Draft:Namu Gaji
Korean-American restaurant in San Francisco
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Namu Gaji was a Korean-American restaurant in San Francisco, California, operated by brothers Dennis, Daniel, and David Lee from 2012 until April 2021. Known for its California-influenced approach to Korean and Japanese cuisine, it was a successor to the brothers' earlier restaurant, Namu.
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Comment: Can't cite wikipedia, please remove those and replace with reliable sources. grapesurgeon (talk) 06:58, 13 April 2026 (UTC)
Background
Dennis, Daniel, and David Lee—three Korean-American brothers who grew up in the restaurant industry, with their mother operating a restaurant in Natick, Massachusetts—opened Namu on Balboa Street in San Francisco's Inner Richmond neighborhood in 2006.[1] After the Balboa Street location closed at the end of 2011, the brothers relocated and rebranded, opening Namu Gaji in April 2012 at 499 Dolores Street in the Mission District.[2]
The name reflects the restaurant's identity: "namu" (나무) means "tree" in Korean and "gaji" (가지) means "branch."[3] The brothers also maintained a stand at the Ferry Building Farmers Market throughout their operation.[4]
Cuisine
Namu Gaji served Korean-influenced California cuisine drawing from Korean, Japanese, and American culinary traditions, which chef Dennis Lee described as "Korean-style regional California food."[5] Signature dishes included stone pot bibimbap, a seven-day cured and pickled beef tongue, stone pot okonomiyaki, kimchi fried rice, and gamja fries topped with short rib and kimchi.[6][7]
The restaurant was known for its interpretation of the Korean taco, which Namu had helped popularize in San Francisco beginning in 2009 through its Happy Belly food cart in Golden Gate Park and later at the Ferry Building Farmers Market.[8] Rather than using a flour tortilla, Namu Gaji's version used sheets of nori (dried seaweed) as the wrapper, billing it as the "real Korean taco."[9]
The restaurant operated its own farm in Sunol, California in partnership with farmer Kristyn Leach, using Korean Natural Farming techniques to grow produce and herbs for the menu.[10][11] The brothers' aunt oversaw an in-house fermentation program using bacterial cultures from the family's village in Korea.[12]
Recognition
Chef Dennis Lee received the Rising Star Chef Award from [[San Francisco (magazine)|San Francisco]] magazine in 2012.[13]
The restaurant received coverage from the San Francisco Chronicle,[14] the New York Times,[15] National Geographic,[16] and GQ magazine.[17][18]
Namu Gaji was the subject of a micro-documentary produced by Great Big Story, a video division of CNN.[19]
In 2014, food television host Adam Richman visited the restaurant for his Travel Channel series Man Finds Food, featuring an off-menu loco moco in the episode "Golden Gate Loco Moco."[20][21]
Namu Gaji was included among 7x7 magazine's Best Bay Area Eats of 2013,[22] and was additionally featured in SF Weekly,[23] Tablehopper,[24] Tasting Table,[25] and Williams-Sonoma.[26]
Related ventures
During Namu Gaji's operation, the Lee brothers also opened Namu Stonepot, a fast-casual Korean restaurant at 553 Divisadero Street in San Francisco, in 2017.[27]
Dennis Lee also served as a founding chef at Magnolia Gastropub and later as executive chef at Smokestack, a barbecue restaurant at Magnolia Brewery in San Francisco's [[Dogpatch, San Francisco|Dogpatch]] neighborhood, which opened in 2014.[28][29]
Closure and later ventures
Namu Gaji closed in April 2021 after nearly a decade in operation.[30]
Following the closure, David, Dennis, and Daniel Lee co-founded Pixlcat Coffee & Butter Mochi alongside Jeff Kim, opening their first location in San Francisco's Richmond District in late 2023.[31][32][33] Pixlcat Coffee also operates a stand at the Ferry Building Farmers Market in San Francisco, continuing the Lee brothers' longstanding presence at the market dating to their time with Namu.[34]
In August 2025, a second location opened in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the first outside California.[35] The Boston location was named among Boston magazine's notable new restaurant openings for October 2025.[36]