Chef Damon Cho's Osen Hospitality Group will open two Japanese dining concepts at OCVIBE, the 100-acre mixed-use development surrounding Honda Center in Anaheim — making the group the first culinary partner to operate locations both inside and outside the project's flagship market hall.

The two concepts, announced for a 2027 opening, are built around different dining occasions. Osen Urban Table will occupy a standalone position in OCVIBE's Urban Park and is designed to move easily between lunch and dinner service, drawing on the DNA of Cho's flagship Izakaya Osen in a more casual format. Osen Handroll, meanwhile, will land inside Katella Commons — OCVIBE's 50,000-square-foot, two-story market hall — as a fast, social handroll bar concept calibrated for the pre-game and pre-show crowd.

Why the Format Split Matters

The dual-format approach reflects a broader playbook increasingly common in large-scale hospitality and mixed-use development: anchor a market hall with high-velocity, grab-and-go concepts while reserving full-service footprints for the surrounding streetscape. For operators, placing both formats under one brand umbrella allows kitchen talent and sourcing relationships to scale across locations without diluting identity. Cho, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate with more than 18 years in the industry and stints at Nobu, Four Seasons, and Tao, opened Izakaya Osen in Silver Lake in 2017 and a second location in Irvine in 2022.

"We're excited to bring Osen Handroll to Katella Commons and our standalone concept Osen Urban Table to the district," Cho said. "It gives us the opportunity to share our approach to Japanese dining in two different ways while becoming part of a new community in Orange County."

A Fast-Growing Culinary Roster

Osen joins a roster that spans chef-driven independents and emerging regional brands. Katella Commons partners already announced include Danielle Duran Zecca and Alessandro Zecca of Amiga Amore, Alberto Bañuelos of Burritos La Palma, Evil Cooks, Manaao Thai Comfort Food, MFK | Modern Filipino Kitchen, Gelato Paradiso, and Chef Zach Scherer of DARKROOM Restaurant and Wine Bar, who will introduce two additional concepts. Beyond the market hall, Chef Roy Choi is set to open a Best Friend restaurant as a standalone within the district.

For Japanese restaurant operators and fast-casual concepts watching the Southern California market, OCVIBE's Katella Commons represents one of the more closely watched new foodservice environments in the region. The broader development — privately funded with a $5 billion commitment by the Samueli Family — is slated to ultimately deliver more than 35 dining experiences across the district by full completion in 2033.

OCVIBE will begin welcoming guests in March 2027 with the opening of a 5,000-person capacity concert hall, with Katella Commons and standalone restaurants following later that year.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.