LINCOLN PARK — A cafe serving mochi doughnuts, bubble tea and Korean corndogs just opened along Fullerton Avenue in Lincoln Park.
Mochinut, 734 W. Fullerton Ave., celebrated its grand opening in January after quietly opening in December, owner Sandy Wong said. Wong’s cafe is the 120th location of the Mochinut chain, which launched in Los Angeles in 2020.
The cafe is most known for its mochi doughnuts, which are made with rice flour that makes the pastry stretchy and chewy with a texture completely different from traditional yeast or cake doughnuts, Wong said. The pastry originates from Hawaii and is a combination of American doughnuts and Japanese mochi.
“They’re really delicious and have this exterior crispiness but internal chewiness,” Wong said. “They come with all kinds of glazing, too.”
The mochi doughnuts come in a variety of flavors that rotate on a weekly basis, Wong said. Flavors include straberry, ube, coffee, chocolate and cookies and cream. A full list of flavors is on the chain’s website.
Mochinut’s boba tea comes in several flavors, including brown sugar, ube, matcha, thai tea, coffee and milk tea, Wong said.
The Korean corndogs are made with rice flour and can come with toppings like diced potatoes, mozzarella, cheddar, crispy ramen, hot Cheetos and crunchy cereal, Wong said.
Wong grew up in a family of restaurateurs, she said. Her parents opened their own restaurant when she was 5 years old.
“I’m passionate about food, and my husband is a huge foodie, as well,” Wong said. “It’s funny because I always said I would never open a restaurant, but I guess I couldn’t run away form the genes of being in this business.”
Wong had tried mochi doughnuts before, so she was familiar with the pastry, but she had never tried Mochinut’s spin on it until she opened the restaurant.
“It was a leap of faith,” Wong said. “And it’s been great. We’ve been busy, and we get a lot of DePaul students, families and other locals in here.”
Wong’s cafe is the second Mochinut to open in Chicago, following another owner’s location at 1139 W. Taylor St. on the Near West Side.
Mochinut Lincoln Park is open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
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