ToBang

This is my new favorite KBBQ spot in the Bay Area!

As a self-proclaimed KBBQ connoisseur, I want to say this has all the markers of a great time:

FOOD
Bomb. Every time. The combos are huge portions and we never get to finish them (yay leftovers!)

AMBIENCE
The ladies who work here are super sweet and diligent. It can get pretty busy here and parking is surprisingly difficult during dinner time despite the parking complex.


SERVICE
-our party of 5 was seated in less than 5 minutes
- they help you out with orders and help you decide if the combos are too much

One of my favorite kbbq places in the bay! It's not AYCE but I still love it. The banchan at this restaurant is some of my absolute favorite, the japchae, braised potato, fish cakes.. all so good!
You can also make a reservation here if you have a big group, which is what I did for a birthday celebration and they had us seated pretty quickly! Only thing is your whole group needs to be there before you get seated.

A favorite of mine and I'll be coming back!!

First time trying ToBang. We came when it was opening at 11:45am on a Saturday in mid-August. Staff was busy trying to seat down people rather than giving us the water bottle they set on the table despite it being just opening.

You have to select the Set Meal at the entrance/lobby. They only have set meals but they have a mandatory Set Meals for the number of people you have in your party (ex: if you are a party of 4, the staff MAKES you choose the more expensive/what they think a party eats rather than a set meal that you or your party are interested in or they won't take your business). Already cooked meats have tons of lettuce underneath. They do give you yogurt drinks at the end of the meal.

We were also chased down to the parking lot for a complete tip despite it being $4 short from the mandatory/regular 15% tip, which not a big deal but was just taken aback for $4 less..

Overall, I wouldn't come here again. Good to try? Yep. To try again? Nope.

I highly recommend Tofu Plus in Cupertino more if you want to take your time but not feel rushed or pressured to order a certain set meal.

This place is the perfect spot to get generous portions for a great price!! We ordered the Combo B which included 3 meat dishes, 1 seafood pancake, kimchi fried rice, side dishes, lettuce and radish wraps, and sauces. We chose raw brisket, cooked bulgogi, and cooked kalbi which was an additional $8). They also gave us an order of tteokbokki and corn cheese too, which was nice! It was such a huge variety, and all of this was for ~$90 to feed 3 with a bunch of leftovers!!

Everything was pretty good, and we especially loved the kalbi!! The service is extremely attentive and efficient which was nice when it came to refills of side dishes and coming by to cook our meats, but it also did feel like we were being rushed throughout our meal. I've also heard this from a friend who recently tried this spot as well.

This place is not a full scale kbbq where everything is grilled at the table. I think only the beef brisket and bell belly's are. Others are cooked in their kitchen and delivered to you like other tofu house. I'd say if you want a Korean meal offering more than tofu house but not as expensive as kbbq this could be a good choice.
Food quality is average (except for the pork bugogi which is meh) but the service was pretty good.

Pretty dang affordable in terms of non-AYCE KBBQ, at least compared to what I'm used to in SoCal. It was also enough to feed a group of 3 moderately hungry individuals with some food leftover to go.

They currently have a Customer Appreciation Deal with a free small treat after your meal (we got Peach Yakult) and a small serving of corn cheese and tteokbokki.

We came an hour or so before closing and the service is very friendly and helpful.

Our group got the Special A (~$60 rounding up) which comes with:
-The choice of 2 meats: we got the Bulgogi and the spicy BBQ pork rib (not super spicy but does have a subtle heat that might have been too spicy for our lily skinned friend).
-Seafood pancake (sliced into 6 pieces) - good amount of shrimp and I liked the crispy edges.
-Various banchan (refillable), rice paper, radish wrap, etc.
-Kimchi fried rice (you can also order white rice) - a bit more gooey than what I have would liked, so I think the better call would be to get steamed rice to go along with the meats.

Our meat options were already cooked when they got to our table and both are nicely seasoned without being too salty or sweet and the meat quality is decent enough for the price. It's also put on a hot surface grill so it stays warm throughout the meal and which allows for our cheese in the corn cheese to melt.

We also added a mild beef soft tofu soup for $8 and got a side of rice as well. Comes out super hot and enough to share between all of us. Good number of veggies, soft tofu, and beef in the soup. At mild it had a nice flavor to it, once again may be too much for our lily skinned friend, but I enjoyed it.

Solid KBBQ place if you don't want to get AYCE.

WOW WOW WOW, SO YUMMY AND AMAZING! I can't believe I missed this gem for so long.

I have heard about ToBang for years and have been to that plaza multiple times but never got to try it until recently and boy was it delicious and dare I say, maybe my favorite K-bbq spot in the Bay Area.

My partner and I came here on a Friday night around 8:00 P.M. and it was packed! We didn't know what to expect, I typically go through Yelp to check on the menu and look through photos (since I am one of those people who eats with their eyes first), but we decided to just go in with no expectations.

When we got in we were greeted by the staff at least 2 minutes in and the waitress was so friendly and broke the set menus down for us. For 2 people, she recommended either set A or B and we opted for B (three meats) because we were super hungry. We choose the Kalbi, pork belly, and brisket with an add-on of bean soup. She let us know it was a great choice and those were the most popular. She then took our order before seating us and let us know it would take around 10 minutes for our table to be ready.

When those ten minutes were up I didn't know that our table would be ready READY. We walked up to an already-made table with all of our meats, side dishes, soups, and kimchi fried rice. I was mindblown at the service!!! Throughout the whole time, the service here was spectacular! They noticed our kimchi fried rice wasn't as sizzling hot before we did and offered to reheat it in the back so we could have a better experience with it. It was so kind!

Not only this, but the food here was sooooo good, especially the kalbi. They were some big deliciously cut pieces of umami and I definitely will come back here just for the kalbi itself. But as I said, everything went beyond my expectations, the banchan was amazing (those potatoes are chef's kiss), the seafood pancake, the meats, the sauces, everything!

In total for 2 people, we paid around $110 for set B. To caution you, there was so much food, you will not leave hungry.

After we paid, our waitress chased us down to give us some free Yakult for a little k-bbq aftercare. We love a restaurant that cares about gut health.

We are a ToBang stan, I can't wait to come back!

Go-to Korean spot!

My husband and I were craving outside food one day and we came across ToBang! I suspect they have been here for a very long time and that's great for business!

PRESENTATION - The restaurant is located in Kiely Plaza with several other restaurants including another Korean restaurant that is a few stores down! They have plenty of indoor seating (I don't remember if they have any outdoor seating) and have protective barriers still in place from the pandemic times.

PROS - Their banchan (side dishes) are always prepared so when we go sit down, we have something to munch on while we wait for the food! They still have the free tteokbokki with your Special combo and the corn with cheese!

CONS - The only con I can think of is sometimes, the wait is very long even with a reservation and when the parking lot during prime time is so packed, you have to keep circling until someone leaves (put that turn signal on)! Also, they stopped giving away those small yogurt drinks after your meal, now in order to get one, you have to check or do something, I don't really remember what, also, those are full of HFCS (iykyk) so that's better for their pocket and your health.

FAVE EATS - They have a few set menus and we always choose Special D since we both love their bulgogi. Sometimes if we're feeling piggish and want leftovers for the next day, we add on the kalbi ribs (also v good)!

PRICE - $$ (since we frequent here, we only noticed it increasing once, due to the current economy, but I get it).

SECONDS - yes, PLEASE! =)

REAL STAR RATING - 4.8.

I hope this helps!

4.5 rounded to 5 stars.

ToBang is located in a small shopping plaza with a ton of businesses.

PARKING
It is tough to find parking, especially in the evenings and weekends. There is some street parking, but if all else fails, there's a post office with a ton of parking.

SERVICE
Excellent. All staff are efficient and swift. They took our order before being seated, served the food, settled checks, and even turned around the tables for new diners--a well-oiled machine, I'd say.

FOOD
The food was delicious. There is a pre-fix combo you can order from. The staff helps provide which options are best for your party. We went with the serving size for three people with three proteins. We did double briskets and Galbi. The Galbi was pre-cooked and brought out in an aluminum tray. It was marinated well and tender; tasty! The briskets were good, too; not too fattty. All of the sides were delicious. The soup costs extra, but what's KBBQ without it? The soup was also good. The Kim Chi fried rice was okay but still tasty. The server brought out rice cakes free of charge. It seems like the establishment wants customers to enjoy the food and culture.

Overall, it is a solid Korean BBQ restaurant that satisfies your cravings. The customer service stood out here. They make an effort to have customers return, and it shows.

When you first walk in, you order right away by choosing the set menu you would like to order from. We got the Set A menu, which has a choice of 2 meats, 1 seafood pancake, choice of kimchi fried rice or steamed rice, lettuce wraps, and side dishes. We also ordered an add on of beef soft tofu soup.

For the two meats, we got the brisket and beef belly. Both meats were really good! It was soft and tender once cooked. Seafood pancake was airy and crispy. For the beef tofu soup, we got mild and it was the perfect amount of mild spice. I loved the soup!

Servers here were very friendly and they brought out the food items really quickly. A+ service!