Bud Namu Korean BBQ

I don’t recommend this place for anyonr
Unless you are looking for some place where you can pay cheap and have all u can eat. I would give 1 star but.
The only reason I give 2 stars is the price (I think you get what you pay for)
Staff are rude and never care about customers needs. Very disappointed

AYCE here is definitely not worth it! I would far prefer cheaper $ 9.99 AYCE places across k-​town.
The food was alright, but service was terrible. To start, the sides were alright– just your basic sides but nothing was particularly standout. The food was also good. Meats were read and not discolored or anything. They had a little sides bar in the middle of the place where you could fill on salad or kimchi and where you get your sauces, but there was no rice paper. When we asked for rice paper, the waitress gave us one bowl of no more than 6 – 8 rice papers although we had a party of 12. This seemed a bit stingy to me. As for most korean restaurants, every time we asked for a refill of meat or more napkins or anything, waiters/​waitresses just gave a slight head nod or muttered a «hmm» and went on their way– something they seem to do to younger crowds and customers who aren’t korean.
At the end of the meal was when the workers started acting up. To begin, we made reservations for 13 people but only ended up having 12 there. We kindly informed them of this mistake on the check, thinking it was not a big deal but they acted both skeptical and distrusting toward us. However, you could very easily count the number of heads sitting around the table and the number of place settings used to know that we only had 12 people. The waitress helping us out called another lady to our table to verify that we had only 12 people and to finally take one charge off the bill. Then, they came to clean up the table and one lady saw some meat left and got immediately upset. With furrowed brows and a very off-​putting tone, she said we couldn’t do that and that it was extra charge. At other kbbq spots, if we did not finish a plate of food, as long as it was untouched, they would take the meats back. We tried to explain this to her but she go even more frustrated, took the meat with her bare hand, tossed it into the egg dish that we hadn’t finished, and then looked at it for a few minutes, grabbed it out with her bare hands again, and walked away. I was so shocked by her actions that I didn’t even know what to think. After quite a wait, they finally came back with the new checks. We got up to leave when one lady hurried over and exclaimed that we hadn’t paid enough tip. First of all, tip is up to our discretion. It is courtesy to leave 18% tip which we made sure to do, but under no circumstance should they be coming to us angry that we didn’t «leave tip». We looked over the bill and ensured her that we had paid enough tip. She then walkie talkied someone presumably higher up and told us we weren’t allowed to leave. One member of my party took out his wallet and was about to give her whatever she wanted because we had already been there for 30 extra minutes trying to settle the bill until another lady came. This lady came with a damn calculator in her hand and calculated the tip on her calculator only to find that we had paid enough, probably even more than enough, and said we could go.
Service was just horrendous. I would not recommend Bud Namu and will not be going back.

I was excited to try this place because my friends told me so many good things about this restaurant, but I was slightly disappointed. The servers were not friendly and they weren’t as attentive at I had hoped. We had to wait awhile to get the server’s attention to have them come and get our first order, and the restaurant was not that busy when we were there. Additionally, I felt that the grill wasn’t hot enough and it took awhile to cook the chicken all the way since the cuts they gave us were so thick. The marinade on the bulgogi chicken was also a little too sweet for my liking, which was disappointing. The only reason why I did not give this place a 1 is because of the price. it was less than $ 13 for all you can eat dinner for the basic set, which is a really good price. I also want to note that I had a terrible stomach ache a few hours after, and I have a feeling it was the chicken or the pork skin. My friend who came with me also felt sick as well afterwards. I won’t be coming back here. I am going to have to find another Korean BBQ spot.

I had an especially bad experience tonight and the trend I’ve experienced continued.
When I’m with asian or white people, we get a table closer to the center of the place. When I come here with a latino or african american friend, we’re consistently seated in the corner of the second floor.
We are given meat that’s of relatively poor quality and treated with contempt.
Today as we were finishing our meal, one of the servers came to our table and took away a water pitcher that was still half full. She took it away and set it down on an empty table nearby. Obviously she was trying to get us to leave, and it was an incredibly rude, passive-​aggressive way to tell us to get out. We weren’t even there long and it’s disgusting the way they treat some of their customers.
Some of the servers are cordial and professional, but this one in particular, a middle-​aged, kind of plump woman was rude, condescending, and prejudiced. I can only hope these qualities are specific only to her.
I feel sick about supporting this place with my dollars.

Do NOT eat here…
I come here a couple times a year for about the last two or three years. It was horrible back in the day day, but my how it has deteriorated even MORE over the years. I do not expect much from an AYCE KBBQ place that costs $ 11.99/person (lunch), but poor service is absolutely unacceptable for the pure fact that it is still a restaurant that expects me to tip!
Tipping for good service is the norm in our country, but what if you don’t even GET service???
Our journey began as we are seated upstairs right next to the buffet where all the side dishes are. Everything was fine, until the ground started vibrating; the entire time we were there! The family next to us was so annoyed that even one of their party members stood up. The vibration was so irritating and uncomfortable, because it shook the entire second floor! Your butt was numb by the time you finished dining.
It gets worse. Our server had NO interest in serving us; AT ALL. He first asked us if we would like white rice, which we replied with no. Later, he would ask us again, and I even shook my head no. Tell me why this guy brings us three bowls of white rice???
I told him we did not want the rice, but 2 extra bowls of salad. He said OK, walks off and FORGETS to bring us the extra two bowls of salad. Later on, we remind him, and after a long while he only brings us ONE. My polite friend asked for another, which he then said he was not allowed to give us another bowl of salad… YOU CAN’T GIVE ME A EMPTY BOWL??? I’ll even F***ing serve myself!!! Seriously??? BULL. SHIT!
At this point, I am absolutely agitated… I politely ask him for a side of steamed eggs, which he NEVER brought.
As he cleaned up the table next to us, I looked straight at him… not a single word or care to ask us if we needed anything. (I KNOW YOU SAW ME) Yes, I was furious. I requested a different waiter. I don’t know what happened, but a different waitress EVENTUALLY comes around. I think it was because she saw we had NO MEAT! The entire time, the grill mostly sat without meat on it. I got full off the sides, and lettuce. Yay… not really.
I ordered a dish of Bulgogi (marinated beef), and Chicken Bulgogi… WHY was the chicken INEDIBLE, because it was extremely SALTY??? Also, they served the Chicken in the SAME dish as the beef???
First you wouldn’t give me an extra bowl, and now you’re serving two different meats in one dish???
LAY! ZEEEEEE! LAZY! LAZY! LAZY! (lol)
I don’t even want to THINK about how poorly the place is cleaned when management sets up such STINGY LAZY ASS RULES!
Even though we ordered more brisket, no one came back to our table after that. The new group of people who got sat next to us got their brisket before we did. I was so upset, I didn’t even want to eat anymore…
Unbelievable… One thing after another. They don’t give a SHIT about you… Even if it is cheap, it was NOT worth it to me… Red Palace in Cerritos is not only CHEAPER, but the service/​food is AMAZING!
If y’all could go out of business already, that’d be great. Stop taking people’s hard earned money, when you can’t even afford to pay your servers enough to give a shit…
Disgusting. Unacceptable customer service. Stingy. Have some respect for yourself, and eat somewhere else (lol)
Sincerely,
The Unapologetic Angry Blonde Asian
#idgiveyouzerostarsificould #disappointedinmyownpeople #ididntdeservetogothroughallthat #alliwantedwaskbbq

So I guess I’ve been here enough to finally make a review for this place. Whenever someone is craving KBBQ or whenever someone is coming from out of town, we would go here to eat until our heart’s content. There are less and less cheap AYCE KBBQ out there so the price of $ 12.99 for dinner isn’t really that bad. While the selections are small, there are enough variations of meat to satisfy my KBBQ cravings.
First, you should always go upstairs because there’s a bar where you can get your own ban chan and condiments. My most favorite ban chan there is the seaweed. Everything else is mediocre to me and I wish they had some type of potato or macaroni salad.
When ordering meat, get the brisket, beef belly, pork belly, bulgogi, and steak. Beef belly and pork belly are terrible for you, but THEY’RE JUST SO GOOD. How can you not order them?! Yes, the pork belly basically contains all fat, but who cares? Just place it on the rice so some of its oil is soaked into the rice. Then, you’ll have the option of eating the rice or letting the rice be an oil sucker. I always order these choices and I honestly haven’t been disappointed by them. The steak is nicely marinaded in some type of sweet, flavorful sauce so this has become a popular order among my group of friends.
Unfortunately, the steamed eggs are not all you can eat. Each table, depending on the size of the group, gets one or two steamed eggs. Any request for additional steamed egg is extra charge :(…as much as I love this dish, at least I can make it at home so I’m not entirely devastated.
While the service isn’t always the greatest for sometimes it’s hard to get their attention while other times they’re super attentive and nice, I’m always satisfied with my meal, leaving myself in a massive food coma.

I came for dinner and it wasn’t too busy and got seated upstairs pretty quickly. The place looked pretty clean for a kbbq place and they have a salad bar thing /​sauce so you can help yourself. We chose this place because it was cheap and for its price I would say the meat was pretty decent.
The reason why I’m giving two stars is because the customer service was HORRIBLE. Great customer service is a major key for the customers to enjoy coming to your business and for them to come back. Nope. Not here. We asked for soybean sauce or whatever and it took us a good 15 minutes to finally get it after asking like three times. We then asked for several other things and it literally takes forever for them to actually get to you. They obviously don’t listen cause you either have to remind them /​ask other servers to get what you want. The lady was extremely rude barely even says a word so we don’t even know if she heard us or not. Not even a simple nod or anything, she will just look at you and walk away… There were some younger workers there though who were really kind but I think they were just busboys.
I had the worst customer service ever at this kkbq place (usually I get at least good service at other places). After talking over it my friends and I decided that they didn’t deserve good tip so we left what we thought they deserved. Then as we were leaving they lady chases us down and says we didn’t leave enough tip. Excuse me? I don’t care if we didn’t leave enough tip your service was so shitty it wasn’t even deserved. You’re lucky we even left a tip. Then she started talking to another worker in Korean and I have no clue what they said but they kept hustling us for more tip so we left an extra two dollars. lol I hope that two dollars were worth it cause I will never come back again and I’ll be sure to let all my friends know to never come here.

I feel like this place, more specifically their service, has changed for the worse since I last came here, though there doesn’t seem to be any less people coming in.
I had a crazy kbbq craving so we decided to come here for dinner. There was quite a bit of wait so we had to sign in on a sheet of paper at the front counter. We were finally seated at the upper floor, which was nice since there’s a banchan bar in the middle so you can refill your banchan as much as you’d like.
They raised their prices to $ 12.99 per person for dinner now, which still isn’t that bad, but man I’m going to miss the $ 10.99 price.
We finished the kimchi within 5 minutes of being seated so I got up to refill the kimchi at the banchan bar, except that the kimchi there was all gone too. I thought that they had already noted that so I sat back down. 10 minutes later, the kimchi was still not refilled so I went up to a lady at the bar and asked if she could get the kimchi refilled. She kind of gave me a side eye before nodding and going around to grab the kimchi bucket without a word or a smile. It wasn’t until about an hour, maybe an hour and a half later that the kimchi was back in the bar.
You might have to ask for some items more than once because I guess the servers tend to forget some things since they don’t write your orders down. We’ve had to ask for a couple dishes multiple times before they got it to us. I asked for rice, rice paper, and steamed egg. I also asked for 2 more of the brisket sauce/​salt thing that they give you at the beginning since we had a group of 4 and they only gave us 2. The rice and rice paper came fairly quickly and the steamed egg came for a bit later. The brisket sauce and salt never came. They also mixed up our orders with the table next to us, and would sometimes give us more meat plates than we asked for, which is something to be aware of since they charge extra for leftover meat.
I’m going to note something that was sort of rude as far as service. We asked for bulgogi, and I guess the guy isn’t the one to put in orders, so he asked his coworker to get it for us. His coworker told him, without stopping, «no chingues», which pretty much means «f*** that». I don’t know if he noticed, but we had 2 fluent Spanish speakers at our table, and they heard him loud and clear. Even if we didn’t have fluent Spanish speakers in our group, that was still incredibly rude of him to say so. We had to turn to another server to put in our meat orders.
Really the service here turned me off from this place. The servers would kind of just grab our plates without looking at us, so they didn’t notice that we wanted to order something else. None of them really looked too pleased to be there, which I kind of get since it’s almost closing and they’re probably tired, but they could’ve at least acknowledged us.
Another thing is that the vents above our tables that are supposed to be clearing up the smoke from our grills, don’t work. About halfway through our meal, our entire table was left teary-​eyed and sniffing from the smoke getting in our eyes and noses. We also had a small fire suddenly surface above the grill because they didn’t clean the new grill enough that there was still grease left on it from the previous users. I don’t know what’s happening with this place but they need to do something about all of these things, from fixing their vents to the grills to the service here.

Came for the cheapest KBBQ option. The quality of the meat alright especially for the price, that’s fine. I was continuously pulling fat off the meat but most people don’t care and shove the whole thing in.
The service was not that great. We went upstairs so we can self serve ourselves from the salad bar. Like 1.5 hours before they closed they started cleaning everything up, salad bar closed, doing last calls which I think is kind of crazy. Like maybe 45 minutes before but not 1.5hours before.
I also asked for extra Tongs cuz we have 4 people and they said yes but never brought them and kind of ignored me when she left. I interpreted it as a common question and thought she understood and would bring them
I also asked for eggs during our last call and a girl radioed it and said ok but later they gave us our bill and took away the grill with no eggs coming =\.

I don’t get why this restaurant doesn’t have more stars. This place is amazing!!! I probably would never eat kbbq in NorCal again. SoCal is where it’s at!!!
PROS:
1.) $ 12.99/$ 18.99 for AYCE!!! No, I’m not joking. Me & my friends got the $ 12.99 menu although it’s a limited menu from the $ 18.99 it was still delicious! It came with: beef brisket, pork belly, beef belly, steamed egg, beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, soup, rice & A LOT more. Trust me, this menu is WORTH. The beef brisket was my favorite because it was thinly sliced & in small pieces. Though they give you a big portion!
2.) their dipping sauce was the perfect kick to dip into the meat.
3.) rice paper will change your life!!! Wrap it with a piece of meat!!! SO GOOD. This is the first kbbq restaurant that I’ve tried the rice paper & I think I’ve asked for a refill 4+ times. It’s a better replacement than eating rice so you don’t get full fast!
4.) Service was on par! Tons of people talked badly about the service on Unilocal but I decided to come anyways & expected it to be terrible but it was nothing short of amazing customer service. Mind you, it was a busy Saturday night & they sat us in the back & in the corner. They came by periodically to check on us & constantly asked if we needed more food. One guy even helped us change our grill without having us ask them first.
5.) fast wait time! Came around dinner’s prime time which was about 6:30ish. It was busy & there were a lot of people waiting. I came with a party of 4 & got seated in less than 10 MINUTES! The restaurant is extremely spacious & has 2 levels.
CONS:
1.) not enough banchans. I love these little side dishes that come in the beginning but this place had about 4 banchans a table. Although you can ask for refills they didn’t have my favorite which was the sweet potato, potato salad, & the fish cakes. I’ve been to other restaurants where they would have up to 20 banchans.
2.) parking can be difficult but that’s LA for ya. There is $ 2 valet which is really cheap! But me & my friends were able to snag a spot a block away after 6pm & it was free parking.
VERDICT:
— I will come back every single time in in LA. This beats every single kbbq restaurant I’ve been to in NorCal. Not just the pricing but the quality of food too! For 4 people we spent a total of $ 56 & if I were to eat kbbq in NorCal that price would’ve been doubled for 4 people! ($ 56 would be the cost for 2 people! It’s ridiculous) I’m seriously counting down the days until I return here!

For the most part, every time I come here, the service is alright. I eat til I’m full and I am happy.
But recently when I went with a party of 11 on a Wednesday night, it was packed and they separated us into two tables which we were fine with. However, the serviced was terrible. We had to ask five different people to get us the meats we want and we still didn’t get it until we had to ask a second time. I know it’s busy, but they were not at all focused on anyone? And couldn’t do anything right? Everything we wanted, we had to ask multiple times and that was tiring and the whole meal was unfulfilling. What a waste of my breath. Anyways, I think this was an off day.
So inattentive and rude.

How have I not rated Bud Namu yet.
I’ve been here at least a dozen times, twice in two days last week after a long KBBQ layoff…
It’s 12 and 13 bucks for lunch and dinner now I think so it’s no longer $ 10 and under, but this is my go to cheap KBBQ spot.
Parking is annoying, but they do have valet for $ 2. Meat quality is… befitting of the price but not too bad. Their marinades are on point.
The menu is pretty good sized for the price as well, skirt steak and beef belly are nice to have. Comes with a bean paste soup and steamed egg per table, and two bowls of rice per person.
A game changer is that this restaurant is big and takes reservations (and isn’t bad, unlike ODAESAN). Great for big parties of hungry people. Sides are solid and there’s a side and sauce bar upstairs.
Service is average and very Korean. They change the grill a lot and are not aholes. That’s all I need.
Definitely recommend this for accessible KBBQ.

if you’re ever in the mood to eat as much as you can for as cheap as you can, come here!
It’s $ 10.99 for the cheapest option! Who can turn that down? You get the simple stuff like brisket and bulgogi.
I liked the panchan here but it seems like they were running out since we came late.
Service was subpar, but they’re always busy!

Everyone knows that there are K-​BBQ joints serving more expensive, higher cut meats in K-​town. But not as many provide the same large-​group experience as Bud NaMu consistently serves.
Valet parking, AYCE meats, relatively friendly service all for around $ 15 a person. Not a bad deal and everyone always leaves satisfied.
Shoutout to server Edward for providing my table some excellent service! Always made sure we had everything taken care of and gave the most pleasant KBBQ experience that I’ve ever had. For a table of 9, that’s saying a lot.
Thanks Edward!

Eh. I like the idea of AYCE bbq but when it comes down to it, I eat so little meat, it’s not really worth the price for me. What’s even worse (for your wallet and your stomach) is when, for a $ 11.99-$ 18.99 ea. price tag, there’s the threat of an additional $ 11.99 fee for unfinished food. I get it… People waste a lot of food, especially at AYCE places. We were scared to leave anything behind and our stomachs will have something to say about that tomorrow. I asked if there were any veggie options and the waitress waved her hand over the table toward the banchan and salad… so… no. Loud and clear.
The meat was good. Chicken was flavorful and tender. The brisket, sirloin, and pork belly were alright. The banchan was okay but there wasn’t a huge selection. The soybean soup was good but there were only 3 – 4 pieces of tofu in it. Decent food, not so decent fees. If you come here, make sure you, A. Have a huge appetite, or B. Come with someone else who has a huge appetite…
Oh, and you better like meat.

Busy place so the service is getting worst every time I come here. The meat gets worse and worse… Last time I went here, the meat was horrible and bland…
Time to find a new place to eat.

3.5 stars
2 floors — upstairs & downstairs seating. If you prefer a bright and quiet, sit downstairs by the hostess table. If you prefer a dimmer lit setting, music, and AYCE banchan bar, ask for upstairs seating!
My family of 5 arrived around 5:30pm and waited only 5 – 10 minutes for upstairs seating. Parking was no issue at all during this time. We opted for the $ 12.99 AYCE option and mainly went for the bulgogi and brisket. There was about 5 banchan sides only including the salad. Sides were pretty bland in comparison to other kbbq restaurants so we mainly just picked at it =(
I can’t complain about the attentive staff and quick service.
Come early — By the time we left around 7pm, there was a huge traffic congestion outside of the restaurant for parking and a long wait!

Cheap? Yes.
Delicious? Yes.
All you can eat? Yusss.
I paid $ 15 for all the meat I could dream of, and it was decent quality meat.
‘Nuff said.

Hands down my favorite cheap eats in K-​Town LA. While most KBBQ restaurants are raising their menu prices and lowering their quality (or keeping the same prices while removing menu items), Bud Namu has at least kept consistent quality while adding more items to their $ 11.99 menu!
UPDATE 02÷24÷16: $ 11.99 only for lunch. $ 12.99 for dinner.
The $ 11.99 menu comes with:
Brisket
Pork Belly
Beef Belly
Skirt Meat
Beef Bulgogi
Chicken Bulgogi
Intestine
Pork Skin
Steamed Egg (a bowl per two people)
Soybean Stew (a bowl per two people)
Where else would you find skirt meat on the cheapest menu??? I would have given 4 stars for just the cheap price alone (not to mention the cleanliness of the restaurant) but service is a huge hit or miss. If you’re still eating close to closing time, they kind of stand near your table and tell you to come earlier next time you’re here. Um ok. They also messed up my orders a couple of times now, bringing us meat we didn’t order or just completely forgetting about us.
I mean I’ll still come here since I’m living on a budget. but yeah. the service is whatevers. Easiest method for parking during rush hour is valet parking! $ 2 when you pick up your car.
TIP: opt to sit upstairs during dinner (not available for lunch). There’s a sidebar where you can refill salad, kimchi, radish, bean sprouts, water, and sauces.

Cheap AYCE option. We ordered the lowest option which was $ 11.99. Not bad. We ordered beef brisket, beef belly, pork belly, beef bulgogi, and chicken bulgogi. Quality of the meet was A-​OK. Enough to get you stuffed for cheap.
They only have bottles of beer and NO PITCHERS. BOO! Small sapporo was 4.99. Large beers were 5.99. Which ain’t bad but I prefer a pitcher since there were 3 of us in our party.
Service was average. They did check up on us often.
Overall, place is ok. Will I come back? Maybe.