KalbeQ

This restaurant is now closed. A new Korean BBQ place called Top Chef opened in the same location.

Their bulgolgi was to die for. I miss them :(
I tried that new OMG bbq or whatever and had the worst Korean bbq experience ever. Inattentive waitresses, and un-​flavorful meats.
Can’t believe they’re slowly replacing KalbeQ in reviews and popularity.
I wonder why they closed.
People complained about the service but I never had much problems.
It’s going to be hard not comparing the meats…

This place used to be so good when they first opened. Unfortunately, those days seem to be gone. Service is lacking and their credit card machine still seems to be down. We received 10% off as compensation I’m guessing.
We came in on a weekday night and were only one of 3 – 4 tables and yet still had to wait for our orders. The only good thing that I still appreciate is the taste and quality of the food. I will definitely be calling beforehand to see if their credit card machine works before I come in next time, if they aren’t already closed since that’s where they seem to be headed.

Quite the selection and the meet quality is decent too as far as not being frozen solid.
What I feel this place lacks is service.

It’s a shame to see the recent negative reviews for KalbeQ. Those reviews do have some merit. We went there early Saturday evening when they were not busy for their all you can eat BBQ. The service was far from stellar. The server forgot a couple of our orders and never refilled my wife’s water. The problem seems to be that they simply do not have enough help; for most of the time, we only saw two servers for the entire restaurant which obviously was not enough. Even with the service issues, I gave them three stars because the food and selection is really good; it is far superior to the other Korean BBQ in town.
I really hope this place improves because it would be a crying shame to see Simi’s only decent Korean BBQ go down the tubes.

Terrible terrible terrible service.
Food is good, but service is absolutely terrible. We came here for dinner, waited for 2 hours, complained, waited some more. We ended up getting about a quarter of what we ordered. 2 people in our party left an hour deep and went to in-​n-​out. We were a party of 14, at $ 20 a person, that’s $ 280. We received about $ 30 worth of food total. Had to fight about the tab too. Didn’t go too smooth.
There are only 2 servers here. And at least 10 packed tables.
Bad experience. Not impressed.

Despite not liking Korean barbecue, I still think KalbeQ deserves four stars.
Korean AYCE restaurants kinda stress me out. They usually involve time limits and plate restrictions — I don’t want fine-​print with my dinner. I also don’t love cooking my own meats at the table. I feel Korean BBQ invests a lot of trust in the average diner to not salmonella-​up the whole joint.
KalbeQ involves all the above factors, but personal preference aside, it’s a good spot if Korean BBQ is what you’re looking for. While the décor is pretty barren and cold, the menu, food quality, and service are all a thumbs up.
I love that this place is a successful mom-​and-​pop shop. Whatever time you venture into KalbeQ, you’ll definitely be served by either or both of the husband-​and-​wife owner team. Service may be a little slow to start, but just sit tight — they’ll get you everything you need.
The namesake Kalbisal is the definite stand out. Super marinated & not too fatty, this beef cut was our table’s favorite. While the $ 20 AYCE menu includes a variety of appetizers & soups, we weren’t super impressed with anything prepped from the kitchen.
KalbeQ is pretty consistently buzzing, so be prepared to wait a bit on a weekend night. I also recommend bringing cash, because they have a sweet little 10% off perk if you don’t pay with a card.

Just don’t do it! The food is not worth the nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and GI distress I’m still experiencing 3 days later.
It might have been unsanitary handling or my eagerness to eat (perhaps undercooked meat and had not been grilled enough). Nevertheless, I’ve eaten in developing countries with less repercussions.
The service was poor since there was only one waitress running the entire restaurant, with another lady at the counter.
If you were fortunate to get the food since often there were long pauses and delays in being serviced or our requests being forgotten.
In a side note, I did lose over 4 or 5 lbs in dysentery! Good luck

Walk in on a Tuesday evening, only 4 tables out of about 11 tables are occupied. «Oh cool, service will be good» that’s what we thought as we walked in.
Nope. This was not the case. We had to request service several times throughout our stay at KalBeQ. Often our requests would be ignored. We nicely asked to have our grill changed, our waitress proceeded to help 2 other tables and changed their grill. Once more we requested to have a grill changed. I’ll make the rest of the story short for you guys… It’s been about 30 minutes since we requested our check. By the way, we never got our water refilled even once, or a even a «how is everything?».
I had to edit my review. We are still waiting because they did not count how much cash was given… really??? It has now been almost an hour since we requested our check.

Setup and service was a tad bit off … But at least the beef was alright.
There was no one at the front greeting customers. We couldn’t even see any of the employees since the first room was completely empty. So we stood there for a good 5 minutes until we decided to go in a little further inside to find someone to seat us. When we finally found someone, we were only allowed to sit at a specific table even though there were 6 other booths readily available and empty. Many of which were never even occupied during our stay.
Communication between the servers seemed bad and slow. We had about 3 different waitresses and they all kept coming back presenting the same questions that the last ones had already asked us about our drinks and orders. I believe they forgot about one of my main orders until i brought it up twice to two different waitresses.
All you can eat for $ 20 isn’t a bad deal… Although you get a 120 min. limit and any extra dishes you don’t finish gets charged on your card.

Sad to say this place is slowly going downhill or I’m just coming on really bad days.
Every time I’ve been back something happens. On a number of times the waitresses have left out multiple items we’ve ordered & when reminded they still forget to bring it out. The quality of the food has also changed, a few times I’ve left feeling a bit nauseous after eating here.
The last time my friend and I came here we weren’t told until after we were done eating that the cc machine was down & we could either pay in cash or leave them our card information & they’d charge us later and to be quite honest with how scatterbrained they seem at times I definitely did not want to leave my info with them. The last thing I wanted was them to discard those papers the wrong way & have that info in the wrong hands.
It makes me sad because when I first started coming here this place had great potential! I can’t say I won’t be back but it won’t be for a long time. I’m crossing my fingers they work on their quality & service.

I’ve been to KalbeQ a few times before, but today was a terrible experience. I came here with two of my friends and they wouldn’t let us sit at a 4 person booth saying that it was reserved for larger parties, so instead they sat us at a 4 person table… strange huh? Shortly after sitting down, i saw a group walk out about because they were waiting for 30 minutes and no one took their order. After 10 more minutes, the waitress finally came to our table and said they were short staffed and moved us to a 6 person booth closer to the kitchen… strange huh?
It didn’t get any better after that. The service was super slow and they didn’t even bring out several things that we ordered. To make matters worse, their credit card machine didn’t work so they had to write down our credit card information to change it later. All in all, a terrible experience. I would give them 1 star, but +1 star for being better the times before.

Great all you can eat Korean BBQ spot outside of Korea Town. A large selection of choices and all types of marinated meats. Also, you can’t beat the price at $ 20 for the quality your getting. The only reason I’m giving it a 4 star and not a 5 is because they don’t have a liquor license so no Soju or Beer to wash down the food. They claim they’ll be getting it soon but I’ve been hearing that from them since they opened.

Horrible service I ever experienced !!!
It seems like they only have 2 waitress working in a such big area.
I don’t understand if it is Asian culture or what it is. All if them seems very unhappy and you literally have to yell to get their attention.
I have been waited for at least for more than half hour and no one serve me.
Anyway food is alright. I will never go again.

After watching Vin Diesel slay the vile witch queen with my buddies, they decided to bring me here for the after movie discussion and eating portion of our day. Unsure of what I had signed up for, I went in with an open mind and empty belly.
The entryway was quite darkened, a drastic change from the bright Simi Valley sun that hung in the air. As we walked into the place, we made it about halfway to the back to the restaurant before somebody saw us, and we were quickly steered us towards a nearby table. The place was mostly empty, with just one other table occupied with a group of kids.
My friends pointed to the menu, and showed me my options. For a twenty, I could order pretty much anything on the menu, pretty much as often as I’d like. Well that’s a pretty neat idea. Looking around, the place is very modern, with lots of right angles to the place. The table we were at was also quite bright. I liked that. It made taking the obligatory Unilocal photos that much easier. The waitress placed what seemed an unending supply of dips and toppings on the table as well. I barely had room for my own food amongst the assorted dishes of stuff. Waitress came around for round one, and I took a stab at some chicken stuff and a Spam Musubi appetizer. My buddies also ordered assorted meat & appetizer items for themselves.
Before too long, the waitress came back with a few plates of meat, fired up the burner for us, and we began cooking our lunch. We cooked everything and shared it. The first plate of meat stuck to the burner, as they had forgotten to spray it with whatever non-​stick coating they normally use. While the meat was cooking, I did enjoy the Spam appetizer greatly. While it’s a new and interesting concept, I’m still balancing on the fence with this whole newfangled «we pay you money, but then cook our own food.» concept.
We had three rounds or ordering until we all agreed to wave the white flag of surrender. Three times we had each of us ordered a meat thing, cooked and shared it. We were pretty full when we waddled out of the place. While each meaty order was pre-​seasoned and good, most of them spat hot grease at us each time we reached in to move or pick up something. It became a challenge to cook or retrieve meat without the sparks of pain along your arm.
While I was all-​you-​can-​eating, I explored the appetizer menu a bit as well, the bulgolgi quesedillas, the cheesy corn, and the spam musubi each were interesting in their own way. The corn wasn’t quite as cheesy as the picture though. But it was certainly a healthy addition to my meal.
After eating, we took care of the bill and exited the place back out into the mid-​day sun. While it was certainly a nifty experience, and a neat place, I’m okay with it. The people are polite and nice and all. It’s just not my thing. Thank you KalbeQ.

The food is good, probably the best for Korean in Simi.
My complaint is about the service. Since they opened the service has slowly deteriorated. They also have a new rule about only being able to order a certain number of items at a time, which would be okay if someone would actually come by our table. We felt like we had to wait a long time and flag someone who wasn’t even the server down to get rice. Just kind of ruins the experience of going out for dinner.

There is KBBQ in the valley everyone. I repeat there is decently good KBBQ in the valley.
This place is pretty hidden, so don’t be surprised if you look around and miss it the first time. I walked inside and it was pleasantly bigger than I had expected. Not huge, but definitely could fit a decent amount. We came on a Sunday night and shocker, we were the only ones there at 8:30pm.
KalbeQ has more than meat, but a lot of appetizers, sides, and other fun dishes that you can order. I think that is what really stands out at this place is that you’re not stuck doing a standard KBBQ. The quality of the meats otherwise are pretty decent, not oh my god, amazing, but pretty good. I appreciate that they have some unusual cuts that other places do not serve (black pepper and garlic beef for starters) that were fun to try. Using the brisket taste test, I’d say meat is of upper average quality but not quite at good. The Kalbe actually tasted better than the brisket, so guess they live up to their name.
Watch out, there’s some items on the menu that you have to pay extra to order. These items are in the yellow box. Don’t be fooled and order them unless you really want them.
Service was good. Definitely some waiters still more peppy than others at night, but that’s what happens when you come in before closing, folks.
I don’t think I’ll be driving back to Simi just for this place, but if you’re in the area, why not? $ 19.99 all you can eat for two hours with choices on the menu serving everyone.

There are so many things wrong with this place, I’m not even sure where to start.
Generally, I don’t give out 1 stars. My methodology usually takes into account a number of different things (i.e. Food quality, taste, Efficiency, Cleanliness, Service, etc) and usually, at the very least, I would give a 2 start rating… but after a lot of thought, I couldn’t bring myself to rate this place more than a 1.
There were absolutely zero redeeming factors about this restaurant.
I’ll start with the service. This is an AYCE KBBQ restaurant. While I know service is a bit limited as most AYCE places are «do it yourself», I would expect that when we place our orders the waitresses would at least get the order correct. She literally forgot 4 of the items that we ordered. …she never brought them to us. When we reminded the manager we got a dessert, he acknowledged it then literally went to the front of the restaurant and sat down. He never told the waitress. WTF. Seriously.
Further the place is totally disorganized. Who brings out the meat first before all of the stuff that’s supposed to go with the meat???
Ventilation — I swear to you the ventilation system was not turned on. Partway through the grilling process I was convinced I was a step away from getting lung cancer. Exaggeration? Maybe… but completely validated. I was inhaling the smoke and coughing. I had to move my chair away until they changed our grill. Those ventilation systems above the grill are all for show. They have these dinky air purifiers next to each table to take care of the smoke. This is completely unacceptable and ridiculous.
The food was okay. That was all. Okay.
I’m done. I’ll be writing for ages if I don’t stop now.
…just… if you have another option — go there.

I’m quite saddened that I have decided I am no longer driving to Simi Valley to this establishment.
Trust me, it was good… Really good! I would go often and even celebrated my recent birthday there with 25 of my closest friends.
But yesterday, for mother’s day, everything was not as it seemed. The meat was not tasty at all. It seemed like they changed the company they used to buy the meat from. The brisket had no marbly fat like it used to and the short rib had a bland taste! Short rib at every Korean restaurant I’ve tried ALWAYS had taste. Wth. The portions are smaller, which is OK since it’s AYCE, but it is a change. And the worst part: they stopped the daily promotions on May 1^st! Ugh, another change, but this change isn’t a good one.
Goodbye KalbeQ. Maybe I’ll come back once in awhile if someone is celebrating something there, but I’d strongly advise them not to.

This is the new «go to» spot for Korean BBQ! Simi Valley is really trying to prove that they can compete with anyone when it comes to great food and an awesome dinning experience. I went to a Korean BBQ joint out in downtown LA and I really enjoyed the experience, so I kept bugging my fiancé about going again. We came across this place on Unilocal and after reading Dora B’s review and confirming with her through a few complements, I knew this was definitely a place we needed to check out.
Once we rolled up and walked inside we loved the interior décor and smell of BBQ taking over the place. It’s a very nice comfy spot with flat screen TV’s (Bulls game was on so I was in heaven) and plenty of room to relax and get your chef skills going! The service was quick and they were very attentive. They kept our water glasses full and made sure we had plenty of meat to throw on the grill!
The only negative was that it was a bit chilly inside but it was understandable considering all the grills being lit up in the place plus the smoke everywhere requires plenty of ventilation. So make sure you bring a jacket or sweater. Other than that we had an awesome AYCE experience for 19.99 a person!
Make sure you get that Bulgolgi everything! (Chicken, Pork and Beef) I don’t know what it’s seasoned with but it’s the «Bizness»
OOOOO
5 out of 5 Afros