Hundreds swarm for sushi and sashimi at Bay Area's newest Japanese supermarket
Hundreds of people line up at Bay Street Emeryville for Saturday's grand opening of Tokyo Central, the Bay Area's newest Japanese supermarket. (Adahlia Cole/Special to The Chronicle)
Spirits were high Saturday morning as hundreds of people eagerly waited in a long line to browse the shelves at the newest Japanese supermarket to open in the Bay Area.
Tokyo Central is now open to the public at the Emeryville Bay Street mall. The supermarket is best known for its wide selection of Japanese seafood, produce, dry goods, beverages and home goods. The store also offers a wide selection of ready-to-eat items such as rice bowls and onigiri made with fresh milled rice, sashimi sets and sandwiches. Hot foods are available from a buffet and sold by the pound. Customers can pick from a wide spread that includes noodles with vegetables, crispy chicken, shrimp tempura, seasoned tofu and takoyaki, among other items.
The new grocery store includes Waka Sakura Handroll Factory, a sushi restaurant that offers handroll sushi in single pieces and sets. The handheld pieces are made with high-grade Japanese rice and cuts of seafood such as bluefin tuna, scallops and crab. Its counter accommodates eight customers - first come, first served. Its 38-seat dining room serves as a space for Tokyo Central customers who purchase prepared foods. This area is accessible through a side entrance.
Hand rolls are prepped for the waiting crowds ahead of the grand opening of the restaurant at Tokyo Central in Emeryville. (Adahlia Cole/Special to The Chronicle)
A police officer working the crowds said more than 700 people were in line at 10 a.m., when the store opened. The line grew rapidly in the last hour before opening, growing past a maze of retractable-belt line dividers and snaking around a Barnes & Noble store across the way and into the mall's parking structure.
First in line was Oakland resident Ryan Ly-Burbridge, who arrived at 12:30 a.m. He spent the night on a chair and clad in a sweatshirt and beanie to fight off the cool overnight temperatures. He and his wife, who dropped him off at night, have eagerly awaited the opening since it was announced last year. Because they live nearby, purchasing specific Asian items for their home-cooked dishes is now more convenient.
"I saw they had a good deal on eel, so I'm hoping to pick some up for dinner tonight," he said. The couple traveled to Japan last summer and are on the lookout for beverages such as Poccari Sweat, a popular Japanese electrolyte drink that has developed a cult following in the West due to its unusual name and winning flavor.
"There's a lot of items and deals here that you don't find online, and being one of our nearest grocery stores, it's also a place for community," he said.
Ryan Ly-Burbridge, who arrived at 12:30 a.m. Saturday, was first in line ahead for the opening of Tokyo Central in Emeryville. (Adahlia Cole/Special to The Chronicle)
The new Tokyo Central is the first to arrive in the East Bay and the second in the Bay Area, after a store in Cupertino. It is set inside a new, 40,635-square-foot space at the Bay Street Emeryville mall. The brand operates 12 California stores and two more in Hawaii.
Despite the grand opening's fanfare, the store's first customers actually shopped Thursday and Friday, during a brief soft opening, an event organizer said.
Tokyo Central
Also in line Saturday morning were Alameda residents Emily Griego and Veronica Villanueva, who joined the queue a bit before 7 a.m. Villanueva considers herself a fan of Japanese food and has looked forward to the opening. "When she told me that this place was going to open, I was like, let's go. Let's do this. I didn't care what time," she said.
Griego occasionally shops for Asian specialty goods at San Francisco's H Mart, which is her nearest location, or while visiting her son in Southern California, who lives near a store. While many goods she seeks out are available online, she says nothing beats browsing the aisles and avoiding shipping fees. "I like to pick and choose what I want," she said. "I like the old-school way."
A small portion of the large seafood selection at Tokyo Central. (Adahlia Cole/Special to The Chronicle)
Once inside, customers were drawn to the seafood section, which was running low on jewel-like sushi cuts, and the fresh onigiri section, where customers waited for rice balls stuffed with sockeye salmon and shrimp.
At snack aisles, customers picked out spicy potato chips and gummies featuring anime characters on the packaging. Bags and dolls featuring the mascot of popular Japanese department store Don Quijote - also owned by Tokyo Central's parent company, Pan Pacific Retail Management - instantly lured customers familiar with the cartoon penguin. The first 100 customers Saturday were treated to $10 gift certificates.
Tokyo Central representatives and attendees celebrated the grand opening with festivities such as a Japanese dance performance, giveaways and keynote speakers, including Emeryville Mayor Sukhdeep Kaur and Kotaro Otsuka, the consul general of Japan in San Francisco.
Japanese dance troupe Uzumaru performs at the grand opening of Tokyo Central in Emeryville. (Adahlia Cole/Special to The Chronicle)
"The growing popularity of Japanese cuisine is reflected in the steady increase of exports of Japanese products to the U.S.," Otsuka said. "I hope that more people will have the chance to experience Japanese food and culture."
Tokyo Central arrives as the Bay Area experiences a wave of Asian grocery store openings. Korean grocery store Jagalchi also gathered hundreds of customers at its grand opening last March. Osaka Marketplace, another Japanese supermarket, recently opened a new location in Foster City. More are underway as T&T Supermarket, Canada's largest Asian grocer, prepares a Millbrae store. H Mart, the largest U.S. Asian grocery store brand, is preparing new locations in Dublin and Fremont, slated to be the largest one in the U.S.
