Guaynabo Lost Puerto Rico's First Korean BBQ the Same Season It Got Korean Fried Chicken

Ujeong Korean BBQ served its last meal at Galería San Patricio on Wednesday, October 14. It opened in 2017 as the first Korean BBQ restaurant in Puerto Rico and had moved into its Guaynabo space less than a year earlier, according to Primera Hora.

Two months earlier and about ten minutes away, Kokko Dak & Tokki Pastry opened on PR-838 with Korean fried chicken up front and a pastry case by the door. All 300 soft-opening spots were claimed in 15 minutes.

The menus at the Korean spots still open around town and a national franchise with a signed Puerto Rico deal point the same way. Korean food in Guaynabo is moving from the tabletop grill toward crisp chicken, sauces and a coffee counter.

Nine Years, Two Addresses, One Short Goodbye

Ujeong started on Calle Loíza in San Juan before it moved to Guaynabo. Its menu combined South Korean ingredients and recipes with Puerto Rican fusion touches, and its whole format was built around diners grilling cuts of meat at the table. The San Patricio location opened in November 2025, and we covered it then as part of that corridor's shift toward specialty tenants.

The restaurant said goodbye on social media. As quoted by Primera Hora, the message read in part:

"Today we close a chapter, but we do not erase the history... These were years of effort, challenges, lessons and moments that left indelible marks on everyone who was part of this path."

Primera Hora reported that the business gave no reason for closing and did not say whether it might return. Ujeong's own website still lists hours and a Calle Tabonuco address, so anyone searching for Korean BBQ in Guaynabo may still land on it.

Three Hundred Spots in Fifteen Minutes on PR-838

Kokko Dak sits at 3 PR-838, the stretch of Avenida Alejandrino in the Frailes area. It is the first restaurant from Jihyun Park, a South Korean-born teacher whom thousands of people in Puerto Rico know as "Tu Amigo Coreano." In a 2022 El Nuevo Día profile, he had lived on the island for a little over five years and was known for social posts about South Korean culture and food.

The opening showed how much attention the place had before it served anyone. Metro Puerto Rico quoted Park: "I can't believe we opened 300 spots for the soft opening and they were gone in 15 minutes." The Magia PR channel filmed the soft opening for an opening-week video. It shows a seated dining room with plenty of tables, a pastry counter just inside the door, and the restaurant's rabbit-mascot plush toys and keychains for sale.

Opening-week hours were Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday. A listing updated October 17 still shows Monday closed, so check the restaurant's Instagram, @kokkodak_tokki, before a midweek visit.

What the Menu Tells You About the Format

Fried chicken sets the price structure at Kokko Dak. On its delivery menu this fall, the main options are priced like this:

1. Three boneless pieces: $18
2. Traditional fried chicken: $19
3. Rosé fried chicken: $20
4. Kimchi-rice fried chicken: $21
5. Six boneless pieces: $24

The boneless orders come with fries and a choice of four sauces: honey garlic, sweet-and-spicy yangnyeom, seasoned cheese or extra-spicy. The rest of the menu is mostly Korean street and comfort food: crispy mandu at $15 for five pieces, kimchi ramyun and Shin ramyun at $22 each, plus gimbap, tteokbokki, japchae and rice bowls. The most expensive item listed is a bibimbap ribeye at $27.

So one person can eat well at a single table without ordering a shared grill platter. A grill restaurant works the other way: the experience is a hot plate in the middle of the table and a group cooking around it. A fried chicken counter works for a lunch, a solo dinner or a pickup on the way home, and DoorDash lists Kokko Dak for both delivery and pickup.

The Tokki Pastry side runs on an even simpler model. The case holds melon pan, cinnamon rolls, Korean roll cake, cookies and Korean sandos, and the drinks list covers coffee, matcha, hojicha and specialty drinks. The opening-week video also showed brownies, peanut butter and strawberry cheesecake cookies, Korean corn dogs, crispy pork-belly bites and fried-chicken burgers. Metro described it as a menu built to cover everything from lunch to an afternoon snack.

The Grill Hasn't Left Guaynabo, but Fried Chicken Shows Up Everywhere

Ujeong's closing doesn't leave the area without tabletop grilling. Here is the map as it stands this month, with the type of meal each place is built around:

Kkogi, on the Roosevelt side of town, is the remaining option built around grilling your own meat at the table. One directory suggests its Combo for 2 with chicken and skirt steak. Call ahead before you plan a group dinner there.

Unidos, on Avenida Esmeralda, is the longest-running of the Guaynabo group. In July 2023, El Nuevo Día reported it had been open about a year under owners Yolibeth Tavares Rosa and José Planadeball. "BBQ" is in its name, but the dishes its ordering page shows as featured or most liked are ramyeon, dolsot bibimbap, tteokbokki, jumeok bap, dumplings and Korean fried chicken.

Somi is a short drive away in San Juan, on Jesús T. Piñero. It focuses on bulgogi and bibimbap and was taking orders as recently as late August.

A Franchise Is Betting on the Same Dish

The next Korean name expected in Puerto Rico is also a fried chicken chain. In November 2025, Bonchon announced a franchise agreement with operator Erick Muro for six restaurants on the island, with the first targeted for late 2026. In March, El Nuevo Día put the planned investment at about $6 million and reported that the operator was looking for sites.

All three signals favor fried chicken. A local creator's first restaurant filled its soft opening almost immediately this August. The main dishes at the longest-running Guaynabo Korean spot are noodles, rice and fried chicken. An international franchise has committed to six Puerto Rico locations with fried chicken as its core product. Meanwhile, the restaurant that introduced the island to the tabletop grill closed its San Patricio space eleven months after moving in.

Our San Patricio retail post and our Guaynabo neighborhood page track how often that corridor's tenants change.

At ARK Real Estate, we follow Guaynabo block by block, from Avenida Alejandrino to San Patricio. If you'd like to talk about what the corridor's changing tenants mean for a home nearby, schedule your private consultation.