K-Bites Kimchi and Bap

This Kansas City business has closed. KS.City keeps its page on the record.

CLOSED 2024-11-26. Kimchi and Bap closed its Lenexa Public Market stall on November 26, 2024, about sixteen months after opening; owner Lisa Hamblen said she planned to take time off and had no announced next step.¹ ²

K-Bites Kimchi and Bap was 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.³

Description

K-Bites Kimchi and Bap was a Korean home-cooking vendor inside the Lenexa Public Market in Lenexa, Kansas, from August 2023 until its closing in November 2024.¹ The concept was 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.³

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).³

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 held a permanent vendor stall rather than appearing as a rotating pop-up, giving it a fixed weekly presence at the Market until it closed.³ 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 ~2023.³

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.³

Last verified: 2026-08-13 · Source: Lenexa Public Market official vendor announcement (the venue that hosted the stall), corroborated by Johnson County Post and Kansas City Magazine · URL: https://www.lenexapublicmarket.com/News/Public-Market-News-Stories/2023/Kimchi-and-Bap-set-to-open-at-the-Public-Market · Confidence: Medium (dish names well sourced; no prices were ever published)

HISTORICAL MENU — the stall closed 2024-11-26 and nothing below is currently available.

Rice and noodle dishes

Bibimbap — the stall’s most popular dish; rice bowl featuring nine different vegetables and gochujang sauce.¹
Japchae — stir-fried Korean glass noodles.¹ ⁴
Rice bowls¹
Chicken bulgogi⁴

Sides and snacks

Kimchi¹
House-made banchan — the small complementary Korean side dishes.³
Mandu — Korean dumplings; part of a rotating snack menu.¹
Gimbap — part of the rotating snack menu.¹
Kimchi pancakes — named as a planned daily special.⁵

Seasonal and rotating

Stews and soups¹
Cold noodles — planned summer offering.⁴

Sourcing note (checked 2026-08-13)

menu_status: partial — dish names only. No prices exist to recover: the business’s own domain kimchiandbap.com expired (302 → expiredwixdomain.com), it operated no Toast/Square/Clover/Menufy/ChowNow storefront, and neither the venue nor any press account printed prices. With the stall closed since November 2024, a priced menu is unlikely ever to be recoverable other than from a customer’s photograph of the stall board.

Historical hours (Aug 2023 – Nov 2024)

Mon, Thu, Fri, Sat 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.–3 p.m.; closed Tue and Wed.¹

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

Lenexa Public Market (venue, official) — “Kimchi and Bap set to open at the Public Market,” published 2023-07-27, updated with a closure line — accessed 2026-08-13. Asserts: “Kimchi and Bap closed their location at the Lenexa Public Market in November 2024”; regular hours began Thu Aug 3, 2023 with a ribbon-cutting Fri Aug 11, 2023 by Mayor Michael Boehm; Chef/Owner Lisa Hamblen; stall located between African Dream Cuisine and Sohaila’s Kitchen; menu perfected through a year of on-site pop-ups; dishes — bibimbap (nine vegetables, gochujang sauce), japchae, rice bowls, kimchi, rotating snacks including mandu and gimbap, plus stews and soups; hours Mon/Thu/Fri/Sat 11a–7p, Sun 11a–3p, closed Tue–Wed; quote from Hamblen on living across the street from the Market. Market address 8750 Penrose Ln, Lenexa KS 66219; phone 913.477.7516. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹
Johnson County Post — “Here’s what’s changing at the Lenexa Public Market,” 2024-12-03 — accessed 2026-08-13. Asserts: Kimchi + Bap closed November 26, 2024; Hamblen quote “We are not sure what will happen next. We plan on taking some time off to figure things out.”; Chilakillers closed summer 2024 after two months; Saap Saap Noodles opening January 2025 in that space; Cardboard Corner Cafe opened a stall earlier in 2024. ↩
Kansas City Magazine — “Kansas City’s K-Cuisine: A Guide to the Metro’s Best Korean Food” (July 2023) — 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
Johnson County Post — “Kimchi + Bap coming to Lenexa Public Market next month,” 2023-07-27 — accessed 2026-08-13. Asserts: Hamblen spent most of her career in higher education; soft opening Aug 3, 2023 and grand opening Aug 11, 2023; more than two dozen pop-ups in the Market’s test kitchen preceded the stall, which replaced the Tasting Room; dishes — bibimbap, japchae, chicken bulgogi; planned seasonal cold noodles (summer) and stews (winter); no prices published. ↩ ↩² ↩³
Kansas City Magazine — “Korean Food Heads to Lenexa Public Market,” 2023-04-17 — accessed 2026-08-13. Asserts: Hamblen is a self-taught chef inspired by her mother’s Korean cooking; nearly sold out each weekend of her 2022 pop-ups with bibimbap and japchae; planned daily specials of dumplings or kimchi pancakes; opening expected late spring 2023; no prices published. ↩