FILE: Hainan chicken shio ramen at Noodle in a Haystack in San Francisco on May 7, 2024. The Michelin-lauded restaurant has permanently closed, but the owners anticipate opening a new fast-casual restaurant called Mazé at Chase Center by the end of 2026. 

Noodle in a Haystack has been one of San Francisco’s hardest reservations to get, but after four years of serving elevated Japanese dishes, the owners called it quits Sunday as they shift their gaze to a future fast-casual concept. 

Co-owners Clint and Yoko Tan quietly closed their fine dining restaurant on May 31. After years of strain brought on by running the restaurant without full-time employees, owners Clint and Yoko Tan decided it was the time was right to move on. 

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“It was more of a slow burn,” Clint told SFGATE by email. “… Yoko and I have been cooking on our heels for the last five years, and theres a limit to how long … we could keep this up, especially with a 12 seat restaurant, with the........

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