Restaurant serves at least 200 customers on any given night and
needs more space, owner says
Gilroy – A hundred sake cups lined the wooden shelves at Ninja Sushi when it opened six years ago. Each one belonged to a regular customer. Today, there are 300 cups.
In recent years, a growing flock of faithful customers have had to bring a little patience along with their appetite when they visit Gilroy’s only sushi restaurant. On a typical weekend night, diners-to-be mill around outside the restaurant’s First Street doors for up to half an hour, waiting for a table to free up.
But the outdoor waiting game will become a thing of the past in three weeks, when restaurant owner Kyongho Chung expands his business into the space next door. Chung has been looking for a bigger space to handle his growing customer base for several years, and he pounced on the 800 square feet next door after former tenant, Fruit Friz Smoothies, closed in September.
Chung serves at least 200 customers on any given night, and he said the need for the new space is obvious.
“We were so busy Thursday night and the customers were waiting outside for 25, 30 minutes,” he said. “That’s why we expanded next door. So the customers don’t have to wait.”
A full bar and restaurant menu will be available in the added section, as well as additional tables for dining. The new section, which will serve as the main entrance, brings the restaurant to 2,400 square feet.
Jennifer Speno doesn’t have her own sake cup at the restaurant, but she is a longtime customer who looks forward to the expansion.
“I think it’s exciting,” she said. “The restaurant’s done really well in Gilroy and it’s nice to see that happen, though I think Ninja Sushi is always worth the wait.”
Ninja Sushi, located at 715 First St., is open Monday through Saturday. Lunch is served from 11am to 2pm and dinner from 5pm to 9pm, except for Fridays, when the restaurant stays open until 9:30pm. The new bar will remain open throughout the day.
