The empty space on 388 6th Ave, where an “available for lease” sign has become a mainstay on the building’s facade, is finally getting a tenant. Occupying the first two floors of the building around the West 4th Street station exit, signage for a forthcoming Gen KBBQ herald the restaurant’s arrival.
The new sign is the latest development in what has been a long opening process for the restaurant space; Gen KBBQ filed a liquor license application for the space in 2024. According to the permit filed in 2024, Gen KBBQ will inhabit the first and second floor of the building, which amounts to 7,223 square feet of space. The restaurant will seat nearly 390 people with plans including an additional sushi bar.
Despite the new signage, Gen KBBQ CEO and co-founder David Kim tells What Now New York that the restaurant doesn’t have an opening date as of yet.
Gen KBBQ is a Los Angeles-based restaurant founded by Jae Chang and David Kim in 2011. The chain has since opened 51 locations across the country, establishing itself as one of the country’s biggest players in the all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ concepts. The restaurant opened its first New York location in 2023, flooding the corner of 14th and 3rd in deep blue light.
The all-you-can-eat chain is also cooking up a spot in Bay Terrace, Queens in the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, where signage for the restaurant is already up.
