Soonja's Seoul Pocha is set to bring a beloved family kitchen back to life in Walker's Point. Owner Hai Jin Park is reimagining her family's longtime Seoul Korean restaurant as a pocha-style hangout, blending comforting home recipes with shareable late night plates. The new spot is meant as both a tribute to her late mother and a fresh option for neighborhood diners and bar-goers.
Park has leased the street-level storefront that most recently housed The National Cafe on West National Avenue, giving the revival a highly visible home in Walker's Point. The building's central location, recent vacancy and The National's history on the corner helped shape Park's plans, according to Urban Milwaukee.
Park told OnMilwaukee she has signed a lease for 839 W. National Ave and is aiming for a June opening. She and her mother, Soonja, ran Seoul Korean on Prospect Avenue for more than 15 years. The restaurant closed in 2022 after a sudden family emergency that left Soonja hospitalized, and doctors later discovered late stage cancer. "My mother has never really left us and I’ve always wanted to open the restaurant again," Park said.
Menu and bar program
The menu is expected to lean into comforting Korean home dishes and shareable anju, with likely offerings such as seafood and kimchi pancakes, gopchang jjigae, bulgogi and Korean fried chicken. Park is also planning more casual plates like loaded Korean fries and Spam and egg. The bar program is set to emphasize beer and soju to match the pocha vibe, and Park says her brother Junwoo will run the kitchen while she takes the lead on service. "I will run the restaurant and my brother will be the main chef," Park told OnMilwaukee.
Neighborhood context
Seoul Korean had long been a neighborhood staple on Prospect Avenue before its closure, and its return under the Soonja's name taps into a local appetite for authentic, family run spots. Walker's Point has seen a steady rotation of independent concepts in recent years, which makes the arrival of a nostalgic, returning name stand out along this stretch of National Avenue, Urban Milwaukee reported.
For Park, the project is as much about honoring her family as it is about feeding the neighborhood. She says the goal is to carry forward her mother's approach, putting "soul and love" into every dish. If construction and permitting stay on track, the team hopes to open this summer and bring Soonja's recipes back to Milwaukee tables.
