After sixteen years of closing at 6 p.m., Don Kwon is taking on the Ann Arbor night scene. Kosmo’s Bop Shop, a follow-up to Kwon’s Korean-American diner Kosmo’s in the Kerrytown Shops, opened in late August. The new restaurant on S. Ashley opens at 5 p.m. and closes at midnight–and 4 a.m. on the weekends. “Late night, people have so much more time, and you get to talk to so many interesting people,” says Kwon.

Besides the clientele (the Kerrytown Kosmo’s has long been a hangout for students at Community High), a marked difference between the locations is the menu. Where Kerrytown offers a variety of dishes, including burgers and fries, the only entree you can get at Kosmo’s Bop Shop is bibimbap, a mixed-ingredient Korean rice bowl. In the fast-casual “customize your own” model, customers come up to the front register to choose what they’d like in their bowl. Options include a variety of vegetables, meats, types of rice, and (of course) an egg. The only appetizer currently available is a fried egg roll.

The interior has an industrial-cool vibe, with walls decorated with graffiti art done by a Kosmo’s employee. He’s not done yet, but Kwon says soon you won’t be able to see the original paint at all.

Kwon says that he planned the late hours in part to attract U-M students, but that the first to respond have been workers in the restaurant industry. “They’re thanking me … they’re all coming in after their shifts. They’re the ones that understand me the most!”

Kwon says that he used to be shy and wanted to hide behind his brand, but recently he’s tried to embrace his role as its public face. He’s retired the old “Kosmobot” mascot and replaced it with a new logo: a drawing of Kwon holding up a big bowl. He’s also taken the name Kosmo–originally an abbreviation for the Kosmopolitan Deli–as his own nickname and changed both locations’ names to the possessive: “Kosmo’s,” rather than “Kosmo.” “It’s easier for people to remember that way,” he says.

Kwon, who was born in Korea and moved to Ann Arbor as a child, took over the Kerrytown spot in 2001. He added bibimbap to the menu alongside the sandwiches and fries, at first selling just two bowls a week. But Kwon relentlessly talked up his “bop” and even cut old favorites from the menu to push people to try it. “I would say ‘this [bibimbap] is our biggest, most popular dish.’ My employees would say ‘Don, that’s not our best seller,’ and I’d be like [whispering], ‘Shut up, this will be!'”

Kwon says business definitely took a hit from the switch–he was working seventy-hour weeks and only making around $25,000 a year. “People would tell me, ‘Don’t fix what’s not broken, Don! What are you doing? You’re going to run out of business!’ and of course they don’t see what I’m seeing.” Now they do: last year, the little Kerrytown diner sold over 35,000 bowls of bibimbap.

Downtown mogul Reza Rahmani must be confident too. He chose Kwon over nine other competitors to replace the Lucky Monkey Tattoo Parlor. “He liked my business model, and he felt like it would really complement [neighbors] Blimpy Burger and the Fleetwood Diner.”

What’s next for Kosmo’s? “My goal is to become like the Jimmy John’s of bop!” says Kwon. A lot of restaurant owners hedge when asked if they’d like to see national success, but Kwon is clearly excited just thinking about it. “That may happen after my time, but I’m setting the legacy.”

Kosmo’s Bop Shop, 308 S. Ashley, 668-4070. Tues.-Weds. 5 p.m.-midnight, Fri. & Sat. 5 p.m.-4 a.m., closed Sun. & Mon. facebook.com/kosmobop