RFK Rankings · Seoul
Best Restaurants Open Late in Seoul 2026
Open Late · Seoul · 6 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published September 3, 2024 · Updated June 21, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Saebyeokjip has fed Cheongdam around the clock since 1994, and that is the shape of late dining in Seoul: the city barely sleeps, and the food follows. Where the kaiseki cities of Japan shut their kitchens by eleven, Seoul's gukbap halls, gopchang grills and nogari hofs run to two, four, often around the clock, fed by office workers, students and the after-soju crowd. The capital's late tables are cheap, hot and built for the hour. These six keep a real kitchen going long past eleven, several twenty-four hours, ranked here by how late they cook, how good the food is, and what you get for the won.
1.Saebyeokjip
Hand-cut yukhoe and galbitang run around the clock in Cheongdam near KRW 20,000; for a 4am Gangnam feed, this is the room.
Saebyeokjip, whose name means dawn house, has fed Cheongdam around the clock since 1994 and is the Gangnam answer to a late hunger. The yukhoe, hand-cut raw beef, and the yukhoe bibimbap are the orders, with galbitang and a free bowl of haejangguk alongside, and a meal landing around KRW 15,000 to KRW 30,000. It is the table the after-club crowd and the post-shift workers share at 4am, never closing, never quiet.
Thirty years on it remains the definition of the late Gangnam meal, raw beef and soju at an hour when most kitchens are long dark. Walk in, order the yukhoe and a galbitang to follow, and settle into the room on Dosan-daero.
Walk in; open 24 hours on Dosan-daero in Cheongdam.
2.Mapo Bul Gopchang
Charcoal-grilled beef gopchang runs around the clock by Hongik around KRW 18,000; for a late Hongdae grill, pull up a stool.
Mapo Bul Gopchang grills beef gopchang, the small intestine, over charcoal in the thick of Hongdae, a few minutes from Hongik University Station. The gopchang and the makchang come out to sizzle at the table, finished with the fried-rice course that uses the rendered fat and char left in the pan, and a plate runs around KRW 15,000 to KRW 25,000. It is the late grill the student quarter runs on.
The room is loud, smoky and built for soju, the kind of late meal that keeps going as long as the table orders more. Pull up a stool with a group, work through the gopchang and makchang, and finish with the fried rice.
Walk in; grilling around the clock near Hongik University Station.
3.Manseon Hof
Grilled nogari and cold draft run to the early morning in Euljiro from KRW 3,000; for cheap late snacks and beer, grab a stool on the alley.
Manseon Hof has anchored Euljiro's Nogari Alley since 1980, and on a warm night the tables spill out across the lane until the early morning. The order is grilled nogari, small dried pollack toasted over coals, with cold draft beer poured fast and cheap, snacks from around KRW 3,000 a plate. It is the cornerstone of Seoul's open-air late-drinking culture, the alley filling as the offices empty.
This is street drinking rather than a sit-down dinner, but the grill runs late and the beer keeps coming long past midnight. Grab a plastic stool on the alley, order nogari and a pitcher, and stay as the lane fills up around you.
Walk in; the alley runs to the early morning off Eulji-ro 13-gil.
4.Yukjeon Gukbap
Beef gukbap topped with a yukjeon pancake runs 24 hours in Hongdae around KRW 10,000; for a late soup-and-soju stop, sit down.
Yukjeon Gukbap runs a clean beef gukbap around the clock a few minutes from Hongik University Station, topping the rice soup with yukjeon, the pan-fried beef-and-egg pancake that gives the place its name. The gomtang, the gukbap and a stack of jeon are the orders, a full bowl landing around KRW 10,000, with short cleaning breaks the only pause in a 24-hour day.
It is the hearty, sober end of a Hongdae late night, the bowl people reach for after the grills and the bars. Sit down for a gukbap and a plate of yukjeon, add soju if the night calls for it, and let the broth do its work.
Walk in; 24 hours on Eoulmadang-ro near Hongik University Station.
5.Inamjang
Ox-bone seolleongtang simmered for two days runs 24 hours by Gyodae around KRW 15,000; for Seoul's classic late bowl, settle in.
Inamjang carries a seolleongtang tradition more than forty years deep, and its Seocho branch runs the ground floor 24 hours, right at Gyodae Station. The ox-bone broth is simmered close to two days to the milky white that defines the dish, served plain to be seasoned at the table with salt and scallion, a regular bowl around KRW 15,000 and the special around KRW 22,000. It is the late seolleongtang Seoul reaches for when the old Jongno halls have closed.
Where Cheongjinok and the historic haejangguk rooms now shut by ten, Inamjang's ground floor keeps the broth going through the night. Settle into a table after midnight, order the special with extra brisket, and season it to taste.
Walk in; the ground floor runs 24 hours by Gyodae Station in Seocho.
6.Hongbaksa BBQ
A 24-hour Gangnam grill with an in-house butcher and walk-in meat locker; for a late, serious barbecue, hand-pick the cuts.
Hongbaksa BBQ keeps a Korean barbecue running 24 hours on Dosan-daero in Gangnam, with an in-house butcher and a walk-in meat locker where diners pick their own cuts before they hit the grill. That butcher's-counter setup makes it the late grill for people who care about the beef, the room filling with clubbers and locals through the small hours, a serious barbecue lands above KRW 20,000 a portion.
It is the upscale, beef-led counterpart to the student-quarter grills, the same late hours with a better cut on the coals. Come late, walk the meat locker to choose your cuts, and grill them over charcoal at the table.
Walk in; 24 hours on Dosan-daero, pick your cuts at the meat locker.
Not for a late dinner
Right city, wrong hour now
Cheongjinok and the old Jongno haejangguk halls. Cheongjinok has simmered ox-bone haejangguk in Jongno since 1937 and was once the all-night bowl, but it now closes by around 10pm, last order near 9:30pm, so it no longer runs the late kitchen its reputation suggests. For the same dish after midnight, go to Inamjang's 24-hour ground floor in Seocho instead.
The Michelin tasting rooms after eleven. Seoul's starred kitchens, the royal-Korean and modern-Korean rooms, seat their last tables well before eleven and are no help to a late hunger. Save those for a planned dinner and keep this list for the hour when the gukbap halls and gopchang grills are the only kitchens still lit.
How to eat late in Seoul
None of these need a reservation; you walk in, and most run cash-and-card with the bill settled at the counter. Pick the district to the night you are having: Hongdae for the gopchang grills and the gukbap that follows, Gangnam and Cheongdam for the 24-hour beef rooms around Dosan-daero, and Euljiro's Nogari Alley for cheap grilled snacks and draft under the open sky. The late crowd is office workers, students and the after-soju set, so the rooms only get busier as the night goes on.
Match the dish to the hour. For a soup to settle a night of drinking, the seolleongtang at Inamjang and the beef gukbap at Yukjeon Gukbap run 24 hours; for a late grill, Mapo Bul Gopchang and Hongbaksa keep the coals lit around the clock; for cheap beer and snacks under the open sky, Manseon Hof's alley runs to the early morning. Bring a group, order broadly, and let the table keep going.
Frequently asked
What restaurants are open 24 hours in Seoul?
Several of Seoul's best late tables never close. Saebyeokjip in Cheongdam runs its yukhoe and galbitang around the clock, Inamjang's Seocho ground floor keeps its seolleongtang going 24 hours by Gyodae Station, and Yukjeon Gukbap in Hongdae serves beef gukbap all day and night. Hongbaksa BBQ on Dosan-daero grills 24 hours with its own butcher. For grilled snacks and draft, Manseon Hof's Euljiro alley runs into the early morning.
Where can you eat late at night in Seoul?
The reliable late districts are Hongdae, Gangnam and Euljiro. Hongdae has Mapo Bul Gopchang grilling around the clock and Yukjeon Gukbap's 24-hour beef soup; Gangnam and Cheongdam have Saebyeokjip's all-night yukhoe and Hongbaksa's 24-hour barbecue on Dosan-daero; and Euljiro's Nogari Alley, anchored by Manseon Hof, runs grilled pollack and cold draft to the early morning. None take a reservation, so you simply walk in.
What is the best late-night food in Seoul?
Seoul's late food is cheap, hot and built to follow drinking. The classics are a milky ox-bone seolleongtang or a beef gukbap to settle the stomach, charcoal-grilled gopchang or barbecue for a group, hand-cut yukhoe with soju in Gangnam, and grilled nogari with draft beer on a Euljiro alley. A full bowl runs around KRW 10,000 to KRW 15,000 and a grill from KRW 18,000, so a serious late meal rarely costs much.
Is Cheongjinok still open 24 hours?
No. Cheongjinok, the Jongno haejangguk institution founded in 1937, was historically an all-night bowl but now closes by around 10pm, with last orders near 9:30pm, so it no longer runs a kitchen past 23:00. It is still worth a daytime or early-evening visit for the dish, but for the same ox-bone soup after midnight, head to Inamjang's 24-hour ground floor in Seocho or Yukjeon Gukbap's 24-hour beef gukbap in Hongdae.
How much does a late-night meal in Seoul cost?
Very little by big-city standards. A bowl of seolleongtang at Inamjang or beef gukbap at Yukjeon Gukbap runs around KRW 10,000 to KRW 15,000, hand-cut yukhoe at Saebyeokjip lands around KRW 15,000 to KRW 30,000, and a charcoal gopchang grill at Mapo Bul Gopchang sits near KRW 18,000 a plate. Grilled nogari and draft on Manseon Hof's alley start around KRW 3,000, so a late night out costs less than a single dish at a fine-dining room.
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