Over a decade ago, former Westword food editor Mark Antonation began his food-writing career by eating his way up Federal Boulevard. Now, we're turning our attention to another vibrant culinary corridor.
The four-plus-mile stretch of Havana Street between Dartmouth and Sixth Avenue in Aurora is home to the most diverse array of international cuisine available in the metro area. From restaurants and markets to take-and-go shops and stands, food lovers of nearly any ethnicity or interest can find a place that will remind them of home or open new culinary doors. In Eat Up Havana, Antony Bruno will visit them all, one by one, week by week.
Previous stops:
Next Up: Coffee Story & A Seoul Hospitality Group Update
It’s impossible to write a series about the many restaurants and cuisines available along Havana Street in Aurora without doing a deep dive into Seoul Hospitality Group.
With seven restaurants located within a mile of each other, no single local restaurant owner or group has as large a presence along the strip as this empire founded by entrepreneur/chef JW Lee (one of Westword's 22 People to Watch in 2022). While this footprint has earned him a nickname as the "unofficial mayor” of Aurora’s Koreatown, the Korean-born chef actually displays a range of Asian inspirations.
Some, like the Japanese-themed Leezakaya, Korean pub Thank Sool Pocha (previously featured in this series here and here) and Tofu Story, are wholly original concepts. Others, like Seoul BBQ & Hot Pot and the Vietnamese Pho 75, were existing restaurants that Lee acquired and added to the SHG portfolio. And still others, like Mochinut, are national franchises also brought into the fold.
“It's just easier to manage when everything's kind of compacted together like that,” she says. “We try to keep the businesses separate, but we do sometimes run out of food items or supplies where we can kind of let each other borrow.”
We’ve also seen how that proximity can give SHG the ability to move fast and make changes when necessary, as is evident in the many changes Lee’s made to the Havana landscape in the last year. These include:
Menya
The Havana Plaza center on Havana Street currently houses such SHG concepts as Thank Sool Pocha, Coffee Story and Mochinut. For a time, it also hosted one of three Menya noodle bar locations, with the other two located in the downtown Denver area. But according to Rose, the location wasn’t performing as well as others, so SHG made the decision to permanently shutter it. No word yet on what’s coming to the space.
Seoul ManDoo
According to Rose, chef Lee loves dumplings. So when the restaurant group was looking to put a vacant property to use during the pandemic, it settled on a dumpling concept featuring just two kinds of Korean-style dumplings: one steamed and one fried. The result was Seoul ManDoo, located just a few doors down from Thank Sool in the same structure as the former Menya.
However, that location has closed, too. According to Rose, the ManDoo style dumplings will instead be available to purchase at the newly opened Seoul Station convenience store a few blocks south near the Leezakaya location. Which brings us to…
Sintoburi
This one has a slightly longer story. Sintoburi originally opened as a sort of fresh-food convenience store where you could purchase pre-made Korean side dishes, called banchan, which are typically served alongside BBQ meals or hot pot. These included kimchi, as well as meal kits designed to be bought fresh and enjoyed at home.
When Seoul ManDoo closed, Sintoburi began selling the popular dumplings as well. And then, another evolution. According to Rose, SHG merged the Sintoburi concept into a broader convenience store concept originally called Market Zoa. Offerings included all the banchan-style dishes and dumplings at Sintoburi, but also an expansion to chips, soda and other packaged goods, and even a DIY ramen station.
Market Zoa opened earlier this month, next to the former Sintoburi space, which Rose says will be turned into a food court attached to the market. And, in the spirit of constant evolution, Market Zoa was renamed Seoul Station, with new signage coming soon to hopefully cut down on the confusion.
Initially, Coffee Story and Mochinut were neighbors. But SHG merged the two under the Coffee Story location (with Menya moving into the space that Mochinut formerly occupied by itself). Today, Coffee Story and Mochinut operate as one, despite the two separate signs.
Mochinut is a national chain, and its full menu is available at Coffee Story, which includes the titular mochi doughnuts, as well as rice-flour corndogs and a “tornado” spiralized potato that’s sort of like a curly French fry on a stick.
But Coffee Story has its own fare to contribute. Coffee includes all the usual suspects, but also a few unique items like a sweet potato latte, ube matcha and a Dalgona. The latter is much like a latte, but with a honeycomb toffee cookie (called a dalgona) crumbled into it.
The food includes a variety of sandwiches, wraps and paninis, such as the Bulgogi Wrap and the Teriyaki Chicken Panini. And, of course, boba drinks… served pre-made in a clear container with a soda can pop-top.
- Menya, at least on Havana, is permanently closed.
Seoul ManDoo products are available at Seoul Station/Market Zoa
Sintoburi is becoming a food court
Coffee Story and Mochinut are co-located in the same space
Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for deeper dives into Tofu Story, Seoul BBQ & Hot Pot, and Pho 75.
Coffee Story is located at 2222 South Havana Street, Unit A1, Aurora, and is open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, visit coffeestoryco.com.
