New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Popular Sushi X restaurant reopens in West Haven, a year after kitchen fire
WEST HAVEN — More than a year after Sushi X, the popular all-you-caneat sushi restaurant on Captain Thomas Boulevard, temporarily closed in the aftermath of a kitchen fire, the restaurant quietly reopened its doors Tuesday.
Although the reopening happened without fanfare, residents had not been quiet about their desire to see the eatery reopen. “Every day I got calls. Customers called every day asking us what time we’ll be open,” said Penny Gao, whose family owns the restaurant.
Gao said the delay came about because of some miscommunications and disagreements with the company that helped to clean out the kitchen following the fire.
“We didn’t write down what stuff they took away,” he said.
Because of the lack of inventory records, staff had a difficult time recounting and getting reimbursed for lost materials, Gao said. Once the restaurant did have all of its appliances in place, he said, there still was the matter of being approved by inspectors to reopen the kitchen.
Gao said the menu is still the same, but returning customers might notice some cosmetic changes: the relatively bare-bones tables-and-chairs setup has been replaced with booths alongside the wall and the dining room floor has been redone.
Gao said federal grants to businesses during the pandemic helped to keep the restaurant afloat and current on rent payments as the owners worked to restore the kitchen.
During lunch Wednesday, husband and wife Angelo and Norma Dichello stopped in for their first Sushi X meal in more than a year. “We were surprised they were open,” Angelo Dichello said. “They did a nice job with the new booths. We were driving by and saw the open sign.”
Norma Dichello said questions about when the restaurant would reopen have buzzed around the community on social media for a long time. “Everybody has been waiting,” she said.
Gao said a lot of his attention lately has been on the newly-opened Hibachi X, across the street from Sushi X. The restaurant, which Gao also co-owned, previously was Iishin Ramen.