Hawkers Asian Street Food Is Coming to JPan’s Former UTC Space
Image: Courtesy Photo
Across town, restaurants have been opening, closing and changing hands fast enough to make a dinner reservation feel like a race against the news. At University Town Center, JPan Sushi & Grill served its last meal Sept. 13 after 10 years. Now Hawkers Asian Street Food is preparing to take its place.
Hawkers is coming to the West District space at 229 N. Cattlemen Road, where a “coming soon” sign is fixed outside the former JPan. An opening date has not been announced.
Four childhood friends opened the first Hawkers in Orlando in 2011, drawing on family recipes and dishes they’d encountered across Asia. Hawkers has since grown to 16 locations across the Southeast and Texas.
Image: Courtesy Photo
The restaurant takes its cue from Asia’s street food stalls, with a menu that encourages ordering for the table. There’s Malaysian roti to tear and dip into curry sauce, twice-fried Korean chicken wings, bao and Sichuan wontons. For anyone who’d rather keep a plate to themselves, there are pad Thai, soups, rice dishes and curries. There are cocktails and sake, too.
Image: Courtesy Photo
Sarasota will also get something the company hasn’t tried elsewhere: a street food sweet shop. While that menu is still secret, Hawkers’ existing dessert menu offers a couple of possibilities: Chili Vanilli pairs warm roti and vanilla ice cream with Sichuan chili crisp, sesame peanut sauce, crushed peanuts and a cherry. Its Jo-Hé Bag O’ Donuts come dusted with cinnamon sugar and served in a bag. Whether either makes it to UTC remains to be seen.
The opening comes amid a busy stretch of arrivals and departures for area restaurants. Downtown, SaraSocial opened this month in the former Fork & Hen space, while Indigenous closed after 15 years. Tralia is opening a second location in the Rosemary District. At UTC, JPan’s departure was a change of address rather than a declared end: co-owner Daniel Dokko said he was working with Benderson Development to find another spot in the district. Its Siesta Row restaurant remains open.
Hawkers’ arrival gives the old JPan address a new tenant and diners another reason to order a tableful of dishes. The sweets, for now, remain a mystery.
Hawker's Asian Street Food will be located at 229 N. Cattlemen Road, Sarasota, 34243. To check out menus and more, click here.
