Family-Run Korean Restaurant Levels Up with Loan
Once Sue’s Kimbap House was up and running, she implemented the next stage of her business plan that would help her scale up her restaurant’s star offering: Kimbap.
As Sue and her family tell it, Kimbap is more than a meal — it’s a bundle of joy wrapped in tradition. Kimbap (sometimes spelled gimbap) might appear similar to sushi but the traditional Korean finger food wrapped in seaweed contains seasoned (not vinegared) rice with cooked and pickled ingredients (not raw fish). Her offerings include Bulgogi beef, classic beef, tuna, spam, and veggie Kimbap.
She’s been cooking Korean cuisine for more than 25 years with her husband, Hyun Chung, as they lived and worked in New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Brazil before moving to Concord two years ago.
Sue emphasizes how portable, affordable, and healthy Kimbap is, especially when crafted with Jeong — her secret ingredient (a Korean word that means love, passion, sympathy, and compassion).
But there’s one thing Kimbap isn’t — easy to make.
“Normally, you have to roll it by hand,” Sue said. “That’s why normally it’s just homemade… made for festivals.
And in restaurants, it’s never the main course of a meal.
After a stressful two months of hand rolling Kimbap when her restaurant in September 2024, she found and purchased a Kimbap machine that rolls rice into sheets before the seaweed wrapper goes on top. Sue said the machine speeds up the process and is one of only a few of its kind in the country.
Leveling Up & Looking Forward
“I knew what it would take to get to the next level,” she said. “Now we have the strategy and business model where three teenagers are able to run the restaurant because of this machine. That's really helpful.”
However, it was an expensive purchase — so she started looking for help. Traditional lenders often require a restaurant to have a three-to-five-year lease, which didn’t fit Sue’s situation.
“Anyone who I felt comfortable talking to I just said, ‘Hey, I’m looking for investors,” she remembered.
A Community Loan Fund staff member who was eating lunch at the restaurant put her in touch with our business and community lending team. In April 2025, she received a loan to pay off business debt and increase her working capital in April 2025.
Today, the quick service restaurant specializing in lunch, evening, and weekend take-out, as well as casual dining, is staffed by Sue, Hyun, and their two teenagers, plus another employee. Sue’s Kimbap House has also earned rave reviews for its Bibimbap and bulgogi.
“I felt like Concord needed an extra option here besides what's already available,” Sue said. “Fortunately, with all the Korean culture, the K-pop and K-dramas … and because Kimbap went viral on TikTok a few years ago, that kind of made people interested in Korean food — Kimbap specifically.’
The loan also meant she could negotiate a one-year extension to her agreement at the BNH stage. She hopes the extra year will give new customers time to try, and hopefully frequent, Sue’s Kimbap House. Then, she can find the business a permanent home by April 2026.
“Hopefully, if the numbers add up, then I can go ahead and open up the restaurant after this,” she said.
By the Numbers
We support local small businesses because of the greater impact they have on communities. They are the source of jobs and often are central gathering places that provide much more than goods and services.
Businesses like Sue’s Kimbap House are the heart of their communities. Investing in them brings returns that go far beyond their economic impact.
25
years Sue has been cooking Korean cuisine
12
Menu options at Sue’s Kimbap House
150
cups of rice cooked per day
15
pounds of Japchae (a sweet potato-noodle stir fry dish) cooked per day