Step Inside Masa
WHERE FLAVOR MEETS SOUL
About Masa
We opened our doors in August 2017 in the heart of Issaquah, Washington's historic yet trendy Gilman Village. Masa is privately owned by Ryan & Shannon Shimabukuro, a husband/wife team and our three children (Lexi, Anna and Connor).
Masa is our dream come true. We wanted to build a community gathering place where people come together to enjoy delicious, homestyle, Mexican-inspired food. We aim to please you with our creative twists on crowd favorites, quality interpretations of classic dishes, and some of the best freshly squeezed margaritas around.
We've always loved the unification powers of good food, and hope you'll feel no better sense of community then when you dine with us. We look forward to meeting you!
Experience Like No Other
Located in Issaquah, just outside of Seattle, WA, Masa Mexican Kitchen & Cantina draws a happy crowd with flavorful Mexican-inspired dishes and delicious fresh-pressed juice cocktails.
Located in Issaquah - fresh, flavorful, unforgettable
The Team Making It Happen
Ryan Shimabukuro
Chef Ryan Shimabukuro has always loved the unification powers that good food bring to a community.
Masa is his dream come to life where he gets to serve the type of food he enjoys to eat the most (Mexican flavors) and has created an unmistakably warm and unique vibe where locals come to smile and feel like they are in their second living room. Ryan is not new to the restaurant scene. Growing up in Seattle, Ryan worked in every restaurant position from dishwasher, to server, bartender to management. In 2005 he left his career as an actuary and followed his dream to attend Seattle Central's Culinary Arts program and has never looked back. He ran the kitchen at Ballard's popular Matador restaurant and later took the General Manager and Chef de Cuisine position at Bennett's Bistro in Mercer Island for 9 years. In 2017, he and his wife Shannon decided to take a leap of faith and open their own place in the amazing community of Issaquah, where you'll see his warm personality and welcoming nature reflected in the staff he surrounds himself with and fun locals he attracts to enjoy his dishes. When he's not at Masa, he is busy wrangling his three young children, Alexa, Anna and Connor — the last of whom want to be a "cooker" like his daddy when he grows up.
Jonny Llamas
Chef Jonny Llamas is a caballero (cowboy) turned chef from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where he spent his days working his family's vast ranch where they grew Mezcal plants and raised cattle.
His farm was named Piedras Chinas (curly rocks) and was so large it would take a 2 hour horse ride just to cross. He moved to Montana as a 14 year old following his dads ranching connections, but where he ultimately fell in love with cooking. He attended culinary school in Montana and later moved to Washington where he worked at several local restaurants before being recruited to open Bennett's Bistro in Mercer Island to run the kitchen there for 11 years before joining Ryan at Masa. Jonny takes immense pride in creating exceptional dishes that remind him of home and put a smile on peoples faces.