Local Japanese-inspired noodle chain Ima has officially opened its newest location in the former Gold Cash Gold space at 2100 Michigan Ave. in Corktown, not far from where it opened its first location in 2016.
The new spot, dubbed Ima Izakaya, soft launched in May for a Movement Music Festival-related party. On Wednesday, it announced on Instagram that it was officially open for lunch and dinner six days a week.
The Ima Izakaya menu appears to be larger than the chain's other locations, with a robata grill section, or a Japanese style of cooking similar to barbecue. It also has a "market cut" section featuring Chilean sea bass and grilled NY strip steak.
Metro Times stopped by on Thursday and could not get an interview with owner Mike Ransom, but an Ima employee told us the company plans to keep the original location at 2015 Michigan Ave. for pop-up events.
The new location is 3,800 square feet, about three times larger than the original Ima, which allowed it to expand its indoor seating.
The original Ima followed with additional locations in Madison Heights in 2018 and Detroit's Midtown in 2019, where it introduced a spicy karaage fried chicken sandwich to its menu. Earlier this year, Ima opened a related restaurant in Midtown called SuperCrisp that expanded upon the karaage fried chicken sandwich concept, adding other Japanese-infused, American-style comfort food items like hot dogs and fries.
Gold Cash Gold closed in 2020, with its former executive chef Brendon Edwards headed to the former Craft Work spot in Detroit's West Village to open the new Metropolitan Variety store.
More information is available at imaizakaya.com.
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