Downtown Downturn

Scott Hardie | March 8, 2015
I'm saddened by the decline of our favorite restaurant in Sarasota, a tiny four-table sushi bar in an out-of-the-way strip mall. The food that they serve is still incredibly good. But the service, which has always been slow, is worse now that they have only two people on staff, such that we waited over an hour for service last night. They informed us that they're about to do away with credit and go cash-only. Really? In 2015? A restaurant that typically costs ~$60 for a party of two? Furthermore, the chef has some idea about how the shape of our teeth means that our diets should be 33% meat and 67% vegetable, so he eliminated a third of the sushi menu and replaced it with Japanese salads. Because that's what people want for dinner at a sushi bar, a salad. I don't know if I will return, or if they will still be in business a year from now. I feel like mourning them already.

Have you felt sad watching a favorite local business circle the drain?

Scott Hardie | May 2, 2015
We found a replacement. I don't know yet if it will become a favorite, but it just opened and on our first visit, the food was amazing. The old sushi place is in trouble.