The Scoop: David Choi to move Seoul Taco, open new Korean barbecue restaurant, Seoul Q

{Seoul Taco owner David Choi}

Seoul Taco‘s brick-and-mortar is moving around the corner to a larger space in the Delmar Loop, and owner David Choi is adding a second concept to the new space – a cook-at-the-table Korean barbecue and hotpot restaurant, Seoul Q. Both restaurants will open at 6665 Delmar Blvd., former home to Ginger Bistro.

The move, scheduled for December, gives Choi 3,700 more square feet. Half of the new location will operate as Seoul Taco and the other half will be Seoul Q, which will have cooking implements and eight to 10 barbecue grills at the tables.

The menu at the new concept will include meats, traditional Korean banchan, or sides, like pickled vegetables, tofu, stews and soups. Diners will have the option to cook marinated or plain meats, which will be served with dipping sauces to eat inside as ssamjang, Korean lettuce wraps. Sauces include a sesame oil-based sauce with salt and pepper and one made with gochujang, a spicy, slightly sweet fermented chile paste.

Another menu item Choi is excited about is bo ssom, pork belly simmered in Korean spices for eight to 10 hours and paired with fresh tofu and kimchee. “(The recipe has) been in my family for years,” he said.

Choi has also secured a liquor license for each restaurant, and he plans to serve local craft brews at Seoul Taco and soju cocktails at Seoul Q.

Except for the addition of liquor, the menu at Seoul Taco (which fuses Korean barbecue and Mexican cuisine) won’t change, Choi said. It’ll still offer its famous Korean bulgogi (marinated steak) that Choi learned from his mother and grandmother and tweaked himself. The move came about because Seoul Taco’s existing 900-square-foot location was too cramped, especially since it also serves as commissary kitchen for its food truck. “It’s been elbow to elbow, whether it’s in the back of the house or the front of the house,” Choi said. The new restaurant will seat 160 total, 80 seats on each side for Seoul Taco and Seoul Q.

-photo by David W. Johnson Photography

This article appears in October 2014.