Thursday, January 16, 2025
To be an immigrant in America is to chase a dream. In Wausau, Sangwoon Kim, Sangin Kim and Quan Duong are doing this while putting what they are passionate about on plates in the form of a new food truck called BroKogi.
The Kim brothers with roots in Korea and their roommate and former fellow student at Wausau East with ties to Vietnam are the trio behind the new BroKogi Korean food truck operating in the Old Navy parking lot in Rib Mountain. It opened earlier this month and offers a Bulgogi (meaning thin, marinated beef roasted over a fire) plate alongside a spicy stir-fry. The food truck is the product of a ton of planning and aspirational fantasizing.
“I worked at Panda Express in Rib Mountain for three years and we opened this business based on things learned there,” Duong says. “Last October, we sat down together and said ‘Hey, we do not see a lot of Korean food here very much, so why don’t we go out and try to make it work.’”
The next part of the journey was to find an appropriate trailer for their planned operations. The trio searched extensively online and, while they did find something, it needed equipment costing around $40,000. The truck still needs branding for the business placed around it. Right now many do not notice it when driving by, though Sangin Kim says they are getting praise for their standout lunch boxes.
“There is rice, kimchi, chicken, and a lot of beef,” he says. “With American food, a lot of the time there are only two options like a hamburger and French fries. We want to bring out our home foods, there is a lot of variation as to the choice of foods people can come away with.”
When the steady and still breeze of warm summer nights gives way to cold and bone-chilling days once the seasons change, the Kims and Duong want to move into a fixed-location restaurant before returning to the road when it warms up. They are driving their base up with a loyalty card, and, perhaps most importantly, have the love and support of their friends and family members.
“They are just proud of me,” Sangwoon Kim adds. “We hope this food truck is successful.”
BroKogi is located at 226661 Rib Mountain Dr. when they are not parked elsewhere for special occasions. More about them can be found on their Facebook page or by calling 716-618-6215. They are open 11 a.m. through 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. Other items on their menu as of this story’s filing include Katsudon (pork cutlet), K-Toast, a Korean corndog which is crispier than a regular dog and can go with a more extensive array of sauces, a Korean corndog with cheese on the inside of it and water and various sodas as well.
Evan J. Pretzer is a contributor to City Pages. He can be reached at evan.pretzer@protonmail.com.
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