Sushi in Duluth? (Minneapolis, Maple Grove, Hamburg: rent, house, tenants)

[skipast75]

So out here in Bozeman MT, Sushi is the real deal. Flown in, overnighted. Several joints offer everything from $5.00 rolls up to 18.00 rolls. Coming from duluth, I did not want to eat Sushi. My friends told me I was a moran, and that it is the healthiest, and best meal for the money. Well, they were right. I live off the stuff now. It is as addictive as any drug. I crave it every night. And thought about a business venture in Duluth. Well, here it is. Would you like to see a quality sushi joint in duluth. Do you think it would work in a land of scandanavians and italians? Do you think people would choose it over the many great chinese places in town? (duluth has great chinese, compared to Montana) Thanks.

[acrylic]

Originally Posted by skipast75

So out here in Bozeman MT, Sushi is the real deal. Flown in, overnighted. Several joints offer everything from $5.00 rolls up to 18.00 rolls. Coming from duluth, I did not want to eat Sushi. My friends told me I was a moran, and that it is the healthiest, and best meal for the money. Well, they were right. I live off the stuff now. It is as addictive as any drug. I crave it every night. And thought about a business venture in Duluth. Well, here it is. Would you like to see a quality sushi joint in duluth. Do you think it would work in a land of scandanavians and italians? Do you think people would choose it over the many great chinese places in town? (duluth has great chinese, compared to Montana) Thanks.

Ya know, I'm willing to try many types of foods at least once, and sushi is one of them. If it's fresh, I see no reason why I wouldn't try it. I've heard it's really good, but I never came across good sushi. Only stuff that looks like it was sitting out for a day. Eeew. Needless to say, I didn't even touch it.

[uptown_urbanist]

I'm a vegetarian and so have limited sushi options, but I had no idea that Duluth didn't have a sushi place! They're such staples in so many other cities. If there's nothing there now then I'd think there would be a line out the door of sushi-lovers who no longer have to wait until they travel out of town to get their fix.

I'm showing my lack of sushi knowledge here, but couldn't there also be Minnesota lake fish sushi options? That would intrigue me if I ate sushi.

Also, would Chinese food be the obvious competition for sushi? It might be in Duluth (it's been a few years since I've visited, and I've never lived there) but in other cities I don't think people think it's a decision between sushi and Chinese, necessarily, they think do we want sushi? pizza? Italian? Chinese? Vietnamese? Mexican? Thai? Hamburgers? etc. It's one more option on a broader list.

The Star Tribune was selling shirts at the State Fair last year that said something along the lines of "Lutefish: Minnesota's original sushi." I thought it was clever.

[newcastle]

There is a Sushi/Japanese restaurant in Duluth, but it is attached to a gas station. I know it sounds awful, but is actually pretty good, according to my wife. I do not care for the food myself.

Mt. Royal Fine Foods also has a Sushi counter and it is prepared by hand in front of you. But a restaurant downtown dedicated to Sushi would be great. When I lived in Seattle they had a Sushi Bar that had a conveyor belt that looped around the restaurant with many differnt Sushi samples for you to grab. The waiter would then pick up your plates (each had a bar code on the bottom) and scan them to your bill. Cool.

Come to town and set-up shop.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by skipast75

So out here in Bozeman MT, Sushi is the real deal. Flown in, overnighted. Several joints offer everything from $5.00 rolls up to 18.00 rolls. Coming from duluth, I did not want to eat Sushi. My friends told me I was a moran, and that it is the healthiest, and best meal for the money. Well, they were right. I live off the stuff now. It is as addictive as any drug. I crave it every night. And thought about a business venture in Duluth. Well, here it is. Would you like to see a quality sushi joint in duluth. Do you think it would work in a land of scandanavians and italians? Do you think people would choose it over the many great chinese places in town? (duluth has great chinese, compared to Montana) Thanks.

Duluth already has a sushi restaurant, Zen House. Their website: Zen House Japanese Restaurant . They are, oddly enough, in a room adjacent to the ICO Gas Station at the busy Haines & Maple Grove intersection near the mall. Previous tenants included a local fast-food burger restaurant (Burger Station), and later a short-lived drive-through gyro shop. (Unfortunately, the Zen House does NOT offer drive-through sushi!)

I would describe the restaurant, from my experiences, as an honest but somewhat unreliable (sometimes the food is great, other times not-so-great) effort at bringing sushi to Duluth. It certainly is not expensive (as are our local Indian and Thai restaurants) with rolls starting at $3.95 for a humble cucumber roll and going up to $14.95.

It would be very cool to another sushi restaurant here, but I have doubts about the market being able to support it. For one thing, it's a pretty difficult time to open any restaurant right now. People just aren't spending their money, especially on luxury goods like sushi. And for another, the Duluth market, despite a large student population, does not have sophisticated or worldly tastes when it comes to dining, at least ethnic dining. This is true steak and potatoes (or perhaps beer-battered walleye and hotdish) country, where "hummus" and "curry" are unfamiliar foods, if not words, and "sushi" is still considered an adventurous foray into the world of exotic cuisine.

[skipast75]

Thanks for the thoughts. I did know about the zen house in hermantown. But that is not duluth, and it is not in a very prime location. Although, I have heard the sushi is good there, but they role it way to big. (sushi is meant to be eatin in one bite). I thought the downtown area would be prime, as it seams to be were the trendies hang out. And yes, the local fish idea would be great, as smoked salmon in sushi is always good. Out here, they even have a role called the gobbler, it is rice, spicy crayfish(lots of them in Lake Vermillion), mango, and deep fried with cheese and seseme seeds. YUM! It is what sushi would be if you could get it at the state fair! haha. I know it is not the time to be opening new places, but the only way I can thinks of getting back to duluth and earning a wage, is by being in business for myself there. And it seams rent is reasonable in Downtown. Yes? As for Duluth being a meat and potatoes place, I disagree. There are people who only eat like that, but duluth has a very healthy liberal, trendy, hippie, outdoorsy people population that strives to be different. And as Duluth sees more write-ups in Magazines like Outside with its great activities, it will draw even more of the like. To change the subject, Big SKy MT just got a new pizza joint that has pizza very similar to sammies in Duluth. It is putting the competion out of business! MT. pizza is mostly undercooked, thick crust, sweet sauce, dough pizza. The new place, Trailhead Pizza, uses a recipe from Amore in Minneapolis and people are going nuts over it. It made me cry when I tasted my first bite. Thanks Minnesota! ha Well, in the next couple years, if you see a new Sushi Joint in town, it might be me. I'll make sure to hire an expert roller, and have fish that is overnighted from the ocean, or have local catch (probably both). It will be good, I promise.........

[aluminumpork]

Good stuff, I'll be looking forward to it!

[kuan]

I think, if Mt. Royal fine foods can survive up there, so can a sushi bar.

[Flicka6]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

And for another, the Duluth market, despite a large student population, does not have sophisticated or worldly tastes when it comes to dining, at least ethnic dining. This is true steak and potatoes (or perhaps beer-battered walleye and hotdish) country, where "hummus" and "curry" are unfamiliar foods, if not words, and "sushi" is still considered an adventurous foray into the world of exotic cuisine.

I don't think that's necessarily true.

Most people I know at least are familiar with the words "hummus" and "curry". Not everyone in the area is on a strict potroast and mashed potatos diet, otherwise places like Nokomis or Thai Krathong wouldn't even be in business.

I agree with another poster who said there is a large population of liberal/adventurous diners in the area who would be happy to have a sushi option in town instead of having to travel down to the Cities or a gas station (I know its "good", but still ) to get their fill.

Good luck to you Skipast, if you go ahead with your plan!

[acrylic]

Originally Posted by Flicka6

I don't think that's necessarily true.

Most people I know at least are familiar with the words "hummus" and "curry". Not everyone in the area is on a strict potroast and mashed potatos diet, otherwise places like Nokomis or Thai Krathong wouldn't even be in business.

I've definitely heard of many types of foods (as I come from a European background) and because I watch all those travel channel shows.

I wish they had more "exotic" food options in Duluth. It would really help with things.

The culture of many people is pretty homogenous, sadly. I know and know of a lot of people that are basically very intolerant and unaccepting of other cultures up here. But I guess you can't just change the way a place works.