Steak has become a popular way to end a drinking session in Okinawa. Jackie's Steak House is a long-established restaurant that boasts overwhelming popularity even in this competitive area, and is located a 10-minute walk from HOTEL RESOL TRINITY NAHA. Even after closing time at 10pm, the restaurant is always packed with customers.

The interior of the restaurant, reminiscent of an American dynasty, retains the atmosphere of the time under American rule.

The most popular menu item is the tenderloin steak (large 250g), which comes with soup, salad, and bread or rice. The moderately juicy and matte texture of the red meat is a taste that only a long-established restaurant can offer, and impresses steak connoisseurs.

The origin of the store name "Jackie"

It opened in 1953, shortly after the war, under the name NEW YORK RESTAURANT. American culture flowed into Okinawa at a rapid pace when it was under American rule, and the city was a jumble of English and Japanese. The restaurant was originally established in Kadena by founder Tadahiko Nagata, who took over his uncle's restaurant. Later, when he opened a restaurant in Naha, he also used the names "Nagataya" and "Jackie's Steak House" in addition to "New York Restaurant". After moving out of Kadena and remaining in Naha, he narrowed down the menu to focus on steaks, and named it "Jackie's Steak House". Incidentally, Jackie is said to be a reference to Jackson, an American officer who had been kind to him.

Menu of "Nagataya" at the time

Naha under American military rule

All the meat used in the restaurant is imported from the U.S. The current owner, Nagata Tsuyoshi, told us about what it was like back then, as told to us by his grandfather.

"At that time, there was a market in Naha for purchasing goods, and meat first went to Naha Port, which was used by the US military, and thenpassed through customs before being sold to Okinawa. Apparently, to speed up the process, officialswere treated to steaks.

It was also quite difficult to get the A-sign, a certificate issued by the U.S. Military Discipline Enforcement Committee.Meat had to be sourced from a supplier designated by the U.S. military, there were regulations on how to wash dishes, and buildings had tobe made of concrete, so some restaurants only had the outside made of concrete. There were also standards for customer service staff, such as wearing white coats and hats."

At the time, military personnel and civilian employees were prohibited from eating or drinking anywhere other than in establishments that had an A sign, so whether or not the restaurant could obtain this certification was a matter of life and death for the restaurant.

US military certification "A sign"

Special steak sauce

The steak sauce used is not the common A1 sauce, but the original No.1 sauce. "I thought that the A1 sauce used by all the restaurants didn't go well with our meat, and then by chance, Kido Foods in Kobe approached me aboutmaking their own original sauce, and we decided to develop it together."

This super rich sauce, which uses about five times the usual amount of vegetables and fruits,has now become a Jackie Steak staple.

Creating a store where people can see each other's faces

Owner Nagata Naritaka started helping out at his grandfather's restaurant when he was in the fourth grade of elementary school, and by the time he entered junior high school he alreadyknew he wanted to take over the restaurant. When he asked his mother what he needed to do to achieve that, she told him to "study business management at university," and he decided to go to university in Tokyo. He returned from Tokyo at the age of 28 andbecame the face of Jackie's Steak House in both name and reality.

When asked about the future developments and dreams of the store, he said, "The founder's basic philosophy is to be hands-on, and the starting point is to make the customers in front of us happy and have them return. Daily judgments (of service) can only be made by our own standards in the store. Something that was a no in the past may be OK today depending on the situation, and that standard cannot be quantified.

And our customers come to see us. They trust us and feel at ease, so we're only going to have this one store. Our customers don't want things to change, and my dream is to keep this constant."

His approach to management is thorough, not making decisions based on a rule book but on what's on the ground. His consistent approach gives us a glimpse of the strictness of a manager. However, when I asked him what had made him happiest so far, he replied with an amiable smile, "Maybe when I was helping out in the store as a kid and I received a tip from a customer," and his smile made me want to come back to see him again.

ジャッキーステーキハウス
電話：098-868-2408
住所：沖縄県那覇市西 1-7-3
アクセス：ゆいレール 旭橋駅より徒歩8分
HP：https://steak.co.jp/
SNS：https://www.instagram.com/jackssteakhousesince1953/
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