K-Town’s Grill Is Back: Baekjeong Returns to New York With Wagyu, Dry-Aged Beef and a Cocktail Bar Below
New York’s Korean barbecue scene has a major familiar face back in the mix. Baekjeong, the restaurant brand that closed its previous New York location in 2024, has returned to Koreatown as Baekjeong Black, a much larger two-floor concept with premium beef, tableside grills and a cocktail bar designed to stretch dinner into a full night out.
The new restaurant opened September 23 at 49 West 32nd Street, inside the landmarked Martinique New York building. Its arrival marks the brand’s return after a two-year absence, but it’s no quiet reopening: Baekjeong Black occupies an 8,000-square-foot space and splits the experience between Yangban, a Korean-inspired cocktail bar on the ground floor, and an upstairs dining room focused on Korean barbecue.
A Koreatown favorite gets a bigger second act
Before it closed, Baekjeong was considered one of New York City’s leading Korean barbecue destinations. The Infatuation described the original restaurant as one of the city’s “premier KBBQ spots,” and now says the new Koreatown iteration is a two-part operation: cocktails downstairs and tableside grilling upstairs.
Baekjeong Black comes from Joseph Ko of Circle Hospitality Group, who opened the original Baekjeong in New York 12 years ago. The name Baekjeong translates to “butcher” in Korean, a fitting description for a brand centered on meat selection, Korean butchery traditions, and tabletop cooking. The company was founded in South Korea in 2003, opened its first U.S. location in Los Angeles in 2012, and later expanded to New York.
The comeback comes at a moment when New York diners have plenty of ways to find Korean food, from traditional barbecue in Koreatown to high-end steakhouse-style Korean dining. But Baekjeong Black is positioning itself squarely in the luxury end of the barbecue conversation. Upstairs, guests can select USDA Prime, dry-aged, and Wagyu beef before the meal reaches the table grill.
That meat-forward setup is not simply about ordering a plate of beef and waiting for it to arrive. The restaurant features a display of cuts inspired partly by Seoul’s Majang Meat Market, a well-known meat-market district in the South Korean capital. According to The Infatuation, diners can choose their dry-aged and Wagyu selections from that butcher-style display before the grilling begins.
The new format goes beyond the grill
The restaurant is designed to offer two distinct experiences under one roof. On the ground level, Yangban operates as a cocktail bar with small plates and Korean-inspired takes on classic drinks. Upstairs, Baekjeong Black delivers the full tabletop Korean barbecue experience, where guests grill beef and pork at built-in tables.
That two-level layout gives the restaurant more range than a standard barbecue dining room. Diners can start downstairs with a drink, settle upstairs for grilled meats, or reverse the evening, moving from dinner into the bar rather than calling it a night once the grill cools down. Haute Living describes Yangban as a specialty cocktail bar that transforms in the evening, paired with an upstairs dining room where diners select prime, dry-aged, and Wagyu cuts before they hit the grill.
The move is notable because Korean barbecue is already inherently social. Tableside grilling turns the meal into an activity, whether the table is sharing pork belly, marinated beef, or a lineup of banchan. Adding a dedicated bar gives Baekjeong Black a chance to capture the energy around dinner, not just the food itself.
It also gives Koreatown a restaurant that is deliberately built for more than a quick meal. The previous Baekjeong had a devoted following, but the expanded footprint, beef display, and cocktail component suggest bigger ambitions for the new location. Haute Living called it “bigger, sleeker and more luxurious than the Baekjeong New Yorkers remember.”
Why this return matters now
Korean barbecue has long been one of Koreatown’s defining dining experiences, but Baekjeong Black returns during a particularly active stretch for Korean restaurants across the city. Williamsburg, for example, welcomed Lalaon in June, a 10,000-square-foot Korean restaurant on the Brooklyn waterfront that offers barbecue, banchan, seafood, rice dishes, and stews. Lalaon’s executive chef is Seung Hoon Jung, and the restaurant seats more than 300 people with outdoor seating along the East River.
Meanwhile, COTE, the Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse founded by Seoul-born restaurateur Simon Kim, opened a new flagship at 550 Madison in Midtown East this summer. The original COTE opened in Flatiron in June 2017 and is known for combining Korean barbecue with the format and polish of a classic American steakhouse. Baekjeong Black joins that broader conversation, though it focuses more directly on Korean barbecue’s butcher-shop traditions and tableside grill ritual.
For the restaurant’s return, the key detail is scale. At 8,000 square feet across two levels, the new location gives Baekjeong a sizable stage in the neighborhood where it previously built its New York reputation. The historic setting also adds to the restaurant’s visual identity: What Now New York reports that the interior includes historic elements alongside traditional decor sourced from South Korea.
That makes the new restaurant feel less like a simple revival and more like a full reset. The original Baekjeong closed, but the brand is back with a broader menu format, a drinks program, a more ambitious setting, and a clear emphasis on premium cuts. For longtime fans, it is a chance to revisit a name they missed. For newcomers, it is an invitation to experience Korean barbecue as a meal that begins with the meat case, continues at the grill, and can end downstairs with a cocktail.
Baekjeong Black is now open at 49 West 32nd Street in Manhattan’s Koreatown. And if you have been waiting for an excuse to gather a few friends, order big and let the table grill do the talking, Baekjeong Black has made a very convincing case for a comeback.
