Rich Howland and Scott Kilpatrick met in grade school in Scottsdale, Arizona. Both graduated from the University of Arizona and started careers apart. At 28 they came back together and, with college friends, bought a restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale called Trappers. They ran it as upscale Mediterranean. It fell flat in under eight months.
They kept the room. In June 1997 they brought in Tai Obata - a longtime acquaintance from their college days, a sushi expert, someone they trusted. In October 1997 the same space opened as the first RA Sushi.
"Rich and I worked 80, 100 hours a week," Kilpatrick said. By 2002: four Arizona locations, $9 million in annual sales, and Benihana - to the founders' surprise - buying the company for $11 million. "When we opened that store in '97, we never imagined it would get this big."
Obata stayed on as executive chef. As late as 2014 he was still inventing the seasonal specials, a Florida reviewer calling him "the one remaining founding friend from Scottsdale."
In February 2005, Howland's nephew, Nicky Mailliard, died of brain cancer at 13. In his memory, the chain raised money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for years - roughly $2 million by 2019.
The chain is RA Steak & Sushi now, renamed in August 2026, steak added, sushi still the signature. The Addison room is at 5100 Belt Line Road, in Village on the Parkway. This past April, a Dallas diner ordered the three cooked rolls her server, Cannon, recommended, and said she'd be back.
Go - a birthday will do, or no reason at all. Sit down and ask the person at your table what to order.