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New Upscale Japanese Spot Roka Akor Will Have Sidewalk Patio, Basement Speakeasy

The interior of Roka Akor Chicago.
The interior of Roka Akor Chicago. Photo: Courtesy of Roka Akor

Roka Akor, the Japanese steak and sushi restaurant with locations in Chicago and Scottsdale, is giving birth to a third U.S. location of Roka Akor next spring in S.F., as reported earlier. The chain is an off-shoot of the London- and Hong Kong-based Roka, and today, Eater brings a few more details on the project moving into the recently cursed 500 Jackson Street location (they’re wisely moving the address around the corner to become 801 Montgomery). First of all, they’ll be adding a sidewalk patio with about 25 seats, and Arcanum Architects are completely gutting and changing the interior so it will bear no resemblance to previous tenants Zinnia and Scott Howard. Also, there’s going to be a new, 75-seat “speakeasy” lounge in the basement. The chef will be S.F.-based Roman Petry who previously helped with the chain’s Scottsdale opening. [Eater] Update: Now they’re saying summer 2013.

New Upscale Japanese Spot Roka Akor Will Have Sidewalk Patio, Basement Speakeasy