YakiniQ Korean BBQ

The food quality is the worst,and the Korean staff is very unfriendly.It was the worst Korean restaurant I've ever been to in a foreign country

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The waiter kept forgetting what we ordered and kept checking with us but never came. The atmosphere was great, the songs were great, and the food was delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 2

Poor service, nothing is homemade, Not even the cocktails or sides!!! They force you to pick one type of menu (Premium or basic) per table. I got a stomachache the whole afternoon after eating there. And the cherry on the cake is that it's very expensive compared to so many Korean bbq!!!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The meat was actually good, but too smoky and too loud.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

The Korean staff member wearing glasses at this restaurant would drive customers away and even forcibly turn off their table's grill. There were three of us dining together, and when it was time for the last call, we didn’t plan to order anything else. However, this Korean staff member, who wasn’t even assigned to our table (our actual server was very nice and even tried to turn the grill back on for us after it was forcibly turned off), behaved in this manner. This was the first time we experienced such poor service, and it’s hard to imagine just how terrible this person’s sense of service is.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 1

Food was good for the price however it's not very family-friendly. Went with family and had a baby less than 10 months old with us was charged the automatic 18% for parties of 5 or more as this place includes infants in that count. When talking with management they said the baby is included since they provided a service by letting the baby sit at the table with us although the baby did not eat anything. Our check was around $125 before taxes and got charged an additional $20 or so for just having the baby with us. The 3 year old was $18 which was reasonable as he was also eating but to charge for a baby that didn't require staff to do anything or take up any more space as we sat in a normal sized booth is ridiculous.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 2

Really disappointed. We got the premium AYCE because I wanted the kimchi pancake , marinated pork bulgogi, jjigae, steamed egg, and LA galbi and they were all bad or mediocre. I don’t know what was off about the marinades but they aren’t tasty and I think the galbi was too fatty and chewy or something. We didn’t get all the items we ordered (the chicken and the ssam) and had to ask again for most of the items including rice. The waiters weren’t Korean. They came frequently to replace the metal burners at least (which was honestly pretty stressful. Every few minutes the grill was burnt and smoking). Ventilation in the restaurant is bad. When the bill came, payment is on a iPad with the waiter waiting and default lowest tip is 18% (when there was already a SF healthcare fee on the bill).

Was looking forward to this place for date nights because it *sounded* reasonably priced and it’s right near the doremi norebang karaoke, but I’d much rather get marinated meat from HMart and cook at home than eat anything from here. Check out Wooden Charcoal Korean Village on Geary for much better KBBQ and banchan.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

YakiniQ has some strong points, but overall, my experience fell short. As a first timer in a Korean BBQ costumer, I’ll start with the positives: the service is truly outstanding. The waitstaff is attentive, patient with explaining the process and how it works, friendly and quick, making you feel well taken care of throughout the meal.

Now, the downsides: the food, unfortunately, lacked flavor. For a BBQ spot, I was expecting bold and exciting tastes, but it just wasn’t there. The restaurant also felt overcrowded, and with poor ventilation, the smoke from the grills clings to your clothes—definitely not ideal.

At $45 per person, there are plenty of options for prime cuts. A big issue was the automatic 18% service fee for parties of 5 or more. While this isn’t unusual, the waiters should clearly explain this policy upfront, especially before asking for an additional tip. For those like me who don’t pay close attention to the bill, this feels misleading and can leave a bad taste after an otherwise polite dining experience.

Would I go again? Probably. The service is excellent, but transparency around the service charge is a must.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 5

Went with a large group and had a blast

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Meat was old and tough. Please don't go there. Service was good but can't make up the inferior quality of meat. I won't recommend this place to anyone.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

Good food, service and very friendly staff.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

So i was there yesterday and the food was good but i didn’t like the policy they do. So if want premium menu everyone in the table will have to pay for premium even if were not planning to pay that much. Then if you get the premium menu then technically you get the premium meat in the menu only once which absurd we are a group of 5 people in what logic we get the premium meat once just like a table of two or one even though five of us paid for the premium. Also we got seated in small table then we asked for smaller table because we had no space on the table to put plates on and they refused to do so. Eventually we got charged more than we expected. Service charge 40$ god damn for what ?? Definitely not coming back to this place.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 5

Service: 1

Fast, tasty, & ayce! Service is always wonderfully attentive & the owners are so kind! We've ben coming for over a year, I've brought friend & coworkers and it's always a hit! Basic & premium have incredible meat options, definitely a must to visit. Also love their kimchi & endless banchan.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Beef Brisket, Beef Belly, Galbi

Jay brought the check out while we were eating. Everything was good until that. He needs to stop rushing his customers because we were going to order more drinks afterwards.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

Its good. You get to cook the food in the center of the table and the waiters rotate the grill as needed.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Beef Brisket