Korean fried chicken, kimchi rice, honey butter fries and more arrive at the new Basic Bird in Beaverdale

Susan Stapleton, Des Moines Register
Updated ·3 min read

On opening night at Basic Bird on Jan. 3, the line to order Korean fried chicken and street food stretched back to the door. Customers could peek into the kitchen to see the chefs pulling tickets and filling orders at the counter-service restaurant. Even chef Joe Tripp, the five-time James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Best Chef Midwest, worked the line at his newest restaurant in the Beaverdale neighborhood in Des Moines.

At one point in the afternoon, Tripp posted on social media that they temporarily closed the restaurant just to catch up. Then a new deluge arrived when the dinner crowd arrived, ebbing and flowing. While the wait that first night was almost 30 minutes, once ordered, the food came out almost before customers could find a seat in the bright yellow and stark white dining room.

Some diners posted up at a bright yellow and white counter at the front that looks out at Beaver Avenue, while others sat at tables or along a counter with stools that splits the room. Families and friends, couples and singles tucked in for a first bite of Tripp’s interpretation of Korean food.

Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. At 6:45 p.m., a long line of customers waited to order, but once you placed an order, the food came out fast and fresh.
Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. At 6:45 p.m., a long line of customers waited to order, but once you placed an order, the food came out fast and fresh.

More: How to spend the perfect day in Beaverdale with restaurants, bars and shopping

When the pandemic started in March 2020, Tripp and his wife Alexandra decided to keep Harbinger, their vegetable-forward small-plates restaurant on Ingersoll Avenue, open by switching over to Korean fried chicken and Basic Bird.

Joe traveled in southeastern Asia, including Korea, to study the food and let it influence his cooking through ingredients and techniques. Many of his favorite flavors and cooking styles appear on the ever-changing menu at Harbinger, but Iowa's love of fried chicken and those Korean flavors called for Basic Bird to have a space of its own.

For about 18 months, diners kept Harbinger open by ordering the chicken. Later, the Tripps only served Basic Bird fare on Sunday nights until about four months ago, when they prepared to open in Beaverdale.

What’s on the menu at Basic Bird?

Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here, the nine-piece boneless Korean fried chicken comes with a double dunk of sweet honey butter and spicy gochujang.
Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here, the nine-piece boneless Korean fried chicken comes with a double dunk of sweet honey butter and spicy gochujang.

Korean fried chicken makes up the heart of the menu with its thin, crispy crust that can be sweet or spicy. Diners can request optional sauces such as sweet honey butter, spicy gochujang, or a combination of both to coat the chicken the comes in orders of five, nine or 18 pieces (or six, 12 or 18 for wings).

Diners can also select cauliflower instead for a vegetarian option.

Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Clockwise from top left: cheese corn, Korean potato salad, rice, kimchi cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Clockwise from top left: cheese corn, Korean potato salad, rice, kimchi cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.

Whether boneless, wings or cauliflower, the dishes come with three banchans, or vegetable sides. The cold sides include soy garlic shishito peppers, Korean potato salad, cucumber kimchi, cabbage kimchi, pickled daikon and marinated Brussels sprouts. Each added its own element to the dining conversation.

Chef Joe Tripp predicted that the honey butter fries would fly out the door at Basic Bird, the Korean street food restaurant that opened in Beaverdale on Jan. 3, 2024.
Chef Joe Tripp predicted that the honey butter fries would fly out the door at Basic Bird, the Korean street food restaurant that opened in Beaverdale on Jan. 3, 2024.

New menu items include bone-in chicken, a sandwich on brioche bun and two kinds of dumplings — boiled chicken and kimchi or crispy chicken and chives. The restaurant also offers honey butter French fries, bubbly cheese corn as well as instant ramen salad and a bap bowl with fresh veggies on top of Korean rice with a fried egg.

Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here's the bacon and fried rice kimchi wrapped in an egg, a must-order on the menu.
Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here's the bacon and fried rice kimchi wrapped in an egg, a must-order on the menu.

A bacon and kimchi fried rice wrapped in an egg and cheesy rice dumplings round out the menu.

Some items such as the chicken and cauliflower, banchans and fries are gluten free. The spicy sauce, the bap bowl, and the dumplings are not.

More: Joe and Alex Tripp ready to dish Korean fried chicken from their third Des Moines restaurant

What does Basic Bird have to drink?

Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here, an assortment of bottled drinks, including soju, and chips available.
Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here, an assortment of bottled drinks, including soju, and chips available.

Customers can customize their sodas in a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine. Craft and domestic beers along with soju are also on the menu.

Tell me something cute about the restaurant

Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here, a portion of the mural in the entrance. Nic Roth created the kawaii characters in black and white here and in color of the outside wall on the north side of the building and the garage.
Basic Bird, the new Korean street food restaurant from Joe and Alexandra Tripp, opened in Beaverdale on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Here, a portion of the mural in the entrance. Nic Roth created the kawaii characters in black and white here and in color of the outside wall on the north side of the building and the garage.

Look for an adorable mural with kawaii characters painted by local artist Nic Roth on the exterior and inside the front entry and along the back wall to the restrooms. If you spend enough time looking at the art, you can find some Easter eggs.

Where to find Basic Bird

Location: 2607 Beaver Ave., Des Moines

Contact: basicbird.com

Hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Basic Bird with Korean fried chicken, street food opens in Des Moines