Gen Korean BBQ House

After dining here last night, I can definitely say that this is my favorite kbbq spot. The service here is way better than Gen Tustin, and our server Jenean was so nice and attentive.
The red wine pork belly was SO good, and so was the beef tongue. I will definitely be back to this location soon!

Arrived at 10am everything looked good, fresh & clean. However they didn’t have any soup nor rice for our BBQ! I asked waiter & he simply said «we are not serving any rice at this time» as simple as that. really? Not having rice available at a Korean BBQ restaurant is wrong.

Another great experience at GEN!
After starting the evening with disappointing, rude service from Mariella (no smile, no greeting, and attitude when we asked a question), we received awesome service from the rest of the staff who helped us! Gotta point out the manager Vee (sp?) who was busting her chops and interacting with all the guests which shows great leadership, Izra who is always a pleasant host, and Jen, our awesome server who made our dinner a really great experience.
The food was good as always, and they have so many beers on draft! We ordered the brisket, pork belly, garlic chicken, Hawaiian steak, beef bulgogi, and some other steak I can’t remember the name of. All the meats are packed with flavor, and all the sides and sauces to accommodate the meal are delicious.
Glad to see GEN is still doing so well and still serving good food with good service after becoming so busy and popular.

The most unfortunate evening that my friends and I had at a Korean BBQ restaurant ever happened on a Sunday night on 31 January 2016. We’d just gotten out of volunteer work for an animé convention — ALA, which used to be in LA but just this year has moved to Ontario — we were all hungry and tired and one of us just lost his phone. There wasn’t much other good food options since I had to drive south of the I-​15 and the others toward LA, would have preferred not to go far if we were all going as a group. We called in the first time to ask for the wait time and also for possible reservations, which was about 30 – 40 minutes and they couldn’t take reservations.
After much debating, we decided to go for it – we got excited… We probably waited about 30 minutes, I guess. When we FINALLY got seated and the side orders were placed on the table and we were munching on it all ready, when one of the servers comes up to us, and she says that most of their beef was all ready gone. We kind of just gave her a dumbfounded look because nobody mentioned this to us while we were waiting at the front — within those 30 minutes. Because whaaaat? No brisket? No beef tenders? No Hawaiian Steak? OR any steak???
Unfortunately, the servers refused to give us a discount off the check, I mean you go to a Korean BBQ place to gorge yourself on the beef am-​I-​right? One of my friends works as a server at a Japanese bbq place, so we understand that its not the server’s fault, but really, a word of warning beforehand goes a long way. It would have been courteous and smart on their part. But we all ultimately decided to stay despite only having the the choices of beef tongue and beef bulgogi and their other meat choices. So we ordered a lot of beef tongue and made due with bulgogi and pork belly and the garlic chicken. They also ran out of salad… Their japchae was soooo hard and clearly put into the refrigerator and not reheated again properly. The guys in our group pretty much left unsatisfied.
I’ll admit that I’ve had much better service in other kbbq joints, this was just not one of those nights.

This place is different worth the wait. The interior décor reminds you of a club, but the quality of service & food is reminiscent of a top notch restaurant.
We made a reservation for 6 people and asked for 2 grills and they delivered. We were seated in the back corner in a timely manner and even though they were short staffed and one of the dish washing machines broke, the servers were on point. It took them some time to bring out our 2 sodas, and they ended up providing it free of charge due to the delay.
The meat quality here just seems so much better than the one in Tustin and even some other Korea AYCE spots in OC and LA. We even love their seafood more.
Can’t wait to come back.

My parents and I had dinner here since it’s literally the only KBBQ AYCE joint in town. I was excited about their opening last year but this was the first time I’d been since then. My parents have gone several times and seem to like the place. It is a typical Gen KBBQ with fancy booths, a club-​like atmosphere, and menu. Our first server basically took our drink order, food order and left. He wasn’t seen again until we needed a grill change and when it was time to pay. Our second server, Mirayla (?), was amazing. She made sure our requests were put in timely, and checked on us when there was a lull. We made sure she got the tip despite the other server coming by to see if we had paid the bill. She worked her ass off and my parents were impressed. Somebody give the girl a raise.
Food was good for Gen and we ordered a variety of items: sirloin steak, bulgogi, chadol, Cajun prawns, calamari, Hawaiian steak, japchae, vegetables, soondooboo, and short ribs (boneless and with bones). The meal was great and despite the hiccup with the first server, we had a pleasant time. They have an upstairs area too with seats as well so it’s a fairly large restaurant. They have a full bar as well. Sadly dessert is not included but you can purchase separately if you’re in the mood. $ 14.99 for lunch weekdays, $ 19.99 for dinner and all-​day weekends.

3^rd time again where they jotted my number down and said they’d call me only to LIE to my face that they tried to call me and didn’t. I confronted the receptionist and was told that they «tried to call and some old Asian man answered.» What. The. F.
So I told her to call my number right on the spot, and sure enough, my cell phone rings. Ugh, it’s awful.
The server was actually really sweet this time, so this is 2 stars instead of 1. UGHHHHHH, I just hate being lied to.

Unbelievably incompetent staff who can’t calculate 7:11 minus 6:50. Initially when I put my name down I was told the wait would be 15 – 20 minutes, at 6:50PM when we got there. At 7:11PM I went back since it was past 20 minutes now and asked how much longer. Gina said it’ll be another 30 minutes which makes zero sense, so I told her that makes no sense then she corrected herself and said it’ll be another 10 minutes so I told her that they originally quoted me 15 – 20 minutes and that’s over the time. She then says «it’ll be 15 – 30 minutes then.» OMG really Gina? Thanks for that math, congratulations girl you added 10 to 15 – 20.
Ended up waiting over half hour August 10^th Monday. I checked in at 6:50 and was seated at 7:25, I’m sorry but is this Kanghodong that was featured in the LA Times? Is this Haejangchon in Ktown? This is Rancho Cucamonga, the suburb of suburbs and it’s a MONDAY NIGHT! The restaurant is also MASSIVE and wasn’t even crowded when we finalllly in. I have no idea what they’re doing here but the hostess is power tripping for sure. Completely ridiculous. There’s no point in talking about their food because it’s gross. It’s NOT authentic Korean BBQ and it’s NOT good. Everything is marinated with MSG which of course is natural when you’re using ingredients that’s pretty much garbage. I had a MASSIVE headache and thirst problem during and after my meal here. BTW MSG is an excitotoxin that shrivels and kills brain cells.
They have a dedicated parking lot but it’s crowded AF. UGH NEVER AGAIN!

Had an amazing lunch with good quality beef and banchan. (Not sure I spelled that correct) the short ribs, bulgogi, brisket were all yummy. Service was attentive and to top it all off the manager came over and said my meal was paid for!!! Thanks and until next time.

After a year and a couple visits, I’ve waited to review Gen Korean BBQ House. Gen has several locations in Southern California and offers a good selection of meats to grill at your table.
LOCATION /​PARKING
You’ll find this Gen on Foothill Blvd, just west of Victoria Gardens. It shares the same lot as Wabi Sabi Steak House & Sushi Bar. It’s always hard to find parking in the area so prepare to easily find a spot further from the restaurant.
WAIT TIME
My first visit here was for a birthday so we had a good amount of tables reserved for us on the upper level with zero wait time! We literally walked in and told them we had reservations, and we walked right up to our reserved area — and our entire party wasn’t there yet! Second visit was a little longer for myself and one other person. Third visit was no more than 15 minutes! All times I’ve visited were during dinner hours.
AMBIENCE /​ATMOSPHERE
If you’re looking for a loud, club-​like feel for dinner, then Gen KBBQ will deliver! The bright neon lights make for a fun and lively atmosphere on the main, lower level. While still loud, the upper level seating provides less lighting – although you still see some of the lights coming through from below. This is not the place for a quiet evening!
FOOD /​PRICE
For the quality of food offered, the price is great. Some meats come out plain while some are marinated. My favorite are the spicy ones. Also, this is a place where you’ll have to cook your own food. You choose which meats you like (about 3 – 4 items at a time) and a server will bring them out to you (raw) to cook on the grill. They will not cook it for you so, if you don’t feel like grilling your own meal, Gen may not be where you want to go.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
We had excellent service on our first visit at the upper level. Someone kept changing out our grill, refilling our drinks, and asking if we needed anything else. My second visit here was horrible. We had seats in the lower corner and our orders were mixed up with 3 other tables! So the table next to us got our orders while we got the orders placed by the other table next to us. It was a mess between the 4 tables. When I came with a group of friends on my third visit and ended up sitting in the same lower corner, I was a bit apprehensive due to the prior visit. Fortunately, it actually was quite the opposite! The only thing I don’t like about Gen is how the suited guys wearing the 2-​way earpieces were rather boorish to the servers. I know they’re there to help keep guests eating within a time frame (2 hours) but it’s obvious their sense of authority goes a bit overboard. We witnessed one guy talking down to one of the servers like some jerk. So rude! I don’t like seeing that while having dinner. Perhaps go to the back (away from customers) and talk to the server politely? Just a suggestion.
STROLLERS /​WALKERS /​WHEELCHAIRS
Personally, I wouldn’t want to take young children or babies near KBBQ restaurants for safety measures. However, as far as space is concerned, they do have spacious aisles to move around for all strollers, walkers, and wheelchairs. I’m not sure there is elevator access to the upper level, however, as I only recall taking stairs to get up there.
Pros:
— Iced Green Tea is delicious!
— Price
— Food
— Modern, club-​like atmosphere
— Spacious
— Upper level seating
— Grills are changed out often
— Ice Cream Macarons!
Cons:
— Grill your own food
— You will smell like KBBQ (clothes, hair, skin!)
— Suited guys wearing ear-​pieces
— Access to upper level
— Loud
— Parking
— Wait time
— Not for quick-​dining
There are a few things to consider but, overall, Gen KBBQ’s food ranks more superior than their inadequacy.

I have been to GEN for nearly 20 times. I started to go there since its opening. Once I went to GEN three times in a week. Haha
waiting: GEN takes reservation for party one day in prior. Usually in weekdays, the waiting is about 5 – 10 minutes. But in weekend, the waiting is like longer than 40 minutes. Anyway, it’s worthy to wait.
Price: the menu is affordable. For lunch on weekday is 15.99? Dinner and weekends are 19.99.
Appetizers: they provides a variety of Korean appetizers for free. The kimchi is excellent. For me, the potatoes and salad are my favorite. They have special sauce for salad, which makes it tastes good.

Food: I have been to gen many times that I don’t even need a menu. People usually order prime steak, the beef slice, beef tongue and beef brisket. I always order pork cheek, regular pork belly, popcorn chicken and tofu soup. Usually I will warp the meat with the rice paper. I enjoy eating both meat and rice paper together. The tofu in the tofu soup is soft, Although a little bit spicy.
Desert. They have macaron. Usually I can’t eat macaron cuz I’m full:)
Service. The restaurant hires young adult, which makes their staffs energetic. In special occasions like birthday party, they will sing you a song. (They are sooooooooo loud that everyone in the restaurant will know that it’s your birthday.)
Anyway, for health concern, eat more salad when you are eating meat. After the meal, people will usually smell like Korean bbq.

Two visits under my belt, and I have nothing bad to say about this place besides maybe the wait being a little long. What do you expect though, people love good eatin! If you are one of those persons who has the patience to wait, you will be rewarded with great food and an awesome ambiance.
My friends and I come here to let loose on the calories. If your on a protein diet, this is the place for you! They have a long list of raw meats and poultry, including fish. We started off with the the Hawaiian Steak, Cajun shrimp, beef bulgogi and teriyaki chicken. We all fell in love with the Hawaiin steak so we kept that meat in our rotation all night! The other things we tried was the Cajun chicken (barf), tongue (ehhh), and the rib. At this point I was too stuffed to keep eating so I didn’t try the rib but my buddy thought it was good.
One other thing that i forgot to mention is that we enjoyed their potato salad so much we ordered a big bowl of it to go with our dinner. It’s bomb!
Jesse was our waiter and he provided awesome service. He never once appeared to have been frustrated with us even though we kept him very busy, asking for napkins, drinks, food and selfies lol. We ate like kings and our bill was just under $ 100 for four of us. Looking forward to my next visit.
P. S. They have beer, lol

My husband and I made the 43 mile trek from our home to Rancho last night for dinner with friends. I had no idea that not a single person in our group had ever eaten Korean BBQ (I forget it’s not a regular thing for most black folks). This is the second GEN I’ve been to and it seems the décor is the same. It looks like a giant nightclub with music pumping in and loud conversations all over the room.
The first 15 – 20 minutes were a little sketchy because they sat our party waaaaaay in the back corner and little did we know, it was our waiter’s first night on shift. I think his name was Xavier? Josh, the manager on duty did an amazing job making up for miscellaneous seating issues, slow or wrong drink orders and my broken chair (on of the legs just gave way… Lol my friends were mad that I didn’t fall out on the floor lookin for a come up).
The food was amazing as I expected it to be and we all ate ourselves silly. Josh comped us 2 big bottles of Soju cocktails for the whole group (11 to be exact). Must try the «Hello Kitty» — its strawberry and yogurt flavor. Sooooo good! I can’t wait to go back, just to the one by my house in Cerritos instead!

How do I even begin to describe a KBBQ place that has hawaiian steak with pineapple that melts in your mouth from its tender quality and explodes on your taste buds from its mindblowing flavor.
Gen has a wide variety of meats that you get 2 hours to consume. We went on New Year’s Day, and the wait wasn’t too bad considering it had just opened.
For a $ 15 lunch or $ 20 dinner, this is the best KBBQ joint I’ve ever been to. Thinking about it makes my mouth salivate and has made every other KBBQ place I’ve been to seem inadequate.
HIGHLY recommend Gen if you’re craving some tender, premium meat!

Hands down THEEEE BEST Korean BBQ joint I’ve been to… ever! I’m from Sacramento and the Korean BBQ joints in my town pale in comparison to this place. I wanted to come here after seeing all the rave reviews on Unilocal,and I’m so glad I did! I came here for the AYCE dinner after work with 4 of my coworkers. Most of them have never tried Korean BBQ and they all said they loved it!
The dinner was $ 19.95/person and there were tons… and I mean TONSSSS of meat choices. What a steal!!! We had several different types of steak, pork belly, short ribs, shrimp, calamari, etc.etc. The jap chae was really good along with all the banchan. We were soooo full and I had every intention of trying the macaron ice cream before we came, but I couldn’t. At that moment, I literally wished I had an extra stomach just so i’d be able to try everything. Oh sweet, sweet gluttony!
Although service was kinda slow, I loved the trendy atmosphere, lighting, and décor. Overall, it was a great experience. The next time I’m in Rancho Cucamonga, I’ll definitely be coming back here.

I can’t make my mind whether I like this place or not. Out of all the choices I had, I only liked the prime steak and shrimp. I came during lunch, so price was fairly cheap only 15 $. This restaurant opened a little later; at 11am. I got inside at 12, and half of the restaurant was filled. I had a party of 6 and we were sat fairly quick. They sat all of us on tables where 6 people shared one grill. ONLY ONE.
Anyways, thats not why I’m indecisive about this place… The service was so slow. And the amount served for 6 people were so skimpy… Why you may ask? We got to chose 3 plates of whatever on the menu, after waitress brought it out we finished in seconds (yes we were hungry pigs). So we ordered more, and waited for ¹⁰⁄₁₅ mins for it. I’m not sure why it took so long, but all the wait made me full. In the end, that cheap price ended up not being cheap at all. Probably better for 2 people in my opinion…

I happen to be in the are for a campus tour. Unknowing to me almost every place on Loma linda is vegan. That was not got to work.
So let’s get to it!
THE BAD
I had to wait 10 minutes for a one person table. And thats not even a complaint. I just could not find anything bad.
THE FANTASTIC.
The amount of options to pick is over 30. All you can sample for 19.99 for dinner. That is crazy. I made half orders so I could try more stuff. I think I did half the menu. Nothing was bad. It was better and best.
The icing on the cake was the wait staff. It was some of the best service I have had in any restaurant. Between suggestions, to grill changes, to how fast they got the proteins out to me was awesome. Trina and her tag team partner paulo!
ETC
if you want quiet you will not be happy. Loud music rocking out with a very fun vibe. Just loud enough it’s perfect first date stuff. If I am ever back in the area I will come again for sure!

I have been to the Gen in Tustin. I was excited to see that this location is significantly bigger and more accommodating.
The environment is really cool. Spacious seating. Booths and bar style seating. You’re able to cook your own food which is super fun for friends or going on a date.
Unfortunately the dish they were out of is my absolute favorite (Hawaiian steak). We had the brisket, Cajun shrimp, garlic chicken, top sirloin and the veggie plate.
We had two glasses of Chardonnay. One was delivered really get with our food the other took some time.
I love the food and the environment that’s why I keep coming back. Perhaps it was the luck of the draw and the service will be better next time. Overall satisfaction gets 4 stars. The first server we had was fabulous and when our second server came back from his break it was a feeling of wanting to close and we were an inconvenience. (They close at 11:30 and we were there till 10:45)
I would completely recommend Gen to anyone. Servers change but the food, vibe, and drinks are constant! Total win in my book to go back!

I really like Gen.
Prices are great, as is service.
The menu is so extensive, there is really something for everyone, even kids and picky eaters.
I love the veggies and chicken dishes, my husband anything with beef, such a fun way to spend dinner, a perfect date really.
Décor and vibe is cool, best bet to avoid a wait is going right when they open.
Quality and presentation is great, all around perfect.

Oh Eric. Eric Eric Eric. It seems like anything in life that’s too good to be true (like AYCE KBBQ for instance) has to come with a rotten egg. I’d been coming to this Gen since it opened a year ago, but the lousy service we received yesterday from you at the bar will make me think twice about coming back. Lesson learned: don’t settle for bar seating.
Let me start out with the positives. I like Gen. I’ve been a regular for many years and have been to multiple locations, from Cerritos to Pasadena to the new one that opened up in Torrance recently. If you look at the glowing reviews for all of these locations, they usually share at least 4 stars or higher on Unilocal.Why is that? It’s easy: Gen has established a reputation for itself for delivering amazing KBBQ. I’d be kidding myself though if I gave credit solely to the food. It’s the SERVICE that will make or break any experience, regardless of how good the food tastes. And quite frankly Eric, your service made the whole experience tasteless.
— For starters, we couldn’t barbecue our food. Initially we just awkwardly stared for 5 minutes at the flaccid beef brisket you gave us as it lay motionless on the grill, waiting for it to sizzle. It never did. The grill you gave us didn’t allow enough air circulation and suffocated whatever flame that was trying to spark. After hailing you several times, you finally changed the grill without an apology. Thanks. This is getting off to a great start.
— It took forever to get any service. Whereas the parties surrounding us were getting prompt grill changes and having their water refilled on the dot, your lack of service made us believe we were no where to be seen. We actually had to hail other waiters to get our meal moving along. Would it have been too much to ask for to replace our charcoal-​stained grill? Oh wait, no, that would involve being proactive.
— Where was the check? We talked to another waiter serving us if we could have the bill, who then gestured to you while you were taking a sip of water at the bar to come over. I understand not to mistake neglect for being busy when it comes to waitering, but honestly it didn’t seem like you were attending to anyone at that moment. And if you were, you didn’t tell us – no apologizes, no explanation. Just the bill, 10 minutes later after the fact.
It’s unfortunate this happened, because I honestly liked going here up until yesterday. It’s not the end of the world though, my girlfriend and I will probably just go to another Gen that delivers the same respectful and amazing service that’s been consistent with all the previous experiences I’ve had throughout the years. It won’t be at this location though.