T & T Japanese food truck brings teriyaki, hibachi and sushi to Parrish area
Tu Tran, a veteran restaurateur from Ohio, moved his family to Manatee County with the expectation that he would soon be opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Bradenton.
The restaurant plans took a little longer to come to reality than he expected, so in the interim, he went into the food truck business with his T & T Hibachi Japanese Food.
“I knew that food trucks were doing well,” Tran said.
Customers can find the food truck parked in Rose Park Plaza at the Marathon gas station, 8003 U.S. 301 N., Parrish. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The business is closed on Sundays.
Among the entrees are teriyaki items, including vegetables, chicken, shrimp, steak and salmon, starting at $9.
Combination meals, including six ounces of chicken and nine pieces of shrimp, start at $14, and come with steamed rice and vegetables. Customers can get a side of fried rice or noodles for $1 more.
Other combination meals include steak and chicken, steak and shrimp, salmon and shrimp or steak, chicken and shrimp.
A variety of sides are available, including Hibachi fried noodles, fried rice and various teriyaki sides.
Also available are cooked sushi rolls, including avocado, California, Philadelphia and more. No raw sushi is sold.
Among appetizers are spring rolls, chicken potstickers and shrimp tempura.
Although Tran was born in Vietnam, he learned to make Japanese dishes by cooking in Hibachi restaurants for many years. He had six restaurants of his own in Ohio before moving to Florida for the warmer weather.
He and his wife, Hanh Nguyen, are the parents of three children, ages 17, 14 and 8.
“We serve quality food in a family setting. Everything we do is quality,” he said.
T & T Hibachi Japanese Food was recently among the businesses that aced their inspections by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Although T & T is a new business, its Facebook page already has 477 followers and 214 likes.
Typical of the Facebook reviews: “The food was not just delicious but also impressively fresh, served piping hot, and delivered with lightning speed.”
Tran is still planning to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant within a few months in the Orange Blossom Plaza shopping center, 403 Cortez Road W., Bradenton.
Unlike the offerings at his food truck, Tran plans to have Vietnamese the beef noodle soup, pho, on the menu, along with boba tea, when he opens his restaurant.
For more information, visit the T & T Hibachi Japanese Food Facebook page or call 941-933-0279.
