North Suwon BBQ lunch date: steak platter & pork ribs, Texas BBQ Aloha

This is a review of a visit with a discount. Texas BBQ Aloha (텍사스바베큐 알로하), a great BBQ spot in North Suwon.

Why we went for a BBQ lunch date in North Suwon

Texas BBQ Aloha is where I went for a BBQ lunch date with my husband (my "Mokseong yangban" nickname for him). We'd been talking about wanting a hearty meat meal together for the first time in a while, and that's how we found this place. Maybe because it had been so long since I'd had BBQ, I was really looking forward to it before we even walked in, haha. We went with the mindset of having one proper, delicious meal!

Is parking easy at Texas BBQ Aloha?

Texas BBQ Aloha has parking spaces right in front of the restaurant. There was plenty of room just in front of the entrance, so parking was fairly easy. You don't have to park in some crowded alley, so it was stress-free to visit, and for people coming by car this felt like quite a big plus.

What's the atmosphere like for a date?

Inside Texas BBQ Aloha, soft orange lighting fills the room, so the whole place feels really warm. Long green-toned bench sofas run along both walls, and together with the wood interior and the lighting they create a quietly sentimental mood. It wasn't loud or chaotic, so it was comfortable for eating, and the atmosphere suited a date well.

How to order and what we chose: steak platter for two

Texas BBQ Aloha uses table ordering, so we could order easily from our seat. After some deliberation we chose the steak platter for two. It lets you try several kinds of meat at once, so it caught our eye most. It's the kind of menu that anyone who loves BBQ will get excited about, haha.

Three in-store events

Texas BBQ Aloha had as many as three in-store events, haha.

• EVENT 01. Clean plate event: 1 free coffee per person
• EVENT 02. Receipt review event: 1 free canned drink per receipt
• EVENT 03. 2+1 event: order 2 draft beers, get 1 free

(Number 3 tempted me the most, hahaha)

What's in the unlimited salad bar?

I also liked that the salad bar at Texas BBQ Aloha is unlimited. There was more variety than I expected: french fries, roasted root vegetables, chicken, burgers, the pasta of the day and more.

It was fun to grab things one by one before the main dishes arrived, and I was happy with how many easy, casual items there were. It seems perfect for people who like to mix and match a bit of everything.

Pasta of the day: rosé pasta this time

The salad bar's pasta of the day seems to change every visit, and the rosé pasta we had this day was so good you could sell it as a standalone dish.

Just take what you can eat, and refill if you need more! (Let's cut down on food waste as much as we can, haha!)

A pulled pork mini burger built at the salad bar

My husband built this pulled pork mini burger himself from the salad bar, haha. He stuffed plenty of meat between the little buns and put the sauce together neatly too. The tender shredded pulled pork went well with the sweet-salty sauce, and the moment I took a bite a subtle smoky aroma spread, so it was pretty tasty. The mini size made it easy to eat, and it's the kind of flavor you keep reaching for!

What comes in the steak platter, and how does it taste?

The steak platter at Texas BBQ Aloha came generously loaded with pork belly, steak and ribs, plus grilled pineapple. Our steak platter finally arrived!

The platter isn't just a pile of meat. It also comes with tortillas, so there was the fun of wrapping things however you like, and it let us enjoy it in a lot more ways.

The ribs were the most memorable

The ribs on the steak platter were cooked so well that the meat came off the bone really easily. The sweet and salty barbecue sauce soaked in deeply for great savory depth, and the more I chewed, the more a gentle smoky aroma rose up, so I could really feel the special charm of BBQ.

It wasn't harshly spicy or salty, so I kept reaching for more, and personally it was the most memorable dish of the day.

Texas BBQ Aloha lunch date: overall verdict

Texas BBQ Aloha was much more satisfying than I expected, thanks to the generous platter plus the salad bar. We spent a relaxed lunch hour together over good meat for the first time in a while. The atmosphere was comfortable, so it was easy to just enjoy the meal, and the overall setup and the quality of the food were satisfying. I especially liked being able to enjoy several kinds of BBQ at once!

After a relaxed meal of tasty food and plenty of chatting, I felt refreshed, like I'd had a mood reset. We filled our stomachs and wrapped up a happy lunch date :)

Address: 1039 Jeongjo-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi, South Korea (Songjuk Building, 1st floor)