Pine Tree

Good service. Good workers. Good people. Good food. Good times. Equals pine tree. Can I get a bottle of Soju as service now? :)

Oh man, this place conjures up great food memories in addition to some major salivation. I used to get SO EXCITED when my dad would bring home tong dak (friend whole chicken) from Pine Tree. Tong dak is the Korean version of what I would equate to whole rotisserie chicken. The skin should be crispy and the meat should be moist and tender. It is commonly served with pickled cubed radish. The radish has a sweet/​tangy flavor that pairs perfectly with the chicken. When I was younger obviously I couldn’t enjoy beer, but now that I am of age I can appreciate how delicious and soul-​satisfying a simple dish like fried chicken, pickled radish, and beer can really be. I haven’t tried anything but the tong dak from here and why bother when I can enjoy such a perfect meal! I always say if done correctly, nothing is more enjoyable than food with simplicity and Pine Tree gets it right!

Best fried Korean style chicken.

Chill Korean joint near my place. Grab some brew and tong dak to eat.
The lighting in the booths make me feel like I’m in an interrogation room, or was that because I was hella buzzed. I dunno. Regardless, I had a weird night here and am unsure if I am coming back.

been going here since high school. the chicken and beer combo is the best. the pickled radishes also go well with the beer.

Dude, the food is bomb, especially the bulgogi. Ambiance/​Décor is decent, but what would you expect at a Korean BBQ place? Parking is ample (they have a gated lot) and service is good (food came out promptly and drinks were refilled on a regular basis). Good food and good service at a great price, what more could you ask for? I highly recommend.

This is where I go to pick up a tong dak late at night. I always just run in and run out in my jammies. It’s all hoodlums and ah juh shee’s why would I want to look nice. It’s a bit pricey for a small cornish game hen, but when it’s late and I’m wanting chicken, this is the place I go.

Not too many fond memories of this place. The place was dirty, service was crap, food was edible and the soju… well, it’s soju. I had to keep drinking to forget about the filth. It worked. Been there once, never went back.

Place is a little ghetto joint, ok service, but cool dry ice beer, ok food, and always little Norwalk/​Cerritos gangster wanabes hanging out there trying to pick fights with fobs.

Pine Tree has always had a special place in my beer gut, as it is one of the very few places in south county that has some semblence of history. Or what can be considered history, in this new world and age.
Originally a chicken feed store, the property was purchased in 1953 by the 32^nd korean who arrived in California. Legends says he was the son of a certain north korean general’s onetime whore, but truth be told he was probably just another itinerant presby preacher who fell off the wagon after discovering coca cola.
From then on, the building transitioned through a veritable checklist of korean enterprise, in this order: laundromat, grocery store, sandwich restaurant, liquor store, golf equipment, real estate front, tutoring academy, boba shop, and finally, chicken & beer bar.
Pine Tree appeared just in time to service the 2^nd wave of incoming fobs in the early eighties, for many of whom beer and chicken was the only link they had left to their homeland, long lost and away. In AsianAm textbooks, the hard swapmeet toil of mothers and fathers and the resulting princeton success of their filial children are paramount, what is left out are stories of an entire generation who chose a different path, a more personal road, one lined with unfinished junior college transcripts, tight leather jackets stunk of red and lights, and always always chicken bones and empty pitchers of beer.
For these unsung young men and women, Pine Tree was a haven of haze and old world comfort, away from the stifle of crowded home and the frustrations of living without subtitles in a world that so dearly needed them.
Such was the story told when I was young by my uncles who then were of what age I am today. They are long gone now, but Pine Tree still stands, always there, always ready to console with chicken and beer to those in need of such comfort.
With their ample parking, open until 2am 7 days a week, bargain beer and chicken combos, nonjudgemental air, and this bittersweet history, such has Pine Tree been for me and for my friends. For this and more, we will always be grateful to Pine Tree. Pine Tree, we salute you. Pine Tree, we love you.
Always, and forever.

local little restaurant to grub and drink soju & beers… they serve up soups, stews, fried chicken (ttong-​dak), etc. to put some food into your tummy while drinking up some soju and beers…