Very good meat quality and tasty side dishes. Comfortable set up for Korean BBQ. Definitely would come back.

The side dishes are amazing, all the staffs are very gentle and kind, I will definitely come back again!

Friendly and helpful staff, great playlist of music, nice late night atmosphere, and incredibly flavorful food. Good wine and soju options as well. I highly recommend the corn cheese, the sauteed pork with kimchi and plain tofu, the fermented tofu (sides), and the L.A. Galbi (Bone-in Bulgogi).

Food is very fresh, and service is super good. I went there on a Tuesday evening after a whole-day intense work, and this place really refreshed me. Best bbq experience in Bay Area ever :)

This is the hidden legit K bbq. Somehow only Korean people know lol 😂 good quality meats (for sure I was disappointed with Gooyigooyi next door. Their dishes are not made fresh at all!! Fyi), their side dishes freshly made daily, omg the soups are the best in the whole bay area for sure. I heard it’s been around almost 20 years?! Only been shared among legit Korean people. I’ve been to every Korean bbq places in the bay area. 100% confident Gaboja and Ilbunji are the best of the best K bbq.

Very quiet place with very good non BBQ Korean food. They do have barbecue, but hilariously I never come here to eat it. I get cold noodles and fried oysters instead!

The quality and service of this establishment is beyond amazing! The food here is fresh from the bansang to the meats! I will only frequent a Korean BBQ that offers good Gyeran-jjim. The server was super friendly and cooked my meats in the grill for me. I love when my pork belly is charred. I look forward to visiting this place one more time before I leave. 💙

It's a rustic, family-run, restaurant with everything you want. The decor is minimal but the food's outstanding and the service is friendly and homey. Can't go wrong with Gaboja.

I’ve been here lots if time and tried bibimbap, spicy pork, ramen, fried chicken. Generally the food was decent and the lady was always nice. The must thing is spicy pork. It’s not too sweet like other restaurants and has a perfect balance of flavors. Fried chicken was large portion too.

Very nice service. BBQ pork belly and beef was fantastic delicious!! Steamed egg is ok. Pancake taste soft and wet not my type. Overall the food was good and service also great. Definitely recommend!

Yum. The BBQ chickwn is hot, the soju is ice cold, and the side dishes are gorgeous and tasty. Yum. Yumyumyum.

The aunties here are so sweet and are so very attentive/kind! Food-wise, they make a lot of their banchan from scratch and you can tell the food here has so much heart put into it. Maybe it's a good thing after all that we had an issue with our reservation tonight at that... other restaurant that starts with B and rhymes with pong... Found our new fave mom-and-pop kbbq spot! We will most certainly be back.

Cute little hole in the wall restaurant. Lovely staff. Great food. One hot pot filled 3 people for a STEAL of a DEAL. Please support this place.

Happened upon the restaurant when we were on the hunt for good Korean BBQ. The atmosphere is understated, but food and service was amazing. Truly! The beef was so tender and the banchan was A+. There were 3 very kind employees (owners?) who were so attentive and made it a very enjoyable experience.

Addy Z

The aunties here are so sweet and are so very attentive/kind! Food-wise, they make a lot of their banchan from scratch and you can tell the food here has so much heart put into it. Maybe it's a good thing after all that we had an issue with our reservation tonight at that... other restaurant that starts with B and rhymes with pong... Found our new fave mom-and-pop kbbq spot! We will most certainly be back.

Squish Wolfy

Cute little hole in the wall restaurant. Lovely staff. Great food. One hot pot filled 3 people for a STEAL of a DEAL. Please support this place.

Shiri Gradek

Happened upon the restaurant when we were on the hunt for good Korean BBQ. The atmosphere is understated, but food and service was amazing. Truly! The beef was so tender and the banchan was A+. There were 3 very kind employees (owners?) who were so attentive and made it a very enjoyable experience.

JJounG K (JJoonG)

This place is a totally hidden gem in Santa Clara!!! Didn't realize there is an authentic Korean BBQ restaurant. The meat qualities are out of this world and server was super friendly. They also have private areas for small and big parties. This restaurant will be my 'Go-TO Place' for Korean Food & BBQ craving.

J H

My friend and I come here every so often and the ladies who work at night are always really kind, almost like aunties. We usually order the cold noodles (mul naeng myeun) and tteokbokki, but we've also tried the seafood pancakes, soft tofu soup with beef, and bulgogi. Everything we've had so far has been delicious. Our routine is to get our usuals plus one extra dish, which always leaves US with some leftovers to take home. The food is tasty, and whilel can't speak to how authentic it is, it's definitely a great spot to enjoy a relaxed dinner hangout.

Ellaine Tolentino

We’ve always wanted to try this place since we see it all the time along El Camino Real, finally get to try it and I must say it’s a good place to bring family and friends! Service: The service was very good! Our server was attentive and very nice. We ordered the pork belly & premium ribeye. The pork belly is sliced thick and didn’t dry out while grilling, and the ribeye was also just the right firmness. Food: I’m leaving one star out - just for room to get better set of banchan in the future. Though they had my favorite radish wraps(it was greatly sliced thinly- perfect for wrapping), would love if they add some green onion salad, fish tofu or maybe squid kimchi as an addition. But all in all good place to get kbbq and not too pricey as well unlike some of their competitions around the area. It was quiet when we went since it was a Monday, but would love to be back again and eat the cold noodles! Such a hidden gem of a dish!

Cammy Nguyen

The staff was very attentive to us and her customers service warmer our heart. The korean bbq experience was memorable. Be patient with parking. The parking lot is very small so I had to parked further to walk here.

The staff was very attentive to us and her customers service warmer our heart. The korean bbq experience was memorable. Be patient with parking. The parking lot is very small so I had to parked further to walk here.

We’ve always wanted to try this place since we see it all the time along El Camino Real, finally get to try it and I must say it’s a good place to bring family and friends! Service: The service was very good! Our server was attentive and very nice. We ordered the pork belly & premium ribeye. The pork belly is sliced thick and didn’t dry out while grilling, and the ribeye was also just the right firmness. Food: I’m leaving one star out - just for room to get better set of banchan in the future. Though they had my favorite radish wraps(it was greatly sliced thinly- perfect for wrapping), would love if they add some green onion salad, fish tofu or maybe squid kimchi as an addition. But all in all good place to get kbbq and not too pricey as well unlike some of their competitions around the area. It was quiet when we went since it was a Monday, but would love to be back again and eat the cold noodles! Such a hidden gem of a dish!

My friend and I come here every so often and the ladies who work at night are always really kind, almost like aunties. We usually order the cold noodles (mul naeng myeun) and tteokbokki, but we've also tried the seafood pancakes, soft tofu soup with beef, and bulgogi. Everything we've had so far has been delicious. Our routine is to get our usuals plus one extra dish, which always leaves US with some leftovers to take home. The food is tasty, and whilel can't speak to how authentic it is, it's definitely a great spot to enjoy a relaxed dinner hangout.

Wook Chung

Gaboja I think is trying to serve Korean BBQ "home style" without the premium or luxury tax. It supposed to bring out taste over anything else - ambience, silverware, and perhaps even cleanliness? You enter Gaboja and start to feel like whether this is a 70s sort of sweatshop with cubicles or a cocktail bar, dark and sticky air. But again, all of this is forgivable if you can taste home style Korean comfort food and meat right? There are many dishes that live up to this promise. The Kimchee Pancake was phenomenal - one of the best in the Bay Area. The banchans were also quite good, as well as other side dishes like corn-cheese. So then why the 3-stars? Well... it is a BBQ shop after all right? The meat simply wasn't high quality enough. I understand the desire the cut cost but a Korean BBQ's lifeline is the quality and the fattiness of the meat. Our ribeye was just so stuffy. Also, given most meat come out unmarinated, the salt and sauce on the side must help the balance but unfortunately, they use this really coarse salt and it is very difficult to spread the saltiness evenly. On the bright side, the service was friendly and the lady gave us some extras. If someone suggests Gaboja for a Korean BBQ dinner out, I'd probably hesitate. If it was for a quick hearty meal with a friend that I didn't need to impress, perhaps I'd okay it once in a while.

Gaboja I think is trying to serve Korean BBQ "home style" without the premium or luxury tax. It supposed to bring out taste over anything else - ambience, silverware, and perhaps even cleanliness? You enter Gaboja and start to feel like whether this is a 70s sort of sweatshop with cubicles or a cocktail bar, dark and sticky air. But again, all of this is forgivable if you can taste home style Korean comfort food and meat right? There are many dishes that live up to this promise. The Kimchee Pancake was phenomenal - one of the best in the Bay Area. The banchans were also quite good, as well as other side dishes like corn-cheese. So then why the 3-stars? Well... it is a BBQ shop after all right? The meat simply wasn't high quality enough. I understand the desire the cut cost but a Korean BBQ's lifeline is the quality and the fattiness of the meat. Our ribeye was just so stuffy. Also, given most meat come out unmarinated, the salt and sauce on the side must help the balance but unfortunately, they use this really coarse salt and it is very difficult to spread the saltiness evenly. On the bright side, the service was friendly and the lady gave us some extras. If someone suggests Gaboja for a Korean BBQ dinner out, I'd probably hesitate. If it was for a quick hearty meal with a friend that I didn't need to impress, perhaps I'd okay it once in a while.

+4

The meat quality and flavor were mediocre for $90 per person combo dinner (inc tax and tip). It was nice to have it cooked for us but the ladies went so quickly without giving us room to breathe in between meats and placed the cooked meat in whichever sauces they chose. They also could’ve offered to slow down on the cooking. The place was basically empty, so not sure why the rush. Also, none of the banchan side dishes were tasty, and that’s usually an indicator of good bbq.

Ai

The meat quality and flavor were mediocre for $90 per person combo dinner (inc tax and tip). It was nice to have it cooked for us but the ladies went so quickly without giving us room to breathe in between meats and placed the cooked meat in whichever sauces they chose. They also could’ve offered to slow down on the cooking. The place was basically empty, so not sure why the rush. Also, none of the banchan side dishes were tasty, and that’s usually an indicator of good bbq.

June

When you first walk in, it smells like cigarettes instead of food. Then you sit down and notice there is no music in the restaurant. We take a look at the menu and the prices are ridiculously high compared to the photos on Google Maps. The servings were small and overpriced. Three people at our table have severe allergies and our server insisted that they were safe. One person at our table was not using the dipping sauce because he wasn't sure if it contained fish sauce. The server grabbed his food off his plate, dipped it into the sauce and put it back on his plate which I found wildly inappropriate. After we left the restaurant he ended up in an ambulance and went to the emergency room. There are so many other Korean BBQ restaurants in the area that you could go to instead. You do not want to waste your money eating overpriced mediocre food with subpar service at Gaboja. I honestly wish we left and ate somewhere else after seeing the menu.

When you first walk in, it smells like cigarettes instead of food. Then you sit down and notice there is no music in the restaurant. We take a look at the menu and the prices are ridiculously high compared to the photos on Google Maps. The servings were small and overpriced. Three people at our table have severe allergies and our server insisted that they were safe. One person at our table was not using the dipping sauce because he wasn't sure if it contained fish sauce. The server grabbed his food off his plate, dipped it into the sauce and put it back on his plate which I found wildly inappropriate. After we left the restaurant he ended up in an ambulance and went to the emergency room. There are so many other Korean BBQ restaurants in the area that you could go to instead. You do not want to waste your money eating overpriced mediocre food with subpar service at Gaboja. I honestly wish we left and ate somewhere else after seeing the menu.