The Return of the Crab Stack
Roppongi opened in 1998 and defined La Jolla's Asian-fusion era. For seventeen years it was the restaurant that out-of-town visitors asked about by name, and when it closed in 2015 — a casualty of rising rents rather than flagging relevance — it left a genuine absence on Prospect Street. In December 2025, restaurateur Sami Ladeki — the founder behind Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and a roster of other successful San Diego ventures — reopened Roppongi in its original space at 875 Prospect Street. The crab stack is back. So is the restaurant.
The space has been given what interior designer Stephanie Parisi described as "a Kris Jenner-level facelift" — the same face, but so dramatically refreshed that the transformation almost defies description. Curved walls under arched ceilings create a sculptural, organic sense of movement. Oval tables and custom furniture push hard edges out of the room. The bar is the anchor, handling the reopened cocktail programme with the confidence that only restaurateurs with multiple decades of experience bring. It is one of the most visually distinctive rooms in La Jolla right now.
The menu honours the Roppongi legacy while expanding it. The original hits — crab stack, ahi poke, hamachi tacos, signature sushi rolls — are all back, preserved as the pillars. What is new is the expansion: handmade dumplings stuffed with lobster, duck confit, and short rib; new wok dishes drawing from the broader pan-Asian repertoire; reinvented fried rice and noodle plates; and a sushi programme that is noticeably more serious than the 1998 version. Reviews from the first two months are consistent: the kitchen is operating at a genuinely higher standard than the original.
The Experience
Dinner runs from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm daily, with the bar and lounge staying open until midnight — which gives Roppongi a rarer-than-it-should-be role in La Jolla as a proper late-night option. Happy hour on the patio runs 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm. Expect $80–$110 per person for a full dinner with cocktails or wine; the bar is gentler. Reservations are essential for the dinner service, particularly on weekends — the demand for the reopening has been significant and book two to three weeks out for prime time.
The patio is worth requesting in good weather. The design refresh extended to the outdoor space, and the proximity to Fay Avenue means people-watching is part of the appeal. For a team dinner or a birthday group, a corner banquette or a patio section accommodates eight comfortably, and the sharing format of pan-Asian cuisine makes a large party feel natural rather than logistical.
Practical Information
La Jolla, CA 92037
Bar & Lounge until midnight
Happy Hour 2:30–4:30pm (patio)
Why Roppongi is Perfect for a Team Dinner
Team dinners work best when the restaurant does three things without being asked. First, the menu has to allow for real variety — somebody will be a vegetarian, somebody will be a hardcore meat-eater, somebody will claim to be adventurous and then actually not be. Second, the room has to tolerate celebration without policing the decibels. Third, the drinks have to carry the evening without demanding a sommelier consultation. Roppongi gets all three right effortlessly.
The pan-Asian sharing format is the team-dinner ideal — crab stack, dumplings, wok dishes, and sushi rolls circulate and the group eats together. The bar programme is well-executed and not preciously selected, so a team can order enthusiastically without feeling coached. The reopened design makes every table feel like it is part of an event rather than a corner. And the late-night hours — dinner until 10, bar until midnight — mean the evening can slow-transition from dinner to drinks without anyone having to relocate. For the team dinner that is meant to actually build something rather than just tick a box, Roppongi is La Jolla's answer in 2026.
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