It was my friend's birthday and we were looking for a nice restaurant in SD to celebrate. We had a reservation at a speakeasy later on in the night, but didn't know where to go for dinner. Decided to check out Choi's because of the beautiful interior and their interesting Korean-inspired dishes! For a last minute decision and for a Saturday's night, it was surprisingly easy to get a reservation through Yelp! Since we made the reservation, there was a cute card with our name written in cursive on our table when we arrived (I didn't take picture, but my friend has it and loved because it made her felt special for her bday!). The interior of the restaurant was so beautiful and our server was so friendly! They even surprised my friend with a free dessert and a rose at the end of our dinner! What we ordered: Bao Taco ($10/1 piece) - it was a good appetizer! The kimchi paired really well with the bulgogi! Choi's Crispy Chicken ($26) - classic Korean fried chicken with your gochujang sauce! The chicken was crispy and tender. Gochujang can sometimes be too overpower, but this was just right and not too spicy. My favorite component would be the yuzu avocado sauce! It was sweet and tangy, which work really well with the chicken! Ahi Tuna Tataki ($36) - the tuna was so fresh! It went well with the kimchi buttermilk sauce. For this dish, my favorite would be the charred bok choy, as it enhanced the flavor of the tuna to another level! Aewol Coastal Road Cocktail ($18) - this cocktail was amazing! It was refreshing, yet took me by surprise! I thought it was about to have a strong alcohol after taste, but then turn around and leave you with a light refreshing mandarin note instead! Overall, Choi's is a perfect dinner spot for special occasions! I personally think the price isn't too bad for the high quality food and the amazing service. I def would come back to try more of their specialty cocktails!

I love this restaurant so much! They always make sure that the night is a memorable experience along with the delicious food. The service is always amazing, Dylan and Hunter were on top of everything, checking on us, and were very polite. Thank you!

I've been here multiple times now and I must admit, it's been a great experience every single time. Food was awesome, atmosphere was great, and the service was impeccable! Chef Jiwoo did an awesome job and Hunter made sure we were never thirsty. This spot is quickly becoming a regular!

I chose Choi's to celebrate a work milestone on Tuesday of last week because it's relatively close to my apartment and it seemed appropriate for the occasion. It's the kind of place I wouldn't visit casually just to get a Korean food fix, but I also wouldn't necessarily celebrate a major birthday or anniversary here. I did mark "special occasion" on the reservation, and several people from the restaurant reached out to confirm the reservation and ask what we were celebrating. When we were seated at our table, there was a "congratulations" card with a little flower on it that I thought was a cute touch. I did love the decor and the color scheme of gold and blue. The overall experience was a good one and definitely different than any other Korean restaurant I've ever been to. The best part of our experience by far was our server, Dylan, as he was very attentive and wanted to provide us with a memorable experience. We were surprised to learn he is a new server, as he seemed to always know when we needed something. Very personable, too. As for the food, there were some standouts, but I didn't enjoy everything. My favorites due to flavor were the bossam, octopus, and fried oyster mushrooms. This was actually the first bossam I've ordered for myself, so I don't have much to compare it to, but it seemed to be cooked well and I liked the accompaniments. The only thing different from what I've seen elsewhere is the amount of meat that it came with, which seemed to be less here (for a higher price). The octopus item was great in flavor, texture, and presentation. The sauce was a good consistency, and we liked the inclusion of the greens and fried onions to spice the dish up a bit. The octopus itself wasn't chewy like it sometimes can be if not prepared appropriately. Although the sauce was a similar color to the one included with the mushrooms, we were glad that the two had different flavor profiles. The fried oyster mushrooms were perfectly fried and we enjoyed the flavor of the mushrooms themselves, the breading, and the included sauce. However, the consistency of the sauce was almost more like a paste, which we didn't love. Despite their perfect consistency, they also weren't hot, and my partner even made a comment that he didn't feel that the food was coming out super fresh. Now for some areas of improvement: *Overall, I felt many of the items, including the welcome drink and my first cocktail, were not balanced and too acidic. Although everything looked very pretty, there is some room for flavor improvement here. The tuna crispy rice was one of the items I was most excited for, but it was quite bland beyond the taste of lemon. *The banchan, which include four options for $4 each, comes in larger servings than I've seen elsewhere. It does make sense if you're planning to snack on these over the course of the meal, as they don't refill these without an additional charge. Of the banchan, I liked the bean sprouts and the cucumber kimchi, but not the bok choy kimchi or the balsamic salad. I like kimchi and I like bok choy, but I didn't like how much of this item was like marinated stalks. I don't like super crispy greens, especially in kimchi, and I wasn't sure if that meant they weren't marinated long enough or what. The balsamic salad was also very under-dressed in our opinion, and therefore too crunchy, so much so that we just decided not to finish it. We weren't expecting Dylan to take this off our bill but appreciated it when he said he would. All that being said, I would still recommend this place for special occasions, and especially if they make improvements to some of their items. I would definitely look forward to coming back here if invited.

Docked one star just because some of the food was on the salty side. However - my husband and I are visiting the area for a conference. With it raining we didn't want to walk in the Gaslamp area looking for somewhere to eat. We found this on Yelp (we love Korean) and decided last minute to check it out. Ambiance is great, customer service is great. Our waiter Dylan was very attentive and made sure we were taken care of and satisfied! Clean and pleasant bathrooms as well. So like I said, even though some of the food is salty it was a 10/10 experience.

***** **** *** ** * A wonderful dining experience ~ - Warm Hospitality - Unique cocktails - Exceptional appetizers and share plates - Great Happy Hour offerings. - Kind attentive staff* who are clearly aligned with hospitality goals of the chef owner. We had a terrific first experience here, while in San Diego for an Orthopedic Surgeon's conference. Enjoyed it so much, we'll re-visit in a few days with a group. * Shea and Kenny _

Choi's is a great date spot. Atmosphere is romantic and chill. I like how the tables are spaced out and you can hear each other talk. Food is good. Some dishes were a lil on the salty side but I rather it be salty than bland. Drinks were ok cos the are all soju base. I'm not a fan of soju so take me opinion w a grain of salt. Happy hour has a great selection. Love the oyster special. I would come just for that. There is a parking lot which the restaurant comps 2 hrs. Such a pita to find the entrance but luckily we found street parking right in front.

Fabulous time at this modern Korean restaurant in the East Village. Instead of Convoy atmosphere, it's like you've been transported to a modern hotel in Seoul with a buzzy chef. They're super friendly - they have an interesting cocktail program - and they're vegetarian/vegan friendly. Choi's, where have you been all my life? Dylan was a great server, and the hostesses made us feel welcome right away. You can't check "outdoor" when you reserve on Open Table, but they have a very patio with great heaters. (and free easy parking next door!) Not everything was of equal quality and there were a few glitches - but they were super on top of it and comped a few things without our asking, because of the wait. Thumbs up for the customer service! COCKTAILS: I got the GIMHAE AIRPORT first, a soju egg white cocktail served up. Frothy, not much going on - pleasant but not strong. I wouldn't get it again... especially because my second drink, their OLD FASHIONED, was amazing! Golden barley soju, pink color, DELICIOUS. Nice big ice cube stamped Choi's. Tis was so delicious I want to come back just for this. BANCHAN: We ordered Cucumber Kimchi, Sesame Bean Sprouts & Balsamic salad. Cukes were *spicy* and I only ate one, but the flavor was great & my sweetie ate them up. Sesame Bean Sprouts: 10/10. YUM. So healthy & I'm going to get this next time. Balsalmic salad was the only miss here. The vinaigrette made the cucumbers in the salad taste good but it was way too heavily dressed for the kale, and I didn't want to eat it. Dylan took it back & off the bill. Thumbs up! SMALL PLATES: My sweetie got the garlic chili green beans. Spicy again but very tasty. He also ate them all up. ENTREES: Sweetie got the galbi bowl - he said the meat could have been more tender but the flavors were excellent. I was the one pushing to come here but he will happily come back for more flavors like the galbi & green beans. I got the Shiitake Fettuccine, one of their vegetarian dishes - though I added a scoop of caviar for $16 because I was feeling fancy. Someone had dissed this dish on here and said it didn't taste Korean and was boring. I thought it was delicious! Sure, it's Italian-Korean fusion, but there were definitely Korean condiment flavors mixed with the mushroom and cream. I thought it was super. I don't think you really need the caviar - it maybe wasn't the finest caviar ever so it was not very strongly flavored. But it was a fun addition to the dish. More importantly, it left such a fun flavor in my mouth that I could still taste it a few hours later and kept going "mmmmmm!" DESSERT: We got the Hotteok with Vanilla Ice Cream. It was pretty, but this was not the most exciting part of the meal. For me, tasted like a churro with vanilla ice cream that was not ultra premium, meaning the texture and flavor were boring (though, interestingly, my sweetie preferred the ice cream to the pastry). I know they're trying different things out here, but there are Korean versions of pastry that I think are more exciting. Overall, though, the ATMOSPHERE was amazing and just really nice. Very stylish, Kpop on the speakers, good people watching. A handsome group of 40 something guys (Dad's night out) was waiting for their table near us - and people were coming in a mixture of casual and "dressed up for night out." I did see the chef come out to greet the table next to us and would have loved to give him compliments for the bean sprouts and fettucine - but the kitchen must have gotten busy and he didn't come out when our food came. But we'll be back! Super fun night out with some really creative food. And the menu changes regularly, so I look forward to seeing what other vegetarian or pescatarian dishes he drops. And getting my delicious (pink!) soju old fashioned with the gorgeous ice cube!

Our server, Dylan S, was so sweet and immaculate and our food was impeccably delicious!! We had an amazing time at this restaurant. Smiling from ear to ear from the time we walked in to the time we left. I even appreciated the awning in the front of the restaurant and the lovely cashmere vanilla scent in the restrooms. Overall superb atmosphere and food. You will enjoy this eating experience.