Posted on May 15, 2026
Suehiro Cafe Is Coming Home to Little Tokyo | The iconic 54-year-old restaurant returns to the neighborhood after eviction in 2023
LOS ANGELES — The beloved Suehiro Cafe is coming back to Little Tokyo. After being evicted in 2023, the family-owned Japanese restaurant will return as a tenant in Go For Broke Plaza & First Street North Residences, Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC)’s new mixed-use development in the heart of historic Little Tokyo.
This announcement comes during Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in May — a fitting moment to celebrate the realization of a decades-long community campaign for self-determination that now brings a cherished legacy business back to the neighborhood it helped define.
“Little Tokyo is the heart and soul of Suehiro, and LTSC is the reason we’re able to come home. The last few years were a blur, but now that we signed the lease at First Street North, we have an anchor.” – Kenji Suzuki, Suehiro owner
Reclaiming Little Tokyo’s Land
Go For Broke Plaza & First Street North Residences is built on land the Little Tokyo community lost to eminent domain during urban renewal in the 1950s. For decades, it sat as a surface parking lot. LTSC and partner Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC) secured a ground lease from the City of Los Angeles and are transforming the 2.5-acre site at 232 Judge John Aiso St. into one of the City of Los Angeles’s largest 100% affordable housing developments with 248 units of affordable housing and 40,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Suehiro’s return is exactly the kind of homecoming this project was designed to make possible.
“Suehiro is more than a restaurant. It is a symbol of everything Little Tokyo stands for — immigrant grit, community love, and the refusal to disappear. Protecting Little Tokyo’s future through community-driven projects like First Street North is exactly what LTSC was built to do.”— Takao Suzuki, Co-Executive Director of Little Tokyo Service Center
Why It Matters Now
This AAPI Heritage Month, Suehiro’s homecoming is a reminder that honoring immigrant legacies isn’t just about looking back – it’s about making sure those legacies have a future. As the largest of only three remaining Japantowns in the US, Little Tokyo has faced displacement for generations. Go For Broke Plaza & First Street North Residences is one of the few times in recent history that the neighborhood has expanded its borders.
With over 20 of Little Tokyo’s small businesses lost during the COVID-19 pandemic — and immigrant-owned businesses now facing economic pressure from federal tariff policies — the stakes for legacy businesses like Suehiro are high. LTSC’s commercial space offers something the open market rarely does: stability, affordability, and a community that wants you there.
“When we look at photos from over a hundred years ago, we see how this block was once the vibrant, bustling heart of Little Tokyo. Restoring this land for the community with much-needed affordable housing, local small businesses, and public green space not only honors the neighborhood’s past, but secures its future.” — Debbie Chen, LTSC Director of Real Estate
Project at a Glance
- Go For Broke Plaza & First Street North Residences provides 248 affordable housing units, including 80 permanent supportive housing set-asides for homeless veterans and people living with HIV/AIDS
- 40,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail prioritizing Little Tokyo legacy businesses and nonprofits
- Address: 232 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
- Construction started early 2024 | Completion projected 2026
- Developer: Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC)
- Community Partner: Go For Broke National Education Center (GFBNEC)
Commercial Space Now Available
Go For Broke Plaza & First Street North Residences will offer approximately 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail along Jackson Street, with commercial spaces available for lease.
Ideal tenants include:
- Legacy and long-standing Little Tokyo small businesses
- Community-based nonprofit organizations
- Cultural institutions serving the Japanese American and broader AANHPI community
- Businesses that complement and strengthen the existing Little Tokyo neighborhood
For commercial leasing inquiries, contact: Erich Nakano | enakano@LTSC.org | 213-473-3030 or visit www.LTSC.org/FSN.