Gen Korean BBQ House

We came here as a family for my son's 18th birthday. We were very impressed with the atmosphere, variety of sides, appetizers, meats, and drinks. My margarita was delicious. Everything we ordered was delicious. They were really on top of switching out our BBQ grill top often. As soon as we got there they immediately got slammed. Every employee was running around working their butts off. I only rated one star down because it seemed they needed more waiters or something in order to properly handle the workload of how busy it was. We had to ask bussers for water refills and other things we needed between the times we saw our waiter. Overall it was a wonderful experience, there are just a few kinks they could work out.

Good food and reasonable all-you-can-eat pricing. The meat quality was solid and banchan were fresh. However, service was lacking - our server was hard to find when we needed to place orders, and another server had to step in to help us. The restaurant wasn’t particularly busy at the time. Korean BBQ works best with attentive service, so this was disappointing. Worth trying if you don’t mind potentially slow service, but hopefully they can improve in this area.

Good KBBQ spot, won’t complain since it’s a chain and so far we haven’t had any issues with the meat. It does feel like it’s frozen, but that’s expected and totally fine. Service is really slow, but seems like they’re low on staff. Not the staff’s fault, and they were still friendly. Lunch price is great for the variety of meats you get. I liked the beef belly and daechang (large intestines)

We went for an early dinner around 3-4pm and there was little to no wait, which was nice. However, the way their servers were so busy running around all the time (making it a little difficult to call them over), they definitely could use more help. I honestly felt bad for our server with the way he was needed at like every table at all times. Their banchans were already sitting at the table when we were seated. There were only five different kinds—the potato salad was the best one. We got the steak, beef brisket, and beef belly. We also wanted their pork belly but they were out. The brisket started breaking apart into almost like ground meat as we cooked it. This has never happened to me before at other kbbq’s I’ve tried. My mom said the meat must’ve been old. The steak was good. We ended up getting three servings of it since we weren’t really interested in any of the other meats. We also got japchae and a bowl of soondubu which had a lot of tomatoes than I would’ve preferred. Both were ok. Overall, the food was okay but for me it’s not worth the $35. They didn’t even have pork belly which is my kbbq staple. The servers were nice but overall quality of service could’ve been better. I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

First time dining here. Came on a Friday night around 5:30 or so. Was seated within 10-15minutes. Wasn’t immediately acknowledged by wait staff. Food was relatively quick to come out so that’s a positive. Was 218$ for 4 people. The process of cashing out was a hastle as it was hard to grab the attention of the waiter, after asking for receipt we waited around 20minutes for someone to bring the receipt.

There wasn’t any QR waitlist so we checked in with the host. The meat quality was just okay. The brisket looked super frozen and when cooked was very flakey. I appreciated the assortment of other items and I think the best thing I ate wasn’t the meat but the dumplings unfortunately.

I have lived in Seattle for over 20 years. It's sad to say that Seattle doesn't have a lot of awesome restaurants. I never experienced a great or even an awesome restaurant, until now. The food at Gen Korean BBQ House was excellent. Top-notch fresh food, with many varieties, with friendly staff, and their beautiful decorative designs made the atmosphere amazing. But what made my first experience worth it? It's the amazing service that my wife and I received from our server, Han. Han was so helpful and professional in assisting us with our choices. She didn't have us waiting a long time as most servers do. She was excellent and knowledgeable. She is by far the best server in Seattle! Mahalo Han and Gen Korean BBQ House for a beautiful dinner. You made our experience priceless.

I was with a party of five and had some of the most outstanding service I’ve ever had! Servers were attentive and checked up on us frequently. Highly recommend adding on the dinner menu for all you can eat! Definitely worth it. We will be back again! Only have a picture of the first couple of meats we ordered because we were all hungry and couldn’t wait. Everything was good!

Food was solid and service was exceptional. The beef belly and Kalbi were the best. Jeff did a great job serving our table.

Food was bomb, never had Korean bbq like this before. Jerome was our server and did an exceptional job. He explained the menu and all the different types of meat offered. He was very knowledgeable on everything ! I couldn't have asked for a better experience !

Our server Jeff was fantastic. Helped changed the grill frequently, gave recommendations for which meats to order. Would check up on us frequently to make sure we had a pleasant time and ask if we needed anything. Because of Jeff, the would come back to this establishment

Gen is one of our favorite korean bbq chain restaurants. So when we learned that they were opening near us, we were ecstatic. The value and quality of the food received is really good. On the AYCE list, there's so many option for the price including all the appetizers and desserts. There is a premium and regular menu. I've tried both, and for me, there's already so many options for the regular. The tacos were fun interactive to add tot he experience. Our favorites were the brisket, marinated beef fingers and the large intestines. Located in the mall, providing ample of parking and can go for a window shopping after your meal. Service was great.

I came for lunch on a Sunday and there wasn't any waitlist to check into. After speaking with the host, we were seated in a few minutes. Staff were overall good. The ambiance of Gen was not too bad - definitely catered towards the younger crowd. I didn't find the music too loud except in the bathroom which may be a good thing. For the food, I liked how Gen offers an assortment of non-kbbq items. The dumplings, cheese tonkatsu, and japchae were good. I love brisket when coming to kbbq but have never sene a brisket cut like Gen's. The brisket was super frozen and when cooked, flaked into lots of different pieces. Maybe it was just the day I visited. Overall Gen was just okay.

The food was great! Ambiance was great! Service was not up to par. I made a 6:30 reservation two days beforehand and they confirmed it for me. My party walks in @ 6:30 and they kept telling us "20 minutes" every 20 minutes until we FINALLY got sat at SEVEN THIRTY. An HOUR after we got there and we even had a reservation. We came to celebrate a birthday and it kind of put a damper on things. Our server made up for it though! He was great, attentive, and on top of everything we needed. They even sang happy birthday at the end

I rarely ever write reviews but my experience was so bad I have to write about this place. I was so excited to try this spot out with my best friends but unfortunately we had a bad experience and didn't even get to eat here! We walked in and there was no one at the front and I saw a QR code to join the waitlist, so I joined it and it said 5 parties ahead of us. Ok cool that's totally fine! But we noticed the restaurant was basically empty. Whatever, so we stood at the front just chatting and waiting. Maybe like 15 mins past and the list wasn't changing and there were three hostess literally right in front is us just hanging out and chatting, didn't even acknowledge us at all. Mind you we are litterally in front of them just standing there waiting. I went up to them and ask how much longer will it take to be seated and they just looked at me with a blank expression and said "oh there's no wait list". Like what??? So we just standing here for 15-20 minutes obviously waiting to be seated and they just ignored us the whole time?? Make it make sense??? Whatever so we are hungry at this point and just wanted to be seated so they sat us down, thank god! But here we are waiting ANOTHER 20 mins, no waiter passing by. No one asked us if we wanted water or to order a drink, or just to check up on us, nothing. We look around and for some reason we see 3-4 different groups of servers/waiters, maybe like 2-3 servers in those groups each. Literally just following each other around. Idk maybe they're training? Do they have all these workers training on the same day? why are there so many workers but no one checking on us? We look around at other tables who have been there longer and they don't even have their food either, just sitting and waiting. We asked a passing hostess if our waiter will be coming by and she said "oh! You want your server? Ok I'll go check" she never came back. (Mind you there has been no apology at all for waiting the whole time since we got to the restaurant) After another ten minutes of waiting and no one checking up on us we decided to leave. So yeah! Never coming back here again.

Went here for lunch on a Saturday with 3 others. The food itself was good, and there are certainly plenty of options to choose from with respect to meat and side dishes. The service was pretty slow though and I think it was mostly because there was only one water for what seemed like 10+ tables. I'd come back if I was at the mall and wanted kbbq. The ayce is worth it.

SUPERB! We tried the Premium so that we can have the Long Bone, Wagyu, Rib eye! I wish you have free small ice cream after!

My two friends and I paid for the Premium Dinner option. I don't know if it was worth Premium. My favorite meat that we had was the Honey Soy Beef Belly, which we ordered twice if not more. We tried a bunch of the different meats, but none of them really stood out and wowed us. After the Honey Soy Beef Belly, our favorite item was the Hotteok - a Korean sweet pancake with powdered sugar. My Korean friend also ordered the Soondooboo Soup, which was not spicy at all according to him. (I also think it's funny how Sundubu is spelled because I've never seen it spelled like that.) We also tried the japchae, but the noodles were more chewy and hard than what you'd expect - we did not finish it. If you're looking for authentic KBBQ, I'd try restaurants in Federal Way or Lynnwood because GEN was not it. GEN Korean BBQ House is located in the Southcenter mall and depending on the day and time, there can be a long wait.

Food quality: very good if you order premium meats and dishes Service: pretty good, our server was busy and often forgot our stuff but he was trying and was nice. Atmosphere: relaxed and nice Notes: the side dishes were not very good and didn't look fresh. The other dishes we ordered non KBBQ were pretty bland. Honestly if you come here purely for the premium meat then it can be worth it. If you're looking for amazing service, great side dishes, and great appetizers I'd say this isn't the place.

Dined in on a Friday to celebrate a birthday party. Sam our server was very patient and attentive with our large party. Great selection of meats, they even offer carne asada with tortillas and salsa. The food was very flavorful and the meat was juicy and tender. Overall a great experience. Located in the South Center mall, if In the area you should give this place a try!

I recently visited Gen Korean BBQ at their Tukwila location in Southcenter Mall for the second time. My first experience with Gen was years ago in California. I've got to say, the service here has definitely improved since their soft opening. Our server (I think his name was Jeff or John?) was super attentive and kept checking in on us, which was nice. If you're coming for lunch, keep in mind that the lunch pricing is only available Monday through Thursday. The meat quality is standard for a chain--nothing amazing, but still decent for the price. Last time I was here, their samjang sauce was a bit off, but it seemed better this time. For apps, I'd recommend the calamari over the Korean chicken bites--the chicken bites are more like nuggets than actual crispy chicken. The tofu soup is okay, but don't expect it to be like the super hearty, fully loaded kind you'd get at a dedicated soondubu spot. They don't have rice paper here, but they offer radish paper/slices instead. I like to finish my meal with a Korean hotteok order. Convenient kbbq spot without having to drive to Federal Way or Lynnwood.

Pretty average KBBQ in terms of quality meats, but there is a large selection of item, 41 to be exact for their dinner menu so there's something for someone. There's raw and cooked items, and we only ordered raw meats. They have banchans, and they were okay as well. It's a pretty modern vibe of a restaurant, with dark tones and loud music, I prefer the mom and pop restaurants and there's very few KBBQ in Renton. Our server was great though, Megan. She was attentive, offered suggestions, and was friendly! Food orders were quick and they're really diligent in changing the grill.

We decided to get Gens with a family permit. The brisket wasn't great, it was super dry. Everything else we got was great. Service was horrible: the service was really slow. Didn't look too busy but super slow. We haven't had water for the longest time before I asked. First time I ever went to AYCE KBBQ and my grill didn't have anything, cooking for a really long time lol.

The service took forever and the food was not as good as other kbbq places I've been to. The ambiance is cool though but not enough to warrant coming here again.

I've been coming to this kbbq for quite some time. I've highly recommended this restaurant to my family, friends and acquaintances. The food is delicious. Upgrade to premium, trust me it's worth it! My waitress, Shirley is awesome! She is friendly and very welcoming, constantly checks on me and refills beverages without me having to ask. She is very knowledgeable with the menu and makes dining at this restaurant establishment stress free. She is super sweet! Next time you dine at Gen Kbbq, ask for Shirley!

The overall vibes of Gen are exactly as you'd expect for a trendy KBBQ restaurant: loud k-pop music blasting, dim lights, servers speeding around, and a long line out the door. While we enjoyed our time, I don't know if I'd go back. Pros: Large all-you-can-eat menu with a lot of meat options that aren't included at other AYCE restaurants in the Seattle area. Service between rounds was pretty quick. Nice servers. Cons: The quality of the meat wasn't particularly great. Some things were yummy (yay pork jowl) while others were meh (anything wine-flavored). Not that I expect top tier for AYCE (you're paying for quantity not quality), but not great enough for me to want to put up with the long wait time for seats. Other notes: It was super loud, which is good if you want to party and get drunk, but not great for if you want to be able to have actual conversations with your tablemates. So, if you're going, set the right expectations. And remember, if all else fails, in beef belly we always trust. Lastly, I did want to add that our server, Christian, was super personable and helpful! He hooked us up! He was very attentive even though they were super busy and training new staff. He also recommended a bunch of items we hadn't thought about ordering, too.

We have been to Gens in Cali and this was not a let down. Food was super fresh and tasty. The staff is super nice and friendly but could be a smidge more attentive. Otherwise fantastic service grabbing plates and refreshments. Ambiance is great for families with teens. So great!!!

We came during lunch & wasn't crowded but still had to wait 30mins for 4 people. Staff were friendly but service was slow. I didn't like that they allowed to order only 4 items at a time for 4 people. We ended up waiting more for food than eating. Naturally, my kids got full while waiting after 1st round. All the appetizers were junk except for hotteok. Fried Calamari was not included in the lunch appetizers which they should've listed that on the menu. On our 2nd round, they ran out of honey soy beef belly which was a huge disappointment. I don't understand how they can run out of that when lunch was still going on for another hour & what about for dinner? I don't get it. Overall, this place is pretty good only if you're going to get the honey soy beef belly with just 2 people. Also, double check your bill bc they gave us a wrong bill. Such a bad experience on my bday lunch!

Having experienced Gen KBBQ at their LA and Hawaii locations, I knew what to expect when I visited again recently. At $35 per person for all-you-can-eat, it's hard to beat the value, especially with the wide variety of meats available. This time some cuts I ordered were kalbi, brisket, pork belly, jowl, and my personal favorite--beef belly. No matter the flavor, the beef belly never disappoints. The cheese katsu was surprisingly good. Despite the restaurant being busy, our server was incredibly attentive and friendly, which made the experience even better. The wait time was also relatively short, and if you do have to wait, the surrounding mall offers plenty to explore. Overall, Gen KBBQ remains one of my top choices for Korean BBQ, combining great prices with quality meats, service and the blue vibes haha.

Gen is a popular BBQ spot back home in Hawai'i, so when I found out they opened up one at Southcenter Mall, I had to go! My friend and I went during dinner time for the AYCEThere are a variety of options to select from, such as beef, pork, chicken, vegetables and even seafood! They also have specialty meat options, as well as specialty soju drinks When comparing this particular spot to the one's back home, I prefer the Gen back home on the islands. This location serves the meats still frozen everytime I have dined here and the space is not that large in relevance to the amount of people that come to eat. However, the staff have always been friendly and attentive every time I have gone here. They also keep the area fairl clean! Overall, I would still come here again just because the meats are affordable and it is located in the Southcenter Mall.

The food was nice, I definitely would've loved a chance to order more of a variety of sides but otherwise, it was good. They had a highchair for our child, the restaurant was clean, service was busy but overall great for a Saturday. Value for money!

$35 AYCE Friday night, bring a lot of people so you can tried different type of meat. My favorite is steak calamari. The spicy pork belly, slices are good, premium steak has big chuck of fat but the meat is still tender. Beef bulgogi is another one I like. The sides are not great. The appetizers, take your pick, I did not try any, but my friend like calamari ring. Salad is bitter, they should use different type of lettuces like in CA. I do like Gen in So Cal better. The service is good. They do have premium options by adding $20. The table boot is small.

Been here a few times and kept coming back in hopes it was just a bad visit but looks like it's been consistent. First visit when they first opened it was good. Good food and there was a set server for the tables but you can really grab the attention of any server. So the service was fast. Lots of servers so it was easy to grab someone's attention. Second visit we came back a few months later and the server already mentioned they were under staffed so understandable. The server would try to check up on us every now but we usually were able to grab an attention of another server to get our next rounds and dishes. Would be about ten minutes wait before we could grab the attention of someone and then another ten minutes for our meats to arrive. Third visit for Father's Day it looked like they were very under staffed because we only saw our server for our side and didn't even see any server anywhere to even try to get the attention of someone and we couldn't really find our server throughout our time there. About 20 minutes and sometimes more before we could find a server to grab the attention of but at least the meats would come right away. Fourth time since it's a new year today was hoping it would be better. It's early on a Sunday but they ran out of almost everything at 6:30pm. We sat down and they mentioned they ran out of brisket and beef belly. That's fine since it's just two meats out of the whole menu and we were able to order a good first round. However when it was time to order second round came and almost everything sold out. We just went with what the server recommended what was left but order two of them so it was just double of two meats. Third round we just ordered something that was left so we were able to get one more meat in for the third round. However every visit we come we usually get four meats for all four rounds. This time we barely got three rounds. Also, throughout our rounds the meats were actually sold out as we were eating so all the rounds were incomplete missing one or two meats so we probably altogether had one full round this visit.

First time, but won't be the last!!!!! The meat was delicious!!! I got the Garlic Samgyubsal (Pork Belly with a rich garlic sauce) & Garlic Chicken (Chicken thighs with rich garlic sauce). If you love garlic this is a definite must try. Normally places that say they have garlic flavored, it's kinda there, but barely. This one? Amazing, rich garlic flavor is an understatement! I loved it! My BF got the Gen Premium Steak & Premium Chadol. He really enjoyed it. The seasoning, the quality of the meat. Don't sleep on the Capri Soju either. I got the Passion Fruit & he got Strawberry! So good. Refreshing & fruity. Not too sweet! We'll be back soon!!

The food is good for its price. There is a lot of meat options you can choose from. The servers are quick to take your orders for every round. The wait times can be long at times to get seated.

Gen Korean BBQ has easily become my favorite AYCE KBBQ for its value for money and great quality meats! You can order 3 meats and 3 sides/apps at a time. I prefer not to order any sides because the quality/taste is mid and the portions are big - so you would get full faster. As for the meats, these are my favorites: Premium Marbling Center Cut Marinated Short Rib*, Premium Marinated Long Bone Short Rib Steak*, Honey Soy Beef Belly, K-Gochujang Beef Belly (if you like spicy food), Gen Signature Yangyum Galbi, Hawaiian Steak And these are the ones I didn't enjoy: Side Dishes/Apps - mid taste, big servings, will make you full fast Carne Asada* - too thick, you're better off getting other premium meats Premium Chadol - sticks to grill and disintegrates Daechang - very chewy when cooked, I was hoping it would crisp up a bit * Premium (+$20 pp), can also be ordered ala carte As for drinks, my favorite is the Mango Island Mocktail! Service is great, they do change the grill quite often. They also have more staff on weekends. The interiors are good too. The only downside I can think of is that their exhaust fans don't seem to work well as I always smell like KBBQ when I leave (which only serves as a pleasant reminder of the lovely meal I just had).

Good selection of food, nice ambiance, good service - love dining here - one of my fave place to eat Korean BBQ

don't bother coming here. they don't even open on time ‍. There's other K BBQ around. and the guy I asked said that the manager is not even responding to them. how is that my problem when you're a business and you write in your door you are open at 11? then freakin write you open at 1 pm. lol. not 11! . end of story! They said it's the manager that didn't show up on time. lol. the manager should be fired. as he is causing his staff inconvenience.

This is the thickest steak that I have ever seen in a Korean bbq restaurant. All food here is not Korean style. The steak is over 12 once without a single cut. I think they need a Korean chef to upgrade the recipe.

I thought this place is decent for the price (36$ for ayce, dinner, not premium). not premium had a massive selection, like 40 different items? I will say the brisket is the worst brisket i've ever had, but the honey soy beef belly is quite good and basically the equivalent of flavored brisket. just get this instead. also the grill cooks so slowly and they take turns turning down the heat on your table without asking you lol it's not even smoking. we sat there for 10 mins just waiting for meat to get less pink. waitress was SO nice though and took our million of orders and requests happily. really appreciated the service. it is very loud and plays terrible tiktok music but it's a vibe I guess

Service & food were great! We had to go on a wait list but not surprised since we went Friday evening. It's attached to a mall so lots to do to kill time. Ambiance was fun & personable. It felt slightly over priced, but we still had such a great time! Definitely will be back!

We went there on a Tuesday night and the restaurant was a quarter filled and it took 10-15 mins for the staff to acknowledge our group, only after I had to chase someone down. We didn't get an opportunity to eat there because the staff and their operations seemed chaotic and disorganized , from wait staff to kitchen staff - no way their food was going to be tasty. This place needs Korean ajummas running around getting stuff done!

Bad meat, poor service, strange portions. Not in any way shape or form authentic KBBQ. Would not recommend to my enemies.

Gen Korean BBQ is a new spot that opened in Southcenter Mall, and it was bustling with guests on a Saturday. We were put on the waitlist for a group of 8 (since you can only make reservations for parties of 10+), and we waited about 30 minutes for our table to be ready. Coming in, there was super loud music as mentioned in other reviews and lots of blue lights. This is a high-energy, casual place to dine at, but it was a bit hard making conversations with people who sat across from you due to the loudness. Service was incredible despite how busy it was, our waitress was named Ilene and she was very attentive to our needs and constantly checked on our grills to make sure they weren't charred. She also made sure our glasses of water were cold by bringing over a pitcher of ice. I also loved all the recommendations she gave us since we got to try hotteok and pork cheek. 10/10 service! I liked the variety of appetizers here, but some items on the menu were questionable. I read the reviews here beforehand, but someone at my table still ordered the KFC, which came out as nuggets. I would not recommend ordering this item, unless you wanted to try Korean McNuggets. Our table loved the cheese tonkatsu, it was crispy and had a nice cheese pull. We also tried the fried calamari, which was a bit too bready but still enjoyable. There was also an option to grill your own spicy calamari, which I didn't particularly like since it was just calamari rings marinated in tteokbokki sauce. Overall, it was fun trying a bunch of different appetizers. I'm a pretty basic person at KBBQ and typically favor pork belly and beef brisket over anything else. I was a bit thrown off by how thick the pork belly was, but the flavors were amazing. It was super juice and fatty! Our table's top favorite was the honey soy beef belly, which I would highly recommend getting since it wasn't too sweet and was very soft. The side dishes and sauces here were pretty mediocre compared to other KBBQ spots. The side dishes weren't as flavorful and lacked freshness. As mentioned in another review, their sesame oil tasted diluted. Generally, a lot of space is required while eating at KBBQ. Our group of 8 was squished into a table that seemed like it was for 6, since two of our friends were partially hanging out in the walkway. I didn't really like the plating here, because they put small portions on large plates that took up most of the room on the table. We also found it silly to only have one slice of pork belly per plate. There is room for improvement on the quantity of the portions. I found this place to be enjoyable with friends and see that the place has greatly improved in the service area with feedback from other reviews. I will most likely come here again since it has really good quality meat options and appetizers.

We called and made a reservation for 13 people around 11am on a Saturday and they said head over and they'll get a table ready for us (didn't ask for our phone number or name) We got there and it was already really busy, we waited for a few minutes and they had a table for us. The bar table is pretty tight... the chairs are against each other tight... Airflow was good inside, it wasn't hot inside. (My clothes and hair didn't smell like bbq after) The capri soju is TROUBLE! It tastes SO GOOD and so innocent I drank the whole thing in less than 10 mins... and then I was so buzzed!! The side dishes were ok, not great. The rice was dry. But the meat was good. Especially the beef belly! That was my favorite!! The regular beef belly and the honey soy beef belly. They also have red wine marinated pork belly and a few other items I usually don't serve at other places. Korean fried chicken was also part of the regular all you can eat menu... but it tasted more like a chicken nugget with slightly spicy sauce... don't recommend... they also had cheese katsu and a few other non-bbq items included in the regular all you can eat I would say they have a very good selection off bbq stuff off the regular menu. Side dishes not great but their yummy meat makes up for it! And the capri soju.... Just don't plan to drive after drinking that! Best place to park is at the mall entrance next to the round one main outdoor entrance/ 85c

Ok so be prepared to be stuffed... They have two tiers, lunch is $24.95 or dinner at $35.95. You can add premium meats to the dinner menu for an additional $20. The of course served banchan (kimchi -daikon, cucumber, onion and corn mashed potato). Also got the hotteok, fish Katsu, Japchae, Soondooboo soup, Sweet and spicy rice cakes, and cheese tonkatsu. For the meats we got squid, shrimp for my pescatarian sister and Premium Chadol and beef bulgogi for me. They give you 5 shrimps, a good portion of squid, and the two beef items. You can choose four meats and four side dishes per round. Some of the appetizers are dinner only like the calamari rings. The staff is friendly, service was impeccable, everything came out in a timely manner. We didn't care for the soondooboo bc it was reminiscent of minestrone soup and little soft tofu. The Sweet and spicy rice cakes were fried and drizzled with a sweet and spicy sauce. It was ok, wish it was a tad softer, so I placed one on the grill and that made a difference. The restaurant itself is super cute, lots of benches and bar seats with the grills in the middle of each table. They also serve alcohol which we didn't get this time but next time I'd get a bottle of soju! Will I come back? Most definitely!!!! I'll make sure to not eat or drink anything till I get here for maximum stomach capacity lol!

Manager and staff are A+. Very clean and modern restaurant. However, super loud with the fans and music and amount of people. Busy even on a Tuesday night! You can order 4 things at a time. Staff come back pretty regularly to check on you/take your order. Food was 3/5. Would recommend premium steak and beef belly (woo beasal) (super juicy). Out of the 3 pork bellies that we tried (garlic, red wine, and regular), I'd say the regular is the best. Red wine was surprisingly good but doesn't top the regular. Sad sad selection of side dishes (they even ran out). Rice was super dry.

I'm Korean. I've had a lot of Korean Bbq in my life lol. We've frequented so many Korean bbq places in WA. Didn't have very high expectations with this place being in the mall... but let me tell you.. this is now our go to spot. The banchans aren't the fancy or traditional ones you get at the other korean bbq places (like fish cake, bean sprouts, etc), but they make up for it everywhere else. First of all, service here is always stellar. Been here now several times and never once has service been bad. All the waiters and waitresses are friendly, attentive, and helpful. I can't speak on any of the marinated meats or other options as we only like to get the plain pork belly and beef belly, but it's all delicious. They're always on top of changing out your grill, too. The side dishes they do give are some kimchis and potato salad.. which are all okay. But the soups you can get like dweng jang soup and soondooboo soup are yummy. The salad is good also. The price here is more than reasonable. I also love how you don't come out stinking like Korean bbq. The vent system here is great. Highly recommend.

Came for lunch on a Saturday. Show up 5 mins before they opened, and there was a pretty long line already. The wait wasn't too bad once they opened their doors. We were seated within 5 mins. The server came by right away & he was really friendly and knowledgeable. We ordered a few appetizers, soups, and a variety of meats. Within a few minutes, the soups were brought out. Soondubu (tofu soup) was extremely salty. The doenjang jjigae (bean paste soup) was better but nothing to brag about. Then came the japche which was pretty tasty compared to the soups. Next came the mini popcorn Korean fried chicken - I'd recommend skipping that. They were the size of marbles and mostly dough with a drizzle of the spicy korean sauce. Next came 2 strips of kalbi, a plate of seasonal veggies. We grilled those first while they continued to bring out the rest of our order. The marinade on the kalbi was tasty. The salad they brought out with their house dressing & the veggie plate were fresh & good. The rest of the meat we ordered were all decent. My fav was probably the pork belly & the pork cheek. The servers were all very friendly and tentative. They came back multiple times to make sure we're good, cleared our table & took down more orders. I'd give them all 5 stars! The restaurant itself 3 stars only is bc a lot of the stuff on the menu (dinner menu/price) weren't available or they said, "all out." Mind you, we arrived when they 1st opened. When we asked for things, they'd come back and would recommend an alternative to what we ordered. They were out of beef rib fingers, plain pork belly, different banchans including potato salad, cabbage & raddish kimchi. What kind of KBBQ restaurant doesn't have kimchi?! That's like going to a burger joint & they're out of fries. Also, the rice was hard, as if it were leftovers from the night before. Overall, 3.5 stars bc the service was superb, but they can work on the inventory.

The hype of this place on the weekends just won't die down, but it was definitely less crowded than when it first opened. Regardless, it's a lot of fun coming here! I went to get a table for a group of 7 on a Friday weeknight and surprisingly, we didn't have to wait. The servers did ask us to preorder our stuff before getting seated though. Inside is very clean but also very noisy too. There's tons of booth seating and seating for large parties like mine. The menu consists of many types of meats and it was quite overwhelming to look at, though it does get you excited to eat. You can order as much as you want for a flat rate depending on whether it's lunch or dinner time, and there doesn't seem to be a limit as to how many rounds you're allowed to order. We ordered a large variety of dishes, so I'll note some things that stood out for me: - My favorite meat dishes were probably the spicy pork bulgogi and spicy samguybsal, both had a ton of flavor while not being overly spicy except for when you place it on the grill. Every other meat we ordered varied greatly in quality and overall taste. - Meats were very tender and thinly sliced. - My favorite dessert/appetizer was the sweet and spicy rice cake because of how much flavor was in them! We had to get another order of them so everyone could get at least one. Other runner-ups here were the japchae (for its homely taste) and cheese tonkatsu (it had a very solid cheese pull when tugging on it). Conversely, my least favorite was their K.F.C. (Korean fried chicken) because it was just simple fried chicken with sauce on it without anything too special about it. - Most meat dishes here are served in smaller portions than what other KBBQ restaurants offer. This can be both good or bad depending on whether you want to try more things on the menu or if you just want to get full fast. Here, I think smaller portions are actually good since you pay a flat rate per person for lunch and dinner except when you order drinks along with your meal. - Service was quite spotty and it was hard to flag a server down sometimes, but the place is very loud and busy so this didn't detract from my experience too much. This is a decent place to have good KBBQ, though quality wise I did expect more across the board.

Gen, although it is a chain, is one of my favorite KBBQ places. They have so much meat options for everyone and includes already cooked appetizers. I was so excited they opened one in Southcenter mall. I already know there's gonna be a wait once they have their grand opening. Went for their soft opening for lunch and inside looks like a typical Gen location with the upscale furniture and blue lighting. They serve dinner all day, but the lunch menu had everything we wanted so chose to go for the lunch. Since it's still their soft opening, you can tell logistics of things are still getting sorted out and servers and getting trained on the job, but the service was excellent and they were all attentive to what we needed. I love the thinly sliced pickled radish, but I do wish they had rice paper. I haven't found a place in Washington yet that serves rice paper. One thing that I haven't tried at any of the other locations I've been to was the cheese tonkatsu, and I really liked it! Overall, so excited there's a Gen near me and looking forward to seeing them fully opened and operating! Will come back to review again once this happens.

Finally got to try Gen KBBQ after hearing how good the other locations were. We went at 11:30am got seated right away. It wasn't too busy but we kept getting served random meats and appetizers that we didn't order. Had a few issues with ordering as there was confusion with what can be ordered on the lunch menu. They served very small bowls of banchan dishes and only had out one set for the whole table. Meat took a while to come with each order as well. There wasn't much space on the table to fit all the plates. The coolest part was they had a special grill that sucks the smoke out to the sides so you don't smell like KBBQ after your meal!! Pros: wide selection of meats, only $24.99, no time limit, up to 4 meats and 4 sides each round, comfy seats, smokeless KBBQ, lots of marinated meats Cons: long wait between orders, small portion each order, appetizers are okay, small tables, may encounter ordering issues, banchan is meh

Went here during before 3pm for their lunch deal and it was definitely worth it! Lunch cost $25 on Mon to Thurs and Dinner cost $36. Although this restaurant is new and we went at 1pm on a Wednesday, it was kinda packed. Though it was busy, service was still good and food was sent out in a timely manner. The servers were very helpful. The meat portioning is below average, but gives you the opportunity to try other dishes For the appetizers, we got the Cheese Tonkatsu which was amazing. I really liked the fried rice sticks as well. The Honey Soy Beef Belly was full of flavor and tender. Definitely one of my favorites here. I enjoyed their beef bulgogi as well. I got their Nook Gan Sal (marinated beef finger short ribs) since short ribs wasn't apart of the menu, and it was good The ambiance is what you can expect at an AYCE KBQ. There's plenty of seating

They had me at All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu. For the price point, you can't go wrong with that. They also offer a wide variety of meats and seafood from beef tongue, sirloin, Galbi, octopus, chicken, and much more. I purely went for the AYCE Wagyu, beef tongue, and Galbi. Those three were enough to tickle my tummy. They are super clean, and SERVICE is on point. They changed my grill each time it was looking crusty from grilling the different meats. When my water or sides were low, they were quickly replenished. For AYCE they surely didn't miss a beat. The meat was great quality and fresh. The sides were also fresh and delicious. When all was done, they offered a dessert which was red bean paste ice cream filled pastry that is popular in Korea. Will definitely go again.

It was a decent experience. Wait staff (Asian guy, tall, thin) was great and speedy. There was one piece of meat that stood out (not Wagyu) that stood out from the pack that was quite good but all else was decently passable. At $35/person, it's worth it; at $55 for premium, it is not IMO. The most annoying part was just having to wait to order more food as there is a limit per order and because it's usually busy, you may be waiting in between orders for your waiter. I wish there was a button u can press or one of those conveyor belt apparatus or pick ur own food options. Doubtful we are returning but it was still a nice experience and it's always good to try new eateries around town. That noodle place next door is actually a good spot and the kids always want to go there .

Overall, this missed the mark and is not as good as other Gens that I have been to. Know they've only been open for less than a week, but still a pretty subpar experience. Came on Sunday afternoon at 3pm hoping to beat both the lunch and dinner crowd, was told the wait would be 40-45 minutes. After 45 minutes waiting, I still had 17 more parties ahead of me. Ended up finally getting seated after a little over 90 minutes of waiting. The only good thing is at least I could walk around the mall to burn time as I was waiting. Our servers were all very nice but they were unorganized and slow. Took ten minutes just to come and take our order. The meat then came out before the banchan dishes, salad, and tongs. So we sat there for 5 more minutes waiting for tongs to even start grilling the meat they had brought out. They did not have sesame oil. Instead, they literally provided tasteless vegetable oil. I know most KBBQ places try to save money and mix vegetable oil with sesame oil, but they didn't even try, it was plain light vegetable oil with no sesame taste at all. Not having sesame oil at a Korean bbq restaurant is a sin. When we asked the waiter for something with more sesame, he said sorry they were out and they had to go to the store just to get that other oil. Banchan was bad. The kimchi was actually frozen and had ice in it. I think their refrigerator is just a little too cold, it's not like they actually bought frozen kimchi, but it's not good and once it defrosts it's soggy. Service was slow. We sat there with a burning grill waiting for a waiter to come to take our second meat order. It also took him 10 minutes to charge the credit card when we paid, with such long waits, you'd think they'd want to turnover the tables a little faster. Food: the honey soy beef belly was delicious, a very nice cut without being too fatty/stringy, and the light flavor they add is just enough. Galbi was ok, garlic pork belly was decent. The brisket was terrible and I usually love brisket at kbbq. They cut it nice and thin which is great but it had a really funny taste almost like freezer burned meat, and the color was a light pink as opposed to a deep red, something was definitely weird about the kind of meat they use for that. The ambiance was loud. Music should've been turned down just a few notches. You have to yell to hear anything and walking to the bathroom was chaotic with all the servers and bus boys running around and the walkway between tables seems really narrow. The decor and the bathroom was pretty clean as can be expected from a new restaurant. The floors were greasy though and made my sneakers slippery walking. The price of $36 per person is too high (higher than other Gens I've been to in California, Hawaii, etc) for not even having sesame oil, the questionable quality brisket, icy kimchi, slow service, and long/underestimated wait times. Maybe I would come for weekday lunch if there wasn't a line and if they had sesame oil. I think most of the people who have rated this place high probably don't eat Korean bbq often or just prefer the marinated meats. Overall a disappointing experience, Gen can do better than this.

Nice Korean BbQ restaurant located inside the mall. Music is quite loud inside. Most of the marinated meat is quite delicious but a bit pricey with the drinks. The spicy tofu soup is way too salty when we tried. Friendly and prompt server.