What to Order at Nowon

Nowon is a Korean-American pocha in the East Village that runs on quality beef, craft beer, and '90s hip hop, and the order that made it famous is the Legendary Cheeseburger.

What should you order at Nowon?

Order the Legendary Cheeseburger, add the chopped cheese rice cakes, and if the table wants the full tour, book straight into a Mixtape set. The Infatuation's Will Hartman scored Nowon an 8.2 in 2024, and the menu splits between burger-bar hits and Korean drinking food that rewards ordering wide.

1. The Legendary Cheeseburger. A double smashburger with kimchi special sauce and roasted kimchi, per Hartman's review. It is the dish that built the restaurant's name and it belongs on every table.

2. Chopped cheese rice cakes. The menu's clearest Korean-American mashup: the bodega chopped cheese reworked over chewy tteok.

3. The Mixtape sets. Two set meals per Hartman's review: the E.P. at $39 a person runs five dishes including a half cheeseburger each, and The Classic at $49 runs seven courses. The sets solve the ordering debate and read as the fuller picture of the kitchen.

4. The truffle cheeseburger. Listed at $27 in the review for the table that wants the burger in formal wear.

5. Whatever the dry-aged special is. Hartman's review flags a dry-aged steak burger good enough for The Infatuation's best-burger guide, and the beef program is the through-line of the menu.

What should you skip at Nowon?

Skip treating it as only a burger stop. The burger earns the hype, but a table that orders nothing else misses the pocha half of the identity, the Korean drinking food and the sets that carry it. Reverse the mistake too: on a first visit, do not skip the burger for the sake of adventure.

How do you get into Nowon?

Nowon accepts walk-ins but strongly encourages Resy reservations, per its site. Prime weekend slots go quickly, and groups of 7 to 12 skip the public books entirely by emailing the restaurant for the family-style Classic Mixtape dinner. Weeknights and bar seats are the realistic spontaneous plays.

Frequently asked questions

What is a pocha?

A Korean pojangmacha, the tent bars and casual drinking spots of Seoul, translated here into a gastropub. Nowon calls itself New York's first Korean-American pocha, per its site, which explains the menu's beer-first, share-everything shape.

How much does Nowon cost?

Casual-night pricing with a ceiling: the Mixtape sets run $39 to $49 a person per The Infatuation's 2024 review, the truffle burger sits at $27 per the same review, and a burger-and-beer visit lands well under that.

Does Nowon take reservations?

Yes, on Resy, and its site strongly encourages them while still accepting walk-ins. Groups of 7 to 12 email the restaurant directly for the set-menu route.

Getting in is the harder half of the plan. DinnerElite tracks when Nowon releases reservations and how far ahead it books, and it emails you the moment a cancellation opens up. Start from DinnerElite's Nowon page.