Fast casual sushi restaurant, SushiFork, is adding franchising to their unique restaurant concept after seeing tremendous growth in their Tulsa, Oklahoma store that opened in December of 2016.
SushiFork is the first fast casual, create-your-own sushi restaurant in Oklahoma and offers traditional and not-so-traditional sushi in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Along with its commitment to quality, freshness and presentation, SushiFork offers a “you pick. we roll” menu where patrons can create their own sushi roll, any way they like it.
In addition to offering all the typical, ultra-fresh ingredients one would expect from an upscale, full service sushi restaurant, SushiFork also provides a variety of “Americanized” ingredients for the “you pick. we roll” menu, including spicy, crushed Cheetos, bacon and other non-traditional ingredients. Customers are challenged to try the infamous Dante’s Inferno that has been quoted to “light your hair on fire!” If they take the Dante’s Inferno Challenge and can finish the spicy roll, they get a free T-shirt, a spot in the “Hall of Legends” and bragging rights that they “Dared to Dante!” There are also many non-sushi items on the menu, such as the SushiFork Salad Wrap, Wicked Tuna Nachos and Chicken Bites and Fries for kids.
SushiFork was started by a group of experienced entrepreneurs, including restaurateur and classically-trained sushi chef, Greg Bossler, who has over 15 years of restaurant and sushi experience. The SushiFork team consists of experts within the franchising, financial, marketing and foodservice industries, and was set up from day one to franchise.
“For years, it’s been a dream of mine to help create a concept that would allow people to enjoy all of the freshness and creativity of sushi but more quickly and at a better value. SushiFork has made this dream a reality. The SushiFork concept combines good Japanese sensibilities regarding freshness and cleanliness with a straightforward made to order system that allows the customer to choose what they want in their roll,” says Greg Bossler, who is the Director of Operations. Bossler adds, “We are going to bring this concept to everyday people across America. We have had many franchise requests since we opened but wanted to make sure all of our systems were in place. We are now ready.”
Eli Huff, owner of Salt Food Group, and chief consultant to SushiFork adds, “Early sales figures have far surpassed our projections, and we expect to grow even more from instituting our new delivery and catering options. I have not seen many 1,400 square foot restaurants with the P&L’s or revenue like SushiFork is producing. With its customer base continuing to expand, we fully expect to be well north of $1 million in just the second year of business.”
