North Brooklyn is now home to several spots serving Korean fried chicken and other specialty snacks. The latest is Sweetie’s (676 Manhattan Ave.), a Korean fried chicken fast casual restaurant that comes complete with a sweet story.
Sweetie’s is owned and operated by Jinny Kim and her mother-in-law, Young Sook Kim, who has served the Greenpoint community for the past two decades through various businesses including The Nail Gallery (670 Manhattan Ave.)
“With her mentorship and push, I decided to quit my job to pursue Sweetie’s all-in earlier this year,” Jinny Kim told Greenpointers.
“If you asked me where or what I would be doing about a year ago, there was no way I could have imagined the reality I’m living right now as a small business owner. Before this, I was working in corporate America like many others,” Jinny Kim continued.
Before opening Sweetie’s, the Kim women worked hard on narrowing down a name for their restaurant. In the end, they decided on “Sweetie’s” because it “felt fun” and was “relevant” to the concept of a mother and daughter running a business together. Plus, the name “Sweetie’s” is exactly what Young Sook Kim calls her children, one of them being Jinny’s husband.
Jinny Kim told Greenpointers that Sweetie’s “represents hope and community centered around good food.” The owners’ mission is to “deliver the warmth, nostalgia, and unique taste of Korean street food to the community of Greenpoint and beyond.”
Sweetie’s menu is focused on several variations of Korean fried chicken. There are classic varieties including classic fried wings, popcorn chicken and chicken tenders, written on Sweetie’s menu as Umma’s tenders or “Mom’s tenders.” Other options include soy garlic wings and gochujang popcorn chicken, which was the bestselling option during opening week.
Sweetie’s also serves Korean corn dogs. Corndog varieties include the “original” which is sausage-filled, a mozzarella-filled version, a “half & half” which is half sausage and half mozzarella, and one with potato layered on top of the corndog. All of the corndogs are lightly rolled in sugar and topped with sauces in flavors like cheddar ketchup and honey mustard.
The menu includes other Korean treats like a bulgogi bowl, a spicy pork bowl, fishcake soup, seasoned fries, and tteokbokki, or rice cakes, one of the most popular street foods in Korea.
“It’s been a long and challenging journey to our soft opening, but we are so excited to share our culture and food with the Greenpoint community,” said Jinny Kim.
Sweetie’s still considers itself in a soft opening phase and plans to host a grand opening in about two weeks. But Jinny Kim assured Greenpointers that the restaurant is open and ready for customers.
Current hours are Tuesday through Saturday 12 p.m. – 10 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m. – 10 p.m., with the possibility of extended hours in future.
Great, more fried animal carcasses. That’s what we Really need. Not only is deep fried meat the class 2 carcinogen But it is the direct cause the top two causes of death and the number one contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, Deforestation, ocean acidification, ocean dead zones, species extinction, antibiotic use and more. There are so many other choices why would you choose such a unsustainable unhealthy archaic ingredient?
Because it taste good. Its ok to indulge once and a while and not all of us gluten-free vegans. Each to his own.
Go take your breathless diatribe to the mega corps that are truly harming the earth than attacking the hard working mom and pop store who only benefit the community. How you even type all of that, don’t you guys glue your hands to the floor and paintings?
Ew, to back in your hole.
Cry me a river
Sweetie’s is so delicious!! So happy to have this spot in the neighborhood.
Sweetie’s Korean fried chicken blew my mind, who knew fried chicken could taste this good. Definitely try it!