New sushi, hibachi restaurant opens near the future Target in west Bradenton
The recent addition of Sapporo Sushi-Hibachi completes a restaurant row at Beachway Plaza.
Sapporo Sushi, 7224 Manatee Ave. W., fits between Danny’s Pizzeria on one side and Shanghai Chinese Kitchen, on the other. Cremesh European Restaurant is just one door down.
Season and David Chen opened the restaurant about two weeks ago after a lot of market research, including looking around St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Sarasota.
“The people here are very nice. I feel that this is a very good community,” Season Chen said.
The shopping center, on the northeast side of Manatee Avenue and 75th Street West, is anchored by Publix. Another high-interest anchor, a new Target store, is coming to the west end of the shopping center, which was formerly occupied by a Kmart store.
Season’s husband, David, serves as the sushi chef, and Jessica Dong serves as the restaurant manager.
Although new, Sapporo Sushi has been making noise on social media with one Facebook commentator saying: “Love it there! Will be going back again very soon! So wonderful to have a sushi place nearby! I wish them The best of luck and success!”
In the early going, the sushi and hibachi offerings have been equally popular, Season said.
The double-sided menu is chock full of offerings, including soups, salads, appetizers (lots of appetizers), sushi and sashimi a la carte items, maki rolls, entrees from the sushi bar and Sapporo special rolls. The special rolls start at $13.95.
The reverse side of the menu includes teriyaki and tempura/katsu entrees from the kitchen, fried rice, Hibachi entrees, as well as sushi bar lunches, and Bento box and Hibachi lunch specials, starting at about $9.50.
For desert, there is ice cream, fried bananas and fried cheese cake.
The couple say the business is off to a good start , with the only real issue being hiring, which is a widespread issue during the pandemic era.
The Chens have been in the restaurant business for about 15 years, and moved to Bradenton from Brooklyn. The warmer weather and the Gulf waters were other factors in their move here.
One of their goals is to visit all 50 states, but they have temporarily paused their travel plans after the arrival of their children, Jamie, 6, and Tyler, 4, and with their focus on launching a new business.
Sapporo Sushi-Hibachi is open seven days a week. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday, noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday.
Counting tables inside and outside the restaurant, Sapporo Sushi-Hibachi has seating for about 50. To-go orders are available, as well as several delivery options. For more information, call 941-254-4000.
