Every otaku dreams of visiting the nerdy places of Japan. Rocio Escobedo was no exception to that. During the summer of 2021, Ms. Escobedo was scrolling through Twitter and seeing all the new anime cafes that were occurring in Japan. She was frustrated that places like that didn't exist in the United States. At some point, she thought 'Why can't someone do that here?' And that's when the little voice in her head said, 'well why don't you do it?'

 

After months of researching, Pop Umai was born.

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Mission statement

 

Pop Umai's mission is to recreate the fun dining experience of a Japanese anime café for the anime community in Southern California.

 

We aim to make it easier for US anime fans to have the same dine-in experience as a fan in Japan would.