Fast-Casual Korean Food Will Return to Union Square

A once-temporary bibimbap shop has landed a long-term home: Perillas is returning to Somerville’s Bow Market, but not as a pop-up this time. (Bow Market — a complex in Union Square that houses around 30 food, beverage, and retail vendors — earmarks some of its spaces for pop-ups of various lengths, while other vendors are meant to be more permanent.)

In Perillas’ first incarnation at the market, it was originally slated to be a six-month pop-up but ultimately extended its stay to a year before closing in fall 2019, making way for the next tenant, a year-long vegan Egyptian pop-up called Koshari Mama.

Searching for a more permanent location, Perillas founder James Choi ended up back where he started, landing one of the non-pop-up spaces at Bow Market, where he’ll open the shop during summer 2020, leading up to a grand opening event sometime in September 2020, he tells Eater. He plans to serve the same menu as before, a simple selection of bulgogi beef bibimbap or veggie bibimbap, with a soft-boiled, marinated egg as an add-on option.

Customers of Perillas (and any of the other Bow Market food vendors) can find seats in the market’s courtyard, take the food to go, or bring the food into the market’s drinking establishments — Remnant Brewing, Rebel Rebel (a wine bar), Create Gallery & Cocktail Lounge, and Variety Bar (a cocktail bar inside the Comedy Studio).

The Boston area has quite a few Korean dining options, but the majority are congregated around Allston, and most are full-service, sit-down restaurants. Somerville’s not entirely left out, as Union Square does have the always satisfying Buk Kyung, not to mention some hot foods available at Reliable Market, but for those short on time, a grab-and-go bibimbap option like Perillas is a great addition to the area.

“I saw a gap in the Korean food scene and wanted to make Korean food accessible in a faster and more convenient way,” says Choi.

Keep an eye on social media for updates as an opening date approaches.

• Boston’s Fast-Casual Korean Food Scene Could Get a Little Bigger [EBOS]
• Perillas [Official Site]