Jilli is a contemporary Korean drinking house that blends tradition with modern sophistication — premium drinks, innovative small plates, and a nostalgic yet modern room where food, drinks and culture come together.
In Seoul, a sool jib is where the day ends properly. Not a bar — bars are for standing. A sool jib is for sitting, for the second bottle, for anju that keeps arriving because somebody at the table said “one more.” It is loud in the kitchen and quiet at the table. You pour for the person next to you, never for yourself.
We wanted that room in Los Angeles: warm, unhurried, a little nostalgic, without turning it into a theme. Wood tables. Twenty-five seats. Makgeolli brewed a few miles away. A mural that keeps you company when your friend is late.
The name says it plainly — Jilli, modern sool jib. Our mascot, Jill, is a small bird with her wings up. She is the brand representative, and she is usually the last one to leave.
Chef Justin Min and a co-founder he has known since childhood run the room the way a sool jib should be run: loud in the kitchen, quiet at the table, and never an empty glass across from you.
The menu opens where he always opens, with a bowl — gyeran-jjim, dashi-soft under smoked trout roe — and a hamachi crudo that arrives cold, sharp and slightly unfair to everything served after it. It argues in the middle: rigatoni alla kimchi vodka, seaweed pasta, a bulgogi risotto that has no business working, and does. It closes with Chimmelier KFC, the 18beon, ordered nightly by people who cannot pronounce what they just ordered and do not care to learn.
“Twenty-five seats,” he said, wiping down a pass nobody had dirtied yet. “I only need twenty-five people to be right.”스물다섯 자리면 충분하다 · Doors at 4:30. The porch light stays on.
Nothing here is enforced. Everything here is noticed.
Sool comes to the table, not the person. Order for the table, drink at the table’s pace. 공유.
The youngest pours first, the eldest is poured first, and the empty glass across from you is your responsibility. 순서대로.
Someone will. If nobody does, you have found the wrong table. 자작 금지.
Receive with two hands, pour with two hands. It costs nothing and it means everything. 두 손.
Drinking without food is not a sool jib, it’s a mistake. Start with a bowl. Order the fries for yourself.
Reckless with the laughter, responsible with the glass. Valid ID required. We card everyone, including the man who came back.
Jilli shares its founders — and its 18beon wings — with Chimmelier, our Korean fried chicken lifestyle brand. Two doors, one kitchen philosophy: cook it like we’d cook it for our friends.