R. D. Olson Construction Completes Well-Known Japanese Restaurant

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--R. D. Olson Construction, an Irvine-based firm specializing in building restaurants, hotels and retail outlets, has completed tenant improvements for a Benihana in Santa Monica. The restaurant is located at 1447 4th Street, near the city’s popular shopping center, 3rd Street Promenade. 

 The project included 7,000 square feet of tenant improvements to the first and second floors of the art deco structure, which was built in 1927. The facility now includes a main dining room with nine Teppan exhibition cooking tables and an upstairs sushi bar and lounge. A decorative glass and brass entrance, large wood stair lantern and black lit onyx stone walls give a dramatic flare to the entry, while Japanese custom-designed wood detailing creates an exotic atmosphere throughout the dining room and sushi bar.

 “The improvements have made a dramatic difference to the existing structure, giving it a contemporary, friendly environment,” said Dennis Reyling, president, R. D. Olson Construction.

 The new Santa Monica Japanese-style restaurant was designed by Ware & Malcomb Architects. It is owned by Benihana National Corporation.

R. D. Olson Construction was founded in 1979 by Robert Olson. The company has since built such well-known establishments as the Marriott TownePlace Suites, Hawthorne; Laguna Woods Town Center, Laguna Woods; and Northpark Plaza, Irvine. Current projects include Morton’s Steakhouse, Santa Ana, Calif. and Honolulu, Hawaii; Homewood Suites and Hilton Garden Inn, a two-hotel resort in San Diego and renovation of the Monarch Beach Resort Clubhouse and Bay Club, Dana Point, Calif. R. D. Olson Construction is the twelfth largest company of its kind in Orange County with its corporate office in Irvine, Calif.