Fast food Sushi

[captainimmy]

do you think a fast food sushi cart is a good idea...
just give me feedback!!

[cdogstu99]

Tough one. When i get sushi, i order take out. I would rather wait 15-20 minutes and spend a little more, knowing that i'm getting something of quality. I'm very particular with sushi, and the idea of stuff that's sitting around and made in a minute would not be very attractive to me.

[Fanatik]

I lived in Japan for 2 years and I had my fair share of sushi. They have a sushi house over there, which is very prominent, and it's on a 'fast food' type of deal.

The place is called Screaming Sushi -- well, thats what us Americans called it, but basically this is how it was setup (lets see if the forum will let me draw this)...


l x l l x l l x l l x l l x l
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.............................0
0...............................0
0.................................0
0...............................0
0.............................0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l x l l x l l x l l x l l x l
[EDIT: ignore the dots... the board wouldnt let me put spaces in there without screwing up the drawing]

The 0's are the 'bar table' and the "l x l" represent booths around the 'bar'. The 'bar' has a conveyer belt on it, that the Sushi chefs (in the middle of the 'bar') put sushi on. The sushi is on different colored plates (red, green, blue, yellow) all of which are a different price depending on the plate color. Example would be Red = $2; Green = $5, etc.. And yes, sushi is that cheap there.

So you grab the plates as they come by, if you want that type of sushi. If you dont want what's coming - leave it and get the ones you want. You stack the plates on your table, and when you're done, the waitress comes by and tallies them up and gives you the tab to pay.

We ate at screaming sushi quite a bit for lunch since it was in/out and easy to do. Normally we could get in there with 4 people, sit down, eat all we wanted and be out in 45 mins or less.

If you haven't been to Japan - you better go before you ever think about opening a shop here. I have not found a single sushi house that even compares. Not to mention it's expensive as hell here... I could spend $15 and leave a shushi house over there full as hell. Spend $15 here and I get a chopstick.

Base your concept on a Japanese sushi house and you may do well. Base it on an american sushi house, and well, ya know...

J

[Nigami Enterprise]

I lived in Japan for 2 years and I had my fair share of sushi. They have a sushi house over there, which is very prominent, and it's on a 'fast food' type of deal.

The place is called Screaming Sushi -- well, thats what us Americans called it, but basically this is how it was setup (lets see if the forum will let me draw this)...


l x l l x l l x l l x l l x l
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.............................0
0...............................0
0.................................0
0...............................0
0.............................0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
l x l l x l l x l l x l l x l
[EDIT: ignore the dots... the board wouldnt let me put spaces in there without screwing up the drawing]

The 0's are the 'bar table' and the "l x l" represent booths around the 'bar'. The 'bar' has a conveyer belt on it, that the Sushi chefs (in the middle of the 'bar') put sushi on. The sushi is on different colored plates (red, green, blue, yellow) all of which are a different price depending on the plate color. Example would be Red = $2; Green = $5, etc.. And yes, sushi is that cheap there.

So you grab the plates as they come by, if you want that type of sushi. If you dont want what's coming - leave it and get the ones you want. You stack the plates on your table, and when you're done, the waitress comes by and tallies them up and gives you the tab to pay.

We ate at screaming sushi quite a bit for lunch since it was in/out and easy to do. Normally we could get in there with 4 people, sit down, eat all we wanted and be out in 45 mins or less.

If you haven't been to Japan - you better go before you ever think about opening a shop here. I have not found a single sushi house that even compares. Not to mention it's expensive as hell here... I could spend $15 and leave a shushi house over there full as hell. Spend $15 here and I get a chopstick.

Base your concept on a Japanese sushi house and you may do well. Base it on an american sushi house, and well, ya know...

J

Its usually called a Sushi Train

[Scott Bradley]

do you think a fast food sushi cart is a good idea...
just give me feedback!!

I don't know if that would be a good idea. Only reason I say that is because I sure as hell wouldn't buy sushi on the street.

The reason this is is because...
1) I don't know how long you have been out on the street
2) I don't know where you have gotten the fish
3) I wouldn't want to take the risk on the street even if it was all legit

[closedbook]

I agree with Scott. I had some street corner fish balls in NYC's Chinatown and, though really good, it made me sick.

[Scott Bradley]

I agree with Scott. I had some street corner fish balls in NYC's Chinatown and, though really good, it made me sick.

Fish Balls? Would you please elaborate? LOL

[closedbook]

Just like meatballs, but with fish meat and deep fried. I suggest you try it with soup. Oh, and not at a street vendor. ;-)

[kiwi]

Hi,

I think sushi carts are a very good idea. I was considering starting some myself in New Zealand.

New Zealanders eat a lot of sushi and in the small town of 100,000 people where I go to university there must be at least 15 sushi places, but all in town and none are that convenient.

I think if you provided a clean, good looking and well set up cart with adequate fridge space it would work well. All you need is a good trailer with a till and fridges and a generator to run it all on and you're away. Similar to a coffee cart. All it would take is one person to run, and you would only have to be open in peak times wherever you set up. No rent or rates either. Seems easy to me.

Im very interested in hearing everyone elses thoughts, please post!

[aed343]

Hi Kiwi,

I think your idea is great! I currently live in Ecuador and have fast food sushi delivered at least once a week.

Run with the idea.

[Scott Sutherland]

Personally, and my friends are of the same opinion, sushi is something that fast food cannot do justice to. There's a sushi place on my campus that sells cheap stuff that's been sitting around, and it doesn't seem like a lasting business.

[Rollin]

I think the examples above highlight a perceptual inaccuracy more than a reality (but of course that becomes "the reality" a business person must address). The physical reality is that food handling practices will determine whether the food is safe, not the permanence of the structure they are prepared in. Most sushi restaurants have fish sitting around for days in refrigerated cases. If it does not sell quickly, they'll likely offer a special or need to dispose of it. A "special" in a fish restaurant is some thing I avoid for just this reason.
If food is properly handled, refrigerated and prepared, a food cart is just as safe as any restaurant. But as a business person, you can't ignore the power of perception.