Korean fast food means Korean flavors served at counter speed: a bulgogi seasoned patty, rice buns, gangjung chicken, ordered at a kiosk and eaten in ten minutes. In Orange County that currently means one restaurant. LOTTERIA opened in Fullerton in August 2025 and remains the brand’s only location in the United States.
What Korean fast food means in the US right now
The category is young in America and it is growing quickly. The National Restaurant Association placed Korean cuisine third in its Top 10 Overall Trends for 2025, describing it as sizzling in popularity and crediting spicy, tangy and umami rich flavors for the pull. That is a trade body telling its own members which way the wind is blowing, which makes it a useful signal about what will be on menus two years from now.
The count on the ground says the same thing. Circana reported that South Korean restaurant locations in the United States grew 10 percent in a year, with 450 new Korean restaurants opened since 2018. Korean fried chicken is the fastest moving slice of it: seven chains, 405 locations, growth of 22 percent. Circana also noted that a third of US designated market areas still have no Korean restaurant at all, which is the more interesting number. The demand is arriving faster than the supply.
Most of that growth has been in sit down formats, though, and in specialist shops. Korean fast food in the strict sense, a quick service chain with a drive-thru and a combo meal, is still unusual here. That is the part of the story Fullerton is in the middle of.
How it differs from a Korean restaurant
The difference is not the food, it is the structure around the food.
A Korean restaurant is built for a table. Banchan arrives before you order, the meal is shared, someone is grilling or ladling, and the visit takes an hour because it is supposed to. A Korean fast food restaurant takes the same flavor vocabulary and rebuilds it for one person in a hurry. Everything has to be handheld or bowl shaped, priced per person, and finishable in a car.
That reengineering is why a bulgogi burger exists at all. Bulgogi as a dish needs a grill, a table and company. Bulgogi as a seasoning in a beef patty needs a bun and a napkin. Same flavors, different transport.
It is also why the dessert on our board is a cup rather than a bowl. Bingsu in Korea is typically a large shared dish eaten sitting down. Cup Bingsu is a Korean style slush layered in a single serving cup with red bean paste, fruit cocktail, mini rice cakes, yakgwa and roasted grain powder. Same idea, sized for one person and a cup holder.
What a year changed at the Fullerton store
The restaurant opened with a three day soft opening from August 11 to 13, 2025, running four hours a day, then held its official opening on August 14, 2025. It took over a former KFC at 150 W Orangethorpe Ave, rebuilt from the studs, and it runs about 2,300 square feet with indoor dining and a drive-thru, inside a shopping center anchored by Walmart and Costco.
A year later the building is the same and the menu is not. The clearest change is that the board has grown in the direction of things you can eat with one hand while driving, and in the direction of the part of the Korean menu that had been missing at launch.
- Korean fried chicken arrived. The K-Chicken Sandwich and the K-Chicken Deluxe Sandwich joined the lineup in 2026, both built on crispy chicken with spicy gangjung sauce on a soft brioche bun.
- Dessert became a daily item. Cup Bingsu now sits on the board year round, with matcha available alongside the original.
- Lunch got its own pricing. A Lunch Special launched on September 1, 2026, running 11:30am to 2pm, Monday to Friday, with the Shrimp Combo at $9.99 and the Double Shrimp Combo at $11.49.
What has not changed is the spine of the menu. The Shrimp Burger and the Bulgogi Burger were the two items the restaurant opened on and they are still the two items guests write about most.
“So glad to have Lotteria here in Fullerton! The food tasted amazing and super fresh. Absolutely loved it.”
Youngki H., Google, Aug 2026
“the shrimp burger is on point! So fresh and delicious. Definitely worth going to when I’m sick of the usual beef burgers.”
Scarlett, Google, May 2026
What is on the menu now
Eight burgers and sandwiches, a bowl, three sides and the dessert. Here is the short version, the five orders that show the range fastest. All prices are our in-store prices, and a combo adds French Fries and a soft drink.
| Item | What it is | In store price | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shrimp Burger | Whole shrimp patty, tartar and thousand island sauce, sesame bun | $6.99 | 590 |
| Bulgogi Burger | Bulgogi seasoned beef patty, house bulgogi sauce, sesame bun | $6.49 | 520 |
| K-Chicken Sandwich | Crispy chicken, spicy gangjung sauce, pickles, brioche bun | $5.99 | 710 |
| Bibim Rice Burger | Rice buns, bulgogi patty, fried egg, gochujang sauce | $9.49 | 680 |
| Cup Bingsu | Korean style slush with red bean, fruit, rice cakes, yakgwa, grain powder | $4.99 | 650 |
2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice, but calorie needs vary. Additional nutrition information available upon request. The rest of the board, including the K-BBQ Bowl, the Shake It Fries and every combo price, is on the full menu.
For context on where this menu comes from, LOTTERIA has been serving Korea since 1979, and the company’s own brand materials count roughly 1,600 restaurants across seven countries today. The Fullerton store is directly operated by Lotte rather than franchised, which is why the menu here stays close to the Korean original.
What is coming on September 24
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks join the menu on Thursday, September 24, 2026. Crisp outside, stretchy melted mozzarella in the middle, and built for the middle of a table rather than for one person. If you have been waiting for something to share, that is the date.
Details are in our note on the September 24 launch.
How to plan a first visit
We are at 150 W Orangethorpe Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832, open 10am to 10pm every day. Drive-thru, dine in and take out all run the whole time we are open, and there are ordering kiosks inside if you would rather read the menu at your own pace than decide at a counter.
If it is your first time, order the Shrimp Burger. It is the item the brand is known for in Korea and the one most guests here write about afterward. Add a Shake It Fries so you get the paper bag and the seasoning packet, which is a small piece of theater the whole table enjoys. Finish with a Cup Bingsu if it is warm.
Come between 11:30am and 2pm on a weekday and the Lunch Special does the math for you. Otherwise, pickup and delivery are both open, and the story of how a Korean burger chain ended up on Orangethorpe Avenue is on our story page.
Questions
Is there a Korean fast food chain in Fullerton, California?
Yes. LOTTERIA, the Korean burger chain, operates at 150 W Orangethorpe Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832, open 10am to 10pm daily with a drive-thru. It opened on August 14, 2025 after a soft opening from August 11 to 13, and it is the brand’s only location in the United States.
What is a popular Korean fast food brand?
LOTTERIA is the best known Korean quick service burger chain. It has been serving Korea since 1979, and the company’s own materials count roughly 1,600 restaurants across seven countries. Its signature items are the Shrimp Burger and the Bulgogi Burger, and its single US restaurant is in Fullerton, Orange County.
What is the difference between Korean fast food and a Korean restaurant?
A Korean restaurant is built around a shared table, side dishes and an hour of your time. Korean fast food takes the same flavors and rebuilds them for one person in a hurry, so bulgogi becomes a seasoned burger patty and bingsu becomes a single serving cup. The flavors carry over. The format does not.
Where is the only LOTTERIA in the United States?
Fullerton, Orange County, California. The address is 150 W Orangethorpe Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832, in a shopping center anchored by Walmart and Costco, on the site of a former KFC that was rebuilt for the opening. Hours are 10am to 10pm every day, and there is a drive-thru.
Is Korean food growing in the United States?
By the available counts, yes. Circana reported South Korean restaurant locations in the US growing 10 percent year over year, with 450 new openings since 2018 and Korean fried chicken chains up 22 percent. The National Restaurant Association ranked Korean cuisine third in its Top 10 Overall Trends for 2025.
Sources
- National Restaurant Association, What’s Hot 2025 Culinary Forecast press release, November 13, 2024
- Circana, South Korean restaurant locations in the U.S. grow 10% over the past year, September 11, 2024
- City of Fullerton, Fullerton Welcomes Lotteria: Korea’s Iconic Burger Chain Opens First U.S. Location, August 14, 2025
- QSR Media, Korean fast food chain LOTTERIA debuts in the US, August 20, 2025
- Eater LA, All the Juiciest Details on the Bulgogi Burgers Primed to Take Over Orange County, August 20, 2025
- Orange County Register, South Korean chain Lotteria announces opening date of first US location, August 5, 2025