Short-Lived ManDu To Become Korean Tapas Bar 'Janchi'

Short-Lived ManDu To Become Korean Tapas Bar 'Janchi'Steven Bracco/Hoodline
Steven Bracco
Published on May 18, 2015

ManDu, which opened back in February in the former Barracuda Sushi location, is now set to become Janchi, a Korean tapas restaurant. ManDu was shut down on May 1st by the Health Department with the primary issue a "rodent infestation," according to DPH's Nancy Sarieh.

On Friday, the Health Department lifted the suspension of the restaurant's operating permit after the location underwent a re-inspection. Now, Chef Daniel Sudar (who also owns Slurpplans to change concepts from ManDu's pan-Asian street food to Korean tapas.

The new incarnation will be called Janchi, which in Korean means feast or banquet, and it's been billed as a "Korean gastropub" in a recent Craiglist ad for staff. The team is currently at work developing a menu, interviewing and hiring staff. As of right now plans are for the restaurant to open in the near future—possibly this week if everything goes as planned.

This isn't the first time that a Korean restaurant has opened in the Castro. Back in 2012, K*Pop opened at the corner of 18th & Castro, a location which was believed to bear something of a curse. K*Pop closed in December 2013 and Gyro Xpress, which has tried its best to ward off the curse, recently celebrated its first anniversary on the corner.

Will 2251 Market St. be the next address to see never-ending restaurant turnover, or are Sudar and his team on to a successful concept? Time will tell.