As you know by now, I believe in education, or else I wouldn’t have a career in it. I’ve graduated quite a few times in my life: Elementary, Junior High, High School, Associates Degree, Bachelors, and now my Masters. After each ceremony it becomes tradition to go somewhere nice for dinner. My parents let me pick ANY place that I want, regardless of cost. For my BA, we flew to Vegas because I really wanted to eat at Enoteca San Marco (which was brand new at the time).

Today I participated in what I think will probably be my last graduation ceremony as a graduate. Afterwards, I got to choose where we went for dinner. The original plan was to fly to Vegas, have dinner somewhere super fancy, and then on Sunday I would see AFI in concert. I bought my ticket a while ago, and was really looking forward to it. As it got closer to my graduation date, I started to realize that missing work on Monday would not be a good idea. It would totally throw off my kids because they are in the middle of a novel and a project. I guess maybe this means I am a responsible teacher. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’m extremely sad about missing my favorite band at such a small venue. However, I’m taking one for the team. I’m not a college kid anymore. I’m a teacher, a professional, a graduate, and I have a responsibility to my kids. I’m keeping my ticket instead of selling it. I’ll proudly display it in my classroom and hope that one day I’ll be able to see them at a small venue. I better start talking about KBBQ before I start to cry about missing Davy, Hunter, Smith, and Jade. Live. In concert. At a small venue…singing my favorite songs…:’(

ANYWAY! Today I thought maybe Mozza would be good, but we go there a lot already, so it isn’t special anymore. My mom said maybe we should go to Lazy Ox, but again, we’ve been there. I wanted something new and started trying to remember places on my “I must try this place ASAP” list. Pizzeria Ortica sounded like a great choice, but they didn’t open until 5pm. Then I remembered Cube LA and their cheese, but I was hungry for more than just cheese. I wanted meat, but I didn’t want to go to Lawry’s. Then my beautiful mother suggested Parks BBQ, which I have been hearing really good things about! Korean BBQ is one of my favorite things ever! Then I remembered Danny’s post about Road to Seoul which was also close by.

Unsure as to which one was the better of the two, I turned to the Twitterverse to ask and thanks to Julian, Danny, and SK learned that if I wanted something special, Parks was the place to go, particularly because it was my graduation day, and I deserved to indulge.

Here was Danny’s response: @LadyDucayne @djjewelz normally I’d say Road To Seoul, but tonight, Park’s! Like what @djjewelz said, “high class it!”

And “high class it” I did! The only problem is, I don’t think I will ever want to go anywhere else! Parks was amazing! I love Korean BBQ with a passion and have eaten it ever since I can remember. I’ve tried many KBBQ restaurants throughout my life. I even went to this really ghetto place my (now) ex-boyfriend suggested that was like a converted house. I wish I remembered the name, but it was in Northridge.

SK initially suggested we order the seafood pancake. After ordering everything, I checked Twitter only to see that he had made some more suggestions! It turned out that we had already ordered most of what he suggested! Great minds…

I could go on and on and tell you about each banchan dish and the meats and the flavors, but the bottom line is, this place is great. I have eaten at countless KBBQ places throughout the City of Angels and beyond. I can say that at this point in my life, I’m throwing in the towel. Parks BBQ has now become my most favorite place for Korean BBQ. I haven’t been to Road to Seoul, but it would have to be pretty magical to be better than Parks! I still want to try Road’s AYCE Korean BBQ though!

Today we had the Kobe “Style” Beef, Kalbi, Pork Belly (OMGZ) and Seafood Pancake. Along with a gazillion little banchan dishes, and soup, and rice, and lettuce and oranges…Each meat item was of the highest quality! You could just tell by looking at it and it was only confirmed by the taste.

The pork belly was was indescribable! Wow! Probably my most favorite part of the meal!

This was definitely the best place to celebrate my final (probably) graduation. However, I’m not going to wait for a special occasion to go back. I need to put this place on rotation for sure! Unicorns and rainbows? D’uh.

Parks BBQ
955 South Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90006-1647
(213) 380-1717