Japanese express restaurant to open in Lake Wylie

Lake Wylie diners will have a new option this spring.

Sake Express Japanese Steakhouse & Seafood will open its largest location to date at Mill Creek Commons, beside Bank of America on S.C. 557. Owners hope to open by March.

Sake Express has three locations, one each in Gastonia, Belmont and Mount Holly.

“The building will be approximately 4,900 square feet, slightly larger than the other three locations,” said Lisa Nguyen, a partner in the restaurants with sister Linda Park. “It will be a modern casual setting.”

The new location will have about 40 employees. Diners can eat in, or there will be a drive-thru. Food will be similar to the offering at existing locations.

“We will be serving healthy tasteful Japanese cuisine and the freshest sushi made to order,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen and Park took over and expanded the family business since 2000. The first location was on New Hope Road in front of the mall in Gastonia. The Lake Wylie area has been a goal for the company.

“It has been a dream of ours to open and expand to Lake Wylie,” Nguyen said. “We are so proud and excited that it's finally coming true.”

Sake Express joins other large retailers at Mill Creek Commons, a 75-acre development anchored by Walmart and Lowe’s Home Improvement. The new restaurant is the sixth of 10 planned outparcels along both S.C. 557 and 274, joining Bank of America, Wells Fargo, McDonald’s, Walgreens and Zaxby’s.

Efforts to obtain comment from Crescent Communities, developer of Mill Creek Commons, were unsuccessful.

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Japanese express restaurant to open in Lake Wylie."