You can find countless articles on “how to” do a million and one things on the internet, but “how to start a restaurant” does not come up (till now). These are your importers/wholesale food supply companies.
Trust me, I looked. I looked because unlike a few of my friends who would never ask me regardless of how many years or decades I spent within a field, they are out to prove to themselves and the world that they are smart. Unfortunately, that is how idiots go about about things, and I lean on anyone and everyone for their knowledge (I need to thank them all for putting up with all my questions).

From sushi to ramen, this is all the contacts you will need to get up and running.
All listed in alphabetical order
The Major U.S. Japanese Food Distributors Are:

JFC International, Inc
“Quality Merchandising and Good Service.”
- Corporate Website
- Head Office
7101 East Slauson Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90040-3622
Tel: 323-721-6100
Fax: 323-721-6133
Email: info@jfc.com
www.jfc.com - JFC Branch Offices: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, IDC (interbranch dist. center in Bell, CA).
- Sales Offices: Baton Rouge, Boston, Columbus, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Dallas.
- Head Office
- The Other Specialized Domains Names:
- www.sakeexpert.com – everything you need to learn about sake.
- www.jfcriceexpert.com – rice is life and necessary for a sushi restaurant.
- www.ramenexpert.com – everything you need for a ramen restaurant.
MTC (Mutual Trading)
- Corporate Website By Region (East/West Coast)
- MTC Los Angeles
431 Crocker St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 626-9458
www.lamtc.com
fb/mutualtrading - Branch and Affiliate Offices: San Diego, Las Vegas, Arizona, Texas, New England, Washington, Honolulu (the Cherry Co).
- Showrooms: Los Angeles, Arizona, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, Hawaii
- New York Mutual Trading, Inc.
77 Metro Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094
Tel: 201-933-9555
Fax: 201-933-7791
Email: mutual@nymtc.com
Open 8 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday
www.nymtc.com
- MTC Los Angeles
- Kitchen and Dinnerware Supplies
“providing Japanese restaurant supplies since 1926”- Store & Showroom
711 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212-661-3333
Open 10 am – 7 pm, Monday – Friday
www.mtckitchen.com
- Store & Showroom
- MTC’s Other Specialized Domain Names
- www.mtcsake.com – Importer, distributor, and wholesaler of authentic Japanese food, alcohol beverage, and restaurant supplies since 1926. The site not only has content about sake, but also shochu, beer, whisky, rum, gin, and wine.
Wismettac Asian Foods (Nishimoto)
- Corporate Websites
- Los Angeles Branch Headquarters
13409 Orden Drive
Santa Fe Springs, CA
90670-6336
Tel: 562-802-1900
Fax: 562-229-1720
www.wismettacusa.com – if you like to shoot bottle rockets from your butt cuz Murica, this is the site. - Wismettac branch offices: Arizona, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Hawaii, Houston, Las Vegas, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, to Orlando. The also have satellite offices in Boston, Ohio, Sacramento, and Raleigh.
- The Nishimoto Wismettac Group site
www.wismettac.com
- Los Angeles Branch Headquarters
- Wismettac’s Other Specialized Domains Names
The Major Japanese Noodle Companies/Producers
Getting into anything, you want to know who the major players are because if you think there are only 3, when there are 5, you could be at a severe disadvantage over the competition.

Sun Noodle Company
“We are artisan noodle makers. We create fresh ramen noodles and Asian noodle products for top chefs, restaurants and home cooks throughout North America, South America and Europe.”
- Sun Noodle Company
www.sunnoodle.com- Sun Noodle Hawaii
1933 Colburn St., Honolulu, HI 96819
(808) 841-5808 - Sun Noodle North America (West)
1505 W. Mahalo Pl., Rancho Dominguez, CA 90220
(310) 764-0100 - Sun Noodle North America (East)
40 Kero Rd., Carlstadt, NJ 07072
(201) 530-1100
- Sun Noodle Hawaii
Kobayashi Noodle USA
- Kobayashi USA
www.kobayashiseimen.com
Factory Location: 315 East 157th St., Gardena, CA, 90248
Tel : 424-329-3050 (Factory)
Fax: 424-329-3034
Tel : 310-738-1251 (Sales)
Factory email: factory@kobayashinoodleusa.com
Sales email: sales@kobayashinoodleusa.com
Other Noodle/Ramen Supply Companies
There are a number of ramen related restaurants trying to capitalize on the popularity of ramen, but not all of them are currently fully operational in the U.S. (they’re trying to establish themselves).
- Myojo (noodles), This company can’t even build a website or do social media for their U.S. operations, so trying to find basic contact/product information is non-existent.
- Nishiyama, www.ramen.jp
- Shimadaya, www.shimadaya.co.jp
- Takara (ramen stock to noodles), www.takararameninc.com
- Yamachan (noodles), yamachanramen.com
Tableware to Kitchenware
Both of these two companies are amazing.

Korin
- Korin: Japanese Chef Knives, Tableware, Kitchenware, and Restaurant Supplies
57 Warren St, New York, NY 10007
Tel: 1 (800) 626-2172
Monday to Friday : 10 AM to 7 PM (EST)
Saturday : 10am to 6pm (EST)
Sunday is closed.
www.korin.com
MTC Kitchen
- New York Mutual Trading, Inc.
77 Metro Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094
Tel: 201-933-9555
Fax: 201-933-7791
Email: mutual@nymtc.com
Open 8 am – 5 pm, Monday – Friday
www.nymtc.com
Commercial Restaurant Supplies and Equipment
Your mom’s collection of Tupperware just won’t cut it, and you will most likely have to go out and get larger containers although Tupperware is great though.

- Cresco Resco
www.restaurantequipment.com - Tundra Restaurant Supply
www.etundra.com - Webstaurant Store
www.webstaurantstore.com
Culinary Gear
I had one friend who does videography, and he had a massive rig around his DSLR which made it look crazy looking. Looking at it, I knew it was expensive which it was, but he was like “you have to look the part.” Well, the same goes for many people who want to be someday called “chef.” Till that day happens, you can also look the part.

- Chef Works
www.chefworks.com, chef aprons to chef coats.
Who I Recommend (and I Can’t Recommend Them Enough)
No matter how much preparation I did prior to calling the above big distributors to not waste their sales reps time (Colorado offices), the service I had been given by the vast majority of these companies was on the level of SUCKING A BIG FAT DICK.
Except there is one distributor that just demolishes them all, and that company is MTC (btw, I am of course not being paid to say this, and I’m sure they would rather pay me not to say anything due to the way I say things).
Not only does MTC answer their phone, they call you back, respond to emails, follow-up to your inquiries, and they go above and beyond – I mean seriously, they go well above and beyond what they need to do regardless if you’re their smallest client (like myself) to their biggest (well assume since I got amazing service as a nobody).
This high level of service holds true with my experience for both MTC Los Angeles and MTC Kitchen.
So I’ll just say MTC is the BEST, and I wish I could do business just with them.