A massive food hall inspired by bustling, restaurant-filled alleyways in Japan is coming to Scottsdale in 2028.
The food hall will feature at least 15 different small stalls, each focused on a single type of Japanese food, such as yakitori grilled chicken skewers or ramen. Huy Truong, the restaurateur behind the concept, is partnering with close to a dozen chefs from across Japan to develop the menu at each stall.
Truong, who is also responsible for opening up franchises of Mensho Ramen, Xing Fu Tang and Udon Shin in metro Phoenix, is a huge fan of Japanese food. He's wanted to create something like this for a long time.
In the last year and a half, he traveled to Japan over a dozen times, trying different restaurants and talking with chefs to see if he could convince them to curate a menu.
"In Japan it's not like hey, do you wanna do business with me? It takes multiple, multiple conversations," Truong said.
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Atashi Yokocho is a Japanese food hall coming to Scottsdale in 2028.
Japanese chefs are designing the menus
So far, he has confirmed partnerships with around 10 chefs, Truong shared with The Arizona Republic exclusively. That includes a well-known ramen chef in Fukuoka, as well as chefs in Akita, Tokyo and Osaka.
The chefs will help create the menu and train staff, Truong said, but his company will be the one responsible for almost every stall, although he does plan to leave a few stalls empty to feature local restaurant pop-ups.
The food hall, located at 7339 E. McDonald Drive, is going to be called Atashi Yokocho after the yokocho, or "alleyways" in Japan. It will span 14,000 square feet and open at The Sydney development near 90th Street and Loop 101.
"I can't wait to see two years from now how it will be received by the community," Truong said.
