As Toronto restaurants continue to pivot their operations to stay afloat, the Kinka Family restaurant group, who also operates the popular Neo Coffee Bar, Kinka Izakaya, JaBistro, Kinton Ramen and Kintori Yakitori, just launched two new takeout concepts serving Japanese-style sandwiches.
JapaSando and Tokyo Sando and Chicken are the latest restaurants to join the Kinka group, however, they're not your average sandwich shop. JapaSando and Tokyo Sando and Chicken are both virtual restaurants that operate solely on takeout and delivery out of their existing spaces and kitchen staff.
“Prior to the second wave of indoor dining shutdowns, we knew that we needed to better prepare ourselves for another disruption to our business,” says Stella Yu, director of marketing for Kinka Family.
“Much of the appeal that came with launching virtual restaurant concepts was that most of the elements needed to operate successfully already existed within our physical restaurants,” she continues.
The two restaurants focus on creating dishes that travel and caters to the new dining experience post-covid.
The menu focuses on Japanese sandos and other Japanese-inspired comfort foods. Tokyo Sando features Karaage sandos, saucy wings, fries loaded with takoyaki-inspired toppings and Japanese fried chicken.
JapaSando & Co. offers healthier options with their lighter, oven-baked sandwiches served on crustless milk bread. Choose from sous vide chicken, beef, katsu (pork loin) or baked and bread pollock. They even carry a selection of house-made juices, infused teas and cold brew coffee.
“Third-party vendors like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and SkipTheDishes were driving a lot of our business, and we recognized the opportunity to lean into these thriving business models and capitalize on the existing audiences who were ready to try new restaurants from the comfort of their homes,” adds Yu.
Tokyo Sando and Chicken and JapaSando & Co. are both available for pick up and delivery on DoorDash and Uber Eats.
