In recent years, there has been talk of the slow and sad death of teriyaki in Seattle.

In the Eater article by the same name, the author speaks of the history of teriyaki, the dish’s claim to regional fast-food status, and the slow decline attributed to a combination of Seattle transplants preferring trendier foods and the ubiquitousness of Seattle teriyaki, which turned the industry into a commodity akin to fast food chains.

Seattle Mag also mentions the introduction of new players like food trucks and taco buses that pierce through the fast casual market inciting fiercer competition.

The introduction of food delivery services like UberEats and DoorDash further marginalizes teriyaki as many older restaurant owners lack the technological prowess to operate tablets, which would decimate any small restaurant in the Covid-19 era. 

As a Mukilteo, WA teriyaki restaurant, naturally we had some pressing questions.

How will restaurants survive the “Teriyaki Depression?”

How do we adapt to the new changes and ride the new culinary revolution occurring right now?

How does a teriyaki restaurant in Mukilteo stand out in an industry that’s so commoditized and so ubiquitous, they’re practically invisible?

Finally, does Washington even care enough to save teriyaki?

In a world that’s constantly shifting its attention to the next hottest trends, actors, viral TikTok stars, and restaurants, everything appears to be ephemeral.

Society churns out the irrelevant, rendering them obsolete. It’s the modern natural selection.

Keep the public’s attention, provide them with an experience, make them feel something, and repeat or you’re just a memory.

Only the chosen few are given the resources to continue. 

Given the circumstances, teriyaki is at a turning point: either evolve according to the new rules of the market or slowly disappear into Washington’s history books.

Unfortunately, most teriyaki restaurant owners are in their 50s and 60s who have been running the same teriyaki restaurant and formula for decades.

Change isn’t well embraced by the older Asian community, especially changes involving technology.

They’re busy enough as it is, working 16 hour days 6 days a week and only taking two days off out of the entire year. 

Many teriyaki restaurant owners simply don’t have the time, bandwidth, or desire to implement the changes the new market imposed. 

As it stands, the teriyaki industry will suffer. Unless the next generation of teriyaki restaurant owners decide to revitalize the industry, teriyaki will remain the same.

Maybe that's for the best. (more on this below)

Unfortunately, until the next generation's teriyaki cure, Washington's teriyaki restaurant population may be endangered.

However, we don’t think teriyaki will go extinct. We have confidence that teriyaki isn’t going anywhere.

When we asked ourselves the earlier pressing questions, we thought, “how does any successful niche food restaurant survive with such fierce competition?” 

How does any pho restaurant, ramen restaurant, pizza place, burger joint do just that? There’s hundreds of them in competition with each other, and some are even more prominent than teriyaki.

Truthfully, we don’t know the answers. What we do know is that the aforementioned foods are centuries-old recipes with rich, beautiful backgrounds filled with loving memories around a dinner table.

Surviving centuries of constantly evolving culinary scenes because they’re stronger than a simple trend and short attention spans.

They've become family traditions and ingrained into their respective culture’s history. People love and share them because these foods are timeless ways to share love and joy in one of the purest forms of pleasure--eating.

For as long as people continue to pass down tradition and culture, foods, like teriyaki, won’t die.

We take pride that teriyaki has solidified itself into Seattle’s food culture, meaning countless numbers of people have shared many loving memories over teriyaki.

Teriyaki is childhood memories, first dates, and affordable meals for the hungry college student.

However, on the flip side, many view teriyaki as a very simple dish. It may be the reason why many Seattle transplants have never tasted this local delicacy.

But the very beauty of teriyaki is in its simplicity. It’s teriyaki. It’s supposed to be easy, supposed to be comfort food.

It’s not supposed to be complicated or make you wonder or experience new flavors. This isn’t Canlis.

Teriyaki never tries to be something it's not.

There’s structure, predictability, routine.

It’s the same ice cream flavor you’ve been getting since you were a kid. It’s the Chipotle order you’ve memorized. It’s the same pho order you always get.

Dishes like these are what ground us. Give us a sense of stability and control in the chaos. We know exactly what we came for and exactly what we're going to get.

People crave stability. We as humans like what we know. The unknown scares people enough that it stops people from not trying new things.

Whether that's a good or bad trait is a separate discussion. Some people just like to feel safe about their food decisions.

Isn’t that why we love eating at the same restaurants and the same dishes? Don’t we get upset when we go back to a restaurant only to find out the flavor isn’t the same or the quality went down since management changed?

You know what you’re getting with teriyaki. It's safe, it's stable, it's watching TV while eating takeout on Friday night.

It doesn’t have to be anything more than it is. 

We're not going to recommend you to buy teriyaki everyday. That would be ridiculous and sickening. Also very unhealthy.

But every once in awhile, when you don’t know what to get, think about getting some teriyaki.

Consider us. Think of Seattle’s food culture, and how you can be a part of something bigger than yourself.

Think of if you care enough to save teriyaki.

If you’re looking for food to go in Mukilteo, try getting teriyaki delivery with Nori Teriyaki.