Monday, January 30, 2023

Openings: Gen Korean BBQ House

Gen Korean BBQ House opened earlier this month on the SW corner of Third Avenue and 14th Street. (First mentioned here.) The California-based brand has has a few dozen locations out west. This is the first East Coast outpost.

With daily hours of 11 a.m. to 4 a.m., Gen Korean BBQ House is among the city restaurants serving food late following the worst days of the pandemic when many spaces closed early (once they were allowed to reopen). 

As Eater noted here last week: "On a recent Saturday night after 2 a.m., there were around 40 people hovering over tabletop grills in its dining room, which has more than 40 communal tables."

The restaurant took over the former 5 Napkin Burger space as well as the storefront next door that served as the 5 Napkin Express, then Taman Falafel. Those businesses closed at the start of last year

17 comments:

  1. This place was packed when I went there a couple weeks ago. Worth noting that this place is all-you-can eat, and the meat quality reflects that business model.

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  2. This is not a date place, it is huge and is better with a larger crowd of friends to eat and drink. Also it is an all you can eat for a fixed price, if you don’t finish the food they will charge $5 a plate. So bring your appetite.

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  3. If it's on same level as 99 Favor, I'll be very happy to have it so close to home.

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  4. Doesn't sound like a restaurant for ordinary folks who just want a meal for 2. My impression is that it's aimed at college crowds.

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  5. As mentioned - meat quality wont be great but you get what you pay for. Load up on the galbi and you should be good.

    Happy to have more options to eat at 3 AM on a Tuesday. On that note - how is it not a sin that Veselka is only open till 12AM on the weekends?!

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    1. At other Korean all you can eat BBQ places around town the quality is good enough. The experience is fun, and it's a fun date night too. Crowds can be diverse, not just "college kids", although at this location they will probably have more of a presence.

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    2. Agreed, this isn’t just for “college” kids. I’ve been to the GEN in Bay Area several times and the average demographic is late 20’s to early 40’s. A lot of people celebrating a birthday with their friends and this is a good way to do it.

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  6. Veselka owner Jason Birchard tols Eater last year that “I’m willing to pay even premium wage but I just can’t find the people” to work an overnight shift.

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  7. @ 1:39 PM

    That article was from a year ago and I'm not asking for an overnight shift. We can't even get someone to work from 5PM - 2AM on weekends? How does that make sense in a neighborhood like ours?

    It's obscene that the Korean BBQ spot can find people to work for what is surely below the "premium wage" that the owner of Veselka is offering. Veselka has made money hand over foot during Covid and the Ukraine war.

    Why not invest that money into staying open later for the community?
    The same neighborhood that supported them through thick and thin. I'm basically begging for the owner to make even more money - which staying open late on the weekends would accomplish.

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    1. Dim sum palace is opened till 5am and admitted that they double the hourly rates for late shifts

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  8. 3:37 You nailed it. He makes so much more money since the war started, that he doesn't need to stay open later.

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  9. Carol from East 5th StreetJanuary 30, 2023 at 11:39 PM

    Hey, lay off Veselka. They have contributed a ton of money to the war in Ukraine and continue to support the community in many ways that you may not know of. Save your criticism for someone who deserves it.

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  10. Im not knocking Veselka. They are a true stalwart - I’m just pontificating on a community message board with my fellow neighbors about an issue that I think is reasonable to talk about. I stand by my statement and am still
    perplexed why Veselka is not open past 12AM on the weekends?

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  11. You lost me when you said "Korean BBQ spot can find people to work for what is surely below the "premium wage" that the owner of Veselka is offering." Never make broad based assumptions when trying to make an argument. The fact is that you have no idea what they pay their workers and if you're THAT concerned about Veselka, instead of railing here, write the guy a letter and ask. Yes, writing still works.

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  12. @ Carol

    Are they completely immune from constructive criticism?

    In your own personal opinion - if you thought the prices had gone up tremendously over the years and the quality went down, would you not acknowledge that?

    There is nuance to everything.

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  13. Has this place closed down already? Walked by on Friday and nobody was inside.

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  14. @1:38

    There was an issue with the gas service via ConEd and they have had to close for a few days...

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