Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

I have eaten at the River North Gyu-Kaku restaurant and really enjoyed it. This experience was nothing like it, and extremely horrible. We had a reservation at 8pm but they made us wait a while and then gave us a spot in the most crowded area of the room. We requested a vacant spot on the less crowded side by the window they said it would take about half an hour, even though there were 8 tables vacant on that side. However after 10 minutes, they offered us a spot on that side, deliberately not seating us at the one we requested. Then they told us it was too late to order the set menu (the restaurant closes at 10pm) and we had to order a-la-carte which was over salted. The server didn't even serve water nor check on us. Food and service was bad. However the creme-de-la-creme was that we had parked right in front of the restaurant and when we walked back to our car we noticed that the left passenger glass was broken and someone stole my backpack with some really important documents. The restaurant didn't bother to help. Worst dining experience ever.
Apr 4th, 2022

Original Yakiniku style restaurant from Japan. NOT "Viking" style (that I remember from Japan) though. There is all you can eat (not on the weekends). We went on a Saturday afternoon, it is order small portions of meat and vegetables to cook at your table. Four of us, we had a salad, two corn skillets, five orders of vegetables, and approximately 10 orders of different meats. Beef tongue and Kalbi are the two best (IMO).
Apr 3rd, 2022

Apr 2nd, 2022

Mar 30th, 2022

I loved my meal here. Its fun to grill your own meat! I had the filet mignon and garlic chicken noodles and one beer and the total was only $21. That's crazy good for a restaurant like this in downtown Chicago. In fact when I sent pics to a friend he guessed the cost was double... Also I don't know if it was on purpose but the staff gave me my beer ($3.50) for free. Thank you!!
Mar 25th, 2022