Pet-friendly Gwangju BBQ restaurant with day drinking: Ju Myeongdang

I was looking for something to do in Dongmyeong-dong on the weekend and got hungry, so I found Ju Myeongdang, a grilled pork spot in Dongmyeong-dong! 🍚🤍 It's a place where you can do daytime drinking in Dongmyeong-dong, and also get really tasty pork belly, so here's my review -

Ju Myeongdang hours and parking: 1 hour covered at the Dongmyeong-dong ACC lot

Ju Myeongdang, a Dongmyeong-dong favorite in Gwangju, opens daily from 11:30 to 23:30. Since it opens at 11:30am, the structure allows for daytime drinking in Dongmyeong-dong.

🅿️ Parking: 1 hour of parking is supported at the Dongmyeong-dong ACC parking lot. 🚗 The ACC lot itself is very cheap, so you won't feel much burden even if you park for a long time (low-emission vehicles can even get a 50% discount)

Can you bring a dog to Ju Myeongdang?

What a pet-friendly private room at Ju Myeongdang is like

Ju Myeongdang is a Dongmyeong-dong bar fully equipped with 6 private rooms, and dogs are welcome too (cute pups are totally allowed to make first impressions haha)

Inside Ju Myeongdang: the dining room and the private rooms

Ju Myeongdang is located on the 2nd floor of a building on the main street of Dongmyeong-dong, and stepping inside, the atmosphere was cozier and cleaner than I expected! Overall the soft lighting blends with the distinctive Korean-bar vibe, giving it a bit more ambiance than your typical BBQ place. It seemed great for a relaxed drink with friends, and also for chatting over dinner. Most of all, what I loved was that there's a separate room space >< When visiting with a group, using a room lets you dine comfortably without worrying about the tables around you.

Ju Myeongdang's menu and what we ordered that day

The menu had quite a variety, from meat dishes to all kinds of Korean side dishes and drinking snacks. There's meat like straw-fire galbi, aged pork belly, and gabrisal, plus beef jeon (pan-fried beef), other jeon, and rice dishes — a lineup great for coming to eat meat and ending up having a drink too haha

• Myeongdang Auntie's Table (₩49,000)
• Zero Coca-Cola (₩2,500)

Ju Myeongdang's Myeongdang Auntie's Table is recommended for 2–3 people, so it worked well for the two of us, and since it comes with several kinds of meat plus rice dishes, it was perfect for us since we wanted to try a bit of everything!!! 💖

The basic side dish was chicken drumsticks sprinkled with red pepper flakes, and they were so good we ended up getting a refill haha

What comes with the 49,000 won Myeongdang Auntie's Table

The Myeongdang Auntie's Table is recommended for 2–3 people. Just the visual of the table filling up with food was so hearty I had to snap a photo first - the table included straw-fire galbi, aged pork belly, and gabrisal, along with doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew), seasonal bibimbap, and even cold noodles for dessert — genuinely a proper full spread.

First, the seasoned galbi got cut into bite-sized pieces for us! You can tell from the photos alone just how generous the portions were, right?!

How the straw-fire galbi, aged pork belly and gabrisal taste

Since there were three types of meat, there was the fun of trying each one, haha. First, the straw-fire galbi had a subtle, alluring smoky straw-fire aroma. Meat with that smoky flavor feels different from just grilled meat, and combined with the seasoning it was an absolute rice thief... And then there was the aged pork belly I love! I could really taste the savory, juicy flavor unique to pork belly. It wasn't just greasy — there was a nicely chewy texture too, so I kept reaching for more. Lastly, the gabrisal had a different kind of chewy texture from the pork belly, and alternating between the three meats meant the textures and flavors kept changing, so I never got tired of it. Honestly all the meats were so tender... b

Seasonal bibimbap and doenjang jjigae at Ju Myeongdang

Eating only meat can feel a bit heavy, but pairing it with the seasonal bibimbap that came alongside made a really good combo. Putting a piece of meat on top and eating it with the bibimbap was truly a rice thief haha. It's a Korean dish that covers both health and taste, so I cleaned it all up along with the kimchi side dish!

And having the warm, rich yet clean-tasting doenjang jjigae served alongside really completed the feeling of eating at a proper BBQ place

Cold noodles to finish, after a day of wedding hall touring

I finished off with the cold mul-naengmyeon (cold noodle soup) for dessert too 🥰 (*bibim/spicy mixed version also available) I was exhausted from touring wedding halls in Gwangju that day, but eating such delicious meat and Korean dishes at this Dongmyeong-dong favorite gave me real energy. If you're looking for a nice-atmosphere BBQ place or a bar with rooms in Dongmyeong-dong, Gwangju, I highly recommend Ju Myeongdang! 🥩🤎 Both the owner and staff were really kind too.