Kenji Suzuki, current owner of Suehiro Cafe, at the Little Tokyo location.
By HYOUNSEOK (HAROLD) SONG
On Jan. 9, 2024, a vital legacy business adored by the Little Tokyo’s community served its last meals to its customers. After 52 years of service, Suehiro Cafe was forced to leave its Little Tokyo location — to the disappointment of many Angelenos and tourists alike.
Suehiro Cafe, a Japanese comfort food restaurant, was founded by previous owners Junko Suzuki and Yuriko Suzuki in 1972. What began as a dream of serving authentic Japanese food in America quickly became a reality, making them beloved and monumental in the Little Tokyo community.
Though members of the community may be heartbroken for the loss of such a vital addition to the Little Tokyo community, Suehiro Cafe isn’t gone forever – they have relocated to DTLA!
In my first year at UCLA, this past January I was fortunate to be assigned my top choice for an internship class: working with the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC). Serving as a Little Tokyo ambassador with the award-winning Small Biz Hype Squad, an LTSC community engagement program, I had the opportunity to work with Suehiro Cafe, a legacy business.
Original Suehiro Cafe: Little Tokyo picture from 2008 showcasing the cozy atmosphere, trademarked by the orange-colored lighting.
During my time with the Small Biz Hype Squad, one of my main responsibilities was to analyze over 1,000 survey responses. These surveys aimed to gather suggestions for the new location by frequent customers. When reading the responses, what stood out was the overwhelming desire of respondents for the new location to have the “homey” and “cozy” ambiance that defined the original spot.
As someone who has never had the chance to dine at Suehiro Cafe, I found reading these survey responses fascinating. It was moving to see how deeply people connected with the restaurant. The survey was filled with heartwarming responses such as:
“I’ve been going to Suehiro Cafe with my family since I was in elementary school. I go with my kids now. We love it.”
“Please don’t lose the homey feeling. I wish you didn’t have to move!”
Of course, despite its successful relocation, Suehiro Cafe’s old location will still be remembered fondly. When asked what his greatest challenge was with relocation, owner Kenji Suzuki thought about the question for a long time before answering.
“Every day is still a struggle. Nothing beats the foot traffic that you have in Little Tokyo. You know Little Tokyo has so much foot traffic — if you open the door, people would just fall in, literally. Here (DTLA), there’s no foot traffic. Everybody walking here is either walking their dog or going somewhere. So in order for us to bring those people in, we have to be their destination, and that makes a big difference. We have to earn every single person that comes here, which is very difficult.”
The iconic booths from the previous Little Tokyo location that were beloved by several customers.
Suehiro has lost a third of its business due to the relocation. It was also sad for Suzuki to move, given how much the old location meant to him and his family.
During our meeting, I also asked Suzuki for his favorite memory at the new location. With a warm smile on his face, he said:
“Meeting new people would have to be one of the top highlights of being here. Little Tokyo was a tight-knit community but I didn’t realize the tightness of the community in this area is very high as well. Here we have people actually living here, so when you live in an area, you have a lot of pride in that area. So that feeling of that pride really shows when you talk to those people. It’s always neat when some of these people that come in, when they walk out they know every single person at each booth, always saying ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ to each other, and everybody knows each other.”
Memorial to past owners Yuriko and Junko Suzuki above the entrance to the new DTLA location of Suehiro Cafe.
I sensed Suzuki’s sincerity as he spoke and found him to be a genuinely inspirational person. It’s endearing how humble he is when discussing his restaurant’s impact on people.
“No, I mean it’s mind-boggling, actually. Because you don’t know, and I don’t know, how deep the people that actually grew up on our food feelings go for Suehiro. I heard about people that had their first dates at Suehiro, getting married, having kids, and the kids actually growing up with Suehiro, and now they’re grown people and bringing their kids to eat Suehiro again.”
Suehiro Cafe is more than a name to its customers. It’s a second home, a safe haven for people when they’re feeling down. It’s where Japanese students go when they yearn for a taste of their hometown. And Japanese American people go to reconnect with aspects of their culture. For non-Japanese Americans, it represents an opportunity to immerse themselves in the Japanese hospitality culture and enjoy the warmth of shared experiences.
Suehiro Cafe is not merely a restaurant; it is a cherished cornerstone of the community, a symbol of comfort and connection, and a testament to the enduring power of shared experiences and genuine hospitality.
DTLA location booths, which hold true to past booths from the original location.
This is a two part article — in the next article I’ll be sharing how Suehiro is creatively collaborating with future legacy businesses to honor its history!
Uprisers will be displaying their Suehiro Upcycled Collection at a celebration on Sunday, Sept. 1, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Wolf & Crane, 366 E. Second St. in Little Tokyo, giving the community its first opportunity to win one of these one-of-a-kind pieces. The Uprisers x Suehiro Collaboration is an exploration of cultural preservation and sustainability as they continue to reimagine the fashion industry.
Music by DJ Baby Yu, yakitori pop-up by Yoyaman, and more. For more updates, visit: www.instagram.com/weareuprisers/
Hyounseok (Harold) Song is a first-generation Korean American. He is currently a first-year student at UCLA studying as a pre-global studies major and is a member of the Small Biz Hype Squad community engagement program of the Little Tokyo Service Center’s Small Business Program. He frequents Little Tokyo and loves the food and atmosphere of Little Tokyo!