Debbie Lee’s Long-Awaited Korean Gastrobub Yi Cha Opens in Highland Park

Chef Debbie Lee’s long-awaited modern Korean gastropub is finally here. After years of delays and a brief stint as a pop-up, Yi Cha is set to open in the former Otoño space in Highland Park on October 30. At Yi Cha, the Korean term for second round, Lee will serve her take on Korean American pub dishes alongside a full cocktail menu.

Yi Cha’s debut is a full-circle moment for Lee, who first made her mark on Los Angeles in 2010 with her Korean food truck, Ahn Joo, named after small snacking dishes served with soju and beer at Korean pochas. At the truck, Lee slung early iterations of her rice cake-based K-town nachos and Korean fried chicken, both of which return on Yi Cha’s menu. Lee also competed on The Next Food Network Star in 2009 and published her cookbook Seoultown Kitchen in 2011.

Korean caviar dip. Stan Lee

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee prepared takeout Korean food for locals while living with her family in South Orange County. After moving back to Los Angeles in 2021, she set her sights on opening something that felt representative of her. “When people were asking me for mandu and jjigae, it’s when I realized this is how I want to retire and be known,” Lee told Eater in 2023. “This is who I am, my heritage and ancestry, and I want to be in a really great community.”

Yi Cha was initially announced in January 2023 and was slated to open in Highland Park that fall. After the original location fell through, Lee revived the concept as a pop-up at the former Silver Lake Bar Moruno while operating her tasting menu pop-up, Joseon, next door at Causita. Now, 15 years after opening Ahn Joo, Yi Cha is ready to open its doors. The restaurant is Lee’s interpretation of pojangmachas — the Korean term for the carts found across South Korea that sell street foods like tteokbokki and gimbap, plus soju, makgeolli, and beer — infused with her North Korean heritage and Korean American perspective. “It’s a place for you and come get some drinks, hang out, you know, and just chill,” Lee says. “And that was really the point of creating this, to have a place where the community can come and just have a good time together.”

Yi Cha’s menu opens with bar bites like a Korean barbecue nut medley with chile-dusted walnuts and peanuts, king oyster mushroom chips, fish jerky grilled over binchotan charcoal, and soy-braised “wet” beef jerky (jangjorim). Lumpia wrappers get filled with pork and shrimp to resemble the flavors of mandu; crispy pork belly sits in a row, topped with a tangy kimchi gastrique; and wagyu bone marrow corn cheese nods to Mexican esquites.

Lee’s KFC (Korean fried chicken) wings return, served with gochujang Buffalo sauce, as well as K-town nachos that first appeared at Ahn Joo, now smothered in queso and ginger braised pork. Korean Caviar Dip nests ikura and gravlax in garlic chive creme fraiche, with seaweed rice chips on the side for dipping. Bulgogi burgers, blanketed in pepper jack cheese, kimchi aioli, and perilla, take the place of traditional pub cheeseburgers. Joseon-style bossam offers a choice of sliced pork belly or tofu steak, paired with ssamjang, little gem lettuce, perilla, crispy garlic, and fermented spicy radish. Gamjatang, one of Lee’s favorites on the menu, comes out bubbling with ramyun noodles and tteokbokki swimming in a spicy pork-and-potato base; torched cheese on top is the final touch. “It’s a very traditional, hearty dish,” Lee says of the gamjatang. “It is about that kind of soulfulness that I feel Korean cooking always comes with.” For dessert, find Fuji apple egg rolls with ginger mascarpone and goguma (sweet potato) pie topped with Asian pear creme fraiche. Lee works directly with local farms, such as Weiser and Beylik, to source ingredients for Yi Cha.

Interior. Stan Lee

Senga Park, formerly of Tokki, oversees the beverage program, which includes wine, liquor, and beer. The Pick Me Up, a play on an espresso martini, shakes up soju infused with beans from Be Bright with butter almond makgeolli, espresso liqueur, and chocolate; the Jeju Sunrise blends lychee-infused vodka with Jeju mandarin, lemon, and pomegranate; and the Melona Dreamsicle transforms the flavors of the popsicle into a white rum-based cocktail. Rice to Meet You, a yogurt makgeolli, is available alongside Jinro soju. Wine selections include sparkling rosé, grenache, viognier, and an orange blend by the glass. On the beer side, Yi Cha will pour Benny Boy’s rice lager, Taihu’s Meyer lemon sour, and Terra. Sparkling tea and oolong sikhye are available for zero-proof options.

As soon as Lee and restaurant designer Kahi Lee saw the former Otoño space, they knew it would be the future home of Yi Cha. “When we walked into the space, my designer, Kahi, said to me, ‘Debbie, this is our pocha,’” Lee says. A mural from artist ZiBEZI welcomes diners as they enter through the bar, and neon signs cast green and blue-tinged light onto the brick-lined dining room. Kahi Lee modeled the slim back half of the restaurant after an alley, with a single row of small tables lit by string lights and overhead neon signs.

As Lee prepares to finally open the doors to Yi Cha, she is reflecting on the last decade and a half since she first introduced her cooking to Los Angeles. “I had these big, huge dreams of having a Korean pub,” Lee says. Now, it’s her time to see those dreams through. “I hope that the next generation of chefs in this industry who are from the Korean American community or Asian American community understand and know that you just don’t give up,” Lee says. “You show your perseverance, you keep your dreams going.”

Yi Cha opens on October 30 at 5715 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90042. Reservations are available on OpenTable, but walk-ins are welcome. Lunch, weekend brunch, and delivery will be added later.