There’s a pretty old thread on Dave’s–HEY, come back! I feel the same way, but sometimes they have useful info in there. I just got sucked into this 14-page thread called “Ripoff restaurants in Itaewon” that was started in 2009 and noticed that certain places popped up regularly, good and bad. In fact, it’s not a bad thread to find good recommendations.
I normally don’t like to indulge in the negative side (who’m I kidding?). For fun and to risk another libel suit, here’s an unscientific score count on what people thought*:
3 Alley Pub +4 -1 +/- 2 (mostly personal issues with the owners)
Ali Baba’s +1 -1
Burger King +1
Cafe Istanbul +1
Chef Meili +1
Chili King +4
Evergreen +1
Flying Pan Blue +2
Foreign Restaurant +2 -2 +/-1
Gecko’s Garden +1
Ho Lee Chow +2 -1
Hollywood Grill +4
Hooris? Hoors? +1
Kraze Burger +1 -7
La Bocca +2
La Tavola +1
Marakech Nights +4
Meili Delicatessen -1 +2 +/-1 (expensive and portions small but good quality)
Mignon +1
Moghul +1
My Chelsea -1
My China +/-1
My Thai +1 +/-1
Mystery Filipino place behind Suji’s +1
Nashville +5 -1
O Kitchen 2 +1
Pancho’s -9 +/-1
Pattaya +1
Petra (the original) +3
Petra Kebabs +1
Pharaoh’s +1
Pizza Peel +1
Quizno’s +1
Richard Copycat’s All-American Diner +6 -9 +/-3 (mostly negative about service)
Rocky Mountain Tavern +1 -1 +/-1
Saigon Grill +2
Salam +2
Sam Ryan’s +3
Santorini +5 -10
Seoul Pub +1 -1
Smokey Saloon +3 -8 +/-1
Sortino’s +1 -1
Steff Hot Dog +/-1
Subway +2
Suji’s +1 -6 +/-1 (mostly complaints about the price, which have gone down)
Sultan Kebab +1
Sunny Days 뉴샵 -1
Taj Palace +2
Tartine +2
Thai Garden +1
Thai Orchid +2
Tony’s Aussie Bar & Bistro +1 -1
Trevia +/-1
Uzmania -1
Wazwam +1
The Wolfhound +11 -2 +/-1
Zelen +2
Not exactly in Itaewon but mentioned:
Taco Amigos (HBC) +1 +/-1
Brooklyn Burger (Soraemaul) +1
Buddha’s Belly (HBC) +1
Bun Street +1
Dos Tacos +1
Freshness Burger +1
Istanbul (Daehangno, Hyehwa) +1
Jacoby’s (HBC) +1 -1
Lion Subs (chain) +1
Millennium Seoul Hilton +1
Namaste (chain) +1
Oktoberfest (Gangnam) +1
On the Border +1
Pops Cool (Apgujeong) +2
Philly Cheese Steaks (HBC) -1
The Silk Road (Hongdae) -1
Table 8 (HBC) +1
Taco Chili Chili (HBC) +4 -1
Thunder Burger (HBC) +1 -1
Tomatillo +1
Tony Roma’s +3
*Some of the places I had to apply deductive logic to their descriptions. Others that were too vague (“the new Mexican restaurant”) were just skipped. Also a few of these may not be in business anymore. If I wasn’t sure I erred on the side that they still existed.
What do you think are some rip-offs? What places would you recommend?
Did anyone actually try a libel suit before? smh if they did
Been pulled into the police station for exposing my school’s practices. No restaurant has done it. But they would be wise to learn what happened to the restaurant in Taiwan that pulled a libel suit on a blogger.
I’ve been to Rocky Mountain Tavern on numerous occasions with only good things to say about the place, food, and ambience; however, the last two times the service was lackluster, I’m really disappointed by the rudeness and inattentiveness of the staff.
This last visit, service was horrendous: our crowd’s orders all came staggered within an hour window, with the last order coming in an hour after ordering when everyone was finished with their meal. We inquired about the delayed orders several times, politely at first, and were shrugged off by 4, count em, 4 wait staff, until deciding to take a stronger stance about the food not arriving. Finally, the wait staff admitted to the order not having been executed because they had messed up, which is fine, but the bad attitude was uncalled for. Even talked to the manager/owner about the poor service, yet we were still given a hard time, being threatened with a “watch your back” remark… What kind of service is that… That’s enough for me to share this experience. That’s not the way to treat a customer.
suji’s pastrami sandwhich is like eating a beef jerky sandwhich. WTF are they doing to the meat? It was like a combination of a day old bacon mixed in with beef jerky..fuck me
Next rate Itaewon dive bars by the cleanliness of their kitchen and attention to basic food safety. Make sure you stop by RMT on Wing Nite and take a close look at their kitchen. Very edifying.
Ditto on the RMT. I saw them washing dishes in the same sink that they thaw the chicken wings out in!