Yo! Sushi to debut in The Mall at University Town Center in late April
SARASOTA -- Bradenton and Sarasota residents won't hurt for sushi options after a downtown Bradenton sushi restaurant opened Thursday and a conveyor-belt sushi chain makes its Florida debut in Sarasota next week.
Yo! Sushi will open a location adjacent to The Mall at University Town Center's concierge desk April 25.
The Japanese cuisine restaurant will provide between 35 and 40 jobs to the Sarasota area, including a general manager and two assistant managers, 10 to 12 servers, a 14-member kitchen staff and a locally recruited head chef with a sushi background.
CEO of Yo! Sushi Vanessa Hall said the company's top openings staff worked on putting the Sarasota team together.
"Only the best for Sarasota!" Hall said in an email.
The U.K.-based restaurant filed for a building permit last June. A variety of factors contributed to the delay in opening, according to Hall.
"There were some delays from our landlord handing over the space and at the same time we wanted to get the design exactly right, along
with the menu and team," Hall said. By the time Yo! Sushi secured the space it was the holiday season, and Hall said they chose to begin construction in January.
The Mall at University Town Center location will be Yo! Sushi's first Florida restaurant and only open location in the United States.
A couple of days after the Sarasota mall's second sushi option opens, another Yo! Sushi will open in Paramus, N.J. The Washington, D.C., Yo! Sushi closed in March 2014 after opening in 2012.
The franchise chain is known for serving sushi via a conveyor belt. Prices are based on a color-coded system, with the color of the plates matching the price of the food.
Customers can choose from a variety of sashimi, sushi, salads, soups, rice dishes, noodles, tempura and desserts.
"Overall, the U.S. restaurant market is the best in the world," Hall said. "We have great success operating in quality, high end-malls around the world in places such as London, Dublin and Dubai and when the Taubman UTC opportunity was presented we knew this was going to be a really successful mall and the location is at the heart of everything. The mall is vibrant, stylish and modern, which exactly reflects YO! Sushi."
Yo! Sushi has signed leases for locations in Tampa and Short Hills, N.J., and plans to open both in the last quarter of 2015.
Janelle O'Dea, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095. Follow her on Twitter@jayohday.
This story was originally published April 17, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Yo! Sushi to debut in The Mall at University Town Center in late April ."