Korean tacos from Del Seoul

The trend-wave of Korean tacos welcomes a new surfer: the forthcoming Del Seoul (2568 N. Clark St.; 773-248-4227), which we first heard about from a New York Times story about the craze. The interlingual punsters behind Del Seoul are two members of the Jeon family, who own Senoya in Niles. “[Del Seoul] is kind of my sister and I. We are both venturing off and doing our own thing,” says Pete Jeon, who will run Del Seoul with Irene Jeon, his sister. Their parents operate Senoya. 

The menu consists of Korean street food, some contemporary and some traditional. On the contemporary and on-trend side, the Korean taco fillings include sweet-soy-and-soju-marinated kalbi (beef short rib), soy-fruit-gochujang (red pepper paste) pork, sweet-soy-garlic chicken, and hand-battered shrimp. The tacos will cost around $2 or $3. A sort of banh mi combines Korean barbecue and red pepper aïoli with traditional toppings, such as daikon, carrots, cucumbers, jalapeños, and cilantro. On the more traditional side are handmade pork dumplings and bibim bap (available in a stone bowl).

“I think we will probably also be one of the city’s first restaurants to use a video menu board,” Jeon says. The video board facilitates adding and subtracting menu items, such as sides made from seasonal ingredients. They’re also facilitating ingredient supply by pooling resources with Senoya. “We get a lot of vegetables at our parent restaurant. [I mean,] our sister restaurant,” Jeon says. The Jeons hope to open Del Seoul in late September or early October.

Photograph: Courtesy of Del Seoul