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Thanks to a CHS reader for this picture of a recently installed “monument” remembering Kimchi Bistro’s days on BroadwayWhile we mark the 20-year anniversary of one Broadway favorite as Annapurna marks two decades on Capitol Hill, it is time to remember the fallen.
Quietly over the summer, Kimchi Bistro served its final meals in the warrens of the Broadway Alley complex.
The Korean restaurant passed on as others serving its cuisine have proliferated including a wave of Korean fried chicken joints.
On E Olive Way, Korean eatery Imo Pocha is also now open in the old Glo’s space.
Kimchi Bistro’s latest owner was Chung Lee but it has been owned by various groups and families over the years. It originally opened in 2002 as “Kim Chi Bistro.” The weird spelling contributed to an early correction in The Stranger.
21 years later and a few near closures later, the restaurant is making way for something new to join the Broadway Alley scene around the original Tacos Chukis and the what-are-you-doing-tucked-away-back-there Taneda.
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Bummer, should have gone there more. Their Soon Doo Boo was really good and equally inexpensive, yummy little side bits with it too (although no fried fish like BCD up north used to do)! Surprising any restaurant can survive in that arcade without a sidewalk face… Still miss the Salvadorian sandwich that was across from it for a few years.
Oh jeez – I ate there 3 to 4 times a week from about 2009 to 2016. They thought I was weird but the food was tasty and cheap and the side dishes were nice too. The 40ish waitress was hilariously cranky and they played Top 40 type music. The ‘Hey Ho’ song by Lumineers and of course Foster the People were in heavy rotation in that era. A small joint with tables practically on top of one another it was extremely popular with Asian students from SCCC. If one had a wall table you could stare at the somewhat exotic Korean text wall paper brown with age. Around 2015 it changed hands and the waitress was much younger and friendlier. Gratias ad memoriam Kim Chi Bistro.