image description
The Korean Garden opened last month on Ashland Street in North Adams.
image description
The restaurant, which has operated as an Italian eatery and several variations of Mexican/Southwestern, seats 100.

New Korean Restaurant Opens in North Adams

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A pair of veteran restaurateurs are offering traditional Korean and Japanese cuisine and sushi.

The Korean Garden at 139 Ashland St. opened more than a week ago in the former Red Sauce location.

After living in North Adams for eight years, Yong and Jenny Pae thought it was time to open up their own eatery.

"We know a lot of people like Korean food and good sushi so we thought a long time ago that we wanted open up here," Jenny Pae said.

The Paes are not new to the restaurant scene and have worked with Boston restaurateur Jae Chung, who grew up in Clarksburg. They ran their own small Korean take-out business in Boston for a decade about 15 years ago.

Pae said the menu has many traditional favorites such as bulgogi, kimchi, and hot stone bi bim bab. There are aso various sushi and maki specials, including the North Adams Maki and the Red Sox Roll.

"It's different," Pae said. "A lot of people say North Adams only has a Burger king and Chinese food and we need something new and something fresh. We try to give the best service and the best food."

She said they have been busy since opening a week ago Saturday.

"Business has been busy a lot of people come in late," Pae said. "I think maybe we need a couple weeks to really get a lot of people in here all the time."

She said the restaurant seems to be a hot spot for college students with its close proximity to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She added that a lot of Williams College students stop in, too.

The building has been mostly empty since Red Sauce Ristorante abruptly closed in 2012. More recently there were a short-lived Italian and a Southwestern restaurant.

The Korean Garden is open every day except Monday for lunch and dinner. During the week the hours are 11 to 9:30 and on the weekends, 11 to 10.


Tags: new business,   opening,   restaurants,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Moresi Companies Settle Discrimination Allegations

Staff Reports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A local developer and property management company has agreed to pay $40,000 to settle fair housing complaints on its properties. 
 
Moresi Commercial Investments LLC and Moresi & Associates Property Management LLC, owned by David Moresi, were alleged to have discriminated against families with children in renting out apartments at 262-268 Ashland St. and 16 and 20 Blackinton St.
 
The allegations are that the apartments were being advertised as "student housing" and that inquiries from "testers" stating they had children were referred to other apartment listings. Fair housing laws prohibits discrimination, including refusing to rent to families with children or to students. 
 
Moresi has denied the allegations but agreed, according to the agreement, to "enter in this assurance in order to resolve this matter without further costly and time-consuming litigation." The company also agreed to adopt a non-discrimination policy, have employees attend trainings on fair housing rules and to inspect for and abate any lead hazards. 
 
The Ashland Street property was sold last October and the Blackinton buildings last August. 
 
All of the buildings are located in the neighborhood of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, which has historically catered to students. That's changed somewhat in recent years, particularly with the well-known Boardman building being converted into recovery housing. An editorial in the college's Beacon newspaper last year lamented the lack of affordable off-campus housing for students and noted Moresi's apartments were no longer available. 
 
The investigation in Moresi's rentals dates to 2018, when the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center conducted three tests. The first tester inquired about a three-bedroom apartment for themselves and roommates and the second for a couple with a 3-year-old child. The second was told the apartment would not be suitable because of college students on the property and was directed to units in Adams and Williamstown.  
 
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories