David Chang’s Fuku Returns to Boston as a Delivery-Only Ghost Kitchen

Welcome back to AM Intel, a round-up of mini news bites to kick off the day.

Restaurateur and television personality David Chang’s fried chicken chain, Fuku, returns to Boston on September 21 — but this time in ghost kitchen form, offering delivery around the South Boston area and expanding to the Everett area on September 24.

The fast-casual restaurant first opened in Boston’s Seaport District in late 2018, among quite a few other out-of-town chains, and in June 2019, new CEO Alex Muñoz-Suarez hinted at more locations in Boston and other East Coast cities. Expansion didn’t come to pass, and the only Boston location shut down early in the pandemic, with reps confirming in late 2020 that the storefront would not reopen — but that Fuku could return in delivery-only form via a partnership with Reef Kitchens, which operates “ghost kitchen” restaurants nationwide.

Indeed, that’s what’s happening now. Starting at 5 p.m. on September 21, Fuku will be serving sandwiches, chicken fingers, and waffle fries to Boston again, this time just via the major third-party delivery platforms, joining similar operations in New York City, Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, Miami, and other cities. (New York also has two non-ghost locations that customers can actually enter.)

In Other News...

• Tropical bar Shore Leave — which is home to an omakase-only sushi restaurant, No Relation — is now serving sushi itself, but a more casual a la carte selection of traditional and nontraditional rolls and sushi boats. The new offerings join the booze-friendly selection of burgers, dogs, and more.
• Did you mistakenly take this custom art from the vestibule of the now-closed South End restaurant the Gallows? Please return it.
• A bit of beyond-Boston news: Portland restaurant Little Giant has closed, with owners Ian and Kate Malin selling the business to Gin & Luck Hospitality Group, which is behind New York’s acclaimed cocktail bar Death & Company. The Gin & Luck team will open something new at that location in late fall. (The same team also consulted on Boston’s Sound Advice cocktail bar, which opened near TD Garden in late 2019.)
• Breweries are still facing supply chain issues on all fronts — cardboard, aluminum, and more. Boston Business Journal discusses the continuing problem with local brewers at Jack’s Abby, Night Shift, and beyond.
• Happy Tuesday; here’s a riot grrrl-style musical tribute to 7-Eleven’s nachos.

Disclosure: David Chang is producing shows for Hulu in partnership with Vox Media Studios, part of Eater’s parent company, Vox Media. No Eater staff member is involved in the production of those shows, and this does not impact coverage on Eater.