A LITTLE HISTORY OF OUR RESTAURANTS

Reza and his father Ahad opened their first of many restaurants on November of 1992 in the old Builders Emporium shopping center in Encinitas CA with the name “Tokyo’s Teriyaki”. Many locals and original customers still remember the original name and nicknamed it “Tokyo Joe’s”. It was a “hole in the wall” restaurant,… literally a “hole in the wall” where customers would order their food and pick it up. Just look at the picture on the left. The goofy looking kid looking through the hole is 18 year old Reza who just graduated from high school.

A few years later and with their second restaurant in San Marco CA, Reza and his brother/partner decided to change their name from Tokyo’s Teriyaki to Island Brothers Teriyaki. Since Reza and Amir served island style lunch plates they thought Island Brothers Teriyaki would be the perfect name. They stuck to Island Brothers Teriyaki for many more years to come, but since surfers loved their food, and Encinitas is known around the world for a hot spot for surfing, they decided once again to change the name to Surf Brothers Teriyaki. A few loyal customers thought Reza and his family sold out his local restaurants and were heart broken. They may have changed the name, but Reza and his family never thought of selling the restaurants.

After being in the restaurant business for ten years Amir and Reza decided to have move San Diego restaurants. The third restaurant opened in Carlsbad and it was a hit from day one. Hundreds of customers would line up during lunch time to pick up delicious teriyaki chicken & steak. Carlsbad restaurant customers especially liked the quick service because most had limited lunch time.

Then after their successful Carlsbad restaurant launch, the brothers decided to venture out east to join other Escondido restaurants. Our loyal customers who lived near Escondido enjoyed the fact that the Surf Brothers Escondido restaurant was next to I-15 on Valley Parkway.

There were a lot of Surf Brothers customers who wanted a location in the heart of La Jolla UTC business district. Customers were complaining of the limited La Jolla restaurants who served healthy delicious food while not taking a long time. Reza finally found a La Jolla restaurant location on Town Center drive that was close to all the businesses and easily accessible from the I-805. Many UCSD students who live walking distance also began enjoying the La Jolla restaurant because they could eat a high-quality food for a reasonable price. A few La Jolla restaurants can be expensive.

Now with seven San Diego restaurants, Reza and Amir focus daily on customer service and making sure every customer gets the highest quality Surf Brothers can offer. Surf Brothers Teriyaki owes their loyal customers who come in several times a week the best.