Gen Korean BBQ House

Loved my visit here, amazing atmosphere, drink, food was on point and the manager Tim showed us a great time
Would definetly come back again to this location specifically.
Shout out to the manager tim and our server Bryan keep up the great work.

It was my first time visiting this location, but everything was on point here. They have a bunch of tables so we didn’t have to wait. The quality of the meat is excellent and consistent. Even the grill worked well (no cold spots).
They have the best service compared to all other kbbq places. If you get Michael or Feli as servers, you’ll have a great experience. They were on top of everything from refilling sides and meat to clearing the table and changing the grill. The managers were also going around to each table checking up on everyone. We met and talked to Daniel and Tim. They definitely made the experience a little more personable and periodically would check back to chat a little and to make sure everyone was still happy. Overall, the best location for Kbbq by far!!!

I love KBBQ and GEN is my 1^st choice. Selections are much better than other KBBQ. Service is a 5 star. Very friendly employees. Ambience is average. Floor is slippery (LOL) but it’s expected of all KBBQ restaurants, but it would be great if they find a solution for it. Our servers micheal & felly are pretty awesome they really took care of us and super friendly. Oh get the peach soju you won’t regret it, maybe the next day LOL… #damndaniel
The service wasn’t that good towards the end. I understand that night was busy but waiting for 30 minutes (maybe more) for brisket and drinks is not acceptable.

Another Gen experience for the books! Shoutout to our servers Michael and Feli for being on point and to the managers Tim and Daniel for taking real good care of us!!!
Classmates and I haven’t gotten together since we graduated. It was only right for us to reunite at our favorite place– Gen. Since our school was located in Long Beach we frequented the Cerritos location. It was some of our classmate’s first time at this location and they really enjoyed it here. Better service and better people! As for the food same good quality. We got our usual– brisket, large intestine, & rib fingers to name a few.
BE BACK SOON.

If you guys plan on dining here, ask for Tom, Michael, Chris or the manager Tim. They’ll take care of you! They give the absolute top level customer service that you can ask for. You can actually tell they care about a customer’s experience. Everyone is very attentive, it’s beyond amazing. Michael is the veteran server, who trained Tom. Timothy is the veteran bartender who know manages the restaurant and does a great job!
I ordered the beef tongue, pork cheeks, prime steak and brick toast. They taste so delicious! I would recommend this place to anyone!

The Gen here is more than a little out of my way to visit every time I feel like eating ayce Korean BBQ. But the only reason I would come specifically to this location is because of the service. I know my orders and myself will be well taken care of and that I’ll leave on a full stomach and with a smile on my face. More so if Sonia is working. Throughout my duration of the time there, she was checking on my table to make sure we didn’t need anything and that all our orders were in the system or out on the table. And she wasn’t even our server! The next time I come back, I’ll definitely be asking to be sat in her section.
Thank you Sonia for attending to us w a constant smile, no matter how bizarre our requests were, and for making our time there so worth the drive.

Tom one of the best waitress every at Gens in Torrance. Ever Order came five minutes or less and he was a great host, hands-​down if you ever go to Gen’s in Torrance you should always ask for him.
Let’s not start with Tim, off top he ask where do you preferred to be seated. After he seated us he mad sure that we was comfortable. He came back Multiple times and made sure that we where ok with are heat and are drinks. I give Tim & Tom 110% I recommend that you come back and asked for them

I have given a low review based on lunchtime service before, but increased the rating after having great service another few times. Today I experienced the same slow and inattentive service of old. First of all we were placed in a booth in a section entirely separate from all the sections. As we were led to our table, I noticed a bunch of open booths that we passed because the tables weren’t cleaned yet. Does this mean we were placed in our neglected table because someone wasn’t doing their job of cleaning off the tables? I sure hope not.
We placed our order right after sitting because we’re very simple Korean BBQ eaters, just keep the brisket coming and no one gets hurt. Supposedly you can order 4 plates of meat at a time. We ordered the maximum number of plates but we only got 2. After those orders were cooked and eaten we sat waiting for a good 10 – 15 mins before our waiter even came by to take our next meat order. We would have placed it sooner had another waiter walked by, but again, neglected table in a totally separate section. Needless to say when we placed our meat order we had to refill on all our sides, rice paper, and salad as well.
I’m not sure what the deal is with poor lunchtime service at this location, but something needs to change. I do tend to go to lunch at a somewhat odd time (2 – 230) because I know how crowded this place gets. However I don’t think the neglect of our table was due to being short staffed. I saw plenty of people having multiple staff stopping by their tables. I saw our server more frequently at his other tables in the more populated section.
Do I even need to mention that the only thing that came promptly to our table was the check?

Came into Gen last night with my girlfriend for the first time. The ambiance was that of a night club with great music and great lighting. Everything about the restaurant was great! This was the first AYCE kbbq place that actually had servers who could speak English! It was such a nice change of pace.
Our server Francis greeted us right away making us feel welcome and right at home. He explained to us the menu items and recommended us various meat options that he thought we would enjoy! He made sure that all of our meats came out right away, all our drinks topped off, and our grills were always changed!
The pork belly and the brisket were my two favorites of the night! If you’re looking for a more modern and contemporary take on kbbq I would defiantly recommend this restaurant to everybody!

My husband was craving some serious meat so we went here on a Sunday late afternoon. Keep in mind that weekend prices are all the same which equals to dinner pricing all day Saturday and all day Sunday.
We waited 10 minutes to be seated and the service was decent. The restaurant was packed and we enjoyed all of the dishes that came out.
Most KBBQ places needs a minimum of 2 people, however this place you can eat by yourself, if you can’t find a friend to eat with you. Please call ahead to verify this because I called and asked if 1 person can dine alone and the waiter replied, «Sure, why not?»

Woww. Just wow. Impeccable from start to finish. Tom, Bryan G, and Shana gave us amazing service. They came around every 5 minutes to ma ke site we were ok. The service was PHENOMENAL.
The food was great as usual. You gotta get the Bulgogi and the kalbi. But it’s really the service that made this experience second to none. I would highly recommend others to come and will be back soon.

Last night had a great time at gen! I came in with my rather large family, it was 6 of us. Even though we were a large party we were seated with little to no wait.
Since it was my families first time at gen we had a lot of questions for our server. Francis introduced himself and answered all of my families questions from meat options to the side dishes that were on the table.
Francis did a great job of making sure that we were all fed. He assured us that the single grill would be enough to feed us all.
He was always there to check up on us and we were never sitting there with no meat for more than a few minutes!
We will defiantly be coming back soon!

Service was poor. Service slow and non-​existent.
Meat was bad quality and fatty. Marination was terrible.
Worst strawberry lemonade ever.
I never waited so long for raw meat to come to the table at a Korean BBQ restaurant — two round but took an eternity to get meat to cook. They want you to get full off banchan.
Plenty of communal seats, but we weren’t given the option until we asked.
I am not sure why this chain ranks so highly.
Maybe the clientele here hasn’t had great AYCE Korean barbecue before and don’t know any better.
They are obviously going for the college-​aged set with loud club music blasting.
Never again. Such a waste of money!
Make the drive to Oo-​Kook AYCE instead at one of their locations or spend the money at more superior places non-​AYCE in Garden Grove or Koreatown.

This is a very nice and trendy Korean BBQ restaurant… and, thus, is very popular. Lines can get very long, so you could be waiting for awhile (btw, the only take reservations for parties 10+). Once we were seated, we ordered and received the meats fairly quickly; I was surprised. They did mess up a couple items and kept forgetting to bring a couple other items, but it wasn’t a huge deal since we always had food in front of us to cook and eat. Our waitress was on the ball with checking to make sure we had food and kept ordering food as needed. There were a couple times we wished there was some kind of mechanism/​button to indicate we needed a grill change, but we never waited too terribly long (esp given how busy they were).
The meat/​food selection is great. They have a variety of beef, pork, and chicken. They also have some veggie dishes and soon tofu. Our friends really liked the pork belly and sirloin steak! At $ 20/​pp, this place is reasonable.
Keep in mind they will only take a max of two credit cards and otherwise do not split checks. That was kind of annoying, but thankfully most of us had cash.

Shoutout to David P for ALWAYS checking up on us and making sure we are taken care of, even when we aren’t in his section… Lol. Also, it was nice meeting you Will! Thanks for being so kind and attentive. I didn’t grab the name of our server but you were great, too!
Came here on a Friday night with my coworkers and we were finally seated together at one table!!! (We are usually separated by some means) Our only concern was the flickering light at our table. I’ve sat at this table before and it was the same issue then. Why haven’t you guys fixed it? It’s not a big deal but it does get bothersome after a while. We also got kicked out (for the first time) after 2 hours, which is understandable. The place was packed! Saved us from buying more soju and crawling out of there. I don’t even remember leaving the restaurant ha!

Hello world. i just took off from gen Korean bbq and it never seems to let me down just like TOM’S 5 star Service. He is the top waiter there. So when you go in don’t forget to ask for TOM’S section.
His hours are Tuesday through Saturday 4:30 PM to closing time.
EL CHAPO

Where to start!!!
I’ll start by saying I’ve been here way too many times hoping my experience will change and I have continuously been disappointed. I will also mention I only come during the week for dinner because the weekend is impossible to get a table let alone service.
1. Service is the worst I have ever had everytime I have come here! Especially if you are white! Is it that hard to bring everything out without me having to ask for each individual item? I mean I shouldn’t have to ask for chop sticks, scissors, tongs, sides, salad, and dips! It is seriously ridiculous. Put that out before we sit or bring it all in a 5 min period. I don’t want to wait for 30−60mins for everything I need to START eating.
The helpers are way more useful than the head servers and let’s not talk about the fact these servers have 10 plus tables to take care of!
When will the managers learn they need to hire more people!!!
We sat with a burning grill in our faces for 15 mins! The menu, which is new, is greasy. Our first grill had pieces of burnt stuff stuck to it. I could go on but I’ll stop.
2. The food.
They have changed the cuts of meat so your #1 is not the same non-​fatty piece of meat. The brisket is touchy, sometimes it’s all fat and other times is it a decent cut.
The shrimp is non peeled which is fine except for the heads are still on them! Oh and let’s not talk about the poop trail!
To sum it up:
Pretty much everything is fatty and the service is shit. Find another Korean BBQ to go to.

Yesterday was as good as it gets at Gen. I have come here once again from the far far land of North Orange County to indulge in my cheat day of all you can eat meat. After dieting hard for several weeks, weighing out food, I was finally able to let loose and eat to my fullest desires.
This was my first time eating only meat and the side salad with the sauces. That means no dduk, no moo, no rice. But… It was still fantastic! I have a new appreciation for Gen meat in and of itself. If the main courses are this delicious, no wonder it’s so much better with all the carbs!
This night we were once again, blessed by the rulers of Gen, and I received Tom and his partners Francis and Sarah as our servers/​runners. These guys and gals made for a fantastic evening. Always around when we needed to put in more meat orders. Our salad bowls were never always being refilled in a timely matter (which I kept devouring). The restaurant was clean if not for all the slick floors because of the meat oils everywhere. But what can you do. It’s a bbq! All in all, will recommend wholeheartedly again and again. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ or rather ⁵⁄₅ for Unilocal.So good. So meat. Much wowe.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been here, and yet my expectations are always being blown away! The atmosphere, food, and staff are all excellent. What makes this Korean BBQ stand out compared to the others is the outstanding service!
I recommend the beef belly and pork cheek.
Shout out to my servers Tom, Francis, and Sarah!
All of them were super friendly and on point with their service!

If you’re looking for high quality Korean BBQ, Gen isn’t the place. If you’re looking for a really fun atmosphere and a really good value ($ 19.95) and a ton of good food, then you will thoroughly enjoy Gen but be prepared to WAIT. Unless you get to Gen when they first open be prepared to wait an hour for a table. Once you are seated the staff is very nice, they don’t rush you in and out, you can take your time and enjoy your meal.
I had the Cajun shrimp, the seasoning was really good and the shrimps were very large and full of flavor. I also had the Gen Beef Bulgogi, it was very tasty and not fatty at all, the Gen Signature Steak was great, really big portion of steak.
I did find their house sauces that they give you flavorless and very salty, I think they need to improve on their sauces.
All in all, dinner was really good, it’s not «Park’s» but it was very good, there is a very big difference in quality between these two places but there is also a big different in price as well.

My one gripe with AYCE BBQs is that service is always so slow! Nope, not at Gen! I love this place! Our waiter Michael and manager Daniel were so attentive to our needs. Not only is management and wait staff quick and professional, the menu is very robust and the ambience is pretty hip. You can only make reservations for 10 people or more so come early if you have less people.
They have scrumptious little macaroons for dessert, make sure you try them!

Gen was our first experience with Korean bbq so I am certainly no expert in this matter. However, we loved our experience and had such a blast as a family! We came not knowing what to expect at all but were really happy with the whole thing.
The vibe of the restaurant is really fun, lots of blue lighting and a huge space. We came on a weekend expecting lunch (and lunch prices) but lunch on weekends is actually dinner. The servers were really great to explain the whole process to us and also make recommendations. They showed us how to work the grill and made sure to replace the grill grates often. The two rules that were explained to us is that you can only order 4 proteins at a time and you have two hours to dine.
When we sat down we were given a bunch of side dishes. We ended up ordering 8 different proteins. My favorite was the Hawaiian steak with pineapple. A few other highlights were the garlic shrimp and brisket. It was really fun to grill our own food and I liked that I could cook mine more done because I like meat that is cooked well while my husband prefers it more rare. We had fun sampling the side dishes and experimenting with the sauces. My son especially loved the mashed potatoes and I enjoyed everything pickled.
It ended up being a good deal for my family because we came as 2 adults and a toddler. Kids are free until 4 years old but my 19 month old can eat more than my husband and I. He was so ecstatic to try all the food and it was really cute watching him eat new things and he kept signing «more» to us because he couldn’t get enough. We have a little carnivore in our family! With sodas, tax and tip we left spending $ 60 which was a little more than we expected but still worth it. We made some fun family memories and had a new cultural experience together. Definitely make sure to come hungry so you get your money’s worth.
We are excited for our next Korean bbq!

This is so far the best kbbq AYCE place in SoCal that I’ve tried outside of Koreatown. Everything we ordered was absolutely delicious, and the meat quality was top notch. And with nearly 37 items to choose from their menu, what’s not to like???
Lots of yummy side items are also included in your AYCE selection i.e. popcorn chicken, spicy fried rice cake, japchae noodles, and assorted veggies + pineapple to grill. They also offer unlimited soondubu and bean paste soup.
All these definitely felt like a steal at only $ 20 bucks for dinner/​weekends!

Have you ever had korean bbq at a night club? That’s what it feels like in here. They bump up the music and serve booze and all that jazz. Unlike a lot of korean bbq places, there is a set price for lunch and dinner– they do not have levels. lunch is $ 15/​pp, dinner is $ 20/​pp all-​you-​can-​eat. There are plenty of choices but it is NOT recommended for your vegan vegetarian friends.
Dinner has a large variety of bulgogi and pork belly. Seafood-​wise, we had the calimari steak but the calimari rings are way better. Don’t miss the cajun shrimp!
Personally, I think the assorted veggies are bleh so I just asked for just the mushrooms. Want to try something but don’t want the whole thing? Ask for half portions!
Booze-​wise, $ 7 large hot sake and a variety of flavors of soju to wash down your meaty meal.
Tip for beginners: if you want to eat more but start to feel full, have a few bites of the kimchi and side dishes (ban chan) on the side to help with that heavy feeling. Still getting full? Wrap your meat in the rice papers. It’s bliss! And don’t be shy with customizing your grill with sprinkling your oils and sauces on your meat or asking for fresh garlic!
Have fun :)

I’m sitting here at work, and I can still smell the bbq aroma seeping out of my pores. Which… I guess is a good thing?
First thing I’ll say is that this place looks great. Blue nightclub lights, clean seating arrangements, and well-​placed ventilation keep this place looking a bit more classy than your average korean bbq place.
The price is also pretty decent. I’d say their $ 19.99 price tag for all-​you-​can eat is a little cheaper than average. However, the food plates are smaller, the selection isn’t as good, and the quality isn’t as high. Some unique menu items they have are cajun shrimp, hawaiian teriyaki steak, and garlic chicken.
If you come here for a later dinner, be prepared to wait, especially on the weekends. We luckily only waited 20 min this time, but I’ve been here and waited almost an hour on weekend nights.
One plus: they have hot sake. Mmmm my favorite. It was pretty cheap too.

We’ve been to Gen in Tustin before and enjoyed it very much. We remember the meat quality was good and fresh.
We’ve waited a long time to try this location, because it’s just SO crowded all the time and we never wanted to wait. We finally went on a Sunday around 330, and the wait was maybe 5 minutes! Score!
After 3pm, it’s dinner time, and they offer over 20 menu items at dinner time for the AYCE menu. I was excited!
Our meal started on the up– banchan was decent, the first we meat we ordered was good. But as we ordered different meats throughout our meal, the whole dining experience just started going downhill.
I love soybean soup at kbbq, but what they brought out was NOT it. It was super thick in consistency and the zucchini was just chopped and tossed in there raw and not cooked through. It was gross. I tried to water it down, but that just made it worse, and I didn’t eat any of it. Disappointing.
Also, some of their «marinated» meats appear to just be «marinated» in a crap ton of salt and pepper. So much so, that even when it was cooking on the grill, the pepper was going up my nose and making me sneeze.
Hubby loves beef tongue and it looked completely unappetizing and like crap when it was brought to the table. 4 super thinly sliced pieces that were carelessly tossed on a plate. Really?
What is supposed to be great about AYCE, besides eating all you want for one price, is that you can try a lot of different menu items. Gen makes it hard for you to do that because they bring you such huge portions of each meat that you order, that you get full after 2 – 3 orders. Should an entire big plate of bulgogi be brought for just 2 people? No. Should 9 large shrimps be brought for an order of cajun shrimp? No! And ps. Don’t order the shrimp unless you’re prepared to burn your fingertips off trying to peel it, and making a huge mess.
Their grills also kinda suck. You have to get a grill change basically in between every single meat order because it gets so charred and gnarly.
To be honest, there’s a reason why you don’t see a whole lot of Asians here, and that’s because they know where better kbbq is. And this is not it. We won’t be back.

Best value is weekday lunch for only a whooping $ 14.99! Even then dinner is only $ 20 for AYCE so Gen is a great value hands down.
It’s pretty Americanized and the marinades tend to be on the sweeter side (Trust me after 3 – 4 plates of that bulgolgi, you’ll be sick of it lol). But there’s such a variety… you won’t get bored.
For a restaurant as busy as this place is, it’s expected that service is hit or miss. I have had good, OKAY, and bad experiences here. I always get stuck with the newbie servers who bring out the wrong meats lol… one occasion, we had a server who was obsessed with constantly switching out the grill with every round.
Definitely expect a slight wait time, my best advice is to avoid peak dining times. So come at 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm… yaaaa know!
Other piece of advice? Wear sweatpants and be ready for some major food coma!

Not your hole-​in-​the-​wall KBBQ spot. This place is poppin!
I’ve been to this location twice now. Both experiences were very different. So I will just break it down in bullet points.
GOOD:
First time I came here was on a weekend night which meant it was poppin’! While waiting outside, we were offered to order drinks which helped make the wait time move faster. We ordered a pitcher of their lychee flavored soju! Yummm yumm! Nice and light but the alcohol is all on the bottom so those who drink towards the end will taste it more.
Service was great the first time we went there.
Meat is fresh and marinate comes through after cooking the meat.
Inconsistencies:
My second experience was during lunch on a Sunday. Staff were nice but they kept mixing up our orders. Some orders came late then came in batches of 3… We were worried we would get charged extra but we didn’t.
Service was slower during lunch which meant we reaaaally paced ourselves while eating all you can eat… which is not cool since we were going to get full faster the longer we wait therefore, missing out on taking full advantage of an all you can eat scenario.
OVERALL:
It’s a fun place to hang out! It’s a bit loud but that’s just how it is…
I really do recommend and enjoy this place but had to take one star out for the long wait, mix up, and inconsistency with service. I would love to come in a few more times and hopefully put in that 5^th star!