According to filings with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, a Type 47 full liquor on-sale general eating place license is currently pending for Zuma San Diego at the northwest corner of West Broadway and Columbia Street in downtown San Diego. The license lists Zuma Japanese Restaurants, Inc. as a member of the entity, with officers including Kemal Tevfik Akdag, Simon Christopher Drysdale, and Sven Koch, CEO of Azumi Ltd., the global hospitality group that operates Zuma and several affiliated brands.
The address corresponds with The Guild Hotel complex in the former Armed Services YMCA building, Zuma will be accessible through a separate entrance to the hotel. It is reported that the restaurant will span 12,000-square-feet with seating for over 250 guests. Updated reports indicate the restaurant will follow Zuma’s signature indoor-outdoor model, including a formal arrival sequence where guests enter through a tunnel and approach from a terrace before reaching the main dining room rather than passing through the hotel lobby.
Further confirmation of the project surfaced via LinkedIn, where Zuma Restaurants posted an opening for a People and Culture Manager for “Zuma San Diego,” describing the venue as an upcoming pre-opening operation. The position outlines full-scale HR infrastructure development, onboarding systems, compliance frameworks, and operational leadership, indicators of a substantial, full-service restaurant rather than a limited-service outpost.
Founded in 2002 in London’s Knightsbridge neighborhood by German-born chef Rainer Becker, Zuma pioneered a modern interpretation of Japanese izakaya-style dining, centered around sushi, robata grill cooking and a high-energy, design-forward environment. Becker, who previously served as executive chef at Park Hyatt Tokyo and Park Hyatt Sydney, built Zuma around precision technique, premium sourcing, and a format that balances informality with luxury.
The concept quickly expanded internationally after its early London success, growing into a global portfolio under Azumi Ltd. Today, Zuma operates in major international markets including London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Miami, New York, Las Vegas, Boston, Rome, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, and several Mediterranean resort destinations. Azumi’s portfolio also includes restaurant brands ROKA, Oblix at The Shard in London, ETARU, and INKO NITO. As of mid-2024, the company operated more than 35 restaurants worldwide.
Many Zuma locations are known as much for their lifestyle atmosphere as their food, often functioning as late-night social hubs where guests arrive after dinner elsewhere for cocktails and dessert rather than treating the restaurant as a conventional end-of-night dining experience.
San Diego’s addition places the city alongside major cosmopolitan markets that typically serve as Zuma expansion targets. Historically, the brand has prioritized high-density urban cores and affluent tourism corridors. The West Broadway and Columbia Street location situates Zuma within downtown’s evolving luxury hotel and residential cluster, adjacent to The Guild Hotel and walking distance from the waterfront, Little Italy, and the Gaslamp Quarter.
San Diego’s addition places the city alongside major cosmopolitan markets that typically serve as Zuma expansion targets. Historically, the brand has prioritized high-density urban cores and affluent tourism corridors. The West Broadway and Columbia Street location situates Zuma within downtown’s evolving luxury hotel and residential cluster, adjacent to The Guild Hotel and walking distance from the waterfront, Little Italy, and the Gaslamp Quarter.
Zuma’s arrival also aligns with a broader repositioning of The Guild Hotel and the West Broadway corridor. Hotel leadership has described the stretch near the waterfront as entering a “quiet calm before the storm” phase of reinvestment, citing increased residential density, new fitness and luxury amenities, and multi-block redevelopment projects along Broadway. A ground-level pool and garden lounge are currently under construction adjacent to Zuma as part of the hotel’s effort to reposition itself as more of an urban resort destination. The property is also launching a new cocktail program led by Dushan Zarić, co-founder of Employees Only and Macao Trading Co., further signaling an upscale hospitality reset for the complex.
Zuma’s parent company recently announced a multi-year collaboration with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, naming the restaurant group its official lifestyle and dining curator, reinforcing the brand’s positioning in the global luxury space beyond traditional restaurant hospitality.
The project, however, unfolds against the backdrop of recent instability in The Guild Hotel’s onsite food and beverage partnerships. In 2024, Be Saha Hospitality Group, led by Amar Harrag, abruptly exited management of the hotel’s dining operations amid allegations of unpaid wages, bounced paychecks, vendor disputes, and a subsequent investigation by the San Diego District Attorney’s Workplace Justice Division. That situation followed the earlier pandemic-era closure of Luca, the hotel’s original restaurant concept. Zuma’s entrance into the property represents the most significant culinary tenant yet and marks a clear shift away from local operator partnerships toward a globally scaled hospitality brand with established infrastructure and capital backing.
Zuma San Diego is expected to open this summer at the northwest corner of West Broadway and Columbia Street in downtown San Diego. For more information, visit zumarestaurant.com.
Originally published on February 17, 2026.
Originally published on February 17, 2026.