# What to Order at Kisa

_Published 2026-07-13 on DinnerElite (https://dinnerelite.com/blog/what-to-order-at-kisa)._

Kisa is a Korean diner on Allen Street modeled on the driver's restaurants of Seoul, and ordering is refreshingly simple: one $32 set meal, your choice of entrée, and bottomless banchan.

## What should you order at Kisa?

Pick the bulgogi or the spicy pork and let the set do the rest. The Infatuation's Bryan Kim scored Kisa an 8.5, calling the $32 set a comprehensive homestyle meal of entrée, rice, soup, and banchan, and the restaurant earned a James Beard semifinalist nod after landing on best-new-restaurant lists in 2024.

1. **Bulgogi**. Kim describes it as sweet, tender, and sliced into smoky ribbons. The consensus first order.

2. **Spicy pork**. Deeply marinated and speckled with char per the review, which notes it runs milder than the name suggests.

3. **The banchan, endlessly**. The sides are the show and they refill: soy-marinated shrimp, rolled omelet, mung bean jelly, potato jorim with beef, and gochujang-glazed sausages with rice cakes all appear in the review. Pace yourself accordingly.

4. **Bori bibimbap**. The vegetarian route: vegetables over barley rice, same set structure.

5. **The black bean latte**. Dessert comes from a coin-operated coffee machine, and the server hands you the quarter. Kim notes the bill even reflects it: $31.75.

## What should you skip at Kisa?

The squid, if you are choosing between entrées: Kim's review found the gochujang-tossed version somewhat one-note next to the meats. There is nothing else to skip, because there is almost nothing else to decide. The set format is the whole menu.

## How do you get into Kisa?

Two different systems. Per Resy's guide to getting in, dinner reservations drop 15 days ahead, released daily at midnight, and about two-thirds of the tables stay reserved for walk-ins. Lunch on Friday through Sunday runs walk-in only. The room is snug, so put your name down and wait it out nearby.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does Kisa cost?

$32 per person for the full set meal per The Infatuation's 2024 review: entrée, rice, soup, and bottomless banchan. The coin-machine coffee is included, quarter provided.

### What is a kisa sikdang?

A driver's restaurant, the fast, hearty, no-fuss canteens that serve taxi drivers in Seoul. Kisa recreates the format on the Lower East Side, down to the beige room and the early '90s details.

### Does Kisa take reservations?

For dinner, yes: Resy reservations drop 15 days ahead at midnight, per Resy's own guide, with most of the room still held for walk-ins. Weekend lunch is walk-in only.

Getting in is the harder half of the plan. DinnerElite tracks when Kisa releases reservations and how far ahead it books, and it emails you the moment a cancellation opens up. Start from [DinnerElite's Kisa page](/reservations/84165).