corychung

I'd say there's a multitude of factors that makes a KBBQ restaurant Americanized.

Definitely the way food is made and cooked is important.

Overly sweet BBQ meat. Had bulgogi at this one restaurant and it tasted like candy meat, was so awfully sweet to me. Authentic bulgogi isn't even sweet, or its barely sweet.

All their meats are processed and preserved in a sweet marinade of some sort.

Limited side dish selection. If they don't have garlic, jalapeños/Korean chili peppers, sesame oil, perilla leaves, or lettuce wraps (sometimes you have to request these); this could be another sign of them not being authentic.

No Korean alcoholic beverages to be seen like soju or Korean plum wine for example.

Americanized KBBQ spots tend to be All you can eat.

The menu is only in English.

They only offer fried rice, not white rice.

And so on..

By the way, I don't mean that a Americanized KBBQ spot is bad, there are great ones too!

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edit: yes bulgogi is traditionally a little bit sweet, but man i promise it shouldn't be like candy that I've tasted at some places these days.

Oh that's called Nurungji. But why would she use ice water lol? But you said it was warm?

My grandpa likes it when the server adds hot water or korean barley tea to the crispy rice stuck on the hot stone bowl. So that its easy for the rice to come off. It becomes like a little hot water rice soup lol. Grandpa said he ate that when he was a kid cause he was dead broke!

Wrong reasons, as in awful experience? Yes. I had 4 highschoolers that were eating for 3 hours, back when i worked at a cheap buffet kbbq. Not only did they eat so god damn much, they were messy. Throwing rice at each other, dropping all their utensils, and adding random side dishes on the grill that arent even meant to be cooked.

Loud group of kids, giggling the whole time while i cooked.

When they checked out, they left no tip and drew a fat cock on it.. lol

I mean it is what it is

TELL HIM/HER it's your first time. Ask your server for a full break down of the menu. Ask a lot of questions to your server. He/she will gladly tell you what will happen, what the side dishes are, what meat is being cooked, what to pair side dishes with, how to eat it, what something is made out of, etc.

If he/she doesn't have many tables, we love spending time talking to our customers because we are at the table so much cooking for them.

Where I live, you definitely want to avoid the cheap all you can eat places, unless that's what you want.

I work at a no all you can eat (Non-AYCE) place, and the quality really shows. We only offer combo meat platters and A la carte. The marbling and presentation is real. Remember, quality over quantity! You will get full from the meat and side dishes in combos anyways. I always have to pull out a to-go boxes for my customers cause its too much food even though its not all you can eat! haha

Ask if theres sesame oil, lettuce wraps, garlic, korean chili peppers, rice paper, perilla leaves, ssamjang, soybean soup, etc. We have a lot of hidden menu items that we don't give to regular people unless they ask for it lol. And its usually only the korean people and seasoned veterans that know lol.

Once you are a veteran kbbq eater, watch and learn how servers cook their meat, if he or she is a good cook. Knowing how to cook your own meat and control the fire switch will yield greater taste. Cause servers can't always be at the table cooking, so the meats won't always come out perfect. Maybe its burned, dried out, smushed, etc. But when you know how to cook it yourself, you can cook it to how you like it and not have to rely on a server who is busy with 4 other tables. Girls love it when you know how to cook too!

Start with non-marinade meats, and then try marinated meats. Not the other way around.

Request grill changes often, to maintain good quality of the meats being cooked. Sugary marinades tend to ruin a grill easily.

If it sounds good, try it! Come to a KBBQ place with an open mind.

Bring a large group of friends so that you can try all the different meats and drinks offered.

Throw some kimchi on a grill and cook it, same with bean sprouts.

Hope you learned some new tips :)

ATL korean native as well! Honestly, I'd go to 985 or 678 on a weekday. Faster service when it's not busy. It's close to where I live to. And has that high quality taste I look for, and a rich side dish selection.