Pepper Lunch is now targeting a November opening at 920 7th St in Oregon City, according to Peter Ng, the local developer behind the restaurant’s Oregon expansion, who confirmed the updated timeline to What Now Portland. The restaurant was originally set to open in December of last year, according to What Now’s earlier reporting, but Ng said the extra time came down to permitting and buildout delays, including getting the space’s electrical, mechanical and plumbing work approved, rather than any change in plans for the location.
Ng described Pepper Lunch as a self-service teppanyaki concept, comparing the tabletop cooking style to Benihana, though with a do-it-yourself twist. The Japanese restaurant serves food, including beef, arranged raw around the edge of a very hot metal plate, with rice already cooked in the center, letting diners cook their own meal right at the table.
The owner signed a development agreement that runs through Seventh and Monroe, LLC, with Pepper Lunch in January 2025 to bring five locations of the chain to Oregon, with Oregon City set to be the first to open. Pepper Lunch started in Tokyo in 1994 and now operates more than 540 restaurants across 17 countries.
