Midvale • Utah’s iconic Kowloon Café may be closed, but its spirit lives on at Tokyo Teriyaki.
The fast-casual Asian restaurant opened recently in Midvale, with a second location coming soon to Salt Lake City.
Owner Connie Wang has plenty of experience in the restaurant business. For many years, she helped run the Kowloon Café in West Valley City with her father, Raymond Wang. The quintessential Chinese American restaurant closed in May after 60 years in business. The family sold the property to a larger restaurant group.
Kowloon Café was known for its Chinese favorites such as sweet-and-sour chicken, fried rice and chop suey — as well as American classics like fish and chips, hamburgers and chicken-fried steak. Wang said Tokyo Teriyaki offers a simpler, more modern version of Asian fare, with “a lighter traditional teriyaki flavor.”
Rice and noodle bowls are topped with vegetables and a choice of proteins — chicken, steak, salmon, tofu or a combination. Prices range from $5 to $15. Wang said the restaurant uses fresh — not frozen — meats that are grilled to order.
Drinks include Vietnamese iced coffee, boba and Thai tea.
Wang pays tribute to the Kowloon history on the appetizer menu, which includes cream cheese wontons, potstickers, edamame and vegetable spring rolls ($2-$4). Kim Yang, the chef who made the Kowloon Cafe’s egg rolls, moved to Tokyo Teriyaki to work with Wang.
Tokyo Teriyaki • 7121 Bingham Junction Blvd., Midvale; 801-666-8867 or tokyoteriyakiutah.com. Open Monday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. A second location will open soon at 2121 S. McClelland St., Salt Lake City, 385-522-2721.
