Shin Chon in Ellicott City - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Extremely rude and unprofessional staff. All they want to do is close the store early and leave.

Delicious, I love this place! Great service and excelent quality and flavor. The place is clean.

Great food and service! Staff is friendly and food is always amazing.

The servers were poor and extremely rude we came with a large party and a prior reservation and they failed to accommodate us

Good place for Asian food especially barbecue

I ordered mulnengmyun which is cold noodle. But taste wasn't good. I was expecting average .. Other than this, service and side dishes are good. This is exactl revew about cold noodles not other korean foods.

Used to be our go to spot for Korean bbq, but service and side dishes are not what they used to be. Tried to give ShinChon another try the other day, but side dishes were minimal (reduced from what they had been in the past and just decent) and service was similar to our last visit, poor. Some of our meats were also burnt. We would be okay with subpar service if it was a dinner rush, but we came in at 5pm, and the waitresses seemed more interested in talking to each other. Came to have good korean food with my wife, but wish we went elsewhere or stayed at home vs spending the $80+ we did. Unfortunately this will be our last visit.

I recently enjoyed a weekend meal here with my partner. I had the hot stone bowl (dolsot) bibimbap with galbi and she had galbi soup, and we both enjoyed our meals. The selection of side dishes was good too- kimchi wasn't too sour, which I appreciate. Lots of people were getting BBQ and that does appear to be the specialty. I'd bet the galbi is tasty when barbequed, as it was definitely marinated nicely. We will give it a try next time. Easy to access with plenty of parking. Clean, modern atmosphere.

So many food options and combination options if you have a large party. Food is delicious, servers are quick. Place is clean and large, you aren't sitting so close to others.

Found out a hair in casserole. The staff took the hair out so we don’t have a photo proof. Otherwise, I will report on the food safety problem. The restaurant doesn’t have a resolution for us and doesn’t say sorry for anything and ask what do we want to do. I mean it’s so unprofessional in a restaurant and it seems like we made the story up on purpose. Never come again.

Good food and fast service Busy place tho

Our first and also last visit to this restaurant: We, a group of 4, wanted to try this place for Korean BBQ. The food was ok and price was not too expensive. After paying and leaving tip ($15 for a bill of $145), we were about to leave the restaurant, and then a waitress called us back. She pointed at their suggested tips (18-20%) printed at the bottom of the bill, and requested for more tip! That incident totally ruined our dinner night! I hope this will not happen again to other customers! For us, we unfortunately will not come back here after what happened to us :( There are definitely other dining choices for us elsewhere.

Pretty good Korean traditional styled restaurant. They actually make korean food almost as authentic to Korean good made in Korea.. still not the real thing of course, but they're really good. Some tables have Korean bbq style with a stove, some tables don't have the stove. **NOTE** Korean BBQ restaurants have strong smells that will stay on you, your clothes, and shoes. Keep this in mind and try not to dress in your favorite outfits so you don't regret getting that smell on your favorite outfits. Just put them in the laundry after you get home. Take a good shower afterwards too 👍🏻 Their "Bibim Naengmyun" dish is delicious! One of my favorites. It's cold noodles that have sweet and spicy taste. More sweet than spicy.

Authentic Korean bbq. Everything was exquisite.

This spot has been a staple for YEARS. A reliable spot to go when you miss the typical 9 pm dinner cut off.. however that no longer holds true. Sit down early and you'll avoid this true madness that we went through... We walked in @ 830 with a party of 10 ppl and 1 baby for Easter Dinner/Bday celebration. Then was it communicated at 8:47 pm that the kitchen closes at 9 pm tonight. The door shows 10:30pm. No biggie though. We ordered everything within 2 minutes of being asked to push things through. It was 8:50 PM at this point. Service: Some were super nice ajjumas!!! A+ service. The rest were clearly ready to go home. It was super confusing because some servers would insist "take your time" as another server asked us to move from our spot, mid conversation, so she could fit her trolley for dirty plates and glasses into our seating area to clear the table as if we were leaving. There were ppl in our group clearly still eating so we were taken aback by the request. People are STILL EATING. As a result, this insistent server spilled food juice on the birthday boy. He was blocked in and couldn't get up as she kept clearing our table. Management: idk why you were YELLING at your employers in korean while they were eating their dinner shift meals but we're korean so we understood what you were saying. We were attempting to enjoy an Easter / Birthday meal and you sucked the happiness out of the room. Food: Kalbi was delicious. Japchae was extremely overcooked. Soondubu used to be fire but this time around it was just okay. Sam gyup Sal (pork belly) And chadol (brisket) wasn't cooked to my liking since the servers did it in the back. It would have been nice to be able to at least order more rice since it comes out of a rice cooker but the whole table failed to order more bowls of rice.

The combo meals comes with so much food! The servers cooks all the meat for you, but you can do it yourself if you ask. The banchan was a little underwhelming with overlapping flavors ( kimchi cabbage, kimchi radish, and another kimchi veggie) perhaps it was just that days banchan. Highly recommend the steam egg!

One of the best places to take family for Korean food. Quick service, excellent food, reasonable prices.

The best thing we had here was the Combination Seafood Jhim. Very good variety of seafood and enormous portion. The leftovers were good for numerous meals afterwards. Great variety of banchan as well. The BBQ was very good and I enjoyed the different sauces they had, but I would say it was about on par with the Korean BBQ around where we live in MoCo. Same with the Japchae, although I will say the meat portion was noticeably better here. The only negative here was the service wasn't perfect. The restaurant was very busy on a Sunday evening and the waitresses were working very hard. They mostly took care of us very well but there was an order of water that never came, as well as a refill of banchan that never came. This was not the end of the world as we had the complimentary tea and the other food was more than enough, but this at least will make me reconsider coming back during peak times. Overall, I would recommend this place and the Combination Seafood Jhim was worth the drive from MoCo.

Food was surprisingly good. Bought the Turtle meat combo. Enough food for 3 adults. All the meats were good. Plenty of side dishes (banchan).

I knew that this restaurant would not have an elegant or upscale atmosphere. On the other hand, at least the food was average, but I confirmed today that it wasn't even that good. In particular, I would not recommend the soup type, and if you are not a barbecue guest, do not expect attentive service from servers.

Went with a friend. I enjoyed the food, great service and atmosphere.

After living in South Korea for a few years I can say this place serves some of the most authentic and delicious Korean food in the Baltimore Metro area. I highly recommend!!!

Absolutely delicious, especially the side dishes.Love their potato soup!

Would give a 3.5 star if I could. Overall it was good. The beef spare ribs were awesome

Authentic Korean food. Went here with a friend on a weekend. Seating was quick. Tea and miso soup were brought out almost immediately after we placed our order. Tried the Galbi Dolsot Bibimbop. Turned out to be a very healthy, tasting and filling lunch. Loved the mixture of vegetables, beef and rice in the hot bowl. The barbecue is what I want to try the next time

Great Korean BBQ and good side dishes.

My family loves this place for delicious Korean BBQ. We have been eating here for nearly 2 decades. Our favorite order is combo number 2 for 2 people, it comes with a bunch of small plate side dishes. The service is great and I like how the servers cook the food in front of you. Plan on arriving early as there is usually a short wait.

After a few repeat visits over the last 3 years, this is the best spot for higher quality Korean BBQ. Service is unmatched, the quality of meats is far above the other local Korean BBQ places.

Have traveled here often. Chose the family meal for best value. Update 2024-still great!

Great service! Great people! Food was excellent and a very good value. Definitely would recommend.

Consistently delicious, lots of side dishes. 진짜 맛있어요~

Came here for lunch because the kids wanted bulgogi and pork belly. We got two orders of the bulgogi, an order of the pork belly and spicy pork belly! The spicy pork belly is cooked in the kitchen and is cut into smaller pieces but still tasty and not overly spicy, but nothing beats the pork belly off the grill cooked right in front of you. The part with the char is the best part. Bulgogi is always a winner and we especially love the sweeter dipping sauce, which we ran out super fast. We hope they can give us two servings of those instead of the other sauce which was not really to our liking. We love the variety of banchan that they offer--definitely more varied than another Korean barbecue on the other side of Route 40. Also, you leave without the smell of smore on your clothes each table has that thing that sucks out all the steam. Love the experience here. Super pricey though so we only come here for super-special occasions.

Great selections of kbbq, bento boxes, tempura, & the rice cake wraps are the best. Long time frequented place for social and occasional engagements with family and friends.

One of my favorite Korean Restaurant in the are. Their Barbecue selections are tasty and priced very fairly. The environment and place is friendly and clean. They also have food you can order in the kitchen if you don't want any barbecue.I keep coming back here and everytime I do, it never disappoints.

Love this place! Great service and delicious food! Definitely recommend it if you are in the area.

It’s been 9 years since I’ve been back. I’ve had only good memories so I longed to return. Today was terrible. I thought it was odd that the restaurant was almost empty during lunch hour. The waitresses (especially one particular ajumma) has RBF and had attitude from the start when she realized we weren’t Korean. She was annoyed all the time. The food wasn’t great. The side dishes were laughable. The kimchi was red. No flavor. It tasted like wet cabbage if you closed your eyes. Not spicy. No salt at all, no sourness. Absolutely the blandest kimchi I’ve ever had. Just tasted wet. The side dishes were so disappointing. Then they had the audacity to charge romaine lettuce as a side dish for $3! Since when is lettuce not included? Da fack?!? Absolutely horror show. We tipped 15% and gtfo. The person dining with me wanted to tip 10% I had to step in even though they didn’t deserve more than 10%. Never once checked on our drinks, asked how the food was, or offfer napkins. Then I had to ask 3x for the bill. It’s not busy why did it take 15 mins to get the bill? Absolutely never ever again. Also container fee? On top of a bag fee? Jesu5 effin Christopher. Panjeon was so damn thick and not fresh looking. The meats were ok. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I've been going here for a long time since I was in high school. Now that I live further away, I don't get to go often but had a chance to pick up some food from here. I opted for the spicy short rib soup (Galbi tang). It was so good. The spice is mild for those that can't handle spice too well. It was flavorful and had a ton of noodles, scallions and 4-5 big pieces of short rib! The dish cost $18.95 which can be seen a bit on the high side but I think it was worth it. Since I got it to go, they provided me a small plate of sides (banchan) with an assortment of kimchi, garlic stems, bean sprouts and broccoli. When I went in, it was so packed! With almost every table filled so I would recommend that you make a reservation. They do have larger spaces that can accommodate a large crowd or big family. While there is plenty of parking available, the layout of the lot can be dangerous with a lot of drivers not looking or aware of others coming from other directions so please do be careful!!

Authentic and family friendly. Dishes are well portioned and freshly made. Unless you are in a rush there’s no reason to eat at a food court anymore. My favorite dining place in this area.

Better than ever! We’ve been coming to this restaurant for quite a few years and it was always good, but it now seems like they have increased the quality even more. A rare gem these days.

WORST PLACE EVER, THE SERVICE FROM THE SERVER WERE SO UNCOMFORTABLE AND RUDE. DO NOT GO HERE UNLESS YOU WANT A SERVER TO THROW YOUR PLATES IN FRONT OF YOU. VERY RUDE VERY RUDE VERYYYY RUDE. FACT THAT I HAVE TO GIVE A ONE STAR IS SO UPSETTING. THIS RESTAURANT DESERVES A 0 STAR.

It's a great spot to eat authentic asian cuisine. The staff was really friendly and the food had great flavor!

Thank you for the fresh meat and professional service.I had a good meal I'll come back again 😊

Has always been my favorite Korean BBQ restaurant. My kids buy me gift certificates there as gifts for me over the years. I've been away from the area for a while and decided to make a trip tonight and attempted to use a gift certificate that was given to me a year plus ago. After spending $180, and putting the $100 gift certificate and a credit card in the check presenter, the server returned to the table to tell us that the gift certificate would not be accepted because the restaurant was sold 2 years ago. No manager came to tell us, no signs in the restaurant saying this, no notification on their website, nothing at all. They basically took $100 and gave nothing in return. A simple acknowledgement from a manager to explain this and offer something to offset the unaccepted gift certificate would have made us feel better. This behavior is highly unethical. The Gift Certificate had no expiration date. The logo and all restaurant information is exactly the same on all signage and on the old gift certificate. It's horrible PR to not even offer to accept the gift certificate at a reduced rate or to offer drinks or appetizers. As a person with 46+ years in the restaurant industry, this behavior is embarrassing and appalling. It's truly a shame that management/ownership chooses to operate in this manner. This ending to our very nice evening tarnishes my opinion of what I thought was a very good restaurant. But, I guess with new ownership, that has changed. Better communication from a manager would have been appreciated much more than our server who suddenly didn't speak or understand English when we questioned why they wouldn't accept the gift certificate. Shame on you Shin Chon for electing to treat customers in this way. You should be embarrassed.

The place to come have Korean barbecue that's a lot closer to the experience in Korea. Side dishes everywhere, great tasting food, and a host that will cook your food and make sure you're well taken care of. The dipping sauces for the meat are excellent here!

It's crowded for a reason, and that's the best Korean BBQ in the area.

The best k-bbq place in the area. Pricy but quality!

This Korean BBQ spot is rather outdated one, and it seems many still visit due to limited options in the area. I went and was disappointed by the hurried service by rude Korean waitresses. Despite spending a significant amount, I felt the treatment was inferior to fast-food standards.

최악의 경험. 고기맛은 그럭저럭. 무례한 웨이크리스들 때문에 쓴돈이 너무 아까웠다.

Lady staff are very grumpy and have an aggressive tone. Worst experience ever. Not going to this place ever again

고기 다태워먹고 근데 팁은 당당하게 요구하는 서버들 지들이 갑인줄아는 식당입니다. 눈치밥은또 얼마나주는지 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Ordered fish soups but it wasn't fresh at all and the fish taste was inedible. Manager changed the food but the overall experience was uncomfortable.

By far the best KBBQ in Ellicott City. God himself would eat at this restaurant.

My family came into eat at this establishment. We had never had any issues prior to this visit. Upon entering the hostess sat us and our waitress put in our drink orders. However afterwards she ignored us and didn’t take our orders. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we were the only white costumers and everyone else was being waited on by this lady. After some time we decided to just leave. I will never return to this racist establishment again

점심에 고기를 먹는데 색깔이 안좋고 누린내가 난다 고기를 구워 주는데 너무 빨리구우며 손님에 맞추기 보다는 자신이 좋아하는 정도로 구워 기분이 좋지는 않다. 다시 가고 싶지 않다

Go for barbecue. Otherwise they will not care. Shin chon restaurant is notorious for bad service, and yet got worse. Waitresses are rude as they can be. After covid, waitresses care only collecting tips not the services. Go to Chosun hwa ro.

I absolutely enjoyed eating here for Mother's Day! The food was really yummy, and I recommend trying this local Korean restaurant 😋

So far this is my favorite Korean restaurant. IMHO much nicer than Honey Pig. I like how it looks, and that there are not too many TV's, less noisy. The back rooms have tube to suck out the smoke from the fryer 👍. All the food I had was really good, they have vegetarian options and soy free meals.

The cuisine at Shin Chon is very tasty. We opted for the Authentic Korean BBQ. However, they also have Japanese dishes as well. In addition to the Korean BBQ, I opted to have the udon, which is Japanese noodles in broth. It was very nice to sit around the table with a group of friends to chat and chew. The side dishes were also very tasty. Everything was very fresh.

I wish the gilbi would be cut lean but i love it different variety of side dishes

I love this place! It has amazingly good! This is one of my favorite Korean restaurant!

The best Korean BBQ in the DMV area. Beef rib is on another level! Great service.

Overall quite good and good value Korean restaurant: mostly authentic (healthier - less sugar?) food, courteous, attentive, and reasonably fast response, and a bit noisy (at its peak time) but clean ambience. The main dishes were well balanced, likely contributed by having all the necessary flavors but with less sweetness, eliminating potentially lingering dominance of the sweetness. We had BBQ (rib and spicy pork) and their beef-octapus stew. The sides were plentiful but were not as well-balanced and tasty as the mains, including the kimchi. Giving 5 stars overall, though it's not quite there because of the sides. Hopefully, those will improve in the near future.

The meat is really tasty and tender but you get extremely thirsty afterwards. The waitress are ALWAYS somewhat rude and are in a rush. Also, their exhaust fans do not work properly. Go to Chosun hwaro instead!

My favorite Korean BBQ in MD! The restaurant itself is not that big, so often a wait during the rush, but the food quality is worth the wait! Meats are marinated well, the soups and noodle dishes are also well flavored—top recommendations are the Galbi, Beef Brisket, BooDae Jun Gol, Seafood Soondubu, Japchae, and Shrimp Tempura! The service is great—they assist in cooking your meats, and staff is friendly! Also, I like that not only that they have Soju (liquor drink), they have flavored Soju for those who like theirs a bit sweeter!

It was first time to visit the Shin Chon. Ordered marinated galbi and jumooluk and they were not bad. However, side dishes disappointed and cold noodle was the worst ever. Probably will not visit again.

This place have been my favorite KBBQ in the area for years and even though the folks running the place have changed hands a couple times, they've kept up the quality as well as the friendly service. From the original owners who was featured on Andrew Zimmern's show to the current management, they've always been super attentive and nice. Their meat always come out looking super fresh and taste even better. If you do KBBQ, they usually come with a tofu soup and a steamed egg on the side that are complimentary and they go great with the rice. Their ban chan (small side dishes) have a better variety than most in the area and is one of my favorite part of the meal. If you order one of the set dinners, it also come with small square noodle wraps in addition to the lettuce. Just a great place overall and highly recommend!

Great place! Went with coworkers for the first time and it was a great experience.

They ask for giving more tips with no reasons

Would be 0 stars based on service. Dominated cooking area and forced servings onto people's plates. Would not listen to requests. undercooked brisket, overcooked short ribs. Cooked the bulgogi in the back and clearly added a ton of water to it while it was cooking, had at least an inch of water in bottom of dish and no marinade left on rubbery meat. Kept taking tongs from me and shoving food onto my 4yo's plate, despite me physically trying to block them. The one thing that we enjoyed and were going to order more of didn't happen, because they just shoved the bulgogi plate onto the grill and turned everything off, walking away. I am told the staff doing the cooking is more prevalent in this area, but they should at least ask how you want the meat, and be present at the table instead of wandering by and haphazardly tossing the meat around. Will never go back.

전체적으로 불만족 했다 바베큐 고기 중 양념갈비는 최악 이였다 다시는 갈거같지않다

Bad apple ruins the bunch? They need to do something with the custom service if they want to survive.

Thanks Seo very good service ..and nice place .

This restaurant has the best flavor in town. However the server was really odd. Me and my husband was first time there, the restaurant was busy, but the server just stared at us (doesn’t look really happy tbh) waited there until we tell her what we wanted to order. She gave such pressure to us to order as fast as we can. Even tho we only had less than 2 mins to look at the menu (don’t remember what we ordered), the food was fantastic. My husband said he doesn’t want to come back because of the server. So bad I missed the food, it’s been half year.

Food ok but customer service terrible I been there 3 time I think some time just that day lady fill not good or something but no all the time like that’s never come back

Most delicious Korean BBQ so far!

Renovations needed , everything else very good

They have delicious and plentiful food. I get bbq for dining in, and traditional dishes for take out. They need to hire a host/hostess and get a handle on a wait list and wait times.

Very busy place on weekends. Food is fresh and tasty.

It is one of the most amazing hot pot experiences. It is very convenient and easy to order additional items from the table. Friendly staff. It is definitely worth experiencing, and the food is great too. Leave space for ice cream!

Loved it. My hair smells delicious. Unfinished Soju bottle smuggled in my bag, lol. Can't wait for repeat.

Love the food ! The meat is pretty decent! There is one disappointment , some severs are inappropriate.

전화오더 아주 불친절 저녁시간 바쁠것 같아 픽업 1시간 일찍 오더했더니 시간 맞쳐서 다시 전화 하라고함. 난감 다른식당에 오더함.

생갈비를 먹었는데 잘먹고 갑니다 서비스도좋고 반찬도맛있어습니다.^^♡

Incredible how fast and efficient and friendly all the service and server were. Not one rude person on the wait staff, everyone checked in on us to make sure the meat was cooked , the side dishes were re-filled.

Wonderful Hostest Greeting and the food was excellent! We had Korean Bbq pork belly and steak.

3.5 stars. Your run-of-the-mill neighborhood Korean BBQ. Still probably the best Korean food in Howard County. There is virtually no waiting area - besides crowding at the main entrance, which can be a pain. Service is subpar - don’t expect any special treatment or smiles (on the same level of Hang Ari down the road). I wish there was more competition in the area.

Love the food, but your experience will depend entirely on your server. We were rushed to order, pressured into ordering more than the table could eat, and rushed into having all our meats grilled at once. After ordering the special set of three meats, plus two large plates to share for a table of 5, our server immediately went to a neighboring coworker and grumbled in Korean about how little we ordered. Nevermind that any of us could have had less of an appetite that day, and the fact that we had kept a menu for the table with the intention of adding more food as we went. We ended up with unnecessary food waste. I’m glad our table was worth upselling for the marginally increased tip though. Especially after vocalizing politely our preferences at each stage, the customer service left an extremely sour taste and dampened our dining experience. Our particular waitress did not once offer a single pleasantry in the form of gestures or commentary. I’ve come here many times in the last decade, and eventually it’s going to be hard to justify the food with the hit or miss service. This was a disappointing birthday dinner, and I’m sorry to see that it was all because of just one person we interacted with. Our busser was an extremely nice gentleman, however. So was a neighboring waitress who came by to refill our tea, in the absence of her coworker. Manager/host gentleman was friendly.

My family went to celebrate my father's 85 bday, we had the turtle #2, added duck BBQ and the #9 pajun. Everything was delicious our cook was friendly helped us understand how to put the side dishes and meat and dipping sauces together we had a great time. We go back again. Tip your cook well, they do an amazing job. Just sorry I forgot our cooks name, just like we didn't take any pictures everything was sooo good we tucked right in.

Went again for the BBQ, with a steamed egg. Service is always prompt and very quick, if anything sometimes comes across a bit rushed. All the small dishes are great, emphasis on the kimchi, fish cakes and the radish. Yes, this place is more expensive than iron age and similars, however, imo,v the quality of the food reflects the price difference.

I asked my kids what rating they would give Shin Chon and they said 12 stars! I agree! We ordered the turtle special #1 for 4 and it was more than enough food for 1 adult male, 1 growing teen boy, a growing girl and me! Even though the meat are the star of the show, all of the small dishes were flavorful, and delicious. I even got to try the bean paste, soup, it was a huge hit. Will come back!

Place was very busy on a Friday night with a wait. Food was very good and service was good. The ramen, spam, and hot dog casserole I thought was only ok. But I really enjoyed the bulgogi casserole.

On top of kbbq, their more traditional Korean dishes are great.

Food and service is a hit or miss.

No reservation or any kind anymore.

Super delicious incredible flavor We got the number one combo beef and pork belly. The two of us were very very full afterward The sides were delicious as well. I really loved that it came with a stew. I like this place better than many AYCE places because you’ll be just as full but they have more variety and more complex flavors

Best korean food around. The food is delicious, I'm excited to go back next time.

First time in this location. Not really a fan of korean food, but was surprised by how good they are. A friend described to me the items being served to us, tried each of them and was glad I came. Could be pricey though, service however was good. Our corner was perfect as the restaurant was well spread out so my clothing didn't smell of meat

Authentic Korean restaurants. The food was great, the place is small but clean. The meals are made for sharing so you get large portions. The staff are all Korean but speak English, if you need something thing, ring the bell. They are not checking on you to see how you're doing. And that's the other Authentic part. Will definitely return

Great food. Great service. Love this place.

First time in this location. Not really a fan of korean food, but was surprised by how good they are. A friend described to me the items being served to us, tried each of them and was glad I came. Could be pricey though, service however was good. Our corner was little bit tight, but not really a big issue.