Fast becoming one of the neighborhood’s most popular Sushi and Asian restaurants since opening more than eight years ago, Zushi has expanded by adding a Teppanyaki dining room.
“We’ve been growing every year, and have lots of regular customers who like our food and service and atmosphere,” said owner Shawn Suh. “Zushi started as a Sushi restaurant, but over time we have become an Asian Fusion restaurant, which has 50 kinds of Sushi, a full, 30-item Chinese menu, as well as some of the most popular Asian menu favorites, such as Pad Thai and Korean BBQ short ribs.”
Zushi not only has great food, but also has 11 TVs to watch your favorite team with friends inside, or on the large patio area outside.
Nevertheless, the restaurateur was not yet satisfied. “A lot of my regular customers told me they had to go elsewhere when they had something special to celebrate,” said Shawn, “like a birthday, anniversary, graduation or for a big family reunion, like during the New Year or Thanksgiving.”
The coveted Japanese food for these occasions is Teppanyaki. Teppan means iron plate in Japanese, and yaki means grilled, broiled or fried. Hence, Teppanyaki service means foods artfully prepared with flair on a large hot iron grill in front of customers, seated at tables surrounding the grill.
“A lot of my regulars had asked me to have Teppanyaki in my restaurant,” Shawn stated. “I totally agreed, and wanted to have Teppanyaki, so everyone could enjoy great food in their own neighborhood. I couldn’t, though, because Teppanyaki service requires a lot of space, and my restaurant area already was full,” he continued. “Then, with luck, the business next door moved out. So, I was able to acquire 1,600 square feet of extra space to bring Teppanyaki to Zushi.”
Teppanyaki dining is very popular on weekends and for special occasions. “I didn’t want to make my customers wait a long time to get a table, so we installed eight Teppanyaki tables, which can seat at total of 72 at once,” Shawn said. “Also, our Teppanyaki tables are bigger than the standard size, so we can serve groups of 10 to 20 at a time. And to make things even more comfortable, we installed three large air conditioners, so the heat from the grill is not a problem for warm-weather diners.”
Zushi boasts three highly trained professional Teppan chefs who have more than 20 years of Teppanyaki experience. “Zushi will be the very best restaurant for Teppanyaki because of a very simple pledge to serve only the very highest quality meat, seafood and vegetables,” Shawn stated proudly. “Customers will especially like our flavorful fried rice prepared fresh on the grill.”
All Teppanyaki meals include the diner’s choice of meat or seafood, an appetizer, soup and salad, fresh grilled vegetables and fried rice.
Zushi is located at 6727 E. McDowell Road, on the southwest corner of Powell and McDowell roads. Hours are Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 11 p.m. For more information, visit zushiaz.com, or call (480) 981-2727.