University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Search
Search
News
Multimedia
Sports
Classifieds
Opinion
Subscribe
Entertainment
Send a Tip
Podcasts
Donate
In-Depth

Subscribeto our newsletter

Minnesota Daily Logo

Wednesday, February 20, 2019 Print Edition

Donate

  •       
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
  • Podcasts
  • Classifieds
  • Special Issues
  • Send a Tip
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
  • Podcasts
  • Classifieds
  • Special Issues
  • Send a Tip
Search

Subscribe

The independent news source for the University of Minnesota campus, now only a click away. Subscribe to the Minnesota Daily's e-newsletter for full sports coverage, updates from the newsroom, and a pick of the week's top features.

Minnesota Daily Newsletter

Fill out my online form.

Donate to the Minnesota Daily!

The Minnesota Daily has been training student journalists and serving the University of Minnesota community since 1900. With your help, we will continue to produce award-winning journalism and provide excellent training for students in all areas of news production. We collect donations through GiveMN; please click below and donate today!

MINNESOTA DAILY | GiveMN


10/25/2018, 8:53am

Korean fried chicken and poke restaurants opening in Dinkytown

Bonchon, a Korean fried chicken restaurant, will open in December alongside a new Japanese poke restaurant.

By Imani Cruzen

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Mail
  • Print

After delaying its initial summer opening, a Korean fried chicken restaurant and new Japanese poke restaurant will open this winter in Vescio’s Italian Restaurant’s former Dinkytown location.

Bonchon, a New York-based chain with one Minnesota location in Uptown Minneapolis, is expected to open in late December along with the poke restaurant under owner Sam Zheng. The two eateries will replace Vescio’s, which closed in March after a 62-year tenure in Dinkytown.

Bonchon’s original plan to open in August was delayed by City approval setbacks. 

While the unnamed Japanese poke restaurant is expected to open around the same time as Bonchon under the same owner, it will not be associated with the chain, according to Marshall Nguyen, a commercial real estate broker representing Zheng. The two restaurants will be separated in the shared space. 

“We’ve kind of always thought about putting a Japanese poke concept there,” Nguyen said. “At first, we were thinking the entire place for Bonchon, but then we realized that there’s a lot of opportunity down at the [University].”

Bonchon specializes in Korean fried chicken, Asian fusion and traditional Korean dishes and will also offer wine and beer. Poke is a dish of raw fish, rice and vegetables.

Other poke locations in Dinkytown include The Cove and a recently announced JJ’s Poké , which is expected to open this month. But Nguyen says the potential for competition won’t be a problem.

“There’s a lot of business to share around so I don’t think it’s going to be an issue,” Nguyen said. “[There are] so many people at the [University].”

Lee Sayt, owner of The Cove, said he was frustrated when he learned how similar JJ’s Poke’s menu was to his own. Three poke restaurants in Dinkytown seems like oversaturation in the area, but the competition could be a positive incentive, he said. 

“I believe that competition’s not all bad,” Sayt said. “It’s actually made me work harder in respect to refining our menu and trying to provide ... more of a ... diversified menu and try to add more stuff to our brand.”

Inika Raikar, a University junior, said the restaurants close proximity to one another will be a way to see who has better poke.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily the greatest set up, just because [there are] a lot of different areas of campus,” Raikar said. “And it might make sense if they’re a little more spread out.”

University sophomore Abby Grott said she likes poke and would also be interested in going to Bonchon.

“I think, ... especially the fried chicken, would be interesting because it’s kind of different,” Grott said.

Share



Related Stories

Passersby walk next to Coffman Union on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. 

Report recommends renaming four buildings

By Jake Steinberg

Nael Banat leads University Human Resources employees in a pre-shift stretch on Friday, Feb. 15. The program was started by Banat and fellow graduate student Andrea Santi as part of their Kinesiology studies.

Early-morning stretch program aids UMN staff

By Norah Kleven

The University of Minnesota Law School is seen on Tuesday, June 5.

Rising enrollment, applications a good sign for Law School

By Austen Macalus


The Minnesota Daily welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.


Editor's Picks


Last Updated 13 hours ago

Early-morning stretch program aids UMN staff

By Norah Kleven

The program aims to help University faculty with physically demanding jobs stretch to prevent injury.


Last Updated 13 hours ago

Rising enrollment, applications a good sign for Law School


Last Updated 13 hours ago

UMN researchers use stalagmites to gauge climate change


2/18/2019, 10:57pm

Community gathers to honor West Bank music icon


Podcasts


2/13/2019, 11:20pm

Episode 19: Connecting with youth in Cedar-Riverside


2/7/2019, 12:17am

Episode 18: The bittersweet life of UMN sugar babies


1/31/2019, 9:12am

In the Know: Episode 17


Minnesota Daily Logo To Homepage
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Archives
  • Advertise
  • Distribution

All Rights Reserved

© Copyright 2019 Minnesota Daily

Powered by Solutions by The State News.