[Edaily Reporter YUN GI BACK ] Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has a restaurant he visits every time he comes to Seoul. It’s a chicken restaurant in the Gongdeok area of Mapo-gu. Even as he’s starred in different movies and increased the number of his visits to Korea, he’s always made his way to the same place. That’s why, on his 13th visit to Korea to promote his new film “Digger,” people are asking him questions just as intriguing as those about the movie itself: Will he go to Gongdeok again this time?

Tom Cruise’s visit to Gongdeok wasn’t just a one-time sighting. He revisited the “Barun Chicken Gongdeok Park Xi Branch”—which he had visited in 2023 while promoting *Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One*—during his 2025 visit to Korea for *Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning*. In an interview last year, the CEO of Barun Chicken explained that Tom Cruise had made an unofficial visit to eat chicken and that the visit was unrelated to any marketing activities.
The fact that he visited the same restaurant twice goes a step further than simply the story of a famous actor eating Korean food. While one might try a new place the first time to experience a new flavor, the second time one tends to choose a place they already know. Although Tom Cruise hasn’t personally revealed the exact reason for visiting Gongdeok, this chicken restaurant has clearly become a place worth revisiting during his visits to Seoul.

His sightings in Gongdeok weren’t limited to the chicken restaurant. Last year, photos and videos of him drinking coffee at a café and greeting passersby on the street spread across social media. Accompanied by director Christopher McQuarrie, he waved to people who recognized him and took photos with young fans. What was an ordinary evening stroll for some became a chance encounter with a Hollywood actor for others.
The year 2023 followed a similar pattern. After dining at Yeokjeon Hoegwan, a bulgogi restaurant in the Gongdeok area, Cruise met with citizens near the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail. A video of his visit released by the restaurant showed him waving to people. He was also spotted in the Bangi-dong food alley in Songpa-gu at the time, drawing attention to his outings in Seoul outside of official events.
Gongdeok is a neighborhood where you can seamlessly transition from dining and coffee to a stroll. The Gyeongui Line Forest Trail runs alongside the restaurants and cafes frequented by office workers and residents. What makes the sightings of Tom Cruise so intriguing is that a world-renowned actor appears in this familiar, everyday setting. While you have to wait to see him on the red carpet, stories circulate in Gongdeok of people bumping into him while having dinner or simply walking down the street.

These encounters leave a different kind of lasting impression than official events. While in the movie he hangs from airplanes and jumps off cliffs, in Seoul he eats fried chicken and drinks coffee. The sight of him taking photos with citizens on the street—without any special event planned—turns his visit to Korea into a story that goes beyond simply promoting the film.
Tom Cruise said at a press conference for “Digger” on the 1st that he would like to visit Korea 30 more times in the future. On the 2nd, he will meet with fans at a red carpet event at Yeongdeungpo Times Square.
It has not yet been confirmed whether he will visit Gongdeok during this trip. If he does return, it will mark his third visit to Gongdeok, following trips in 2023 and 2025. While his promotional schedule has been made public, the choice of which restaurant in Seoul he’d like to revisit remains up to him. Whether that choice will be Gongdeok again adds another small point of curiosity to this visit.