ROKs Tacos – Korean BBQ Tacos

Bugolgi was good. The quality overall was good, but the tacos were way too small for price. It was good, but I’m not sure if I’d pay that much for a bite/​fun size taco.

A new truck to the Champaign area which we noticed after stumbling out of Joe’s one night.
Korean BBQ tacos sounded pretty good, so each of us ordered something. I believe what I had was called an Ace-​Deuce, it had a spicy sauce, lettuce and a few other things on it and the main meat was like seasoned pork. Overall it tasted really good. Definitely a unique flavor that even drunk me was able to remember and now rave about. Perhaps I’m just not experienced with Korean flavors but this was definitely quite good. Lots of good texture, the meat tasted to be of decent quality, fresh veggies, etc.
My only qualms, like many others here, is the price. These tacos are expensive, and they are especially small. Like really small, too small to charge $ 4/​taco. My friend was quite let down with the size of the sampler, which, at $ 10 plus the upcharge he paid for kimchee, was also underwhelming and we both found ourselves hungry after getting home. The problem here is that hungry students know what they can get for X amount of $. If I’m not mistaken, almost all the Mexican places on campus (Maize, Chipotle, El Charro, Burrito King) have a massive burrito that is even less $ than 2 of ROKs tacos. Granted, the better of those places aren’t as unique and also not as conveniently open late, but anyone who has been to ROKs and is looking for a full meal knows it probably can’t be had there for under $ 10. Not to mention the often difficult task of having to locate a food truck when it’s not in it’s usual spot, and potentially having to travel farther. Unfortunately uniqueness and flavor are often overlooked in favor of portion size.
If the portion size was improved, I’d be a regular for sure. ROKs has a lot of potential.

Food’s good — portions are quite small.
Price is very good for what you’re getting.
Tortillas are kind of stale sometimes, falling apart often.
Sometimes the tacos are assaulted with sauce and this comes pretty inconsistently.
Upsides: Fast, good, would recommend.

LOLOLOL WUT. I ordered the taco sampler. One of my tacos straight up had like nothing on it. Each tortilla was the diameter of my finger (actually). I understand that it’s a taco sampler, so each one of them was going to be smaller than regular size tacos, but this is ridiculous. There was almost no meat on any of them. Four tiny tortillas (actually more like three) with almost nothing on them, costing $ 10. I had such high hopes for roks. I honestly hope they see this review-​not so they can know that I’m angry at them, but rather that they will change.
For now, if you’re craving Korean tacos, just go to spoon house. Their tacos are actually really good.

I got the pork belly taco. It was a very nice full taco with delicious pickled flavored veggies. The texture of the veggies were nice. One major major problem with this taco was that the flavor of the pork belly is completely lost. It almost tastes like you’re eating just the veggies and the sauce. The sauce is only good if there is a fatty meat flavor that goes with it.
They probably didn’t season the pork belly at all. And that’s such a shame. I’d probably season it and cook it in sesame oil to bring out the flavor.
For 4 dollars this taco was not worth it. I’d give it a 2.5÷5 but I’ll round up.

Everything was amazing. They bring what used to be only available in major cities to the Champaign-​Urbana area. So if you want your taste buds to do a Chuck Norris round house kick in your mouth this is the place. Make sure to try one of everything!
I would recommend following them on Twitter or Facebook to see where they are located for the day.(it is a food truck)

Had lunch while they were in Research Park. Had the bulgogi taco, pork katsu taco, and the kimchi fried rice balls. Bulgogi taco was great, sweet and spicy as advertised. Pork katsu was good but found it a little bland? Maybe that’s because I had it following the rice balls which were outstanding. They were nicely crisped with a nice spicy aoli on top. Although it would have been better to have the sauce on the side for dipping. I’ll have to ask next time.
Service is steady as there was a several person line the 15 minutes I was there. I probably waited 5 minutes after placing my order. Definitely a good place to grab something different for lunch.

Roks Korean BBQ Taco Truck is trying to do in Champaign what is successfully being done in places like LA with Kogi Truck, and Korilla BBQ in NYC. Review based on the metrics of taste, service, and value.
The two most successful Korean BBQ trucks, Kogi Truck in California, and Korilla BBQ in New York are where I base my comparison for these three metrics. I can say safely that Roks Korean BBQ Taco Truck sits comfortably ranked second among the three.
Korilla BBQ, where they charge more, can back up the prices they charge with quick and professional service, and Korean BBQ Tacos that are ridiculously delicious. Well balanced, deep and heavy flavor in the proteins, paired with bright notes in the slaw and sides that come with it. Though I would spend more money at Korilla compared to Kogi Truck in LA or Roks, I would never feel like it was wasted money by any means. Korilla still stands as the defacto standard of delicious Korean BBQ Tacos.
Now enter in Roks, trying to build on the success of Korean BBQ Taco trucks, and you find that they build on many of the same principles that Korilla has done so well. Looking at the metric of taste, Rok’s does a great job. The protein is well seasoned, and supported well with bright balanced notes through radish and lettuce. The gohchoojjang based sauce they put on top of the lettuce is sweet more than spicy, and ties everything together nicely. Tacos are a little unwieldy to eat though, and since the sauce is on top of the lettuce, you may find yourself spilling sauce covered lettuce all over yourself while you eat. They may want to consider putting the sauce over the protect, and then packing in clean lettuce on top. From a taste perspective however, Rok’s is on point as they pay respect to the Korean BBQ taste both of the pork and bulgogi, while keeping it fresh and delicious for the American palette. Definitely a ⁴⁄₅ on taste.
Now Service. As well as can be expected for a food truck. A friendly face at the window, a clear ticket written for my order, money taken, and their off and running to make my food fresh. The wait was about 4 minutes for the 4 tacos I ordered, which isn’t terrible, and they were kind enough to wrap my tacos in a paper bag for me as I was taking my order to go, and wasn’t going to eat it right there truck side. Inside the truck looked nice and clean, which is important to me, and catching a glimpse of a hand sanitizer dispenser is always a welcome sight for a food service truck, just so long as they aren’t getting triclosan in my food. =) Definitely a ⁵⁄₅ on service.
Value. Admittedly, for all of my reviews, it’s near impossible to get a ⁵⁄₅ on value. But this is probably the most important metric for people these days. Especially in the food truck industry which is more about function and value, more than it is about a unbridled desire to get high quality delicious food. At Roks, each taco ran $ 4. Coming from my experience with Korilla and Kogi Truck, my immediate reaction was to scoff at the price. I had a $ 20 bill in my hand and was expecting to get about $ 10 back after buying my lunch, and tipping them. But with a $ 20, I bought 4 tacos, and tipped them the rest. It was difficult getting around that price point knowing that Kogi Truck in LA charges something like $ 2.50 per taco, and have combo deals, 3 tacos and a drink for $ 8, etc. But when I got my tacos, and looking at the serving size, it was semi-​justifiable, but not really. Where Roks taco’s are bigger than Kogi Truck’s, they are the same size as Korilla’s, but again, here in Champaign, it was difficult to justify $ 4 a taco to myself. If I wasn’t buying so many tacos so that I could try them and write a review, I would be hard pressed to justify spending $ 12 or $ 16 on 3 or 4 tacos. Considering that Roks is in Champaign, IL, $ 4 a taco is close to an outrageous price per taco, especially when the serving size would necessitate 3 or 4 tacos as a lunch portion. So for value, Roks gets a ²⁄₅ rating. I’m sure on paper, someone can justify $ 4, to account for operating costs, overhead, and margins, but as a customer who just cares about how much food, and for how much, the taste, while very delicious, still does not justify the $ 4 cost per taco.
It’s a difficult because as much as I’ve been waiting for a Korean BBQ Taco truck in Champaign for a long time, Roks, where their tacos are delicious, I can’t see myself going there more than once a month. The wife however is a big fan and vows to return. She’s the reason why the overall rating is ⁴⁄₅ and not ³⁄₅.
A food truck has to work towards gaining daily, or several visits weekly support if it is to be sustainable with decent margins. But at the $ 4 price point per taco, it has shifted out of affordable with justifiable value range, to «once in a while.» Good service and tacos, but it has to taste good to my palette AND my wallet for repeat business. Change it to $ 3/​taco, and I’d be there more often.