QuickTake:

Dozo Ya offers prepared sandwiches, made-to-order onigiri, snacks and pantry items. The zero-seat eatery is open during the work week, ideal for folks in need of lunch on the go.

Have you ever noshed on something so good, so surprising, you had to pause for your taste buds to catch up?

That’s what happened when I tried the tuna mayo onigiri at Dozo Ya, Joel Poston’s new Japanese express eatery in the barn-red Stellaria Building on Shelton McMurphey Boulevard in Eugene.

Folks further south may be familiar with Poston’s food truck, Dozo, on Friendly Street, which turns out rice bowls, grilled meats on sticks and other Japanese street foods. 

While some menu crossover exists between the two Dozos, the new location is exclusively a grab-and-go spot. The one-stop shop is modeled after konbini, Japan’s beloved convenience stores that blend quick service with fresh high-quality food.

Dozo food truck owner Joel Poston expanded his commissary kitchen space into a Japanese-style convenience store, with grab-and-go lunches, pantry staples, cold drinks and dinner prep ingredients. Credit: Taylor Goebel / Lookout Eugene-Springfield
Joel Poston grates orange over a tuna mayo onigiri. Credit: Taylor Goebel / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

You can snag a pork katsu sandwich from the fridge (the bread is made in-house), then pick up Kewpie mayo, Hi-Chews, ramen packs and soy sauce from the grocery section.

Several Dozo Ya exclusives will make your dinner easier, too: dashi, pork and daikon curry, potato salad, miso eggs for topping ramen, carrot miso dressing for a bright salad, teriyaki sauce as a chicken glaze. Expect bento boxes at the new shop soon.

Back to Dozo’s tuna mayo onigiri: The stuffed rice ball is made to order, with firm and meaty Oregon albacore (unlike some dry mass-produced cans), extra-yolky Kewpie mayo and grilled negi (a Japanese onion similar to scallions). It’s fringed with orange zest, providing lovely citrus notes as you make your way from the nori-wrapped rice to the tuna center. 

The tuna onigiri at Dozo Ya is savory, smoky and slightly tangy. Credit: Taylor Goebel / Lookout Eugene-Springfield

Dozo Ya, which opened in June, was a strategic move for Poston: Aside from the fun konbini-style service and eats, it mainly serves as a commissary kitchen for his food truck.

“This is a 250-square-foot kitchen,” Poston said. “It’s bigger than some restaurant kitchens in New York City.”

Poston has worked in kitchens for 40 years, starting out as a dishwasher at 14, then a young cook in New York’s restaurant scene in the ’90s, to being Marché’s opening sous chef and running a restaurant in Japan. He was a chef/owner at Izakaya Meiji for 11 years before leaving in 2022 to launch his food truck.

The Japanese word “dōzo” is an offering, translating to “please have it” or “go ahead.”

I’m excited to try Dozo’s egg salad sandwich on my next lunch run — and maybe a container of yakisoba for a lazy dinner.

If you go

Dozo Ya is a zero-seat Japanese eatery offering grab-and-go sandwiches and other prepared goods, onigiri, snacks, pantry items and cold drinks. It is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday at 150 Shelton McMurphey Blvd., Eugene.

Taylor Goebel covers Lane County's food and drink scene. She has nearly a decade of experience in multimedia journalism, having reported across the Mid-Atlantic on dining, food systems, education, healthcare, local elections, labor and business. She was most recently a food reporter in Washington state, where she documented a fourth-generation fishing family, covered a David vs. Goliath conflict between a national coffee chain and a small Turkish cafe, and had many culinary firsts, from ensaymadas and gilgeori (Korean street) toast to morels and black cod.