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Gen Korean BBQ

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Gen Restaurant Group, Inc.
Gen Korean BBQ
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: GENK
IndustryFood and drink
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011)
Founders
HeadquartersCerritos, California[1]
Number of locations
43 (2024)
Area served
Key people
  • David Kim (co-CEO)
  • Jae Chang (co-CEO)[1]
Revenue
  • Increase US$163.7M (2022)[1]
Websitehttps://www.genkoreanbbq.com/

Gen Korean BBQ is an American chain of all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue restaurants mainly concentrated around the Western U.S.[2] It opened in 2011, and has since grown to 43 locations as of 2024.[3]

History

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The restaurant was founded in Los Angeles in 2011, by David Kim and Jae Chang, a pair of Korean immigrants.[3] Kim had previously been the CEO of Baja Fresh and La Salsa.[4] The first restaurant was in Tustin. It gradually expanded through Southern California until 2015, when a location in San Jose in Northern California opened.[5] It also opened its first eatery outside of California in 2015, in Henderson, Nevada.[6][7] Its first Hawaiian location was opened in the Ala Moana Center in 2016,[8] while the first in Texas opened in Carrollton that same year.[9][10][11][12] In 2016, Gen launched Gen Delivers, a food delivery service that sells ingredients for Korean barbecue online.[13]

In 2017, the company opened a restaurant in Montclair that utilized robots to serve food.[14][15] This location closed two years later. One other location, formerly in Rowland Heights, opened in 2015 and shut down in 2021.

A restaurant in the Philippines, in the SM Mall of Asia, opened in 2017, becoming the company's first international location.[16] The first location in Arizona was in Phoenix, which also opened in 2017 in Tempe Marketplace.[17] During the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of closing their restaurants, the company converted them into discount meat markets to stay in business.[18] The chain won Silver in "Best Yakiniku/Korean BBQ" in the 2021 Hale Aina Awards.[19] The first location in the Eastern United States was opened in 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[20]

A location in New York City opened in January 2023, at the intersection between 14th St and 3rd Ave.[21] Gen went public on the Nasdaq on June 26, 2023, as GENK, raising $43.2 million in its IPO.[22]

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Gen's menu usually has 28-36 items,[a] which include daikon radish paper, sundubu-jjigae, saengchae, japchae, kimchi, potato salad, bulgogi, American Angus and Wagyu beef, gopchang, galbi, shrimp, octopus, yangnyeom chicken, samgyeopsal, and jokbal.[3][5][24][25]

Locations

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As of 2024, Gen has 43 restaurants, with 12 upcoming locations. Most restaurants are in California, in the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Although the locations are concentrated around the West, one eatery exists in Florida and New York. Hawaii has three, with one opening in Maui. Other soon-to-be-opened restaurants are in Jacksonville, Florida, Tukwila, Washington, and Dallas, Texas.[3] There is also a restaurant in the Philippines, in the SM Mall of Asia.[16] In Southern California, the restaurant is popular with students from UC Irvine.[5] It plans to open locations in Oregon, Georgia, Virginia, Utah and also in the District of Columbia in the future.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "S-1". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  2. ^ Chen, Tony (October 17, 2012). "Gen Korean BBQ Coming to Alhambra, Chonitos Opening Next Week, More!". Eater LA. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Official website". Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  4. ^ Loyd, Rich (June 5, 2023). "Korean BBQ Chain Gen Restaurant to Go Public". Orange County Business Journal. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Zavoral, Linda (February 13, 2015). "SoCal's Gen Korean BBQ coming to San Jose". Mercury News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  6. ^ Martin, Bradley (April 23, 2015). "Updating the Dining Upgrades at Galleria at Sunset". Eater Vegas. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  7. ^ Martin, Bradley (August 28, 2015). "Gen Korean BBQ House Has Fired up In Henderson". Eater Vegas. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  8. ^ Engle, Erika (March 1, 2016). "Gen Korean BBQ House will open at Ala Moana". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Gubbins, Teresa (August 5, 2015). "Ground-breaking restaurants beef up action at Daiso Japan Carrollton complex - CultureMap Dallas". CultureMap. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  10. ^ McCarthy, Amy (September 29, 2016). "Carnivore Heaven Gen Korean BBQ House Is Officially Open". Eater Dallas. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  11. ^ Brown, Matthew (September 30, 2016). "There's Beau-Coup Bulgogi at This New Carrollton Korean Barbecue Spot". Dallas Observer. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  12. ^ Downes, Catherine (May 1, 2017). "Gen Korean BBQ House's Colorful Take on Barbecue". D Magazine. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  13. ^ Tuder, Stefanie (September 30, 2016). "3 Unique New Delivery Services, Reviewed". Eater SF. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  14. ^ Nisperos, Neil (June 2, 2017). "Science fiction no more: Robots bring your food at new Montclair restaurant". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  15. ^ "These crazy robots serve you at this Korean BBQ restaurant - Video". CNET. July 1, 2017. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  16. ^ a b Magalong, Joko (August 22, 2017). "New eats: Gen brings Korean BBQ to PH by way of California". ABC-CBN News. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  17. ^ Armato, Dominic (October 17, 2017). "2 new Korean BBQ restaurants feed all-you-can-eat craze in Phoenix". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Wang, Claire (April 15, 2020). "Korean barbecue spots pivot to become meat markets in Southern California". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  19. ^ Heung, Marisa (April 28, 2022). "Gen Korean BBQ Beats Hunger With Award-Winning AYCE". Honolulu. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  20. ^ Valys, Phillip (April 19, 2022). "All-you-can-eat Korean barbecue coming to Fort Lauderdale's Las Olas Boulevard". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  21. ^ Orlow, Emma (January 5, 2023). "An All-You-Can-Eat Korean Barbecue Chain Open Until 4 A.M. Has Come For NYC". Eater NY. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  22. ^ DiPalma, Brooke (July 14, 2023). "Gen Restaurant Group Co-CEO on $43M IPO: 'We're a very profitable company'". Yahoo! Finance. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  23. ^ Shindler, Merrill (April 22, 2015). "Gen Korean BBQ in Cerritos offers plenty of tasty choices". Press-Telegram. Archived from the original on December 14, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  24. ^ Chareunsy, Don (April 6, 2016). "A new Gen-eration of Korean barbecue - Las Vegas Weekly". Las Vegas Weekly. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  25. ^ Kanai, Maria (May 10, 2017). "First Look: Gen Korean BBQ House". Honolulu. Retrieved January 15, 2024.

Notes

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  1. ^ During lunch, it has 28 items, but it increases to 36 during dinner.[23]
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