Sweetie’s, a killer new Korean fried chicken spot, opens in Greenpoint  

By Scott Lynch

Fried chicken is having a moment in Brooklyn, with notable new spots opening from Bay Ridge (the L.A. import Dave’s Hot Chicken) to Park Slope (the superb Pecking House) to Williamsburg (Kuku and K Top). Add to that expanding list the excellent Sweetie’s K Chicken on a bustling stretch of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint.

Sweetie’s is co-owned and operated by a mother- and daughter-in-law duo, Young Sook Kim and Jinny Kim, the former of whom has been serving Greenpointers for more than two decades in a variety of businesses, including the Nail Gallery salon two doors down. According to Jinny, however, running a restaurant has been her mother-in-law’s longtime dream.

“She’s always been an entrepreneur, a small business owner in various industries,” Jinny tells Brooklyn Magazine. “She really wanted to do Korean chicken. It’s something she enjoys eating, it’s got a simple menu, and people love it. She introduced the idea to me and since I wasn’t fulfilled doing my corporate job, I took a leap of faith and joined her to open Sweetie’s.”

Sweetie’s serves fried chicken in several formats — poppers, tenders, and wings, all in a variety of sauces and degrees of spiciness — as well as rice bowls and those sugary Korean corn dogs that are fun to photograph.

Housemade sauces await your squeezing (Scott Lynch)

The bird is all done up Korean style, which Jinny explained is defined as much for the sauces and bases, like gochujang and soy garlic, as it is for the technique. “Koreans are known for double frying,” she says. “That’s what makes our chicken super crispy, with a double layer of goodness.”

Soy garlic wings; $14.99 (Scott Lynch)

The “crispy poppers” are awesome, a pile of bite-size chunks of juicy thigh meat that we ordered spicy and then dipped into several of Sweetie’s sauces that sit at the ready in squeeze bottles on every table. The best of these was probably the “spicy cheddar cheese,” but they all add a pleasant tang and glop to the proceedings.

Crispy poppers; $14.99 (Scott Lynch)

As promised, Sweetie’s wings are super-crispy and, if desired, sticky with a potent soy garlic glaze. No additional sauce is required for these beauties. And if you want something that feels more like a complete meal, the spicy pork bowl satisfies: a mess of tender stir-fried pig, sweet and spicy with gochujang and piled atop about an inch of sticky rice. You can also get rice bowls with bulgogi beef or those poppers on top.

Spicy pork bowl; $14.99 (Scott Lynch)

There’s no dessert at Sweetie’s, unless you count the corn and/or potato dogs, which come crunchy with sugar crystals on the outside. You can get these with a boiled hot dog hidden within, or some gooey mozzarella, or half of each. They aren’t bad, but they vibe more donut than dinner. Fries, cole slaw, and an uninspired selection of sodas round out your options here.

Half hot dog, half mozzarella potato corn dog; $6.99 (Scott Lynch)

Sweetie’s is a fast casual restaurant, which basically means that although you order and pick up at the counter in the back, everything is made to order, so it takes a minute before the food comes out. There’s seating for about 30 at tables and at stools along the front window looking out onto Manhattan Avenue. Ambiance and decor is minimal, but it’s a pleasant, friendly place to sit and eat a bunch of bird.

“We felt a lot of love from our neighbors in the opening couple of weeks,” says Jinny, who hinted that there might be more Sweetie’s in the future as well. “We are dreamers, and we dream big, so you never know where we might pop up next.”

Sweetie’s K Chicken is located at 676 Manhattan Avenue, between Norman and Nassau Avenues, and is currently open from noon to 10 p.m. daily (347-335-0675)