If you take a cross-country trek looking for the best barbecue in America and wind up in， I dont know， Texas， North Carolina， Kansas City， our next contributor would say， youve taken a wrong turn. Consider Los Angeles—specifically Koreatown—where he thinks Bulgogi Beef might just be the best. “But，” says Miles Bryan，“customers first need to know how to order.”

Miles Bryan： So Im new to Los Angeles， and there are a lot of things that I still dont get about the city. But something thats really caught my attention is the shiny plastic button you find on the tables of practically every Korean barbecue joint around here. That called for some field research.

David Chang：So， when I press a bell， theres a table number two， and number two will show up right there.

Bryan： David Chang is a waiter at Parks BBQ in Koreatown. Theyve been around for over 10 years and are a mainstay in the neighborhood. Chang says those buttons are basically just a paging system. You ding it to get your servers attention. Sounds simple but…

Chang： No， a lot of people ask—theyre， like，“What does this do？” Or sometimes they press it， and I go there and theyre， like， “Oh， I didnt know that was what it was for.” I was， like， “Oh， so you just pressed it？”

Bryan： They might have been tourists because the Angelenos I talked to said these call buttons are just part of eating Korean barbecue. Still， nobody seemed to know where they came from or why theyre so popular. So I called David Kang， head of the Korean Studies Institute at USC. I figured they must be a Korean thing—turns out， not really.

David Kang： These call buttons are relatively new. In Korea， it is still common that when you want something， you just yell “yogigo”， or “here”， “over here” and you wave your arm， right？ And then they come running over， and theyre， like， “what do you want？”

Bryan： Kang says these buttons are more of a phenomenon in Koreatown than in Korea. They only started showing up in the last few decades when nonKoreans started to venture into K-town restaurants. Kang says that theyre a way to bridge the gap between American and Korean dining cultures.

Kang： The American internal logic is your waiter comes over， they introduce themselves， theyre friendly， they keep checking up on you. The Korean logic is， youre there to eat， and you—they dont bother you until you call them over.

Jake Ayers： Well do the Galbiribs， and well also probably get some pork belly…31FCA1A4-F4AE-487D-AA3D-F39C7F92E645

Bryan： Jake Ayers is a tourist. Hes down from Seattle. He hadnt even noticed the call button on his table， but when I told him how it worked， he thought it was a good idea.

Ayers： I think it makes sense. Yeah. If you need to get someones attention， and you dont necessarily want to flag them down like this， then， you know， you could be a little bit more elegant and just push a button.

Bryan： Ayers gave the call button a try for the first time during that meal， then he tried it again…

Ayers： I think I might just do it one more time while youre here. Lets see what happens.

Bryan： Maybe not. David Chang， the waiter at Parks BBQ， has this advice for K-town newbies. Definitely hit the call button when you need something， but then just wait. Dont hit it again.

如果你橫跨全国、艰难跋涉地去寻求美国最好的烤肉，会在哪里找到呢，我不知道，德克萨斯州，或是北卡罗来纳州，又或是堪萨斯城，我们的下一个知情人会说，你又白跑了一趟。想想洛杉矶——特别是韩国城——他认为那里的韩国烤牛肉也许才是最好的。“但是，”迈尔斯·布莱恩说道，“顾客们首先需要知道怎么点餐。”

迈尔斯·布莱恩： 因为我初到洛杉矶，对于这座城市，我还是有很多东西并不了解。但如果真的有什么东西吸引了我的注意力，那便是你可以在这里几乎每家韩国烤肉店的桌子上发现的锃亮的塑料按钮。那需要我们去实地调查一番。

大卫·张：是这样，当我按铃的时候，那儿会显示一个二号桌，而二号桌的信号就会在那里出现。

布莱恩：大卫·张是韩国城里朴记烤肉店的服务生。这家店已经开了十多年了，也是这个地方的台柱子。张说那些按钮从根本上来说只是一个传呼系统。你“叮”地一下摁下它是为了引起服务生的注意。听起来很简单但是……

张：也不是，很多人都会问——他们会问像“这个东西是干嘛用的”之类的问题。或者有时候他们会摁下按钮，而我走过去，他们则会这样说，“哦，我不知道那个按钮是干嘛的。”我则会这样回应，“哦，所以你只是摁了它？”

布莱恩：他们可能是游客，因为与我交谈过的洛杉矶当地人都说那些呼叫按钮只不过是吃韩国烤肉的一部分。尽管如此，似乎没人知道那些按钮的来历又或是它们为何如此受欢迎。因此我电话联系了大卫·康，他是南加州大学韩国研究所的负责人。我猜想它们一定是韩国的玩意儿——结果却发现，并非如此。

大卫·康：那些呼叫按钮出现的时间还不算很久。在韩国，当你想要什么东西的时候，你只需要喊一声“这里”，又或者是“这儿”、“在这里”，你只需要挥挥自己的手臂，这些都还是很寻常，不是吗？而后会有人急匆匆地跑过来，而且他们就会像这样问道：“你需要什么呢？”

布莱恩：康说与韩国相较，那些按钮在韩国城里则更为常见。它们在过去的几十年里才刚刚开始出现，那时候除了韩国人之外的别国人刚开始冒险试着去韩国城的餐馆吃饭。康说那些按钮只是缩减美韩餐饮文化之间差异的一种方式。

康：按照美国人的内在逻辑，服务生应该走到桌旁，做自我介绍，保持亲切态度并始终将注意力集中在客人身上。而韩国人的思维则是：既然你是去那儿吃饭的，那么你——除非你招呼他们，否则服务生不会过来打搅。

杰克·艾尔斯：给我们来点儿韩式牛小排，或许还要些五花肉……

布莱恩：杰克·艾尔斯是位来自西雅图的游客。他甚至都没留意到桌上有按钮，但在我向他解释如何使用后，他认为这点子很棒。

艾尔斯：我觉得这个设计很合理。没错。当你需要引起别人的注意力，而你又不想把手挥得那么夸张时，那么，你知道，只需摁下这个按钮，即可为自己保留几分优雅。

布莱恩：吃饭时，艾尔斯第一次试着摁了那个呼叫按钮，之后，又摁了一下……

艾尔斯：趁你在这儿，我想我可能会再摁一次。让我们看看会怎么样。

布莱恩：还是别这么干了。对于初来乍到韩国城的朋友们，朴记烤肉店的店员大卫·张建议：如果您有需要，那就请毫不犹豫地摁下按钮，然后静静等候就好。不要反复去摁。31FCA1A4-F4AE-487D-AA3D-F39C7F92E645