BIBIBOP Asian Grill is a fast-casual chain built around build-your-own Korean-style bowls, inspired by bibimbap. You pick a base, pile on toppings, choose a protein and finish with a sauce. On paper that is an ideal format for a vegan — you control every component.
Answer: yes, you can build a bowl at BIBIBOP with no declared dairy, egg or fish in it. But this page previously overstated the case in two specific places. BIBIBOP’s kale is Honey Citrus Kale, and honey is not vegan. And BIBIBOP does not publish ingredient statements at all — only allergen lines — so calling its kimchi “completely vegan,” as this page did, was never something BIBIBOP’s own data supported.
Checked against BIBIBOP’s nutrition page, which lists an allergen line and a preparation description for every ingredient, and the current BIBIBOP menu, both accessed 28 July 2026.
What BIBIBOP Publishes, And What It Doesn’t
BIBIBOP is better than average here. Every ingredient on its nutrition page carries an allergen line covering dairy, eggs, soy, sesame, fish and allium, plus a short description of how the item is prepared — which oil it is cooked in, what it is seasoned with. That is more than most chains give you.
What it does not give you is a full ingredient statement. Allergen lines do not cover honey, gelatin, fish sauce, shrimp paste or stock. So for anything below where the answer turns on one of those, we say what BIBIBOP declares and stop there.
BIBIBOP also promotes a 100% gluten-free menu, with each location certified by the Gluten Intolerance Group. That is a separate question from vegan, and this page previously ran the two together under a heading asking whether BIBIBOP is dairy-free and then answering about gluten. It isn’t dairy-free — cheese, egg and the Yum Yum sauce are all on the menu.
The Two Corrections
The Kale Contains Honey
This page listed “Kale” and “Sesame Kale” as vegan. BIBIBOP’s current base is called Honey Citrus Kale. Its allergen line reads “None,” because honey is not an allergen — but the name is BIBIBOP’s own, and honey rules it out for vegans. It has been removed from the recommendations.
The Kimchi Is Not Confirmed Vegan
This page said “Yes! BIBIBOP’s kimchi is completely vegan.” BIBIBOP has never said that. What BIBIBOP publishes is an allergen line for the kimchi reading Allium and nothing else.
That is genuinely encouraging, and here is why: BIBIBOP does declare fish where it applies. Its Korean Crispy Chicken carries a Fish flag, as does the Miso Glazed Salmon. So fish is a flag BIBIBOP actively uses, and the kimchi does not carry it. But an allergen line is not an ingredient list, and commercial kimchi is very often made with fish sauce or salted shrimp. BIBIBOP publishes no ingredient statement for its kimchi, so we have stepped this back from “completely vegan” to no fish declared. If it matters to you, that is the specific question to put to staff: is there fish sauce or shrimp in the kimchi?
Building A Bowl: What The Data Supports
Bases
White Rice and Purple Rice both carry no declared allergens. Purple Rice is black and white rice steamed together. Both are straightforward.
Sweet Potato Noodles — the japchae, which this page called Japchae Sweet Potato Noodles — declare soy, sesame and allium. BIBIBOP describes the preparation directly: the noodles are boiled, then sauteed “in a mixture of canola oil, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar,” then finished with carrots and kale. No dairy, egg or fish declared.
Crispy Romaine carries no declared allergens, but BIBIBOP says it is “tossed in a light citrus dressing” and does not say what is in that dressing. That is the specific unknown here — ask about the dressing rather than assuming.
Toppings
BIBIBOP describes how each of these is cooked, which is unusually useful:
- Black Beans — black beans, water and a bay leaf. No declared allergens.
- Potatoes — diced and sauteed in canola oil with salt, pepper, garlic and thyme. Declares allium.
- Bean Sprouts — mung bean sprouts sauteed in canola oil with salt, pepper and garlic. Declares allium.
- Corn — steamed, shucked, then cilantro and jalapeno added. No declared allergens.
- Carrots — steamed with sesame oil and cilantro. Declares sesame.
- Pickled Red Onion — no declared allergens.
- Pineapple — no declared allergens.
Two things this page used to list are no longer on BIBIBOP’s menu: cucumber as a cold topping and miso soup as a side. Neither appears on the current nutrition page.
Protein
Organic Tofu is the only plant protein BIBIBOP offers. It declares soy, sesame and allium — no dairy, egg or fish. Everything else in the protein section is chicken, beef or salmon, and note that the Korean Crispy Chicken declares fish.
Sauces
BIBIBOP’s current sauces are Teriyaki, Yum Yum, Gochujang, Sesame Ginger and Spicy Sriracha. Per BIBIBOP’s allergen lines:
- Gochujang — soy and sesame. No dairy or egg declared.
- Sesame Ginger — soy, sesame and allium. No dairy or egg declared.
- Spicy Sriracha — soy, sesame and allium. No dairy or egg declared.
- Teriyaki — soy, allium and sesame. No dairy or egg declared.
- Yum Yum — dairy, eggs, soy and allium. Not vegan, and this page was right about that.
The four sauces without declared dairy or egg are the practical choice, but BIBIBOP publishes no ingredient list for any of them, so none of them can be called confirmed vegan. Teriyaki and gochujang are both sauces where honey and fish-derived ingredients are common in commercial recipes.
The Cucumber Wasabi sauce this page had an entire FAQ about is gone — it is not on BIBIBOP’s current sauce list.
A Bowl That Works
On BIBIBOP’s published data, the safest build is white or purple rice, organic tofu, black beans, corn, potatoes, bean sprouts, carrots and pickled red onion, finished with gochujang or spicy sriracha. Nothing in that list declares dairy, egg or fish. Skip the honey citrus kale, skip the yum yum, and ask about the kimchi and the romaine dressing before adding either.
Bottom Line
BIBIBOP is one of the more workable fast-casual chains for a vegan, mainly because the build-your-own format lets you avoid the problem items entirely and because BIBIBOP tells you how each component is cooked. It is not, as this page previously put it, “unquestionably vegan.” The kale has honey in the name, the kimchi is unconfirmed, and no sauce comes with an ingredient list. Build around the parts that are documented and ask about the two that aren’t.
For more on the wider cuisine, see our guide to vegan options at Korean BBQ restaurants.
