I usually don’t like going to Korean BBQ because it is not cheap and I will eat until I explode.

But recently, my wife wanted to go so went to Gen Korean BBQ.

I have been to Gen before and did not think much about it until I realized that it is less ten years old and has 20+ locations!

Whoa!

So I decided to do some research what makes Gen so good.

Here is my analysis-

  1. Great atmosphere. Clever idea making Korean BBQ cool- Usually, Korean BBQ restaurants look cheap or expensive but Gen made it cool like a club- And that helps sell alcohol and drinks, which have nice margins
  2. Large venue with lot of parking. It is really great that Gen located in lesser expensive areas where they can have a big restaurant with lot of parking available.
  3. Nice price. Gen is about $5 dollars cheaper than most Korean BBQ attracting younger and more frugal customers.
  4. No fume! It has a great ventilation system so you won’t smell so much like Korean BBQ when you leave.
  5. Self-service. It saves money on labor by having customer cook their meat.
  6. Nice menu selection. It has 32-35 selections but I think may be 5-7 are the most popular. Just like Baskin Robins 31, it gives a lot of choices but few item are probably popular.
  7. Not bad side dishes. I can tell that the side dishes are optimized to mostly non-Koreans which is great because this is the US-
  8. Data analysis. All the orders are received through an Ipad- I am pretty certain someone is crunching that data because I have seen some changes in the menu and the meat comes out quite quickly so it is likely they are using some analytics.

Now some improvements-

  1. Gen is dark so sometimes, it is not always clean. Often I can feel the grease on the floor and the wall as well! May be staff was too tired to clean or forgot but yeah you need to clean that grease.
  2. Some meat items don’t taste well at all. It may depend but I think some meat items are not good at all. May be better to take them off because they still have a good selection.
  3. Happier staff. I am not sure but many staff seem tired and not so happy. Happier staff will likely lead to happier customers.

Overall, Gen is a good place to get Korean BBQ- Look forward to going back and improved services and menu 😀

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