California Gogi Grill

Reviews

• Chef Dominic D.

  star star star star star 11 June 2026

  WOW! UCI Campus customers are a tough audience!  Well I'm guessing it is mostly college 'students' still developing their culinary palette, not quite arriving in their wisdom of "relative consideration" in comparisons.
  
  California Gigi Grill was never intended to be a 5 Star Epicurean Michelin star restaurant!?
  
  However, as far as I'm concerned, it is a reasonably priced, good value for money, fresh fast Korean Gogi restaurant.
  
  In which case, I can only give them 4.83 stars... But as Yelp! Goes 5 stars!
  
  Cleanliness 5
  Service Counter 5
  Food Quality 4.75
  Food Prep and Execution 4.75
  Flavor Profiles and Taste 4.75
  Ambiance 4.75
  
  California Gigi Grill UCI Irvine campus is light, airy, upbeat dining experience that I enjoyed a 2 meat "Stacked Bowl" with Spicy Pork and K.F.C. you gotta like the Koreans for taking on that branding.
  
  The "Pancha" side dishes of kimchi, pickles, edamame, etc. are one of best kept health secrets for digestive health every Korean knows, few Westerners haven't quite pegged onto yet.
  
  Probably a key reason for the amazingly beautiful skin many have.
  
  UCI don't hate or hold back the love...California Gigi Grill
  
  They have "Always been True to the Cuisine™ - Chef Dom

• Wesley T.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 8 June 2026

  I used to love coming here multiple times a week. Long long long time customer. But since I moved, I haven't come for a year or two now and the service is awful now, mainly the Hispanic girl who worked the register on the 17th at night. Aside from having the worst attitude I have ever seen in customer service, she rung our order of two items(so many things, right?) out wrong, we should have been charged an extra 50 cents for one of our items. She didn't realize until after we paid with our card and told us to pay the difference. No problem. I gave my card to her again to make that change but she just stared at me and said "you don't have a dollar!?" as if i was the one who messed up at my job. We stood there watching for a few minute as she made a big show of how much we inconvenienced her by not carrying extra cash around to fix her mistake.
  
  Look sis, you can be bad at your job, or have a crappy attitude. But pick one, cuz you can't be both.
  
  Luckily the manager who had common sense decided to say forget about it and not make a big deal out of 50 cents. Also the food was good. Would have been better if it didn't come with an order of stink eye.
  
  Also, high key sad that the Korean BBQ burrito is gone.

• Brandon T.

  star star star star star_border 3 June 2026

  Decent place to come and get your Korean food fix! Conveniently located so you can come and pick up a quick meal before heading off to study for class.
  
  This place is pretty much Chipotle's Korean brother, the line and way in which you order is very similar. The portions are very generous for the price, you get 6 toppings along with your bowl, the toppings come in this tray but i would advise you to ask the worker to just put the toppings straight into your bowl as you get more toppings that way!
  
  I ordered the stacked bowl with white rice and glass noodles. For the protein I got the spicy pork bulgogi as well as the regular bulgogi (+$.75) for some reason. Overall I was pretty happy with my experience and would definitely come back for some cheap, quick Korean food!

• Angela C.

  star star star star_border star_border 29 May 2026

  Nothing special, but will do if you need a quick Korean food fix. They have a Chipotle style concept where you pick your base, protein, then toppings.
  
  I got a bibimbap with chicken bulgogi, and I feel like the quality of everything can definitely be improved. It all looked a little sad and unappetizing as I was ordering. If you want the bulgogi, it's an extra $0.75. They should also consider adding some dried nori or furikake after the toppings step as an extra element.
  
  I like the concept of this place, but the execution falls short.

• Erika R.

  star star star star star_border 25 May 2026

  My bf and I used to come here all the time and were craving it last night, so we returned after a few years! What could've been a horrible revisit turned into a great one!
  
  The location is pretty much easily accessible regardless of where you park. It's in the center of the University Center, so park by Trader Joe's, Target, Eureka, or Mendocino Farms and walk towards the middle!
  
  The first thing I noticed was the slight price increase, but nothing too crazy. Beef bulgogi is extra as well as extra meat.
  
  How it works: You build your own bowl - choose noodles/white/brown rice, meats and up to 6 sides to fill up your bowl. You can also double up on portions like I do with the potato salad cuz I love potato salad!
  
  Everything always has been tasty and fresh!
  
  EXCEPT LAST NIGHT! My boyfriend bit into some pink chicken and spit it out. He showed the staff who brought out (who I assume is the manager) Edgar. They were both super apologetic and Edgar made things right IMMEDIATELY! He also instructed the staff to throw out the remainder of the chicken.
  
  I thought it was such great customer service to apologize and fix the issue right away! I feel like that's so hard to come by nowadays.
  
  We will definitely keep coming here!