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.
alicia hastings
Alicia, our Assistant General Manager is a local girl, from Federal Way who had a love of cooking and baking from the start. When she wasn’t training as a competitive gymnast, you’d find her watching cooking shows and kitchen gadget infomercials instead of My Little Pony and Sesame Street. She loved dining out and thus started working in restaurants as a teenager and quickly honed her skills bartending and serving; eventually taking over server training and managing front of house. She's worked everywhere from Red Robin, to Salty's on Alki, and smaller fine dining favorites across Washington, Minnesota and Arizona. Besides her passion for creating amazing customer experiences, you'll find her at various live music concerts soaking up good vibes and cuddling her Pomchi.