North Korea Opens Dozen New Barbecue Restaurants Amid Food Shortages

State media in North Korea have announced the opening of more than a dozen new multi-story barbecue restaurants across the country since September. These new venues feature marble tabletops with inlaid grills, waterside terraces, and menus that list beef, pork, and ostrich. The rapid expansion contrasts sharply with recent data from the UN food body, which reported that more than two out of every five North Koreans were undernourished.

The trend began with announcements in late 2026. A new three-story establishment opened in Sinuiju, a city on the Chinese border. In northern Kanggye, a restaurant introduced draft beer service next to a fish tank. Nampo, a west coast city, held an opening ceremony that included fireworks. Other locations advertised floor plans large enough to seat hundreds of guests at once.

Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, head of Korean Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the meat-focused menus echo a historical promise made by the late leader Kim Il Sung. Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, vowed to give the population white rice with meat soup. Silberstein noted that the new venues appear designed to show that nice things are reaching people outside of Pyongyang.

Hazel Smith, a research associate at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, linked the openings to growing economic ties with Russia. She suggested that some North Koreans, particularly those in trade and construction, are benefiting from these connections. However, she cautioned that the restaurants are not a sign of a thriving economy. Instead, they indicate that specific groups can afford occasional meals out.

South Korea’s central bank stated in July that the North Korean economy grew by 3.5% in 2025. This marked a third consecutive year of growth above 3%. UN Comtrade data showed that meat imports from China more than quadrupled between 2023 and 2025. The value of these imports reached nearly $39 million.

Joung Eun-lee, director of the North Korean Research Division at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the rising import numbers show that domestic production cannot meet demand. She described the state media coverage of the new restaurants as a powerful form of propaganda. The UN World Food Programme estimated that 10.7 million people, or more than 40% of the population, were undernourished in 2022.

Lee Ae-Ran, who defected from North Korea in 1997, said beef was difficult to obtain because cows were often reserved as working animals on farms. She recalled eating at a Pyongyang duck restaurant where patrons paid in foreign currency. Lee, who now runs a North Korean restaurant in Seoul, said high-end dining remains exclusive. She stated that such restaurants are only for special classes of people.

The new dining venues join a wider list of leisure initiatives, including waterparks, coffee bars, and high-end malls. Kim Jong Un has not been pictured at these openings, but high-level local officials usually attend. The state continues to urge cadres to improve domestic livestock production, yet analysts believe the food supply remains precarious.