Riverside Korean Restaurant owners are opening a hip new spot in Covington that will focus on beer and Korean fried chicken.
Since the 1990s, Riverside Korean Restaurant has been a Covington institution. In 2006, Bruce Kim and his wife, Yujin, moved to the area from Chicago and started working for Riverside. In 2014, they bought the restaurant.
Currently, their new concept Chimaek (pronounced chee-mek) is in pre-opening and is slated to have a grand opening on Nov. 17. The phrase “chimaek” translates to “chicken and beer,” with “chikin” being the Korean word for, well, chicken and “maek” being the shortened word for beer, maekju.
“What I always wanted to do was this,” Bruce Kim said. “I wanted to buy a bar and have Korean fried chicken, or something similar to this, instead of a full-service restaurant. I thought it would be a little bit more manageable.”
The project began three years ago when the Kims bought the building located on Scott Street. Then COVID hit—the story of every restaurateur’s life. They figured it was the right time to start construction, which occurred at the same time when they expanded Riverside’s space.
“I’m focusing on a local bar that people can hang out and come for a drink and watch a little sports,” he said. “But at the same time, Oh look, they got chicken, too. We also have the Mr. Bulgogi food cart in Covington Yard, so I have this little triangle. We’re trying to bring Korean flavors here.”
In South Korea, chimaek was popularized in the 2000s. “It’s always been around,” Kim said. “But then it caught up to the bigger cities like Chicago, L.A., New York. And then it never caught up here. It’s like Bw3s. Your friends are like, ‘Hey, you want to go to B-Dubs?’ What does that mean? Chicken and beer, basically. So that’s what Koreans would say in Korea: ‘You want to go Chimaek?’”
And nothing goes better together than chicken and beer. “You get the oily crispy chicken and then you need the beer, and that kind of fits perfectly together,” he said. “I think Korea has a big influence in the food community because Korean food is a little bit more colorful and a little bit healthier. We don’t use as much oils and stuff like that. It is something that’s going to get bigger, I think.”
Kim grew up in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg. In 2006, after driving semi-trucks for years, an opportunity arose. “My friend’s like, ‘Oh, my brother bought a restaurant. Want to try changing careers?’ I’m like, ‘Alright,’ so I came here.”
At Riverside, he began as a dishwasher and then worked his way up to chef. “I started learning, working, practicing, and then just made what I think it’s supposed to be because I didn’t want to Americanize it,” he said about cooking the dishes. “I want to keep it authentic as I know how, but I’m not trained or anything.” In 2022, the City of Covington gave Riverside one of five Authenti-CITY awards.
The small menu at Chimaek consists of Asian-style wings and tenders with dipping sauces. Instead of tossing the chicken in the sauces, Kim prefers to offer a flight of sauces—honey ginger, spicy garlic, soy garlic—but customers can request the chicken to be tossed. For vegetarians, they have a cauliflower substitute, waffle fries, tempura broccoli, sweet potato, Korean cheese corn (corn, onions, mozzarella and cotija cheese that’s torched), and chimaek salad (thinly cut green cabbage mixed with Thousand Island dressing).
As for booze, they have an array of beers on tap, including the Braxton-brewed Chimaek lager, IPAs, and Korean beers Terra and Hite. Their specialty cocktail is somaek—a shot of soju and beer, the Korean equivalent to a sake bomb.
Customers can dine in and enjoy the Dye Brothers’ designed space—featuring a geometric rooster and pastel walls and chairs—or get the food to-go. The Kims have high hopes for their new venture. They’ll continue to focus on Riverside, but if Chimaek does well, they’ll open another location, maybe in Ohio. “Hopefully, it stays around,” Kim said. “Covington is definitely growing. I think there’s more residence buildings than there are places to eat. So people are gonna have to eat or drink here eventually. If they like it, they’ll come back.”
Chimaek is located at 405 Scott St., Covington. Find the full menu and more information at getchimaek.com.
