Fuku revives dine-in restaurants, plans hiring push as it expands

Fuku is bringing back the kind of restaurant jobs it lost when the brand shifted away from standalone dining rooms and into sports venues. The fast-casual chicken concept, created by David Chang, is reopening brick-and-mortar restaurants with a simpler menu and analog ordering, a move that points to more cooks, cashiers, shift leads, and managers than a concessions-only model.

The brand’s path helps explain why the labor story matters. Fuku started as an off-menu item at Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York City and opened its own East Village restaurant in 2015 after intensive R&D in the original kitchen. It once had six units in New York City and Boston, but pandemic pressure and other challenges wiped out its traditional locations. The brand survived in sports venues and has since expanded from four to 20 venue locations over the past three years.

Now Fuku is rebuilding its dine-in base one store at a time. The first new location opened in Coral Gables, Florida, at 135 Miracle Mile, with hours of Sunday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. A West Palm Beach unit is planned for 407 S. Rosemary Ave. and has been described as a summer 2026 opening, while a Miami location is slated for January. Management says it wants 80 locations by 2030, with more stores expected over the next 12 to 18 months and franchising already part of the plan.

For workers, the format shift is the point. Claudia Lezcano said the revived restaurant model has been refreshed and simplified, with three versions of the fried chicken sandwich, two kinds of tenders and a short list of sides. One franchisee has already committed to three units, which suggests the brand is moving beyond a single company-run opening and into a broader hiring pipeline. Fuku’s careers page advertises competitive pay, a 401(k) match, health benefits and life insurance, while job postings tied to the brand reference training logistics, pre-opening and opening training, on-site leadership, and FOH and BOH coordination. A Florida listing also showed a Team Member opening in Coral Gables.

That is a different labor equation from stadium service. Peg-board menus instead of kiosks mean more face time with guests and less reliance on automation. For restaurant workers, that can translate into more stable schedules, more training, and more chances to move into management as the company rebuilds around actual dining rooms instead of only event-day traffic.