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One of San Diego’s first restaurants dedicated to Korean fried chicken is back after an eight-year absence with plans to expand to additional outposts within the city. BB.Q Chicken reopens on Wednesday, October 20, opening at the Convoy Village Shopping Center just down the street from its original location which operated from 2008 to 2013.
After expanding across the U.S. and throughout California in recent years, strategy and marketing manager Andrew Lee tells Eater that the Korean-based company was ready to re-enter one of its early stateside markets. The Convoy restaurant is just one of at least three stores planned for San Diego over the next two to three years, says Lee.
BB.Q Chicken was founded in Korea in 1995 and has become one of the nation’s fastest-growing chains. Lee says each location brines its chicken before breading — a process that takes a day or two before its final fry. Its bone-in and boneless chicken is available in a wide array of styles, from Golden Original to Soy-Garlic and Spicy Galbi. The Convoy restaurant will offer other dishes, including kimchi fried rice and trendy rose ddukbokki, rice cakes in a creamy sauce, as well as beer and soju.
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The history of Korean fried chicken, also known as the other KFC, dates back to the Korean war when members of the American military, while stationed in Korean, fried up chicken instead of turkey for a Thanksgiving meal and introduced it their Korean counterparts. KFC’s popularity in the country grew steadily and is now one of Korea’s more popular exports, with Korean-style fried chicken chains spanning the globe.
