At YUU Japanese Food Hall you order on a touch screen. One ticket can hold a bowl of ramen from one stall, a plate of tonkatsu from another and onigiri from a third. When the food is ready, your order number appears on a screen above the kiosks and again on a small screen at each stall that is cooking for you. You walk to each counter and collect your food there. There are no separate checks and no line at each stall.
YUU and the Round1 Bowling & Arcade that houses it opened Oct. 10, 2026, in the former two-story Sears at Pacific View Mall, 3295 E. Main St., Suite 2. Most of the coverage calls it an arcade with food. The food hall deserves more attention than that. Round1 lists 14 restaurant concepts there, many brought over from Japan, and the hall takes orders until 1 a.m. For a lot of Ventura households, the old Sears is now a place to go for dinner.
Fourteen Counters, Named
The Ventura County Star described YUU as the first cafeteria of its kind in the United States. The Los Angeles Times reported that it brings some of Japan's most sought-after restaurants to the U.S. for the first time and that it took three years to put together.
Round1's Ventura location page lists the full lineup: TOBUTA, Ramen Tonjinchi, Ramen Himawari, SOUI KUFU, Karaage Agesho Shigemori, Yamato, Kidatake Udon, Onigiri Gorichan, Okonomiyaki Hana, Gelateria Il Brigante, Curry bitSOMA, Osaka Iggy, Pizzeria Da Naghino and TONKATSU KEITA.
The Times described several of these counters in detail:
| Counter | What it serves in Ventura | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Tonkatsu Keita | Golden-crusted tonkatsu made with heritage black pork | A 23-seat restaurant in Tokyo |
| Okonomiyaki Hana | Cabbage pancakes in a light, tempura-like batter | Japan |
| Curry bitSOMA | Curry dishes with each ingredient cooked separately, then layered | Japan |
| Onigiri Gorichan | Koshihikari rice balls filled with salmon flakes, pickled plum, or Spam and egg | Japan |
| Pizzeria Da Naghino | Neapolitan pizza with crackly edges | Kyoto |
The rest of the hall covers ramen in tonkotsu, Sapporo miso and niboshi styles. Niboshi broth is made with dried sardines. There is also silky udon topped with crispy chicken tempura, and yuzu-kosho karaage marinated long enough that it needs no sauce. Pizzeria Da Naghino brings Italian food into the mix, so someone who wants pizza and someone who wants ramen can order on the same ticket.
How Close It Gets to the Original
The kitchens behind the kiosks were built to copy specific restaurants in Japan. The Times reported that the restaurant owners and chefs were exacting about where ingredients come from and how dishes are served, with the goal of matching the versions served in Japan. New equipment went in to get the textures and flavors right. That includes a filtration system that produces soft, low-mineral water similar to the water in Japan. Some ingredients are bought locally. Many are imported straight from Japan.
Tonkatsu Keita is a good example. In Tokyo it uses Roppaku Kurobuta pork, which the Times called the Wagyu of pork. That pork isn't available in America, so the Ventura counter switched to heritage black pork.
Round One Entertainment COO Hirotoshi Takahashi told the Los Angeles Times how close he thinks the food gets: "We can't say that it's 100% [the same] because of the difference in ingredients, but we are confident that it's well over 80%."
Price is part of the picture too. The VC Reporter put a typical order at close to $30. That is sit-down restaurant money, not food court money. The Times also reported a full cocktail menu, plus Bud Light and wine for $3.99 all day.
A Late Evening at 3295 E. Main, Hour by Hour
Round1 lists daily hours of 10 a.m. to 2 a.m., and YUU takes its last orders at 1 a.m. Round1's house rules set age limits that change after midnight. The company notes that its policies can vary by location. An evening that runs late looks like this:
- 10 a.m. Doors open, and the food hall, bowling lanes and arcade are available all day.
- Evening. Order dinner at the kiosks, mixing counters as you like, and pick up each dish at its stall.
- Any time. Guests under 18 need a guardian age 25 or older with them, under Round1's house rules.
- Midnight. Guests ages 18 to 20 need an adult age 25 or older with them from this point on, under the same rules.
- 1 a.m. YUU takes its last food orders.
- 2 a.m. Round1 closes.
The building around the food is a regional draw. A local guide describes a 55,000-square-foot complex with cosmic-lit bowling, a large arcade and private karaoke rooms. Round1 says its arcades carry Japanese games, crane machines, rhythm and shooting games, coin pushers, photo booths and ticket-redemption games, with a Victory Zone where you trade tickets for prizes. Exact machines vary by location. At the ribbon cutting, Ventura Chamber of Commerce CEO Stephanie Caldwell told the VC Reporter, "This is really a regional entertainment center."
Why Food Took Over a Department Store
The mall had a lunch counter long before it had a food hall. The VC Reporter noted that Pacific View opened in 1963 as the Buenaventura Shopping Center. Its Woolworth had an old-fashioned lunch counter that served dishes like ham sandwiches for about 30 cents, and the counter lasted until a 1989 mall renovation. Today's order costs about a hundred times that ham sandwich. It also asks a lot more of the kitchen, from imported ingredients to filtered water.
Food is back as a reason to visit because the mall's new owners are leasing that way. The Ventura County Star reported that Pacific Retail Capital Partners and Conversant Capital LLC bought the 884,000-square-foot mall, and the deal closed Sept. 17, 2026. No financial details were released. PRCP took over leasing and day-to-day operations.
Steve Cassella, PRCP's executive vice president of leasing, explained the approach to the VC Reporter: "A strong leasing strategy is about bringing in distinctive concepts that give people a reason to visit, and we think YUU will do exactly that." PRCP founder and CEO Steve Plenge pointed to the mall's more than six decades in Ventura and said the company plans to build on that base.
Round1 was announced before the sale. In March 2026, Ventura Breeze reported the announcement, which quoted mall general manager Leisha Pomare on turning Pacific View into a place built around experiences. So the old and new management both backed the same tenant, a place where people come to eat and play rather than to shop for appliances.
What Is Still Filling In
The old Sears is still being built out. Round1's Ventura page lists billiards and party rooms as coming soon, and the Los Angeles Times reported that billiards and ping pong were still to be added. Gelateria Il Brigante also appears on that page. It is the Kamakura counter that the Times described as serving Sicilian gelato made from scratch.
For a weeknight dinner on the east end of Main Street, the practical details are the ones above. Order at the kiosk and pick up at each stall. Plan on close to $30 for a typical order. Get your food in before 1 a.m. If anyone in your group is 18 to 20, bring an adult 25 or older if you're staying past midnight.
I keep a close eye on how places like Pacific View change, because a new anchor on East Main changes how people use that part of town. If you're curious how midtown Ventura is shifting around the old Sears, or what that means for a home nearby, Navigating You Home is glad to talk it through. Request your free home valuation & neighborhood guide, and we'll start with the streets you know best.
