Seoul Sushi, the Korean BBQ and sushi spot that built a following out of Wilmington's Cargo District, is opening its second permanent restaurant in Hampstead on Tuesday, September 9. The 1,700-square-foot eatery will sit at 43 Shuckin Street inside the new Oyster Creek Landing development, and the family behind it is pausing its longtime food truck to make the launch happen.
The Hampstead expansion was first detailed by Port City Daily, which reported that Seoul Sushi is owned and operated by Sang and Adam Woo. Sang Woo, who was born in Korea and moved to Pittsburgh with his family at age 5, told the outlet, “We cannot wait to introduce Seoul Sushi to Hampstead.” He also said his goal is for people to relax and enjoy something special at the restaurant.
Ahead of the grand opening, Seoul Sushi held a soft opening at Oyster Creek Landing on Saturday, September 5, according to social media updates the restaurant posted after weeks of waiting on final permit approvals in late August. Adam Woo confirmed to the same outlet that the business is temporarily halting its food truck operations so it can dedicate full resources to running the new brick-and-mortar space, a shift that will be felt by regulars who've relied on the mobile setup for the past few years.
From Food Truck Test Runs to a Second Storefront
Seoul Sushi first launched as a food truck in the greater Cape Fear region in 2023, and Sang Woo tested demand in his own backyard before ever opening a permanent kitchen. The truck sold out of menu items in just two hours during an event in Hampstead's Castle Bay community, an early signal of the appetite that would eventually justify a full restaurant in the same area, the report noted.
That momentum carried Seoul Sushi to its first physical location in 2025 inside Wilmington's Cargo District, the shipping-container development that has grown into a hub of 85 commercial units, 19 restaurants and nine bars since it launched in 2017, as Hoodline has previously reported. Now the business is following the growth further up U.S. Highway 17 into Hampstead's newest commercial corridor.
A Menu Built on Decades in Pittsburgh Kitchens
The menu leans on Sang Woo's culinary background, which stretches back long before Seoul Sushi existed. According to a culinary history report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, his parents opened Young Bin Kwan, one of Pittsburgh's earliest Korean restaurants, in the city's Bloomfield neighborhood in 1986, running it alongside an Asian grocery market for two decades.
Sang Woo also spent nearly seven years as sushi and sous chef at Nakama Japanese Steakhouse in Pittsburgh, a kitchen that generated $14 million in annual revenue and earned local “best sushi” honors for 11 consecutive years, per the same account. He helped open satellite restaurant locations across the Pittsburgh area during that tenure before eventually relocating to the Hampstead area.
That background shows up in Seoul Sushi's menu, which is known for rice bowls, sushi and wings. The Seoul Crab Roll is made with fresh crab and topped with spicy tuna, while The Hanalei is a tempura-fried roll packed with seasoned lump crab, eel, avocado and cream cheese. The Seoul, meanwhile, includes shrimp tempura alongside a crab roll.
Bowls, Wings and a Gochujang-Based BBQ Sauce
Seoul Sushi's bibimbap bowls come with white rice, spinach, carrots, cucumber kimchi, squash and pickled radish, topped with an over-easy egg, green onions and sesame seeds, with a choice of protein such as bulgogi beef or spicy pork. The restaurant's wings are tossed in a choice of homemade sauce, and its Seoul-Loaded Fries are built from shoelace-cut potatoes, sesame oil, a choice of protein, yum yum sauce, gochujang, kimchi and sesame seeds.
That gochujang base also anchors the restaurant's Korean BBQ sauce. The fermented red chili paste is described as a sweet and savory mainstay of Korean cooking, foundational to much of the menu beyond just the fries.
Hampstead's Growth Spurt Draws New Businesses
Seoul Sushi's arrival lands inside a brand-new development. Oyster Creek Landing, a 31,030-square-foot mixed-use retail and office complex developed by Double Dimension LLC, held its official grand opening in May 2025, as WilmingtonBiz reported at the time. The complex already hosts P.T.'s Olde Fashioned Grille, Tiny'z Tavern, Bubba & Finn's Hawaiian Kine Treats and Drift Coffee.
The timing tracks with a broader surge in Pender County, where Seoul Sushi is now betting on sustained demand. U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by Carolina Demography and reported by Hoodline showed the county grew 2.8% between July 2024 and July 2025, tying it for the third-fastest population growth rate in North Carolina — a trend Hoodline also connected to Novant's recent filing for a Hampstead emergency department. World Population Review estimates put Pender County's population at 74,072 in 2026, up from 52,415 in the 2010 census, a 41% jump over 16 years that helps explain why restaurants and other businesses keep pushing into the once-underserved suburb.
