Hapa Sushi to relocate downtown Boulder eatery to larger Pearl Street space

BOULDER — The Hapa Group Inc., the Boulder-based operator of a small, local chain of Japanese and Hawaiian-fusion restaurants Hapa Sushi and Motomaki, plans to move Hapa’s original downtown Boulder location to a larger space two blocks down Pearl Street. 

The company’s plans, which are set to be reviewed tonight by the Boulder Planning Board, call for an expansion of the patio and interior at 1048 Pearl St., which was previously home to burger and beer joint Eureka. 

Hapa, which debuted at 1117 Pearl St. in 1999, intends to expand the existing 3,813-square-foot restaurant footprint in the Pearl West development on the corner of Pearl and 11th streets by taking over vacant space in adjacent storefronts, Boulder planning documents show. The sushi restaurant is expected to occupy 6,234 square feet. 

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The patio would be expanded from 425 square feet and 36 seats to 1,100 square feet with 72 seats.

Roth Sheppard Architects LLC is leading design work for the expansion, according to planning documents.

Moving to “a new, larger, updated location,” Hapa representatives wrote in a memo to city planning staff, “would allow Hapa Sushi to better serve our guests with increased seating capacity, as well as updated décor and ambiance. We will serve the same menu with sushi and Japanese fusion, alongside our diverse menu of sake along with beer, wine and spirits. Our moving from the Pearl Street pedestrian mall to the west side of Pearl will diversify the West End, and continue to [serve] Boulder and surrounding area residents and tourists to downtown Boulder without changing the impact to the area.”

The new Boulder location is expected to be open by this spring and could employ nearly 100 workers, Hapa representatives said in a memo. Company representatives did not respond to requests for comment. This is not the first time Hapa has moved a restaurant to a larger space nearby. In 2019, after 18 years at its previous Cherry Creek location in Denver, the company moved into new digs two blocks away, according to Westword.