A-Ri-Rang

Acceptable. But be careful if you like, don’t eat spicy. They serve spicy food to people ask for non-​spicy frequently.

The food is fairly average, it’s not that great. But overall, would not recommend to eat with families or close friends. Maybe for a quick lunch or dinner. The owner is very nice and the place is fairly clean.

I tried out their Bibimbap and it was fairly average. Not much else to say here. It’s your stand fare for around $ 10 if you’re looking for Korean food to satiate your stomach’s desires.

Like the Bugaejigae and soup there. The food here is reasonably priced with a large portion.
Waiting time is a little big long – it often takes more than 20 minutes

arirang is in a good location and i love their no. 7 (grilled mackerel with assorted kimchi). i tried my favorite korean dish here (bbq chicken and dak kalby) but i didn’t like them that much. the downside is the owner/​cashier doesn’t appear, in fact isn’t, friendly.

Daily special number 1 is the way to go! It comes with half a mackerel, and a decent bowl of tofu soup. The mackerel can be dry at times though. The kimchi jjigae has a large portion and tastes good too.

Food is decent. Serving time is mediocre at best. Bibimbap sauce literally redeemed my meal. Price is somewhat higher than expected.

Self service for cost effective. A lot of steam rice. good!, .. . +.

Restaurant review
My first venture into Korean food in Champaign was good. We decided to stop for a quick lunch and ended up at the first restaurant that opened at 11 AM on a weekday. It was easy to order because we were the first customers of the day. They have a nice laminated menu at the desk to chose your entrée. It would be nicer if they had pictures instead of a word description of each item. I selected the combo platter of bulgogi which was 9.99. Afterwards it was a long wait of approximately 25 minutes before we got our food. The dish itself came with a large amount of rice and 2 ban chae along with a bean soup. Based on the pictures I could have chose the beef bulgogi paid less and likely gotten the same amount of food except less variety. The bulgogi was well seasoned, but the meat was cut into smaller slices which detracted from it. Prices have gone up according to my wife since she was in college. Overall slightly above average, I will have to find another korean restaurant to compare too.
Pro: average price korean food, large portion
Cons: long cook time, higher price than average lunch places
Hidden gem:
Your meal comes with rice, soup, and 2 korean ban chae

I adore the budaejigae here! If you must order something, get that. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s basically ramen mixed with sausage, pork belly, spam, dumplings, and vegetables. You can also choose the level of spiciness of the broth. For the typical broke college student, the prices are low compared to other places on campus and they give you a lot of food all for under $ 10. If I had to rate the budaejigae, I’d give it five stars based on taste and the sides offered along with it. Also, there was so much, I had to take home half in a box.
It’s true the owner isn’t very talkative, but that’s due to a language barrier and it’s not fair to deduct any stars for that. There’s also no waiter service, but it’s a casual restaurant, so this is to be expected. Another thing to note is that it’s very clean compared to other places, which is a nice touch. It’s not the best Korean food I’ve had, but it’s quite filling especially when you’ve got an urge to get Korean food.

There are many Korean restaurants on campus that are readily accessible for students at UIUC. The market itself is a war zone. With that said, each and every one of those would try to have their specialty to out-​do the others. A-​Ri-​Rang, in my opinion, does stand out compare to its competitors in its own unique way.
In my personal opinion, I find A-​Ri-​Rang to be much cleaner than its competitors. Furthermore, the layout of the tables were done in such a way that it would not block incoming traffic, which, if you are a regular at Woorijib, would probably understand what I mean.
Every day, there is always a lunch special going on. And it is most definitely worth every penny! For approximately $ 7 – 8 dollars, you would get a bowl of rice, a fish, and a soup of choice. Now, this may not sound like a lot, but the soup that comes with it is more like a stew. I always get the Soon-​dobu jigae (forgive me if I spelled it right). In English? Tofu Stew. It is a LOT more filling than you think if you never had it before. Trust me on this.
If there is anything you really need to know about A-​Ri-​Rang, is that their stew/​soup food items are superior than their competitors. Therefore, if you are not sure what you want to get, if you stick with this guideline, you really can’t go wrong!
With reasonable price and delicious food, I would highly recommend this place to anyone!

I had the spicy pork bulgogi and I felt it was pretty good for the price. The serving size was relatively large. However I don’t think it is nearly as good as it’s competitor Woorijib. Woorijib offers a pretty unique dipping sauce which this place doesn’t have, but Woorijib is slightly pricier and charges you for extra rice.

I’ve been to A-​Ri-​Rang several times now and I have to say that I am not a fan. None of the dishes are particularly great, and I would even dare to say that most are vastly bland by Korean standards (my S. Korean friend really didn’t like the beef bulgogi).
Being that it takes a very long time to get your food, and that finding seats for groups larger than 2 people is nearly impossible, I am not likely to return — There are definitely better Korean restaurant in the extreme vicinity.

Looking for Korean Food? Want Budaejigae? If So, order here! I’m not korean but this is my favorite place for Budaejigae, I’ve only ordered a couple other things here, and comparatively to the other Korean places in town, this place hands down, has the best Budaejigae. For me personally, I would rather go to woorijib for korean bbq (bulgogi /​kalbi) and would definitely come here for the Budaejigae.
Cheap and its huge, definitely can’t go wrong if you are looking for a spicy noodle meat soup.

The boss trying to sell me something they want to sell, which sucks. And the food is very low quality in all the Korean restaurant. I have had. Donot come here in Uiuc!!!

This is my Korean staple on campus. I always get the budae jjigae. Be warned, it is HUGE. Come during finals, as it is only a hop, skip and a jump off from the Union. They make great kimchi as well, especially the potato variety. With a huge main dish, two side dishes and unlimited tea at less than $ 10, this place is a jjigae dream. Cafeteria style seating, but so worth the delicious food. Give it a try and fall in love with the spicy soups.

Cheap and hits the spot. I think it’s one of the most affordable Korean restaurants on campus. For a college kid, it’s a huge win.
A-​ri-​rang offers most of the staple Korean items on their menus, from the broth-​based dishes to the bibimbap to the bulgolgi meals. I think the omu rice here is pretty clutch too.

I give it 5 stars because of what I get for the price. Every dish here is under $ 10 before tax and they come with a generous portion too. Every dish comes with at least 2 side dishes of kimchi.
The quality of the food is as good as it gets for under $ 10.
Try the Bulgogi dishes and the Budae Jigae. By far best Budae Jigae.
Also try the Omu Rice. It’s their version of omelet fried rice. Fried rice is wrapped in omelet egg.
I’m an easy going customer so the owner being not too friendly is not a big deal to me. In fact, what do you expect at a no-​waiter restaurant? You don’t have to pay tips already.

I used to come to this place before I found out about other Korean places around campus. Each place has their own specialties. I love getting the bibimbap and bulgogi from here. In my opinion, the soon du bu doesn’t have much flavor.
I started coming less and less because the owner at this place isn’t too friendly. Also, once I came to get food and saw them refilling the water dispenser with a tub that didn’t look so sanitary… made me lose my appetite.

«A-​ri-​rang» is the most popular and best-​known Korean folk song. A-​ri-​rang is an ancient native Korean word with no modern meaning. ‘Ari’ means «beautiful»; ‘Rang’ can mean «dear».
The food here is good, but there is nothing beautiful about the joint and the proprietor is anything but dear.
I have been coming here for years and he has never smiled or said «thank you». Today I ordered bi bim bap and instead of coming in a hot stone bowl as usual, it came in a cold plastic bowl. At the very least, I wish he would have asked me to clarify my order.
There are communal tables in the center of the place, which I like but they are merely worn out old folding conference tables.
He always has the TV blaring on Headline News.
But the food is good, maybe the best Korean on campus. This is no small feat in a university town hosting 3500 native Koreans.
So I added a star for good authentic Korean food, patronized by mostly Korean clientele, but subtracted a star for a surly owner and subtracted another star for crappy interior furnishings.