Looking for Gen Korean BBQ vegetarian options? At an all-you-can-eat grill built around beef, pork, chicken, and seafood, the honest answer is that they exist but they’re limited. You get a handful of soups, noodles, and a plate of grilled vegetables, and you pay the same price as everyone at your table ordering unlimited meat. Carnivore friends dragging you along and wondering what about the vegetarians? Here’s exactly what to order, what to skip, and whether it’s worth the price.
A Quick Look at Gen Korean BBQ
David Kim and Jae Chang, two Korean immigrants, opened the first Gen Korean BBQ House in Tustin, California, in 2011. Kim had already run Baja Fresh and La Salsa as CEO and had managed Denny’s, Carl’s Jr., and Golden Corral franchises before that. Chang came out of the sushi and hot pot world, having built H2O Sushi, California Gogi Grill, and the all-you-can-eat Shabuya chain. Their pitch was simple: unlimited Korean barbecue, cooked at your own table on a built-in grill, from a rotating list of 28 to 36 cuts of beef, pork, chicken, and seafood.
The company, officially GEN Restaurant Group, Inc., went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker GENK in June 2023, raising $43.2 million in its IPO. By the end of 2024 it had grown to 43 U.S. restaurants, most concentrated in Southern California, plus one location in the Philippines, its first outside the United States. Full-year 2024 revenue reached $208.4 million, the highest in company history and above the $200 to $205 million guidance the company had given investors. Gen has said it plans roughly a dozen more openings in new states. Jae Chang stepped down as co-CEO in January 2025 and remains on the board. David Kim now runs the company alone as chairman and CEO.
What Is Korean BBQ, Anyway?
Korean barbecue restaurants build a meal around a tabletop grill, marinated cuts of meat, and a spread of small side dishes called banchan. Many Korean restaurants also serve rice bowls like bibimbap alongside the grill, but Gen skips that format in favor of soups and noodles instead. The protein does the heavy lifting on this menu. Banchan and vegetables play a supporting role, which is exactly why a vegetarian visit takes some planning.
Traditional banchan spreads at many Korean restaurants include kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts, and blanched spinach, refilled throughout the meal at no extra cost. Gen doesn’t advertise that kind of rotating banchan cart. The vegetable-forward options here come from the main menu instead, in the form of the Assorted Vegetables plate, the soups, and Japchae, so don’t walk in expecting a free-flowing side dish spread like you might get at a smaller, family-run Korean spot.
Gen Korean BBQ Vegetarian Options: What to Order
Gen’s own menu marks certain dishes with a “Vegan” tag, and that’s the most reliable guide to what’s actually meat-free. Here’s how the short list breaks down, plus a few items that need a closer look before you order them.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| Japchae (stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (menu-tagged) |
| Hotteok (sweet Korean pancake with powdered sugar) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (menu-tagged) |
| Soondooboo Soup (spicy soft tofu soup with vegetables) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (menu-tagged) |
| Doenjang Soup (fermented soybean paste soup) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (menu-tagged) |
| Assorted Vegetables (grill-your-own vegetable plate) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes (menu-tagged) |
| White Rice | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Rice Paper and Tortilla wraps | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| House Salad | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (dressing may contain dairy or egg) |
| Kimchi Fried Rice / Cheese Kimchi Fried Rice | ⚠️ Check | ❌ No (kimchi often made with fish sauce, cheese version has dairy) |
| Ssamjang and other dipping sauces | ⚠️ Check | ⚠️ Check (some soybean pastes are cut with fish sauce or anchovy) |
Banchan, Sides, and Sauces
The Assorted Vegetables plate is your best bet for something that feels like a real plate of food. It’s Gen’s grill-your-own seasonal vegetable mix, tagged vegan on the menu and meant to go straight onto the tabletop grill next to everyone else’s meat. Customer reviews describe it as a simple mix of onion, mushroom, and bell pepper, not a huge spread, but genuinely vegan. Round it out with white rice, the house salad, and rice paper or tortilla wraps for building your own lettuce-wrap-style bites. Go easy on sauces you haven’t confirmed. Ssamjang, the fermented soybean dipping paste, is traditionally vegetarian, but recipes vary by kitchen and flavor. Some versions get cut with fish sauce or shrimp paste, so ask before you dip.
Soups and Noodles
This is where a vegetarian actually gets a real meal at Gen. Soondooboo Soup, the spicy soft tofu soup, and Doenjang Soup, the fermented soybean paste soup, are both tagged vegan on the official menu and come loaded with vegetables. Japchae, the stir-fried glass noodle dish, is vegan too and works as a genuine main course. Skip the Kimchi Fried Rice unless a server can confirm the kitchen’s kimchi is made without fish sauce. Traditional recipes usually aren’t, and Gen doesn’t tag it vegan or vegetarian on the menu. If you’re offered a build-your-own K-Ramyun, ask what the broth is made from first. Ramyun broths are typically built on a meat or seafood base unless a vegetable broth is specifically offered.
What’s on the Grill (and Why It’s Not for You)
It’s worth knowing what you’re paying full price to sit next to. Gen’s all-you-can-eat menu runs 28 to 36 marinated cuts across beef (bulgogi, short rib, brisket, wagyu, ribeye), pork (samgyubsal belly in several marinades, pork cheek, bacon, pork chop), chicken (garlic, honey, spicy, cajun), and seafood (shrimp, calamari, fish katsu). The menu also lists premium add-on cuts, including a top sirloin steak and wagyu, at some locations. None of it is vegetarian, and there’s no plant-based meat substitute the way you’d find at some competing grill concepts. That’s the trade-off at an AYCE Korean barbecue built for savory, meaty flavor and built for meat-eaters. You’re at the table for the experience and the company, not because the kitchen built a vegetarian menu.
What’s Vegan at Gen Korean BBQ?
Gen tags five dishes vegan directly on its menu: Japchae, Hotteok, Soondooboo Soup, Doenjang Soup, and the Assorted Vegetables grill plate. White rice, rice paper, and tortilla wraps round out a workable vegan plate when stacked together. Beyond that short list, treat everything else as unconfirmed. Gen doesn’t publish a separate vegan menu or an allergen PDF online, so the in-menu tags are the only official source, and sauces, dressings, and the kimchi fall outside what’s actually labeled.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
Gen Korean BBQ House doesn’t have a published allergen chart on its website as of this update. Asking your server directly is the safest move. A few things are worth flagging going in. The tabletop grill at your table gets shared with whatever meat your dining companions are cooking. If you order the Assorted Vegetables plate, ask for a fresh section of the grill or a separate plate rather than cooking on grates that just had raw meat on them. Soy sauce and gochujang, used across the marinades and sauces, typically contain wheat, so this isn’t a gluten-free-friendly stop without careful ordering. And don’t assume the kimchi or dipping sauces are vegetarian just because they look like vegetable dishes. Ask.
Tips for Vegetarians at Gen Korean BBQ
- Budget for full all-you-can-eat price, typically $25 to $30 or more, even if you only order the vegetable plate, soups, and rice. Reviewers consistently flag this as the real downside for vegetarians.
- Request a fresh grill plate or a separate section of the grate before cooking vegetables, since the tabletop grill is shared with meat at your table.
- Stick to the five menu items Gen tags vegan: Japchae, Hotteok, Soondooboo Soup, Doenjang Soup, and the Assorted Vegetables plate.
- Skip the Kimchi Fried Rice unless a server confirms the kimchi is made without fish sauce.
- Bring a group instead of going solo. The AYCE pricing model makes more sense when the rest of the table is eating unlimited meat, so it fits better as a compromise stop with meat-eating friends than as a vegetarian’s first choice for dinner out.
- Call your local location ahead of time, since menus and pricing can vary slightly and there’s no single published allergen PDF to check in advance.
Conclusion
Gen Korean BBQ is built for meat-eaters. A vegetarian visit means working with a short, honest list: Japchae, Hotteok, Soondooboo Soup, Doenjang Soup, and a grill-your-own vegetable plate, all at the same all-you-can-eat price as the rest of your table. It’s a real option if you’re going with a group, not the easiest solo choice. Check out our full guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants for more on navigating menus like this one, browse the full list of restaurant guides, or see how other cook-your-own and Asian-cuisine chains stack up at Benihana, P.F. Chang’s, and Golden Corral.
