Korean Superette opened in 2022 as part-restaurant, part-grocery store, serving Korean comfort food and selling a selection of groceries to the crowds of Solano Avenue. The business is a partnership between Chi Moon (whose family owns Ohgane, Bowl’d, and Spoon Korean Bistro, among others), her sister Jessica Oh, and friend Hyeyoung Yoon, who runs the kitchen. Meanwhile, the store shelves offer Korean pantry items, frozen foods such as dumplings or ice cream, prepared banchans, and a robust snack section.
The cozy restaurant stands out from other Korean spots, serving distinctive homestyle Korean dishes such as tteokbokki and bo ssam, plus soups, stews, and more, for a relatively quick meal out. The restaurant became a beacon for diners during a recent Bay Area heatwave, thanks to its shaded back patio, paired with a cold nangmyeon soup or some spicy bites during the hot days and evenings.
Although Korean Superette is both a grocery store and a restaurant, diners won’t be eating next to towering rows of shelving. The groceries aren’t intrusive to the dining experience; there’s a line of fridges and freezers along one wall as you walk into the main dining space, plus two areas for instant ramen noodles, kitchen supplies, and condiments — and that’s it. There are tables inside, but the back patio is where most people migrate towards, with tables nestled under string light-adorned trees. It’s a laid-back setting that attracts local families, couples, and friend groups for a meal out.
The restaurant serves beer, wine, sake, and soju (plus a singular offering of makgeolli, a rice wine made in Korea), but what captured my attention during the heatwave was the citrus iced tea ($6). It’s pretty much yuja cha, in which chopped lemon peels are turned into a citrus marmalade, then mixed with water and honey. It’s refreshing, but not as tart as you’d expect from a citrus drink, and it was a balm during the heatwave.
The restaurant offers two specials during the weekdays for lunch and dinner. The bap-sang lunch ($22) gives diners a choice of soup, such as beef or vegetarian doenjang soup, or pork belly kimchi stew, with a choice between bulgogi, Spanish mackerel, gochujang chicken, spicy eggplant, or tofu pancake as a main. The han-sang dinner ($48) is a meal meant for two, with a choice of bulgogi (+$2), bo ssam, pork belly, or spicy pork, and a choice of soup, and the meal is served with banchan, rice, ssam vegetables, and a mini Korean pancake.