As the high cost of living has slowed down dining out, restaurants in Los Angeles Koreatown are trying to attract consumers by offering low-cost menus under $10.
While large fast-food chains like McDonalds have recently introduced low-cost menus, Korean restaurants have also started low-cost menus ranging from $7.95 to $9.99.
“Considering the current cost of labor, rent, and food, it is difficult to operate with a menu under $10, but it is a necessary choice to attract customers,” said a restaurant industry official. The restaurants said they expect to continue the value menus for two months to the end of the year in hopes of increasing customer traffic.
Sulga, located at Beverly and Hobart Boulevard, is offering a special promotion of $9.99 beef bone soup all day long.
“It’s not just a flash sale for breakfast or lunch, but we’re offering $19.99 beef bone soup with brisket for $9.99 throughout the entire opening hours on weekdays, weekends, lunch, and dinner,” said Sulga manager Jinsun Kim, adding, “The promotion has attracted tremendous popularity and attention since its start due to the recent high inflation and high cost of eating out.”
One employee at Sulga said, “We have seen an increase in the number of senior Korean-American customers since we launched the promotion.” He added that not only individual customers but also group customers have increased. The half-off event is expected to continue for the time being.
Unlike Sulga, Byul Gobchang and Hanshin Pocha are offering low-priced lunch specials. Byul Gobchang on 6th Street offers a low-priced lunch menu from noon to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Spicy beef soup and cockle bibimbap are $7.95, and the Army soup is priced at $9.95.
“Lunch doesn’t account for a large percentage of our total sales, but we’re seeing a steady increase in new customers through word of mouth,” said Wonkyu Choi, CEO of Byul Gobchang. “We’re planning to offer lunch specials until the end of the year because we’re seeing the benefits of the promotion.”
Hanshin Pocha at 6th Street’s City Center Mall has introduced an $8.95 lunch special that includes a lunch box set. The low-priced menu is available Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It consists of 10 items, including gochujang pork and chicken, stir-fried bean sprouts, and kimchi fried rice lunch boxes.
There are also a variety of side dishes such as stir-fried eggplant, salted squid, salad, and dumplings. In addition to the lunch box set, there are also three types of stews, including brisket and seafood tofu soup, and kimchi stew. However, getting water and food is self-service.
John Park, CEO of Hanshin Pocha LA, said, “With the recent economic downturn, the number of customers has significantly decreased. Lunch prices have risen so much that there is a term called lunch inflation as well. So we decided to launch the lunch special for consumers who are feeling the pinch of high prices.” Hanshin Pocha’s lunch special will be piloted through November.
BY JAESUN SUH, HOONSIK WOO [suh.jaesun@koreadaily.com]
