Maybe someday Imo Pocha will move into expanded new digs above Capitol Hill Station. For now, it is putting a legendary restaurant space back into motion to the sounds of K-pop and a busy new kitchen along E Olive Way.
The new Korean joint from Capitol Hill restaurateur Hun “John” Lee is now open in the space Glo’s called home for more than 30 years before its move earlier this year to the light rail station plaza just off Broadway.
CHS reported here on the plans from Lee for the new restaurant focused on what he calls Korean comfort food. Lee told CHS the name is, basically, “Auntie’s place” with pocha the Korean term for a vendor who serves up Korean street food. Like the original Glo’s, it is a tight fit, smushing into the just over 800-square-foot space.
But there is also new investment in the building. Imo Pocha is beginning life with a new, upgraded kitchen as the building’s new owners have more skin in the game than most. Last summer, the owners of the block’s Captain Black’s and Stumbling Monk teamed up to buy the property. Cocktail concern The Doctor’s Office also calls the block home.
Now held by a group with industry ties, the block seems set up to be a food and drink destination for years to come.
Imo Pocha, meanwhile, is now part of a Capitol Hill rich with Korean flavors including Meet Korean BBQ which opened on E Pike in 2020, Korean fried chicken joint Pelicana that opened at Pine and Harvard in 2021, Seoul Tofu and Jjim born from a Broadway pho joint in 2022, and May 2022-born Korean corn dog spot Korn Dog. The class of 2023 also includes Korean fried chicken joint Sodam Chicken at 19th and Madison.
Imo Pocha is now open at 1621 E Olive Way. There is no website yet but you can get more information via the restaurant’s Yelp listing.
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Surprised there is no reference to Bluestone in this article! My fave restaurant on the hill until it shut down at basically the same location! Excited to see another establishment carry the torch.