Nearly a year after the closing of Golden Town Buffet, a new Asian restaurant is opening in its place.
Akira, owned by Frank Zheng’s New Jersey restaurant group, opened for the first time last week. An official ribbon cutting was held on Wednesday, Feb. 11, though the restaurant had a soft-opening a few days prior.
“I really liked the location and felt I could make it into a really great location,” Zheng said.
Zheng became interested in the property last summer when he was in the area visiting family and eventually took over the lease in September.
The buffets from the older restaurant were torn out and replaced by three bars.
One of the major changes customers will notice is the addition of 10 hibachi grills. The majority were added towards the left of the restaurant, with one table in a separate room to allow for privates parties.
“We basically changed the whole interior of the dining room because we wanted to open it up for more space,” said Zheng.
This is officially the 6th Akira location to open since 2003, with the majority of locations in New Jersey. Zheng said another three locations are in the works.
Voiced confidence
Golden Town Buffet Hibachi and Sushi closed last March. This was about six months after an employee, Heng Li, was arrested in August for using a credit cards skimmer to steal the personal information from customers. Three New York City men were arrested in the following months for using the stolen information.
Zheng said he wanted to ensure future customers a similar situation would not happen in the new restaurant.
“Someone had told me there was credit card information stolen, and that’s just terrible,” said Zheng. He said he wanted to restore the trust of diners. He also said he planned open the hiring process soon to locals.
To learn more, visit www.akirasushigroup.com/akira3.
