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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Fishy Business: Head Sushi Chef Luis Alvarado holds up a dish of fresh mackerel at the new Sushi Kazoo Willow Glen that opened at the WG Garden Theater in March. There are two other Kazoo restaurants in the South Bay located in Campbell and in San Jose's Japantown.
Kazoo Sushi Boat comes to WG's Garden Theater
Popular item includes mackerel sushi dish
By Jim Aquino
Just six months after the venerable Campbell cheesesteak shop Jersey's moved into downtown Willow Glen's Garden Theater shopping center, yet another popular South Bay restaurant is calling the Garden Theater home.
Kazoo Sushi Boat, a favorite among San Jose's Japantown residents since 1989, opened a third location at former site of Burger King at the downtown mall. Kazoo has another location in Campbell, which has been in business since 1997. The third Kazoo's grand opening took place on March 23.
"It was really busy--quite a turnout," says Keiko Noui, manager of the new Kazoo. "More than we expected."
According to Mika Ashida, the manager of the original Kazoo, the owners of the Garden Theater wanted him to bring the business to the mall about five or six years ago.
The Kazoo owners finally decided to make the move to the Garden Theater when the mall owners approached them again after Burger King closed its Lincoln Avenue franchise in June.
Bob Paez, owner of the Garden Theater Barber Shop, says the new neighboring business will be great for the mall and the community.
"There is no true sushi bar in Willow Glen," Paez says. "I really believe that it's going to help us a lot. It's going to help create more traffic in the mall. Burger King was great, but Kazoo has more to offer."
Another Garden Theater Barber Shop employee says she's enthusiastic about Kazoo's arrival. Barber Sandy Fields likes going to the Campbell Kazoo and the Valley Fair Mall Sushi Boat and says she'll visit the new Kazoo each day for lunch. She adds that her favorite dish is mackerel sushi.
Noui says the other businesses at the Garden Theater make for nice neighbors.
"They've been very helpful and cooperative," Noui says.
The founder of Kazoo is Kazuyo Matsumoto, a former head chef at the Menlo Park Japanese restaurant Kiyoshi. In the late '80s, Matsumoto wanted to start her own restaurant, and so, Kazoo at 250 E. Jackson St. was born.
Ashida--who does all the talking for Matsumoto because she doesn't speak fluent English--says the new Kazoo will offer the same recipes and the same variety of sushi that have made the other two businesses popular. The rolls on the menu range from the venerable California roll ($5.25 to $11.50) to the cucumber roll for vegetarians ($6.25).
During Kazoo's third night of business, the tiny restaurant is filled with families, all with children between 3 and 5 years old. Some of the families sit at the revolving sushi counter to watch the dinner boats circle the bar. At a nearby table, a preschool-age girl in a red bucket hat could be heard asking her parents, "Is this a Japanese restaurant?"
Noui says it's too early to tell which days of the week will be busiest for the Willow Glen Kazoo, but for Matsumoto, one thing's for sure about her franchise: "It's the American dream come true for her," Ashida says.
Kazoo Sushi Boat, 1165 Lincoln Ave., #110. Open Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (lunch), 5-9 p.m. (dinner), Saturday 5-9 p.m. (dinner), Sunday 4-8 p.m. (dinner). For more information, call 408.971.7755.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
