The Saga Branch of Drive-In Tori Celebrates its 2nd Year The Start of CyFoods and its Future

CyFoods was founded in 2020 as a subsidiary of Cygames. Its mission: to take on a new venture in the food sector. CyFoods has been focusing on bringing the flavors of Saga Prefecture to the rest of the nation, and in March 2025, the Saga location of Drive-In Tori celebrated its second year of operations!

In this installment of Cygames Magazine, we speak with the director at CyFoods and the manager of Drive-In Tori’s Saga branch about the start of their journey and their plans for the future.

Director, CyFoodsTetsuya

After building a career in the construction industry, Tetsuya moved into the video games industry as a QA tester for console titles in 1999, and joined Cygames as a QA Lead in 2012, where he was instrumental in forming the in-house QA team. Under his leadership, the Cygames Saga Debug Center was founded in 2017. He was also involved with the construction of the Cygames Saga Building in 2019, which became the team’s new home. When CyFoods was founded in 2020, he took on helming the newly founded subsidiary.

Manager, Drive-In Tori, Saga BranchNamie

After graduating from university, Namie joined a national restaurant chain, where she worked for fifteen years as a shop and regional manager.
She joined CyFoods in 2020 and was involved in the development of the frozen version of Drive-In Tori’s torimeshi, a traditional chicken and rice dish. She was also responsible for the founding of the shop’s Saga location, and currently serves as its manager.

Expanding into Frozen Meals and the Hometown Tax Program
Looking Back on the Past Two Years

It’s been two years since the Saga branch opened its doors in March 2023. Could you recap for us the scope of CyFoods’ business?

Tetsuya: In addition to managing Drive-In Tori’s Saga branch, CyFoods has expanded into frozen meals.
The Saga location is located on the 1st floor of the Cygames Saga Building. When constructing the building, we aimed to make it a landmark close to the station. But we also wanted it to be a hub where the city’s residents and Cygames staff could gather, so we opened the restaurant here.
As for why we delved into the frozen meal industry, the COVID-19 pandemic made us rethink how to distribute our culinary offerings. Now, we’re also gifting frozen meals as part of a thank-you to those who pay into the city’s hometown tax program.

Are many of your customers from Saga Prefecture? Tell us a bit about the shop’s demographics.

Tetsuya: Our customers are pretty neatly divided between those from Saga Prefecture and other parts of Japan.
Of course we get regulars from the Imari branch dropping in, but we also get many visitors who’ve found out about the shop from tourist maps, as well as pamphlets aimed at locals with coupons for lunch deals. All of this means we get a variety of customers coming into our shop.
The Saga branch also got many first-time visitors when it teamed up with the Zombie Land Saga and Umamusume: Pretty Derby animated series to do tie-in promotions.

Namie: We surveyed our customers, asking them what new menu items they’d like to see. Some examples of requests we received include the Soboro Don (seasoned ground meat and scrambled eggs over rice) or Wakadori Chicken and Neck Meat Half-and-Half Set. Menu items like these started off as limited time only offerings, but we received so many reviews asking for us to add them to our regular lineup. Looking back on the past two years, I can say that our customers helped to make the Saga branch what it is today.

Could you tell us why you decided to offer frozen meals as a thank-you gift in the hometown tax program?

Tetsuya: Saga has so many wonderful local dishes, and our torimeshi is one I especially want people across Japan to try. That’s why we decided to offer it as a thank-you gift through the hometown tax program.
Initiatives like these tie in with Cygames’ mission to deliver the best in gaming entertainment—CyFoods has a similar aim to offer the best in delicious meals, and we believe that we’ve created a winner with the torimeshi rice balls; we want everyone to taste and see for themselves.
In addition to the rice balls, people can get an exclusive plate. We hope that they can enjoy our food while immersing themselves in the world of Zombie Land Saga.
And if you’re eager to partake of a freshly made meal, then we invite you to come on down to the Saga branch.

Promoting a Welcoming Atmosphere and Ingredients Sourced in Saga
The Care that Goes into Drive-In Tori’s Popular Menu Items

What are currently the top menu items at the Saga location?

Namie: The No. 1 is the Ichiban Teishoku Set, the flagship meal at Drive-In Tori. Many of our first-time customers order it. It’s a hearty meal that includes torimeshi, chicken broth, and freshly prepared Aritadori-branded wakadori chicken. One of the reasons it’s so popular is that customers can grill the chicken themselves and enjoy the juicy fruits of their labor.

Glancing at the menu, I can see many items that are exclusive to the Saga location.

Tetsuya: That’s right. The three dishes I recommend are the Chicken Nanban, Ginger Chicken, and Chicken Sushi. The Chicken Sushi used to be served at the Imari location, and was brought back into the rotation at the Saga location.

Namie: We also introduce limited-time, store-exclusive menu items once every three months or so. We want to introduce new ways for our customers to enjoy our chicken dishes, so we’re always doing research and development on that front.

Tetsuya: But that’s not all. We also offer a half-sized set of two different types of yakitori. We realized that there are plenty of customers that come in by themselves who want to try a variety of chicken, but can’t finish two or three full-sized sets on their own, so this menu item meets that demand.

Namie: We take pride not only in our food, but our drink selection as well. We’ve curated a region-specific selection of shochu from Kyushu and sake from Saga, so we encourage visitors from other regions to try the local flavors for themselves.

I heard that you’ve taken special care to make the store itself inviting to customers of all backgrounds.

Tetsuya: We have. One of the attractions of Drive-In Tori is that customers can grill their own chicken, but the Saga branch is located right by the train station and gets a lot of business travelers. So, we invested in grills that don’t emit smoke, so that the scent of chicken doesn’t linger on clothing.

We also made sure there were multiple seating options so that all customers, whether they come in by themselves or in larger groups, can be seated comfortably while still retaining a unified, cohesive decor.

Namie: We created partitions near the one- and two-seater tables, so that diners could have a leisurely meal or conversation, and enjoy a dining experience that still affords them a sense of privacy.

Tetsuya: The seats were another important consideration. We sat in them to check for comfort and imagined how customers would actually use them. Some questions we asked ourselves included, “How tall should the partitions be and how can they be spaced so they still offer privacy without getting in the way?” “For the one-seater tables, how can we set them up so it’s spacious whether the grills are being used or not?” When it came to designing the seating area, we made a conscious effort to keep the customer’s perspective as our starting point instead of relying on just one “tried-and-true” formula.

New Content and Collaborations:
Merchandising, Nationwide Commercials, and More

I understand that Zombie Land Saga tie-in merchandise started hitting the shelves right around the time of the Saga location’s 2nd anniversary.

Namie: Up to now, we’d put up life-size panels of the characters in the store, but hadn’t produced any merchandise. But we did get requests from fans, so in March of this year, we introduced keychains and chopstick rests.

Tetsuya: Yes, and we’re planning on making more items from here on out. Also, the movie Zombie Land Saga: Yumeginga Paradise will be in theaters from October 24, so we’d like to do something to celebrate at the Saga branch!

There was also a commercial featuring a tie-in with Umamusume: Pretty Derby toward the end of the year in 2024, wasn’t there?

Tetsuya: That commercial was aired nationwide, despite the fact that, at the time, Drive-In Tori only had locations in Saga Prefecture. I recall it caused quite a stir online, which I was happy about. We basically recreated a commercial that’s normally aired within Saga Prefecture and made it look like the Umamusume had come to pay the Saga branch a visit.

Namie: Customers reacted overwhelmingly positively to the special stickers we handed out, and toward the end of April, we decided to make an acrylic diorama* with the Drive-In Tori restaurant in the background.

*Diorama pre-order sales have concluded.

Tetsuya: Now that Drive-In Tori is on more people’s radars, we’ve gotten requests for interviews. Additionally, with the increase in overseas tourism also making its way to Saga, we’re considering how we can create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors in our establishment.

Fostering an Environment that Nurtures
Employees and Delights Customers

So far, we’ve talked about the care you’ve taken to develop the store, its menu, and collaborations. Now, could you tell us about what you consider important when it comes to managing Drive-In Tori?

Tetsuya: For first-time visitors especially, we aim to ensure that their dining experience meets their expectations.

Namie: We’ve focused especially on the pursuit of customer satisfaction—we want to see them leave with smiles on their faces, and we’ve reflected that philosophy in our employee training.
Additionally, I tell our staff that when our customers pay, they aren’t just buying food: the service and atmosphere that make up the dining experience are part of the package. That’s why we should offer the same level of service for everyone who walks through our doors.

Tetsuya: Right. Customers have gone out of their way to come to the Saga location, so we want them to have a great experience while they’re here.

Namie: I also believe that for our customers to enjoy their dining experience, we have to foster an environment that allows our staff to thrive. That’s why I want to continue to find ways to make the working environment even better, instead of just relying on the status quo. We’ll continue to work as a team to offer a fun environment and delicious food.

Looking back on the last two years, is there anything you’d like to say?

Namie: We’re grateful that the number of visitors we get increases every month, and we’ve yet to have a quiet period. In the two years since opening, we’ve welcomed 180,000 guests. I think a big part of that is the growing number of regulars—thanks to their requests for new items and original merchandise, we’ve been able to continue growing. I said this at the start of the interview, but the reason we’ve been so successful is because our employees and customers have together made the store what it is today.

Tetsuya: Many of our original team members from two years ago are still working with us to make the store a vibrant place. Everyone gets along well, and there’s always a cheerful atmosphere. Every day, I’m reminded just how much we’re supported by our dedicated staff.

The Outlook for CyFoods:
Always Taking on New Challenges

Tell us what’s in store for CyFoods in the future.

Tetsuya: Thanks to increased recognition of Drive-In Tori, we’ve received offers to open branches not only in Kyushu, but other parts of Japan. We’re very enthusiastically looking into possible new locations, but our stance on sticking to the basics, like customers getting to grill their own chicken, remains the same. Similarly, we want to keep the quality consistent with what’s being offered by the Saga branch.
We hope that when you do hear about CyFoods opening a new store, you look forward to it as much as we do.

As we wrap up our interview, is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?

Tetsuya: We’re hard at work looking into ways people can enjoy Drive-In Tori even if they can’t make it to one our physical locations. We plan to put out more content, create more partnerships for tie-ins and hometown tax programs, and take on many more challenges. Please check out our social media for updates, and we hope you look forward to what we have planned!

Namie: The Saga branch offers chicken freshly prepared each day and uses locally sourced vegetables. We’ve also made it a place where customers and staff alike can speak to each other comfortably. For readers who found out about our shop through this article, we’re confident that you will have a wonderful meal here, and invite you to try it for yourself.

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That concludes our article on CyFoods and Drive-In Tori’s Saga branch. We hope you look forward to CyFoods’ future endeavors.

If you’re interested in CyFoods or Drive-In Tori, feel free to check out the links below!

CyFoods Official Website Drive-In Tori, Saga Branch

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