Carbon Grill

Nice place and food.:I came at 5:30, so no need wait. The service is good, and seafood is so fresh. I think tone a buffet, this BBQ place is the best one.

I know I shouldn’t compare it to LA KBBQ, but I can’t help it… But maybe this will be the first of many Korean bbq joints in the city. I remember when there was literally one solid boba place in SF and now they’re popping up everywhere. Hopefully Korean bbq will be the same. Wishful thinking.
Anyway, the food was really not bad for the price ($ 24.99 AYCE!). I would rather pay more for quality though. The restaurant is also poorly ventilated so plan to shower after and wear clothes you plan to change right after unless you want to smell like meat all day. They don’t have beef brisket — only beef ribs, beef tongue, pork belly, and seafood and they have the salty sesame sauce, but their other sauce is a weird, creamy cilantro sauce. Not a fan. One thing I do love about this place is that they have good rice paper! I love rice paper.

Came here tonight to celebrate my birthday. Nothing can quite take the pain away of slowly creeping into my late 20s. So long youth. So long fast metabolism. So long not being hungover after two shots of alcohol.
Enough of that and back to the grub. This place has really tasty marinated ribs and a good selection of other meats. You can have your pick of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and seafood. I would LOVE if they add brisket to the menu. That would seriously make this place my go to spot. Everything was pretty tasty and the dishes came out quick. After my fourth plate of ribs, I knew my pants button wasn’t gonna hold much longer.
Service was 100. My girl was so sweet. She checked in on my party a ton and kept the water cups filled. She recommended a awesome fish dish for us to try out and she told me I looked like I was turning 21. GIRLLL. you know I’m gonna tip you more you sweet talker.
Just little tip: it’s true it’s smoke city in here. So prepare thyself. I came back home smelling slightly of beef chow fun. Not that I’m complaining. ;)

This was my cheat meal after a month of cutting. Any lifters out there? Cuz ya’ll feel me when I say that I’ve been running (lol running…) a 1800 calorie/​70g of carbs per day diet for the last two weeks. So trust me when I say that I was feeling this meal more than the rest of us wanna feel Arnold’s biceps.
This was one of the few decently priced ayce kbbq places that I could find. At $ 24.99, the price is perfect.
The meat was good. Not superb but exactly what I was expecting and I was expecting a lot cuz I was hungry enough to eat the world.
The service was also decent. It’s weird because I feel like they were extremely attentive 99% of the time which was surprising considering how busy they were. However the 1% of the time when we tried to flag people down, we couldn’t get ahold of anyone. No biggie. Still great service, especially as we waited to be seated. Can’t forget that.
So why three stars? Mmm I want to give four but I think that the menu was just lacking. Glass noodles and korean potatoes would make the world of a difference. Oh and tofu soup and/​or kimchi fried rice… instant 5 stars no questions asked.
Definitely interested in giving Carbon another try. Really really want to give them a 4^th and 5^th star.

Are you obsessed with BBQ like me? YEAH? YAY! You should definitely try Carbon Grill.
Best thing about this place… the menu. They have a fantastic mix of meat, seafood, and veggies that I don’t think you get anywhere else. Usually, AYCE BBQ is just meat, meat, and more meat. Not here. =)
STAND OUTS:
*Short Ribs — A MUST. After almost passing out, on the table, from a massive food coma, you would think I would want a break from short ribs. Tell me why I was craving this the next day??? Because it was so delicious! We ordered so many plates, and it was definitely the group favorite. Don’t forget to wrap a piece with rice paper and/​or lettuce!
*Bacon wrapped enokis — I love enokis in soup. Grilled and wrapped with bacon? Also I loved! The juice of the bacon with the crunch of the enoki… MmmMm good combo.
*Fresh shrimp — Tip here is to eat the shell! The shrimp is pretty big and very tasty.
*Green aioli sauce– I thought this sauce was DANK AF. I definitely had to ask for more because I was dipping so much in there. Shorts ribs + green sauce… BOMB!
Also notable mentions: sausage, scallops, & chicken wings.
–1 star: Smokiness
Unfortunately, although I thought the food was 5 stars worthy, I have to say that the smokiness was too much for me. As soon as I stepped in, I noticed it. And when we left, my clothes smelled like I was in a BBQ sweat shop. They definitely need better ventilation. =(

Carbon grill is an AYCE Korean BBQ place located on Clement St in the Richmond District. $ 24.99 is the price. And it’s pretty worth it considering you are getting such a large variety of meat and veggies to cook. They even have shrimp! I personally liked the skewers and short ribs. But it’s safe to say there’s enough on the menu for everyone to find something they like.
The soju here is $ 10 a bottle. They have chamisul if you like just the normal soju. Just squeeze a little of lemon juice in your shot glass and cheers! No chaser needed. There’s also a wide variety of sweet soju. We thought the cucumber one would be refreshing and good. However, it was a little on the sweet side for us. Personally, we’d rather drink the plain soju but there’s a lot of flavored soju for those who like the sweeter stuff.
Also, a noteworthy part of this business is their hospitality. They owner (Edward) and all the waitresses are attentive and friendly. The owner seems to really care about the feedback, which is a good thing. He definitely made his way around to our table two or three times. So we could shed some light on our experience right then & there. Once we were seated, the waitresses took our order and checked on us frequently. You can only order 3 or 4 things at a time so you can run out of things to cook pretty quickly. Luckily, the waitresses are on it so the food kept coming. I went with just one other person but I would say this place is definitely good for groups. I recommended my roommate to bring her coworkers here & they had a good time.
I will be back!

Came here when it first opened a few months ago, and it was… ok. Came yesterday, and then went again today and DAMN, it go a whole lot better!!! The meats were awesome & the service was very very good… actually the services was awesome! Things to definitely order were the bacon wrapped enoki, beef tongue, pork belly… oh hell everything was GREAT. The only thing to make this place even better would be refills… but hell, if that’s it, then this is a place I will be coming back to again and again.
We’ve been coming to this same place for about 10 years and through 2 or 3 other businesses. I’m so happy to see that it’s doing well… and doing it right. It’s not your typical Korean BBQ, some of the flavors are different, and I think that’s what make this place a little special. The owner gave us a try of a new marinade… and I sure hope he puts it on the menu. One more thing about this place, and I can’t say this enough… they work like a team and seem to like each other and it shows. I will be back in a couple of weeks to take some friends to what I hope becomes our new places to go in SF!!!

I’m a fan of the Carbon Grill. With 16 different kinds of meat and two bacon-​wrapped veggie options, there’s a lot to keep you interested. They also have a fairly extensive draft beer list at decent prices.
The marinated short rib is the best, of course, but there’s lots of other tasty things to be had as well.

Pros:
–Meat tastes good
–Comes with nice-​ish sauces
–Clean seats
Cons:
–Have to share tables
–Too hip, not authentic
~$ 30 person and no refills on drinks
–No traditional korean sides
–Very smokey, poor ventilation
–Waiter told me «are you serious?» When i asked if refills were free. (Come on dude, dont u want tips?)
TLDR: Pricey hip place, but not authentic and very smokey.
Pro Tip: Gas Mask

YAAAAAASSSSS
Came here last night for a date night with my meat-​loving man. For a guy who doesn’t typically exude much enthusiasm, he was damn excited. Luckily, the entire experience exceeded expectations!
The MEAT (and fish and veggies): everything was super fresh and delicious, something I usually worry about at any AYCE joint. The short ribs were by far the shining star — I think we got about 3 orders of the boneless. I really enjoyed the mussels and they are so fun to cook on a grill and watch *pop* open when they’re ready! I was the only veggie eater of the table, but I thought the eggplant and zucchini was super fresh and a perfect pairing for all the meat. The only thing we didn’t love was the pork, but we’re not huge pork eaters so take that with a grain of kimchee.
The service: PERFECTION. Our server (Emely) was SOOOO nice, incredibly attentive, very helpful, and never annoying. 5 stars all the way!
Yes, the place is quite smokey and the ventilation could be better. But, I’m a serious asthmatic and had no issues whatsoever. Suck it up and wear clothes you can easily wash. We will definitely be back!

The roommate wanted Korean food and I wanted to try a new place. We ended up at Carbon Grill for dinner on Tuesday, January 12^th a little after 6pm. There were only a couple tables taken when we got there, so it was easy to grab a table and grill.
The All You Can Eat BBQ prices are $ 24.99 (holiday price) for adults and $ 13.99 for children 4 – 10 years old. The menu notes you can only order 4 items at a time, but that means 4 meats and 4 sides. I thought that was a weird rule, but it turns out, you don’t need to finish all 4 items before ordering more. So you can order 4 items, start cooking, and then order 4 more.
*Cow: Marinated short ribs, Non-​marinated short ribs, Boneless short ribs, Japanese gyutan (beef tongue)
*Pig: Pork belly, Pork cheek, Vietnamese bbq pork, Bacon
*Bacon wrapped: Enoki, Asparagus
*Sausage: Hot link, Pineapple
*Chicken: Lemongrass chicken thigh, Lemongrass chicken wings, Sweet soy chicken wings
*Lamb: Rosemary herb rubbed lamb shoulder, Cumin lamb skewers
*Seafood: Fresh shrimp, Lemon herb basal fillet in foil wrap, Scallops on the half shell (limited supply), Live PEI mussels (limited supply), Calamari steak
*Ready to eat sides: Rice, Lettuce, Rice noodle wrap, Garlic string beans (cold), Kimchi, Korean soy bean paste, Fried egg
*Sides: Zucchini, Enoki, Eggplant, Asparagus, Mushroom foil wrap (shiitake, button, oyster, enoki), Spam, Garlic, Jalapeño
My favorite was the marinated short rib. The thick meaty slices were delicious! I also enjoyed the pork belly and cheek. Good for lettuce wraps with the garlic and jalapeño. I was bummed they were out of beef tongue as I really love gyutan. They were also out of the lemongrass chicken wings, but I got the thighs which were moist and tender. The bacon wrapped enoki is a must have in my book. I could have done without the mushroom foil wrap as steaming mushrooms makes for a slimy, wet texture which I didn’t care for.
Service was excellent for an AYCE restaurant. The servers would check back with us whenever it looked like we were running low on food. I guess that’s why they limit orders to 4 at a time? I don’t think I’ve ever had such attentive service at an AYCE. They were all very sweet.
They have soju at $ 10 a bottle. I really wanted the Strawberry yogurt, but unfortunately they were out. I just settled for the Yogurt which was fine.
If you like your food spicy, make sure to ask for hot sauce. They have both sriracha and a chili sauce. Definitely good for making those lettuce wraps or just adding a little kick to the meat. I didn’t care for their green sauce as it was kinda sweet, so using the sesame oil and hot sauce or kimchi was perfect with the pork.
I kind of wish they had more of a selection of ready to eat sides. I found myself missing the usual banchan such as bean sprouts, spinach, cucumber, fish cake, anchovy, etc. I wish they had more than just the napa cabbage kimchee.
Nice place to go for AYCE Korean BBQ. I wish their selection was a little larger, but still a solid place to get your bbq on!

Love that it’s grill only. No boiling bland food in bland water but the food overall is still on the bland side. They only offer two sauces. I think our experience would be much different if there were a few more sauce and seasoning options.
Service was good and food comes out fast. The menu is very limited. I also think something needs to be done with the meat sticking on the grill. Maybe offer butter or oil to brush on the grill before we put the meat on.
There are no free refills on soda. Even though it’s fountain soda. In an all-​you-​can-​eat restaurant you would think fountain soda would be all-​you-​can-​drink too.
Overall, I do love the concept and think there is lots of potential.

I was looking for an AYCE Kbbq restaurant and I was surprised to find that they’re nearly NON existent in San Francisco. Most of them lie in the South Bay/​Peninsula. There is one other restaurant that came up on the list, located in Jtown, but the reviews were so back and forth. There was also no listing for that restaurant for a kids’ price. My girls don’t eat much and I don’t see the point in paying full price when they eat the equivalent of less than 1 adult.
We arrived a little past 5, their opening, and there were only 2 tables seated and cooking. Took them awhile to figure out where to seat us, which was a little annoying seeing as how there were so many open tables. The 2 waitresses finally figured it out and we were seated at the window.
Their menu is pretty no nonsense but it took the waitresses awhile to come back, which was also rather annoying. At the bottom of the menu it states that you only have 90 minutes to cook and eat from the time you are seated. It would have made sense for her to turn ON the burner once we were seated but that didn’t happen. She FINALLY turned it on when we put in our first meat order.
First order: pork belly, marinated short ribs, shrimp, zucchini, and eggplant. And even with that small window of her turning the burner on, walking to the back, getting our entire order together, coming back to the table and spreading everything out, and finally putting the stuff on the grill… it was still NOT ready. Barely a sizzle.
A second pair of tongs would have been nice to have instead of using the same tongs for cooked and uncooked meat.
The pork belly was a pass. Nothing to rave about. Needed some marinating of some sort. But the 2 sauces they place at each place setting… That green sauce Is bomb dot com!!! Put that on errrrrrythang! So good. The short ribs both bone and boneless were marinated perfectly and tender. The shrimp were not marinated and uneventful. And so were the vegetables.
Our next few orders were the Vietnamese BBQ pork, boneless short ribs, and pineapple sausage (the kind you find at Costco). The Vietnamese pork was very good too.
All in all a good experience. Glad we didn’t travel down the peninsula. Wish we had more time. I felt so rushed. However, there was a male table that was seated there when we got there, still there when we left, walked 5.5 blocks to eat an ice cream crêpe, and walk back… and they were JUST settling their bill?! Well over the stated 90 minute time limit. Maybe they know the owners? Maybe they are the owners?

We were a party of 9, after seeing the good reviews on Unilocal and had high hopes for this place so decided to come here to celebrate a person’s birthday.
Note: they do not do anything for birthday, not even a free dessert or ice cream. We called and inquired about this and some information, the waitress checked with the owner and then told me that they do not do anything for birthday. Then I said, «ok, that’s fine, we will be still coming.» First sign warned.
They had a holiday special pricing which was $ 25/​person was great, but they didn’t have any scallop and lamb on the day that we came in. I preferred to pay for the full price and rather to have a chance to try all the items on the menu. And we really felt disappointed that they didn’t have the scallop. Food was not great because our party thought that the meats were not seasoned or marinated enough. We even had to ask for soy sauce and hot sauce to eat with the meats. The two sauces that they provided were too light either. My two sisters even got stomach sick and diarrhea for several times the next morning.
Service was horrible, they gave us an attitude, really unprofessional staffs even argued with their customers. We ordered our foods during the last call, didn’t finish ordering and the waitress had walked away and she said, «I am going to put in these orders for you guys first and will be right back.» Then she disappeared quickly. So we had to get a 2^nd waitress to finish ordering for us. I have told her that we were a big party and we didn’t finish ordering and the waitress had walk away. She said, «it’s ok and I will take the orders for you guys.» She didn’t refuse our orders. Then we continued to order, then she entered the items that we ordered on the iPad and confirmed the orders with us. But after, they didn’t serve us those orders. I mean, the waitress didn’t refuse our orders, so they should stand on their own words, serve us the food that we ordered.
They cheated on our final orders by pretending that they have brought all the items that we ordered; but in fact, they did not. When we asked about our final orders, and one of the unfriendly waitresses there (the one who didn’t finish ordering for us and walked away) just kept making excuses, even argued to defend their mistake. Their business practice totally cannot be tolerated! My entire party was left hungry and disappointed! I felt guilty that I didn’t entertain them well. I will not recommend this place to anyone! Really unsatisfied on our first experience, may be we were just out of the luck on that day.
We were allowed to order up to 4 items at a time based on the menu which didn’t make any sense to a big party. I think the limit should depend on the party size. 2 people in a party and 9 people in a party can actually order the same amount of food for each round??? Our waitresses didn’t even tell us that we could order unlimited sides at the beginning. The menu didn’t say the 4 items which includes the sides or not and caused confusion.
Note: Your clothes will smell like smoke and BBQ smell, so don’t wear anything valuable!

Great option if you don’t feel like AYCE Hotpot
Pro:
Great customer service — food came out fast
Clean
Nice décor — Korean restaurant vibe
Beer selection — $ 5 a pint for premium craft?! I’m there
Good selection — my favorites were beef short ribs, mArinated beef, Bacon wrapped enoki and lamb skewers.
Love their green aioli sauce for dipping! Addicted.
Grill — easy to grill and fast!
Lots of Tvs — some of the table has its own personal tv which I liked because it gives out your own private space even though your table isn’t closed off.
Did I say great customer service? Our waitress came back to us numerous to check up on us especially if we wanted more food. Plus we didn’t feel like the waitress was rushing us to finish. Definitely great service!
Good group atmosphere
Clean bathrooms
Cons
Smoky– don’t wear your favorite outfit if you don’t want to smell
Not much veggies option compare to hotpot
Some of the food ran out-i.e. Foiled wrapped mushrooms? Hmm. you would think there would be abundance of veggies?
Hard to cook veggies especially enoki because the grill isn’t flat.
Overall, I thought Carbon Grill was good but I still prefer hotpot because I love soup. Also, I wouldn’t say it’s Korean bbq because they don’t have special ventilation, round grill and also the sides like steamed egg and etc. most of the Korean bbqs have someone cook it for you. But if you love grilling this place is for you!
Right now they have a promo for only 24.99! What a deal!
Total bill for 6 people was $ 40pp with 4 beers, tips, mandate SF health and tax.

To be perfectly honest, I am glad I decided to wait to write this review. I went shortly after their soft opening and wasn’t a huge fan. They just opened and their cuts of meat were really thick, too hard to chew after cooking. I thought the grill cooked too slow and my food was digesting while waiting for the food to cook which means I didn’t eat my money’s worth.
You can tell a lot by a restaurant by how they handle large parties soooo I gave them a second chance and went with a large group and I got five words: ALL YOU CAN EAT KALBI
Have you ever been to a Korean ayce bbq place and they limit you on some items on their menu? Isn’t that annoying? You don’t have to worry when you come here.
S E R V i C E:
Carbon isn’t that big but it isn’t small either. With that said, they do try to accommodate large parties even though they do not accept reservations. Food comes out really fast and you can order as much as you want without limits. They do limit the orders to be 4 items at a time but they also make exceptions when you are a large group. The servers are always just a few steps away.
F O O D:
The second time around, they really improved. The cuts were sliced thinner and faster to cook. The marinate of the meat were very flavorful. I love the green sauce! Green sauce on everythang! My favorites are the lemongrass chicken thigh, marinated short ribs, and the vietnamese bbq pork. Oh, spam of course! Annnd they have fried egg! Spam, eggs, and rice at a kbbq joint… who knew?!
D R i N K S:
Shoutout to the bartender — she makes very delicious drinks from FRESH fruits… the short asian one. I am not a big fan of beer but if you are, their beers are in kegs so that’s pretty cool.
Side note: do not wear anything expensive or clothes you don’t want smelling like you’ve been thrown in the bottom of the charcoal pit and grilled twice. You will smell like you just attended a bonfire… you’ve been warned.

This was my first experience with a «grill-​it-​yourself» style restaurant, so maybe my expectations were too high, but… I was not impressed with this place.
My boyfriend and I came in on Thanksgiving day, enticed by the $ 25 price tag for AYCE and the 4.5 star rating on Unilocal.As soon as we walked inside, the smoke was almost choking; my eyes teared up. We were greeted and sat within just a minute, and our lovely waitress explained the concept of the restaurant — then we ordered!
We started with the marinated short ribs, pork belly, pineapple sausage, and bacon for our meats. Out came the plates of protein and our cooking tools, the grill was turned on, and we began. Right away we had issues with the pork belly sticking to the grill. We were not provided cooking spray or oil, nor was there a spatula to help lift food off of the grill — you are only given scissors and sad metal tongs.
After a couple of minutes of cooking our food, we noticed that everything on one side of the grill was barely even getting warm. Our waitress explained that the grill should finish heating up soon… but that half of the grill was barely warm for the entirety of our meal.
Now on to the taste of the food. The meat is *not* seasoned. I’m talking no salt, no pepper, nothing — and there is no salt or pepper on your table. The short ribs were at least marinated, but in a sauce that was too sweet and really wanting for some balance (perhaps from salt?). The sausage was meh, and the pork belly was bland. The bacon was deliciously bacon-​y, but it really was not meant to be cooked on grills like these; ours was half burnt and half raw because of the width of the slats.
All in all this place was a huge letdown and not worth the price. It gets 2 stars because the waitstaff was friendly and seemed to genuinely care about our experience.

«LA Korean BBQ is so much better.» Yes, we all know LA dominates the Korean BBQ scene. I’m not going to complain that the Safeway baguettes suck compared to the ones in Paris. Let’s put things into perspective, we’re not so fortunate to have those amazing restaurants in SF. On top of my head, YakiniQ is the only comparable option and Carbon Grill is better.
FOOD/​DRINK: Marinated short ribs all day! If that’s what you love, you’ll really enjoy it here. The boneless version is good too, but a tad bit sweeter. You also can’t go wrong with the pork belly and pork cheek either — fatty goodness (saturated fats are good for you, don’t worry). On the seafood side, my favorite items were the shrimp and scallops on half shell. The scallops are small, so you’ll need to order extra. My girlfriend loved the side dishes, things like lettuce, rice noodle wrap, and veggies. To me, extra carbs that fill you up too fast, so I stick to the meats. You get two sauces also, one is some delicious-​cracklike cilantro based aioli (I think), the other is some type of oil (didn’t use).
AMBIANCE: Remember Coriya back in the day?! Well, it’s totally transformed. It’s now sleek and modern. The TV ratio is almost 1 – 1 per table. The only bad thing is the ventilation. At busy times, the entire restaurant was filled with smoke. The owner mentions he’s working on a fix.
SERVICE: This was better than LA for sure. Carbon Grill invested a lot of money into the technology in this business. For example, the waitresses have tablets to take your order, which is sent in real-​time to the kitchen. Ever get that experience where you have a large party and it takes like 5+ minutes to place an order? Then the waitress stops by another table to take their order before dropping yours off? Well, it can’t happen here. Also, I noticed each waitress only has 2 tables. Julie was our server and she was amazing. Super attentive, always around, incredibly fast, great attitude, and always smiling. You don’t need one of those buzzers at Carbon Grill, you got great waitresses.
CREDIT CARD: Yes.
PARKING: Street parking. Luckily it isn’t on the busier side of Clement, so parking is very doable.
OVERALL: It’s the best so far in food quality, value, taste, and service. Also, they just lowered their price to $ 25!

YES. An all-​you-​can-​REALLY-​eat Korean BBQ restaurant in the Inner Richmond. That’s what’s up.
We came in on a Friday night around 6pm and we got seated immediately. You can order a variety of proteins– chicken, beef, seafood, but only 4 at a time. I would highly suggest the bone-​in short ribs. I could have just ordered these all night and gone home happy. The pork cheek, bacon-​wrapped enoki, and boneless short ribs are also a must.
The service here is also super attentive and there is no shame in ordering more and more food till you are completely full. For $ 29.99/person, this is probably the best deal in the city! 5 stars.

We came to celebrate my husband’s birthday dinner with a party of 8 this past Saturday. I called on Monday evening to see if they took reservations, and Sophia who was super sweet said to call 30 minutes prior so that she could put our name down on the list.
Saturday came around and I called at about 6:20 in an Über. Sophia says if we can get there in 10 minutes, that would be perfect. 15 minutes later we arrive and our table is still available!!! The place is still on the new side and once you walk in you see all the smoke from the tables cooking.
For our party of 8, there were 2 grills, which was enough but the grills were on the smaller side. But, no biggie.
Michelle was our server and she was just awesome!!! She was very sweet, always attentive to our orders and helped suggest what we should order. The meats came out as fast as they could. From what I can remember, my favs were the short ribs and the bacon wrapped asparagus.
Honestly, I don’t remember being overly full, (like I can get at an AYCE) cause we did a lot of talking/​cooking/​drinking. But, that’s fine with me. I don’t like having food coma! The lychee soju is a winner!!! Sweet, cold and went down smooth. ;-) They had a couple of dipping sauces to compliment the cooked meat. I really like the cilantro one!
A few minor things: they were our of fried eggs, they don’t serve banchan and we had to wait about 10 minutes cause they had to cook rice. Other than that, it’s a great group atmosphere with plenty of TV’s.