Hello Chicken, which serves a variety of Korean dishes but specializes in Korean fried chicken, will close permanently after dinner service on Jan. 1.
Seung Min Lee opened Hello Chicken in 2017 at 5295 Buford Highway in Doraville. The restaurant took over the space previously occupied by Lee’s Tofu House, which was owned by Lee’s mother and shuttered when she became ill.
Lee said the decision to close was due to a combination of factors, including competing franchise Korean chicken concepts, a struggle to find employees and profit margins cut into by third-party delivery companies.
“Our kitchen was busy, but the cost we were getting from revenue was not that great,” Lee said. “I kept losing money.”
Lee’s friend is set to take over the space early next year with Gopchang on Fire, a concept specializing in marinated and grilled offal which has existing locations in Duluth and Suwanee.
In the meantime, Lee, whose family also owned the now-shuttered eateries Seoul Shin Jung in Pinetree Plaza and Harue in Duluth, said she hopes to take a break and spend time with her family, while also managing her Suwanee catering company.
She hopes to return to Buford Highway in the near future with a streamlined version of Hello Chicken.
“Doraville is very special to me,” she said. “When I moved to the U.S. in 1991, my mom opened a Korean restaurant on Buford Highway. There’s so much history and memories here for me.”
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