Eating at a Korean Restaurant for the First Time: Waitlists, Ordering, Call Buttons, Side Dishes, Paying, Menu Translation

Korean restaurants handle seating, ordering and paying a little differently from many other countries. You may join the waitlist on a tablet outside, order from a tablet on the table or by pressing a call button, and you do not tip. This guide goes through the points where first-timers tend to hesitate, in the order you meet them. Booking itself is covered in the reservation app guides.

1. 1

   If there is a queue — the waitlist tablet out front

   Popular restaurants sometimes have a tablet by the door for the waitlist. The Korea Tourism Organization (VisitKorea) describes scanning the QR code on that tablet to put your name on the list. It also notes that most reservation and waitlist apps require a Korean phone number to sign up, while CatchTable Global does not. See the reservation app comparison guide and the CatchTable Global guide for how each app differs.

2. 2

   Ordering — table tablets and paying up front

   A growing number of restaurants put a tablet on each table to take your order after you sit down (Korea Herald, 2024), and these table devices often ask you to pay up front as well. Some restaurants use self-ordering machines (kiosks). If there is no tablet, look at the menu and order directly from the staff.

3. 3

   Calling staff — the call button and "Yeogiyo"

   Most tables have a call button; press it when you need a server. VisitKorea warns that it may be louder than you expect. Without a button, call out "Yeogiyo" (여기요, roughly "over here, please") — it is how you get someone's attention to order more or ask a question.

4. 4

   Single servings and two-serving minimums

   Some dishes, at barbecue restaurants for example, are sold per serving (1인분), and some places only take orders of two servings or more. According to Korea JoongAng Daily (2025), restaurants that turn away solo diners or require a two-person minimum face no penalty under current law. A Seoul noodle restaurant was reported to have posted a sign telling solo customers to order for two (Korea Times, 2026). On the other hand, some barbecue restaurants have started offering single servings, and in business districts such as Gangnam and Jongno many restaurants have single-serving menus. If you are eating alone, check the menu for a minimum order first.

5. 5

   Water, side dishes, cutlery — free, increasingly self-service

   According to VisitKorea, asking for more water or more side dishes costs nothing extra. More and more restaurants are also self-service for water and side dishes, meaning you fetch them yourself. Spoons, chopsticks and napkins are usually in a small drawer attached to the table, so if you see no cutlery, check the side of the table.

6. 6

   Paying — no tip, and extra service charges are illegal

   VisitKorea states that tipping is neither required nor expected in Korea. The Seoul Tourism Organization (Visit Seoul) adds that tipping is not customary, though some people may accept a tip while others refuse it. According to the Korea Herald (2023), it is illegal to charge a service fee on top of the prices shown on the menu. So the menu price is what you pay, and leaving no tip is not rude.

7. 7

   No English menu — Papago image translation

   Naver Papago is a free app, and its image translation reads the text in a photo you take with the camera and translates it. According to its official App Store listing, it supports 14 languages, including Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese (simplified and traditional). A 2022 report said that if you photograph a menu with image translation and tap "select all", a Food info tab appears with descriptions of the dishes in English, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Japanese; we could not confirm that it still works this way. The official listing does not say image translation works offline, so use it with a data connection.