BRIDGEWATER — Sakura, a Japanese restaurant in Harrisonburg, will soon expand to Generations Park in Bridgewater.
The Bridgewater town council announced the new restaurant at an Aug. 13 town meeting, where council members said they had finally found a restaurant to take over a vacant site next to the park.
Sakura serves Japanese fare, such as teriyaki and sushi, and the Generations Park location will also serve bubble tea, which is not offered at Sakura’s other locations throughout the Valley.
“We’re excited to welcome a new restaurant in this space that offers a different fare than other restaurants in the town and has many years of experience managing more than 20 locations up and down the I-81 corridor,” said Bridgewater town councilman Jim Tongue.
Sakura is a family-owned local chain with locations in cities and towns, including Harrisonburg, Staunton, Winchester and Waynesboro.
Andy Chen, who manages several other locations, including the Harrisonburg location, will manage the Bridgewater restaurant. He said the new restaurant will open in the middle of September and will have eight to 10 employees.
“The square footage is a little smaller than [the Harrisonburg location], but it’s a little different over there. We also have a full liquor bar over there coming,” Chen said. “And the menu is a little bit different.”
The food menu at the Bridgewater location may be smaller to focus more on Japanese instead of other Asian foods, Chen said. However, the addition of a full liquor bar and bubble tea will also make the Bridgewater location different from Harrisonburg.
The Bridgewater location will likely be closed on Mondays, while the Harrisonburg location is open daily.
The restaurant still needs to pass a fire department inspection and health inspection before it will be ready to open. Those are likely to happen soon, according to Chen.
“We’ve been running and running and running,” Chen said.
Chen also plans to pilot a new idea at the Bridgewater location — an Asian gift shop. He was inspired by attending his daughter’s high school graduation, where he saw families giving graduation gifts to their children.
“So, something like little gifts from all of the different Asian countries, maybe from China, some from Korea, some from Japan, some from Vietnam,” Chen said.
The vacant storefront at Generations Park already has a sign in front of it announcing Sakura will open soon, which people who come to the park to relax and play sports can see.
Bridgewater College junior Autumn Just, who plays pickleball at Generations Park with the college’s other field hockey team members, learned about the new restaurant from this sign. She is already a fan of the restaurant and said she is looking forward to the opening of the new Sakura location.
“I like Sakura. There’s one in Harrisonburg, and I’ve been there a lot,” Just said. “This one will be more convenient because it’s closer to campus.”
She said she has been to the Harrisonburg location around 10 times with her friends. Her favorite dish is the California roll.
“It’s a spot that my friends and I like to go to,” Just said.
AloJapan.com