2011
The Truck Hits the Streets
David buys a food truck and starts slinging Korean BBQ tacos on the streets of St. Louis.
Mind. Belly.
Seoul.
마음 · 배 · 서울 — the three things every Seoul Taco meal is supposed to satisfy. We've been chasing that since 2011.
The Origin
One truck.
One truck.
One family
recipe book.
In 2011, David Choi sold his car and put $18,000 into a beat-up food truck. He convinced friends and family to chip in another $22,000. He had no formal culinary training — just years of working in pizza shops, sandwich shops, and Chinese kitchens, plus a head full of his grandmother's recipes.
The first menu was tiny: Korean BBQ tacos, a kimchi fried rice burrito, a bulgogi gogi bowl. Within months, he'd earned his investment back. By 2012, the first brick-and-mortar opened on Delmar Loop.
Today, Seoul Taco has six locations across Missouri and Illinois, a Michelin-starred culinary director (Brian Fisher), and a food truck that's still rolling through St. Louis fifteen years later.
2012
First Brick-and-Mortar
Delmar Loop in University City. The original storefront. Still open. Still going.
2014
The Chicago Move
River North opens — the first Chicago location and Seoul Taco's first step outside Missouri.
2018
Wicker Park
One more Chicago shop opens this year — Wicker Park joins the lineup.
2021
10-Year Block Party
Free, public, headlined by Busta Rhymes. Brian Fisher joins as culinary director.
2023
Nine and Counting
Energizer Park stadium deal lands in St. Louis.
2024
Lakeview Opens
Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood lands on the map — the latest Seoul Taco shop joins the lineup.
2026
15 Years In
Six locations, the truck still running, new merch drops, and we're just getting started.
What We Stand On
Four
Four
things
we keep.
01
Small Menu
If we can't make it perfect, we don't put it on the menu. Every dish has to earn its spot.
02
Local Artists
Every location, every merch drop. We work with the cities we feed.
03
Family Recipes
The bulgogi marinade is David's grandmother's. The kimchi is too. We don't mess with what works.
04
Fast & Fresh
Built per order, on the line, in front of you. Nothing sits, nothing waits.