Restaurants inside the Japan Center malls have had to resort to takeout services, many located at tents set up on the center's plaza. One of the takeout omakase orders at Oma San Francisco Station for customers on Aug. RELATED: Here’s how much Bay Area restaurants have spent to be COVID-19-prepared But despite his best efforts, business is nowhere near what it used to be. “We didn’t know this would happen, though.”Įntering the takeout game for the first time ever, Chan has had to make some challenging adjustments to his food, from selecting fish that will last longer in takeout boxes, to experimenting with new marinating techniques and even introducing bento to the menu. “It’s really bad for us, our situation, but we had no choice - we picked this location,” said Oma’s Chef Wilson Chan. Oma San Francisco Station, a tiny eight-seat omakase counter serving masterful nigiri in the corner of Japan Center West, has seen its business cut in half since the pandemic hit. In addition, Japantown felt the stigma of being an Asian neighborhood “quite acutely” in the early days of the pandemic, as Rosalyn Tonai, executive director of the National Japanese American Historical Society in San Francisco, told The San Francisco Chronicle. And of course, no tourists are staying in the Hotel Kabuki, which brought business to Japan Center. The shopping center has also seen the cancellation of various festivals that are the neighborhood’s bread and butter, namely the Cherry Blossom Festival in April, which draws about 200,000 people. To be located within an indoor mall means outdoor dining is off the table, too.
Oma San Francisco Station owner Wilson Chan prepares a number of takeout omakase orders for customers on Aug. “That’s been the hardest transition for restaurants: from everyone coming to Japantown on weekends to have a meal, look at retail stores and hang out in the plaza, to now just going to takeout and delivery.”
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“At first, they didn’t know how to outreach to the audience that normally would just drop in the mall,” said Greg Viloria, director of community affairs and marketing for the Japan Center malls. But hidden away inside the closed-to-the public doors of Japan Center, they can’t rely on people to just stumble upon their eateries anymore.
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Restaurants in Japan Center are permitted to remain open for curbside pickup, and third-party delivery drivers are allowed to enter the mall to pick up orders.