Lotteria: History, Key Facts and Reviews

1972-1978: a Lotte idea born in Tokyo

Lotteria started in Japan, not in Korea. Shin Kyuk-ho, the founder of the Lotte group, set up Lotteria Co. in Tokyo in February 1972 (Wikipedia). After a pilot shop inside Lotte’s factory in Urawa in July, the first two restaurants opened on September 29, 1972, in the Takashimaya department store in Nihonbashi and the Matsuzakaya store in Ueno (Japanese Wikipedia). The name joins Lotte and cafeteria (Lotte GRS). The Japanese chain added its shrimp burger in 1977.

1979-2000: South Korea’s first modern fast-food chain

Lotteria’s Korean branch, founded in October 1979, is the one that made the brand big. Its first restaurant opened that year in the Lotte department store in Sogong-dong, central Seoul, and Lotte GRS describes it as the first modern quick-service restaurant in South Korea. The chain kept adding local firsts: the bulgogi burger in September 1992, the country’s first fast-food drive-thru in November 1997 and the rice burger in May 1999 (Lotte GRS history). The 500th store opened in April 2000.

1998-2023: Vietnam, independence from Tokyo and the Zensho sale

The Korean and Japanese Lotterias went separate ways in the 2000s. Lotteria Korea opened its first Vietnamese store in February 1998, took over the management of the Vietnamese business in 2004 and opened its 200th store there in September 2014. Also in 2004, the Korean company bought all the shares that the Japanese Lotteria held in it (Korean Wikipedia). Korea passed 1,000 stores in January 2012, and the company took the name Lotte GRS in 2017. In Japan, Lotte Holdings sold Lotteria to Zensho on April 1, 2023, and Zensho launched a new brand, Zetteria, that September. Our guide to Lotteria in Da Nang shows the chain on the ground in Vietnam.

2024-2026: the end in Japan and a push into the US and Singapore

Lotteria now belongs to Seoul alone: the last Japanese Lotteria, in Senri-Chuo near Osaka, became a Zetteria on March 31, 2026. Lotte GRS says Lotteria runs more than 1,600 stores in seven countries, and about 1,300 of them were in South Korea in March 2026 (Etoday). The chain opened its first US restaurant in Fullerton, California, in August 2025, a first Malaysian store at The Curve in Petaling Jaya in December 2025, and a Singapore store at Jewel Changi Airport in February 2026, followed by Jurong Point on August 5 (Etoday). Lotte GRS reported consolidated sales of 1.1189 trillion won for 2025, its first year above one trillion won since 2017 (Hankyung).

Key dates

• 1972: Lotte founds Lotteria in Tokyo; the first restaurants open in Nihonbashi and Ueno on September 29.
• 1979: Lotteria Korea is founded in October and opens in Sogong-dong, Seoul.
• 1992: launch of the bulgogi burger in Korea.
• 1998: first Lotteria in Vietnam.
• 2004: the Korean company buys out the Japanese shareholding.
• 2023: Lotte sells Lotteria Japan to Zensho on April 1.
• 2025: first US restaurant, in Fullerton, California.
• 2026: the last Japanese Lotteria becomes a Zetteria on March 31.