Bordered by Beverly Boulevard on the north and West Olympic Boulevard to the south, Koreatown is a 2.1-square mile Los Angeles neighborhood that extends a little past the edges of South Wilton Place on the west and Vermont Avenue on the east. Several major shopping centers (Koreatown Galleria, Koreatown Plaza, City Center on 6th, and MaDang the Courtyard) offer Korean fashion, cosmetics, and K-Pop retailers mixed with restaurants, cafes, and supermarkets – including multiple H Mart locations – while numerous densely packed strip malls cater to every conceivable need, niche or mainstream. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Koreatown’s estimated 5,000 businesses and 700 restaurants are Korean, including many of the country’s first locations of South Korean restaurant groups (such as BCD Tofu House) and countless places serving KBBQ or Korean fried chicken. But the neighborhood is also home to Korean-American fusion spots like Koreatown Pizza Company, Chinese-Korean restaurants, noteworthy Japanese chains (CoCo Ichibanya, KazuNori, Sushi Zanmai), and individual Thai, Vietnamese, and Brazilian restaurants.
Beyond fun activities, Koreatown offers access to numerous medical and other professional offices catering to Southern California’s Korean population; the permanent location of a Korean American National Museum has been selected, but stuck in planning for years. Vacancy levels at the aforementioned shopping centers are fairly high, and as of 2025, some of the long-standing restaurants inside were either permanently closed (despite “now open” signage to the contrary) or only serving dinner, leaving food courts and cafes as lunch options. That said, some offer interesting dishes and desserts (Pistachio Kream Bomb from Le Kreme, shown) that can’t easily be found elsewhere in the area. In Orange County, Buena Park’s The Source has become a strong alternative for Korean shopping, dining, and entertainment, hosting the first U.S. locations of Old Ferry Donut and other popular Korean chains that subsequently opened in Koreatown.
