By Elena Kadvany
E-mail Elena Kadvany
About this blog:
Get the latest food news with the biweekly Peninsula Foodist newsletter.
I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community.
(Hide)View all posts from Elena Kadvany
Vons, a Korea-born chicken chain, opened this week at 2090 Broadway St. in downtown Redwood City.
The main event is arguably the fried chicken, which comes in several variations, including soy-garlic glaze, yang nyeom (tossed in a sweet-spicy sauce made from gochujang and other ingredients), padak (with scallions) and honey butter. There are also oven-cooked chicken dishes, from soy sauce and black vinegar chicken to cheese buldak (spicy boneless chicken and rice cakes topped with melted cheese). Customers can opt for chicken wings, drumsticks or boneless chicken pieces for any of the styles.
Vons serves several styles of fried and oven-cooked chicken. Image via Yelp.
Or, splurge on the ssam chicken for $28.99: roasted chicken that you wrap in thinly sliced radish with assorted vegetables and sauces.
Sides at Vons include honey butter fries, onion rings, rice cakes, mandoo (Korean dumplings) and kimchi fried rice.
The first California Vons opened in Sunnyvale in 2014; there are now more than a dozen locations through the Bay Area. Vons is also opening soon in Cupertino, according to the company’s website.
Vons is newly open on Broadway Street in downtown Redwood City. Photo by Elena Kadvany.
Vons Redwood City replaced
The Bap, a fast-casual Korean restaurant.
Vons is open Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 9:30 p.m. The restaurant has outdoor seating.
