Palilgu

Palilgu serves modern Korean fare with thoughtful preparation and balanced flavors. We tried the beef tartare, sablefish, tteokbokki, eel donburi, and squid stir-fry. The tartare was a standout - well seasoned with sesame and fresh herbs. and the sablefish was incredibly rich and umami, easily the most memorable dish of the night. The tteokbokki had the perfect chewy texture and portion, comforting without being too heavy, while the eel donburi came out fragrant with crisped claypot rice. The squid stir-fry was classic and satisfying, though less distinctive. The restaurant itself is woodsy and intimate with a number of cozy booth seating. Portions lean small, though the quality of each dish makes it a pleasant Korean dining experience nonetheless.

Went on a Saturday night around 6:45 without a reservation so they only had room to sit at the bar. Arturo was our bartender/server. He was so attentive and gave great recommendations. The vibe and food was great. The bartender made the experience even better :)

We stopped by here after an omakase dinner for a night cap and the cocktails were very good! We sat at the bar and Arturo took care of us. My hubby got the Perilla Last Word and I got the Garuso Boulevard, which was a bourbon cocktail with persimmon liqueur, figs and honey date tea. Mine was so good! It brought me back to when I drank those honey tea/chrysanthemum juice boxes when I was young. Very nostalgic. We were too full to try their food menu but we want to come back to try it for sure. Logan Square has so many hidden gems and this Paligu definitely one of them. Check them out!

Started with happy hour. The Korean tea old fashioned was a perfect start. Well balanced and tasty. The seafood pancake and fried half chicken were incredible! Must get and will be getting again

Everything was delicious. Portions were small. Great atmosphere. Korean tea OF on the happy hour menu was great! Very quiet for a Thursday. Good drink prices. I had the salmon, crudo, skewer. Will come back.

The food was amazing!! The most authentic Korean food I’ve had in Chicago (coming from a Korean person). 100% recommend.

If I could bump down the score to a 4.7, I would, because a mocktail costs $10, so the pricing is my only complaint. Our server was phenomenal and polite; I’ve seen him there before. Not exaggerating, the food was some of the best Asian food I’ve ever had, but it was kinda expensive. Many people out there dislike kimchi, however I would 100% recommend the kimchi rice- it wasn’t very funky, but had the perfect amount of spice that brought it all together. Despite there being a lot of fat (which is typical with short rib) I enjoyed the LA galbi, a delicious beef dish. Would go back, totally recommend! By the way, this is a Korean pub.

Disappointing overall. The pacing of the meal was especially frustrating. We ordered three items (kimchi fried rice, wings, and jjigae) and they came out at completely different times. We actually ordered the wings first, but they arrived after the rice, and the jjigae came significantly later than everything else. Our server never checked in on the timing or gave any updates, which made things worse. When the jjigae finally arrived, it was extremely hot. Literally bubbling. And after waiting several minutes, it was still so hot that I burned my throat on the first bite. I gave it more time to cool down (at least 15 minutes), but it stayed scalding and overcooked to the point where the tofu had disintegrated. Portion sizes also felt quite small for the price, especially since the dishes are meant to be shared family-style. Between the uneven pacing, lack of attentiveness, and unsafe serving temperature, it’s hard to justify going back. Especially when there are so many great Korean options in the city.

I'm a big fan of sundubu jigae and Palilgu has one of the best I've had in Chicago although nontraditional. The soup is thicker than what I'm used to (almost like a mapo tofu consistency or like a curry) but it is still packing with flavor, heat and pork. Palilgu doesn't serve banchan (side dishes like kimchi, bean sprouts and fish cakes) with your meal which is a bummer, but I still enjoyed my meal and the service was good. I would recommend Palilgu for those looking for a date night spot, but may not be what you are looking for if you are searching for a more traditional Korean meal. My friends also ordered the vegetable bibimbap and cheese burger with fries, which they enjoyed. We chuckled though at the size of the water cups. Our waiter had to refill 5-10 times due to how small they were and there were a few times where we were waiting for more water.

They may have been working out opening kinks in some of these previous reviews but when we went on a Friday night it was a fantastic experience. Service was attentive and available, we had reservations and were sat immediately (granted the restaurant was pretty empty), and ambiance was great. They were out of only a few things (food and drink) but the waitress was up front about it. While the food is high priced the portions are huge! Highly recommend going as a group and sharing things. Defs recommend the KFC, the sot baps, japchae and sliders. The sauces across the board were great. A lot of places in chicago lately prioritize ambiance while the food is very disappointing - I wouldn't say this was the best Korean food but it was definitely all tasty and overall a nice occasion out.

This place is a bit more style than substance unfortunately. First I will say the atmosphere is super nice and you can have an intimate meal here. Bibimbop advertised as having "classic banchan" should have classic banchan on the side. There was no kimchi, no pickled radish, nothing. The bulgogi beef used was advertised as wagyu, but came out thickly cut, chewy and sinewy. $26 is overpriced for what you get. The Tteokbokki is good, it's a nice shareable portion for 2. The cheese corn is decent. The seafood and scallion pancake is fine also, probably little overfilled with scallion but still tasty. Overall, there's better Korean food in the area for better value.

Good people and good food but ran extremely inefficiently. We went to the new location last month and it was popping- great ambiance. However, other than the ambiance and the taste of food, we had issues with service and logistics. Our server was nice but it took us over 30 minutes to get her attention to be able to order drinks- and that's because we went up to her after waiting for 30 min. More than half of the item in the menu was not available- bulgogi (bulgogi goes into most of the rice and soup options and those r all not available as a result) , broccoli, steak tartare, fries.... The list goes on. Then we asked if they can do kimchi fried rice with spicy pork instead of bulgogi and the substitution was declined. We had a similar experience in my previous visit- when my friend who was pregnant asked if the egg can be fully cooked in her dish, that request was also declined. By the time we got our food, it was already 9:30pm. We came into the restaurant for our 7:30 reservation on time so it took them over 2 hours to bring us food. There was no apology. We all thought the food and drinks tasted good but the frustration with the wait made it difficult to enjoy the food. This was probably the craziest wait / out of stock experience Ive ever had at a restaurant and my group felt the same way. It's unfortunate.

Really good new restaurant in the Fulton market area! I didn't know this place existed until my friends invited me for a night out. The menu is extensive, with so many things TJ choose from we ended up taking the recs from our waitress. The seafood pancake was so delicious as well as the kimchi fried rice. The fried chicken was also good but a few pieces barely had meat on them or were kind of dry. Definitely great comfort food, a little on the pricier side.

I was really looking forward to trying this place but was really underwhelmed with the dishes unfortunately. Prices are pretty high for the portion sizes, which would've been fine if the dishes tasted spectacular -- unfortunately wasn't the case here, there was nothing really special to any of the dishes we had. I think the dining experience just got off to an immediate bad start when the first dish, the seafood pancake, arrived with hair on it. I understand it's an unfortunate mistake but still not the best way to start the meal

Came here with a group of 4 and we actually ordered quite a few things pictured. The portion sizes were a lot smaller than expected and frankly we were only full from the rice. The food itself was pretty good, but it just didn't seem like good value for the quality of food we were getting :/

i normally don't like posting bad reviews unless they're constructive - and i see the potential here, which is why i'm sharing my experience !! vibes & service are great, but it's the food that was really subpar. the bossam we ordered was NOT bossam meat - it was super dry and hard to chew. the presentation and sides were on point though, so i give it a 1/10. the steak tartare was very salty (too much sauce) but with less sauce, i think it'd be good! especially paired with the rice crackers. we didn't even get a chance to try the fried chicken (apparently one of their most popular dishes) because it took 40-50+ minutes - so we canceled our order and left tldr: do not recommend but i see potential what we ordered: - pork-belly bossam - steak tartare

Palilgu is beautiful upscale Korean restaurant in Fulton Market. I was immediately drawn to the calming modest interior and was quite excited to try their fare, however I was slightly disappointed as I felt that the team missed the mark on rather uncrunchy Palilgu wings which is the feature Korean fried chicken is best known for. While the pork bossam tastes like an earthy home cooked entree that's been stewed for many hours, I personally felt the price point set me up for higher expectation of the dish with larger portion size and more of an oomph factor.

A more upscale take on a Korean gastropub offering classics like seafood pancake and soon dubu jjigae- both of which were really good and I'd recommend. Cocktails were so-so. I had high hopes for the melona colada and queen of tears, but I couldn't really taste anything other than straight alcohol. The place itself is clean and aesthetic with great service overall, but it's hard to justify the high price for the portion of food that you get compared to other Korean gastropubs. Nonetheless, it's still a great addition to the Fulton Market area and worth trying out for the experience.

a place that serves solid staples! none of it is life changing but they have better japchae than say kimchipop. I also don't know of another place in the city you can go to to get bossam that isn't a super long drive or $$$. I also feel like for the location (West loop) the prices are pretty reasonable. the service started out great (dishes came out super fast, people kept coming up to tell us about future plans for the restaurant) but then towards the end it was almost impossible to flag someone down.

I am blown away by how good this restaurant was. This was an unplanned late night dinner pop in and it was amazing! I'm a pescatarian and usually don't do well with Korean food but this place had so many options for me and it was actually sooo good! In addition, the music was so fun and the service was phenomenal. Ari was the best server I've ever had. She was not only so down to earth but gave the BEST recommendations. I can't wait to return!

Completely surprised by this new restaurant. The ambience was cool and cozy, wings were amazing, and soondubu jigae was rich and flavorful and not watery at all. My friends got a burger, bossam, and bibimbap and they all loved it!

Palilgu was a very highly anticipated restaurant for us since we live in the area. We were so surprised but excited to see a Korean restaurant pop up in Fulton. Being from the bay, we really miss do miss Asian food. Not a lot of places here hit the same so our expectations were not high at all going in. First thought about the restaurant itself is that it looks modernized but in a homey way. It leans more to the smaller size with about 8 tables inside; however, there is a small bar area and an outdoor patio. For starters, we shared the tteokbokki. I feel like some places put too much gochujang in their tteokbokki that it tastes powdery. Not here though -- the rice cakes had perfect texture and it had a nice kick. Nothing unique though. For our mains, we shared the miso sablefish and the galbi jim. Given the restaurant is fairly new, there wasn't many pictures to go off of so we were blindly ordering and hoping for the best. Our hope was that the miso sablefish would taste like the miso cod skewers from Sushisamba at the Venetian. A big stretch since those are honestly out of this world.. but I can confidently say the dish was executed so beautifully. Not only was the presentation so upscale but the fish itself was so creamy and the black miso flavor was vibrant and meshed so well with the radish. I do feel there should be more radish as it helps pull all the flavors in together. The miso sablefish definitely is the core of my high rating. Now our hope for the galbi jim was that it would be similar to a restaurant in the bay called Daeho, which makes honestly the most phenomenal galbi jim ever. Though I do have a few critics on Palilgu's dish, overall, I think it tasted good. When it came out, my initial thought was wow it looks kinda sad. For the price point, I was shocked it was the size of a tofu soup bowl. On the topic of presentation, understand that the dish is simmered for a long time so that the meat can become very tender and slide off the bone but to present the dish with the bones just floating was strange and ruined the presentation. Also, it just looked so flat being all one which could easily fixed with some garnish.. cilantro or green onion would help make it pop. Now onto the dish itself.. the carrots were overcooked and soggy and honestly there was not enough for the amount of broth that was given. There is also some mini potatoes but that felt short too. I feel like the potatoes should be at least cut in half so that they can soak up the delicious broth. Speaking of the broth, I don't know why this dish wouldn't come with a side of rice. Seems so wasteful for the broth. As for the short rib, it was tender and flavorful but a little on the fatty side. Overall, we were pleasantly surprised at how much we ended up enjoying our meal and experience; however, there are just some few improvement areas. The portion size is quite small for the price point. I understand this is Fulton Market and we don't mind paying but it is steeper than surrounding restaurants and even the Bay Area. Other than that, our server, Jonathan, was very sweet and attentive throughout. Because Palilgu is so closeby, we probably will be back but maybe after improvements are made with more patrons sharing their opinions.

Service was great. Food was great. Cocktails were great. The squid entree was my favorite, it had amazing flavor and spices. Also loved the seafood scallion pancake and the steak tartare. I thought the pork belly dish would be my favorite but the pork belly wasn't very flavorful and it was served with a bunch of different lettuce options, but it was best with the endive because of the crunch. Also would have been nice with a bread of some sort.

Beautiful dining space with awesome indoor/outdoor seating during warmer days. Stopped by and were seated right away no resys. Ordered a bunch of small plates for the table and everything was a hit. The wings were for sure a fave, can never go wrong with KFC. Hamachi crudo was solid. Seafood and scallion pancake was delish. The bossam is great for groups. Would honestly skip the tteokppoki next time. And I'm definitely coming back to try the burger next time!!!

Walked in on a Saturday and they were offering their revamped brunch menu in addition to their main menu - i loved the space and the staff was so friendly and welcoming. They were super accommodating, allowing us to sit in the front of the restaurant where the sliding windows were open with our pup - they also brought out a water bowl for her, super nice! The main menu seemed pretty well-rounded but we ordered off their brunch menu. We got the tteokpokki, chicken sandwich, fries and the spicy pork bento box. I loved their drink menu and it was super cute to find some of the cocktails named after some great Korean dramas - i'm excited to come back to try them. The wait for the food took a little long despite there only being about 4 tables. The fries were super addicting! It comes with a spicy mayo sauce. The tteokpokki was also good, nothing too special and a little small, but i loved the spice level and the rice cakes were cooked perfectly. The spicy pork bento box was huge! It comes with so much - side salad, rice, soup and banchan (side dishes). My only pick with the spicy pork is that I wished it was charred! It was good but lacked depth. The one item that everyone needs to try and i'm looking forward to coming back for is the chicken sandwich - this thing was the bomb!!! The bun was so soft and bouncy, the chicken was tender and juicy and the sweet and spicy sauce was superb!!! I'm looking forward to coming back to try items off the main menu.

I knew what I was getting into when my friend wanted to try this place out but it did somewhat surprised me after trying a few dishes. We were a party of 3 and ordered seafood pancake, bossam, and an order of the fried chicken. The seafood pancake came out basically half the size of what you would get at an authentic Korean restaurant and at a higher price. This place definitely didn't skimp on the amounts of seafood you would want to see on a pancake. The pancake was crispy whether you bite into it from the middle or crust part. I couldn't justify the price for the portion size of it, but the seafood and crispiness were spot on. The bossam was such a disappointment. I think it's probably one of the worst I've had in Chicago. The pork was super bland and even though it's supposed to be "pork belly" kind of meat I didn't taste any fatness in my mouth when chewing it. The meat tasted more lean/tough even though just looking at the ratio it's kind of 50/50. You REALLY need the side dishes when eating this bossam to give it some sort of a taste for each bite. There were 10 pieces of bossam for $22... pretty steep in my opinion for something below average, but it's in line with WL pricing. The fried chicken BLEW MY MIND! I posted pictures on IG for this place and everyone asked about the fried chicken. I told them only come here for the fried chicken then you can basically pay the bill and go somewhere else for dinner. The juiciness of the white meat for this fried chicken had me speechless. I went from "wow, this seafood pancake is good, but the price though...." to "wow this bossam is so bad I need round 2 dinner somewhere else" to "WOW I NEED TO COME BACK FOR MORE OF THIS FRIED CHICKEN." I used to be a dark meat kind of gal, but then I started eating white meat a few years ago to see which place can make chicken breast basically taste smooth/tender/juice like dark meat. No joke, this place was able to knock it out of the ballpark which is why I'm giving it 3 stars. My friends were telling me to stop lying to people about how this place is good. I'm like listen, this restaurant is definitely not worth the hype at all, but I have to give them credits for serving such amazing fried chicken. Will I come back for a full dinner experience here? Nope! But, will I come back for a quick appetizer aka fried chicken? HECK YEAH!

I was excited to see a Korean spot in the Fulton Market area and had some high hopes, but unfortunately, it didn't quite hit the mark. While the (now old) location was great, the food lacked the bold, authentic flavors I was expecting from Korean cuisine. It was a nice addition to the neighborhood, but I left feeling a bit underwhelmed. I hope the new location, hopefully, refines the food, not only the location.

Nice addition to the area. Korean food is definitely lacking in West Loop and am glad this place is here! Its in the old Ramen Takeya spot but the same owners. I believe the wife is Japanese and Husband Korean. This duo also owns Ramen Wasabi! Our group of 4 sat at the bar as walk ins. We knew the place was new so wanted to drink and try a few dishes before we bopped around town. We ordered the Yukhwae (steak tartare), and Spicy squid bokkeum. The steak tartare was fine but nothing different than any other typical steak tartare. I had to dock a star for the Spicy squid bc it came out on a black iron plate but it did not come out sizzling hot. Its as if they cooked it, and only transferred it onto the cast plate when they should have cooked it a bit longer onto the plate. We also had to ask if they had kimchi. I did look around other tables to see if they served banchan (side dishes) but didn't see any go out. We each had a cocktail and I loved my Scarlet Heart cocktail. Service was great but a bit slow as they just recently opened, but everyone was friendly and very welcoming. Would be back to try the other dishes and drinks! It is a small spot so having reservations would come handy, or walk in right as they open!

New Korean restaurant where Ramen Takeya used to be, and apparently run by the same people. I think we were there for the soft opening? We just sorta stumbled upon it while walking through West Loop, but I'm so happy we did. Service was very friendly and attentive and ambience was lovely. The food and drinks were super tasty, definitely plan on going back. My highlights would have to be the miso marinated sable, the seafood pancake, and ESPECIALLY the bossam. The people sitting next to us got the fried chicken, and it sounds like I'll have to try that next time.

This place does not feel Asian at all but tries. First impression was terrible. The lady server/boss/manager or whatever she is seemed a bit bossy towards us and her own employees. She immediately gave us attitude and said "we close soon" with a rude demeanor and expression as if we are annoyed by our presence. I looked at my watch and it said 9pm. I asked what time do you guys close. The male employee said 10pm. She heard that I asked what time they closed and she gave us a smirk and walked away as if she didn't want us there. Place was not busy at all and about 25% filled with barely anyone inside. The way she was acting felt like I was at a Popeyes. No wonder no one came in but we gave it a shot.

This review is long overdue. I was here last week , We had no plans to stop here but after smelling everything we decided to sit down. We had our small dog with us and they allowed us to sit at a table that was just inside (the whole side of the restaurant was open so we were basically indoor/outdoor). Ari was our waitress and she was awesome. We couldn't really decide what to get, so we asked for her advice and she gave us suggestions for every single course. We got the rice cakes, the pear salad, the bulgogi stone bowl. Everything was sooo good . I even asked if they had hot tea and since they were out she went DOWN TO HER LOCKER AND GOT ME A TEA BAG FROM HER OWN PERSONAL STASH!!! And brought it out and served it with a side of honey and a lemon wedge. This place was awesome and the service was really good. I would highly recommend. They have so much stuff we also didn't get that looked really good. Will be back!