Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hatcher]

I have been thinking about some K restaurant chains here and opening one in the west. I would like some thoughts.

1. Nolbu stew - this is the most popular K food franchise in Korea. The menu is mostly spicy noodles and some other dishes.

2. Chuk - you see them everywhere. The menu is mostly a rice porridge with a variety of toppings.

3. Kimbop Chunkook - all simple K foods but I would assume they are everywhere in the west.

4. Any others?

[ThingsComeAround]

You forgot Jjigae- the spicy soup
There is a restaurant called BookChangDong in Flushing which serves only that- they do quite well.

[jdog2050]

[fugitive chicken]

yeah, It's going to be pretty hard to completely mimic a Korean chain and sell it in the west. There are some major differences in taste...hence McD's selling shrimp burgers here.

Also not having all the ingredients, etc. makes it a little hard sometimes.

But if you take a Korean menu and twist it to fit western taste buds, you may have a good chance of making it. If your interested in investing in a successful Korean franchise here, make sure it's possible to change the menu a bit to fit the culture around the location.

[coralreefer_1]

Well I will put this out there since I'm not probably going to do it anyway.

I am from North Carolina. In my city we have the research Triangle park (basically its the silicon valley of the east coast, with a lot of pharmaceutical and a few other industries through in) In that area that are several hundred companies..all taking lunch at or about the same time.

I had the idea of opening a kimbab place in that area, to serve the lunch needs of those thousands of workers. Nothing fancy, just a small joint that sold mostly kimbab, and maybe a few other dishes to make a kimbab lunch complete (bulgogi and rice/kimchi jigae/..etc

Particularly in this economy and in that area, a simple, cheap, and (compared to the typical American lunch) healthy lunch of kimbab might go over well with many of those workers.

I wouldn't want to open a full blown restaurant, but as was said earlier, location is key.

[jdog2050]

[Rutherford]

[AsiaESLbound]

Kimchee burger and pizza are done up from a mobile truck in California.

Original style gamjatang just like in Korea with burner in the table would be a hit with both Korean and non-Korean people as it's delicious. Even take it to the point where people remove shoes and sit on the floor for authenticity. We have all the ingredients in American supermarkets except the big packs of red pepper flakes common in Korean supermarkets which can be easily imported. You could order it or buy it from a Korean Town source such as in LA or New York. Everything is available and possible in the good ol' USA if you have the money and time to put into it.

If you speak enough Korean, you can be a tour guide and/or pedicab driver to make around $400 a day such as on Manhattan. Wealthy Korean tourists would appreciate your understanding of them and pay you good money for helping them out to tell them in Korean all about the local area and show them around. Be sure to show them the most authentic Korean restaurant possible. Same could apply to Japanese and Chinese if you can speak those languages.

[busanguy]

Kimbab would be a great idea. A serious lunch business.
Make them thicker than local and use more gourmet ingredients.
4 or 5 dollars . call it sushi because thats what it pretty much is anyway.
served with paper chopsticks. in a plastic container with wasabie and soy sauce. even do delivery to the offices..
9-4pm and you are done. count the won!
I know shops back home which do this and they kill it.

[Jacknife]

I think it is a great way to throw away your hard earned cash. You
only have a one-in-ten chance to survive.

http://www.restaurantowner.com/public/302.cfm

However, it is probably a better way to waste money than crystal meth,
cocaine, booze etc.

[nathanrutledge]

[atwood]

You really think people in the US want to eat rice rolled up in seaweed? I think they're going to want something more substantial, unless you're going to cater to mostly Korean-Americans and all you want is a lunch cart.

If you want to go Korean or Asian, it can work but you'll need more than kimbap. I've eaten here and the food was great:

http://www.tindrumcafe.net/menu.html

[Jacknife]

[Man on Street]

[coralreefer_1]

Yeah but I think that is mostly due to trying to market themselves as something more than a simple kimbab store.

Expensive rent, 7 or more employees, wide variety of menu requiring different several different items to make..etc etc.

My idea is simply a very small place, perhaps not even a free-standing building but more like a cafeteria-type location. Keeping the menu simple, regulated only to lunch hours, closing for dinner. Specifically catering to large pick-up and delivery orders that would come in from offices having a working lunch.

Years ago when I was working construction..there was an Amoco station in Durham. There, the family that owned it made sandwiches there. It was small, but word grew fast, and it wasn't long before there was a line out the door for people to buy their sandwiches (the place was called "Cappy's)

Now I'm not suggesting that kimbab would be as wildly popular as those sandwiches, but given the rather low cost of materials, short hours of business, and the "differentiation" (this is the key point) that it would be a somewhat healthy alternative that is quick, cheap, can be eaten on the go, and wont give you 1,200 calories like that "healthy" salad from Wendy's, or that sloppy hot dog that drips mustard on your shirt, I don't think it would be that bad. It certainly won't make a millionaire, but the novelty of the idea in that particular location (RTP) wouldn't be all that bad.

However, I have no interest in doing it. I'm sure someone will beat me there.