Photo: Tanveer Badal

On this particular Tuesday night in one of the most popular strip malls in Koreatown, we dodge valet cars, window shop our taste buds to sweet and savory pastries, take in the glorious fumes of Korean BBQ while our stomachs make competing rebuttals and of course we wait…and we wait some more. I blame Anthony Bourdain.

It’s no secret that Koreatown has exploded thanks to South Korean exports, popular night life spots, Conan O’brien’s televised full monty spa stints and of course the incredible sometimes complex offerings of Koreatown’s immigrant restaurant scene. Or maybe I have that wrong; Korean food has gotten so popular and that has made Koreatown LA a destination like no other around.

Like South Korea’s economic boom, Koreatown Los Angeles is in the thick of its own major boom. That might be an odd juxtaposition but I thought it worked. What was once a haven for immigrants, then a war zone during the LA Riots, and back to a haven, has now become an even denser sub-neighborhood with an overwhelming (read insane) amount of development.

SECRET’S OUT

“Koreatown is way cheaper!,” my colleague exclaimed when comparing current rent prices in cool and/or upcoming neighborhoods in our fair city. In just a few short years, Hipsters or Millenials or whatever the current term is, have favored Koreatown’s rents and “city amenities” over their typical and seemingly much more expensive Silverlake, Echopark, Westside rental choices.

I see it through the store fronts; craft beer well stocked at liquor stores made for after work retreats, elevated cuisines and cocktail culture at predominately non Korean owned restaurants, and a massive influx of specialty coffee shops (seriously count them) at anywhere a La Marzocco Linea 3 will fit.