Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship for The Winooski News
WINOOSKI — Since opening its doors in 2023, Summer Cao’s Donwoori has gone through a metamorphosis.
The original restaurant, which began as a predominantly takeout business in South Burlington, could seat eight to ten people. Today, following their second move, Donwoori seats 65.
Cao isn’t from Vermont. She grew up in Vietnam, before moving to Australia at 17 to attend university.
Among the many restaurant jobs she held, one was at a Korean establishment.
Cao immigrated to the U.S. when she was 22. She describes the transition as “a pretty straightforward process,” since she had submitted her paperwork years prior.
Cao landed in Essex Junction to be closer to her mother, owner of Champlain Nails in Winooski. Cao credits her mother with instilling her entrepreneurial spirit, as the nail salon is open seven days a week for 365 days a year.
So how does a 22-year-old launch an immediately successful business after just a year in the U.S.? For Cao, it comes down to good research and a passion for her community.
Cao hit the ground running, finding employment at Chase Bank and Mandarin, a Chinese restaurant in the heart of Winooski. It was during this time, she said, that she discovered her true calling.
“I just found my passion, which is spending the day having genuine connection with people,” Cao said.
Her job at Chase Bank would prove invaluable to this process, as its public-facing nature showed Cao the value of genuine connection.
She used the skills she garnered from those face-to-face interactions and experience in the restaurant industry to launch Donwoori with her brother and business partner, Khoi, in late 2023.
Cao always wanted to open Donwoori in Winooski. During her initial location search, she attempted to sign a lease at 65 Winooski Falls Way, the location the restaurant would ultimately move to just a year later. But the lease fell through, and she settled for a smaller location at 2026 Williston Road in South Burlington.
Her inspiration behind Donwoori was simple. Cao noticed that the Winooski area was devoid of Korean cuisine, and, being that she had experience with the food, she decided it was time.
By herself, Cao created Donwoori’s menu. Her goal was to make comfort
food from a Korean perspective. For this reason, she chose Korean words that sound like “Don’t Worry” to be the name of her restaurant.
She focused on channeling classic Korean flavors, like gochujang — a fermented chili paste variant — into texturally rich and savory dishes. Cao said the combination of crunchy and savory, a prominent aspect of Korean cuisine, was important to the spirit of the menu.
Donwoori’s Korean fried chicken is this idea in material form. Cao’s wings have a crispy, fried exterior with fall-off-the-bone chicken on the inside. They come in a host of flavors, including gochujang, and sizes. Cao’s spin on comfort food gets to the core of her mission, which is providing guests with “the experience of forgetting all of their worries and problems.”
While much of Cao’s inspiration comes from Korea, she said she works hard to study local tastes so her menu can appeal to everyone. She cited her maple-gochujang wings as a good example of the fusion between Vermonter and Korean flavors at play in Donwoori’s kitchen.
Cao’s vision has panned out. After less than a year in their first Winooski location, Donwoori upsized again, opening their 22 Main St. location in Dec. 2025. This marked somewhat of a homecoming for Cao, as the space’s previous tenant was Mandarin, the first restaurant she worked at in Vermont.
With a larger kitchen, Cao said she will be able to expand her menu, something she’s “been wanting to do for such a long time.”
Since they’ve reopened, things have gone quite well, according to Cao. The community she sought to create is now established, and she estimates that 70-80% of her business is returning.
“I would say that’s the most rewarding part,” she said.