In the space left behind by Aomatsu, once the closest sushi bar to UC Irvine, yet another sushi restaurant called Gatten is poised to enter. It's about now that you might wonder: Are these restaurateurs suffering from amnesia? Don't they remember the last restaurant that tanked also did sushi? What makes them think they'll fare better?
The answer after the jump.
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Like Sushilicious and Kula Sushi, Gatten Sushi will operate as a revolving sushi bar. Gatten already has stores established in Cerritos and, most recently, a Monterey Park kaiten (revolving belt) sushi restaurant that debuted last month.
How well they'll actually do in that sleepy corner of the Albertson's-anchored plaza is still anybody's guess, but Sushilicious and Kula are doing swell with the ready pool of customers UC Irvine brings. The Anteaters are sushi-eaters.
Gatten will be within walking distance to that pool.
And if you'll recall, Sushilicious, for one, seems to be doing better than Gen Kai, which was the traditional sushi joint it replaced.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.