WEST TOWN -- For the owners of Mister Tiger in West Town, Korean food is about family and love.
Siblings Charlie Park and Min Lee were raised on the cooking of their grandmother and mom in Queens, New York, where they moved after immigrating from South Korea. Lee's husband, Brian Lee, grew up in a similar Korean community in Los Angeles.
Decades later, the trio have come together to launch Mister Tiger, 1132 W. Grand Ave., and share their culture and food with a Chicago audience that may not be familiar with Korean dishes. The restaurant had a soft launch this winter and on Friday held a grand opening with an expanded menu.
Park is overseeing the front of house and beverage program, while Min Lee runs the kitchen and Brian Lee handles behind-the-scenes operations.
The owners said their "homestyle" Korean dishes and signature cocktails have already gained fans in the neighborhood, which historically is known for old-school Italian restaurants and sub shops like D'Amato's across the street.
"We want to improve and increase Korean American awareness and presence in Chicago," Park said. "The thing that just kept coming back to us when we were thinking of ideas was, 'Let's share that same love that our parents showed us and our grandparents showed us through food.'"
Min Lee's menu ranges from small plates like glazed baby back ribs, kimchi pancakes and Korean fried chicken to larger dishes like spicy monkfish and hot stone bibimbap. Korean barbecue items such as spicy pork and stews are also available.
"I wanted to stay authentic [to] Korean food but also approachable to non-Korean guests," Min Lee said. "Our best seller is galbi-jjim, which is braised short rib ... . But at the same time, I also wanted to showcase our bold flavors, so we still have kimchi stew that's really umami, spicy -- [dishes] that everybody might not like the first time."
Mister Tiger added a few dishes for the grand opening, including uni rice and woodae galbi, beef short rib cut lengthwise and seared with a soy glaze.
The cocktail menu features drinks based on ingredients that evoke "nostalgic Korean American memories," Park said.
They include the Grandma's Tiger Balm, made with bourbon and Fernet Branca Menta, and the seasonal Simple Gesture with golden barley soju, rice wine and freshly juiced Korean melons. Korean beer, soju and wine are also available.
"Each cocktail is either inspired by a core memory of us growing up in the States or [a Korean] ingredient that we came across a lot as children," Park said.
The Mister Tiger owners are chock full of ideas they're hoping to introduce later this year, such as weekend brunch and a tasting menu. They also plan to add outdoor seating on the sidewalk.
As the trio continues learning the ropes of running their first restaurant, family remains at the center of everything they do, they said. Old family photos line a back hallway to remind them of where they came from.
"This is a family business. It's meant to share family recipes, honor our family tradition," Park said. "We treat our staff like family, we treat the customers like family, so that's really like the core of everything we do."
Mister Tiger is open 5-9 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. The restaurant also offers catering.