Customers asked this restaurant to open in Alliance. So the owner is expanding there

ALLIANCE – A popular Stark County restaurant is expanding to Alliance.

A1 Japan Steakhouse in Jackson Township plans to open a third location in the former Blue Fig restaurant at 2340 W. State St.

Eddie Zhang, co-owner, said the restaurant will have dine-in and take-out options but it will not have teppanyaki grills — food cooked in front of customers — due to space limitations. The menu will be the same. He said hopes to have the restaurant opened by early May, maybe sooner.

"We are hoping, but you never know. The sooner, the better," he said.

Zhang and his wife Linda, also co-owner of A1 Japan Steakhouse, also have a takeout-only location in Louisville.

Looking to expand further, Zhang explained they have "a lot of customers from Alliance" at their Jackson Township restaurant.

"They drive 30 minutes here. They said we should put one over there, and we wanted to spread our business," he said.

Rick Baxter, president of Alliance Area Development and Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce, credited Lisa Trummer of Tanner Real Estate for helping to negotiate the sale of the building from its Utah owners, Lush Enterprises LLC, to LZ Alliance, that opened the doors for A1 Steakhouse.

The old Blue Fig building had been dormant for several years.

"She did a great job," Baxter said. "We're excited to have another restaurant option."

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: A1 Japan Steakhouse to open Alliance location in May