JangBang Bar&Grill

No longer consistent with food. The tacos have become either unpleasant or boring, so now the loud and obnoxious setting will upset you while you eat your subpar meal. Boo.

Tasty tacos and would love to eat it more often but this place is NEVER open on time!!! You show up at 5pm and it’s closed (even though sign on door clearly says open at 5)., you show up at 7pm on a Friday and it’s closed. You try to tweet them and nothing. Really annoying. I’m done trying to guess when they’re actually open.

I’ve been wanting to try this place since I first heard it open shop, and I was not disappointed at all! The tacos were absolutely delicious. My friends and I each got a sampler or one of each selection so we were all able to taste each selection. My favourites are the pulled pork and the tofu. But since we each got ¾ by the time we got to the last ones, the tacos were getting too soft or oily and so it was an absolute mess to eat. The tacos were falling apart even before the first bite. But aside from that, everything was amazing! I would definitely go back and recommend it others!

Nom nom nom.
We were a bit hesitant when we walked in and there was only one other couple in there. The only guy working the floor seemed a bit aloof, but with a six item menu, it didn’t matter.
We started off with the dumplings which were pretty much pot-​stickers. Not worth the $ 6 for six, but decent enough and we were starving. Then came the tacos. Oh thank god, came the tacos. I used my girlfriend as an excuse to order two of each of the four choices; it made me wish I had more girlfriends to launder my gluttonous shame through.
Unlike some other Korean tacos I’ve had, the beef wasn’t from the sole of an old rain boot, the chicken was moist and spicy, and the pulled pork made sweet delicious love with my mouth. I wasn’t too hyped for the tofu tacos, but eff me they were glorious.
Thanks JangBang for making me look for excuses to hike over and give my money to you. You thoroughly deserve it.
**Love the music.

I love Korean Food. I love tacos. I hated this.
The bulgogi beef was bland, served cold and didn’t have any of the same flavours found in the city’s better Korean restaurants. The pulled pork was watery, overly tasting of the PBR it’s so proudly marinated in, and congealed when served.
As Tacos, the tortillas were stale, the toppings wilted and they’d been clearly slopped together with no eye to the combinations of flavours, and within 2 minutes were inedible due to the rivers of sauce and broken, mealy tortillas.
Even though I’d be happy if it was just bad food, it physically upset my stomach to the point of thinking I’d been served spoiled food. Coupled with the fact that the prices dont compare to the better Taco OR Korean spots in the city, it’s not a place I could recommend to anyone.
One star is grudgingly given for the Dumplings, which were actually pretty decent.
Avoid this at all costs. They need to go back to the drawing board and produce good korean food AND good tacos before they can mate them.

Great place to grab a pint and some grub (especially if you are pinching pennies).
Here is what I got and what I thought:
— Tofu Taco with some rendition of a salsa verde: Bland and meh
— Pulled porc: BANG! Bursting with flavor… you can taste/​smell the sesame oil galore
— Bulgogi: The best one! The beef was flavorful
My friend had the chicken taco and said it was bland.
I would go back here for 2 $ Taco Tuesdays and some beer!

Oh snap. The tofu taco is REALLY good.

Jang Bang is a hidden gem. There aren’t many reviews so I assume that Unilocalers have not yet realized what Korean Tacos are all about. Mind you, I don’t know too much either, but coming here shed a bit of light on the subject.
It’s a small and divey place. The booths and tables are old school, wooden. The restaurant/​bar is sort of a bit of everything. Jack of all trades, but I’m unsure if that’s a good thing. It’s a casual place to grab dinner, it’s a cool place to down a beer and have a snack, it’s alright to hang out and listen to the dj and it’s big enough to dance. But when it all comes down to it, it’s still best as a casual bar. Transforming it into a dance club/​lounge doesn’t make too much sense for me.
It’s good at what it was built to do, and I’m a bit puzzled as to why it’s usually empty. It serves PBR on tap and cool Korean style tacos. You know, the ones you heard about from LA and Chicago served from food trucks. They’re served on corn tortillas, topped with different stuff depending on the meat you choose.
Kimchi chicken, Bulgogi Beef and Pulled Pork. Chicken and Pork being my favourites, they are damn tasty. Once you check-​in through Unilocal,you get a $ 12 deal. 3 taco sampler and a jar of PBR. Good deal.
Overall, it’s a great little place with good food and friendly service. Although the drink selection is limited, the offered choices are enough to keep you happy. Larger groups can yield you the full space, allowing your ipod hooked up to their sound system and access to their open-​mic. It’s ideal for a night starter, but maybe not a night ender.

Countless times I have walked past this place, but today was different. Today I decided to look at the menu. It turns out there isn’t one posted outside, so I popped inside.
The menu only has four items (it really is a bar, after all) and I opted for the tofu taco, which is exactly what I was hoping to find. Korean restaurants and hipster bars alike are somewhat of a challenge for vegetarians and I was pleased to learn that there are both tofu tacos and kimchi. There are also pork, beef, and chicken tacos and non-​vegetarian dumplings. This review is specifically for the tofu tacos.
They are fucking awesome.
One taco rings up at $ 3 and tax ($ 3.39) but you can get three tacos for $ 8 and tax. My first taco was so amazing that I ordered a second one and made a mental note to eat as many tofu tacos as possible in the future. They’re small, served in corn tortillas and smeared with incredible guacamole, topped with fried tofu cubes (yum!), carrots and cabbage, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, sesame seeds?, and served with a slice of lime. I am most definitely a guacamole aficionado and can say that JangBang’s guac rules. It rules so much that I actually thought that I had to Unilocal about it. Oh man. Be aware that it will probably spill out of your tacos and onto your fingers, which will lead to you sexily licking off any trace of your meal and will probably one of the most pleasurable moments of your evening.
All of that said, the guys that run this place are really cute (Really! It’s true.) and I liked the décor. There were several musical acts performing (it seemed to be a lineup of male singer-​songwriters) and the ones I heard were actually pretty good, encouraging me to stick around and enjoy that second taco. I noticed all of the drinks were served in Mason jars but I missed the memo about any sort of deal. It (sadly) wasn’t that busy when I was there, but I would definitely go back, especially because Korean tacos, while a growing trend/​fad around North America, are rare in Toronto. And delicious.
I hope this place sticks around because it’s a nice getaway from Sneaky Dee’s/Ossington/the overflow and occasional suits at No One Writes to the Colonel. Good luck, gentlemen!

I went to this place a few months ago when it had just opened. It definitely seemed like a work in progress, but given the high traffic location I was under the impression some good things might develop, even though the name is quite daft.
Went back the other night and not much has changed — lots of exposed wiring, random metal things sticking out of the wall, dodgy sound system and an overall «we’re renovating» vibe. There’s a lot of potential with the space but it looks like there’s no plans to dress things up a little. Even the bar looks like a temporary set-​up with Pabst Blue Ribbon taps taking up the majority of space. PBR also appears to be the only draft available.
Still, the beer is cheap: $ 5-​something for a PBR served in a mason jar. Mind you if you don’t like PBR (which is not a very good beer) then you might be out of luck. Pitchers are $ 13-​something which doesn’t really seem that cheap to me given the low-​quality selection.
I think Jang Bang has potential down the road, but I was a little disheartened to see that very little has been done to improve on the space since I last checked it out months ago. The corner of College and Bathurst is a damn zoo on weekends so take advantage! As of now its makeshift appearance doesn’t make me want to drink there, let alone eat.

We had other plans on College street when my trusty Unilocal app clued me in on an intriguing and hard-​to-​pass-​up check in offer at JangBang: free PBR in a Mason jar. Being part hipster (and a huge Mason afficionado) I insisted we chart a new course for Bangsville.
The place is certainly more a bar than restaurant. Sparse seating, taps you can see from the street, posters on the wall, and sexy mood lighting. But still we were hungry. JangBang’s conceit is an interesting fusion of Korean cooking and tacos. (Ta-​Kos?) The menu had four options: chicken and beef tacos, Korean pizza and something called Mandu; dumplings available steamed or pan fried. The options are mad affordable, so me and my DC split our orders of chicken and beef tacos (two each for $ 6) down the middle.
Service was great, and they even pre-​split the order on our plates to save us time. A prescient move since these tacos need to be eaten with haste and care. They were served on soft corn tortillas which is not something I’ve experienced before. Unlike flour tortillas they were a little delicate (i.e., very delicate) so it wasn’t long before I was scooping bits of meat into my mouth from my plate. (N.B. No forks. It was messy.)
The chicken was tender and had a nice kick, but I much preferred the beef tacos. It was like bulgogi Mexican style. It wasn’t too filling but it’s definitely a decent snack. With a complimentary PBR, you can’t go wrong.
We left before the nightlife kicked in, though the place had a cool vibe. This is a place to grab some snacks before getting your crunk on to the backdrop of a DJ or live band. They feature both regularly. Cool spot!
Obligatory Title Pun: This spot is BANGIN’.
Menu Readability: One page, four items, sans-​serif, white-​on-​black.
Need to mention: A mason jar = a pint. They are $ 5.25 regularly.
What this place teaches me about myself: I’m the duke of Bangsville; and I don’t mean on Unilocal.Hiyo!

This place holds true potential, against its behemoth contender across the street, Sneeky Dee’s. Decided to go, following reading a review on a blog website, and was inclined to see what the early buzz was all about. Unfortunately the place has yet to catch on, as at 11 15 on a Saturday, the place was barely bumping. Two semi DJ’s took their turns at the mixing, and was overall un-​pleasurable, as one of them, was spinning classic hip hop, and the other, who would randomly take over was spinning club jams. Very jarring. Apparently they serve food here, and apparently its good, Mexican/​Korean fusion, but the place does not beg to be eaten at. Its semi resto, semi bar/​dance floor, and is darkly lit enough to muster courage to dance with that strangely out of place ginette throwing it down harder than she should. Either way though, I dont know if they change the décor for dining hours, but it would not condone a taco feast, it barely condones a grand tour, and for a place that boasts potential character, it seems pretty rough around the edges. Drink prices were pretty on the ball for a saturday. When Goldslager, and Jäger are going for 3.50 a shot on saturday, you know the bar is trying to pull in the thirsty traveler, and i guess it worked. But only for a bit, one or two mason jars of PBR later, and we were on our way. Back to sneeks, if only for the nachos and the crowd.