking is here. We were a small party of two. Upon arrival, we were notified they were out of RICE. Um..what?? That's a good problem (for them to have) but not for consumers. I feel this really limited our options to just soup. I honestly didn't want soup but there wasn't much else we could order. The bowls were large and came out piping hot. It was a satisfying meal and not too heavy. The price point was on the pricey side. Our waiter told us business has not been the same post covid. Some dishes are between $40-$60. I asked for a soup and they were able to make it less spicy. My friend got a soup with dumplings in it. He put a good amount of soy sauce to give the broth some life. Also, the banchan is on point. We asked for a refill and devoured the second portions. If you wanna impress friends with Korean food, bring them here! Its a casual place.

    Was hungry for bossam and chungukjang so went to kobawoo. It's been a couple years since I came…read morehere but it seems to have died down on popularity. Restaurant was half empty and no Ike which surprised us on a Saturday night. Ordered some bossam and chungukjang and it didn't taste the same as it used to couple years ago. Not sure what the issue was but it lacked flavor. Also they were cleaning the kitchen while serving food which was kinda not sanitary with all the water splashing on the floor of the kitchen while they were making food. Overall it's not what it used to be and cleaning the kitchen while making and serving food is not a good combo.

    Photos
    Popular place. Had to wait 30 minutes for a table for 6 on a weekday at 6:15pm which is not bad!
    Popular place. Had to wait 30 minutes for a table for 6 on a weekday at 6:15pm which is not bad!
    Kimchi Jjigae
    Kimchi Jjigae
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    Jangban Guksoo Vegan
    Borit Gogae

    Borit Gogae

    4.4
    (520 reviews)
    0.6 mi
    $$$

    Good features: - off-street parking lot behind the building…read more- immediately seated (almost every time we go) - warm, friendly staff - interior was extremely home-like and familiar. this place has a very calming ambiance and attitude overall The food: - Set menu for two: we order this prefix meal every time. It's so much food and there are so many unique flavors and textures. Notable favorites: the perilla seed soup, acorn jelly salad, water kimchi, doenjang jjigae and the final piece of Gotgamssam at the end. I was very full but also felt pretty light. They're very sparing on salt and fat on this one. I loved it.

    Looking for a healthy vegan meal in Ktown LA? Look no further, come over to Borit gogae. They…read moreoffer a preset menu but do require minimum of two orders. If you ever had Korean Bibimbop, this is similar but with some minor differences. This one uses a barley rice base (compared to white rice in Bibimbop). The barley rice is topped your choice of about 15 different side dishes of lightly flavored savory mountain roots, greens, mushrooms, and peppers. Comes with a soy bean paste that you use to further season. Just mix everything in a larger bowl and serve. OMG. Absolutely incredible!!!!!!!!!! Before this main course, you do get three small bites (pumpkin porridge, scorched rice/tea, and tempura). Additionally three different sides are also served (acorn jelly salad, Korean escargot/snail dish, steamed cabbage), along with perilla chicken soup, and soy bean soup, the latter which is the most traditional Korean dish. Last for dessert you get red bean porridge, dried persimmon rolls, and plum tea. Nothing like this in all of SoCal. A must come and try for all.

    Photos
    Restaurant decor- art work and Korean figurines
    Restaurant decor- art work and Korean figurines
    Barley rice mixed with side dishes
    Barley rice mixed with side dishes
    Grilled spareribs

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    Grilled spareribs
    Ham Ji Park

    Ham Ji Park

    4.2
    (1.8k reviews)
    0.8 mi
    $$$

    Really sad that Ham Ji Park is closing down permanently. For years, this place has been our…read morefamily's go-to place for pork spare ribs - the best in town. In fact, we regularly brought visitors here. They raved about how good the spare ribs were and even insisted that their last meal before LA should be at Ham Ji Park.  Here's my belated review of what I consider the best spare ribs in LA. From the moment the Korean-style spare ribs arrived at the table, it was clear this was a dish worth savoring. Each rib bore a beautifully charred exterior--deeply caramelized without a hint of bitterness--offering that irresistible smoky aroma the moment it was placed before us. The glaze was nothing short of spectacular. A perfect balance of sweet and spicy, it clung to the meat with a glossy sheen that promised flavor in every bite. There was just enough heat to make your taste buds sit up and pay attention, but it never overwhelmed the deeper, richer notes of the sweet components. But what truly set these ribs apart was the texture. Beneath the charred surface lay meat so tender it practically fell off the bone with the gentlest tug of a fork. Each bite was juicy and succulent, the result of careful cooking and a respect for quality ingredients. Ham Ji Park, you will be missed. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the food.

    tl;dr the delectable pork ribs overshadow the otherwise authentic but standard lineup at this…read morenow-shuttered Korean stalwart Los Angeles Koreatown is home to restaurants that specialize in every facet of Korean cuisine. If you're searching for some of the city's best pork, then those in the know will bring up Ham Ji Park. For 2 decades, generous platters of pork ribs and pork neck stew decked every table. Now, our Korean friends lament the loss of their favorite pork joint in the city. The Koreatown proper location is located in the Royal Plaza mini-mall, just a few blocks off bustling Wilshire. Discounted parking is available in a lot across the street from the Chevron gas station. From the street, the entrance is flanked by potted plants and an enclosed street-ery. Inside, stainless steel chairs are pressed up against wooden tables, each outfitted with a metal grill. Oppressive fluorescent lighting shines down on the stone grey walls, which are left undecorated apart from a few flatscreens. Multi-lingual chatter blends with the sizzle of platters. I visited with some friends for a weeknight dinner, and about half of the tables were occupied. We shared a spread of grilled platters and sizzling soups. The meal began with a carafe of barley tea and a mostly standard spread of banchan. Across our food, the best dish was the signature Charbroiled Pork Spare Rib. The ribs were flavorful without feeling gamey, and the meat was complemented by sweet caramelized onions. The pork ribs handily outdid the good-not-great Charbroiled Beef Short Rib. Lastly, the Milt and Cod Rose with Vegetables stew was fishy and briny, appropriately flavored for the Korean palate. The service was appropriately attentive, although I would've appreciated more intentional refills of our banchan ramikens. The rib plates cost upward of $35 each, while the soup was just under $30. The portions were hearty; a single entree platter could reasonably feed 2 moderately hungry bellies. It's a shame to hear that Ham Ji Park has closed; I'm kicking myself for not trying their pork neck stew earlier.

    Photos
    Ham Ji Park
    Ham Ji Park
    Ham Ji Park

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    Ahgassi Gopchang

    Ahgassi Gopchang

    4.3
    (2.8k reviews)
    0.8 mi
    $$$

    We love Ahgassi Gopchang. We don't live in Los Angeles, in fact we are over 400 miles north. But…read morewhenever we're in the area, it is a must stop for our family. We enjoyed the Large Beef Combo. There were 5 of us, but my grandaughter is a vegetarian. The meat, all the sides, the service, the atmosphere, everything was perfect. As for my grandaughter, she found plenty to eat that allowed her to enjoy the experience as well. I would recommend Ahgassi Gopchang to everyone. At least try it once. You will keep coming back.

    We ordered the set menu, and the quality of the meats was a bit mixed--some cuts were excellent,…read morewhile others were just okay. The service, however, was outstanding and definitely one of the highlights of our visit. If it's your first time visiting, finding the entrance can be a little confusing. We parked on the street and spent a few minutes trying to figure out where to go. For anyone visiting, it's much easier to enter through the parking lot, where the restaurant entrance is located. The banchan (side dishes) were quite good, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere inside. The decor was fun and unique, making the dining experience feel more special. Overall, the food was good, the service was excellent, and the ambiance was enjoyable. I'd come back, especially for the service and the overall experience.

    Photos
    Beef brisket with bean sprouts
    Beef brisket with bean sprouts
    Steamed egg
    Steamed egg
    Super close up of the large intestines. How does it look?

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    Super close up of the large intestines. How does it look?

    Wako Donkatsu - korean - Updated June 2026

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