Sisters Korean Restaurant Owners United By a Love for Food

From left: Hyun Bun Shin, Sun Hee Lockhart and Hae Lee run Sisters Korean Restaurant in Greenwood. The three women are not sisters but rather close friends who share a passion for food and cooking. Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

The three women who own Sisters Korean Restaurant in Greenwood aren’t related by blood. Their bond, they say, is even stronger because it’s forged by food and friendship.

In 2013 Haemyung (Hae) Lee and Sunghyon (Sun Hee) Lockhart met Hyun Bun Shin at the international grocery store Shin owned. Although all three women are Korean, their similarities ended there. However, the three soon became so close you rarely saw one without the other two. Their three families became one – working together, vacationing together, attending church together and helping each other. Eventually, they discovered they each had a passion for food and sharing it.

Advertisement

People often mistake the three women for unnie, the Korean word for sisters. “Sometimes, when people ask if we are sisters, we just say we are,” Sun Hee says. “If we say ‘no,’ we have to explain the whole story of how we met and opening the restaurant together. It’s just easier to say we are sisters.”

Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

Before owning the grocery store, Shin had operated a restaurant in Bloomington and dreamed of opening another eatery. All three women saved money, found an empty storefront in a strip mall near busy Interstate 65. In February 2018, Sisters Korean Restaurant opened its doors.

As you pull up in front of the restaurant, you are welcomed by a charming caricature drawing of each “sister.” A scroll with the same artwork hangs inside the front door. You know you’ve entered a welcoming space where they treat you like family.

See more: La Scala Italian Restaurant Offers Homegrown and Handcrafted Dishes

Authentic Korean Cuisine

Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

Sisters offers authentic Korean food in the heart of America. An essential part of traditional Korean food is fresh ingredients, the sisters say. Their extensive menu includes Korean BBQ, hot pot, clay pot, dinner entrees and weekday luncheon specials. Sun Hee says their short ribs – prepared in a variety of cuts and sauces – are among their most popular dishes. Bibimbap (beef with vegetables and fried egg over rice) is another fan favorite, and bulgogi – thin, marinated slices of grilled rib-eye – earns raves from Yelp reviewers. Each entree comes with numerous banchan, a collective name for vegetable side dishes.

Shin and Sun Hee handle the cooking, while Hae serves the customers. It’s just the three of them running the restaurant, plus a dishwasher and a helper to take orders and serve on busy weekends. It’s a tremendous schedule for a restaurant open six days a week. “We enjoy it even though it’s a lot of work,” Sun Hee says. “We love to cook and feed people, especially Shin.”

The sisters also offer an all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet, where you can cook your proteins over a heat source built into the table. They offer catering as well.

See more: King Ribs Bar-B-Q Attracts Hungry Diners with Speedy Service and Quality Meats

Family by Choice

Sisters Korean Restaurant proudly displays photos from various customer celebrations. Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

Sun Hee says their customers are like family to the sisters, who commemorate special occasions by taking photos of customer birthdays, anniversaries and going-away parties. These pictures are displayed in the restaurant, just like a proud parent would hang a child’s photo on the refrigerator.

Patrons even bring the sisters bounty from their summer gardens – zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, peppers and tomatoes – that can be found in their dishes. “But mostly, we eat them at home,” Sun Hee laughs. “We are so thankful they think about us to share their food.”

The “sisters” believe people come and go in each person’s life for a reason, and everyone entering a person’s life becomes part of his or her story. Their customers, who come from as far away as Kokomo and Louisville, Kentucky, are now part of the sisters’ story.

“Whether they are celebrating a birthday or anniversary, on a first date or just because they chose to eat out, we are thankful to be chosen to be part of their story,” Sun Hee says. “It is our mission to provide delicious and authentic Korean food and to help write the next page of their stories – and ours.”

See more: Indiana Businesses Celebrate Locally Grown Ingredients Through Malts and Spirits