Editor’s note: I’m reporting from the National Restaurant Association conference in Chicago. Here’s some news I discovered today while hanging out at the Korean Pavilion.
———–
Roy Choi's Kogi BBQ has been temporarily banned from O.C.
Sorry, Kogi lovers in O.C. But you won’t get short-rib Korean tacos anytime soon in the county.
Only a few weeks after debuting its taco truck in Fullerton, La Palma, Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana, Los-Angeles based Kogi Korean BBQ has been temporarily banned from selling its Korean-inspired tacos in Orange County.
“We have nothing but love for Orange County,” said Kogi co-founder Roy Choi, a Villa Park High School graduate. “We’d be out there every single day, but we got kicked out.”
The chief problem: Kogi never got a health permit to sell its food in Orange County.
Choi, who is in Chicago for the National Restaurant Association’s annual trade show, said he thought his Los Angeles permits were all he needed to sell in O.C.
But “Orange County wants more,” he said, before leading a Korean cooking demonstration at the trade show.
Tricia Landquist, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency, confirmed late Monday that Kogi can’t sell food in O.C. because it doesn’t have a permit.
“Mobile food preparation units are required to obtain a valid health
permit prior to operating for business,” she said.
The agency is working with Kogi to get the necessary approvals to run a “mobile food facility” in O.C., she added.
Kogi is known for its cheap but chic Korean-Mexican fusion tacos, burritos and quesadillas. Cost: $2 to $5.
Choi doesn’t see the point. His company is based in L.A. and his business partners have gotten permission from local agencies to roll their trucks into certain Orange County cities over the last few weeks.
The response in Orange County has been overwhelming.
In Old Towne Orange, for example, wait times lasted nearly three hours when Kogi rolled into the historic downtown on a recent Saturday night. Shortly after that, the O.C. health agency contacted Kogi about the need for permits, Choi said.
The crackdown means Kogi and its short-rib tacos and kimchi quesadillas won’t be back in the O.C. for a few months, Choi said.
“We came here (to O.C.) for the people, not the county,” Choi said. “If we are going to be treated like outcasts, so be it. We’ll just come to the county line.”
Last Kogi in O.C.: Kogi will make its last scheduled O.C. appearance at the Santiago Art Walk on June 20. Because it is a special event, the truck has permission to sell tacos that day.
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That’s too bad. I guess OC people will now have to drive up “Highway 5″.
Ha, it was funny the first time around… but you’re just overusing it now
I can’t help it. It just cracks me up so much!
I think it’s a good thing…..just in case someone gets sick with OC truck…..why have OC taxpayers foot bill if that happened…..just a thought……..just don’t rip off business owners if it isn’t needed.
More like four hours the night Kogi was in Old Towne Orange. Never doing that again; no food is that good.
Kimchi quesadillas ???
seriously, If I want to do business in LA I have to get a permit…what makes them so special? Just because you are popular doesn’t excuse you from having to follow the same business laws as the rest of us!
I have no need to drive to the border of OC/LA to try a kimchi quesadilla. No permit? No problem… there is PLENTY of delish food in OC already.
They’re special because they are God’s gift to gourmet tacos. Or something.
The reason Kogi wants to expand into OC is because their prima donna attitude is getting a little old in L.A. Ask the people in L.A. that have waited hours for the truck to even arrive, only to get “stood up” with no notification*. Ask the same people how they felt when Kogi management blew off the complaints as being the whining of crybabies.
The Kogi people are supposed to be former restaurant professionals. How professional can they be if they don’t even know about health permits?
*They use Twitter and the web to notify clientele of their upcoming locations. Is it that hard to let people know by the same means when they’re not going to show up?
Nancy,
Did you get any of his recipes at the restaurant show?
As for the OC Health Dept permits, all I can say my family was victim to the nearly deadly , highly contagious virus called hepatitis A , that my wife got at a restaurant whom employees or food that was touched by the employess (main culprit fecel matter) was transmitted to her.
My wife who nearly died (spent 3 + weeks in hospital) from it as there is no cure and attacks the liver, along with anyone that had contact with her had to get shots. (gamaglobuline)
That is why were pay very much attention to restaurant letter grades like LA, LA Co and San Deigo Co does. Funny thing OC Health Dept has a inspection, but does participate in the restaurant grading system.
Lastly, how do you think the term “Roch Coach(es)” came about before health depts finely started inspecting & giving food violations / citations of the food trucks
Good luck Kogi hope to see you back in OC soon.
Oops! , some how the “Does Not” participate didn’t show up in the above post.
I’ll say again, OC Health Dept has a restaurant inspection set up, but they do not participate in the letter grading system for restaurant inspections (A to C, anything lower and I beleive the restaurant or food truck is shut down).
If you say Why Not? Like both LA and LA Co didn’t want it for fear of losing business if people didnt see a “A”. It wasnt until Channel 2 news did an undercover showing filthy restaurants that had a passing grade by both health departments, after that uprising, they took after San Diego
I had a feeling this would happen in OC. I tried Kogi a couple times when they were in the area and I knew to go early so I wouldn’t have to endure a long wait. The food is okay, but tastier on a late night when trying to cure a hangover.
“We’ll just come to the county line.”
Park a taco truck at the Coyote Creek Bridge near Cypress and Hawaiian Gardens. For safety reasons, park during the daytime.
Hi I am Ed and I am 52 and live at home with my mom and dad still…. I wish mom would let us eat out some of the time. I get sick and tired sitting at home with mom and dad every night around the dinner table. All we ever eat is pasta and chicken. Man I would give an arm to just eat some taco’s one day, Thanks and good reporting.
are u serious
Why on earth would Mr. Choi think he didn’t need a valid county health permit to prepare and sell food in this county?
Using that logic, a catering truck from Oregon could drive to OC and prepare and sell food here because they have a valid permit from Oregon.
It’s just the fat ass pigs and donut lovers trying to make more money for the state in these troubled times. Nothing to see here, keep moving.
“We came here for the people, not the county” What kind of idiotic statement is that?
He meant the taco’s are for the people of OC, not the County Agencies. Got it?
Play by the rules Roy - or get out and don’t come back.
Why not get a health permit Roy? You’re rolling in the bucks. Too busy? I do hope you know that every taco bender in Orange County has a permit. Otherwise so many of us would put up a mobile food stand and make some $money! Good to hear our county agencies are doing their job.
Why would I want a restaurant operating in Orange County that did not obtain the necessary health permits? Would they be allowed to operate in LA county with only OC permits? I Think not.If they are smart enough to operate a business, they are smart enough to get the necessary permits required by law.
Graduated from Villa Park High School along with a high sense of entitlement, I’d say. What kind of statement is, :“We came here for the people, not the county.” Not an overly bright one. The food may be tasty but I hear what BeachBumBob had to say. If Roy Choi has any common sense, along with that overgrown sense of entitlement, he should be eager to cooperate with Orange County licensing requirements and show that his trucks and food preparation are sanitary and safe. By saying that Orange County “wants more” than L.A. County, he affirmed for me that here safety is first. I’ve seen some of the places/roach coaches that are licensed in L.A. County and if that is his standard then his trucks really do need to stay on that side of the L.A./ OC line.
He’s so popular, he even has an article in Newsweek, extolling the success of America’s first virtual restaurant.
“As Pulitzer Prize-winning L.A. Weekly critic Jonathan Gold recently put it, “not since Pinkberry has anything captured the local imagination as quickly”; even the Top Chef: Season 5 contestants are devotees.*.
I’d say he’s a lot brighter than you if his business plan has garnered so much success so quickly and you’re just sitting there in front of your pc eating potato chips like a jealous loser. LOL!
http://tinyurl.com/bo2cd4
Because hype is better than anything. If it’s being hyped, it must be the best.
The fact is that Kogi is wearing out its welcome in L.A. and is hoping to escape to O.C.
Basically all OCHD wants are the Inspection and Permit Fees along with the assignment of each and every one of the Rolling ‘Choke & Puke’ Vans to a Commissary for daily cleaning and stocking. The County gets a fee for that one too and the Commissary charges their fees and food % fees…Yep if you’re going to ‘Feed the Masses’ in the OC, you’re going to PAY the County for that privilage. Wait until the each and every City wants their fair share with individual business license fees. blah, blah, blah…. These guys think that they will have lines of customers, what they will really have are lines of governmental agencies standing in line with each of their hand’s out wanting their ‘Cut-of-the-Pie’.
Let’s see: Roy steals his business plan from Seoul On Wheels in the SF Bay area, cranks up a hype machine, but can’t handle basic permitting. Got a hand wash station in that truck Roy? I’ll pass.
exactly imacobru! exactly! roach choi could have handled this situation with a little more smarts instead he came off like a jerk. it’s simply just the rules. if you want to play in the oc-you have to follow the rules.
Hey Choi. Why don’t you just get a permit?
Come on Julia, bring the Original Seoul Food to Orange County! You are an OC native, bring it here cause Roy’s knock off doesn’t even compare!
I think Kogi rocks… and I’ll drive from OC to LA to get my fix.
ROCK ON Kogi.. you didn’t NEED OC. You were doing great keeping it in LA. Just mosey closer to the border though, ok?
this is absurd
Must be a reason he doesn’t want to get a permit for OC. Maybe its easier to get one in LA, less standards. With that attitude, even if he got a permit, I’ll never eat anything he is selling. Besides, it all sounds disgusting.
wise words from someone who is ignorant.. have you ever had korean bbq?
well its basically the same thing wrapped in a thing called a tortilla…
get it?…
not that hard…
all sounds disgusting ?.. wow…
Maybe the LA officials are easier to bribe with the halo effect.
I ate of the truck this weekend in the Santiago Lofts in Santa Ana. Luckily I go thtere a litlle early to be at the head of the line (which ened up being very long, quickly). Food was OK, I wouldn’t wait in a long line for it.
For an Asian inspired taco, I’ll still take Fuji’s Famous in Huntington any day of the week. FUJI’S FUJI’S FUJI’S!!!
The stuff from the Korean/Mex roach coach will likely give one the runs in LA or OC regardless of who issues the permit. It’s all about the local gov collecting it’s fees. There’s no effective follow up compliance inspection done on these rolling eateries.
I’ve eaten from their Kogi BBQ trucks countless times and my stomach has been very happy every time. No issues whatsoever. I don’t think his target audience is someone like you, anyways. He’ll do just fine without your patronage. LOL!
http://tinyurl.com/bo2cd4
This is stupid! This is just another small example of how our government has become this micro-managing monster. We need them as a middle man in everything, even a simply transaction between someone who made food and me who wants to buy it. Orange County, I don’t need you to “certify” all my food. A permit to sell food. What a bunch of dung!
Jim - wait until you get a foodborne illness, I am sure you’ll be whistling a different tune.
The food may taste great but you must have no life to track the schedule of a roach coach and wait more than two hours in line for some tacos.
It’s astounding the lengths people will go to in order to make themselves feel special and to be part of a group. It’s no different than all of the young girls wearing super tight jeans and the young men blasting gangsta rap on their car radios. I’m guessing Choi’s customers are mostly high school and college kids who watch too much MTV and have very low self-esteem.
Ridiculous.
Last Saturday at the Artists Village there were people of all ethnicities, all ages, all of them immensely enjoying the Kogi BBQ offerings. What Kogi is doing is simply living on the cutting edge of technology to garner a fanbase. It’s very intelligent marketing. That you don’t happen to be a person seeking out cultural trends is fine, but to stereotype the people enjoying this food is indeed “astounding”.
Living on the cutting edge of technology? Dude, it’s a guy selling tacos from a roach coach. I didn’t say his marketing wasn’t intelligent or his food wasn’t good. He’s exploiting narcissistic kids that are obsessed with technology as a way of bolstering their self-esteem through meaningless social ties and activities.
I don’t have a problem with the people ordering a Kogi taco if the truck happens to stop in their area. I feel sorry for the people tracking the truck on Twitter and getting together with their buddies to wait a couple of hours to get some tacos. Yeah, you guys are really hip man….astounding!
I can think of one good reason to track a food coach: driving sucks. If this truck was coming by my workplace or nearby, and if the food really is as good as some say, I’d walk across the street to get to it rather than hopping in my car and going through that whole deal.
yep yep its all about the money
The Mexican Death Plague is looking for you!
chiwawa ribs tacos anyone?
If you’re not Mexican you can’t have food truck business. That’s just the way it is in OC. This business is heavily protected by the Mexican politicians in OC.
Honestly LA has better food than OC. Ive lived in OC all my life and have worked in LA and they have so many great indie food stands, restaurants, and such.
LA has better fast food, restuarants, and fancy restaurants than OC. I wouldnt mind some of that rubbing off here. All we have here is the same hand full of chain eateries copy/pasted everywhere and allot of crappy indie food places with a few good ones here or there.
The massive amount of bad indie food joints in OC makes me afriad to try new ones.
I agree 100% with this post. I have gotten complacent about trying new restaurants (independent) because of exactly what you said — more often than not they suck. And the only other options are the pervasive chain and fast food eateries around here. It’s puzzling to me how an area with over 3 million people has such a lack of good places to eat.
You guys still have that fish taco place on PCH in Laguna, don’t you? I haven’t been there in a while, but I remember those tacos as being the best I’ve ever had.
Have Obama pay for the permits
This guy sounds like an idiot. How can he claim that the county is treating them like outcasts when he didn’t do his homework and get the proper permits?
“….said he thought his Los Angeles permits were all he needed to sell in O.C.”
You must be kidding? He’s a business owner who doesn’t have a concept of municipality boundaries? Orange County is not Los Angeles County. This is more than ignorance of laws this is a sad reflection of those who assume rather than learn the laws.
Damn OC, we were just having fun serving great food and bringing some energy to you. It was just spontaneous. There is no entitlement issue here, we are just some imperfect street cooks serving safe, delicious, clean, exciting food. I grew up in LA but went to high school in OC, so I am not a stranger. Unfortunately OC, Kogi is about breaking rules, so if you don’t want our graffiti, then peace out!
Chef Roy and the Kogi Street Team
Roy, I hope you know that this message board doesn’t represent all of OC and to those who enjoy the food (especially the short rib tacos). Stop by OC anytime, we know how to get the time and place
I’ll miss you, but no worries, if I need a fix I’ll go to sfs. OC people are haters…thats our entitlement!
i wish i was in chicago!
such arrogance.
People waiting in line for this is crazy. What’s the big deal? Korean food is Korean food whether you get it at a roach coach or bbq place.
This craze is like when krispe Kreme was a big deal.
Hmmmm….Do the illegals selling shaved ice and mangoes out of push carts have health permits? I think not. Why aren’t THEY banned from OC?!?!
I hate those guys, They use GARBAGE bags…and what fool would eat out of that?
The mobile grocery came by honking too…and blew lots of exhaust at their customers. Stupid OC
I’d love it if an L.A. Times reporter checked with their IT department to see if the IPs of any of the posters are shills from Kogi.
Why would the L.A. Times reporter check? This is the Orange County Register.
Thanks, Nick. I was wondering about that comment…
Orange County Health Care Agency is useless, incompetent, and full of ego. There are many bad and dirty restaurants in O.C. If you want to do busines in OC, you have to play their games.
Have you donate or befriend with OC politicans? It is a first starting point.
Orange County Health Care Agency is useless, incompetent, and full of ego. There are many bad and dirty restaurants in O.C. If you want to do busines in OC, you have to play their games.
OK who’s the snitching rat b****** that dropped a dime on Roy. Jealous much?! I guess someone couldn’t stand the popularity of long lines in their neighborhood and made a call. There’s always got to be a Turd in the Punch Bowl to ruin the fun for everyone else.
Roy come back when you can! I’m alumni from Villa Park as well.
Who dropped the dime?
Most likely a REAL OC eatery. You know, where they have a real establishment with an address. I’d never eat at a place that drives away, period. And stand in a line to boot? no way!
Yes, get out of OC and come to Riverside instead!!! Love your kogi tacos and kimchi quesadilla…
I could NEVER eat Korean tacos ,kimchi? give me a break! (stinks) WHY NOT , regular mexican tacos? I will cook at home, thanks.