The interior of Kisa, designed by Two Point Zero. (Photo by Alex Lau.)
A few months ago I got to tour Good Time Country Buffet while it was still under construction. The restaurant, opening this month in the East Village, is the third from the team behind C as in Charlie (which showcased the owners’ David JoonWoo Yun, Steve JaeWoo Choi, and Yong Min Kim’s Southern and Korean upbringing) and Kisa (inspired by Korean taxi driver spots, which nabbed them a James Beard Semifinalist nod). Good Time, with an all-you-can-eat menu priced at $26.99 with fried chicken and other fix-ins, is an ode to classic Southern country buffets like the ones the owners came of age with in Atlanta. One can see the benefit not just for the customer, but for a business to be able to estimate and anticipate the average check amount. With this restaurant, the team is also formalizing a group umbrella: Good Time Hospitality. Yun, Choi, Kim—and their spots—live up to the name (something that not everyone who screams we’re fun! can always back up; if you’ve been to C as in Charlie, you know shots are involved).
The nostalgic feeling of Good Time Country Buffet was cultivated by designer Junho Choi, of design studio Two Point Zero, who gave Kisa that worn-in 1980s Seoul set. As you may have heard, all-you-can-eat has “gone luxe” in New York—there are a glut of options, from SourAji (the unlimited omakase spot) to Witch Topokki, the rice cake spot. So what does it mean to design a space for this type of high-traffic dining?
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