Jang Choong Dong

I don’t know where to start. This is by far the worst place I have ever eaten in my life. The service was horrible and Everything there is a lie. I ordered their short ribs and marinated chicken to bbq. I received a plate of cut up beef and chicken covered in ice like it was just taken out of the fridge. There was no marinate and after explain to them this is not what I order, they acted as if I was the person that was wrong. On the menu it says with every order you get a plate of rice and a bowl of soup. More then ¾ of the way through my dinner, I finally asked where is the rest of my food. «Oh, You have to ask for that a head of time“said the server. After my frustration and my horrible dinner, I asked for the menu again. I pointed out to them that their menu said these item I order were marinated. They continued to avoid my direct question. I wish I read the review here before I ate at this so called Korean restaurant. Considering all the other reviews, I am not alone on how I feel about this place.

Worst kbbq joint I’ve ever been to in my life! The service was the worst!!! Came in with a party of 9 and it took them awhile to seat is because we came in during the dinner rush so I guess understandable but when we were seated, we were pretty much ready to order and there was no server in sight and when there was, no one approached us. There was only 3 servers for the whole restaurant which I have to say is very understaff because there was so many customers needing their attention.
We came in there starving and ready to chow down on the AYCE kbbq and I was very disappointed in the non-​variety selections they have. When they finally took our order, we ordered like 6 items and the only thing that came out was beef brisket. All we really ate was beef brisket over and over and over again. Still sitting puzzled, we were wondering where was everything else we ordered and of course no one was there to assist us. Finally when someone came, they tell us that their Kalbi is frozen! How do you open a kbbq with none of their items ready?! Oh and another thing, how do you run out of green onions and lettuce?! There’s literally a mejir next door that someone could have easily ran over and got some for their customers but no they just let it be off the menu.
We purposely went here to give it a chance and give woori village a rest because they jacked up their AYCE kbbq. Now come to think of it, I think it would have been more satisfying to have gone to woori village. Now I know not to come back!

The idea of grilling on a cast iron pig was what brought me here, but the pig was not worth the grief of sitting and waiting around to be served all night. Came in on a Tuesday night around 7:30pm with a group of 9 and was seated shortly after. However, we sat at the table with menus and our cups of water, which we received half-​full, for almost 30 minutes waiting for a waiter before we decided to flag someone down. We ordered brisket and kalbi, but only received two plates of brisket. After asking for kalbi maybe three other times, the waitress finally told us the kalbi was frozen and would take too long to defrost. Why a restaurant known for AYCE kbbq is out of kalbi is beyond me. My friend asked for lettuce and the green onion mix and was told they were also out.
The time between them bringing us each plate of meat we ordered was so extensive that the iron plate would dry out each time so we had to wait even longer for them to change it. I swore I would never go back to Woori Village due to their lack of service, but I would gladly choose Woori over this place any day. I never expect superb service at a Kbbq restaurant, but this is definitely a new low.

Doesn’t matter how drunk you are. .you’re not biting through the bone chips in the vegetarian pancake. Ordered spare ribs… paid for spare ribs… received mystery meat with lots of grizzle and no seasoning. Rice was over cooked and had the texture of oatmeal. .green tea was burnt. Service was decent.
Stay away. .get some soup at omega instead.

Where to begin, service was terrible, had to ask multiple times for water and rice. Asked for items and never bring them by. Gratuity was included in the bill. The meat was meh. Non seasoned tasteless.

I came here at 1:30 AM in the morning and i was met with a very unwelcoming staff. The place looked dingy and chipping paint covered some of the floors. However, i did like the cast iron pig. Very unusual. I picked a pork based meal and we cooked it on the table. It was decent and the sides that came with it were ok. I just found it weird that all the servers had camo jump suits on. However, for being opened till 4 in the morning it was a great late night meal.

If you want all you can eat kalbi and bulgogi BBQ, this is not the place to go. Anything marinated is not offered here as all u can eat. Disappointing cause that’s what we were expecting. So we ended up getting the pork belly. It was good but nothing compared to the pork belly I had in LA. The kalbi and bulgogi already cooked from the kitchen was just aok. Surprised to find chop chae was not on the menu. The little side dishes, ban chan, were not the greatest, the worst selection in all the Korean restaurants I have been to.
Overall, it was just ok and will not be coming back.

Was my go to spot but I recently replaced it with Woori Village. The service is slow and sometimes you feel unwanted if you don’t speak Korean. But don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty they go right and I wouldn’t at all mind going back here.
Their grills are huge; probably the biggest I’ve seen at a AYCE Korean BBQ place. I love big grills because that means you cook more at a time and therefore end up eating more at a time. They have a wonderful mix of generous side dishes and for what it’s worth they have a decent selection of meat that arrives in large portions.
A little pricey but probably worth it if you end up eating as much as I do before you leave.
Also though the restaurant closes late into the night, the kitchen it closes at midnight, so keep that in mind.

Extreme decline in service. I’m asian, and I know what to expect out of Asian restaurants. But this spot is known as a late night bite/​entertainment option. They are open until 2 am on most weekdays. until 4 am on weekends. I
I used to frequent as a semi-​regular when I worked until 11pm at a nearby hospital. My, how things have changed.
I met up some coworkers here at 12:30 yesterday night. They got there at 1200, and were refused to be allowed the tabletop korean BBQ. So they ordered items that were cooked by the chef. Sounds like laziness to me. I arrived at 12:45, not planning on eating, since I had a late dinner at 9:30. I was willing to order a small appetizer. The two servers, when seeing I got there, gave me a water, but no menu. 15 minutes later I asked for a menu, and asked only for a seafood pancake… only to be told that the kitchen is closed. This was before 1am. And this spot closes at 2am. WOW!
This isn’t the first time I’ve had bad service. I also once came with family for dinner service around 5pm, ordering bulgogi and kalbi. Servers assumed we did not want to grill BBQ ourselves, which was kind of the whole point of us coming here.
Good luck getting me to come back, when you’ve got other options in the area, like another San Soo Gab San and Woori Village. *shrug* I’ve gotta be desperate and really in the mood to come out for K-​BBQ. Im a lot more likely to go elsewhere.

came here with a party of 9. got seated instantly. ok service for a korean restaurant.
the ayce was mehhh. all the meat is not seasoned or marinated at all. no bulgogi.
every meat eventually tasted the same to me since all the meat was flavorless and im dipping it in the same sauce over and over again. lol
the cast iron pig pan is pretty cool tho.
there’s a few other ayce korean restaurants i would rather go then here.

I don’t know if its me or is it something about these Korean joints. Don’t get me wrong. I love Korean food, but the service makes me feel very unwelcome especially when you are a NON-​Korean patron. No matter how nice you are as a customer, or how easy going and non-​demanding you are, I just feel like whenever I have to ask for something like water, it just seems like a burden.
Although they have all you can eat KBBQ, I would much rather get the ala carte because the service is slightly better and by better I mean faster, and by faster I mean nicer too.
So the only reason I know about this place is because a friend’s boyfriend, who is Korean, told me to check this place out as it is comparable to Woori, if not better. As a fan of all Korean food, of course I was going to check it out. During my first visit on a weekday evening, we ordered ala carte. We got an order of kalbi and yuk gae jang. One thing about this place is the cast iron pig where you grill your meat on. I have not seen anything like it in Chicago, so I was very fond on the idea because the shape of the cast iron allowed the grease and fat from the meat to drip down on the side. The marinate was about the same as all the other KBBQ places. The yuk gae jang was pretty good. There was some heat to it, so it was exactly how I like it. Food came out reasonably quick and the servers were very friendly. No problems.
However, on the second occasion which was also on a weekday evening, it was a different story. I came with my family and we went the buffet route and boy was it a bad idea. Everything came out very slow and I didn’t understand why as there was nothing for the kitchen to cook. The whole point of KBBQ is you cook it at your own table, so there was no reason for the kitchen to be that slow. Secondly, the service was awful. We would have to ask a couple of times for everything from thongs to water. After a while, the servers made it seem like we were the problem as we were demanding too much, but then again we are paying customers, so I didn’t see where the problem was.
Ultimately I found out why the service was so poor at the end of our all you can eat KBBQ, it was because TIP IS INCLUDED in the bill versus the ala carte, depending on how many people are at your table, tip is to your discretion. With that said, no matter HOW crappy the service was, the servers were still going to get paid during the buffet option, but they would have to physically work and service customers during ala carte. This is so sad that the mentality that has been instilled upon this establishment, but it is what it is. Not sure if I would come back, but at least I can share both my experiences and you can pick for yourself which service you are in the mood for.

Customer service is bad. No one has come to fill my water since my glass was empty for 30mins.
All u can eat menu is limited with small a mount of food. Also, U cant even find marinated beef or pork

OK. So maybe this isn’t the best Korean BBQ in the Chicago area, but to be perfectly honest this is the best all you can eat Korean spot that definitely hits the spot. Would definitely recommend a trip — good food, good price, good times.

Came here for a late night dinner last year. My korean friend brought us here because it was almost 10pm and we hadn’t had dinner from skiing all day so he recommended this place. The food is decent for the price and I liked their variety of banchan (the crab!!). We ordered a bulgogi and some spicy octopus thing because we were too tired to actually grill our own food for kbbq. Not sure if I would come again since this place seemed to be difficult to communicate in anything but korean but it was good for what we were looking for: a late night dinner.

Came here with a large group on a Saturday night. I am not a fan of jjokbal (pig feet) or sundae (black sausage) so I didn’t try those dishes although my party seemed to enjoy them. We had bulnak (bulgoki and octopus). It was ok, nothing to write home about. The fried rice cooked afterwards was subpar and had no flavor. Service was adequate but I suppose to you have pare down your expectations for Korean restaurants since they tend to generally have bad service. Interior was a bit dated and didn’t feel completely clean. I probably would not go back on my own.

they have best jokbal and soondae in chicago!!!
also they have all u can eat. Meat quality is good too
U can do one stop for eat, drink and karaōke!!!

Blecch! This is a rundown, dirty place that uses the lowest grade of meat for its AYCE Korean bbq options. The waiters carry glasses and utensils with the same fingers that carry the platters of raw beef and pork. I was very concerned about cross-​contamination as the server’s uniform brushed against the condiments on the table when he was igniting the burner.
If you go, take a look inside the exhaust hoods above the tables and at the window shades; every surface is grease covered and stained.
Finally, I don’t understand why marinated meat is not an option for the do-​it-​yourself bbq. I also don’t understand why this place hasn’t been inspected and closed by the health department.

This is a great, cheaper alternative to Woori Village. Came here for dinner with some friends specifically to go on a Korean BBQ binge and we definitely got what we came for!
Atmosphere:
You’ll find this restaurant neatly tucked away in a sort of strip mall kind of building – a lot of asian and Indian influences surrounding it. When you walk in, Jang Choong Dong gives a fairly cozy feeling and the first think you smell is the meat. Fairly well decorated and clean. We were seated immediately for a Saturday evening dinner.
AYCE:
If LA Korean BBQ didn’t exist, I’d probably give this place a ⁴⁄₅ stars rather than ³⁄₅. That being said, for Illinois, this was average to pretty good meat depending on what you get. We particularly enjoyed the chadolbaegi (thinly sliced beef brisket), but we found that the quality of the meat differed with each plate brought out. Some plates will have considerably thicker cuts with leaner meat while other will be very thin, fatty cuts. The inconsistency in quality was a little annoying, but taste wise, we were satisfied. The galbi and jumullok was rather disappointing. The meat was very tough and the flavor was lacking. We stuck with the chadol the rest of the meal. If you want a little bit more flavor from the meat, ask for the chadol «sauce.» It’s kind of a vinegary mix with sesame oil that we actually really enjoyed. With the AYCE, you can order a naengmyun or doenjang jjigae – something cold or warm to finish off the meal. I think we had about 8 plates of meat.
Service:
What we found to be pretty hilarious was that we had about four waiters/​waitresses help us throughout the night. Although it would have been nice to have just one, we weren’t too concerned about it as they were pretty on top of their jobs although slightly forgetful here and there. For these kind of places, you just come for the AYCE, not for excellent service.
Price:
AYCE was about $ 26 which is a good amount less than Woori Village. I believe Woori wins when it comes to the quality of the meat, but if you’re looking for a decently priced AYCE, check this place out!
Overall:
In the end, I was very satisfied with my meal. Jang Choong Dong is a great option for a casual lunch or dinner with friends, coworkers, etc. It won’t blow you away with their quality of food/​service, but it does the job and you’ll leave happy.

I have a love-​hate relationship with this place. Their service is awful most of the times and their food isn’t always fantastic. BUT, they are open till 4am and although the food may not be the BEST, it is pretty good.
The couple things I would recommend from this place: (1) all-​you-​can-​eat (2) Kam Ja Tang (this place definitely makes the BEST version of this) (3) sun dae.
Most of the nights we end up here for the three things I listed above. Kam Ja Tang is a spicy stew with pork and potatoes. No other place even come close when it comes to this dish. This is prob the only dish from this restaurant that is consistently good.
The most recent time I was there I got a tofu soup and it was AWFUL. it was SO bad that I asked them to take it back and re-​make it. I never do this at a Korean place… it was THAT bad. The second one they brought out was prob just as bad but I just got too lazy to complain. I had it wrapped up and brought it home. My mom tried some and she said it was the worst soup she’s ever tasted! So… I guess the moral of this story is to be careful what you order?
This place gets pretty crowded on weekends during dinner time. But I’ve only had to actually «Wait» once so far… and I’ve been here prob over 50 times. Also when they are busy their quality of service gets even worse. They have these little buttons to get a server to come to your table… except they don’t actually come. One time during an all-​you-​can-​eat session, we pressed the button 15 times before someone came to us. Even if they come and you ask them for a refill of something, they will walk away and not return your request. Rather they forget it or neglect it… whatever it is, they should really work on it.
Regardless I’m a regular here for the 3 things that Ive listed… and even if the service is terrible, we always come crawling back to this place.

This review is for the all you can eat Korean BBQ. It’s pretty legit (Illinois standards, of course. Nothing compares to LA haha). Started out with the brisket; the first order was good. Perfect marble of meat and fat. I think we got the short rib (not marinated) next. The meat was tender and juicy, just the way I like it! Ended the meat fest with some pork belly and super fermented kimchi (my FAV)…I wish I had started the night off with this so that I could eat more. It’s always such a sad realization when your tiny stomach can’t fit all the delicious food that your mouth is watering after.
To make things more difficult on my poor little tummy, I tried to cram in some neng myun (cold buckwheat noodles)…so needless to say, AYCE is both wonderful and regretful all at the same time. But I’d do it again every time, so you don’t see this little foodie complaining! Nope!
The other people in my group got another order of the brisket, which looked a little too tough to chew. They definitely brought out the better cut the first time around. I dunno, maybe it was because I was too full at that point, but it certainly seemed like it wasn’t as good.