Are online menus delivering diners to imposter restaurants?
Things seemed normal when Blowfish Sushi opened for dinner Friday night in the Mission District, the familiar red spiky blowfish logo prominently displayed on a square sign above the door and a chalkboard sign advertising delivery.
But then Jason Teplitsky showed up, ready to fulfill his nickname, “The Monster.” He owns Blowfish — or at least the trademark rights to its logo and its name. And as far as he knew, he’d shut the business down in December after more than 20 years.
He demanded to speak to whoever was claiming to own this new Blowfish Sushi, with the same name, same logo and in the same location as his closed restaurant. The confrontation heated up fast. The staff
said they didn’t know where the owner was, nor the owner’s name. Teplitsky didn’t buy it. A big Russian guy with a booming voice, Teplitsky threatened to have a group of people stand outside the restaurant’s door to prevent anyone from going in and out — to shut it down by any means necessary. He warned of “a world of serious lawyership.”
The squabble ended with the police arriving. Teplitsky went home, and the business calling itself Blowfish Sushi kept fulfilling delivery orders.
What at first might seem like a simple trademark dispute is one part of a bigger mystery, about how a business location appears to be impersonating a pair of other Japanese restaurants: Blowfish Sushi to Die For, Teplitsky’s eclectic but shuttered sushi restaurant, and Wagyumafia, a Tokyo spot famous for its $180 Wagyu sandwich. Some diners have publicly thought they were ordering from the originals; one woman posted a Yelp review in February for the closed Blowfish saying it’s actually still open.
Yet it’s not clear who’s behind these alleged fakes: City records show that Anna Zhao filed permits for the business, but employees have said they don’t know who that is. Since Friday’s confrontation, the staffers have painted over the Blowfish logo, yet the new eateries continue to advertise on food delivery apps. Teplitsky and Wagyumafia say they are considering legal action.
At a time when most diners aren’t going to restaurants in person, the confusion highlights what can happen with the proliferation of delivery apps and ghost kitchens: Businesses making your food aren’t necessarily who they say they are.
The new operators at 2193 Mission St. first gained media attention at the end of March, when San Francisco food writer Tamara Palmer was hunting for new restaurants on food app Seamless and discovered a listing for SF Wagyu Mafia. Palmer, who has written for The Chronicle, assumed this was a new, little known San Francisco branch of the famous restaurant in Japan, which had been plotting an outpost here a few years ago. She ordered one of its cheapest items, four pieces of Wagyu sushi, for $35.
“It wasn’t even a wellconstructed piece of sushi,” Palmer said. “But it did taste good.”
She didn’t think much more of it, posting a photo of her meal online and writing an item for her 48 Hills food column. But the next morning, she woke up embroiled in what she called “international meat drama.”
“I’m getting in touch on behalf of WAGYUMAFIA to let you know that the WAGYUMAFIA in San Francisco is a fake,” read an email from a representative of the Japan business.
Palmer was chagrined that she’d apparently fallen for a fake restaurant. She also wanted her money back, stunned a business would tout a “famous wagyu sandwich” for $180 with apparently no connection to the real thing.
“I know people love stunt food and I know people will splash out for crazy items, but right now? My god,” she said.
The SF Wagyu Mafia location was the same as that advertised for the business calling itself Blowfish. Delivery apps list both operating out of 2193 Mission St., where Teplitsky’s Blowfish Sushi to Die For had been. He was crushed when he permanently closed it in December, unable to make takeout and delivery work during the pandemic.
Then, he was shocked when he learned there were active delivery listings for Blowfish Sushi on DoorDash, Grubhub and Postmates. The new business used the original Blowfish’s logo, and its Yelp page describes it as a “legendary sushi spot” established in 1998.
“I don’t know what to think,” he said. “How does someone decide to do something like this? Did they think we all got COVID and died?”
The new Blowfish started serving customers in February, according to online reviews. Its menu is far more extensive than the old Blowfish, with more than 200 items, at least four times as much as Blowfish Sushi to Die For’s menu out of the same, small space.
It would be one thing, Teplitsky said, if new owners came into his former space and couldn’t change signage right away. But in January, the new operation registered with the city of San Francisco as Mission Blowfish Inc., doing business as Blowfish Sushi on Mission, just a few weeks after the original Blowfish moved out.
“It’s not some sort of accident,” Teplitsky believes.
Last Thursday night, Teplitsky decided to place a delivery order, just to see what it was like. He was not impressed.
“It’s similar to sushi buffet — all you can eat,” he said. “It’s not worthy of the name.”
He decided to wait for Blowfish Sushi to open for dinner Friday night to pay a visit. His colleague had already tried to
get the restaurant to stop using the Blowfish name multiple times without success; Teplitsky didn’t have much patience when an employee told him she didn’t know who the owner was or when they’d be back. He blew up, he said. He yelled. He swore. Some employees at Blowfish Sushi said he’d scared them.
“He was waving his hands frantically,” said Emily Wing, who said she just started working at the new Blowfish Sushi. “I was shaking. I was just like, ‘Can you please leave? Can you please leave?’ and he wouldn’t leave.”
Manager Kevin Chen said the blowup over the name Blowfish Sushi has been confusing, but said he has “no idea what’s going on.” He said the owners never intended to steal the identity of the earlier restaurant. Because it had left its signage behind, it just seemed simplest to use it.
“It takes time to do the paperwork and everything,” he
said, adding that in fact the restaurant plans to change its name to Chome, which means “district” in Japanese, and operate as an izakayastyle restaurant, also serving ramen. By Sunday evening, an awning advertising Blowfish Sushi had been removed, the red blowfish logo had been covered with black paint, and the restaurant debuted a different menu with dishes like okonomiyaki and lobster tailtopped risotto.
Chen said the restaurant is considering legal action against Teplistky if employees feel as though they’re being harassed.
Multiple employees who spoke with The Chronicle declined to name the owner, offering only a pair of first names. Chen and Wing said they don’t know who Anna Zhao, the person named on permits, is. Chen would only say the owner is “a corporation,” and not local. The name filed with the city, Mission Blowfish Inc., does not yield any filings with the state.
Employees also would not answer questions about SF Wagyu Mafia, saying they didn’t know anything about it. It was a popup maybe, Chen said, but no longer operating.
Wagyumafia, which has locations only in Japan and Hong Kong, is mulling legal action against SF Wagyu Mafia for trademark infringement, said Liz Choi, a representative from the restaurant. Wagyumafia bought a trademark to the name in the U.S. in 2018, when it was planning a San Francisco location.
“While we are flattered to have such strong brand recognition in San Francisco, it is very unfortunate that another party is profiting directly off of the Wagyumafia name and its signature dishes, deceiving customers in the process,” Wagyumafia chef and owner Hisato Hamada said in a statement. “It was even more disappointing to learn this is becoming a common occurrence for other restaurant businesses.”
Wagyumafia and Teplitsky both said they plan to contact delivery companies in the hope of deactivating the SF Wagyu Mafia and Blowfish Sushi pages. As of Monday afternoon, though, they were all still active.
“If people are going to continue to use the apps and they’re thinking they’re supporting a small business, it’s worth a couple of Google searches to make sure you’re getting what you think you’re getting,” food writer Palmer said. “It’s getting sketchier out there.”