{"id":392407,"date":"2026-07-09T19:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/392407\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T19:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:25:11","slug":"for-the-first-time-in-the-u-s-fans-finally-have-a-permanent-square-enix-cafe-tucked-into-l-a-s-little-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/392407\/","title":{"rendered":"For the first time in the U.S., fans finally have a permanent Square Enix cafe, tucked into L.A.&#8217;s Little Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cafe-Knotted-2-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\" alt=\"For the first time in the U.S., fans finally have a permanent Square Enix cafe, tucked into L.A.\u2019s Little Tokyo\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a data-force-follow=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/author\/jorge-lajo\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783625111_43_9f7f57611148f92e8d2e5a36a4eb9da69472c8704441da1c35dde4662e7ac27c.png\"  class=\"avatar avatar-40 photo\" height=\"40\" width=\"40\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tStaff Writer Intern\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<br \/>\n\t\t\tJuly 9, 2026<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/anime-pop-ups\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/anime-pop-ups\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_0\" data-category=\"click_internal\">Video game fans<\/a> in L.A. have a new destination to add to their list. Square Enix, the company behind Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and NieR: Automata, has opened its first-ever permanent cafe and shop in the United States, landing in the heart of Little Tokyo.<\/p>\n<p>The Square Enix Cafe &amp; Shop Los Angeles, located at 316 E 1st St., opened its doors on June 13 with a limited soft-opening menu, followed by a full grand opening on June 20. The <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/invincible-pop-up-boba-bear\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/invincible-pop-up-boba-bear\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_1\" data-category=\"click_internal\">space<\/a> combines themed dining with an attached merchandise shop, the result of a partnership between Square Enix and Little Akihabara that began in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>What can you expect?<\/p>\n<p>The menu draws from multiple Square Enix franchises, offering themed drinks, entr\u00e9es, and <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/smorgasburg-la-ice-cream-alley-2026\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/smorgasburg-la-ice-cream-alley-2026\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_2\" data-category=\"click_internal\">desserts<\/a> inspired by titles including Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and NieR: Automata. Guests with dining reservations also receive collectible novelty items, including random placemats and coasters featuring franchise artwork.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the dining room, the merchandise shop is open to all visitors, no reservation required. It carries official Square Enix products alongside launch-exclusive items made specifically for the L.A. location, including an L.A. Chocobo T-shirt and an L.A. Slime T-shirt. Outside, a 120-by-20-foot mural wraps the building\u2019s exterior wall, depicting Chocobo and Slime \u2014 mascots of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises \u2014 surfing on a Los Angeles beach.<\/p>\n<p>The opening also marks a milestone for Little Tokyo itself, a neighborhood long known as a hub for <a href=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/japanese-garden-los-angeles-hidden-gem\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_self\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/secretlosangeles.com\/japanese-garden-los-angeles-hidden-gem\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_3\" data-category=\"click_internal\">Japanese culture<\/a> in Los Angeles. With Square Enix now anchored on 1st Street, the area adds another draw for fans<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udccd Location: 316 E 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 <\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udf7d\ufe0f Menu: Themed drinks, entr\u00e9es, and desserts inspired by Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and NieR: Automata<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udecd\ufe0f Shop: Open to all visitors without a dining reservation; exclusive L.A. merchandise<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udf9f\ufe0f Reservations: Required for cafe dining, until walk-in service becomes available<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0\u2013\u00a0 Staff Writer Intern \u00a0\u00b7\u00a0 July 9, 2026 Video game fans in L.A. have a new destination to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,128256],"class_list":["post-392407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-videoarticle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}