SweetFrog’s Derek Cha bringing Korean barbecue concept to Carytown

Zoom Fresh Korean Grill will offer Korean barbecue bowls and other similar cuisine.

March 19, 2015; 9:49 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

A new Korean barbecue concept, backed by SweetFrog founder Derek Cha, has found its home in Carytown.

Cha and his wife, Annah Cha, plan to open Zzaam Fresh Korean Grill at 3300 W. Cary St. in June. The Chas have a five-year lease on the 2,400-square-foot space that was formerly home to Carytown Cleaners.

The Carytown Zzaam will be the company’s second location. The Chas opened a location in Charlottesville in September and have operated a food truck in Richmond since April 2014.

Cha, the founder of SweetFrog, which got its start in 2009 in Short Pump and grew to international prominence, sold his company to a local investment firm earlier this year, and has increasingly been focused on both his food truck and restaurant-based Zzaam operation.