Taco Truck brings Korean BBQ to UCLA

Koreatown and East Los Angeles meet on the corner of Midvale and Ophir Avenues.

Dozens of eager students, including some from USC, line up to wait for creations such as kimchi quesadillas and bulgogi tacos about once a week, when the Kogi BBQ taco truck makes its way to Westwood.

The aromas and large crowds, half a block long and three people deep, cause passersby on foot, bike and even car to pause and inquire about what would make people wait over an hour in the cold outside student apartment buildings.

The truck is the brainchild of Mark Manguera, who previously worked as the food and beverage director at the Ritz-Carlton before launching Kogi about two months ago.

Manguera, who is Filipino American and married to a Korean American woman, said he instantly fell in love with Korean BBQ and it is one of his favorite foods.

However, the idea for fusing his longtime favorite food, Mexican, with Korean BBQ, came when his sister-in-law Alice came to visit from New York.

After a night of heavy drinking to celebrate her arrival, Manguera wanted food and decided on a classic Los Angeles late-night staple, carne asada and al pastor from a taco truck.

In a not-so-sober state, Manguera pitched an idea to his sister-in-law: wouldn’t it be great if someone put Korean BBQ in a taco?

With his 3 a.m. revelation and the support of a friend who lent him a truck, Manguera and his associates began a trial run in Hollywood, which was not as successful as they had hoped.

“At first, we couldn’t give the tacos away,” said Roy Choi, executive chef for Kogi.

Choi, who said he previously worked with Manguera at the Beverly Hilton, brought the Korean-Mexican fusion to life, combining the flavors of his surroundings.

“The truck is a representation of my Los Angeles,” he said.

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Choi also helped open Rock Sugar Pan Asian Kitchen, the Century City restaurant from David Overton, founder of the Cheesecake Factory.

He said he wanted to show a side of Korean American culture that he thought was not as prominent in the public.

“We as Korean Americans have made contributions in the science and legal aspects, but we haven’t really defined ourselves culturally,” he said.

Choi said his menu is an attempt to redefine Korean food, but in an organic way.

“I felt it was important for me to create what I have learned in my life and share it with people,” he said.

While the initial response seemed disappointing, Manguera and Choi credited fourth-year biochemistry student Angela Kim, an early customer during the truck’s trial run, for suggesting the truck make visits to the UCLA area, which helped increase Kogi’s popularity among college students.

“It’s cheap, affordable and really good,” she said. “I really liked it, so I tried to coordinate different places (for the truck to stop).”

After Kim encouraged Choi and company to visit UCLA, they were sold out within 45 minutes of their first visit.

“We never would have gone to UCLA without her,” Manguera said.

Her previous experience in marketing to students (Kim works as a club promoter in Hollywood) produced helpful advice for Manguera and his associates. Now, Kim serves as an unofficial promoter in the area, creating Facebook fan pages and publicizing the truck through word of mouth.

The Internet has been a driving force behind Kogi’s popularity, creating a buzz among food blogs across Los Angeles.

Fans of Kogi follow the truck’s own blog and Twitter account, which updates with its current location and has over 2,000 followers.

Manguera attributed the success of the truck to “the power of connectivity.”

“We went directly to people (via) new social media,” he said.

Choi described Kogi’s Web-based approach as the “modern ice cream truck,” where Twitter updates and blog posts serve as the bell that rings when the truck is approaching a location.

Twitter updates followers with exact information about where and when the truck will make its next appearance and allows Manguera and Choi to keep in touch with their customers, taking their feedback and informing them of the latest news.

From Silver Lake to Venice, the truck changes locations six nights a week, parking on street corners and open lots. They have developed a loyal following, which is difficult given the roving nature of the business.

“You get people coming out every single night,” Manguera said. “I’ve never really seen this before, not in my lifetime.”

But before their products can sell out in a mere matter of minutes, a great deal of work goes into preparing the truck for business each day.

Each day begins around 7 a.m., when Manguera and his coworkers begin purchasing the produce for the day. By noon, they acquire the meat for the day, begin marinating and start packing their truck, based downtown, at 1 p.m. They drive to their first location at 6 p.m. Manguera said the recipes are a combination from his wife’s family and Choi’s grandmother.

The truck visits two locations each night. Manguera said they tried to visit three locations in a night, but found that they ran out of food before they reached their last destination.

“It’s hard for us to meet demand,” he said.

Manguera said they purchase 400 to 700 pounds of meat each week, 200 pounds for the visit to UCLA alone.

“UCLA has always had a lot of love (for us),” Choi said.

Choi said he estimated that the truck serves 800 to 1,000 customers each night. With limited space in a truck, he said he is forced to be “very creative” in order to fit all the ingredients required to serve fresh products.

“We don’t want to pre-package burritos; we don’t want to sacrifice any standards,” he said.

While maintaining the quality of their product in a confined space is enough of a challenge, freeway traffic often delays their announced arrivals and sometimes demand exceeds supply, forcing the crew to refill before heading off to their second location of the night. Other times, the truck is asked to leave, as they were in their former Westwood location on the corner of Landfair and Ophir Avenues, and they are forced to find a new place to park.

Despite the various obstacles, Kogi’s popularity seems to continue to increase as diners and street-food aficionados spread word of the fusion taco truck. Manguera said he has turned down invitations as his staff begins work on launching a second taco truck and considering expansion.

“We’re definitely looking into a brick and mortar location,” Manguera said, hinting at a “big surprise” in the coming weeks. “Soon, people all over the world will be able to experience Kogi,” Manguera said.

He also said he is in works with Eric Nakamura, publisher of Giant Robot magazine, to potentially collaborate and produce creative Kogi artwork.

Kim added that she is trying to contact university administrators to see if the truck could potentially park on campus.

Tracy Reyes, a fourth-year sociology student, was in line for over 45 minutes to try the menu for the first time.

“I wanted to see what the hype was all about,” she said.