Beginnings in
Costa Mesa Curry House was founded in 1983 as a division of House Foods America, with the first location opening in the Weller Court complex in the
Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles. The location drew the attention of Rose Dosti of the
Los Angeles Times and
Rudi Gernreich, both of whom praised the restaurant's aesthetics and "hip, graphic design" food presentation: Curry House, on the top floor of Downtown's Weller Court, is probably the first of its type in Los Angeles, but likely a prototype of clones to come, if instant success is any measure. It's a scientific, Japanese curry-and-spaghetti house—small, well-designed, handsome, and efficient in a tradition-bound Japanese, not Western, manner. You get the feeling you are culturally in Japan even though you are physically in California. In 1984, the
LA Weekly designated Curry House as the "Best Japanese-Style Curry" in Los Angeles.
Expansion Curry House opened a location in
Beverly Hills, next to the Hotel Nikko (today the SLS Hotel), in 1996. According to Max Jacobson of the
Los Angeles Times, the location was "by far the most attractive" of the entire chain: Like Japanese curry itself, the ambience is an amalgam of elements that might not seem to belong together: frosted glass, a Japanese flower arrangement offset by a lacquered wooden backdrop, cobalt-blue Diva lights, cool jazz on the sound system, and a team of waitresses who take care of you with disarming sincerity. In 1998,
Jonathan Gold reviewed the location for the
LA Weekly, calling it a "slick, highly designed restaurant [...], a soaring space with acres of blond wood and bright paintings on the wall." A 2003 article in the
Los Angeles Downtown News named Curry House among the "best-loved spots and hidden treasures" in
Downtown Los Angeles. Over the course of its history the chain grew to 9 locations across California. The Little Tokyo location also opened an annex for take-out orders in 2011, located downstairs from the main restaurant, next to a
Marukai Market. In addition to Japanese curry, Curry House also sold other kinds of
yōshoku including
Naporitan,
tonkatsu,
menchi katsu, and
hamburg. In 2017, Curry House collaborated with
Sanrio on a limited-edition meal set featuring the
Gudetama character. The $29 set included a collectible placemat and beanie. The collaboration originated from Sanrio; an employee who regularly dined at Curry House said he got the idea after eating one of their egg-topped curry dishes. House Foods also sold a line of instant curries in
retort pouches that was branded under the Curry House name.
Ownership under CH Acquisitions and closure In June 2019, House Foods sold Curry House to CH Acquisitions, LLC; with Food Management Partners, Inc. of
Texas running the chain's daily operation. Four years before, House Foods had purchased
CoCo Ichibanya and made it a subsidiary. The new owners immediately fired most of its personnel, including 90% of its kitchen workers, forcing the chain to temporarily close while it hired and trained new staff. On February 24, 2020, CH Acquisitions and Food Management Partners closed down Curry House. The former stated in a press release that the "misrepresentation of the legal status of many [Curry House] employees" and the resultant "confusion" caused by the need to temporarily shut down the restaurants in order to train new staff were factors in their decision. According to reports, the chain's parent company had given staff no warning of their decision. ==Locations==