Dosirak Korean Convenience Store Opens This Summer

Durham lacks the Korean food access of bigger cities. One pop-up cook is trying to change that with a permanent storefront on W. Main.

What's opening

Dosirak, a Korean-style convenience store named for the Korean word for lunchbox, is set to open next month at 307 W. Main St. in downtown Durham. Owner Kristine Suh has spent years cooking Korean food at pop-ups across the city. This is her first permanent location.

The shop will carry to-go snacks and meals, desserts, Korean ingredients, and gifts. The centerpiece: a wall of Ramyun instant noodles that customers can cook on-site with hot water.

What Suh is going for

Suh said she wants the storefront to give people a way to explore Korean culture and try foods and ingredients that aren't easy to find locally. Durham doesn't have the same access to Korean goods that larger cities like Los Angeles do, and that gap is part of what she's trying to address.

"It's a way for me to give food that might not exist elsewhere a place on a menu," Suh said.

The venture is also part of a broader push to help women- and minority-owned businesses open in Durham. Suh said she plans to keep running pop-ups around town even after the shop opens.

Dosirak Korean Convenience Store Opens This Summer

Durham lacks the Korean food access of bigger cities. One pop-up cook is trying to change that with a permanent storefront on W. Main.

What's opening

The shop will carry to-go snacks and meals, desserts, Korean ingredients, and gifts. The centerpiece: a wall of Ramyun instant noodles that customers can cook on-site with hot water.

What Suh is going for

"It's a way for me to give food that might not exist elsewhere a place on a menu," Suh said.

The venture is also part of a broader push to help women- and minority-owned businesses open in Durham. Suh said she plans to keep running pop-ups around town even after the shop opens.