Japanese restaurant celebrates 50 years of success in Atlanta

ATLANTE – Do you remember when we spent a morning at the Japanese restaurant Nakato in 2017, to celebrate the establishment’s 45th anniversary? Of course we do! And now that owner Sachi Nakato Takahara and her team are celebrating the restaurant’s 50th anniversary, we knew we had to come back to help them mark this delicious milestone.

Nakato Japanese Restaurant opened in 1972, when Tetsuko Nakato decided to share an authentic taste of Japan here in Atlanta. When she retired, her daughter and son-in-law took over the restaurant. And now Tetsuko’s granddaughter is the one carrying on the legacy, meaning three generations of Nakato women have run the family business. We asked Sachi Nakato Takahara about this legacy during our 2017 visit (which you can watch here).

“We’re proud of that,” she said. “And I’m so blessed and grateful for what generations before me have put in, to allow us to be at this point right now.”

Nakato’s culinary team says they’ve really focused on their sushi program in recent years, which has apparently paid off: We’re told sushi sales have tripled since the pandemic began. The team says their fish is flown in from Japan several times a week, allowing for the freshest selection possible.

Nakato Atlanta is located at 1776 Cheshire Bridge Road Northeast, and regular hours are 4-9 p.m. daily. For more information about the restaurant and to consult the menu, click on here. And click on the video player in this article to watch our morning celebrating Nakato’s Golden Anniversary!