CJ House Korean BBQ

Solid quality cuts of meat, great quick service, and great sides. This is the best ayce korean bbq in the South Bay after Palace bbq closed, and it’s still a hidden gem. Gen has nasty low quality super thick cuts of meat and killer wait times, I just don’t get it. You don’t even see a single Korean person eating at Gen. This place is where the Koreans go to eat because they recognize quality.

Yay! No wait. Greeted and seats by the friendly staff.
Lots of selections on the dinner menu unlike most AYCE KBBQ… Where seafood is additional.
I ordered the fire squid and my god they hook it up with a full plate!!! The other places I have been to only give two small pieces of fire squid where I have to order more and more… This place offered so much on one plate I didn’t have to ordered a second!
Annnnd they have corn! I love corn!
Definitely not shady… They give plenty of meat on a plate.

Juicy meat. Well marinated short rib. Well prepared side dishes. Not too salty not too sweet. Just perfect for my kyongsangdo pellet. I thought it can be hit and miss because it is in Milpitas and not in santa clara but it was my prejudice. This place moved to a bigger place from santa clara and it got better. Waitress tonight gave me a supreme service too. I think meat is better and service can be even better than jang su jang.

First review!
Went with a group of friends to eat AYCE KBBQ for dinner on a Saturday evening. Chose not to go to Gen since the prices are almost the same, but the wait was drastically different.
Walked in and was seated almost immediately. Chose all the things we wanted to eat. Place was pretty crowded. There was a party that was being heavily focused, so we didn’t get everything right away. Every time we would order more food, it would take a while until we got it, but I’m not complaining. Overall the meats were good, the atmosphere was nice and I would go back again.

Super nice staff, I’ll definitely be back when I’m in town. I think the KBBQ price is $ 25 per adult, which is a little pricey for me but reasonable.

Still a good tasting restaurant for a neighborhood AYCE and alacarte restaurant and have visited a handful of times since last Unilocal,but it lost a few stars for non English speaking staff and this time very minimal guest attention.
First I asked waitress about the AYCE Combo, meaning it’s a savings if you commit to two meats plus the usual other standard buffet offerings. The waitress looked at me very perplexed. I repeatedly myself that I’d like get the two meat combo for $ 39.95 for 2 – 3 guests (as there are pics on Unilocal showing that menu). Just feel a little tricked as too many updates in a short time are comman. If anything please honor and then explain going forward, the updates will stand. I’m sure owners are still working out the kinks, but if a guest brings up a situation, at least honor it for that particular visit. It’s better to «retain» a (happy) customer, rather than lose a repeat customer. It’s like going to a car lot, seeing your dream car, returning next day and offerings, prices were changed. We were frustrated that we switched from sitting by BBQ tables to a wooden table and ordered a low priced dish from alacarte (table) menu.
Also I’ve actually felt the minmal staff effects. It’s so stressful to watch staff «running» from kitchen, rapidly rolling plastic serving carts and ignoring us when we are trying to catch attention for beverage and side dish refills. It’s a recipe for disaster or worst … A lawsuit if a guests are struck.
They are getting popular (great thing) but it’s ugly when bussing (removal of dirty dishes) suffers and folks are waiting in entrance Lobby for an AYCE table or regular table. It looks messy, dirty and cluttered.
Down the street in Fremont, the staff is friendly, fast and so attentive. If they get busy, at least doorbell use is great to catch the attention. Staff speaks communicative English and clean up is so fast to expedite guest seating.
Two stars for fresh deliciius food and I think owners said hello in midst of chaos.
Negative three stars for the reasons above.
Can you kindly get a website so we can see your actual current menu offerings please?
Thank you.

I don’t know how else to put this… But this has to be the most disappointing AYCE KBBQ experience I’ve ever had. Also on the same note, probably the most average KBBQ ever.
My mother really wanted to go to AYCE KBBQ for mother’s day and she picked here. Who am I, as a loving daughter, to deny her of her choice? I did, however, question her choice. Why not (insert other popular AYCE KBBQ spot name here)? She said she had heard about this place from a page on social media and it seemed promising. So… We ended up here.
After we parked, we noticed a familar and pleasant smell of marinated meats being grilled. We thought it was a good sign and continued through the entrance to the restaurant. We were seated quickly since there was no wait time and many tables were empty. The staff quickly brought our side dishes to the table, took our orders, and left after leaving a few half-​filled cups of water (they ran out momentarily???)
A few moments passed and we start grilling the meat. To our dismay, we quickly realized why it smelled so good outside. Some of the big grilling vents (ours included) that sit above the tables did not work for probably half the time we were there. Needless to say… The smoke/​oils from our grill ended up in my face. We flagged a waitress down and she insisted our vent was working despite the fact that the tables immediately around us had their smoke going UP towards the vent instead of in their faces. Then we flagged another waitress down and it seemed like she left to take care of it.
That said, we’re here to review the food. So let’s talk about the food. Equally as disappointing as the service, the AYCE menu provided was short and limited. My dad doesn’t eat beef and so we tried a number of pork dishes. I ordered the bulgogi beef anyway because who goes to a KBBQ place and doesn’t order bulgogi? It was nothing amazing. My 15 year old brother ended up ordering plates of buttered corn towards the end instead of eating the meat because it just wasn’t all the appealing for him.
In the end I felt bad that my mom’s mother’s day lunch choice was here because for a good chunk of the time she complained about the menu, the service, and quality of food. I felt bad that my brother resorted to eating plates of corn. I felt bad my dad tried to stomach all the food he could to make the $ 120 lunch worth it.
At $ 25/​person + gratuity (same as other highly rated AYCE KBBQ places), I definitely will not be back.

Pros: great service, great food and super kid friendly.
I didn’t realize they changed owner so I didn’t look at menu and just ordered my usual (spicy pork, ribs and kimchi fried rice). The lady went inside and talked to the chef and she made it for me. Was delicious as it used to be under the previous ownership. The marinated short ribs were better than before.
Con: Found out previous owner passed away.

Good quality food and delicious! $ 24.99 for AYCE dinner. I really liked the beef short ribs and bulgogi. I ate enough to make the AYCE price worth it. Skip the squid though. We didn’t try everything on the AYCE list. The complimentary side dishes were yummy too. Wasn’t busy on a Monday dinner time.

There is no long wait, the food is awesome, the service is good, and the waitress gave us tips on how to enjoy our food more. Pretty awesome. Super friendly people.

Tried this place out on a Friday night. 3 people at 7pm and no wait time. We decided to do the AYCE for $ 24.99/person.
Our waitress (unfortunately, I didn’t get her name) was very fun and attentive. She gave us great recommendations for meat and beer, would check back on us every now and then, and even cooked our meat for us! We were super hungry so we didn’t really explore the meats and stuck with the chadol baegi, pork shoulder (also thinly sliced), and LA galbi. Everything was great, but the pork shoulder was my favorite. It was very flavorful and tasty.
The ban chan and sauces were just OK (I’m used to having some kind of spicy sauce or chili to eat with my meat but they only had sriracha) and there’s not an extensive list of meats to choose from but honestly I would just order the pork shoulder and brisket over and over.
This place is great if you’re just craving some meat and don’t wanna wait at Gen. Would def be back for the great service.

We tried the traditional korean food instead of the ayce option. The side dishes are very good. The hot stone pot and tofu soup are both authentic korean food.
The service is great and the price is quite reasonable. I will definitely try the buffet when I have the time and appetite.

There was a 4 hour wait at Gen on a Saturday at 6pm but instead of waiting, CJ House showed up on my Unilocal app and my friend and I decided to check it out.
Verdict: I like it!
There was no wait, huge AYCE portions, attentive service, delicious banchan, and more importantly, a relaxed atmosphere where you can carry a conversation with your friends. Don’t get me wrong, I like Gen but Gen gets crazy. CJ House is such a good alternative

Had this place bookmarked for awhile and finally had the chance to try it! Sad to say this place was just okay.
The quality of the meats were decent, but everything except the beef bulgogi was just SO, SOOOO bland. I tried asking for any sauces, but our server said they didn’t have any.
Flavorless meat + no sauces = unsatisfied taste buds. Our server was extremely nice and attentive though!
CJ just really needs some sauces. I definitely see room for improvement.

Like all new businesses there is indeed room to grow!
Came on a Sunday for an early dinner. Actually saved our dinner plans because it was Easter and not a lot of places were open.
Got seated right away and got our banchan and waters immediately. I read reviews ranting about the service but for my experience, service was on point. Every experience is different even at well established restaurants. Anyway onto the food:
We ordered:
2 item meat, 2 soda for 2 – 3 people which was 39.99 and came with all banchan, free seafood pancake and tofu soup, and lettuce leaves and of course the corn.
Usually when I get these kind of deals at other kbbq places, like tobang, the amount of meat given is minimal. NOT here, they gave us tons of meat! Which could’ve easily fed 3 people, maybe even 4 not so hungry people! It was a good deal!
We got the following meats:
–sliced pork shoulder: delicious! Like thinly sliced pork belly! Loved it
–beef brisket: it’s not kbbq without brisket! Delicious as well
Now the sauces given was pretty bland. But nonetheless still tasty! And the corn! Omg the corn totally made up for the sauces! Definitely love this corn better than Bob sang in Fremont!
some reviews complained the meats come out frozen but honestly, kbbq down south in LA that’s how majority meats come out. So I had no problem with this.
Honestly for the price and low key ambience, my visit was rather good! This is a good alternative if Gen is long wait and you want your kbbq now!
I definitely will come back :)

I like coming here. People are so nice and friendly. Today, wow, they gave us 8 to 9 side dishes and a veggie pancake for courtesy:)). We are so grateful!
I often bring my friends and family here for all you can eat BBQ. They are very happy and satisfied.
We love pork belly, brisket and the pancake.
Everything is fresh and delicious! Great service.

Worst experience ever! I honestly don’t get why people are giving this place 5 stars and even compare it to GEN in San Jose. If anything I would give this place zero stars, here’s how my experience went: we got seated, it wasn’t busy. Took our server 10 mins to get our order, forgot to ask us what we wanted to drink. She came back and took Another 10 mins to get us a cup of water and another 10 mins to get us a cup of soda. As for the food, it’s not good, it honestly cannot compare to kbbq places I’ve been to like yakiniQ in SF and GEN in SJ. We had so many trash on the table that our server nor any other servers bothered to pick anything up, everything was piling up. In the end we asked for the check, and the server never came back so we were forced to go up to the cashier and just pay there. I’m actually glad we went there to pay cause we looked at the back, workers in the back were touching meat without gloves! I was so mad and disgusted at the same time. If you want some nasty kbbq this is the spot for you! NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN! No tip for crappy service

I’m not sure why many people gave them 5 stars. Parking was hard to find. We got here around 6, not busy inside at all and yet we waited 5 minutes to be seated. As soon as we did get seated, we sat at the table for roughly 10 minutes before being served. When 15 minutes passed, we received our food and still no water. It took them about another 15 minutes to get us our drinks.
The food: it was decent. We got our banchan and meat: brisket, pork belly and bulgogi. They were all decent, no flavor to them. The sauces they served us was the sesame oil with salt and pepper and soybean paste. The meats were definitely oily compared to other kbbq places.
When in need of a grill change, our server was nowhere to be found. So another server had to come help us. That’s when the restaurant started becoming more busy with crowds of older Korean families. Once again, servers were hard to get a hold of and we waited for 15 mins, once again, to get our check. Nothing. We went up to the counter to pay and that’s when I was able to see what was behind the scenes. I saw the cooks in the back move the food and meats around on the plates with their bare hands. The brisket was not fresh. Another «cook» could be seen grabbing the meats from a freezer, with his bare hands as well. The server that we initially had, sneezed into her hands and grabbed the plates the needed to go out to the tables. Was disgusted by what I had just saw, and paid the cashier and left no tip. Sorry not sorry, I would not recommend or come back to this place.

I went here, like, 3 times with a couple of friends. It’s pretty dope. The meat cuts taste better than gen, and I have never encountered bad service.

5 stars! Went here for my husbands birthday. The food is good and very good customer service try it for yourselves

I had my birthday dinner at CJ House with my friends.
Great food and great service.
I’ve been so many other AYCE BBQ in Bay Area but this place has best meat ever!
I can’t wait to go back with my family this time.

This place has a lot of potential because their meat cuts are better than Gen though there’s less variety, but they need to get the service together and hire more people because when I went, there were only three servers and maybe two in the kitchen manning to whole restaurants’ orders. Whew! I felt bad for them and wanted to put on an apron and help them.
Shoutouts to Lawrence for letting me do a last minute reservation for a party of 13 for my aunt’s surprise birthday. Their brisket is great and are thicker cuts just like in LA KBBQ joints. The grill is reminiscent to the kbbq places in LA that I’ve been to as well.
They had so many customers and it was hard for them to keep up the orders and grill changes. If you are not in their line of sight, and are sitting next to the wall side, they will not pay attention to you because they are so busy. Also, it’s hard for them to change the grill if you are on the wall side since it’s almost not accessible. Hope they can work that out, but I would definitely come back for the meat.

We have been there for two alacarte lunches and a Saturday lunch AYCE BBQ, this review is my second dinner AYCE BBQ.
Still a great experience. Parking was a bit scares, but it is shared with other business in this strip mall. Upon entering, it was full of patrons from BBQ tables to alacarte patrons in regular tables. I can appreciate the diversity of patrons enjoying the dishes. We were seated immediately by a male host waiting to greet patrons as you walked through the door. Warm korean hot tea (not sure if it’s corn or barley or both), friendly waitress took our order. Started
with an order of pork belly, beef brisket, steamed eggs, veg tofu soup, then came the traditional side dishes (ban chan) and white steam rice in tin bowls. Ordered more and more of pork belly, beef brisket, spicy chicken and squid. All were super delish. By the end of the night, bwe were super stuffed and again weeping BBQ juices out of our eye lol. (See first review)
With our experiences, we are served very well and food, as always, was delicious. (Even during the alacarte lunch visits). Just like any newly opened business, their might be some tweaking here and there.,(i.e. AYCE schedule changed and AYCE menu was slightly updated) but for the most part it’s a great experience.
I’ve attached more pictures plus current AYCE menu: D
PS I included our bill to show they don’t add gratuity like some Unilocalers state.
However not sure if they add gratuity to larger parties, as a comman practice at restaurants.

It was my dad’s birthday so we decided to come here for the all you can eat BBQ. The plan was originally to eat at Gen, but with a 2-​hr wait, and with a toddler, it’s a no can do. We were quickly seated at CJ’s, and ordered right away. The service was quick, attentive and because my husband is Korean, they knew what we wanted right away. Now the bad part. Majority of the meat were not marinated properly, if anything, they used way too much salt on the beef. The 2^nd batch of beef were good, along with the chicken.
Overall, it was ok. They really need to figure out how to properly marinate their meat and use less salt, please. The tip of my mouth still has the salty taste on it.

Thought we would give this place a try since the ownership changed. We came in last night and immediately I saw that they charge 15% tip for their all you can eat. Why? Well maybe because the area of Milpitas has very few decent tippers. Maybe it’s because the servers don’t deserve it but still demand it. No one will know.
The thing is, it’s against CA Law to automatically include tip. What’s even worse is they charge the tip weather or not you have 2 people or 5. Even worse 18% for groups of 6 or more.
Though the meat has some improvement from the former place it is still very bland.
Things I did like.
Kimchi
Kimchi Cucumber
Short Rib
Steamed Egg
And Tofu soup.
All that for 26.99, let’s just say I’ve had better.
Other Places to Consider for BBQ
Gen but long waits
All that BBQ short wait.
For that price you can have much better quality in food.
For 3 ppl including mandatory tip no sodas 91 dollars.

If you really want to try this place be extremely patient and don’t have high expectations for the meat quality either. Service is terrible, servers are not attentive and our table of three had to remind the servers numerous times regarding orders we placed. Servers seemed to be confused themselves with what was going on-​more training for their staff is definitely needed.
When you ask for vegetables you get onions and only one type of mushrooms.
Dirty plates were never taken away and side dishes were never refilled. Prepare to help yourself to clean dishes and napkins
Also beware when your receive your bill, the server tried to charge us extra for alcohol that we didn’t even order.
Most likely will not return, go to Gen instead even with the one hour+ wait it is worth the wait compared to here.

An ideal place to get food from frozen movie — cold & straight from fridge.
The meat are bad without any kind of sauces. The restaurant look bad as well.

Never come here if you don’t want to ruin your day. The food is taken directly from the fridge to your table, frozen. The worst bbq I’ve ever had!
Not to mention that the price is way too expensive for the quality. We pay $ 65 for the worst meal ever!

Not bad for Korean BBQ! You can choose AYCE or order each meat separately. We tried combo #1 with marinated short ribs, pork belly and spicy squid. All three were delicious but the squid has the most flavor! The combo also came with pancake (no seafood) and rice. Two of us finished ¹⁄₃ of the food. The leftovers lasted us for another 2 meals, no kidding! The only suggestion I have was that I wanted to make some kimchi fried rice with pork belly fat on the grill, but the grill had holes so I couldn’t do it successfully. Maybe have a smaller grill that can be placed on top just for that purpose? I’ve seen it at other Korean restaurants.

I really wanted to like this place but found it disappointing :/
With very few selections, I don’t think it’s worth the 25.99. CJ had only 13 options compared to Gen’s 37 choices.
There was no wait when me and my friends came and the ladies working here are extremely friendly, but I wasn’t havin’ it with the food. We had the pork belly, boneless short ribs, bone-​in short ribs, beef bulgogi, and tofu soup. I felt like everything was lacking any flavor, even with the sauces, except for the beef bulgogi.
They also calculate 15% gratuity included in your bill, so be aware of that. Overall, I left unsatisfied and for 31.25 pp (after tax and tip), I think I would have gotten my money’s worth at Gen instead. Giving this place 2 stars because the service was pretty friendly and the grilled corn was really good.

Let me start by saying I left VERY unsatisfied with my meal for the dinner AYCE.
The restaurant wasn’t busy on a Friday evening, so luckily my party was seated right away. Inside, you’ll find that the fluorescent lighting and old interior will make you feel depressed and wish you were eating somewhere a bit more, hmm, modern-​looking?
Then the banchan came out, which was mediocre.
Now, on to the AYCE menu:
It’s a very limited menu, but we ordered the short ribs (with and without bone), beef bulgogi, pork belly, grilled corn, and tofu soup. The meat came out all in one plate — it looked fresh, and came with rice cakes and mushrooms. Our waitress cooked the meat for us, but the fire was always set too high and half of our meat turned to charcoal. We’d try lowering the heat, but the whole thing would just turn off instead. It happened 3 times. kind of annoying.
Honestly, I was just not a fan of the meat at all. I even tried using the sauces to hopefully make it taste better, but it was just dry and tasted like blehhhhhh. You know that taste?!
The only thing that tasted good from the menu was the grilled corn. You can skip the tofu soup; it’s really watery.
As the restaurant began to fill up, the waitresses were less attentive. My party sat with an empty grill for at least 10 minutes and we even had to walk up to the host stand for service. Don’t get me wrong, the workers are friendly and accommodating, but the overall service was sub-​par. I just wanted to try this place because I’ve been going to Gen a lot for KBBQ, but nothing stood out to me here, unfortunately.

Decided to give this place a try since I was craving for some Korean bbq and didn’t want to go to gen knowing there’s a long wait. Def was not worth it. The portion are good but the seasoning wasn’t good. The short ribs was a bit plain for me and the spicy pork bulgogi was too salty. Their side dishes wasn’t that good either. I was looking forward to their corn cheese but was let down. It def need more cheese. Also what was a bit weird was after we ask for the check we notice tip was included already. Normally I’m use to tip include if there’s a party of 6 or more but it was just my boyfriend and I that was there. I know this is the first and last time I’m going here. To bang and Gen is still the best Korean bbq in my book.

Found this new gem! The waitress said they have only been open for a month or so. We were kind of worried when we saw that the place was nearly empty at peak dinner time on a weekday, but we wanted to give it a try anyway. Boy, were we happy with that decision!
They give you a free pancake — I think it’s just because they’re fairly new. Otherwise, there’s also a free pancake with check-​in (which I didn’t have to use, so I guess I’ll save for later). Although their dinner menu looked pretty good, their AYCE menu looked better! For only $ 24.99, it was a steal.
Their banchan was pretty standard — 8 or 9 different kinds, and they kept the refills coming. I really liked the salad they brought out with the banchan.
Of all the items (we tried everything… No shame in our game), we liked the #12 beef boneless short ribs and the #15 shrimp the best. The marbling on the beef was gorgeous~ and the shrimp were bigger and fresher than GEN in San Jose. CJ has the best of everything, in my opinion. Even their pork belly was better than I’ve had at most places.
Service was A+. They charge you 15% gratuity for parties of 1 – 4, and 18% gratuity for parties of 5 or more. Honestly, although we only had a party of three, we wanted to tip them 18−20%. Since this place is so close to where we live and there’s no ridiculously long wait (yet), we’ve found our new go-​to spot!

Let’s see: no lines when I went on a Thursday night; good quality meat with respect to prices; and competitive price for all you can eat BBQ: $ 25.
The servers will help you BBQ, and they will grill the mushrooms and caramelize the onions well. But if you like your beef to be rare or medium rare, cook it yourself!
Service is ok. They are friendly, but may not catch everything you say.
Overall, the restaurant is worth going to again!

Myself & the Hubby were quite surprised to notice a new sign board ‘CJ House Korean BBQ’, located on the left side of the S Abel street when you cross the Serra way intersection (this is when you’re coming from Calaveras Blvd). It’s a welcoming new addition to Milpitas city, opened this month, operating since last 10 days. Looks like this restaurant focuses on serving Barbecue specials, as you could spot large BBQ serving tables in majority apart from regular tables in the dining area. Although, we haven’t tried their bbq menu yet, but was quite impressed to check their bbq serving area and it’s other facilities. The restaurant is large sized, spacious enough to manage the crowd, has simple and pleasant ambience, can easily accommodate big groups of about eight to ten. There were two hostesses and the one who attended us was friendly and helpful. There’s a private parking lot and there you find the entrance of the restaurant, which is inside this parking lot area.
Our Order:
Interesting to note that they serve you ‘Hot Barley Tea’ as a welcome drink instead of regular ice water. It was very soothing and a great warm up drink especially during this cold winter!
# BiBimBap (Customized to Veg) — Priced @ $ 12.99. It’s a steamed rice with assorted vegetables in sizzling hot stone pot. Tasted good and very filling, for the humungous portion size. It has mild spice level, but overall it was decent along with the enticing sides.
Sides,
— Kim Chi
— Chapchae/​Japchae
— Sliced Potatoes
— Soy Sauce
— Black beans with sesame seed dressing
— Sprouts
— Brocolli, with sesame seed dressing
— Celeries
# Complimentary dishes — A Radish Soup & a Veggie pie.
Well cooked radish soup with just the right serving quantity. And, the veggie pie came in with eight serving pieces. Tasted YUM, although it was slightly oily.
Quick Tip,
CJ House accepts credit cards except AMEX.
Liked the food. Next time will be here to try their Barbecue specials!!!