Chubby Cattle BBQ Plans Santa Clara and Milpitas Locations in South Bay Push

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 8, 2026 — Chubby Cattle BBQ, the Los Angeles-based all-you-can-eat wagyu barbecue chain founded by entrepreneur David Zhao under the Chubby Group umbrella, is pushing deeper into the Bay Area with confirmed plans for new locations in Santa Clara and Milpitas extending a South Bay expansion that has already delivered the brand's first Northern California outpost in Pleasanton.

The Santa Clara restaurant is slated for 3775 E. El Camino Real, a commercial corridor directly across from Hankook, the Korean supermarket positioning the venue at the centre of one of Silicon Valley's most active Asian-American dining and retail precincts. The Milpitas location will open inside the Great Mall at 248 Great Mall Drive, situated between Sephora and Chipotle in a high-traffic retail anchor that draws shoppers from across the South Bay. No confirmed opening dates have been announced for either location.

Chubby Cattle BBQ South Bay Expansion Follows Successful Bay Area Entry in Pleasanton

Chubby Cattle's Bay Area entry began with the Pleasanton restaurant at 2693 Stoneridge Drive, part of the Pacific Pearl shopping center adjacent to 99 Ranch Market. That location served as the chain's first foray into Northern California and established a template for subsequent Bay Area openings anchoring each new site within established Asian-American retail clusters that already attract the demographic most familiar with premium yakiniku and all-you-can-eat wagyu dining formats.

Founded in Las Vegas, Chubby Cattle is known for its premium meats and interactive dining model, where customers grill their selections tableside a format that has driven strong repeat visitation and social media engagement since the brand's first location opened in Monterey Park, Los Angeles County, in April 2023. The chain has since been named among Yelp's 10 most photographed restaurants in the United States and built an Instagram following of more than 25,000 across its brand accounts.

Wagyu Tiers and Technology-Driven Dining Define the Chubby Cattle Experience

The core of Chubby Cattle's dining concept is a tiered all-you-can-eat menu built around wagyu beef at three distinct quality levels: American wagyu, Australian wagyu and Japanese A5 wagyu the highest-graded category in the Japanese beef classification system, defined by exceptional marbling, colour and texture. The brand has built its following through its all-you-can-eat yakiniku concept featuring premium wagyu beef, interactive tabletop grilling and technology-driven dining experiences.

That technology integration sets Chubby Cattle apart from conventional Korean or Japanese BBQ operations. Chubby Cattle restaurants are known for amenities including robot servers, conveyor systems and immersive dining environments designed to blend hospitality with entertainment features that have made the brand's locations popular subjects for social media content and driven organic discovery among younger dining demographics. For context on the wagyu grading system and the culinary tradition behind yakiniku-style Japanese BBQ, HCP Good Food's recipe collection covers the broader Japanese culinary tradition.

Chubby Group Operates Multiple Concepts Alongside Flagship BBQ Chain

Chubby Cattle operates under the larger Chubby Group umbrella, which includes hot pot, shabu shabu and barbecue concepts across the United States. The group's expansion into Northern California runs in parallel with growth across other formats — including Wagyu Master, a new all-you-can-eat Japanese wagyu concept that opened in February 2026 at 1410 El Paseo de Saratoga in San Jose, occupying a former Tabu Shabu space in the El Paseo de Saratoga shopping center.

Chubby Group announced Wagyu Master in a press release, describing it as a distinct concept from Chubby Cattle focused specifically on all-you-can-eat Japanese wagyu rather than the full yakiniku barbecue format. The two brands together give Chubby Group a multi-format presence across the South Bay, reaching different price points and dining occasions within the same core wagyu-focused demographic.

South Bay Locations Target Silicon Valley's Large and Engaged Asian-American Dining Market

Santa Clara County has one of the highest concentrations of Asian-American residents in the United States, driven by decades of technology sector immigration and the growth of communities in Santa Clara, Milpitas, Sunnyvale and San Jose. That demographic profile creates natural demand for premium Japanese and Korean BBQ concepts and Chubby Cattle's site selection reflects a deliberate alignment with where that demand is concentrated.

The Great Mall in Milpitas draws shoppers from across the South Bay and represents one of the region's most visited retail destinations, giving Chubby Cattle's second Bay Area South Bay location high foot traffic and strong discovery potential from non-destination dining occasions. The El Camino Real address in Santa Clara places the restaurant within walking distance of established Korean and Japanese dining operators, positioning Chubby Cattle in direct competition within a corridor already validated by existing Asian cuisine demand.

Chubby Cattle also has plans to expand its barbecue chain in New York, Texas, Honolulu and Denver a national growth agenda that frames the Bay Area push as part of a broader strategy to establish the brand in the country's highest-density Asian-American urban markets before moving into secondary cities. Full details on the Santa Clara and Milpitas openings are available at chubbycattle.com.

More information about Indian cuisine and its regional diversity can be explored through Indian cuisine history and traditions.

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