Beloved Japanese-style chain Benihana returns to Seattle after 10-year hiatus

After a roughly 10-year hiatus, the beloved Japanese-style restaurant chain, Benihana, is returning to Seattle’s South Lake Union.

The new restaurant will likely be located inside Lake Union Piers, filling an almost 9,000-square-foot area situated at 901 Fairview Avenue N., in keeping with The Puget Sound Business Journal.

Initially, plans referred to as for STK Steakhouse to fill the void, a distinct idea from One Group Hospitality, which owns Benihana. The Denver-based group then revised its plan in 2024 and moved ahead with its Hawaiian restaurant, Kona Grill, however plans modified as soon as extra with the addition of Benihana.

Benihana returns to Seattle following prolonged absence

Benihana’s return to the Seattle space has been long-awaited since its departure in 2016, after a long time of working at 1200 Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle.

In 2016, the restaurant was rebranded to Hamanasu, but it surely was later completely closed in 2019. One Group ultimately acquired the Benihana chain in 2024, which now has practically 80 areas throughout the U.S., with different eating places within the Caribbean and Central and South America.

There is presently no estimated opening date for Benihana’s South Lake Union restaurant, although the corporate has posted signage studying “coming soon” on its fundamental entryway doorways.

Benihana would be the newest retail tenant to affix Lake Union Piers, which presently options Daniel’s Broiler steakhouse and The Cove wine bar.

The proprietor of the location, Vulcan Real Estate, not too long ago redeveloped the property to mirror a vacation spot eating and retail hotspot, now providing 60,000 sq. toes of retail area, in keeping with The Puget Sound Business Journal. The firm renovated 4 of the property’s Nineteen Eighties-era buildings, improved pedestrian entry, and revised its car parking zone design.

“When we rebranded to Lake Union Piers, our goal was to revitalize this awesome waterfront location with vibrant restaurants and water-related retail and office tenants,” stated Geralyn Vannoy, Vulcan’s director of business advertising and marketing and leasing, in keeping with The Puget Sound Business Journal.

Benihana opened its first restaurant in 1964 in New York City, based by Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki. Rocky drew inspiration for the restaurant from his mother and father’ small Tokyo espresso store named Benihana.

Rocky adopted numerous facets of the enterprise and began America’s first Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, that includes genuine Japanese farmhouse interiors and meals ready on metal teppanyaki grills immediately in entrance of consumers.

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