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BTW, Korean BBQ's seem like a very simple restaurant to run. You dont need much in terms of utilities in the kitcheen. Most of the side dishes can be kept over night. I dont know how popular these are outside of California and NYC???
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What you say would be 100% true if all they served was bbq, but instead what you say is like 50% true because korean bbq restaurants often serve a good number of dishes that are not bbq. So, this makes running it more similar to a regular restaurant.
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Here is my game plan. You have the BBQ, Bibimbob(sp?), Kimchi-Jigae, and a few other soups. That is all.
I dont think the lack of these other dishes would really keep other people away would it?
Whenever I order BBQ, we will usually order one soup to go with it. I find it impossible to eat BBQ and a dish together.
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Please keep in mind that I am speaking from mostly a Seattle-centric perspective:
I've written about this before, but I'll say it here: The problem is that while Korean food is the most delicious thing on Earth, the American public is not quite ready for it. Over the last 20 years, certain types of Asian food has become en vogue and accepted into American culture. Thai food is one example. People eat "Chinese" food (in a wide range of authenticity) and "Japanese" as well. Unfortunately, Korean food isn't quite there yet, but I feel like its on the verge of breaking through.
FORTUNATELY, Koreans are resourceful. If you go to any teriyaki place in the entire Puget Sound region, you'll likely find that it is owned by a Korean person. Not just that, if you look at the menu, you'll find several Korean items. In many places, you can even buy kimchee if you ask for it (not always on the menu) and bibimbap. Recipes for "teriyaki beef" are often just bulgogi. The result is that a person who has shied away from Korean food as a general concept has been eating Korean food for years!
Korean food has gone unnoticed for many years by pop culture, but I see it mentioned more and more often. For example, the last season of the O.C. there were many references to it. I wrote about it here in my
blog if you are remotely interested.
I figure that when the time is right, the secret society of Koreans will execute order 66 and all of the teriyaki joints will transform into full-fledged Korean restaurants.