No-kids zone and 99,000 won: Don Spike defends his barbecue

Don Spike, the South Korean composer and television personality, has defended the no-kids zone and the 99,000-won set menu at Barbacoa, the barbecue restaurant he opened in September in Gampo-eup, on the Gyeongju coast. In an Instagram statement on 1 November, he said the place “is not fine dining”.

Barbacoa takes reservations only and, during its soft opening, accepts eight parties a day, according to Ilgan Sports. Children under eight are not admitted, a rule the restaurant puts down to safety. The course costs 99,000 won per person and originally ran from bite-sized starters and ceviche to tenderloin, rib meat and dessert. The tenderloin has since gone; beef short ribs now come without limit.

Price, format and a menu rewritten within weeks drew a stream of online comment once Korean media covered the opening. Galbi, the grilled rib at the centre of the dispute, is a fixture of our guide to what to eat in Seoul.

A course format sets expectations that an all-you-can-eat grill was never built to meet.

What Don Spike said about the price

In his statement, Don Spike described Barbacoa as “closer to an all-you-can-eat barbecue place” that borrows the shape of a course. “Because we serve beef short ribs, grilled slowly and with care, for as long as guests want them, the price is not cheap,” he wrote, as quoted by Ilgan Sports.

He conceded that the room has neither showy interiors nor dining-level service, while staff try to look after guests courteously. “I know that effort alone cannot satisfy everyone. I will work harder,” he added.

Several headlines led with his record. He was arrested in 2022 on charges of buying and using methamphetamine; the Supreme Court upheld a two-year prison sentence in September 2023, and he was released after serving it, Ilgan Sports reported.

Korea's long argument over no-kids zones

The age rule touches one of South Korea's longest-running hospitality debates. In 2017 the National Human Rights Commission of Korea found that turning children away was discriminatory and that their rights should come before an owner's freedom to run a business, a view without legal force. No official register exists, but a count cited by The Korea Times in 2023 put 78 such venues on Jeju alone, 14.4 per cent of the national total.

Opinion largely sides with owners. In a Hankook Research survey of 1,000 adults in November 2021, 71.1 per cent called declaring a no-kids zone a legitimate right of businesses, and 84 per cent wanted the rule disclosed when venues advertise online.

For now Barbacoa keeps its format: reservations only, eight tables a day, short ribs on repeat. Whether 99,000 won reads as fair value for unlimited beef by the sea will be settled by the bookings once the soft opening ends.