Baekjeong Lynnwood
Korean barbecue restaurant · Lynnwood ·
USDA Prime grade meats, attentive staff, and tabletop grilling
USDA Prime grade meats, attentive staff, and tabletop grilling
"This California import has a contemporary feel and a welcoming staff that’s impressively attentive and helpful even when meeting the demands of a full dining room. The meats and other ingredients are high quality, with cooking executed well both in the kitchen and at the table. The menu is safe enough, especially with its meat combination platters, to not scare off the suburban Lynnwood crowd (the restaurant is located at Alderwood Mall), with some items (like small and large intestines) available for those who dare try them. The mountain tripe fried rice is an excellent starter, bursting with flavor." - Meg van Huygen, Jay Friedman, Eater Staff
"This California import has a contemporary feel and a welcoming staff that’s impressively attentive and helpful even when meeting the demands of a full dining room. The meats and other ingredients are high quality, with cooking executed well both in the kitchen and at the table. The menu is safe enough, especially with its meat combination platters, to not scare off the suburban Lynnwood crowd (the restaurant is located at Alderwood Mall), with some items (like small and large intestines) available for those who dare try them. The mountain tripe fried rice is an excellent starter, bursting with flavor." - Meg van Huygen, Jay Friedman, Eater Staff
"I noted Baekjeong’s glossy Lynnwood outpost in Alderwood Mall as the LA-hailing KBBQ revered for USDA Prime and better meats—bringing customer favorites like short ribs and pork jowl and expanding its menu to include new lunch and bar options in this first larger-menu location." - Adam H. Callaghan
"At its new Lynnwood location in Alderwood Mall, I found Baekjeong Korean Barbecue — hailed as Los Angeles’ best KBBQ chain — which opened its first West Coast location outside Southern California on September 19 after a substantial delay from an originally planned July opening. Each metal-topped table is outfitted with its own overhead hood that funnels meat fumes up to the high ceiling and out of the restaurant, and the airy, modern space could just as easily be located in LA or Seoul as in the outskirts of Seattle. While Baekjeong doesn’t offer the expensive luxury meats (like A5 Japanese wagyu) that some other KBBQ spots specialize in, all the meat here is USDA Prime or better, with options including whole boneless ribeye steaks, boneless short ribs, thin-sliced pork belly, outside skirt steak, thin-sliced brisket, and pork jowl; the menu also includes organ meats such as beef mountain tripe, beef large intestine, and beef abomasum, sometimes served marinated in multiple ways. Beyond the cook-it-yourself barbecue, I found ready-to-eat dinner dishes (various hot and cold noodle bowls, mixed seafood soondubu stew, beef brisket and tofu stew, mountain tripe fried rice, stir-fried squid with noodles, and several types of bibimbap) and surprising lunch items like a grilled cheese stuffed with beef bulgogi, what looks like a straight-up cheeseburger, and bento-style boxes with rice and side dishes. The chain began in 2003 by a Korean professional-wrestler-turned-reality-show-star, was brought to Los Angeles in 2012 by Michael Chon and the Kijung Hospitality Group (gaining a loyal following and a spot on Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants in 2015), and is now expanding on the West Coast with a ninth location opening in San Jose this fall. It’s located at 3000 184th Street Southwest, Suite 922, and is open 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday, 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday." - Jade Yamazaki Stewart
"A Korean barbecue chain hailed as Los Angeles’ best KBBQ, Baekjeong is coming to Lynnwood’s Alderwood Mall next month; founded by a Korean professional wrestler in 2003 and introduced to Los Angeles in 2012 by Michael Chon and the Kijung Hospitality Group (and later named by Jonathan Gold on his 101 Best Restaurants list), the Lynnwood location will be the brand’s first with a larger menu including new lunch and bar offerings while continuing to use USDA Prime–grade meats and customer favorites like short ribs and pork jowl." - Jade Yamazaki Stewart