Choi's, the ambitious Korean fusion restaurant that opened across from Petco Park less than three years ago, is now listed as permanently closed after months of mounting financial problems that left employees without wages, payroll checks bouncing and the restaurant allegedly continuing to serve alcohol while its state liquor license was suspended. The closure marks a dramatic end for a restaurant that was being celebrated as a rising downtown dining destination little more than a year ago.
Google's business listing for Choi's at 100 Park Plaza now identifies the restaurant as "Permanently closed." The restaurant's website remains online as of publication, but owner Jiwoo Choi had already acknowledged to SanDiegoVille that the business was in severe financial distress and said one of his greatest mistakes was failing to recognize when it was time to stop operating.
"My biggest personal mistake was not recognizing soon enough when the restaurant needed to stop," Choi told SanDiegoVille. "I kept believing that another month, another change or another push could turn things around."
What makes Choi's collapse particularly consequential is what appears to have been left behind. Multiple current and former workers separately told SanDiegoVille they remain owed wages, some claiming they worked for weeks without receiving everything they earned, while others reported receiving payroll checks that were returned for insufficient funds.
Choi confirms both underlying problems. "Choi's management confirms that some current and former employees remain owed wages," he said, also acknowledging that some payroll checks were returned and saying the restaurant is attempting to resolve the money associated with those payments.
The restaurant's owner described a business that eventually did not generate enough money to simultaneously pay employees, rent, vendors and other operating expenses. He said Choi's continued trying to survive as its financial position deteriorated, hoping that another month or another operational change could finally turn the business around.
That picture bears little resemblance to Choi's public image just last year. A May 2025 San Diego Union-Tribune profile described the 120-seat restaurant as nearly full during a Saturday visit even without a Padres game taking place across the street, praising its food and service while presenting the young restaurant as an apparent success in San Diego's notoriously difficult dining industry.
Choi was only 23 when he opened the restaurant in November 2023 after previously working as a server at Puesto. "I had a vision for what I wanted the restaurant to become, but I also entered an extraordinarily difficult business without enough experience to understand every consequence of the decisions I was making," he told SanDiegoVille.
Choi said he increasingly stepped away from day-to-day operations as the restaurant continued, delegating responsibilities while traveling between different cities and countries. He now describes that decision as a mistake that allowed problems inside the business to compound.
Some employees told SanDiegoVille they continued working even after wages became overdue because they feared walking away could make it more difficult to recover money they had already earned. Choi denies that employees were ever threatened with forfeiting earned wages if they quit, although he confirms that closing, restructuring and bankruptcy were discussed as the restaurant's financial condition worsened.
Choi has not provided a firm date by which workers will receive all of the money they are owed. He said the business has pursued private financing and is involved in pending litigation with its former general contractor concerning what he characterized as substantial construction-related funds, with the possibility that a recovery could help address outstanding obligations.
The wage allegations are not the only controversy surrounding Choi's final months. California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control records reviewed by SanDiegoVille list the restaurant's Type 41 beer-and-wine license as suspended effective May 6, 2026, while multiple workers allege Choi's nevertheless continued serving alcoholic beverages after that date and into the summer.
Choi does not dispute that alcohol continued to be served after the effective suspension date, but says ownership did not know the license had been suspended. According to Choi, ownership first received direct communication from ABC on August 21 and immediately instructed management to stop alcohol service.
That explanation leaves an unusual gap of more than three months between the May 6 suspension reflected in state records and August 21, when Choi says ownership first learned about it. Choi said employees encountered problems purchasing alcohol through Restaurant Depot and Southern Glazer's on May 6, but those issues were either not escalated to ownership or were not understood to mean the restaurant's liquor license had been suspended.
Workers have also questioned Choi's mandatory 20% service charge, which the restaurant's website told customers "goes to our staff who have served, cooked, and prepared the meal." Choi says the charge supported an overall compensation system intended to provide employees with higher and more predictable income and was not distributed dollar-for-dollar to the employees serving individual customers.
Other worker allegations involve unpaid "stage" or working-interview shifts and changes to employee time records. Choi confirms Choi's used stages and says management is reviewing their duration, the work performed and compensation records, while denying that employee hours were intentionally reduced to avoid paying wages.
Financial problems may have extended beyond payroll. Sources have alleged unpaid balances with food and product suppliers, including a claim that one local supplier is owed approximately $17,000, although SanDiegoVille has not independently verified those individual balances and is not identifying the businesses without supporting documentation or authorization.
Choi's response is notable for how much of the restaurant's underlying financial collapse he acknowledges rather than disputes. While he strongly contests several workers' characterizations of events, he confirms that employees remain unpaid, confirms bounced payroll checks, acknowledges that revenue became insufficient to meet all of the restaurant's obligations and accepts ultimate responsibility for allowing the situation to reach that point.
"I am not providing this context to excuse unpaid wages or any other mistakes that occurred," Choi said. "Employees who earned wages deserve to be paid."
Choi has framed the restaurant's demise as the failure of an inexperienced young owner who kept fighting to save a struggling business long after its financial problems became overwhelming, rather than an intentional effort to avoid paying employees. "I hope the circumstances are viewed for what they were: a young independent restaurant that struggled, made mistakes and eventually ran out of room to recover, not a business that set out to harm its employees or avoid its responsibilities," he said.
For employees who say they are still waiting for wages, however, Choi's intentions do not resolve what remains outstanding. The restaurant that once appeared packed and promising across from Petco Park is now listed as permanently closed, while its owner acknowledges that some of the people who worked there have still not been fully paid.
Choi says ownership intends to "continue doing what we can to make right what remains unresolved." As of publication, however, he has not provided a firm timeline for when all outstanding employee wages will actually be paid.
Originally published September 30, 2026.
