New Korean restaurant Jokbal Night Market to open in Arlington Heights

A new Korean restaurant will replace a different one that lasted less than a year in Arlington Heights.

Proprietors behind Jokbal Night Market appeared before the village board Monday night for a liquor license following the recent closure of Marbling Korean BBQ at 63 W. Golf Road.

The 2,700-square-foot sit-down restaurant is set to open for dinner within the Arlington Towne Square Shopping Center during the second week of August, said owner Dong Yeop Lee.

The restaurant’s signature dish, jokbal, is braised pork feet cooked in broth and seasonings. Other traditional Korean dishes will be served including bossam (thinly sliced boiled pork belly), gamjatang (pork neck bone soup), braised pork ribs and pancakes.

With the class A liquor license approved Monday night, the owners plan to serve Korean beer and soju, a clear distilled Korean beverage with 18% alcohol content that’s similar to Japanese sake.

Jokbal Night Market’s planned opening in Arlington Heights follows its first U.S. location that opened in March at 3580 Milwaukee Ave. in Glenview. The Korean-based franchise has some 300 locations in Korea.

Grace Park, who manages the Glenview restaurant, said she and Lee chose the Northwest suburbs to open their first two restaurants because of the large Korean population that lives in the area.

But it’s not just Koreans who enjoy traditional Korean cuisine, Park said.

“In Glenview, we’re getting a lot of other Asian customers, not just Koreans,” Park said. “And also a lot of Americans too.”

Marbling was one of the eateries to open last year within the shopping center on the southwest corner of Arlington Heights and Golf roads. The old retail strip came under new ownership, which first brought the French-Asian fusion bakery Tous les Jours to the former Happiness Is Pets shop.

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