Audio By Carbonatix
Keep Phoenix New Times Free
We’re aiming to raise $10,000 by April 26. Your support ensures New Times can continue watching out for you and our community. No paywall. Always accessible. Daily online and weekly in print.
By Michele Laudig
People in the East Valley really must have an insatiable appetite for sushi — how else to explain the constant influx of new sushi restaurants to the area?
Haru Sushi (9845 S. Priest Dr., 480-705-9825), and it seems to be going for the budget-minded customer. (Sushi Eye in Motion, in Chandler, was the area’s first such restaurant.) None of the sushi dishes go for more than $3.25, while the cheapest selections — inarizushi, crab salad roll, etc — are $1.25. Your final tab is determined by how many color-coded plates you stack up. If you haven’t been to one of these conveyor-belt places (known as “kaitenzushi” in Japan), they’re quite a hoot.
And in Gilbert, Sushiya opened about a month ago (2531 S. Gilbert Rd., 480-294-4886). In Japanese, “sushiya” means “sushi restaurant,” so it doesn’t get any more straightforward a name than that. A week from today, on June 25th, owner Sung Yoon and his wife Jeewon will host a grand opening party from 5 to 9:30 p.m., offering discounted menu prices for everyone, as well as $40 gift certificates for ten lucky winners.
On a related Japanese-y note, I just found out about Sake2Me, a new sparkling sake that’s hitting the Phoenix-area as we speak. Turns out, The Orange Table in Scottsdale is doing a free tasting tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.
For the lowdown on more local cocktail culture, check out tomorrow’s Meal Ticket — our new weekly dining newsletter. (If you haven’t signed up for Meal Ticket yet, click here and select “dining newsletter.”)
