BRIDGEPORT — Kimski, the much-anticipated Korean-Polish street food counter at Maria’s Community Bar, opens for business Tuesday.
The neighborhood bar’s beer hall expansion and kitchen at 960 W. 31st St. opens at 5 p.m.
Running the kitchen is Won Kim, a 36-year-old chef, painter and host of "Sleeping is for Suckers." He will prepare artful, Asian-inspired street food in the same vein as Maria's popular Korean Polish BBQ series that highlights culinary curiosities like spicy, snappy grilled Polish sausage topped with kimchi.
“Imagine it’s a summer day,” Kim said. “You come here before a Sox game and you’re like, ‘Hey, I’m going to get a sandwich and a beer and sit on the patio …’ That’s what we want to happen here.”
Kimski's menu offers dishes you won't find anywhere else in Chicago.
There’s the Maria’s Standard: Polish sausage on a soft roll topped with soju mustard, Kraut-chi and scallions.
The "KoPo Wangs" are chicken wings slathered in a spicy sauce, topped with sesame seeds and scallions.
Made with meat or vegetables, "Potski's" are similar to potstickers or perogies, filled with potatoes, cheese, kapusta, soy cream sauce and dill.
“We’re a small kiosk in the front, but we want you to chill and relax with the food in the back,” Kim said. “We don’t want don’t want the overtly restaurant feel. We want you to relax and chill and kick it.”
In the Maria's expansion — a beer hall with booths and tables where patrons can sit, eat and drink — you'll find an additional 24 beers on draft, bringing the bar's total beer offerings to 48.
Kimski will be open from 5 p.m.–midnight Tuesdays-Thursdays and 5 p.m.–1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Take a look inside:
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