AUSTIN, TX — East Side King — offering culinary fare described as local Japanese street food with a touch of Austin soul — is poised for a major expansion, with four more locations planned from Austin to Cedar Park.

The expansion comes by virtue of the purchase of licensing rights by Austin-grown Murphy Adams Restaurant Group — owners of Mama Fu's and Austin's Pizza — to operate East Side King in expanded territory throughout Central Texas between San Antonio and Waco, officials said on Monday. Closer to home, two new East Side King locations will open in January. The first in Cedar Park is scheduled to open on Jan. 15 at 4701 183A Toll Rd. Ste. C, and the second at the Arboretum is scheduled to open on January 29 at 10710 Research Blvd. Suite 328, in Austin.

But there's more: Two more locations are slated for February and March 2020 — one in the Bulverde area and the other off of North Guadalupe near the University of Texas campus. Operations for East Side King will be managed by Murphy Adams Restaurant group and East Side King founder and managing partner Moto Utsunomiya, officials said in a press advisory. "We see this as a great partnership of two longstanding Austin-owned restaurant companies, and the four new East Side King locations are excellent additions to our portfolio of operating brands," Murphy Adams Restaurant Group CEO Randy Murphy said in a prepared statement. "Moto Utsunomiya has done a fantastic job of developing the East Side King brand into a cultural and food icon, and his team has brought expertise and solid operations to prepare the brand for scale."

East Side King licensee Murphy Adams Restaurant Group (MARG) was founded by Austinite Randy Murphy in 2008 when Murphy and co-founder Mark Adams launched Mama Fu's. Since then, Murphy, a University of Texas at Austin graduate, has grown the Mama Fu's brand to 12 locations and has introduced core operational elements to Mama Fu's such as their own delivery service, limited menus, and full adoption of technology in all areas of the business. In 2018, MARG acquired all locations of local brand Austin's Pizza. Josh Gibson is the Sr. Vice President of Operations for MARG and Chef Moto Utsunomiya will remain a managing partner in the East Side King expansion.