Born on Capitol Hill in the summer of 2011, Lil Woody’s is now big in Japan
The Seattle burger chain opened in Tokyo’s fashionable Shibuya district in August, marking its fifth location and first outside the city.
Marcus Lalario told the Seattle Times the plan that finally took shape this summer was years in the making. “There were five restaurant groups in Japan interested in Lil Woody’s. We narrowed it down to one group,” he said. “My wife and I were in Japan in March 2020. We had a deal in place. Before I signed the deal, we left because of the pandemic.”
(Image: Lil Woody’s)
Lalario said the investors wanted to scale plans back coming out of the COVID crisis but he pushed forward on his own to prove the concept. More Japanese Lil Woody’s could follow.
CHS talked with Lalario here in 2011 about the Capitol Hill nightlife entrepreneur’s move into the food biz. “Lil Woody’s is going to be the kind of burger place I’ve always wanted on the Hill,” Lalario said at the start. “Our burgers are new twists on old classics, our milkshakes are amazing, and everything is fresh and locally sourced—whatever you are craving, Lil Woody’s will have it.”
The small chain has grown from its 1211 Pine start to add three more Seattle locations plus a counter at T-Mobile Park. And now the chain is in Tokyo.
“Lil Woody’s is more than just a hamburger shop,” the shop’s translate pitch reads. “Every day, our team serves you the freshest burgers and snacks with quality and creativity. Importantly, we take just as much pride in our food as we do in the people and environment we work with.”
You can find Lil Woody’s Shibuya at 〒150-0043 東京都渋谷区道玄坂2-25-12 道玄坂通 1F. Learn more at lilwoodys.co.jp.
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Apparently, folks in the foodie paradise of Tokyo aren’t too impressed with the Seattle racket of 2-star food at 5-star prices.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Tokyo/comments/162d6oo/seattle_burger_chain_lil_woodys_has_arrived_in/
“After taking his first bite, Mr. Sato could say…nothing in particular about it. It was neither good nor bad; just a standard burger. He didn’t taste anything special about it that made the brand stand out. As far as flavor goes, it tasted similar to a Burger King burger.
Unfortunately, that meant the 1,600 yen price tag was a little bit pricey. A Whopper with the same amount of food (an extra-large-size fries and drink) would cost 990 yen at Burger King, and Mr. Sato had to say that he didn’t taste anything special about the Lil Woody’s burger that would justify the price gap.”
Nice cherry picking of data to (for some reason) be negative on this topic. Try checking out their Google reviews in Tokyo: 4.2 rating on 44 reviews. I’m all for highlighting issues when they come up . . . But why the dark cloud and misrepresent things on this topic? Cheers –
4.2* isn’t that special for Tokyo food. Even the nearest Burger King has a 3.8* average rating.
https://www.google.co.jp/maps/place/Burger+King+Shibuya+Center+Street/@35.6604177,139.6762301,14z/data=!3m1!5s0x60188ca84b0a3f47:0x1076f9726d76d03f!4m10!1m2!2m1!1sburger+king+tokyo+japan!3m6!1s0x60188ca84b0da8d5:0x369a2c854f4f93f!8m2!3d35.6603469!4d139.6989225!15sChdidXJnZXIga2luZyB0b2t5byBqYXBhbiIDiAEBkgEUZmFzdF9mb29kX3Jlc3RhdXJhbnTgAQA!16s%2Fg%2F1tlgxyt8?entry=ttu