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‘EST. 2020’ — Another Capitol Hill restaurant born into the teeth of the pandemic, Meet Korean BBQ has rebuilt and is ready to thrive in Pike/Pine

(Image: Meet Korean BBQ)

After a challenging opening during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Meet Korean BBQ has overcome pandemic setbacks to bring Capitol Hill its premium wood-fired meats.

Though it faced hardships along the way, the restaurant is emerging from the pandemic strong, owner Heong Soon Park tells CHS.

The first year of the coronavirus saw much of Meet’s workers leave as workers exited the food industry en masse, leading the restaurant to start over with a new team before finally reopening in January 2021. Now, more than two years since its initial opening in February 2020, Park reports success with Meet Korean BBQ even as it works hard to rebuild its staff roster.

“We’re busier now, which is great, but again the biggest challenge is finding the right staff. Demand is there, but we just don’t have enough supply for customers because you just can’t find enough manpower,” Park said.

(Image: Meet Korean BBQ)

Meet Korean BBQ opened its doors in early February 2020, just a month before the coronavirus pandemic drove Seattleites out of restaurants and back into their homes.

“It was really hard because we were booked all the way through for a couple months, and then all of a sudden, the government shut us down, so we had to cancel every single reservation,” said Park.

This spring, renovations to the restaurant commenced. The bar was removed, as Park explained it seemed no longer necessary in the time of COVID, and work was started to add more barbecue tables in the front and back of the restaurant in a more spread-out setup.

“We’re kind of reflecting what we’ve learned through the pandemic in this year’s renovation ideas,” said Park.

These renovations will increase the number of tables inside the restaurant. Park said Meet is exploring plans to expand to a second location, though it is too early to say for sure.

Though Meet Korean BBQ contemplated serving its customers through a delivery service during 2020, this was ultimately decided against as the restaurant relied on table-top grills in its service– not so practical for delivery.

While the restaurant did not receive support from the City of Seattle during the pandemic, it was provided some relief through federal PPP loans– though Park said these funds were lacking due to the restaurant not being long-established prior to COVID.

All things considered, Park holds an optimistic outlook on the hardship Meet Korean BBQ faced during the pandemic.

“It was a learning curve, and also a lot of education in terms of running a business with a healthy environment,” said Park.

Pike Place’s Bacco Cafe, owned by Park since 2008, has fared much better through the pandemic compared to Meet — its simpler breakfast fare is easy to distribute through to-go and delivery options, and it was able to operate without running into major financial issues. Remarkably, it also managed to retain its entire staff during this time, and only closed for two months compared to the nine or so Meet remained shut down.

Park’s other Korean restaurant, Chan Seattle, has been gone for quite a while. The gastropub plans to return to Seattle later this year in a new location in the ground floor of The Paramount Hotel, taking over a space previously held by Dragonfish Asian Cafe.

Meet Korean BBQ is located at 500 E Pike. Learn more at meetkoreanbbq.com.

 

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Jim
Jim
1 year ago

They still charge for banchan?

Michael C Wesner
Michael C Wesner
1 year ago

Bring back brocklinds