Tak's Coffee Shop (Est. 1996)

Source: KCET
A few blocks south down Crenshaw from the former Holiday Bowl is Tak's Coffee Shop, small and unassuming, with a gray and beige storefront accessible from the parking lot of Crenshaw Square. Its name marks it as Japanese American, as does the smiling maneki neko, or good-luck cat, pictured on its sign. Inside, a whole shelf of maneki neko figurines beckon from the wall, white and gold, ranging in size from several inches to a couple feet tall.

Tak's was founded in 1996 by Mary Shizuru, a longtime Holiday Bowl waitress, and her business partner, Fujio Hori. In the short film 'Breakfast at Tak's' by Tad Nakamura, Shizuru explains that Hori believed businesses with men's names brought in more money, so they named their coffee shop after her son. (Tak Shizuru went on to open his own business in the area, Tak's Hardware and Garden Supply, which closed due to the pandemic in December 2021.) Inspired by the Holiday Bowl, Tak's Coffee Shop served similarly multicultural food. 'Where else could you get chashu and eggs and grits at the same time?' says one customer in 'Breakfast at Tak's.'

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