Visit Koreatown during economic downturns

Recently, menu items under $10 have been appearing in LA’s Koreatown, gaining popularity among Korean-Americans whose wallets have thinned due to high inflation. Chinese restaurants are leading the way with these “kind price” menus.

The recently changed ownership “LA Heung Rae Gak” at Western and 4th Street introduced jajangmyeon for $6.99 and seafood-filled jjamppong for $9.99. Initially, the restaurant planned to offer discounts for a limited time to celebrate its grand opening, but as customers flocked after hearing about it, they’ve maintained the same prices.

“Zombie Chicken & Nolbu Jjamppong” on 3rd Street is selling jajangmyeon at a shocking price of $4.99.

The jajangmyeon price at the newly opened “Lulu Ne” 2nd branch in the Rodeo Galleria Mall food court on Western Avenue is $8.99. At Vermont Galleria Market’s food corner, you can eat jajangmyeon for $9.13. Most recently, “Jjamppong Jijeon Wilshire Branch” started selling jajangmyeon for $8.99 all day, seven days a week.

Restaurants selling seolleongtang and gomtang have also joined the kind price menu trend. “Seolga” on Beverly and Hobart decided to reduce the price of chadol (beef brisket) seolleongtang from $19.99 to $9.99 for a limited time.

Meanwhile, “Hyunpung Halmae Jip Gomtang” north of Western and 3rd Street is running an all-day $5.99 event. The $5.99 menu includes ugoji (dried cabbage) hangover soup and mul-naengmyeon (cold noodles). “Jumak” (formerly Chomak) at Western and 4th Street lowered the price of their $14.99 chik-naengmyeon (cold arrowroot noodles) to $7.99 from 11 AM to 5 PM as a summer sale.

The fast-food industry is also introducing ultra-low-priced menus through price reduction competition. Following Burger King’s introduction of the $5 “Your Way Meal” in mid-June, McDonald’s is also temporarily offering a “Meal Deal” for $5. McDonald’s, which initially started the $5 set promotion for a month, extended the promotion period due to overwhelming customer requests.

Mr. Kim, who works at a Korean bank, said, “I’m visiting restaurants that sell menus under $10, like jajangmyeon on Mondays, seolleongtang on Tuesdays, and McDonald’s on Wednesdays. In this era of high prices where a lunch meal easily exceeds $20 including tax and tip, I’m happy to be able to fill my stomach with less money.”