New sushi restaurant opens near campus

Beware of ninjas lurking near campus.

But don't be alarmed. These ninjas are serving up sushi at cut-rate prices.

Senior business administration major Teresa Chan and Robert Ly, a 2010 UCF graduate, opened Sus Hi (pronounced "suss high") Monday in the University Commons plaza across from campus with a special many couldn't resist: $3 sushi rolls.

Customers jammed the ninja-themed restaurant and waited in line for half an hour or longer to sample the new build-your-own fast food sushi concept from the minds of the current UCF student and recent alumnus.

"There are plenty of sushi places, but there are not many sushi places that let you customize your sushi roll," said Steven Holz, a mechanical engineering major who stopped by for lunch after hearing about the grand-opening special from someone in class.

"I've never seen a place where you can get a cheeseburger sushi roll," junior Monica Monticello said. "That seems pretty interesting."

Another student, Nicole Zamudio, says she likes sushi, but it's usually too expensive. She waited for 25 minutes to score her $3 roll.

"But it was worth it," she said. "It's a good price."

Co-owners Chan and Ly came up with the idea for Sus Hi while brainstorming business ideas.

"It's something I've wanted to do for the longest time, and when I met Teresa about three years ago, she wanted to open up a business, as well, but she didn't know what she wanted to do," Ly said.

He said they thought, why don't we open up a fast food sushi restaurant where people can come in and customize their roll?

What makes Sus Hi different? Customers can choose either a roll, bowl or wrap before selecting the contents, toppings and sauce. And, of course, the prices: all items are less than $6.

"Nobody's ever done a concept like this before – fast food sushi, Chipotle-style," Chan said.

"We have unique ingredients, as well, that you won't find in any other sushi restaurant, like Cheez Whiz, a bacon cheeseburger roll, a Philly cheesesteak roll and fried chicken with bacon," Ly said.

Ly and Chan also focused on keeping the restaurant affordable. Ly noted that most of the cost associated with traditional sushi restaurants comes from paying sushi chefs. Therefore, they came up with easier ways to operate the business, such as a cutting guide and the topping concept, to keep it "fast, easy and inexpensive."

"Eliminating the sushi chef is how we can lower our price. That's why everything is under six dollars," Ly said. "If you can roll a piece of paper, you can roll here."

Chan and Ly drew inspiration and ideas from many different restaurants including Chipotle, Subway, Panda Express, Fazoli's and Tijuana Flats. But Ly also brought his own experiences to the table.

"I was born to a family of restaurant people," Ly said. "My mom and my dad have been in the restaurant business all their lives. They started out with a buffet restaurant in St. Louis, Mo., and I started working when I was a young boy, as soon as I could pick up a phone or wash dishes."

He also worked in many other area restaurants, including Amura, Emeril's and Wolfgang Puck, learning what worked and what didn't.

"I found the best parts of what they have in their business and I've put them into my business," Ly said.

Chan also has a family experienced with Asian cuisine: Her parents own Saigon Market in downtown Orlando and were key in helping the couple open the business.

"They know that I've always wanted to do this, and they were just waiting for me to be ready, and I think I was ready," she said.

"I had the resources and he [Ly] had the restaurant experience," Chan said. "We combined our two strengths together."

For now, Chan and Ly rely on friends and Facebook to drive customers to their restaurant.

"We wanted to spend as little as possible on advertising, because we believe in our concept," Chan said. "I think that word of mouth is the most effective way of advertising."

Chan, a former president of the UCF Asian Student Association, said her UCF involvement and experiences also helped prepare her for this venture.

"My courses at UCF definitely gave me a different mindset," Chan said. "I realize that there are so many different opportunities."

Before studying at UCF, she says she had a mom-and-pop attitude.

"Right now we're aiming to do bigger things," she said.