News flash: Sushi does not have to be expensive. Of course, to a lot of folks, sushi still seems exotic, and, therefore, prone to be served in flashy, theme-oriented, slightly high-end restaurants. But at TeHaru in Tempe, the sushi is inexpensive and tasty. Oh, and it's served on a conveyor belt.
Let me set the scene: You walk into a warmly lit space whose focal point is a three-sided bar/counter, around which two conveyor belts carry little colored plates (the colors denote the price) of sushi, edamame, an assortment of beverages, and a handful of desserts. As soon as the server seats you at the counter and takes your drink order, you're pretty much ready to dive right in by snatching a plate off the slow-moving belt. The plates are never cleared by your server. Instead, you stack them. At the end of the meal, your server counts up your plates, checks the colors of them, and adds up your bill.
The system is genius, for several reasons.