Rice Bar

I love this restaurant because of the healthy, tasty vegetarian/​vegan options (there’s plenty for meat-​eaters too). It’s a regular in my lunch rotation. I think this is the place where I was introduced to black rice, which is loaded with antioxidants. If you are looking for the most traditional bimbimbap, this won’t be it; but I appreciate the variety of bases, toppings, proteins, and sauces. They also have a loyalty card – buy 10 bowls, get one free.

This is my go-​to lunch spot for something quick, healthy (ish), and delicious whenever I’m in the DC office. The staff is friendly, clean, and efficient — they streamline production by having you pick your selection off a paper menu, but then give you flexibility to add and remove things as you wish.
Which is great, because there are SO many options. Seaweed, eggplant, four kinds of tofu — egads! Good thing their bowls are only so large. And large they are — I usually split this up into two meals.
Pro tip: try EVERY SAUCE, just on different edges of your bowl. It’s like getting four different lunches! Also, come a little later (1:30) to avoid the rush.

Tons of food for the price. I thought it was a great value and healthy lunch option as well. The crew at lunch time when I went was super friendly, efficient and energetic. We got here shortly before the lunch rush started so we were able to get a table too otherwise it would have been take out. I must say it is one of my favorite places for lunch in the area. The best part is that you can even make your own combination bibimbap and do it even low carb with the salad version. Great flavor too!

It’s a once a week lunch for me.
Great rice bowl, soup, or bulgogi. I love the sauce station and the condiments and flavored water.

The exterior is a bit unassuming and I had low expectations coming in. I pass by the shop frequently and am always skeptical about Korean food in DC. I wish I had checked out Rice Bar sooner! They’ve got the service down and will move customers through the line quickly during lunch rush hour. I’m a fan of the bulgogi bibimbap — the spicy chicken was a bit dry and there was too much gochujang in the marinade. The ingredients are fresh and they have an efficient system going.
It’s not quite what Mama Kim would have dished out, but for a quick lunch stop, Rice Bar is the perfect spot.

What the heck. I can’t believe this place is only rated 3.5 stars. Which I guess I should be glad about because if the rating was higher, the lines would be even longer around lunch time.
As you’ve probably gleaned, I love this place. I work one block away and noticed Rice Bar because I was trying to hunt down Carvy’s next door which, on a side note, has a Unilocal rating that’s too high. Rice Bar is very unassuming because the main part of the sign just says Bibimbap. The actual Rice Bar sign/​logo is small in comparison. Anyway, the simplify it, this place is like a Korean Chipotle — if Chipotle had high quality and greater selection of ingredients. Your meal basically has 3 components — the carbs, toppings, protein. For the carb, you get a choice of different types of rice or noodles. Four toppings on top of that — I usually go with seaweed, mushroom, eggplant and a random fourth. For the protein, kalbi (short rib) is the way to go — a little more expensive compared to the competition but exquisite. You also get a choice of soup/​broth (this may only be the case with the noodles but don’t quote me) — either miso or clear. Both are good but I stick with clear every time.
Man, I’m salivating while writing this review. Sad that I live so far away. :(

This place was a different experience than eating Korean in any other restaurant. You get to customize your food, which is pretty neat. Service is friendly and quick if you are taking to go or dining in. I felt the food was not worth its money as far as taste goes, but the portion is pretty big. I thought the restaurant was in a good location where there is a lot of people walking by, but it can get packed around lunch time. We shared a table right next to a couple due to limited space. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite place to grab Korean food, but I would come here if it was on the way for a quick meal.

I work a few blocks from this place and feel like I probably make a quarterly pilgrimage… sometimes that kimchi-​craving strikes and it is FIERCE. I always go with bibimbap, either based off one of their creations or a make-​your-​own kinda deal. I believe they have noodles too — I know they have naengmyeon in the summer. My one complaint is that you have to pay extra for an egg.

I was meeting up with a mentee for dinner and stumbled upon this place. It looked interesting, but I’m always skeptical of Korean restaurants in DC just because (as everyone knows) all of the best Korean spots are outside the District. That said, it’s a neat concept. At the risk of sounding exactly like other Unilocal friends, it’s like the Chipotle of Korean food. There’s really no better way to succinctly describe it. It has all of the traditional options, like Bibimbap, with the added bonus that you can customize it to your tastes and preferences. While your have the option to customize, you can also choose from a selection of preset house bowls. It’s certainly far from an authentic experience, but they give the people of DC what they want… options.
Overall, the service is fast and friendly while the food is just okay. I appreciate the concept and effort of Rice Bar, I’m simply more of a traditionalist when it comes to my Korean food and prefer authenticity. Although it’s not a bad place to grab a quick bite for lunch or dinner, it’s just not a place that I’ll be frequenting and I’ll stick to my favorite Korean spots in VA.

Good but pricey Chipotle style Korean. Paid $ 14 for noodle soup, which seems high.

Easy place to grab a quick and custom lunch.
I opted for the Udon noodles with seaweed salad, edamame, bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots, kalbi short ribs, teriyaki, sesame seeds and sesame oil. The quality of the ingredients was a bit of a letdown. While the noodles, edamame and beef were good, the sauces, seaweed salad, and bamboo shoots were a flavor and texture letdown. For $ 14, I’d also expect significantly more meat (think small, disappointing scoop at Chipotle). I suggest opting for one of the Ricebar Signature Bibimbap options, they are more economical and hopefully more flavorful. If I liked eggs and wasn’t allergic to carrots, I would’ve been all over the Kalbi.

The food isn’t amazing and I wouldn’t make a special trip out for it, but I like this place a lot for a quick lunch break from work. It’s $ 10 – 12 a bowl, which is pretty big and lasts me 1.5 meals.
Service here is always super friendly and quick. As soon as you enter, there’s a stack of order slips and pencils – you take one and check off what you want to get. If you’re not sure, hop over to the bar area and take a look at the offerings. I like the mushrooms, carrots, burdock root, and zucchini for my veggies and both kimchi and bulgogi for my premium/​meat toppings.

The Chipotle-​ization of fast food has really taken over… and I like it! And when it pops up and is done successfully in a mom & pop shop as opposed to a chain, I like it even more.
Rice Bar successfully does just that, offering up Korean classic bibimbap dishes or noodle bowls. You can go with the preset items (i.e., bulgogi, kalbi, kimchi, etc.) or go ahead and make up your own amalgamation of flavors. This is still a fast food establishment, so don’t expect that the rice is perfectly steamed or that the meats are fresh off the grill. The food is pre-​made and the kitchen will continuously pump out refills of items, but you may just be a bit unlucky and get the last egg that has cooled to room temp and not as runny as you’d like. But for chipotlesque Korean food, Rice Bar is solid.
Each time I’ve gone, the place is packed. With both indoor and outdoor options, there’s a decent amount of options to sit if you can snag a chair. But as with most downtown lunch establishments, the food is set up for take-​out. And to make that even easier, Rice Bar has a very nifty online ordering system that should satisfy even the most on-​the-​go eater.
Rice Bar… thank you for doing you and being so close to my office.

I’ve been to the Rice Bar quite a few times now. It’s great for stopping by during my lunch hour. If you’re looking for a quick and easy bite of Korean Food, this is the place in down town DC!
The Rice Bar is like Korean «chipotle». You start by saying if you want rice of noodles. And then you get to add whatever you want. Take a little slip, fill out your veggies and protein and sauce, and in less than 5 minutes you are walking out with a tasty bowl of Korean food!
If this is your first time heading there I REALLY recommend checking out what the options for sides are before you order them. For examples, you can add «cucumbers» to your bibimbap. But it is a slightly spicy cucumber «slaw» and not just chunks of cucumber. Still tasty! But deceiving…
For $ 8 you can have a two portion (or one if you are very hungry) vegetarian bibimbap. For a dollar or two more, you can have your meat!
Great to try and go back to more than once! Enjoy!

Pretty good lunch option, but overpriced. Today I had an adequate bulgolgi bibimbap for carryout. The veggies were fresh, bulgogi had a tasty marinate but was dry, and the rice like I remember from a year in Korea. You can pre-​order on Seamless and avoid what appears to be an always-​lengthy line snaking out the door. Think of a Chipotle-​style lunch assembly line for bibimbap or noodles, but at twice the price.
On that note, I can’t help but feel a bit jacked for what I got. A moderate-​sized lunch portion with a side of baekju kimchi was $ 14. I’ll probably try one of the noodle options for lunch next week, but don’t imagine it will become a standby. Especially not with the bibimbap place in the food court downstairs at K and 19^th selling the same thing for $ 6 – 7.

This place was ok. The line during lunch hour wasn’t too bad. The place has a good system down for taking orders. When you walk in, they have sheets off to the left and you can mark what you want in your bibimbap bowl to hand to the guy behind the counter. Your bowl then gets built in front of you. If you like seeing what goes into your bowl, I’m told that you can also wait to tell the guys what you want as your bowl is getting built.
The food though was just ok. I got the beef bulgogi, which was slightly dry. Though the meat had good flavor. I also got the egg, which was overlooked so it wasn’t that runny anymore. The lady putting the egg in my bowl was also having difficulty grabbing the egg, so she ended up breaking up a piece of it and only giving me part of the egg.

This is my go-​to place when I need relatively healthy, vegetarian-​friendly food quickly. You get great bang for your buck with generous rice or noodle portions, depending on your preference, and you can customize every aspect of your meal. The staff is friendly, helpful, and patient, which is very much appreciated when you’re trying to pick out the best ingredients for your bowl.
I will probably never tire of going here because there are nearly limitless combinations of delicious items. I especially enjoy the udon noodles with a miso soup base, topped with spicy tofu, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, and bean sprouts, but I also love their bibimbab. I give them bonus points for going above-​and-​beyond the plain water option to provide free lemon and cucumber-​flavored waters.
They have free wifi and some outlets, so sometimes I stay around after lunch to work by remote. It does get very busy around lunchtime, so I would recommend coming early or later to beat the rush, but they also move quite quickly through long lines.

Meh. That’s the word or onomatopoeia for this place. I like that Koreans own and run it but their price for bibimbab is overpriced and isn’t even in a stone pot – which is the best way to have bibimbab.
This place is pretty popular and does over a specific dish. Though they have daily specials throughout the week, I find this place subpar and not worth the wait in line.
However the staff is really, really nice and pretty quick. Just wish they offered more of a diverse or higher quality Korean menu.

This has become my go-​to lunch when craving Korean food. I’d give it 5 stars, but it seems a little over-​priced… not quite sure, still adjusting to DC prices compared to Charlotte. With my frequent visits, maybe they’re taking advantage of a country bumpkin like me?
Anyways, what makes this place is the actual Korean sidedishes you can throw in the bibimbap bowl: Always get the radish, cucumber, bean sprouts, carrots, and bulgogi. Make sure to get the gochujang, sesame oil, and sprinkle of sesame seeds. It’s kinda sad though, I see they have geem, but charge 79 cents — what a bummer. Oh, and I’d probably avoid the fried egg — just doesn’t look good. Can’t really speak to anything else, too Korean to try anything different here!
The best part, honestly, is that they are fast and friendly to boot. It’s mad quick — in and out within 2 minutes. (TWSS) Doesn’t even matter if there’s line ahead of you, seems to be a well-​oiled machine. And friendly! Somehow the dude that’s starts you off with the rice bowl in the beginning always finds time to say thanks for coming as you head out the door. I mean, it’s a small touch but they have awareness.
I’ll continue swinging by here for lunch once a week.
dmo out.

Bibimbap made to order?
Make your own noodle soup?
Authentic Korean ingredients — delicious black rice, yummy veggies and so many combinations possible! Long lines and super crowded at lunch but worth the wait:)
Love the complimentary barley tea and cucumber water.