50 Best Korean Restaurants in Chicago

“Amazing, a perfect evening.“

“Very tasty sundubu, delicious sides, and good service.“

“Good food and great service. I will definitely be returning.“

“Absolutely love everything about this place.

This restaurant was a fantastic experience from start to finish. The service was excellent—friendly, attentive, and quick without feeling rushed. The staff made us feel very welcome and were happy to help with recommendations.“

“Lovely Korean karaoke pub with solid food, spacious rooms, and great service. The only downside was that the karaoke setup runs through YouTube instead of the classic karaoke systems with built-in music videos and. It still worked fine, but part of the nostalgic karaoke fun was missing a bit.“

“Adorable spot serving surprisingly traditional foods with a spin. Haven’t seen monkfish on a menu for a while! The squid salad was a bit skimpy with the seafood but the sauce was perfect. The service was quick and on point. The drinks were delicious also with a legit bar menu.“

“Nice BBQ place for gathering. Yummy!“

“Food were so good and authentic. sweet garlic fried chicken was fantastic, new fried crispy and hot, sauce was nice. Bibimbap is perfect and hot. Spicy beef stew was good too, not too salty or spicy. Banchan (side dish) were all free and delicious. Staffs were so nice and friendly. Overall we had really good experience here“

“We had a fabulous dinner last night at Chicago Kalbi with Cummins Peru, Komat'su, and the VPs from Antimina copper mine.

Such a great place, where you cook the wagyu & kobe beef at your table. The food was delicious ?

Isao Tozuka, the chef and his wife Chiyo-san, are fabulous hosts, very friendly, and really happy to help and show you how things are do e.

I would definitely recommend coming here. It's a unique place. Make sure you book though ad it can be busy.“

“Our Saturday lunch at Rice’N Bread was great. They have a tight menu of Korean and Western diner style food. We had the Buldak and Spicy Yang Nyum Chicken that were generous portions with rice and coleslaw and very tasty. Efficient service. Well priced. The washroom situation is a little different, walking through the tight kitchen. There is a liquor store next door for BYOB. A great find in the neighborhood. No frills, just good authentic food.“

“Wonderful food & service! Highly recommend!“

“been here a few times, each is better experience that the last, attempt to try most of their items on menu. So far, my favorite is their Mango smoothies with cloud cheese, as drink. Their cloud cheese is really good and a balance of salty taste with the sweetness of the mango, the tapioca in the drinks is plentiful but not overpowering the water content. I had it in other Chinatown restaurants, some had too many tapiocas that my teeth were tired chewing them. Cuckoo is not. Their Don (Japanese rice bowls) and their bibimbap (Korean rice bowls) are excellent. Have not decide which is better because each have their own uniqueness and tastes; I had 2 types of their bibimbap before and only 1 type of their Don. So far, I am leaning towards the Don but there is excellent amount of veggie in their Bibimbap, which is ideal for weigh concise person. Wish they have a loyal customer rewards style of drinks incentives, much like some restaurants, for example, buy 9 and get 1 free drink, or some % off after 5 drink purchases, and give customers an advertisable nice pocket size reward card to keep track of their purchases. That may also work with food item purchases as well. Crossing my fingers that this may happen soon. With summer in Chicago, cool refreshing drinks is ideal and as loyal customers, return for more drink purchases with rewards will be even better.“

“I loved “Perilla” …Please do not think of this as your typical Korean BQ grill/Restaurant. This is the most excellent Korean BQ restaurant I have ever been in and I have been in quite few over the years both in Korea back in the day and in the USA…Tomba⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“

“Hi! I love the food, but I just had a TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE at Rosslyn. The person at the counter threw my food at me, was incredibly rude, and laughed at me while I was speaking with the manager. A total lack of respect. Me gusta mucho la comida , pero la atención de la sra de el mostrador fue realmente fatal , me tiró la comida , le pregunté el nombre de forma amable h me dijo que no tenía y después con actitud grosera mientras yo hablaba con el manager , esto daña la imagen de este lugar ! Es importante que ella reciba entrenamiento de servicio al cliente .“

“Parachute is one of my top ten favorite restaurants I’ve ever been lucky enough to enjoy! I think a lot about Chef Kim’s gem lettuce and fish sauce salad, I still Remember it four years later! I can’t wait to go back and to check out Wherewithall!!“

“Photographic proof we smashed some delicious, well prepared, food at the 88 market location. Looking forward to trying their Snow Onion Chicken. My date and I were curious about the sauce that comes with it. Is it gravy, is it wasabi, is it both?!? Maybe a cheese sauce? 🤤🫠🤭🍗“

“My wife and I drove 4 hours to come to Chicago for the weekend, specifically to stop at Seoul Taco. It’s our favorite place to eat in the world and the food does NOT disappoint. The portions are massive and the environment is great for small or larger parties. Does not ever disappoint.“

“Authentic made by family Korean food. Consistently good food and service.“

“I've been to many Korean BBQ's within the states and I have to say this was the best customer service we received. This place is pricey for the small portions you get. I'd definitely come back for the service tho.“

“We visited Dancen on a Saturday night and it was super busy but we got seated at the bar immediately! Got a front row view to the grill and service was great.

It was our first time here and we were blown away by the food - everything had so much flavor and want too spicy. Truly incredible, every dish was amazing. We got the fire chicken with cheese, spicy rice cakes, spicy pork skin, and the seafood pancake. The pancake was our favorite but you truly can’t go wrong. Will definitely be back!!“

“I mean, it’s just real.
There’s a limited menu, and what I got was the spicy beef and vegetable soup. Amazing flavor, only obstacle is not burning myself eating too fast. Seems like most of the other dishes are the more nutritious and rich sullungtang-style soups that can be less flavorful, so if you’re looking for a soup with more spice mine was i n c r e d i b l e. comes with banchan and the little grandma watching k-dramas in the back room. this place has amazing food and reviews to match yet never seen more than 1 group in here at a time. it’s like a magic place that picks you, not the other way around. if cho sun ok is the legendary place for korean barbecue, this is the legendary place for korean soup.
(i will say as someone with a dietary restriction i was a little scared because there was almost no information provided whatsoever. so for anyone wondering about gluten free, the soups come with glass noodles, probably made from sweet potato)“

“Definitely one of the best burgers I’ve had!“

“Super friendly service and very tasty chicken. A great addition to Humboldt Park on North Avenue!“

“Authentic made by family Korean food. Consistently good food and service.“

“I really enjoyed both the Bulgogi Soy Pork and the Jeyuk Spicy Pork! The portions were generous, the prices were very reasonable, and the owner was incredibly friendly. What I loved the most was how quickly the food was prepared—I received my order in about five minutes. Even after bringing it home and eating it 30 minutes later, it was still warm and delicious. I truly appreciate the excellent quality at such an affordable price and would highly recommend it!“

“KFIRE spicy BBQ sauce is delicious. I use it on everything from chicken to steak. I highly recommend it.“

“During my visit, the limits of my spice tolerance were tested and thoroughly surpassed. Despite the weakness of my taste buds, the food was delicious! The service was great, too - the waiter who served me very kindly helped me decide between two dishes and explained the differences between them. I had the tteokppoki and the soon dubu jjigae. I want to visit again sonetime to try the scallion pancake and the kimchi fried rice.“

“I loved this place! Excellent food and service. Very friendly atmosphere. Store front is well lit and nicely organized. Our table was clean. The plates were very nice.
Only room for improvement may just be deep cleaning aspects. Otherwise, I will be coming back for the authentic food!“

“I've been coming here for months, and I'm fully convinced that CM Chicken has some of the best fried chicken in the city, hands down. The place is always clean and the staff always treat me well. Give this place a try, you won't regret it.“

“My story of getting hooked to this place is kinda funny. I take metra to downtown for work and on the way back home, there was a random girl eating food on the metra, I had to think many times before I could approach her asking where she got her food from because it looked so appealing and smelled so gooood, guess what? Them Mukbang videos on TikTok made me do it, I ended up asking her where she got her food from and she told me about this hidden place located in Chicago’s French Market. I walked about 10 minutes from my workplace in this freezing cold weather and ordered Ramyun for lunch, I sat there to taste test it before I headed back to work and I told the guy (who seems super nice) that I will stop by at the end of my work to get 3 more orders of Ramyun so I could take them home for my family. I LOVED IT!!!“

“The pork bowl I just ate wasn't worth the $20 it kinda tasted burnt. the place was a nice after work spot with literally no parking..I was surprised I found any. I'll try this place one more time, that's if parking is available.“

“best chicken wings,fried rice and fire chicken I've eaten. this place is a j hidden gem“

“I finally tried CM after years of walking by it and it was fantastic. I walked in and ordered the Curry Chicken to go. Took about 10 minutes and I sat down at the bar for a beer while I waited. Service was great and will definitely be going back.“

“Love the architectural design with the exposed Brick and HVAC ducts. The space exuded warmth through it’s wood tables and floors and low lighting. Bathrooms were very clean also. Now, i ordered the Bulgogi Bap and let me tell you 😍…the beef was tender, flavorful with a hint of bbq. The rice was seasoned to perfection and the portions were large enough to satisfy me and i hadn’t eaten since 9 am. Im super satisfied with my experience ☺️“

“Second time at Seoul Taco in Lakeview and it absolutely delivered again. I ordered the two chicken tacos and the elote bites, and everything was incredible. The spice level, fresh chives, tender chicken, and the sauce all came together perfectly. The flavors are bold and balanced, and every bite hits. If you're in the area and want something unique, this Korean-Mexican fusion spot is a must. I’ll definitely be back.“

“After a day of hiking within the Indiana Dunes National Park, my friends and I came here under the recommendation of one of us within the crew who was from Korea, referencing this establishment as her favorite Korean restaurant in Chicago, and it did not disappoint. We ordered some dishes that I normally wouldn't order in Korean restaurants, and it was the right move.

I am certain that the fact we were hungry played a role in elevating the taste for us, but everything to me tasted good. The free pancakes were too oily for me, and the free banchan was good in the most standard manner. The short ribs (galbi) didn't have enough salt on it, but had enough pepper which helped preserve some of the taste. Since it was Korean beef short ribs, I was already happy just having some available. These are just the dishes that I felt less passionate about relatively.

Apart from the dishes mentioned above, everything else was a hit. The charbroiled mackarel had really good flavor along with just the right level of crispiness, and adding a hint of lemon juice gave it a new level of flavor that elevated the dish even more. The pan broiled octopus dish had really tasty base sauce, which had a good amount of gochugaru and probably gochujang. I even mixed some of the base sauce with extra rice. The beef soup with ox blood contained solid blood chunks that had very good texture, and the soup itself was seasoned very well. Finally, the babyclam soup noodle wasn't too salty, and had the right type of ingredients to make this dish a very comforting experience after a long day of hikes in the winter season.

I noticed that some of the reviews mentioned that it was difficult to locate a spot. That wasn't my experience. The store was nearly empty when my friends and I arrived on a Wednesday evening at roughly 6pm, and the owner was able to point us to the round table since we had 5 people in total. He was pretty clear about a party of 4 using a rectangular table and a party of above 5 using a round table, in classic Asian grandpa fashion, and I loved it.“

“amazing food and great service“

“Vegetable dumplings were fire 🔥“

“A true hidden gem for comforting, home-style Korean food, tucked inside Joong Boo Market and reminiscent of a classic Korean food stall. It’s no-frills, just hearty dishes with great quality at an excellent value. We especially loved the codfish soup and tteokbokki. It’s always a treat to grab some groceries and enjoy a quick bite at the snack corner.“

“Was my first time here and I like it! 10.26.2018“

“Great experience, very friendly environment.“

“We went to the commerce to eat at a different restaurant and did not have a good experience. Tony D. stepped up and was so willing to help and made us some amazing food! The cauliflower is amazing and the bowl with white rice was perfect. I will definitely be going back when I’m in the area!“

“Friendly staff and great food! I would recommend their rice bowls, they're massive I usually have enough for lunch the next day! Their sweet and spicy sauce is delicious with their chicken aswell 😋 I would absolutely recommend coming here!“

“Good Buffalo chicken strips and onion rings!“

“Wife has gluten allergy, was super excited to find a place that was fully gluten free. 4 of us all ordered various versions of the steak bowls, all 4 of us LOVED the food. Also had an order of the fries which were cooked to perfection. We ordered online for pick up, easy process and was ready 5 minutes earlier than expected. Great service at pickup, super friendly!“

“Ate there for the first time tonight. I am vegan and my husband is an Omni. Chef Bill came out and waited on us personally, and gave us menu recommendations, all of which were delicious! The ambiance was so relaxing and peaceful; it was a nice respite from a busy day and I didn’t want to leave. Reasonably priced as well: shared appetizer, two teas, two entrees, and two desserts was $60. Will definitely be back for many more dinners!“

“Expect authentic Korean food with the busiest service ever. I went there as group of two on Saturday night and they were so popular around 6-7. Gotta wait in line and it took ever to order stuff. There were only three Korean aunties running around. Managing the entire restaurant. They need more people. It took us twenty minute to order and another twenty for food to come up. But the barbecue was so good. Fresh thinly cut meat with nice seasoning pairings with green onion. Also ordered cold noodles which was so fresh and yummy. They are also BYOB. The aunties seemed overwhelmed but very nice. Taught me and my friend how to properly eat barbecue. Gotta eat with all the sauces in the correct order and with huge amount of green onions, which were surprisingly not spicy.“

“Great server, highly recommended“

“BOIIIIIIIIII TTTSSSS HOUND DOG BURGERSSSS WAS SOOOOO TUFFFF 😂😂🗣🗣🗣🔥🔥🔥 ME AND DA BOIIISS WENT AND ORDERED THE HOUND DOG MEAL WIT MUSTARDD AND MA MOMMA AITE FRIES AND IT CAME IN JUST 6 7 MINUTES 🔥🔥🔥🔥 AND THEN ELVIS PRESLEY HIMSELF CAME AND SANG DA HOUND DOG SONG 🔥🔥🔥😩😩“

“It was my 1st time eating Korean BBQ. The food was delicious and it's fun to have the BBQ cooked at your table. I loved all the side dishes and all 3 types of meat we had were very tasty and tender. I didn't find the staff to be very friendly, that would have made the atmosphere so much better. I felt the price was unexpectedly high but it was definitely something I would do again.“