Choeng Wun Buffet, one of LA’s first “all you can eat” KBBQ restaurants
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Carlin Stiehl
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LAist
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Top line
Before "all-you-can-eat” Korean barbecue became a dining concept, there were places like Choeng Wun Buffet, which opened in 1985 in Melrose Hill, offering a home-style buffet cafeteria to Korean families. Today's it's claiming its place in L.A. history as third and fourth generation Korean Americans embrace their roots.
Why it matters: Amid increasing interest in generational Korean businesses, it’s time to honor the restaurant outside of Koreatown that helped the Korean population flourish.
Why now: Owner Kang Chang Hun and his nephew Alex Park are leaning into the restaurant’s “day one” beginnings to bring in L.A. history buffs and newcomers alike.
These days, Korean all-you-can-eat barbecue is often equivalent to a night in Koreatown to wow out-of-towners. However, it wasn’t alway the mainstream gustatory experience at the top of every visitor’s bucket list. In fact, its history suggests that its L.A. origins may not have even started in Koreatown.
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Situated in Melrose Hill, Choeng Wun Buffet is one of the O.G. Korean BBQ restaurants. Humbly tucked away in a corner of the strip mall of the original Dave’s Hot Chicken fame, the restaurant is easy to miss until you get out of your car.
The exterior of Choeng Wun Buffet
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But it has a unique place in L.A’s Korean culture. Choeng Wun Buffet is not only one of the oldest Korean restaurants in the city (second to the 1982-founded Kang Nam Restaurant), but also the proto-AYCE (all-you-can-eat) Korean barbecue joint.
As the name suggests, when Choeng Wun Buffet opened in 1985, it was a buffet-style cafeteria. While that would transform later into the AYCE concept, at that point — it was just a convenient way to eat.
Instead of today's theater of a large plate surrounded by dozens of small dishes of crunchy, savory, and garlicky banchan, there were simply steaming trays of Korean-style vegetables, the same as those served at home, which you piled on your plate as many times as you’d like.
Owner Chang Hun Kang
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Over the decades, those beginnings had been somewhat forgotten. But now as third and fourth generation Korean Americans look to honor their roots, there’s been a resurgence of interest in generational Korean businesses like Choeng Wun Buffet.
Korean diaspora
It's something owner Kang Chang Hun and his nephew Alex Park are leaning into; they want the restaurant’s “day one” beginnings to be remembered as part of L.A. history, and to bring in diners seeking a nostalgic Korean L.A. experience.
Because it’s in Melrose Hill, rather Koreatown, it can sometimes be left out of the Koreatown story, like that depicted in Emmanuel Hahn’s Koreatown Dreaming.
But Park says it's a myopic disservice to the Korean businesses that surrounded the neighborhood, from the restaurant itself to the stalls that occupied East Hollywood’s Union Swapmeet.
“There are plenty of Korean businesses outside of Koreatown that also reflect the diversity of the socio-economic status and geography of the Korean diaspora throughout L.A. County,” he said.
Abundant offerings
For Korean Americans like myself, walking into Choeng Wun Buffet feels like going into a time warp. At the center of the welcoming, homey restaurant stands a retro, green-tiled salad bar a la Sizzler’s, with seasoned vegetables and greens such as acorn jelly, chive salad, soybean sprouts, and sweet and sour radish.
Against one wall lies a row of three soup stations, consisting of homemade seaweed soup, pumpkin porridge, and red bean porridge, and two industrial rice cookers that hold white rice and chapsal (sticky brown sweet rice).
Across from this wall is an arrangement of seasoned protein, from chicken and squid to various cuts of beef and pork, ready to serve cafeteria-style. Highlights include pumpkin porridge with pillowy bites of glutinous rice balls, the brightly adorned japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), frosty bowls of naengmyeon (cold noodles in chilled broth), and crispy honey sesame wings.
Short rib served at Choeng Wun Buffet
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One might consider the restaurant’s giant rice cookers and cafeteria lines antiquated, but it conjures profound memories for Korean families coming out of church services and gathering in communal spaces over bowls of porridge, kimbap, and banchan. It is difficult now to find similar experiences in Korean restaurants, but Kang lets his yearnings for such spaces guide his business decisions.
Owner Chang Hun Kang stands in front of the meat buffet
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“I’m 62 years old now, but I started working here at 30 years old,” he said. “I really don’t have ambitions of turning a big profit. I’m sure having a lot of money is nice, but all I want is to keep this restaurant in its good condition.”
Growth of all-you-can-eat
Choeng Wun Buffet was ahead of its time. By the 2000’s the buffet-style cafeteria had been rebranded as AYCE, and Korean barbecue reached a new level of popularity in California. The hallyu (Korean wave) of South Korean imports — predominantly music, movies, and beauty products — also included Korean cuisine, which ushered in a mainstream version of barbecue that focuses on copious amounts of pork and beef cuts marinated in a drippy assortment of soy sauce and toasted sesame oil.
All you can eat means exactly that
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With that came a wave of American chains like Gen BBQ, which opened in 2011 and popularized the AYCE denomination even further. Over time, hospitality groups and savvy small businesses alike have squeezed more money out of the extravagant nature of the AYCE experience with dining time limits and incremental charges on extra portions.
Meanwhile, Choeng Wun Buffet skirts the Westernized interpretation of Korean barbecue. When Kang says “all you can eat,” he urges diners to grab platefuls of meat as many times as they’d like — no limits enforced.
Younger crowds
Still, the family has to make rent. In 2016, Alex Park jumped on board to help his uncle with the restaurant, which was competing for new diners amidst the bubbling AYCE scene. Through Instagram ads and a new website that memorialized the restaurant’s beginnings and value, Kang began noticing new faces from the Melrose Hill neighborhood in addition to college students.
He felt called to play father to some of the younger crowds who came in to experience KBBQ for the first time. He recalls one instance when he sat at the table with them, showing them how to tightly wrap a cut of meat in a giant leaf of red lettuce with a dollop of gochuchang, chive salad, kimchi, and rice, then eating it in one bite.
Choeng Wun Buffet offers the best value for large parties through its tactile punch cards, where the staff punches a hole for every person in your party. A party of 10 gets one free meal. In addition, Kang has carefully thought through pricing tiers, with late night discounts and all-you-can-eat options ranging between $25 and $45, depending on whether bulgogi suffices or if diners want the luxury of unlimited L.A. galbi and shrimp.
Pickled onion and cilantro banchan
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How it started
Without knowing a single person or having any family member in the United States, Kang followed the love of his life, Yoona, and her family, to Los Angeles when they made the sudden decision to emigrate from Seoul, Korea, in 1986.
As his wife and mother-in-law began to make names for themselves with their volunteer service in the church, they decided to buy Choeng Wun Buffet in 1991. (The original owners were selling it, and while it was outside Koreatown, they decided to go ahead). Aside from a few modifications and homemade kimchi by Kang, the restaurant continues to use the same recipes created by Yoona’s family.
Choeng Wun Buffet’s historic sign outside of the restaurant
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“To this day, when I’m here, I can feel my wife everywhere,” he said. “I can’t leave this restaurant.”
Yoona’s family also played a central role in the Korean community by establishing eateries like the ever-comforting Mapo Kkak Doo Gee and Kangbyun, the latter of which shuttered after the 1992 riots.
In comparison, Choeng Wun Buffet continued to run as a low-key buffet-style cafeteria, a place for Korean families to head to after church.
After Yoona passed away in 2019, the family organized a large service for their familial glue at Han Kook Mortuary. It became an emotionally stirring yet affirming testament to her quiet yet unwavering presence in shaping Korean culture in Los Angeles.
“People were crowded outside the mortuary thinking it was a famous politician’s funeral,” Park said. “She just knew a lot of people in the Korean community because our family has been here for a while. We had family, friends, and regular customers show up, and that speaks to the person she was.”
The exterior of Choeng Wun Buffet
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To help his uncle with retirement, Park said he would consider taking over Choeng Wun Buffet, especially if it would mean he can collect stories about Korean Angelenos on the periphery of Koreatown.
“I know the family stance is that we would want to keep it in the family for my aunt,” Park said. “This is the only thing we have left of her at this point.”
Meanwhile, the family has local legends and archivists to lean on to show their appreciation online, as if to say, “If you know, you know.”
“I remember this article on LAist about Pijja Palace,and it mentioned there were L.A. staples very unique to their culture, and Choeng Wun was mentioned on the same list,” Park said. “So there are [OGs] who recognize that if you want really grounded homemade Korean food, this is the spot.”
The Food and Drug Administration intends to get tougher on vaccine approvals, as top officials raised concerns about the risk of COVID vaccines for children.
Why now: Speaking on Fox News Saturday morning, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would no longer "rubber-stamp new products that don't work," claiming it made a "mockery of science."
Background: Makary's comments came the day after FDA's top vaccine regulator, Dr. Vinay Prasad, told his team the agency would change its annual flu vaccine framework, update vaccine labels to be "honest," and make other changes to how it reviews vaccines, according to contents of an internal email reviewed by NPR and reported on first by a PBS News Hour correspondent and later byThe Washington Post.
The Food and Drug Administration intends to get tougher on vaccine approvals, as top officials raised concerns about the risk of COVID vaccines for children.
Speaking on Fox News Saturday morning, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency would no longer "rubber-stamp new products that don't work," claiming it made a "mockery of science."
Makary's comments came the day after FDA's top vaccine regulator, Dr. Vinay Prasad, told his team the agency would change its annual flu vaccine framework, update vaccine labels to be "honest," and make other changes to how it reviews vaccines, according to contents of an internal email reviewed by NPR and reported on first by a PBS News Hour correspondent and later byThe Washington Post.
Prasad wrote that the FDA would also no longer authorize vaccines for pregnant women without stricter requirements. And for pneumonia vaccines, manufacturers will have to prove they reduce disease rather than show they generate antibodies. He also raised questions about giving multiple vaccines at the same time, which is standard practice.
The changes could make it much more difficult and expensive for vaccines to get approved, further limiting the availability of vaccines, which are considered among the safest and most effective tools for protecting people against infectious diseases.
While all vaccines carry some risks, most public health experts argue the current process for vetting vaccines before marketing has long assured that the benefits of vaccines outweigh their risks. Studies required after vaccines are approved and surveillance systems, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), also flag potential safety issues once vaccines are in use.
FDA says an analysis links COVID shots to some deaths
Makary said on Fox News that 10 children had died from the COVID shot during the Biden administration, but did not offer specifics about how the FDA came to that conclusion. Millions of children have received the vaccine.
Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administration didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the COVID analysis and changes to vaccine review standards.
According to the FDA email from Prasad, he told the agency's biostatistics and pharmacovigilance team to analyze 96 reported deaths from 2021 to 2024, and they determined 10 children died "after and because of" the COVID vaccine. But Prasad said the true number was likely higher.
"Because he doesn't provide any evidence, he is asking us to trust him on an important issue," Office said. "All this will do is scare people unnecessarily. At the very least, he should provide all the evidence he has so that experts in the field can review it and decide whether he has enough data to prove his point."
Dr. Jesse Goodman, a professor at Georgetown University who held Prasad's job at FDA from 2003 until 2009, said in an email that the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccine approval, has been "recognized globally as a gold standard regulator." Goodman defended "immunologic endpoints like antibody levels" for the accelerated approval of pneumonia and influenza vaccines. He said science supports their use and they are confirmed with studies after approval: "These approaches have helped provide children and adults with timely access to safe and effective vaccines, saving many lives."
Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, reviewed the email from Prasad and challenged his statement that "COVID-19 was never highly lethal for children." Osterholm also questioned the FDA's latest analysis of adverse event reports attributing the 10 deaths to COVID vaccines.
"Prasad's email is filled with factual mistakes and misrepresents both the severity of COVID in children (1597 deaths in 2020-2022) and how the US responded to the first signals of possible vaccine-associated pediatric deaths in May 2021," Osterholm wrote in an email to NPR.
"While Prasad's email notes 10 such deaths, these cases have never been presented for review by the medical and public health communities or published in the medical literature," Osterholm continued. "Given the record of this Administration to misrepresent scientific data regarding vaccines, until these cases have been reviewed by an expert third party, like the National Academy of Science[s], we can not accept the fact they are vaccine-associated deaths."
Surveillance system collects vaccines reports
The FDA makes public data from the VAERS surveillance system co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the FDA cautions, "it is important to note that for any reported event, no cause and effect relationship has been established." In his email, Prasad wrote that "with case reports, causality is typically assessed on a subjective scale. In this scale ranging from certain to unlikely — certain, possible/likely, and probable are broadly considered as related to the product."
Makary said on Fox News that when the COVID shot was first rolled out, it was "amazing" for people at high risk of coming down with severe disease, but things have changed.
"Back in 2020, we saw a reduction in the severity of illness and lives saved, but now recommending that a 6-year-old girl get another 70 million COVID shots — one each year for the rest of her life — is not based on science. And so we're not going to just rubber stamp approvals without seeing some scientific evidence."
The claim is the latest move by Trump administration health officials questioning the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and how the government has regulated them. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long questioned vaccines.
The FDA restricted eligibility for the updated COVID vaccines in August after announcing the agency planned to require more evidence about the shots' safety and effectiveness going forward.
CDC committee will meet to review vaccine policies
The FDA email on vaccine policy comes just before the CDC convenes a crucial two-day meeting of that agency's influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Dec. 4-5. The committee is in the process of conducting a major review of how children are inoculated against dangerous infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, polio and hepatitis B.
Many public health experts are concerned the committee will upend the childhood vaccination schedule. It could move to delay the timing of some inoculations, space out vaccinations and call for the reformulation of some vaccines. Taken together, the moves could result in fewer children getting protected and the resurgence of once-vanquished diseases.
Asked about Makary and Prasad's claims that the COVID vaccine caused deaths among 10 children, Moderna, whose COVID vaccine is approved for children as young as 6 months old, pointed to a statement it made in September. The company says that multiple published, peer-reviewed studies from a variety of sources show its shot is safe and that it is "not aware of any deaths in the last year or pertinent new information from prior years."
Moderna says it monitors its vaccine's safety along with regulators in more than 90 countries. "With more than one billion doses distributed globally, these systems — including in national health systems across Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the U.S. — have not reported any new or undisclosed safety concerns in children or in pregnant women."
Pfizer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Copyright 2025 NPR
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published November 30, 2025 7:22 AM
Afghan evacuees at the U.S. air base in Ramstein, Germany in 2021.
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Armando Babani
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
The Trump administration’s sudden freeze on all visa and asylum decisions for Afghan immigrants has left many of them in Orange County — one of the country's largest hubs for Afghans — in limbo. Local groups are preparing to support the immigrants even as they await clarification from federal authorities.
Why it matters: California is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Afghan immigrants, many of them now grappling with the Trump administration’s abrupt visa and asylum freeze.
Read on ... to learn more about the Afghan population in Orange County and guidance from one O.C. immigration official on what could come next.
California is home to the nation’s largest concentration of Afghan immigrants, many of them now grappling with the Trump administration’s abrupt visa and asylum freeze.
Friday’s announcement by the White House followed the fatal shooting of a National Guard member in Washington, D.C. a couple days earlier by a suspect who had immigrated from Afghanistan.
In Orange County, where many Afghans have settled as their immigration applications pend, local officials are gearing up to help them navigate the change, even as guidance is scant from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Jose Serrano, director of Orange County's Office of Refugee and Immigrant Services, said the goal is to provide the “most up-to-date information so they can continue on towards their pathway towards citizenship here in the United States.”
“The Afghan population in Southern California, specifically in Orange County, is one that is really important to the DNA of who we are,” Serrano said. “Let's continue to stay together and strong and reimagine a place for belonging for everyone.”
As they await more information, Serrano advised visa and asylum seekers to:
stay on top of updates from USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security
contact their local office of immigrant and refugee affairs
connect with organizations that work closely with immigrant and refugee populations, such as resettlement agencies and legal aid groups
Hundreds of Afghan households have settled in Orange County, Serrano said, making it one of the state’s hubs for Afghan immigrants alongside San Diego and Sacramento.
Serrano said a big draw for immigrants to Orange County is Little Arabia in Anaheim, a regional destination for Middle Eastern food, culture and community life.
Serrano, who spent more than a decade working with immigrants at World Relief Southern California and the state's refugee programs bureau, said entering Afghan homes means being offered large meals. One family had prepared a whole feast for a Time Warner cable worker, he recalled.
“They didn't understand why that person couldn’t stay to dine with them,” he said. “That’s the type of people that are here in Orange County, folks who are so committed to being a part of civic engagement, to connecting alongside other communities.”
Visa applications in limbo
Serrano said many of the Afghans who resettled in the county are Special Immigrant Visa holders, a program created for Afghan nationals who helped the U.S. government during the war in their home country.
That program has now been frozen by the State Department.
Serrano said immigrants who entered the U.S. as refugees and have since become green card holders could see their cases reopened.
For Serrano, the current screening process is rigorous and involves multiple organizations aside from USCIS, such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the F.B.I. and counterterrorist organizations.
Applicants undergo health screenings and multiple fingerprinting appointments, he said.
“They're constantly doing an assessment to verify that you are a good-standing citizen,” Serrano said. “One of the things that I think we should be very proud of within the United States is that there is an in-depth screening process for anyone who is seeking a protection.”
Four people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting during a family gathering at a banquet hall in Stockton, sheriff's officials said Saturday.
Details: The victims included both children and adults, said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County sheriff's office.
What's next: Early indications "suggest this may have been a targeted incident," Brent said during a news conference at the scene. Local officials said the suspected shooter has not been caught and pleaded with the public for help. Detectives were still working to identify a possible motive.
STOCKTON, Calif. — Four people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting during a family gathering at a banquet hall in Stockton, sheriff's officials said Saturday.
The victims included both children and adults, said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County sheriff's office. Early indications "suggest this may have been a targeted incident," Brent said during a news conference at the scene.
Local officials said the suspected shooter has not been caught and pleaded with the public for help. Detectives were still working to identify a possible motive.
"If you have any information as to this individual, reach out immediately. If you are this individual, turn yourself in immediately," San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said during a news conference.
The shooting occurred just before 6 p.m. inside the banquet hall, which shares a parking lot with other businesses. Stockton is a city of 320,000 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Sacramento.
"Families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive," Mayor Christina Fugazzi said.
Authorities did not immediately provide additional information about the conditions of the victims. Officials said earlier that several were taken to hospitals.
The Stahl House, otherwise known as Case Study House #22, is on the market for the first time in its 65-year history.
Why it matters: The midcentury modern home in the Hollywood Hills has come to embody the postwar Los Angeles good life. It is also one of the most recognizable examples of West Coast modernism.
Why now: The house has been with the same family since its completion. But after caring for it for more than 6 decades, the Stahl children are looking for the house's next steward.
Read on... For the fascinating history of the Stahl House. Find out why its original moniker is Case Study House #22, and see the photographs that have made the hilltop home a revered landmark.
A quintessential piece of Los Angeles history — a jaw-dropping midcentury modern house of glass, steel and seemingly all skies soaring high above the Hollywood Hills — is up for sale.
Asking price: $25 million.
The Stahl House, designed and built by Pierre Koenig, photographed by Julius Shulman.
The Stahl House, otherwise known as Case Study House #22, has stayed with the same family since it was built in 1960.
"After 65 years, our family has made the heartfelt and very difficult decision to place the Stahl House on the market," wrote the Stahl children, Bruce Stahl and Shari Stahl Gronwald.
The 2,200-square-foot home at 1635 Woods Drive has been preserved meticulously, funded in part by proceeds from open-house tours of the space.
"This home has been the center of our lives for decades, but as we’ve gotten older, it has become increasingly challenging to care for it with the attention and energy it so richly deserves," the Stahl children continued.
And they are not just looking for a buyer — but a steward.
The kitchen of the Stahl House, photographed by Julius Shulman.
"It is a passing of responsibility," the listing for the house reads. "A search for the next custodian who will honor the house's history, respect its architectural purity, and ensure its preservation for generations to come."
Post-war housing shortage
The Stahl House, or Case Study House #22, was designed and built by Pierre Koenig in the Hollywood Hills.
The futuristic house, with its stunning panorama and a swimming pool perched at the edge of nothingness, has become one of the most recognizable and prized expressions of midcentury modern architecture in L.A. How it came to be built was fueled by a similar spirit of experimentation and audacity.
In 1945, the cutting-edge Arts & Architecture magazine launched the "Case Study House" program to commission the era's biggest and most boundary-pushing architects — Richard Neutra, Charles Eames and the like — to design and build affordable, scalable homes for an exploding middle class after World War II.
"Each house must be capable of duplication and in no sense be an 'individual' performance," editor John Entenza wrote in the announcement-slash-manifesto.
By its terminus in 1966, the program gave rise to 36 designs, of which 25 prototypes were built — mostly in and around the city — forging L.A. into an epicenter of West Coast modernism.
Case Study Home #22
One of them was Case Study Home #22 by Pierre Koenig, who, as an architecture student at USC in the early 1950s, was already making a name for himself, particularly for his use of steel.
His student work caught the attention of Entenza, who later invited him to join the Case Study House program.
Architect Pierre Koenig was hired by former football player Buck Stahl and his wife Carlotta to build the Stahl House.
The Hollywood Hills home would be Koenig's second Case Study house — and his most well-known.
The story began with Hughes Aircraft purchasing agent and former football player Buck Stahl and his wife, Carlotta, who bought a small hillside lot overlooking the city for $13,500.
The couple spent weekends putting up a wall around the property using broken concrete sourced from construction sites. Buck, the Stahl family said, had built a model of his dream house to take to architects — many of whom turned the job down because the lot was seen as undevelopable.
The Stahl House, part of the Case Study House program, was completed in 1960.
Enter Koenig, who signed on for the challenge in 1957. A month before construction began in 1959, the project was christened Case Study House #22. The Stahl House was completed a year later, according to the Los Angeles Times, at a cost of nearly $38,000.
The birth of cool
With its sleek lines and inviting airiness, Case Study House #22 has come to embody the good life in postwar Los Angeles, an idea reinforced by its countless appearances in movies, TV shows and magazine spreads over the decades.
But the photographs that started it all — elevating the home into the stuff of mythology — were taken by Julius Shulman. He was tapped to document the entire Arts & Architecture program after charting an unlikely career photographing modernist architecture in L.A., starting with those designed by Neutra.
Julius Shulman was responsible for documenting houses in the Case Study House program. The Stahl House is among a number of houses he took photos of.
Shulman shot the Stahl House in May 1960, shortly after its completion. In the most iconic shot of the series, two young women in white party dresses are sitting in the glass living room, conversing leisurely as the house dissolves into the shimmering sprawl below.
"It was not an architectural quote-unquote 'photograph,'" said Shulman about the image in an interview for the Archives of American Art. "It is a picture of a mood.”
