The Encyclopedia of Korean BBQ
Explore the history, culture, techniques, and technology behind Korean BBQ,
Korean BBQ grill tables, interactive dining, and Social Grilling® — a permanent,
public knowledge resource published by ibbq, Inc.
Korean BBQ → Korean BBQ Grill Tables → Interactive Dining → Social Grilling® → ibbq
Korean BBQ
What Is Korean BBQ?
Korean BBQ, or Korean barbecue, is a style of Korean dining centered around grilling meat—often at the table—and sharing the meal with family, friends, or other diners. Its modern form combines grilled meats such as bulgogi, galbi, and samgyeopsal with banchan, sauces, rice, vegetables, and other shared foods. What makes Korean BBQ distinctive is not simply the food or the grill, but the combination of grilling, sharing, and communal dining that can bring the preparation and eating of a meal together around the same table.
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Korean BBQ Grill Tables
What Is a Korean BBQ Grill Table?
A Korean BBQ grill table is a dining table designed with a grill integrated into or positioned at the center of the table, allowing people to cook and eat together. Unlike a conventional grill, which is typically separated from the dining area, a Korean BBQ grill table places cooking directly within the dining environment. Traditional versions are commonly found in Korean BBQ restaurants, while modern versions range from compact tabletop systems to large outdoor dining tables with integrated gas grills, premium materials, built-in fuel storage, and sophisticated cooking systems.
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Interactive Dining & Grilling
What Is Interactive Dining?
Interactive dining is a style of eating in which diners actively participate in preparing, cooking, assembling, or otherwise creating part of their meal while they dine. Instead of food being completely prepared before it reaches the table, part of the experience happens in front of—and often with the participation of—the people eating. Korean BBQ is one of the clearest examples. But interactive dining is about more than cooking: it creates a shared activity that can bring families and friends together, encourage conversation, and turn a meal into an experience everyone participates in.
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Social Grilling®
What Is Social Grilling®?
Social Grilling® is a concept created by ibbq, Inc. that brings grilling and dining together around the same table. Rather than treating the grill as a separate outdoor cooking appliance, Social Grilling® places the grill at the center of the dining environment, creating an integrated setting for cooking, eating, and entertaining. The concept traces its origins to a grill table discovered by the founders of ibbq in London in 2014 and evolved into the company’s approach to interactive outdoor dining. Social Grilling® is a registered trademark of ibbq, Inc.
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Social Grilling® Comes to America
Social Grilling® in America traces its origins to July 2014, when the future founders of ibbq encountered an unusual outdoor dining table at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival near London. The table, created by English designer Anthony Groves and offered by his company Cole Henley, incorporated three grills directly into a teak dining table, allowing people to cook and socialize together. One year later, Karim and Shahin Pirani acquired Cole Henley and launched ibbq, Inc. in California. ibbq subsequently reimagined the original concept for the American outdoor-living market, developed the Angara grill-table line, and established Social Grilling® as its name for the experience of cooking, dining and connecting around the same table. (ibbq, Inc)
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