Korchipi Korean Chicken & Pizza

My friend and I walked down Franklin St. and just happened to see this place. What a great find! It’s now called Chopstix. I thought I wouldn’t be interested in Korean food, but whoa, was I wrong. I got the bulgogi box, pork, and it so good… and spicy!!! I’ve never had it before and now I feel as if I could eat it every single day. There was so much food that came with it… the salad with ginger dressing (yum), miso soup, vegetable tempura, kimchi, rice and California roll. The customer service was excellent, as well. Even though I live in Greensboro, I would DEFINITELY drive back to Chapel Hill just to go here for lunch or dinner. Kudos!!!

The food is a good value for what you get. The bulgogi box came with a ton of food for a very reasonable price. The food was okay, but sadly I was not really wowed. I found the bulgogi «okay» and the tempura was good. The rest, I could take or leave.
The bad news: We arrived on a very slow night, put in our order, sat down and waited. And waited. And waited. For what was probably about a half hour. We weren’t sure why they were taking so long, but at first just figured there was some component to our dishes that took a while to prep or something. It wasn’t until a couple more customers trickled in, ordered, got their meal and got about halfway through it that we decided to go inquire. Apparently, they «forgot to put in our order,» which I’m not sure how is possible since it was entered into a computer/​register and paid for, but hey — mistakes happen. The staff was very apologetic, brought our food as promptly as they could thereafter, but they offered nothing beyond their apologies — I would have thought that comping all or part of our meal would have been appropriate, but there was no offer made.
All in all, I may try them again if I’m in the area and need a quick lunch, but I was not impressed with the first experience. A revisit is not high on my list of priorities.

We had a great meal here. We were about a week early before launch of their new Korean menu. I think when more variety of Korean dishes are available, my rating will likely move to 5 stars. We had the Bulgogi boxes: one was bulgogi seasoned beef which was very yummy and a spicer chicken dish. Sort of odd for Korean food, but it comes with a couple pieces of sushi (california roll), vegetable tempura, miso soup, and salad. All of it worked well together. It is a lot of food for a very reasonable price. The staff was very pleasant. I recommend others try this new place as well.

True love.
Chapel Hill had long needed a Korean restaurant. Korchippi took over the old Franklin St. Pizza & Pasta location so their old menu tried to accommodate some of the prior offerings. Next week (July 8^th, 2013) they’re supposed to bring in their new menu. Don’t worry about the change. You want to start with the Bulgogi Boxes, available now.
The Bulgogi boxes are some of the best food you can get. The beef is what I had learned to cook from a Korean friend; it’s on the flavorful, sweet garlic side (yum). The chicken bulgogi has spices similar to kimchi. So while it’s spicy, it’s NOT overpoweringly hot. Both meats are served on a bed of shredded cabbage and sweet dark sauce. They come with a cup of miso soup, a salad, pickled veggies, perfect rice, 2 pcs of California roll and 2 pcs of tempura vegetables. So much good quality, tasty food for around $ 9.
Outstanding food. Excellent customer service. Nice folks. Korchipi is our newest favorite restaurant in CH. We’ll be back for more. See you there.

I visited for the first time after passing the restaurant a million times. It was my first time eating korean food so I was kind of hesitant. They got rid of the pizza they used to sell and are adopting a bigger korean menu soon. I got the dish that was rice with the spicy chicken on top. I asked for fruit and the owner was more than willing to put some on the side. When it came out it came with some tofu soup and pickled ginger (or something) with carrots and jalapeño that I wasn’t expecting. I tried them and they were good for extras I wasn’t expecting. Then I got into the rice bowl. The owner said it was spicy, but I didn’t expect how spicy it actually was. I recommend the spicy chicken only if you are someone who can handle the spiciness. When I started eating more it turned out to be delicious. I saved some for later. There was also a dumpling which someone said was frozen. I couldn’t tell, but I’m not a dumpling expert. I thought it was good though.
I would definitely recommend anyone to try this restaurant. It’s around 8 or 9 dollars for a meal, but there is more than enough and you could probably share/​save some for later if you wanted to.

Popped in for an early dinner. Really enjoyed the Bibimbap. It seems like they are trying to straighten out their beer situation, that will make this place awesome! Really great food and incredibly nice staff. Everyone was friendly and excited to see us. I would highly recommend it.

Excellent wings (but REALLY SPICY, like choke yourself spicy) and very good service. The dumplings are frozen from a bag… but were ok (I guess once you’ve had Chirba Chirba you become a dumpling snob). I will definitely go back to try other stuff. Great atmosphere– very hip seating and nice tv’s!

Food was good, but what really won me over was the service. The ladies that work there are great and remind me a lot of the kind of awesome service you get in restaurants in korea. Not saying this will happen to you, but my friend and I got free beers and a bunch of extra food because I’m so charming. Or maybe it’s because Korchipi is so nice, either way I’ll be going back.

I’ve been here twice now, primarily to use the karaōke room with friends. We had an absolutely awesome time here and for MUCH cheaper than you can find in this area!
My friends and I had done karaōke in a bar in Raleigh which was a drag because of the distance and the fact that you had to listen to strangers sing in between our numbers. At Korchipi, you can reserve your own room equipped with 2 microphones, a glow-​in-​the-​dark tambourine, laser strobe light, and a giant-​screen TV. They have couches as well as tables and chairs so that you can either relax or have your meal while you eat. The rates for very reasonable: for a group of more than 10 people, you can rent this room for the whole night as opposed to just an HOUR at the Korean karaōke place in Durham.
The majority of the songbook is full of Asian languages, but there is a fairly substantial English section. While it may be missing certain karaōke standbys such as «I Got You, Babe» or have strange versions of songs (i.e. Tom Jones version of «Proud Mary» or Geri Halliwell version of «It’s Raining Men»), it is astoundingly current with many songs by Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Flo Rida, etc. It even has many offbeat songs from SNL skits or the soundtrack to «Hedwig and the Angry Inch»…don’t ask. In any case, there are enough songs that you won’t miss any specific ones it’s lacking that you might have had your heart set on. The owners are very friendly so you can go beforehand to check out the songbook before committing.
There are drink specials for the karaōke room, with draft pitchers of beers like Blue Moon and PBR for very cheap. I’ve only eaten there once and I thought the bulgogi bowl was delicious. My favorite part was the orange chicken… I’d get a whole bowl of that next time! My friends enjoyed their meals as well, and they give rice for free which is a very smart business move.
I hope they last because Chapel Hill needs an entertainment place like this! Let’s try to support a new business that offers a unique service to a small city.

First Korean place on Franklin st /​near UNC campus so I had to check it out. Haven’t had the pizza yet but the bulgogi bowl and bulgogi box & chicken box are amazing. You get a lot of food such as rice, bulgogi, salad, dumplings, soup, and fruit for like 9 bucks and some change. Definitely an authentic Korean place that’s great for the price.
Tried the Gangnam style chicken recently and it was great. Served freshly cooked and not over cooked chicken with a great home made sauce. Would definitely try it again.
Also they have good beers on tap, blue moon and fat tire etc and cheaper than other places on Franklin

Korchipi is one of two new eateries on Franklin street that I don’t expect to make it through the business killing doldrums of summer. Hot Dogs and Brew will also be on the chopping block.
I must profess that I am not a seer of the future, more a student of the past. If bubble tea can’t make it on Franklin street, than there is no way either of these two can.
I was filled with anticipation for Korchipi after reading all of the other Unilocal reviews, but was ultimately unimpressed by the ordeal. My partner is Korean, and she agrees that the place is lacking is some fundamentals.
Korchipi’s pros:
Korchipi is cheap and accurately priced for what is served. Korchipi is all Korean’d out, from the staff to the over the top Korean pop videos on the big screen TVs. There is a Karaōke room available for rent. Korchipi adds greatly needed variety to a town that is suffocating from one too many pizza places. The Gangam style wings grow on you about mid way through the basket
And the bad…
Korean Pizza obviously was a result of purchasing the pizza ovens with the property. I’ve eaten my share of Korean food, and I’m pretty sure mi-​so soup and ginger salad are Japanese. The biggest disappointment was the signature dish, bulgogi. Korchipi’s bulgogi is ground up like ground beef. The texture is all wrong, and so is the flavor for that matter. The dumplings were nothing to write home about either
My advice for a sinking ship
Fix the Korean food and ditch the filler. The bulgogi platter was way more food than my partner could finish. Leave the Miso soup and ginger salad to Sakura express. Take comfort in knowing that Chapel Hill is anti-​longevity unless you are perched high atop the corner of Columbia and Franklin St.

Well, they have a back room where you can sing karaōke. It’s interesting. That is about all I can say about a place whose name is reminiscent of a Pokemon character. I miss Franklin Street Pizza & Pasta :(

I’m korean, so maybe had higher expectations than your usual customer walking in and I have to say that I was overall impressed and would definitely be back!
For 7.50 you get a heaping mound of bulgogi (marinated beef) on top of rice, a side of miso soup, and two dumplings. Forreal friends, this is a great deal as Korean food tends to be annoyingly expensive. For those that are taken aback by the sweetness, that’s just how bulgogi rolls and I personally really liked the marinade here.
As for the chicken, I got the wings. For those that are well versed in korean fried chicken, it verges but doesn’t quite reach the crispiness of bonchon chicken in NYC/​boston, but has the sauciness of Soo Café in Raleigh. I’m a pretty happy girl with that combo.
I also appreciate that they layed out sauces for use by the soda machine. I didn’t see signs explaining what each thing was so here you go:
— Red sauce is «gochujjang» which is typically a mixture of red pepper paste, sesame oil, sugar, and water. It has some heat, but isn’t crazy spicy. Traditionally used in rice/​meat/​veggie (bibimbap) bowls.
— Soy sauce that tasted like it had scallion, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and sugar in it (you can tell which one this is cause you can see the scallions floating in the bottle). Try it with the dumplings!
— I think I remember seeing just straight up soy sauce as well…

This is pretty much the Korean version of fast food. The main choices are pizza (mostly standard flavors, but there is a pizza with Korean bbq), bento boxes, and Korean fried chicken. I went for the spicy fried chicken, while my companion went for the chicken teriyaki bento box. His dish was delivered within minutes, while I had to wait over 20 minutes for mine (and ultimately had to remind the guy behind the counter before I saw it). So…“fast” may be broadly defined for this «fast food.»
I was impressed with the amount of food in the bento box – a heap of teriyaki, as well as miso soup, a sticky ball of rice, a couple dumplings, fruit, and a salad. I got a bowl of shredded cabbage with my fried chicken. As for the fried chicken itself… it was OK, but not nearly as delicious as the chicken at Soo café in Raleigh. It had a thick syrupy coating which was very very spicy, and the chicken itself was not dry but not incredibly moist either. I was barely able to get through half of the smaller portion offering.
The food is just OK and definitely not the pinnacle of Korean cooking, but the main perks of this place include the late hours (if you get the munchies after seeing a show or bar-​hopping in Chapel Hill) and the reasonable prices for a large amount of food.
A karaōke room full of wailing undergrads provided the sound backdrop to the experience.

Korchipi is where Tomato Jake’s used to be. It’s a Korean Chicken and Pizza place, though they also have beef dishes.
When you walk in, the place is pretty similar to the old setups, but now with cooler seats and more Korean pop videos playing on the wall. None of these Korean pop videos is Gangnam Style, so that’s probably a good thing. It’s on the radio a lot. I also used to think that the song was about «Gangman», who I assumed fought Mega Man. But nope, it’s about a region of South Korea (you got learned!).
Speaking of Gangnam Style, their chicken wings are done in Gangnam Sauce. I did not try them, but you should know this exists.
Instead, I had a box lunch with beef, miso soup, rice, fruit, salad, and dumplings. I rank them in the following order:
1. Beef — the beef was good and tasty. It had a lot of interesting flavor to it.
2. Miso soup — salty and filled with what I think is tofu. Always a good choice.
3. Salad — don’t take the ginger dressing in one bite, but otherwise generally reliable, as seen here.
4. Fruit — good ol’ fruit. Nothing too exciting here, but yummy.
5. Rice –a glob of rice. Very rice-​y.
6. Dumplings — not really tasty, kind of bland.
At $ 9, it’s a little pricey, but you get a lot of food.
They also have pizza, but from what I saw on the menu it’s by the pie, not by the slice.
Basically, Korchipi fills a void on Franklin Street in terms of Korean food. The food itself is also good, so that’s always a good thing.
Oh, and there’s a karaōke room. Between them and Top This, Franklin Street is going to have a lot of Karaōke moving forward.

Having heard so much about Korean Fried Chicken in general over the internet, I was wanting to give it a try and when this spot opened in my general work area, I figured here my chance.
The restaurant is in the old Franklin Street Pizza and Pasta (and former Tomato Jakes) location. Along their bar are various pizzas which you can order by the slice such as Chicken Bulgogi, Bulgogi, Greek, Cheese, Pepperoni, Meat lovers (can’t recall the name), etc. Behind and above this area as one of the photos shows are the other options such as Boxes (think Korean Bento box) and bowls as well as their namesake chicken.
I decided on the 9 piece sweet and mild and a slice of bulgogi pizza to go to give both options a try.
The pizza had a nice sweetness to it and no red sauce which I had expected. The flavor was nice but the pizza itself was nothing special. The crust was average and so were there the other components save the bulgogi beef.
The chicken pieces I thought were going to be actual pieces of chicken. That is to say that like if you go to a chicken joint and order a 2 piece you usually get a breast and a thigh. The pieces were 5 drumettes 2 chunks (to me that is no bones) 2 wings. Another reason I had expected larger pieces is because they have a separate section on their board for just wings. Visually the chicken was fried but there was definitely no crunch to the chicken at all. The sauce had a nice flavor and smell and gave good flavor to the chicken.
I guess overall the flavor is what it suppose to be the experience didn’t live up to all that I’ve read about on the product. I guess I’ll have to try another outpost that serves Korean Fried Chicken and see if it is the same. Perhaps my lack of experience is the shortcoming in this instance.

Ok so is this the BEST korean food I’ve ever eaten? No, not at all. I’ve had the pleasure of eating at many tasty korean restaurants. Then why, you ask, do I rate this establishment 5 stars???
Its all about whats available on Franklin street and this is one of the few places that doesn’t offer pizza, pasta, or hamburgers. Oh yeah and its pretty good. For 7.50 you can get a bowl of bulgogi, dumplings, and miso soup. The meat was actually much better than expected! I was really happy with my experience. Plus they are always playing the most awesome Korean pop music videos you’ve never seen. I don’t know what channel it is they are playing, but I was thoroughly entertained!
My point being, please please UNC don’t let this place go out of business, give them your money, you won’t be disappointed!
p. s. Not sure about the pizza, it looks like a leftover from Franklin street pizza and pasta that they use as a means to please the pizza craving campus that dictates the type of bland food that is on franklin.

I am officially in love with Korchipi’s Korean fried chicken. For me, personally, it’s lighter (batter-​wise) and crisper than the Western version, but all in all, a different type of delicious that I enjoy with all fried chicken. I got the nine piece chicken meal, and reading the previous reviews, my expectations of large pieces of fried chicken (not the puny wings) was delightfully met. I got the complementary salad of cabbage and sauce and lightly pickled daikon radish, which helped the burn from the spicy chicken wings.
The interior was pleasant, and I really like the fact that it’s a novel juxtaposition of American and Asian fusion as seen in the typical American decorations (from the previous occupants), like the folksy paintings of stores on the right, when you first walk in, but the sound of Korean pop music blaring in the background — it lends itself to the overall dining experience.
I didn’t get to finish my meal, I didn’t realize that I would have to wait approximately 10 — 15 minutes for my wings (every second was worth it) because they’re make to order, but I had a class, but I was able to bring my food to-​go and the smell of my food deliciously permeated the room. I kind of wish that there was a meal, not just the bulgogi meal set, with the fried chicken and not just solely the fried chicken and some veggies.
Lastly, I gotta say, this restaurant is one is my favorite restaurants. Chapel Hill, Franklin St in particular, always seemed lacking in terms of Asian food, and not just very, very Americanized-​Asian food.

This is the second restaurant on Franklin started by owners who’ve realized that the food scene in CH is terrible.
We were trying to decide between here and the adjacent new burger place, but I felt like chicken.
That being said, this place delivers above expectations. Their chicken is easily the best in CH, weird that a Korean chicken place serves good fried chicken, but over the years I’ve found this to be true, which I’ll chalk up to being coincidences. The sauce is tangy, and just spicy enough, really different from the typical vinegar and pepper American hot wing, more a sweet and spicy.
We ordered a 9 piece, with two sodas for like 11 bucks, I was expecting the tiny pieces which the word ‘wing’ usually entails. Nope, the 9 pieces are pieces of the whole chicken, easily lunch enough for 2 people, it came with a shredded cabbage salad and picked daikon, which is little sweeter than other Korean chicken places I’ve tried, but I think that’s for the benefit of the less adventurous palates.
The staff is very friendly, and greet you as you walk in, cheesy, but I enjoy it.
This place is on par with hot dogs and brew, maybe a little higher as I prefer fried chicken to hot dogs or burgers.
I will be back for sure to try their other stuff.
4.8÷5

Korchipi Korean Chicken & Pizza, a Korean fusion restaurant and pizzeria, had its grand opening on Franklin Street. The doors opened a little earlier than their 11:00am opening time and patrons quickly came in. This eatery is in the same address of Tomato Jake’s Pizzeria, which opened in 2012 and then closed later that year, and before that Franklin Street Pizza & Pasta was located in the same spot that served many Tar Heels for over the 18 years that they were in business.
Ambiance:
The look of Korchipi feels more of a sports bar type of establishment than a Korean fusion establishment. Also, there was little remodeling and there are still traces of the previous businesses that were at this locale. Sometimes, that’s not bad; however it is usually best to start off with a clean slate instead of subconsciously reminding people of the past. For those who like to watch TV while eating, they have installed a few flat screen TVs.
Note: The music is on the loud side.
Cool Stuff:
For those of you who are extroverts or like to watch others sing, there is a Karaōke room in the back that is available to rent. When I inquired about the Karaōke room, the waiter said that clients can reserve it by calling them at 919.933.5277. It costs $ 35.00 dollars to rent for hour for seven people and under. If you have a larger party, of eight or more, you get the room for free so long as you order food and drinks for everyone.
Menu:
The menu includes:
~ A variety of Pizza
~ A Teriyaki dish
~ Bulgogi offerings (beef, or spicy chicken)
I ordered a beef Bulgogi and it was decent but on the bland side. Also, the rice was overcooked, while the Miso soup that came with the Bulgogi lunch box was very tasteless. If you are coming from the East or West coast where there are Korea-​towns with locales offering authentic Korean food with its fusion variants as well, you will be let down here. More often than not, I feel that in this area the word «fusion» gets overused too much and it’s not really fusion in the sense of combining elements of different culinary traditions. Like most eateries on Franklin, you can get lunch for under $ 10.00.
Service:
Although being swamped by patrons during their first hour of operation, the staff was very nice, cordial, and efficient. My Bulgogi lunch box took about 13 minutes to arrive (yes I timed it: P), which is not bad all.
Nonetheless, if you are in a rush and in need of something quicker, their pizzas are the way to go as people were getting their orders speedily. After I was done eating, the Korean lady with blonde hair, most probably an owner, asked me what I thought about the food and how they could improve, which I obliged. This was a nice gesture and it made a positive impression on me.
Note: The staff told me that the take-​out menu should arrive next week.
Food for Thought:
Although I was disappointed with my initial experience at Korchipi, even though the service was nice, I will go back and try their other offerings and will amend my review and rating accordingly in the near future should it need it.