🚫 Ra Sushi, a Scottsdale-born concept that expanded to more than two dozen states, has closed its longtime restaurant in Ahwatukee.
The location opened in 2001 next to the AMC Ahwatukee 24 theaters on the southwest corner of I-10 and Ray Road. The chain has not announced the closure, but a staffer confirmed it with MXSW.
It’s the second longtime Ra Sushi location in the Valley to close in the last five months. The brand’s original restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale shut down in August and is now STK Steakhouse.
Ra was launched by Rich Howland, Scott Kilpatrick, Todd Belfer, and chef Tai Obata in 1997, replacing a restaurant called Trappers. It quickly became a Valley hotspot.
The group expanded to Tempe in 1999, Ahwatukee in 2001, and Phoenix in 2002 before selling the concept to Benihana in late 2002. Benihana took the concept national before being acquired by One Group Hospitality in 2024.
Ra still has Valley restaurants in north Scottsdale and Mesa’s Dana Park, as well as a concession at the Phoenix Suns arena.
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