Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Oh
Hi Jay, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We are a family owned mom and pop shop. We have been in the restaurant industry for the last 18 years. Maki Noho is our newest restaurant in North Hollywood.
We started in San Diego with a small deli in the Gaslamp district. We then got kicked out of our lease because the building was under going a full remodel. We were left with nothing after investing 300k to purchase the deli. Some how ended up in Valencia CA where mom started working for a small Korean restaurant. The current owners at the time wanted to move to a different town and our mom wanted to purchase the restaurant. With no money on hand and working as a car salesman, I decided to take a chance to take over the restaurant. Took out a SBA loan and cash out from 15 credit cards, our journey begun. Woking for 8 years 7days a week, we build another restaurant. People slowly started to recognize our hard work and dedication. We knew every single person that walked into our doors to enjoy our food. Then, mom started to feel the stress of working everyday for 8 years and decided she needed a break. She finally realized her health is important. After two years of break, we opened another restaurant and a cafe in North Hollywood. It was going great until we were hit with COVID in 2020. We had to close our door as the world shut down,
We are proud to be back with our newest restaurant, Maki Noho. We are slowly building our clientele and have many 5-star reviews.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I had no idea what the restaurant industry was like when I dove in. The biggest challenge thus far is the demanding hours. Our family is not only OCD, germaphobe but also perfectionist. We have the mentality of no one can do it better than we can. We work to make sure the consistency is there for every person that walk into our establishments.
We’ve been impressed with Maki Noho, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a mom and pop shop located in the arts district of North Hollywood. We specialize in maki, cut rolls with verity of nigiri; sushi. We also have some non-fish dishes such as hot stone bibimbap, All of our sauces and kimchi is in-house made with moms recipes. Verious vegan dishes such as tofu and kimchi hand rolls.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Dedication and consistency. Our family works 7 days a week! This is only way we can guarantee that every person walks into Maki Noho will get the same food quality and service. This can be done only because we enjoy what we do and care about every persons experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://maki-noho.com
- Instagram: maki_noho
Image Credits
Daniella Dutton
