Southern California

Kogi BBQ to Open First Perma-Eatery

Chef Roy Choi's obsessed-over tacos'll be sold from a non-moving spot in Palms.

Obsessing over the whereabouts of a favorite food truck has become something of a parlor game around Southern California over the last half decade.

Twitter and social media has, of course, helped game the game for lovers of grilled cheese and empanadas and ice cream sandwiches. Still, though, that mobile restaurant you love the most has its own schedule, and willing it, via brainwaves, to visit your neighborhood on a particular day doesn't typically work.

Kogi BBQ, the short-rib-tastic, kimchi-tangy game-changer from Chef Roy Choi, has had a lot of fans willing it to visit their neighborhoods over the year. Since its 2008 start, Kogi has become le truck fantastique, a fusion-forward trendsetter, so news of its first laid-down permanent here-every-day roots is sure to send loyal fans into a taco-craving spin.

The on-wheels Korean-meets-Mexican eats restaurant will open in a Palms storefront "some time in the next few weeks," according to Eater. The location is a strip mall that's seen its share of restaurants before, including Sushi Central (that's the space Kogi is headed for).

This isn't Kogi's first permanent-y adventure (emphasis on the "-y"); a truck began visiting Terminal 4 at LAX daily at the close of 2014.

Clearly it was bound, and is, happening that food trucks, which eschewed brick-and-mortar-dom at the end of the aughts, would please their tirelessly built fan base by eventually going the brick-and-mortar route, in addition to keeping the trucks on the road.

Chef Choi is also making headlines in this very early part of 2016 due to a partnership with Chef Daniel Patterson of the Bay Area's Coi and Haven. It's been in the works, and news, for a bit, but LocoL is revving up to debut in Watts on Jan. 18.

The Scene

Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.

Griffith Observatory will greet spring's start with a pair of cosmic talks

This free Santa Monica Pier party is “for locals, by locals”

The concept? "Revolutionary fast food." A recent Facebook snapshot depicts a fried chicken sandwich with buttermilk mayonnaise and vinegary cole slaw. Yum and yum.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us