Miss Kim owner opens vegetarian spinoff ‘Little Kim’ in Ann Arbor

After running Miss Kim for almost a decade, owner Ji Hye Kim has opened up a spinoff restaurant next door. Little Kim, a fast-casual restaurant that draws on a variety of international cuisines, including Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Indian, opened in July 2025 to bring refreshing vegan and vegetarian food to the Ann Arbor community.

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Kim explained her goal with Little Kim was to create a casual but health-driven dining option.

“I think we only have like two or three dishes that are vegetarian because it either has egg or cheese on it, but most of it can be turned into vegan,” Kim said. “That’s sort of what I wanted. I wanted a good, hearty, healthy food that’s grab and go and you can order and eat, and it’d be delicious.”

Some menu items include fried chickpeas, Jjajangbap with black bean sauce and tempeh, chilled tofu noodles, a paneer tomato sandwich and eggs in purgatory.

Kim said her perspective shifted after traveling to a Korean Buddhist temple, where she learned vegetarian food could be more than an alternative or substitute.

“Every time I go to Korea, I would stay at a Korean Buddhist temple,” Kim said. “Food there is just amazing, and it sort of blew my mind, because … I’ve had a lot of food that’s trying to be meat food, and then they’re just doing (a) substitute, like fake nacho cheese, or fake meat, or fake burger or fake chicken. But that was when I personally had vegetarian food that’s fantastic and full of flavor and texture and color.”

Flint resident Ben Frost, a Little Kim customer, told The Daily he sees the new establishment as filling a gap in the city’s restaurant scene.

“In this area, there is a nice mix of all types of cuisine, but I think it’s important to have a good vegetarian, vegan type option for people, not a restaurant that just does it on the side, but one that is fully vegetarian, vegan, and I think it’s a really good complement to Miss Kim, but as a standalone, it’s great on its own.”

Some customers, however, felt the pricing could be more flexible. Third-year Medical School student Amita Wanar told The Daily she thought some dishes were slightly expensive and wanted more appetizer options for a meal alternative.

“I think the bowls are a little expensive,” Wanar said. “I wish there were appetizers, so you could get one or two (appetizers), make a little small meal with that. That’s what I would get if I came back, and I will come back.”

Beyond the food itself, Kim said she values the dialogue she’s been able to have with customers as to how to make Little Kim better.

“People are excited to come and try it,” Kim said. “I’ve heard really good things. Every once in a while, we’ll have a suggestion to make things better. We really welcome that, and we’ve listened to it and made tweaks, and I think it did make dishes better or service better. So I just want people to come and have a good time and tell us what they think.”

Daily Staff Reporter Kayla Lugo can be reached at klugo@umich.edu.

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