After multiple delays, chef Lino Yi finally opens his Korean-American food stall TKO (the Korean One) Friday, December 9, at Southern Feedstore in East Atlanta Village. The stall joins Brazilian restaurant and coffee bar Buteco, Woody’s Cheese Steaks, Gyro Gyro, and Waffle Bar at the mini food hall.
TKO opens at 12 pm daily for lunch and dinner, with late-night food until 3 am on Friday and Saturday evenings. The menu features many of the same dishes as the pop-up, including cheesy Korean corn dogs, kimchi fried rice, Korean fried chicken nuggets, Korean beef egg roll taquitos, and hot and spicy tteokbokki (rice cakes).
Yi was a sous chef at Lazy Betty in Candler Park, where worked for the last three years. Prior to Lazy Betty, Yi worked at Makan and Taiyo Ramen in Decatur at the Courtyard by Marriott under the direction of owners Michael Lo and chef George Yu. That space is now home to Platez Southern Kitchen and Cocktailz.
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In 2021, Yi launched TKO as a pop-up, offering his food at Atlanta restaurants like Ration and Dram (now Dead End Drinks), Full Commission, Sweet Auburn BBQ, Buteco, and Georgia Beer Garden.
“Much like my own upbringing, I’m forming a bridge between Korean and American cultures and traditions,” Lino says of melding Korean food traditions with new techniques and ingredients. “Growing up, our Thanksgiving dinners had turkey and gravy as well as Korean BBQ and kimchi. There is an amalgamation of new and retro called Newtro in Korean culture.”
1245 Glenwood Avenue, Atlanta. tko-eav.com.
Open Sunday – Thursday, 12pm to 10pm; Friday and Saturday, 12pm to 3am