The owners of Kisser, a restaurant concept inspired by Japanese Kissaten or neighborhood cafe, will open their first brick-and-mortar location next year.
Earlier this year, Nashville Business Journal revealed that Strategic Hospitality is working with husband and wife Brian Lea and Leina Horii to open the Kisser in East Nashville.
On Tuesday afternoon, Horii revealed to What Now that the project is still under construction and is slated to open in January, ideally, but February latest.
Before acquiring the location Horii and Lea first saw it while getting off the freeway.
“We were getting off the freeway and just sort of pointed to it and said: ‘Wow, what a beautiful building,'” Horii said. “A couple months later we saw that we actually could get the space.”
The restaurant will seat about 25 people. It will include both take-out and dine-in options.
The restaurant will differ from similar Japanese restaurants in that it will focus on Japanese comfort food. In addition, items on the menu will include a Japanese breakfast and a lunch menu.
Kisser is currently located at pop-up locations such as East Nashville Farmers Market on Tuesdays from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Richland Park Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
The new location will be at the Highlands Yards Storefront.
