Yes, Roka Akor is coming to Gilbert. The upscale Japanese steakhouse has signed a lease at Northside at SanTan Village on South SanTan Parkway and plans to open in mid-2027. It will be the brand’s sixth location nationwide and only its second in Arizona — the other has operated near Scottsdale Road and Indian Bend for nearly two decades.
If you live in the East Valley, you just got a shorter drive to a very good dinner
For years, getting to Roka Akor meant heading north to 7299 N. Scottsdale Road — a haul from most of Gilbert, Chandler, or Queen Creek. That drive is the whole story here. A restaurant this caliber choosing the SanTan corridor rather than another Scottsdale address says something about where the East Valley’s dining scene is headed.
The concept is built around a wood-fired robata grill — the open-flame cooking style that drives the menu. Think prime wagyu beef, sushi, and an ambitious cocktail and sake list. It is the kind of place you go for a birthday, a business dinner, or a night when you want the meal to be the event. Gilbert residents have always had access to it — just not close to home.
Mid-2027 is the target. That is still a year-plus away, but the lease is signed and the broker deal is done. This is not a rumor. It is a confirmed tenant at a development that is nearly out of space.
A rendering of the Northside at SanTan Village retail buildings, developed by Okland Capital and San Tan Development Group and delivered to market in 2025. Roka Akor will occupy a 4,336-square-foot space in this corridor. (Okland Capital)
The Gilbert deal: size, location, and the broker who closed it
Roka Akor signed a lease for a 4,336-square-foot space with a 1,000-square-foot patio. The restaurant sits on South SanTan Parkway, east of SanTan Village Parkway, between Williams Field and Ray roads. A precise street address has not been released.
Audra Travis of mhg Commercial Real Estate represented Roka Akor in the transaction. No other outlets have named her as the tenant-side broker. The development side is part of the Northside mixed-use project built by Okland Capital and San Tan Development Group.
AZ Big Media broke the story on October 19, 2026. The Phoenix Business Journal followed on October 23, 2026.
From London to Scottsdale to Gilbert: the ownership chain behind JNK Concepts
Roka Akor’s roots go back to London, where the Roka concept was born. The late Dr. John N. Kapoor brought the brand to Scottsdale, establishing what became its long-running Arizona flagship. His family now stewards the restaurant group through JNK Concepts.
Today the brand runs six U.S. locations — or will once Gilbert opens. The current five are: Scottsdale, San Francisco, and three in the Chicago area. Gilbert becomes number six.
Chefs work the robata grill at Roka Akor’s Chicago location. The wood-fired robata style is central to the brand’s menu. (Roka Akor)
Northside at SanTan Village: how the last flagship suite found its tenant
Northside at SanTan Village is the upscale retail and restaurant component of a larger mixed-use development delivered to the Gilbert market in 2025. As of August 2025, the center was about 60% leased, with five suites still available. Those suites ranged from 1,490 to 4,336 square feet.
Roka Akor took the largest of those remaining spaces — the 4,336-square-foot suite. With that deal done, just two units are left at Northside. The development is effectively full for practical purposes.
The anchor that set the tone was Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, which entered the Arizona market in mid-2026 with an 11,000-square-foot restaurant. Roka Akor, at 4,336 square feet, becomes the second fine-dining anchor in the same corridor. Two flagship-level restaurants on the same stretch gives the SanTan Village area a credible dining destination identity it did not have before.
A private dining room at an existing Roka Akor location, showing the level of finish East Valley diners can expect. (Roka Akor)
Opening timeline: what mid-2027 actually means for Gilbert diners
Marketing manager Nikki Havens confirmed the mid-2027 target and the sixth-location status. Beyond that, the company has not released a specific opening month or a final address.
A mid-2027 open puts the restaurant roughly a year to eighteen months out from the lease signing. For a restaurant of this size and build-out complexity, that timeline is typical. The patio alone — 1,000 square feet — adds planning and permitting work on top of the interior fit-out.
Watch for a Gilbert business license filing and a formal address announcement as the clearest early signals that construction is underway. Those are public records and will surface before any official press release.
The robata grill produces the open-flame seared proteins Roka Akor is known for. (Roka Akor)
