Managers who helped start Mr. Miyagi going it on their own, opening Twin Lakes restaurant
The two former Kobe chefs who until recently ran Mr. Miyagi Japanese Grill are branching out on their own.
Andy Nguyen and Mike Pham —who from July of 2021 until last month ran the Mr. Miyagi chain of restaurants for owner Henry Son — are about to open a restaurant called Tiger Rice Japanese Kitchen in the spot at 1735 W. 21st St. that until recently was home to one of Abel Rodriguez’s Uno Mas restaurants.
Though they’re not ready to share the complete menu yet, the duo says that Tiger Rice will have a similar menu to Mr. Miyagi and will be known as the home of garlic fried rice. The menu will be larger than Mr. Miyagi’s, though, and the two plan to experiment with ideas for dishes that they’ve come up with in the past but couldn’t add to the menu because they weren’t the owners.
“We want to be able to put our own touch on it and bring a unique taste that we’ve acquired from our travels,” Pham said.
The restaurant, which like Mr. Miyagi features dramatic murals on the walls, will be a quick-service place that offers both carryout and dine-in service. The new space also has a drive-through, which the owners plan to utilize.
They hope to have the restaurant open by the end of September.
Nguyen and Pham had both worked as chefs at Japanese hibachi restaurants in town, including Son’s Old Tokyo Steakhouse, when they were hired as general managers for the new Mr. Miyagi concept, which earned a following and quickly grew into a three-location operation. In addition to the original Mr. Miyagi at 3920 E. Harry, there are now also restaurants at 4041 N. Maize Road and at 3130 N. Rock Road.
The two had been considering opening their own place when they heard that Rodriguez — who Nguyen had once worked with when Rodriguez was the sous chef at Chester’s Chophouse — was planning to leave his spot at Twin Lakes to focus on his new venture, the soon-to-open Mexican restaurant Cabron y Vagos at 301 N. Washington in Old Town.
“He’s the man that inspired us,” Nguyen said. “He’s been nothing but a great help and a mentor to us. He’s inspiring young chefs to not only explore through cooking techniques but also to take on the entrepreneurial side of it, to learn the business aspects of it.”
The two chefs say they are excited about the big kitchen Rodriguez left behind and are eager to get into it and start experimenting.
“That’s why we named it Japanese Kitchen in a way,” Nguyen said. “We want to inspire our young cooks and chefs and employees to experiment and play with things so we can launch specials and just explore, have fun and bring new flavors into this city. And hopefully people enjoy it.”
Tiger Rice will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. I’ll let you know when the owners have selected an exact opening date.
