GEN Korean BBQ Agrees to Sell 47 Restaurants to Chubby Group

The Cerritos company would keep about three restaurants and bet on its grocery line after the $100 million deal.

The Korean barbecue chain that two immigrants started in Los Angeles in 2011 plans to keep about three of its restaurants. The other 47 are going to Chubby Group.

Cerritos-based GEN Restaurant Group, the company behind GEN Korean BBQ, has agreed to hand operations at those 47 U.S. restaurants to Chubby for $100 million, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported Monday. In its Oct. 14 announcement, GEN said its board unanimously approved a binding letter of intent and that both sides are aiming to close within 30 days. The deal isn't final until definitive agreements are signed and the lease transfers, license transfers and regulatory approvals come through, GEN said.

For diners, the handover won't happen overnight. Chubby would take over in four phases across 12 months, paying for conversions and buildouts itself, with the first 12 restaurants targeted for Nov. 1. The Business Journal reported the restaurants would reopen either as "GEN X," which keeps the Korean barbecue concept, or as one of Chubby's brands, such as Chubby Cattle, Wagyu House or The X Pot.

Chubby founder David Zhao said in the announcement that the new owner would build on the Korean barbecue guests know "with a wagyu-forward menu." Founded in 2016, his company runs more than 70 locations and expects $400 million in systemwide sales this year, according to the release.

For GEN, the deal is about the leases. The company said the sale should substantially reduce roughly $160 million in lease liabilities and let it pay off its outstanding debt. After that, its senior managers are supposed to spend all their time on something that isn't a restaurant at all.

That's the grocery line. Chief executive David Kim told the Business Journal it started last October in 30 Southern California stores and now sits in more than 2,000 across the country, including Costco and Albertsons. It began with ready-to-cook marinated meats and has grown to include soju, snacks and sauces, and the Business Journal reported the company projects $35 million to $45 million a year in sales from it.

Until Chubby takes over a given restaurant, GEN keeps that restaurant's operating profit. And if Chubby still owes GEN anything on its term note once the deal is done, GEN could choose to take that balance in Chubby shares, priced as though Chubby were worth $1.5 billion. The Business Journal put Chubby's current value at $500 million.

The restaurants GEN keeps include its Cerritos location, the Business Journal reported, and they'll be used for training, staffing and product development. GEN has also just hired East Coast executives to push its packages into more stores. "We haven't even hit 1% of the market," Kim told the Business Journal.

Source: labusinessjournal.com, retrieved October 20, 2026. Other sources: stockhouse.com.