San Francisco's Katana-Ya Might Still Be On Way To The Strip

Despite sitting vacant since the February "Grand Opening" of the Grand Bazaar Shops, there appears some hint of momentum to bring San Francisco's famed Katana-Ya to its first, very compact 432-square-foot Las Vegas location.

Located in front Bally's Las Vegas resort, master ramen chef Yoshiaki Noto was scheduled to debut his always busy Katana-Ya Japanese noodle shop on the outdoor malls' opening day. New construction paperwork only now indicates a start to the project, with an estimated budget of $285,000 in costs.

At less than 500 square feet, chef Noto is used to small spaces, serving as many as 20 different ramen dishes at his original 30-seat restaurant located a couple of blocks from Union Square in San Francisco. The famously cramped space also features a five-person sushi bar and an equally loyal following for Noto's karaage Japanese-style fried chicken.

Plywood on the Strip renamed the venture Ramen-ya, but current paperwork refers to the venture as Katana. Even more puzzling, the on-site Grand Bazaar maps calls the the project Katana-ya. All mention of either name have been removed from the Grand Bazaar web pages for some time. No new timetable for completion has yet to be revealed.