K-Bites Kimchi and Bap

K-Bites Kimchi and Bap is a Korean home-cooking vendor at the Lenexa Public Market (8750 Penrose Lane, Lenexa KS), launched by Lisa Hamblen, a Korean-American chef who grew the concept from sold-out pop-ups into a permanent Lenexa Public Market vendor space. The menu centers on traditional Korean home cooking — meat and vegetable dishes and house-made banchan — rooted in Hamblen’s Korean heritage.¹

Description

K-Bites Kimchi and Bap is a Korean home-cooking vendor operating inside the Lenexa Public Market in Lenexa, Kansas. The concept is the creation of Lisa Hamblen, a Korean-American chef who began the operation as a pop-up and built a loyal following by selling out every weekend before earning a permanent vendor space in the Public Market.¹

The menu is grounded in traditional Korean home cooking: meat and vegetable dishes served with house-made banchan — the small, complementary side dishes that are the soul of Korean table culture. Hamblen’s cooking traces directly to her Korean heritage, making K-Bites one of the only Kansas City-area vendors dedicated specifically to the comfort-food idiom of Korean home cuisine (as distinct from Korean BBQ or Korean-American fusion).¹

The Lenexa Public Market, operated by the City of Lenexa, provides a permanent indoor market hall environment — year-round, climate-controlled, with a mix of local food vendors, artisan producers, and specialty grocers. K-Bites occupies a permanent vendor space rather than appearing as a rotating pop-up, giving it a fixed weekly presence at the Market.¹

Ownership and history

Period	Owner / Operator	Notes
~2022–2023 → present	Lisa Hamblen	Pop-up origin; sold out every weekend; permanent Lenexa Public Market vendor space by ~2023.1

Lisa Hamblen launched K-Bites as a pop-up rooted in her Korean heritage. The concept sold out consistently, and the demand led to permanent vendor status at the Lenexa Public Market.¹

Menu

Last verified: 2026-06-30 · Source: KC Magazine Korean food guide (2023)¹ · Confidence: Low (Korean home cooking confirmed; specific current menu items)

Korean home cooking. 8750 Penrose Lane, Lenexa Public Market, Lenexa KS. Hours.

Korean home cooking:¹

• Meat dishes (traditional Korean)¹
• Vegetable dishes (traditional Korean)¹
• House-made banchan (traditional Korean side dishes)¹

Pop-up origins; sold out every weekend before becoming permanent vendor. Heritage Korean cooking by Lisa Hamblen.

Lenexa Public Market vendor directory: lenexa.com/publicmarket

Links

• Lenexa Public Market: https://www.lenexa.com/city_services/lenexa_public_market
• Instagram (unverified — see closure note): https://www.instagram.com/kimchiandbap/
• Facebook (unverified — see closure note): https://www.facebook.com/kimchiandbap/

No website: field set: the business’s own domain kimchiandbap.com is expired (now 302-redirects to expiredwixdomain.com), and Yelp lists “Kimchi and Bap — CLOSED” (updated Sept 2025). Surviving social handles above are listed for reference only and are not treated as a live official web presence pending a status recheck.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Kansas City Magazine — “Kansas City’s K-Cuisine: A Guide to the Metro’s Best Korean Food” (July 2023) — https://kansascitymag.com/kansas-citys-k-cuisine-a-guide-to-the-metros-best-korean-food/ — asserts: K-Bites Kimchi and Bap; 8750 Penrose Lane, Lenexa (Lenexa Public Market); owner Lisa Hamblen; Korean-American; pop-up origin rooted in Korean heritage; sold out every weekend; permanent vendor space; traditional Korean home cooking, meat + vegetable dishes, house-made banchan. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹