Koreatown’s Intercrew, ‘essential spot’ for Asian American creatives, will close after five years

After opening for comedian Ronny Chieng at The Wiltern in September 2024, Paul Kim headed to Intercrew for the afterparty.

“That night I was hanging out with Lisa Ling, Daniel Dae Kim — just all these movers and shakers in the Asian community,” Kim said, “celebrating with them all night.”

Intercrew, the supper club and live music venue housed in an art deco building on Wilshire Boulevard, will open its doors one last time on Saturday — news that feels incredibly personal to Kim given how often he spent time there and how his career unfolded alongside it.

Kim, a Korean American stand-up comedian who performs under the name PK, said the venue had a way of bringing Asian American creatives together as they began gaining visibility.

“Back then, there were so few Asian American people in entertainment and on TV. So during this rise of Asian Americans in media and entertainment … you could go to Intercrew and hang out with everybody,” he said. “Basically you’re networking while you’re partying. I feel like it was the essential spot for that.”

The venue announced the closure less than a week before their last night.

“After five unforgettable years, Intercrew will be closing its doors at the end of February 2026,” the venue owners wrote on Instagram this week. “End of an era. Goodbye.”

The venue opened in 2021 inside the Morgan Adams building on Wilshire Boulevard, taking on the name of a Koreatown lounge that operated in the late 1990s and early 2000s in what is now Quarters Korean BBQ. The new Intercrew began as a New American restaurant but quickly evolved into a late-night hub for artists, live performances and private parties.

The building is hard to miss.

The exterior features a mural by South Korean street artist Royyal Dog, depicting a Black woman and a Latino woman dressed in traditional Korean hanbok.

Filmmaker Daniel “DPD” Park is one of Intercrew’s co-owners and grew up in Koreatown. He said idea for Intercrew grew out of relationships built over years in the neighborhood.

“My partners and I all grew up eating and hanging out and spending a lot of time in Koreatown, and it was very important for who we became and for our careers,” Park said, and “Koreatown was a safe space for us to develop those networks and develop those communities.”

Alongside Park, Intercrew was founded by some big names, including Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch and members of Far East Movement, the first Asian American group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their 2010 hit “Like a G6.”

At first, the focus was on the restaurant. But the space was large, and private reservations quickly became a significant part of the business.

Intercrew drew a loyal following, evident in the flood of comments on Instagram after the venue announced its closure, but that wasn’t enough to keep the venue afloat in a tough economy.

“A lot of good things have happened over the years,” Park said, adding that there was a shift in the overall scene.

“People have less disposable income. We even noticed a lot of companies starting to really slash down on budgets for events. It’s a combination of several things with the economy in LA, right? All of those factored into business slowing down,” he said.

The rise in costs and fewer people eating out didn’t help, Park said.

“And with the shift in culture of how people spend their disposable income, rent hasn’t caught up to that. I think there needs to be some adjustments on the price values on different things in the city.”

Park and his partners plan to focus on their entertainment company Transparent Arts, which represents and develops Asian and Asian American talent in music.

There are no immediate plans for the Intercrew space or brand. He added, however, that some of the venue’s core staff may go on to develop new businesses in the future.

Intercrew has hosted several high-profile events. Rapper and actor Dumbfoundead celebrated his 40th birthday earlier in the month.

In 2023, Jay Park, an American rapper and singer-songwriter based in South Korea, launched his soju brand, Won Soju, in the United States at the venue.

In 2021, BTS member Suga was spotted there with musician Anderson .Paak. That same year, Angelina Jolie dined at the restaurant.

Kim’s connection to the Intercrew brand stretches all the way back to when the original lounge operated in Chapman Plaza.

“It was the number one K-town lounge,” he said. “It was very nostalgic for when we were in our 20s. When I first started going out after college, I was just so excited to always start the night there.”

Park said he has watched Koreatown change over the years, with longtime businesses closing, particularly during the pandemic.

“We noticed that Koreatown over the years was getting gentrified. There were different groups coming in and buying up plots of lands and a lot of the iconic spots we grew up with slowly started closing down,” he said. “So part of the motivation was to have a little corner of the community that we really knew and loved around Koreatown.”

He adds, “I do think Intercrew was the space for that.”

RSVPs are nearly full for the goodbye party on Friday as well as the last official day on Saturday.

“A lot of the networks that we grew up with and new networks that we’ve gotten to know felt like they had a home there and a community there to be around, and that was amazing and like one of the best things about having Intercrew,” Park said. “I think it will continue to live on in different spaces.”

Intercrew’s announcement post about the closure has brought out a lot of feelings online.

“Thank you all so so much for creating this space, and for all the mems. Intercrew is truly where community was made,” one person wrote on Instagram.

“So sad to see ktown losing another amazing venue,” another commented.

Others shared personal stories tied to the space. “I met @andrewyang at Intercrew,” one comment read.

Another added: “noooo! I met all of LA in that room!”