Hashi Market Turns Stevens Creek Into Cupertino's Japanese Grocery Strip

A grocery chain with six stores in New York City picked Cupertino for its first West Coast location. Hashi Market opened on Friday, Oct. 9, in the former Sprouts at the Crossroads Center, at the corner of Stevens Creek Boulevard and South De Anza Boulevard. Its address is 20558 Stevens Creek Blvd. Tokyo Central sits farther east on the same road, at 19750 Stevens Creek Blvd. That puts two full Japanese markets on the same boulevard.

Count the Whole Foods farther west and the Sunday farmers' market at De Anza College, and one road now covers almost every kind of grocery trip a Cupertino household might make in a week. Hashi is a new store, and it is also the piece that fills out a corridor that was already most of the way there.

Stevens Creek, read by address

Drive Stevens Creek from east to west and the grocery stops come up in order of street number. This list covers only stores that are open now.

1. Tokyo Central Cupertino, 19750 Stevens Creek Blvd. Japanese groceries, fresh sushi and bento, sake and beauty goods. Open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
2. Hashi Market, 20558 Stevens Creek Blvd. at the Crossroads Center. A Japanese supermarket and "mini department store" in about 20,000 square feet.
3. Whole Foods Market, 20955 Stevens Creek Blvd. Open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
4. De Anza College Farmers' Market, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd. Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., all year, in the college lot near Stevens Creek and Stelling Road.

For shoppers coming from the east, a new restaurant now sits just before the first grocery stop. Jingege & YaoYao, a Chinese restaurant, opened in late August in the Marketplace center at 19628 Stevens Creek Blvd., according to the city of Cupertino's Sept. 30 newsletter. It's open daily from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The order makes sense on a map. The two Japanese markets bracket the busy middle of the boulevard. Whole Foods and the farmers' market sit near De Anza College at the west end. The Crossroads corner, where Hashi opened, is the turn onto De Anza Boulevard, and more grocery options sit along that road.

Two Japanese markets on one road

Tokyo Central and Hashi overlap more than either of them overlaps with Whole Foods. So the useful question for a household is what each one leads with. Here is how each store describes itself.

What sets Hashi apart is regional Japanese sourcing. Justin Li, Hashi's operations director, told the Mercury News that "our seafood is sourced directly from Japan, and our beef comes directly from Hokkaido." Hashi's own social posts since opening carry the same Hokkaido theme. They feature ROYCE' chocolates, Shiroi Koibito cookies, Tokachi Camembert and cheese desserts at the Cupertino store.

Tokyo Central's pitch is breadth. Its store page notes slightly shorter hours, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. That matters for anyone planning a holiday meal, and the first of those dates is Thursday, Nov. 26. Tokyo Central also offers same-day delivery and curbside pickup.

Why a New York chain started here

Hashi had other Bay Area options. Its website lists Milpitas, Union City and San Mateo as "Renovating," so for now Cupertino is the chain's only open store in California. The Mercury News reported that about 10 new Hashi stores are expected to open between now and mid-2027.

Li gave the Mercury News the chain's reasoning. "Customers here are knowledgeable, curious and increasingly interested in high-quality products with a clear sense of origin," he said.

Opening day backed up that bet. According to the East Bay Times, hundreds of people with reusable bags and cameras lined up Friday morning. The grand opening had a ribbon-cutting, a Yosakoi dance performance and a bluefin tuna-cutting demonstration. The first 200 customers got a free Mystery Gift Bag holding $50 worth of Japanese products. The same report said one shopper from Sunnyvale had waited since 8 a.m. after seeing the store on TikTok. Another had driven in from Grass Valley, about three hours away, while visiting family in Cupertino.

Not everyone in line was won over. A Los Gatos shopper told the East Bay Times her usual Asian markets were still T&T in San Jose and the 99 Ranch about a mile from Hashi on South De Anza Boulevard. She said she wasn't sure how Hashi would be different, but "more competition means better prices." Her comment is a good map of how close together the options are. From the Crossroads corner, a second set of markets runs south down De Anza. Cupertino Village, on North Wolfe Road, lists another 99 Ranch in its current directory at 10983 N. Wolfe Rd.

Hashi also arrives in the middle of a wave of new Asian markets across the South Bay. The East Bay Times listed T&T Supermarket at San Jose's Westgate Center, which opened in June, and Fugetsu Japanese Market's third South Bay store, which opened in Santa Clara in August. Of those openings, the one inside Cupertino city limits went onto a boulevard that already had a Japanese market.

What's lining up around the Crossroads corner

Hashi may not be the last new arrival near the corner. City newsletters list several food businesses in permitting. None has an opening date, so treat these as announcements.

• Specialty's Café & Bakery, 20488 Stevens Creek Blvd., a short walk from Hashi. Tenant-improvement plans have been submitted. Per the city's Sept. 30 newsletter, no opening date has been announced.
• CoCo Ichibanya Curry House, 19900 Vallco Parkway, Suite 100. In permitting, per the city's Oct. 14 newsletter.
• More Yogurt, 19900 Vallco Parkway, Suite 160. Also in permitting.
• Baby Café, 10088 North Wolfe Road, Suite 100, close to Cupertino Village. Also in permitting.

If Specialty's opens, the Crossroads block would get a bakery-café to go with the grocery stop. CoCo Ichibanya would add a Japanese curry chain at the east end of the strip, one block off Stevens Creek.

Grocery runs and the week ahead

The next 10 days of city events sit close to the same corridor, so a grocery stop fits easily alongside them.

• Thursday, Oct. 22, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hidden Treasures at the Cupertino Senior Center, 21251 Stevens Creek Blvd. The Senior Center is on the same boulevard, near the farmers' market end. The city's Oct. 14 newsletter bills it as a chance for early holiday shopping.
• Saturday, Oct. 24, 2 to 5 p.m. Pumpkin Palooza at Main Street Cupertino's Town Square, 19459 Stevens Creek Blvd. A puppet show starts at 2, music with Megan at 3 and a canine costume contest at 4.
• Saturday, Oct. 24, 5 to 8 p.m. Monster Mash at Quinlan Community Center, 10185 North Stelling Road, with Halloween games, trick-or-treating, crafts and pumpkin decorating.
• Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. International Kung Fu & Taijiquan Day at Memorial Park. The free festival includes youth Kung Fu lessons, senior Taijiquan lessons and a showcase, per the city's Oct. 14 newsletter.

Main Street's Town Square is at 19459 Stevens Creek, a short distance east of Tokyo Central. A family heading to Pumpkin Palooza on Saturday afternoon will pass both Japanese markets on the way home, and the De Anza College Farmers' Market opens at 9 the next morning.

Jen Marley Bright follows what opens, moves and changes along Cupertino's main roads, from a new market at the Crossroads corner to the cafés still working through permits. If you're thinking about how your daily errands would change from one part of Cupertino to another, Jen Marley is glad to go through the details with you. Let's Connect.