![How JMT Korean Cuisine laughed its way through opening delays Two people sit at a table inside a dimly lit restaurant.](https://taprootyeg.blob.core.windows.net/photos/2024/07/22/jmt-2951.jpg)
How JMT Korean Cuisine laughed its way through opening delays
JMT Korean Cuisine, a restaurant that faced around two months of delays as it moved from downtown to Whyte Avenue, kept its customers engaged throughout with videos that poked fun at its situation.
JMT, which evolved from a restaurant called Nourishak K-Eatery Cafe at 10335 100 Avenue NW, reopened on June 27 despite a target of April. The transition was more difficult and took far longer than co-founder Manseok Oh, who also goes by Owen, expected. (Oh spoke through translation by JMT's social media manager, Manuel Kong, who sometimes summarized Oh's remarks. Oh's quotes have been edited for clarity.)
"We were trying to figure out the blueprint for this place," Oh told Taproot. "We were talking to engineers, we were getting these plans, but obviously you have to go back and forth with the City (of Edmonton) to make sure it's confirmed. But in the middle of that process, the city (almost) went on strike. Because of that, it was hard to schedule another setup for further confirmations and things like that."
The extended delay was not the end of the restaurant's troubles, either. Customers complained about wait times when JMT reopened, Oh said. Its marketing may have been too effective for its fresh start.
"We've gotten a lot more people and a lot more attention than we expected," Kong added. "For that, we're very thankful, but also a little bit sorry … We've been having meetings about that almost every other day, about how we can satisfy these people and deal with all of this attention."
But not all has been bad for the JMT team. Throughout their delays, they used TikTok and Instagram to update and amuse their customers.
"Obviously, we were stressing the whole time," Kong said. "We really wanted to let (our customers) know what's going on, but also do it in a way where it's not too depressing."
The content is very Gen Z, making use of popular TikTok sounds, overlaid text, trendy meme formats, and even including a parody of the YEGWAVE microblogging brand. Clips include one that asks a JMT owner not to cry about the delays, another that jokes about playing hard to get with customers, and another that imagines what day 69 looks like for a customer waiting for JMT to reopen.