Best Korean BBQ Restaurants Outside Korea 2026
Published · Updated
The best Korean barbecue outside Korea is Cote in New York, the first Korean steakhouse to win a Michelin star. Behind it: Cote Miami, Park's BBQ in Los Angeles and Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong.
The best Korean barbecue is no longer only in Seoul. From a Michelin-starred steakhouse in Manhattan to charcoal pits in Koreatown Los Angeles, these are the rooms abroad worth crossing a city, or a country, for. This is the shortlist, not the full fifty.
What Makes Great Korean BBQ Abroad
Korean barbecue lives or dies on three things: the quality of the beef, the charcoal or gas at the table, and the banchan, the spread of side dishes that frames the meal. The best rooms outside Korea source USDA Prime or dry-aged beef, grill over real wood charcoal where they can, and treat the banchan as cooking rather than filler.
The list below leans on the two cities with the deepest Korean dining culture abroad, New York and Los Angeles, plus the Cote outpost in Miami. Where a room is a family institution rather than a chef-led restaurant, we credit the operator and the cuts, which is how Korean barbecue is judged.
The Korean BBQ Rooms Worth Travelling For
Simon Kim's Flatiron room fused the Korean barbecue table with the American steakhouse and won a Michelin star doing it. The Butcher's Feast set menu walks a table through four cuts plus stews and banchan, grilled at the table by the staff so nothing burns.
The Butcher's Feast, with the dry-aged ribeye and the marinated galbi.
The first Korean steakhouse to win a Michelin star, and still the benchmark abroad. Book the Butcher's Feast for a polished group dinner.
The Design District outpost brings the same Butcher's Feast format to Miami, with a louder, sceney room and an outdoor terrace. The beef programme and the smokeless grills are identical to New York, which makes it the most reliable Korean barbecue in the southeast.
The Butcher's Feast and the steak-and-egg rice to close.
Cote's Design District sibling, the best Korean barbecue in the southeast. Reserve the terrace for a high-energy celebration dinner.
For two decades Park's has been the bar other Los Angeles barbecue rooms are measured against, thanks to premium beef and an unusually careful kitchen. The cuts arrive trimmed and graded, the banchan spread is among the city's best, and the staff grill for you on request.
The marinated galbi, the premium beef tongue, and the kkot-sal (prime rib finger).
The Koreatown standard-setter for premium cuts since 2003. Go with a hungry group and order across the high-grade beef.
Baekjeong is the high-energy end of the spectrum: a loud, late-night room where the staff grill marinated short rib and pork belly while corn cheese bubbles in the corner of the grill. It is the most fun on this list and a reliable crowd-pleaser for a younger table.
The marinated short rib, the spicy pork, and the corn cheese.
The loud, late-night Koreatown room built for a crowd. Pick it for a high-energy group dinner rather than a quiet one.
On the second floor of Manhattan's Koreatown block, Jongro built its reputation on thick-cut brisket and well-marbled beef at a fairer price than the steakhouses. It is the no-reservations workhorse of the strip, best at off-peak hours to avoid the wait.
The thick-cut brisket (chadeolbagi) and the marinated galbi.
Manhattan Koreatown's reliable workhorse for thick-cut brisket. Try it off-peak to skip the line on West 32nd.
Soot Bull Jeep is the purist's choice: real wood charcoal at every table, no gas, and a smoky char you cannot fake. The room is plain and the smoke gets in your clothes, which is exactly the point, and the marinated short rib is the dish to come for.
The marinated galbi and the brisket, grilled over the charcoal.
The charcoal purist's Koreatown room, smoke and all, since the early 1990s. Go when the char matters more than the decor.
Who These Picks Are Not For
Korean barbecue is communal, smoky and built around meat, so it is a poor fit for vegetarians and for anyone who wants a quiet, low-smell dinner; you will leave smelling of the grill at the charcoal rooms. It is also not a solo-diner format at most of these tables, which set minimums by the cut. And Cote, while polished, is a full steakhouse spend, not a cheap night out.
How to Book Korean BBQ Abroad
Cote in New York and Miami take reservations weeks ahead for weekends and run on the Butcher's Feast set menu, which is the easiest way to order well. The Koreatown institutions, Park's, Baekjeong, Jongro and Soot Bull Jeep, are mostly walk-in or short-notice; go early or late to dodge the worst waits, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
Order for the table, not the person: Korean barbecue is shared, and the kitchens expect you to combine marinated and unmarinated cuts with the banchan and a stew. For the wider picture of how this cuisine travels, see our New York and Los Angeles dining guides, both deep in Korean rooms.
Frequently Asked Questions
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team from named published sources (Michelin Guide, The World's 50 Best, James Beard Foundation and local critics). Prices and reservation windows current at the last update above; confirm with the restaurant before you book.