November 2, 2019
A Japanese curry rice chain with more than 1,000 branches around the globe, CoCo Ichibanya will soon open a location in San Diego.
Founded by Tokuji Munetsugu and his wife Naomi, CoCo Ichibanya started as a small cafe in 1974 before the first location opened in Nishi-Biwajima, Japan in 1978. The curry restaurant grew into the world's largest chain of curry restaurants and began franchising in the 1990s under a unique program to assist employees set up their own restaurants, known as the Bloom System. There are now more than 1,400 outposts around the world. In 2015, the company was acquired by Japan's House Foods Group aiming to greatly expand oversees.