Jeolla-do is where Koreans go to eat, and Gwangju is its capital. Order one dish here and a dozen free banchan follow. Three days of 5-day markets, oritang alleys, Songjeong tteokgalbi and Chungjang-ro fry stalls.
Gwangju's last true five-day country market, trading on dates ending in 2 and 7 in Buk-gu. Halmeoni vendors sell mountain namul, salted saeujeot and live Yeongsan-gang eel from tarpaulin stalls. Peak trade 08:00–13:00.
A dozen duck-soup houses on one Buk-gu block, a Gwangju invention from the 1970s. Oritang arrives as a bubbling pot of duck, deulkkae (perilla) powder and heaps of minari, eaten with rice and a wall of banchan.
A half-derelict wholesale market reborn as an artists' market, with studios wedged between fishmongers and a bustling hotteok stand. Saturday's Byeolbam night market runs food carts from 18:00 until midnight, spring to autumn.
Gwangju's 'Dongridan-gil' — old hanok and 1970s houses converted into roasteries, dessert bars and wine shops behind the Asia Culture Center. Speciality flat whites, tteok-based patisserie and small natural-wine rooms.
A municipal kimchi museum and workshop complex in Nam-gu, built around Jeolla's famously red, anchovy-heavy style. Hands-on classes let you salt baechu and mix the yangnyeom paste, then vacuum-pack your batch to take away.
Twenty-odd grill houses beside Gwangju Songjeong Station serving the city's signature dish: minced beef-and-pork patties hand-shaped onto rib bones and charcoal-grilled, always paired with a clear bone-marrow ppyeo-haejangguk.
A century-old market restored in 2016 into a tight lane of about 40 shops — croquette bakers, a yeot (malt-candy) maker, kkwabaegi twists and a shop pressing local rice into single-serve makgeolli bottles for the train.
Courtyard restaurants on the road up to Mudeungsan serving full Jeolla hanjeongsik: 20 to 30 dishes landing at once — hongeo, jeon, jokbal, raw crab in soy, seasonal namul — with the rice and soup arriving last.
The barley-rice street at the Jeungsimsa trailhead, where thirty-plus houses serve boribap: a bowl of barley and rice with a tray of wild greens, doenjang-guk and gochujang you mix yourself. Kitchens open from about 10:00.
Gwangju invented sangchu-twigim: squid-and-vegetable fritters wrapped in lettuce with raw garlic and soy-chilli sauce, eaten standing at Chungjang-ro's back-alley stalls. Tteokbokki and sundae share the same counters.
A Chungjang-ro bakery trading since 1973 and a genuine Gwangju landmark, known for its gongryong-albbang 'dinosaur egg' bread and nadaeyang-ppang. The upstairs café is a long-standing meeting point for downtown shoppers.
Gwangju's late-night district west of the centre: pork-belly grills, jokbal houses, sashimi rooms and pojangmacha tents pouring Mudeungsan makgeolli and soju until 02:00, busiest Thursday through Saturday.