How to Get Into New York’s Kisa — Resy | Right This Way

Kisa

Kisa’s corner spot on Allen and Houston Streets has been drawing lines that run down the block since it opened in April. The hype was inevitable, especially since the restaurant comes from the same team behind C as in Charlie, and because its concept is universally loved: $32 for a massive platter of banchan, served with rice, soup, and your choice of entrée.

Until now, they’ve been walk-ins only so, if you wanted to try their stir-fried squid or beef bulgogi, you’d have to brave the line and take your chances.

Kisa general manager Andrew Choi. Photo courtesy of Kisa

Now, however, Kisa — which was named and modeled after Korean kisa sikdangs, popular hangouts for taxi drivers — has opened their guestbook on Resy. We sat down with operations manager Andrew Choi to find out everything you need to know about getting into Kisa — and which of their four entrée choices to order once you do.

Resy: When do reservations drop?
Andrew Choi: They drop 15 days in advance, and are released daily at midnight.

How quickly are they filling up?
Right now, we’re relatively new to Resy, but I’d say we get booked up the week of. There are plenty of time slots for future dates. Usually, our 6 p.m. slots and our 9 p.m. slots stay open a little longer.

You were walk-in-only before joining Resy, right? Why did you decide to take reservations?
We were just walk-ins only, but we did feel bad that a lot of guests came from out of state, and they didn’t know about the line. We didn’t want to turn away the people that came from far away.

You’re still saving quite a bit of space for walk-ins, right?
Yes, about two-thirds of the restaurant is first come, first served. People can join us for a walk-in right at 5 p.m., and our reservation books open at 6 p.m.

What You Need to Know Kisa

How has taking reservations impacted the day-to-day at the restaurant? Have things changed at all?
We’re being very mindful. I like to take reservations as a promise; we’ll get you this table as soon as you get here. It’s been working really well; as long as the guests come on time, we’re able to take care of them. I also really like to see additional notes, like birthdays or anniversaries. When we have a little bit more information, it goes a long way with customer care and building relationships with everyone.

What would you say the prime times are?
I would say anywhere between 7 and 8:30 p.m. That’s when everyone is finishing work and joining us for dinner. The busiest day is Saturday, and even sometimes Sundays.

What would be the best piece of advice you could give to somebody who is hoping to get a table?
I would definitely say to book early, whenever the reservations drop. We don’t fill up right away, and we’re actually kind of grateful for that. We want everyone to have some time to plan to come join us. If they’re trying to join us as a last-minute decision, that’s a little tougher.

The spicy pork comes with seven different banchan and you can request refills of any banchan during your meal. Photo by Alex Lau, courtesy of Kisa

Do you have a favorite of the four entrées?
For me personally, it would be our spicy pork. We recently added a ssam wrap set on the side for $3. Spicy pork has a very subtle sweetness that comes from the meat, and then it’s followed by that slight spicy-with-a-smoky-char flavor that we specialize in over here. I like using the ssam wrap because it adds a layer of freshness and it’s a great combination, especially if you want to add in any of your side dishes. It’s like an endless combination situation. It’s really fun.

A lot of our ingredients are shipped from Korea. We do this because we want to make sure people have that authentic taste and experience with us. That said, a lot of people might not be aware of some of our ingredients, so we put all of our resources online so people can learn about them. We separate the Korean spirits that people might not be aware about, with acidity, level of sweetness, and a brief description. We also update all of our banchans every time we bring a new combo, and they all have brief descriptions and certain allergens listed as well.

What about drinks?
Here at Kisa, we try to put a lot of emphasis on everything that’s culturally Korean. We don’t sell the traditional green bottle or blue bottle sojus; we actually sell a lot of cheongju, which are Korean sakes. My personal go-to is our Yangchun. It’s a little funky, so maybe not for everyone, but for me, I like the small notes of cheese and mushroom. It complements some of the savory and spicy foods between each sip. It’s just beautiful.

Set the scene for us. What is the dining room like during those prime times on Saturday and Sunday?
We have nostalgic ’70’s and ’80’s Korean music playing in the background. We played those because they were traditionally played at kisas back in the day. We have guests who bring their parents and they say, “Oh my god, I used to listen to this as a kid.” That’s what we’re going for.