Sumo Dog Vacates Koreatown to Shift Gears to Santa Monica

Sumo Dog will close on July 8 in Koreatown and move to a new location in Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade by August. The popular Coachella and music festival darling first opened in Koreatown along Western Avenue back in early 2017. Once they debut in Santa Monica, Sumo Dog will expand the menu to include burgers, katsu fingers, beer, wine, and sake.

The new location will boast a chic, beachy design with strong red-and-white colors. They’ll have a counter that feels like a Tokyo food stall, with bamboo paneling, hanging lamps, and a big Santa Monica mural. From the looks of the renderings, Sumo Dog could be opening in the Gallery where Dialogue and Star Fish are located, but they haven’t confirmed that.

Late last year, Sumo Dog did a collaboration with a number of local chefs, including Jon & Vinny and Nancy Silverton. Chef Jeffrey Lunak takes Japanese ingredients like furikake, keypie mayo, green onion, and wasabi relish and places them on high quality wieners from Olympia Provisions and Snake River farms. It’s certainly a chef approach to something as simple as hot dogs, something that should work with greater success in Santa Monica.

Sumo Dog [Official photo]

• Sumo Dog Slams Into Koreatown [ELA]
• Sumo Dog Opens in Koreatown With Hot Dog Giveaway [ELA]