Kirby Café

Kirby Café
Restaurant information
EstablishedAugust 2016 (2016-08)
CitySumida, Tokyo
Hakata-ku, Fukuoka
CountryJapan
Websitekirbycafe.jp

Kirby Café is a restaurant chain in Japan, themed around Kirby, the Nintendo video game character and franchise. The chain currently comprises two permanent locations—one within the special ward of Sumida City in the Solamachi entertainment complex, the other within Hakata-ku in the Canal City Hakata entertainment complex—and a number of temporary locations which have run continuously since August 2016.

History

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In Nintendo's May 2016 corporate restructuring plans, the company announced that it would expand into new businesses including restaurants.[1][2] On July 7, 2016, Kirby Café's Twitter account posted its first tweet, which teased the upcoming opening of the café.[3] A month later, Kirby Café was formally unveiled in Osaka and opened in August as the first in a Japan-only chain. A second location in opened in Tokyo soon after, followed by a merchandise-only location in Nagoya.[1] This version of the café was a temporary pop-up restaurant which ran until October 2016.[4]

After a hiatus in 2017, Kirby Café was eventually re-opened to the public in September 2018, again in a temporary capacity.[5] Due to continued demand, the temporary run was extended several times, and eventually resulted in several permanent locations being built. The first permanent Kirby Café was the location in Sumida, Tokyo's Solamachi shopping complex, whose gift shop—previously located on a separate floor—was closed and moved to the café proper in March 2021.[6] The second permanent location is in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, within the Canal City Hakata building.[7] A third permanent location, located in the Daimaru department store in Shinsaibashi, Osaka, is due to open in 2024.[8] Kirby Café locations require an advance reservation to visit, and reservations are often sold out for months in advance.[9]

Goods

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Kirby Café is themed to Kirby, a Nintendo video game character and franchise. The restaurant serves meals such as burgers and pizza, as well as pastries and drinks, with a distinctive Kirby theme. Some items resemble the character of Kirby, such as pink custard cakes and burgers with pink buns, and others are within the series' theme, such as a tomato soup dish that resembles the Maxim Tomato power-up and a salad plate made to resemble the boss character Whispy Woods. Some items have little resemblance to the series apart from a sticker bearing the likeness of one of the characters.[1] Other items are designed to promote specific games within the series, such as a cake based on the "Mouthful Mode" power-up from Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022).[7]

The most expensive item, "Kirby Café's Stone-Oven Pizza ~Half & Half~", costs ¥3,980.[9] Most dishes are priced within the range of ¥1,500 to ¥2,600.[10] The restaurant also has temporary seasonal offerings such as a chocolate pizza, served on a board shaped like Kirby inhaling, that was added to the restaurant's winter menu on January 15, 2021, and was served until February 28.[11] For its "Sweet New Year 2021" celebration the Kirby Café added a "hamburger" to its menu consisting of a slice of strawberry standing in for the tomato and a dollop of chocolate mousse for the patty.[12]

Kirby Café also sells merchandise, both inside the restaurants themselves and through external gift shops. Items sold include magnets, mugs, neck pillows, postcards, kitchenware, and tote bags featuring the series characters. The gift shops do not require a reservation to visit. The music that plays within the café consists of jazz arrangements of the series' music, and was arranged by the composers who work on the Kirby video games; these soundtracks are sold at the stores as The Sound of Kirby Café, with two volumes released in August 2016 and December 2019.[7] Some merchandise, such as figurines, can only be purchased as part of a meal.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Machkovech, Sam (July 20, 2016). "Nintendo takes on real world again, will open Kirby restaurant in August". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  2. ^ Machkovech, Sam (May 18, 2016). "Nintendo may start selling 'computer software'". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
  3. ^ Baseel, Casey. "New Kirby Cafe opening in Tokyo is going to suck up all of our dinner plans". Sora24. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  4. ^ Alexander, Julia. "Kirby Cafe comes to an end in Japan". Polygon. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  5. ^ Usher, Will. "This Nintendo Character Is Getting Its Own Cafe In Japan, Check It Out". CinemaBlend. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  6. ^ Berg, Ricky. "Kirby Café Tokyo Store opening permanent location in March". NintendoWire. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Baseel, Casey. "A visit to Japan's Kirby Cafe to eat the Kirby car cake and more!". Sora24. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Kirby Café and Store set to open in Osaka". GoNintendo. 2024-07-24. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "The Kirby Cafe Tokyo Skytree Solamachi". TheBestJapan.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  10. ^ Craig, Jo (July 16, 2020). "Tokyo's Kirby Cafe Lets Customers Eat All His Friends". TheGamer.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  11. ^ Gray, Kate (January 18, 2021). "Tokyo's Kirby Café Is Adding A Chocolate Pizza To Their Menu". NintendoLife. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  12. ^ Baseel, Casey. "Look again – The new Kirby Cafe burger isn't actually a hamburger". Sora24. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
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