Have you ever walked into a Korean BBQ restaurant alone and had the staff tell you, "We can't do one serving, it's two servings minimum"? Even international students ask, "I said I'd pay, so why won't you sell it to me?" They aren't disrespecting customers. The restaurant has its own reasons. ## When You Go to a Samgyeopsal Restaurant Alone A Korean BBQ restaurant has to turn on the grill, use gas or charcoal, and have staff set and clear the table. The effort involved is almost the same whether there's one customer or two. That's why many places only take orders starting from 2 servings. First, ask, "Can I dine alone?" Go ahead and ask. If they say no, you can order 2 servings and ask them to pack the leftover meat to go. These days, some restaurants even sell single-serving menu items separately. ## When You Go to a Stew Restaurant Alone Budae-jjigae and jeongol are dishes where all the ingredients go into a big pot at once and are boiled at the table to share. It's hard to boil just one person's portion, so they say "2 servings minimum." But if you go to a kimchi-jjigae baekban place or a gukbap restaurant, where each serving comes in its own earthenware bowl, it's fine to go alone. Look for words like "baekban" or "solo diners welcome" on the menu board at the entrance. ## When You Still Want to Eat There If you look at the menu photos of a restaurant on Naver Map or KakaoMap, the minimum number of people per order is often written there. Menus and prices can change, so check before you go. Don't take it personally if you get turned down. It's not that they dislike you; it's just a matter of their pots and grills.