Gyu-Kaku Restaurant

The food is good. The portions are small so you will want to keep a menu at the table. On our last visit, the service was lacking. They were not attentive. I would understand if it was busy, but there were only 2 tables. My water was empty for about 15 minutes. The rice did not arrive with the meat (we ordered it in the beginning). It was tiring to remind them of basic things we needed for our meal (plates of our meat were forgotten, we did not have utensils, & asking to get our water refilled). It wasn't like this the other times, so I think we just got some crummy servers. Our meals usually average at $140-$150 (meat, shrimp, drinks, & rice).

THE WORST GYU KAKU EVEERRRRR...My Girlfriends and I are VERY frequent/regulars at the Gyu Kaku in Pasadena on Green st. but i came to this huntington branch for my friends birthday one night and wow...it honestly made me think twice about coming back to ANY Gyu Kaku period....First off..the atmosphere was awkward and too quiet. Secondly, the servers were terrible looking/sloppy and disrespectful. They accused our group (who ended up spending a thousand dollars there) that one of our friends vomitted on their front door just because we were the largest table to order drinks...impossible because none of us left the seat except for the bathroom and no one was sick...the server JACO SHOULD BE FIRED...VERY RUDE AND CONDESCENDING...GRADE: F

Pros: You cook your OWN food so you kno the terrible servers arent helping the chefs
Cons: Everything...Servers are disrespectful and boring.

This place has the worst service ever. The food is mediocre, service is sooooo slow and I am offended they call it Japanese BBQ. The workers are not Japanese but non-asians would never know. The greeting in Japanese they give at the door doesn't even make sense!! The management is awful. If you are looking for a truly wonderful Japanese BBQ restaurant, go to Anjin in Costa Mesa. Go early because there is always a minimum of a hour wait. The short rib soup is to die for, quality and marinate on the meat is A++ and the restaurant is actually Japanese owned (hard to find these days!).

I have been to Gyu-kaku in Japan and was expecting the same quality, but I was sadly mistaken. Compared to other Japanese BBQ in Orange County, Gyu-kaku was by far the worst. I will say that Gyu-kaku's atmosphere in Orange County is great- dark and intimate, but the dark lighting is just there to cover their old and browning meat. When I told the waiter the meat was brown, he said, "that's the way some of them are." And to add insult to injury, the sake over priced and small quantity (served in a shot glass). My advice to anyone thinking of going to Gyu-kaku in Huntington Beach for the first time, Don't. Why Waste your money and time when there are so many REAL Japanese BBQ places in Orange County: tsuruhashi, Hondaya/ Kappo Honda or Anjin. You may have to wait at this places, depending on the time and day of the week, but they well worth the wait to get in- prices are within reason and with any true Japanese Restaurant, you get quality!!!!

I've only been once, but it was excellent. Another couple recommended the place to us, and they took us out there for dinner once.

Be sure to try all the different meats and sauces. The variety of what you can get in one sitting makes it worth it alone.

I've eaten a lot of Japanese barbecue and Korean barbecue (I lived in Japan for 5 years and ate a lot of Yakiniku) This one was a step above all the rest. The atmosphere is awesome. The food is awesome.

The waiter we had seemed a little condescending because he was well educated on the food, and he wanted to be sure we knew about it. However, we didn't let that ruin our experience. We just shrugged him off and enjoyed what we came for.

Pros: The food is amazing, great date atmosphere
Cons: Expensive, and a little pretentious