By Karla Marie Sanford, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — The Cortez family piled out of their car and stretched their legs. Finally, after an hour and a half drive from their Long Beach home, they had made it to Little Tokyo — specifically, to One Piece Cafe.

“I was just sitting in the car like, ‘I’m going to be at the One Piece Cafe,’” said Cammy Cortez, who was introduced to the popular manga and anime franchise by her older brother and now runs a “One Piece” fan account on X. “It’s going to be a good day.”

Timed to the Los Angeles Anime Convention, the largest exposition dedicated to Japanese pop culture in North America, the new permanent restaurant is the second official location of One Piece Cafe, in collaboration with Toei Animation, from Andy Nguyen, a serial entrepreneur behind

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