In Japan, the word “gaijin” translates to “outsider,” and it’s what locals call people who aren’t Japanese. Chef Zac Hill, a Southerner from Fairhope, Alabama, who came to New Orleans to get a business degree at Tulane, embraces this notion.
“I’m clearly not Japanese,” says the chef, whose Gaijin Sandos opened in May in the old Rosalita’s tacos space in Bywater. “But I love the Japanese culinary approach.”
His concept, “Japanese style, Southern flavor,” is proclaimed on the wall of the compact restaurant at 3304 St. Claude Ave. Hill and his partner, chef Nhat “Nate” Nguyen, worked together for years at Union Ramen. In 2024, Hill decided to do his own thing and started sando (the Japanese word for sandwiches) pop-ups at places like Sea Cave, the AllWays Lounge and Parleaux Beer Lab…