Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse

I'd been to one of the Korean barbecues 10 years ago and I completely forgot how it worked. The waitress was able to show me the basic techniques. I didn't realize there was a sauce bar where I could add other things until later when I ask for soy sauce. The lack of green vegetables to add other than just zucchini was kind of disappointing. But you know this is for steak and this way for it all you can eat for $40. And premium steaks. I only had the sirloin strip and the Kobe beef. And the Kobe beef was outstanding so it's deserves its five stars. Much higher level of quality and taste than my favorite sirloin steak. Ice cream is the only dessert. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had somebody who's really good at this barbecue.

It gets VERY crowded and there ends up being a big crowd outside of the place waiting for a seat to open up. The food was really good. You can pick from just hot pot, just bbq, or both. Getting both was a really good deal, but beware that it’s a LOT of food. Loved their variety of sauces & the soft serve ice cream. They also had fruit. The floor was very slippery in various places, probably from all the back & forth of oils & broths. There is also only 2 bathrooms so sometimes there was a line forming to use them. The servers did a really good job explaining all of our options! Overall would come again!

We usually do the dinner when we come, premium isn't necessary. Still plenty of options to choose from. The tom yum broth is fire if you like spicy. Atmosphere is nice, place has been remodeled. Screens everywhere if you want to watch sports while you eat.. Cici is our server every time we come she's awesome and attentive. Make sure to try the short ribs, get the bugolgi sauce from the bar and make yourselves some kalbi short ribs.

Had an amazing experience at this Korean BBQ grill! The food was absolutely delicious. The meat was fresh and flavorful. We left full and happy. The atmosphere was great too, lively but comfortable. A special shoutout to our waiter John. He was incredibly kind, attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed the whole time. He really made the experience even better. Highly recommend this place if you’re craving some quality Korean BBQ and great service!

This is our second time with my colleagues and all I can say is these foods are the best the second time around. The food in general is great including how fast, neat and clean it was served. The staff were very attentive and prompt to our requests and concerns. We chose both hotpot and the bbq and boy it didn’t disappoint. We’ve got the best of both worlds! Wide variety of meat to choose from and the side dishes and sauces are a chef’s kiss! Highly recommended for a great dining experience on a date night or spending quality time with family and friends. ❤️

Highly recommended! I had a fun time cooking the meat, The food was really good, a little bit too spicy for me “the spicy options” but it is a personal preference, the staff were great, specially Jose, he was very friendly and took care of our table really quick when we asked it. really good worker. We want to come back in the future!

Really cool all you can eat Korean BBQ and hotpot restaurant. They have a sauce bar, complimentary Asian snacks, and a small selection of included desserts. You order items via a tablet on your table. One thing is, I think they can improve on some of their grill items that come in the pan. For example, I love Enoki mushrooms. They came in a 4 inch by 6 inch metal tin thing to place on the grill. But, unfortunately there was maybe two or three bites of mushroom inside the tray. Each time I ordered more mushrooms, they brought an entirely new cooking tray and broth set up. It felt kind of wasteful. You would have to order like 8 if you wanted to feed a party of four. I think it would be better if they gave you the broth tin set up once, and then just brought more mushrooms that you could refill the broth tray with. It would be less wasteful.

My first experience at Shinhwa Korean Steakhouse was absolutely delightful, thanks to my friend's recommendation. The all-you-can-eat menu was incredibly diverse, and the option to add shabu-shabu for just $5 was a fantastic deal. The variety of food was impressive, and the sauce station offered a plethora of choices. The service was exceptional, with attentive and friendly staff. I'm already looking forward to my next visit!

Cici was amazing always on it and super friendly!! Honestly a great server! The food was great and the options are wonderful!

It was a great experience, I went for a dinner .It really worth it . I didn't pay the premium but It was okay because the regular menu has a lot of meat options.

I really enjoyed my birthday dinner, will definitely return! The vibe is unmatched, customer service is welcoming and reassuring. From the point of me coming thru the door to me leaving I felt such an upscale but comfy ambiance. And they sung me happy birthday!!

Foods are good. One of their servers seems to be overly "self-conscious." They appear to like making customers follow their way of doing things and often assume customers' choices. It feels aggressive. Environment is good. I like the idea to have both BBQ and hotpot at same time.

This new kbbq and hotpot joint has really been the talk of the town. They offer ACYE hot pot, kbbq or both! When you walk in, you're greeted by the hostess who then takes you to your table. Then, your server will come and present the menu to you. Tonight, we were celebrating my friend's birthday. We made sure to mention it before choosing which option we wanted. Our server Marina was an absolute joy. She was able to answer all our questions for us. She was so attentive and accommodating to my group. She truly deserves 10 stars for her service. Onto the food, we chose the hot pot and kbbq option. We went with ACYE so we were given a tablet to order. It also helped since we had 6 people in our group. It's also very appreciated that this place has individual hot pots. This makes it easier for people and their allergies. After ordering the dishes for bbq and hot pot, I noticed how fast the service was for certain items. The other items did come in a timely fashion so it's something to be aware of. Since I had food cooking and on my plate, I didn't mind that much. My friends had an excellent time. We were even discussing the next time we would go.

Free meal for the birthday person the exact day of their birthday!! 22.95 for lunch (only on weekdays), 28.95 for dinner, and 38.95 for premium. Add $5 for both hotpot and Korean bbq! You order everything from tablet and it comes very quickly. The premium meats were actually insanely good, especially the Kobe beef and the Australian wagyu. The abalone itself was so worth. However, the marinated meats were not the best (ex: bulgogi and smoked pork belly) and were dry and not the best quality. Corn cheese comes in such a large tinfoil and absolutely DELISH!! Never seen clams in garlic vermicelli at kbbq before, def a nice surprise! They have a separate sauce bar with packaged snacks and coconut sago and ice cream for dessert!

Why do all 5 star ratings look alike? Food for thought here. Marketing is one thing but a bit bizarre.

Ambiance - spacious, good for small and big groups Service - attentive staff, my group did AYCE and we were reminded of our time here and there Food - meat quality was decent and pretty good AYCE selection, but I wouldn't consider this an authentic Korean bbq spot

Folks, I think I've died and gone to heaven. I will spare you a rehashing of chicken nugget thursdays at my University's dining hall. Let's just I love all things to do with sauces, including combining to my heart's content! Don't get me wrong, Shinhwa has a lot of great things going for it, food, service, vibe, value. Yet, the fact that I not only have access to a lot of sauce bases, but it is encouraged to combine and make them your own fills my sauce loving heart with glee. My only wish is for a description with the name, so I can know at least what basic flavor notes to expect. On both my visits, I went for BBQ/Grill only (no hot pot), and the premium 'package'. This included Wagyu, Kobe beef, and others. While a small handful, like the Australian Wagyu, have limited quantities, everything else is AYCE. The quality was good to great. The meats are generally sliced very thin, and grill up in no time. Many of the steak/beef options had melt-in-your-mouth properties too. While there was an occasional chewy bit, this is likely a skill issue related to my cooking. While virtually all items are raw and unseasoned, this is not the rule. I had the pleasure of trying the bulgogi and garlic pork belly, for example. Everything I've had I'd happily eat again. Where it comes to service, all items were brought out with lightning speed. I do wish the service staff were a bit more mindful about clearing dirty plates (namely those that raw meat was brought out in), but otherwise no complaints or notes. Plus, you're able to call for a server using the provided tablet. For the vibe, things are clean, modern, and there are TV's playing K-Pop music videos. Yet, this isn't overdone, neither in size/quantity, nor in loudness. Finally, there is the value: ~$40 for all you can eat, with premium options included is a steal. Add the sauce bar, dessert snacks and soft serve, and fruits and you have an unbeatable deal. Even if you don't go for the premium level, there are still more than enough items to leave satiated and happy. Plus, soft drinks are included in the price. Thus, while a truly amazing steak may require a fancy and expensive steakhouse, for everything else, Shinhwa has quickly solidified its spot on my list of Chicago favorites.

This place is priced very well but in terms of quality you definitely are paying for what you get. The meat quality is not great and the meat selection is minimal. Unfortunately you can't get thin brisket unless you do premium to get the Kobe beef and you can't get tongue or beef belly unless you do the extra $5 hotpot. Otherwise the selection for vegetables isn't too bad. Wish they had steamed eggs though! The sauce bar and the fruit bars were very clean and presentable. The servers were nice and helpful.

Popped in on a Saturday evearound 6 with a party of 3 and waited about 30-45 mins to get seated. Our waitress RiRi was amazing. She was super attentive and helped us with our first time at Shinhwa. The atmosphere was great. Open ceiling and vents for the KBBQ along with lots of screens and kpop blasting. You'll guarantee to have a fun time with friends. Who wouldn't like delicious AYCE hot pot and KBBQ?

I came with a party of 9 to celebrate a friend's birthday. This was my first time. We did the dinner all you can eat Korean bbq option. Soda and dessert is included in this. Unfortunately, the ice cream machine was broken during my visit. There are fruits and other snacks/desserts you can grab from the back of the restaurant by the hot pot sauce station. The staff didn't provide clear instructions and we were unsure who our server was. Being part of a bigger dinner party, this was a bit frustrating because we were trying to order at different times and told different information from multiple staff members which caused confusion on both staff and us diners' end. Banchan was only given to half the table and wasn't on the menu for us to order so we had to constantly try to get the servers' attention to order more. Waters weren't refilled either. We cooked for the most part but a staff member came and cooked for the last 15 minutes. This pushed me to the side because the tables don't have much space to accommodate for me to eat and the staff member to cook at the same time. They had a rule about ordering where there's a timeout session in the diners' tablet so the server would sometimes take our order with their tablet because their tablet doesn't have a time limit. There's a variety of meats with lots of garlic flavored options. I wouldn't recommend the pork belly because the cut isn't your typical pork belly - it's more cut up for a stir fry. The short ribs was probably the best thing I ate. Overall, it was an underwhelming experience and I probably won't return with having the option of other Korean bbq restaurants in Chicago.

Marina very nice server. The food came out fast, everything was great. We will definitely come back.

Went for my free birthday meal and went with the premium KBBQ menu. We were sat in a both that came with both the grill and hotpot. Majority of the service was done on the iPad and the sauce bar is self serve. Overall the meats were as expected for a premium menu. Only downside was the wait time. Wait for over an hour and there isn't really any waiting space. I wish they'd allowed reservations.

Had an amazing dinner here in a Saturday afternoon. Opted in for the premium hot pot menu and the extra shrimp and wagyu that you can order are of great quality. I would say even without the premium selection, the normal choices of meats were fantastic as well. Self ordering tables available made service really fast and we were never in a rush or waiting for food even with the time limit. One note is that the music is a bit loud with kpop playing on screens everywhere. Will come again though!

There was a delay because of their internet's not working but John went above and beyond. He was really helpful and making sure we get our food fast.

I went with my husband on a Saturday. We had the AYCE BBQ. There was a very good variety. However, everything we received was extremely chewy and tough; the quality was not great. It looks nice when they bring it to you, but once you cook it and put it in your mouth, you can't even swallow it. In addition, for the meats that are marinated, like the LA Galbi (rib), it was not marinated enough; it tasted like they dunked it in the sauce right before they brought it out. I also did not appreciate that they used Chinese rice with Korean food. The ambiance was fine; normal Korean BBQ with neon lights to attract the youngsters. It was clean since it was new.

Aimee was super nice and attentive. Food delicioso recommend to anyone. Very cool place for a nice dinner with friends. Parking was also easy.

It's my 3rd visit and this time we had a horrible new lady server. The AYCE limit was supposed to be 2 hours but our tablet showed 90 minutes. I wasn't able to speak to our server but I was told we would still be able to order after 90 mins. We had wrong food delivered to our table but it took us forever to flag down another server. We asked to replace the grill twice and finally someone did after a long wait.

There's a lot of variety here, and you can choose between BBQ, hotpot, or both. My friend and I visited on a weekday, and the staff was very attentive, even though it was busy. The restaurant was fairly clean and played K-pop music, adding to the fun atmosphere. It's a great spot to satisfy your cravings, and while the soup bases are flavorful, the overall quality might not be top-tier-- but that's to be expected from places like this.

Great variety of quality meats at a great price! The service is just as good--attentive, friendly, and up to par. Plus the place is clean!

I visited this place to celebrate a friend's birthday, and it was a fantastic experience! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, thanks to the attentive servers who made sure we weren't rushed during our meal. The quality of the meat was impressive, and the portions were generous! The lively music added to the fun atmosphere, and I absolutely loved it! I highly recommend this venue for any celebration!

First time here. Both food and service were impeccable John really took great care of us. He was very patient explaining the process to us as newbies. Will most definitely be back!!! I'm sooooo full!!!

I had my first experience at a this place and it was not the best. The waitress briefly explained the process but as a new comer expected more suggestions from her. Unknowing of the process, I ordered from the digital tablet several cuts of meat, there was a little bit of left overs. I didn't want to have that food wasted so I asked for a to go box. The waitress came with a scale to charge me for the food I cooked. The bill for two people was $90 as I ordered the premium menu to have a great experience. In order for me to take my own left overs they wanted to charge me more money. Don't waste your time, here is a picture of how wasteful this restaurant is.

A few friends came first and said decent things, so I decided to give it a try. Honestly, it's just OK when I came here for the KBBQ. The meat quality was just average. The selections were very basic with steak, short ribs, shrimp, chicken, pork, and veggies. You can choose plain or marinated for most of the proteins. The clams vermicelli was too garlicy for me otherwise it was good. I think less garlic would be nice or else you're just eating garlic every bite. The short rib wasn't too bad even though the color looks a bit off when they bring it out for you cook. Service was really quick when you order things off the tablet. Very nice options for sauce/desserts which is always good after eating so much meat. My friend and I were there for the whole 2 hours. I wish they had steamed egg cause it's always my go to at Korean places. The pork belly here was probably my favorite. The quality of the meat for the price you pay is pretty fair/reasonable given how expensive it is to eat out these days doing a la carte. This is definitely the kind of place if you just want to stuff yourself full without caring much about quality.

Great ayce kbbq in Chinatown! Service was quick and they had a sauce bar in the back!

Great experience for an AYCE! Slower during lunch and busy during dinner hours. Highly recommend!

Food is solid and service is great. Especially our waiter Jackson is very welcoming and friendly.

Food was excellent. The service workers were very kind and helpful . The place was very clean. Definitely worth the experience !

Jackson was very accommodating for the dietary restrictions. He ensured that our vegetarian/pescatarian friends received the water in their miso broth before it was eaten. The food was great and the pacing for how everything was coming out and the dishes being taken away was great. Definitely recommend coming here if you're looking to try hotpot/kbbq. They were also playing great music and it wasn't super loud in the restaurant either. Thanks for the great service

Marina and all of the staff at Shinhwa were fantastic and attentive. It was our first time at a Korean Steakhouse and they made it memorable.

First time coming and definitely will be back. Ive had plenty of kbbq around the country but this is the first where they offer both hot pot and kbbq together if you so choose. If you do come ask for Jackson and hopefully he is there cuz he'll take care of you. Food is great and when you order it comes quickly as well and it was a full house. A plus for me is that you can just order everything off the tablet they give you so you don't have to wait for server to come around. Highly recommend this place.

Great place for all you can eat BBQ. It tasted good, service is also great! Highly recommended!

We had such an amazing experience with our server Jackson. His customer service was amazing and he always made sure we're taken care of. Also he cooked our final steak his way and it was BOMB. Definitely coming back here!

Everything was good! We loved the food, drinks and service! 5 stars! Thank you very much for doing the great job!

There's an amazing place I've found lately. They have BBQ and hotpot. I know you can see this kind of restaurants everywhere but there are really good. They got good quality food excellent service and good vibes. BTW I had premium BBQ and Hot pot with my family. No kidding it's worth it.

The worst experience ever. My partner got sick from here after eating here. The quality of meat is so horrible. The short rib (galbi) has so much fat that I feel so gross eating it. It's literally all fat. The corn cheese is not supposed to look like what they had. It was all cheese and hardly any corn in it. It should have been the other way around. You can get much better AYCE like this in other places. I don't know what the hype is about. After you put in the order you literally have timer that you can't order anything and have to wait for 5 minute. You get like 90min to eat and you feel rushed because you are restricted to order and time. It's just crowded and not a good experience. Never going back here!

I went on a Friday night with my boyfriend for dinner and we both got the standard kbbq with the additional hotpot for $5 extra charge. It was not crowded at all until late night which was surprising. The whole concept is great! There are a variety of ingredients you can choose from the sauce bar. The AYCE price comes with a soda and there is a soft serve ice cream machine, fruit, and snacks you can freely grab. The quality of meat is not restaurant quality in my opinion. It tasted like and looked like meat you can buy from the grocery store and slice yourself. The thickness of each slice of meat was inconsistent making it feel more like you could DIY it at home. Flavor wise the marinated meats were on the saltier side. I got the tom yum hot pot along with the kbbq and I found that it boiled down quickly as time passed and became saltier as I ate. The waiter did ask if we wanted to add more broth but by the time they asked I was already full. There was not much flavor to the meats, all I could taste was salt. The portion sizes were reasonable, not too much, just enough. You can order 12 items at a time which is really convenient. They were delivered to our table super quick, within 5 minutes. The service was very good though. The waiter was super kind and was always there when we needed anything. There was not just one waiter that checked on us either, there were multiple different people who were all very helpful and considerate. Overall I really liked the cheese corn, grilled pineapple, ice cream, and the snacks; as for the meat itself not so much. Something that was not very nice was that the kitchen gave us a dirty spoon when we ordered a second serving of cheese corn (as pictured next to a clean fork). We did not mention it or complain about it but I still wanted to document it to warn other people that the cleanliness may be questionable. Overall the idea is great but I wish the flavor and quality of meat was better. I'm willing to try it again later since the restaurant is still fairly new, but I probably wouldn't go back soon.

The food was SO good! You can do AYCE hot pot AND Korean BBQ for $5 extra per person. The best of both worlds!!! You order on a tablet and food comes out super fast. Soft drinks are included and their soft serve ice cream is also great for your something sweet at the end of dinner. The places is really cute and they have tables for 2 and large parties. The servers were very nice and attentive. Will definitely be back.

Marina is a great server . Food and meat was all good quality . Very great sauce bar with many options . Lots of good meat options as well

Marina was awesome and food was very good 38 for AYCE A STEAL WAYGU INCLUDED LOVe and will be back. There were no reservations so I have to walk in and it's a 2hr limit

My bf and I find ourselves visiting about 1-2 every few weeks. The customer experience is 100%. The severs are amazing, Ramona and Jackson are always a sight for sore eyes. Incredibly friendly and personable. The food itself is so delicious! The option to have both Kbbq and hotpot is a treat, and birthdays are free! Definitely worth experiencing!

Jackson and Ramona are amazing! Fantastic service and excellent recommendations. The music was amazing and my friends and I had a wonderful time. I will definitely be be back for any celebration. Food was amazing!

Thanks Jackson. You were very sweet. First time here and loved the experience. Food was delicious and the portions was perfect

I am totally like a home with Marina. she is good server every I visit Korean BBQ in Chicago so far

*4.5/5* We usually go to hot pot down the street but it had a long wait so we ventured over to this spot. The food was incredible. I love being able to do hot pot and kbbq at the same table for an extra $5. I also love the options here compared to other places in Chinatown. They have way more sauce options at the sauce bar as well but aren't very informative of allergens in the sauces other than soy. My boyfriend has a shellfish allergy so being able to have individual hotpot's is a plus for people who have allergy concerns (so I can still eat some seafood without cross contaminating the hot pot.) The only issue we had was that we would have liked to cook our own food but, the kind waitress insisted on coming over every time we got new items and immediately grilled and cut them up for us. By the time we ate some of them they were cold or had to be refueled. Next time, we will kindly ask to do it ourselves as it is part of the intimate date night experience. Keep in mind you have 2 hours at the table and 1.5 hours to order food so, come hungry and ready to roll. Highly recommend and will be back soon!

My waiter name jason is very nice. He said that it his second day but he reallys good with his job

So good!! Love the kpop mv! The wagyu is so delicious Pork, beef, seafood, all you want is here!

Food and service is really good and above all our server Jackson was very kind and interactive he made our first time experience amazing definitely coming back