GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — As many bars and restaurants in Grand Rapids have closed in recent months, K-Rok Korean BBQ is reinventing itself to remain competitive in the current economic climate.
The restaurant recently unveiled a new lunch menu featuring handheld items designed to be more affordable for customers.
"We're trying to reinvent the menu down here at K-ROK with a little more handheld items. And we have so many awesome meats and so much good food," said Rob Yoon, co-owner of K-Rok Korean Barbecue.
Yoon, who opened the restaurant in 2021 with his mother Myong Holloway, developed the new menu to address slow weekday business. The goal was to create options that wouldn't leave customers smelling like barbecue or spending too much money.
"I want people to be able to enjoy our food, but I also want to come in here and not have to worry about smelling like barbecue and not spending so much money and have a good have a decent meal quickly with something that's going to make them feel good and they go back to work," Yoon said.
When K-Rok first opened, it was the only Korean barbecue restaurant in Grand Rapids. Now they face competition from other establishments that offer free parking, while downtown parking costs continue to rise.
"And mine is a parking lot fee, and right now it seems like it's going up and up. So, people don't come here downtown anymore because the parking lot fees are too high," said Holloway.
Richard App, the retail retention attraction specialist for the City of Grand Rapids, emphasized the need for more daytime dining options downtown.
"A lot of our restaurants are open during the evening, which is great, but we need places like this, where we can get in and get out. They'll have some handheld foods, and so it's really right in time for summer," App said.
Yoon believes that in today's economy, good food alone isn't enough to attract customers.
"We go with the trends to keep people coming in the door. If we just stay stagnant and don't keep on trying to evolve to new trends, or something else that people are trying to do all over the world, or whatever. I try and look at the West Coast and the East Coast and try and see what I can use, or what we've got to maybe make something that people want to eat," he said.
In addition to the new menu, K-Rok is offering half-off parking for customers who use the Amway ramp.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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