First look: Owners of Seoul Food Meat Co. to open a new brewery and soju distillery

Why it matters: LaBARatory will also be a soju distillery, which owner Tim Chun tells me is hard to come by here. He says he often has to wait several months for it to be delivered from suppliers.

• Plus, there’s an appetite in Charlotte for alcoholic beverages that aren’t beer. “People are into [beer] alternatives like seltzers, sours, ranch water,” Chun notes. “I think it’s time for Makoli (a Korean rice wine) to shine.”

Zoom in: Soju, similar to beer, is made by distilling alcohol from fermented grains. That’s why the brewery-soju distillery combo made sense for Chun.

• It’s also known as “Korean vodka” because it’s a clear alcoholic beverage with 20-25% ABV.

Zoom out: LaBARatory is the latest brainchild of Chun and his wife Lisa Kamura, who had a busy 2022. First. they opened BIT by Seoul Food in SouthPark, and most recently their second Seoul Food Meat Co. location in Villa Heights, which is essentially a giant playground for the whole family.

What to expect: LaBARatory will have a full bar and 20 taps with rotating beverages. “We don’t plan to have flagship beers. We’ll just continue to experiment,” Chun said.

• You’ll be able to take your beverage across a bridge and over to Seoul Food Meat Co. Mill District, and vice versa.

Details: LaBARatory is located at 2315 N. Davidson St.

• Its hours will mirror those of Seoul Food — 11:30am-midnight Sunday-Thursday and 11:30am-2am Friday and Saturday.
• They’re currently hiring bartenders, cashiers, line cooks and prep cooks.