Seoul of the South: The Ultimate Korean Food Tour Near Atlanta

I recently took the Seoul of the South food tour in Gwinnett County, Georgia. It’s the perfect day trip from Atlanta if you’re craving or want to try authentic Korean food, as Gwinnett County is home to a lot of excellent Korean restaurants.

Why Gwinnett County is a Go-To for Korean Food

Home to the Southeast’s largest Korean population, Gwinnett County is the ultimate destination for authentic Korean food near Atlanta. With dozens of Korean restaurants in Gwinnett County to choose from, you could spend weeks—maybe even years—exploring all the delicious options this area has to offer.

And that’s exactly why the Seoul of the South tour is perfect—it takes the guesswork out of choosing where to go and guides you straight to some of the best spots.

What You Can Expect on the Tour

📍 Led by a Local Expert – The tour is led by Sarah Park, who grew up in South Korea and moved to Gwinnett as a teenager. Her knowledge of Korean food and culture is amazing—I learned so much from her along the way.

🎁 Fun Swag Bag – Each guest receives a fun swag bag with snacks and a Korean language cheat sheet to practice greetings with restaurant hosts.

🍽️ A Feast of Korean Cuisine – A typical tour stops at four different restaurants where you’ll try traditional Korean food, KBBQ, street food, and dessert and learn more about the culture behind the dishes. Since I was part of a travel conference, my tour was a shorter, private version, so we visited three spots instead of four.

🥢 Chopsticks Optional – Chopsticks are provided, but if you’re not comfortable using them, no worries—a fork is always an option!

🔥 Pro Tip: Come hungry—this tour serves up real portions, not tiny samples like most food tours. You’ll get exactly what you’d be served if you dined there yourself. So, wear stretchy pants, pace yourself, and bring a cooler for the inevitable leftovers!

WHERE WE ATE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TOUR

🥢Jang Su Jang (Duluth, GA)

Jang Su Jang is almost always part of the Seoul of the South food tour—and for good reason. This restaurant has been serving consistently high-quality, authentic Korean food in Gwinnett for over 20 years. It’s also a personal favorite for Sarah and her family.

In Korea, meals don’t really change between breakfast, lunch, and dinner—there’s always rice, soup, protein, and plenty of side dishes. But instead of eating one thing at a time, you pair each bite with rice to keep the flavors perfectly balanced.

Each restaurant meal comes with unlimited banchan (side dishes). Ours included kimchi, broccoli, cucumber kimchi, glass noodle japchae, pickled seaweed, acorn jelly, stir-fried veggies, and macaroni salad.

The meal also included seafood soup, a seafood scallion pancake, rice, galbi, bibimbap, and bossam. Our table was loaded corner to corner!

Another fun fact we learned is that Koreans don’t use knives; they use kitchen scissors. Need something cut? Just ring the bell, and they’ll bring out kitchen scissors—no knives needed! So interesting!

🔥Honeypig (Duluth, GA)

Our second stop was Honeypig, a Korean barbeque with a cool industrial chic vibe. Each table has a dome-shaped cast iron grill in the center where your food is prepared in front of you.

Our server began by bringing us kimchi and sprouts and placing them around the base of the cooker.

Next came brisket (my favorite), pork belly, pork neck, mild chicken and spicy chicken. Those were placed higher on the cooking surface, and as they cooked, the fats cooked and crisped and seeped down into the sprouts and kimchi, adding even more flavor.

The chefs get things started and oversee the cooking, but if you want to take over, you can.

Along with food cooked on the grill, we had all kinds of sides, including tofu soup, steamed eggs, and cheese corn. There was also a variety of sauces to try. It was a delicious meal!

To eat Korean barbecue, you usually take a lettuce wrap, add meat, veggies, and your choice of condiments, wrap it tightly, and eat. Sarah told us Koreans tend to eat it in one bite!

🍰CafeMixx (Suwanee, GA)

To finish our tour, we went to CafeMixx for a selection of street food, beverages, and dessert. Coffee drinkers tried a Korean cafe coffee drink with sugar and cream. Since I’m not a coffee girl, I tried a sparkling plum lime lemon tea which was sweet and delicious.

We also tried Korean fried chicken, pork cutlets, stir-fried rice cakes, and sausage with rice cakes. My favorites were the crispy pork cutlets and the fried chicken—especially since the chicken had a nice kick of heat. I love spicy food!

And since the restaurant is known for their tiramisu in fun flavors, I tried the Ube tiramisu. I had tried Ube ice cream in Beaufort, NC, and loved it, so I wasn’t surprised that I loved this too!

Final Thoughts

If you love food and are looking for a unique way to spend a day outside Atlanta, the Seoul of the South food tour is a must. It’s not just about eating (though there’s plenty of that)—it’s about experiencing Korean culture firsthand. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Korean cuisine or trying it for the first time, this tour is an easy, fun, and delicious way to eat like a local!

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