Olympia eatery set to close mall site Feb. 21, with plans to open down the road in March
Fujiyama Japanese Steakhouse at the corner of Capital Mall Drive and Cooper Point Road in west Olympia is getting ready to move, the owner told The Olympian.
Charlie Kang said the last day of business at the current site is Wednesday, Feb. 21. It intends to reopen just down the road in the west side shopping center that is also home to a Nordstrom Rack, he said. The address is 1200 Cooper Point Road SW. Kang expects to reopen Fujiyama there in early March.
Kang’s business is moving because Chick-fil-A, the popular but controversial fast-food restaurant, is expected to occupy that corner site at Capital Mall.
Representatives of the Atlanta-based business have already submitted a land-use application to the city for the site and participated in a contentious public information meeting about the proposal.
Chick-fil-A is relatively new to Thurston County. It opened its first restaurant in 2020 at Marvin Road and Interstate 5 in Lacey.
Plans for the Olympia restaurant were submitted to the city last summer, followed by the informational meeting in September.
Both locations have felt the wrath of the LGBTQ community, which is still concerned about the business and its support of anti-LGBTQ causes.
In Lacey, residents cried foul when Chick-fil-A was the primary sponsor of a children’s event at Huntamer Park. That prompted a review of city sponsorship policies.
This story was originally published February 19, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
