Another global chain that never quite maintained its footing in Metro Vancouver has served its last sizzling plate.
Pepper Lunch, the Japanese DIY teppanyaki brand, has closed its Richmond location, and with it, its last remaining shop in all of Canada.
The company shared the sad news on their social media through a post titled “A Sizzling Goodbye” a couple of days ago.
“This location will be closing on May 31, 2026,” the notice read, signing off with thanks “to our loyal guests, dedicated team, and the Richmond community.”
“We’ll miss you,” the team added.
The farewell graphic was studded with five-star reviews from regulars, calling the spot “a Richmond favorite” and “always sizzling hot and delicious.”
With the Richmond shop gone, there are no Pepper Lunch locations left anywhere in Canada.
Every Pepper Lunch that ever opened in the country was here in Metro Vancouver, so this closes the book on the brand nationwide.
For anyone who never made it in, the concept was the whole draw.
Pepper Lunch bills itself as the original DIY teppanyaki chain, sending out beef, rice, and vegetables on an iron plate heated to around 500 degrees.
You finished cooking the food yourself at the table, searing it to your liking and mixing in the chain’s sweet and garlic-soy sauces.
The whole pitch was right there in the slogan, Sizzle It Your Way.
The signature was the Beef Pepper Rice, a ring of thin beef, corn, butter, and black pepper that caramelized against the screaming-hot plate as you stirred.
Beyond the rice, the menu ran to hamburg steak, sizzling curry, and teppan pasta, all finished off on the same hot iron.
Founded in Japan back in 1994, the brand grew into a giant across Asia and Australia, with more than 500 locations in over 15 countries.
It just never managed to take root here.
Pepper Lunch actually picked Metro Vancouver for its very first Canadian location, opening in Richmond back in 2015.
It expanded fast from there, adding a Cambie Street spot near Olympic Village in 2016 and the Richmond shop that just closed in 2017.
At its peak there were three across the region.
Then they started to disappear, one by one.
The original Richmond store closed, and the Cambie Street location shut in 2023, later replaced by a pho restaurant.
That left this Richmond spot as the last one standing, until now.
The exit caps a slow, years-long retreat for a brand that is still expanding across the US and Asia.
It also lands in a stretch where Metro Vancouver keeps losing recognizable names.
AFURI Ramen, the Tokyo yuzu ramen chain, announced just days ago that it is closing both its Vancouver and Richmond locations at the end of June.
Pepper Lunch joins other recently shuttered Richmond food spots including Hey Yearn, Bubble Queen, and First Bite.
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Address: 4791 McClelland Road, Unit 1625, Richmond (Central at Garden City)