Namu Set to Shutter in Late December

It has been a great five year run for the Lee brothers at Namu in the Inner Richmond. But all good things must come to an end as the restaurant will be closing following Christmas Eve service this year.

It is not all bad news for diners who love the very unique Korean cuisine being offered by Chef Dennis Lee. The Namu team is focusing a lot of its efforts on the expected early 2012 opening of their newest venture, Namu Gaji in the Mission. According to the Chronicle’s Inside Scoop, Lee said they could not come to an agreement with their landlord on Balboa Street, so they have decided to close the original Namu, a little over five years to the day it opened.

As for the new venture, it is expected to be a menu full of izakaya and yakitori items along with some of the standby favorites from Namu. While I am excited for the new venture, it will be sad to see the original close its doors.

Namu is located at 439 Balboa Street. Namu Gaji will be located at 499 Dolores Street.

It's simple. Keith Mizuguchi loves to write and write and write some more. After taking a hiatus from the journalism business, he has rekindled his passion for writing over the last two years, holding a job as both a web and on-air writer for San Francisco news radio station KCBS. While he enjoys the news business, his true passions are twofold: sports and food. Bay Area born and raised, he lives in San Jose, commutes to SF and loves every minute of it. You can follow his food adventures on Twitter @foodie_keith.