Diners are waiting for hours to eat at a new Bay Area restaurant

Diners are waiting for hours and filling up reservation lists weeks in advance to eat at Baekjeong, a Korean barbecue restaurant from Los Angeles that just opened its first Bay Area location inside Westfield Valley Fair. The San Jose mall is home to other eateries that have had buzz openings, including Din Tai Fung and Eataly, but not quite like this. 

The San Jose location of the popular Los Angeles restaurant, known for its fresh meats and side dishes that are cooked on circular grills at every table, has been in the works for two years now. After opening this week, Baekjeong’s reservation list is booked up through next month – and even guests with reservations may need to wait several hours to get a table. 

“We solidly hit two to three-hour wait times right now, even with the reservation system,” Baekjeong’s senior director of culinary operations Samuel Kim told SFGATE.

Guests who documented their experience at the restaurant on social media reported overhearing wait times that reached four and a half hours. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some wait times even hit the six-hour mark. 

Baekjeong’s San Jose location is slightly more high-end than its restaurants in Southern California and New York City, and comes with a full bar, plus a bar food menu. Meat combos range from $66 to $142.

SFGATE food reporter Susana Guerrero contributed to this report.