A Korean BBQ chain founded by immigrant entrepreneurs sells part of its business for $100 million, while another restaurant is found with rat droppings.
News from the United States.
GEN Korean BBQ, a restaurant chain founded in 2011 in Tustin, California,
by Korean-American entrepreneurs David Kim and Jae Chang, and listed on the Nasdaq in 2023,
is reportedly selling part of its business for approximately $100 million (around 140 billion Korean won).
This news was announced on October 14, 2026.
Let’s take a closer look and find out how other Korean BBQ restaurant chains are doing as well.
What Does Selling Part of the Business Mean?
That’s right.
The entire brand is not being sold.
The partial sale refers to the operating businesses of 47 restaurants in the United States, along with four sites planned for future development.
The GEN brand itself will remain, and the company will continue its packaged-food retail business under the brand.
However, as of the October 14 announcement, the transaction had not yet been fully finalized.
The company reportedly aims to complete the deal within the following 30 days.
Why Is the Business Being Sold?
GEN Restaurant Group has stated that it plans to move away from restaurant operations and focus on Korean food products sold in supermarkets.
The sale is also expected to reduce its lease-related obligations by approximately $160 million.
Who Is the Buyer?
The buyer is a company called Chubby Supply.
Its brands include:
NIKU X: A premium Japanese restaurant specializing in wagyu beef and seafood.
Mikiya Wagyu Shabu House: A restaurant specializing in wagyu shabu-shabu.
The X Pot: A premium hot pot restaurant featuring immersive visual effects.
Chubby Cattle: A barbecue and hot pot restaurant specializing in wagyu and a variety of meats.
Chubby Skewers: A restaurant specializing in Chinese-style grilled skewers.
And others. As you can see, Asian cuisine makes up most of its offerings.
Why is that?
Is the Head of Chubby Supply Also an Immigrant Entrepreneur?
It seems so.
Chubby Supply’s leadership is also Asian, and I was able to find information indicating that its founders immigrated to the United States.
David Zhao was born in Shanghai, China, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 12. He began working in the advertising business at 13, showing an entrepreneurial talent from a very young age.
Haibin Yang grew up in Inner Mongolia, China. In 2014, while attending university, he began operating a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas’s Chinatown. He later shifted to the hot pot business and helped grow Chubby Cattle.
These two are reportedly the company’s co-founders and leaders.
Wow… He started a business at just 13 years old.
The United States and China may argue with each other almost every day,
but when the two worlds come together, they can achieve some truly impressive things.
GEN is listed on the Nasdaq, as mentioned earlier.
Can we find out the market capitalization of both companies?
Which Company Is Bigger?
First, GEN Restaurant Group is listed on the Nasdaq, so its market capitalization is publicly available.
As of the closing price on October 15, 2026, its market capitalization was approximately $53.4 million (around 74.8 billion Korean won).
However,
Chubby Supply is a privately held company, so it does not have a publicly available market capitalization based on a market-traded share price.
However, the company’s valuation established during its investment round was approximately $500 million.
That amounts to around 700 billion Korean won.
Even by a rough estimate, the buyer, Chubby Supply, could be considered a company about ten times larger than GEN in terms of valuation.
Wow…
I wonder how much hard work, sacrifice, stress, and dedication it took to build their businesses to that size.
That’s impressive.
Congratulations.
However, not all the news is positive.
Let’s look at another Korean BBQ restaurant chain.
The Rat Droppings Incident at Iron Age Korean Steakhouse
This is a different restaurant chain.
Iron Age, a Korean BBQ restaurant chain, made headlines after more than 500 rat droppings were reportedly found at one of its locations.
Let’s take a closer look.
This incident occurred in Chicago on August 25, 2026.
The Wicker Park location of Iron Age failed a health inspection and was temporarily shut down.
About a month later, it passed a follow-up inspection and reopened.
So what went wrong that led to a suspension of operations?
This is… a little too much.
According to the inspection report,
there were as many as 500 rat droppings.
On top of that, black, dirty liquid was reportedly dripping from above the ice machine onto the ice itself.
What on earth…
This is a stark contrast to the $100 million sale involving GEN that we discussed earlier.
Is Iron Age Also a Restaurant Chain?
Yes, it is.
It is a sizeable restaurant chain with 13 locations across the United States.
Its full name is Iron Age Korean Steakhouse.
Is the Owner Also an Immigrant or Connected to Korea?
It appears so.
The founder, who has also been described as an owner, is named
Kenny Kim.
Well, given the surname Kim, it seems reasonable to suspect a Korean connection.
However, I could not find information confirming whether he immigrated to the United States or is a second-generation Korean American.
It has been reported, though, that he expanded a restaurant he started with his family in Georgia into other states, including Illinois, Maryland, and Virginia.
Goodness…
Expanding a single restaurant into a chain of 13 locations must take an extraordinary amount of effort and dedication.
So how did these problems occur now?
Please don’t dismiss this by saying that the owner does not work at the restaurant personally and that the mistakes were made by employees.
Ultimately, responsibility flows to the person at the very top.
The owner.
Was this the first time?
Unfortunately, this location had a fairly long history of failing health inspections.
| Inspection Date | Result |
|---|---|
| May 14, 2025 | Failed |
| December 2, 2025 | Failed |
| March 30, 2026 | Failed |
| April 7, 2026 | Passed follow-up inspection |
| August 20, 2026 | Failed; operating permit suspended |
| September 16, 2026 | Passed follow-up inspection |
Source: Chicago food sanitation inspection records and related news reports.
That’s quite something…
One thing that stands out is
how seriously the United States appears to take food safety inspections.
It is honestly something to admire.
They inspect so frequently and thoroughly that they even count the number of rat droppings.
That really is thorough, isn’t it?
What’s more, inspection failures have also been reported at other locations, and the main problems have been made public.
Health Inspection Failures at Other Iron Age Locations
| Location | Inspection Period | Score and Main Issues |
|---|---|---|
| Buford, Georgia | May 2022 | Score: 45, failed. Suspected mold contamination inside the ice machine, employees not wearing hair restraints, and improper temperature control of cooked rice and glass noodles were among the issues noted. The location scored 98 on reinspection. |
| Alpharetta, Georgia | December 2023 | Score: 28, failed. Food that appeared moldy was found in a refrigerator. Problems were also noted with temperature control for cooked rice and rice cakes, as well as employees failing to wash their hands. |
| Duluth, Georgia | June 2026 | Score: 60, failed. Soap was missing from several handwashing stations. Other issues included contamination in the ice machine, improper refrigeration temperatures, and problems with sanitizer concentration. |
| Duluth, Georgia | October 2026 | Score: 91. Although the overall score had improved, a buildup of black, mold-like material inside the ice machine was flagged again. |
Source: Related news reports from Atlanta News First, Georgia Gazette, and other outlets.
What do you think?
They really do seem to conduct thorough inspections, don’t they?
They check details such as whether soap is available at handwashing stations, whether food is stored at the proper temperature, and whether employees wear hair restraints.
From these details, it seems that the inspections are indeed thorough.
That’s impressive.
If inspections are conducted properly and restaurants are required to correct the problems found,
I might even find myself eating out one or two more times.
It appears that the locations mentioned above have addressed their problems.
They successfully reopened, and I could not find any reports of further problems after reopening.
I hope Iron Age learns from this incident, improves its operations, and continues to move forward.
Best of luck.
I have a great deal of respect for people who run businesses.
Actually, let me correct that.
I have a great deal of respect for people who run successful businesses.
That’s because I understand, at least to some extent, the effort and sacrifices required to run a business well.
I feel bad about bringing up Iron Age’s mistakes in the second part of this article
and using them on my blog,
but the restaurant has since reopened,
and I could not find further updates about financial difficulties or other developments, so I decided to include the incident.
I sincerely hope that everyone running a business
finds success.
,