Bowl call
Feed My Seoul can be found most Wednesdays starting at 5:30 p.m. at Machado Plaza in Santa Maria. Follow @feedmyseoul805 on Instagram to keep up with weekly locations. Place orders in advance until an hour before service by calling or texting co-owner Grace Kim at (805) 888-7226. Book Feed My Seoul as your next event caterer by emailing grace@feedmyseoul.com or visiting feedmyseoul.com/contact.
When the craving for Korean food strikes but not hard enough to make full use of the Central Coast’s all-you-can-eat barbecue spots, another option exists—a flame-kissed Asian-style barbecue on wheels.
Rolling through SLO County to cater events and regularly stationed at Santa Maria’s Machado Plaza and Orcutt’s Naughty Oak Brewery, Feed My Seoul is a Korean food truck powered by husband-and-wife duo MH Cho and Grace Kim.
“We wanted to offer something for everyone that was Korean but also Californian, in like spice tolerance and flavor combinations,” Kim, an Atascadero native, said. “You wouldn’t find avocado in a Korean dish, but we have that in our veg brunch.”
The foundation of the brand is a whirlwind of global exploration.
‘From Korean culinary traditions, the longest running and the most famous restaurants specialize in one thing. They don’t try to be everything to everyone because it’s impossible to do everything well. That’s what we sought to recreate because of timing.’
—Grace Kim, Feed My Seoul co-owner
Kim met Cho in South Korea where he went to culinary school. They moved to the Central Coast to raise their child in Arroyo Grande.
While the couple found a trailer in Colorado when they decided to start their business, the concept of Feed My Seoul gained steam in Tokyo.
“One of the defining moments of our menu creation was when we took a vacation to Tokyo Disney, and they have an adjoining mall called Ikspiari,” Kim said. “When we went down to the food court area to the basement level, we were enchanted by this barbecue smell, and we sought to emulate that sort of sense memory. Something that stays with you—the smell, the taste. That’s all part of it.”
Now, the scent of Feed My Seoul’s sizzling beef, pork, and chicken is unmistakable as it wafts from the trailer, inviting pedestrians to Machado Plaza every Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. until “Seoul’d” out. Cho handles the cooking while Kim manages incoming orders.
In a partnership with the Santa Barbara County Parks and Recreation Department, Cho and Kim share plaza space with three other food vendors. It’s a move to encourage people to dine al fresco while supporting local businesses.
Feed My Seoul’s customers won’t be overwhelmed with a long list of options. The menu is purposefully limited so that each dish receives plenty of attention.
“From Korean culinary traditions, the longest running and the most famous restaurants specialize in one thing. They don’t try to be everything to everyone because it’s impossible to do everything well,” Kim said. “That’s what we sought to re-create because of timing. If you’re a food truck … we can’t have a slow delivery timeline. We serve in seconds.”
All bowls come with a base of fluffy white rice and bouncy glass noodles called japchae made from sweet potato starch.
Load up the twin bases with chicken thighs marinated in a sweet and mildly spicy fermented Korean chili paste called gochujang and stir-fried cabbage for $22; paper-thin soy-marinated rib eye for $27; plump cubes of sliced, grilled, and torched pork belly for $24; or a vegetarian medley of avocado, seared squash, and cucumber for $17.
Feed My Seoul also offers a “veg brunch”—what Cho calls a sleeper hit—for $18.50 where the vegetarian option is paired with two fried eggs.
All bowls can be upgraded with eggs, veggies, napa cabbage kimchi, and avocado.
The bowls are meant to be mixed “bibimbap” style, even though the rice and noodles can be enjoyed separately with the meats and veggies.
Kim recommends adding kimchi for anyone opting for pork—the cold crunchy chili-coated cabbage cuts through the hot, fatty chunks of meat, creating a textural delight.
“I feel like it’s a winning combination,” she said. “I’ve been running my business for almost nine years, and I still eat my food.”
The beef slices are tender in the center with lacy, expertly charred edges. These bowls are hefty, and if leftovers exist, the rice and meat can be reheated and the noodles can be enjoyed cold.
The food truck caters weddings, company picnics, church parties, and group gatherings in SLO County, as well. Past clients include the Lucia Mar Unified School District, Mechanics Bank in Arroyo Grande, and off-road communications business Rugged Radios.
While the main menu remains the same, catered events come with banchan or sides like jalapeño and onion kimchi, cucumber kimchi, house gochujang called Seoul Sauce, and seasoned seaweed.
The catering menu also has starters like potato pancakes, kimchi pancakes, vegan pancakes, “feast japchae” dressed in a house sesame oil seasoning and julienned vegetables, and a version of those noodles topped with a seasonal assortment of edible flowers.
“It takes about a week’s notice, at least, for us to order the meat because we get it brought to us [from Los Angeles], and then it takes a couple of days to marinate and prepare,” Kim said. “We batch cook everything on the truck, and we finish each bowl by order.”
Cho and Kim hope to serve SLO County more often and are in the process of getting a license to bring Feed My Seoul to the area. They’re currently on the lookout for a brick-and-mortar space, ideally in Santa Maria, to specialize in Korean fried chicken.
For now, dig into Feed My Seoul’s fare on April 15 and 17 at Naughty Oak Brewery starting at 5 p.m., on April 22 for Earth Day at Machado Plaza, and on April 24 at Birchwood beer garden in Nipomo starting at 4:30 p.m.
“We see the same faces, month after month, or week after week, and our customers started to feel like family,” Kim said. “They said if you enjoy what you’re doing, it doesn’t feel like working.
“That’s what our meal services feel like, I feel like I’m feeding my friends.”
New Times Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal, from the Sun’s sister paper, is holding out for Korean fried chicken. Send endurance to brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in April 9 – April 16, 2026.