Woo Chon Restaurant

I would say that Woo Chon’s forte is its marinated galbi. The meat is cooked just right, and the bean paste soup (which also has galbi) nicely accompanies galbi.

We used to love this restaurant for the Korean BBQ and other dishes. But during the last visit we discovered that the BBQ is now very expensive and the meat is not that great. I also ordered kimchi soup, and it was also very expensive with pork meat very rough/​uneatable. On top of this they did not return my credit card, so I had to cancel it and reorder the new one.
I am not coming back.

A Korean restaurant where they are genuinely happy to have you! Wonderful food! Aside from the delicious meat, highly recommend the mackerel! Love this place!

This place is fantastic! The food is delicious and the service is excellent. If you’re looking for some satisfying Korean BBQ you can’t go wrong here!

Tasty, but OMG IT WAS WAY OVER PRICED! $ 29 for a small amount of Kalbi. And $ 14 for a bowl of noodles and soup?
Very disappointing, and then they didn’t want to give us more pan chan? Skip this place.

Been going here for the past 8 – 9 years. Only a few true mom/​pop Korean places left and this is being one of them. Every is made in house. From kalbi to the side dishes. Hope it will stay like this FOREVER!

Lovely restaurant with great service. The staff seemed real genuine and had natural smiles on.
Good quality meat. The marinated one felt a bit too sweet (as most do).
Delicious side dishes.
Will go back.

I got the beef leek soup. It’s kinda on the bland side otherwise decent. Did not care for the flavored of the side dishes. Grape soda had real grape chunks in it.

My family and I have known of Woo Chon for decades. I remember as a high school student coming here in the 90s. The ownership has changed multiple times over that time period. With the ownership changes, the quality of the food has oscillated. I heard from some friends that under the current owners, the food is quite good.
My friends and I came here after seeing the lines at Cho Sun Ok out the door.
The basic problem with Woo Chon is that the prices are extortionary for Korean food. I’m not sure how they are getting away with this, or if it’s a sign that business has been tough (price makes up for lack of volume). After sitting down, I was sincerely inclined to get up and leave after the sticker shock of their prices.
For example, BBQ Kalbi at your table runs $ 29 per person before tax and tip, when other restaurants normally won’t exceed $ 18 – 19.
Dolsot Bimbimbap, a fundamentally simple dish of rice, vegetables and some meat, runs $ 17, where other restaurants typically won’t charge more than $ 10 – 12.
A portion of 5 small fried dumplings costs $ 6, where other restaurants will typically give at least 8 for the same price.
Kimchi Jjigae, an even simpler stew consisting of kimchi, tofu and some pork, cost $ 12, where I’ve never seen it priced over $ 8.
All that being said, I thought the food was good, but not worth the prices. The pan chan (side dishes) provided were tasty but sparse. Perhaps that’s why I saw few patrons on a Friday night (where Cho Sun Ok had a line equivalent to two times their seating capacity), and few actual Koreans.
The reality is options for authentic Korean in Chicago have dwindled with the migration of Koreans to Niles, Skokie, Northbrook/​Glenview. But two far better options in my opinion are the aforementioned Cho Sun Ok and San Soo Gap San. Cho Sun Ok, for example, despite being located in a neighborhood that has gentrified to yuppie-​hood over the past twenty years, is still patronized by Koreans who make the trip for delicious food at a reasonable price.
I will likely never return to Woo Chon.

This place makes delicious Korean staple foods. I enjoy their ddaengjjang jjigae and spicy pork bulgogi the most. Their bibimbop is very delicious as well. Not the best place for Korean bbq, but satisfying. If you are not familiar with this place it is easy to miss, but if you check it out, you won’t be disappointed! Definitely one of the best Korean restaurants I’ve been to in Chicago.

Solid side dishes. The salads are on-​point (scallions). The meat is a bit thin but still good and has a decent amount of juice per bite. The service is the best I’ve gotten at a Korean restaurant so far and I am from Koreatown LA. Probably the most solid Korean BBQ joint in Chicago.

We tried this restaurant recently. It has a nice atmosphere and awesome service! We ordered bibimbop, bulgogi, daeji bulgogi, and galbi. It also comes with soup and several other sides just cant remember their names. Food was very delicious but my favorite was the soup and galbi. It was actually fun cooking the galbi but wish the portion were bigger for the price…

Came here with a friend, was immediately seated, we ended up ordering from their affordable lunch menu. My friend got two orders of bulgogi and I had one of the bimbimbop. Food was served fairly quickly, overall the food was great. The side dishes were also very fresh and tasty. The place is small but clean. And the service was excellent even while being served by only one waitress, she was still very attentive, kept checking in on us and refilling our drinks. Overall I will definitely come back to try the bbq menu.

I was craving sulungtang and soondubu so I came here with my friend on a whim. We ordered both soups and split them. Both were extremely good and hit close to home! Unlimited side dishes and you can always ask for more. Staff was friendly and accomadating. Would definitely come back when I crave sulungtang or even to try out their korean BBQ.

Good quality meat. As a Korean I crave their ta-​ro-​guk-​bab (meaning soup and rice) whenever i come down with cold.

I have been going to this restaurant on weekly bases and the quality has been
Consistent! To be specific, I never
Get tired of their dwaen jang jigae and hot stone bowl bibimbap!

I think I found my new favorite Korean BBQ restaurant for groups. I brought ten to Woo Chon. I think I also found my new favorite Korean BBQ joint that has impeccable service. Hard to believe, isn’t?
Don’t let the outside or understated interior fool you. This place knows how to do Korean BBQ well. Their banchan (side dishes) were fresh and plentiful. Their samjang was fresh and homemade. Their kimchi and haemeol pajon (pancakes) were cooked perfectly and their meat was tender and marinated well. Overall, a great K BBQ experience for me and my friends.
I had to take off a star because it was a bit pricier than other places and they forgot to bring us our doenjang jjigae (soybean soup).
What I liked most about this place was I could bring in a party of ten and it was still relatively quiet in comparison to san soo gab san. Also, I didn’t leave here smelling like burnt meat. Two big pluses when you invite vegans on your korean cuisine adventures.

Ok been there twice since and service was way better.
I’ve also ordered to go and the order was packaged nicely.
So… They get bumper up to a 4 :)

A nice, reasonably-​priced Korean BBQ joint. The menu is not huge but the food is good. Service was a bit slow, but friendly.
I had the prawns. For my $ 20 I got 6 large ones. The ban chan was good, but not quite the variety I am used to. However, I particularly liked the thinly sliced daikon radish slices for wrapping the BBQ in.
Soup and salad came with my meal. The soup was a tasty clear beef and daikon radish soup, with a bit of tofu in it. (I didn’t care for the salad’s sweet dressing.)
Next time I will have to try some of the other dishes.

My first experience with Korean BBQ! Pretty good overall. Cass beer was really good, and a huge bottle for $ 7!
We had the dumplings filled with beef and vegetables as an appetizer, I don’t remember the name but I didn’t like it.
BBQ was awesome, love that you cook it yourself at the table! We had the marinated short rib. It comes with tons of little side dishes and they refill them for you of you want! Potato & apple salad is soo good. The salads that came with were good as well and everything was fresh!
Great waitress as well, she went through all the side dishes for us and gave recommendations when we were ordering!