Restaurants & Bars

Award-Winning Korean Restaurant Is Expanding Into Newark

Mökbar owner and chef Esther Choi: "I'm ready to get to work and share my Korean culture and cuisine."

NEWARK, NJ — Esther Choi is ready to get to work in Newark.

The James Beard Award-winning chef recently announced that her restaurant, Mökbar, will be opening a fourth location in New Jersey’s largest city. It will be located at The Junction of the Gateway Center complex.

“I’m very excited to get back to my New Jersey roots,” Choi said about the expansion from nearby New York City. “I’m ready to get to work and share my Korean culture and cuisine with the downtown residents and workers.”

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Mökbar will add its unique flavor to The Junction, along with Serafina, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Fresh & Co, Greek from Greece Bakery & Café, Farinella, 375˚ Chicken & Fries, Chip City Cookies and The Brookdale.

“Just as we’ve brought diverse food options from the other side of the Hudson River to the Gateway Center, it’s important for us to share Newark’s local flavor and culinary talent with central downtown commuters, residents and visitors,” said Matthew Flath, vice president of asset management for Onyx Equities.

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According to a news release from Onyx:

“The 2.3 million square foot, four-building Gateway Center complex draws over 75,000 weekly visitors from the New York Metro area through its skybridges to Newark Penn Station, One Riverfront Center, and Panasonic’s corporate headquarters. Its second-floor interconnected concourses, now known as The Junction, is near the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation to attract retail, fitness, entertainment and dining opportunities as well as improve the pedestrian and tenant experience within the complex. Onyx’s investment in Newark also includes opening the Gateway Center’s ground floor via a new pedestrian grand entrance and street-facing retail for the first time in the building’s 50+-year history.”

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