Sushi Pro Conveyor Belt Rolls Into Utah

Sushi Pro has brought the “conveyor belt” or “rotating sushi” concept to northern Utah. Located at 4337 Harrison Blvd. in what used to be a Barbacoa restaurant, Sushi Pro uses a conveyor belt that moves past every table.

Colored plates holding various types of sushi are on the belt. As the sushi moves next to their table, patrons can choose the plates they want and take them off the belt. There are flag markers that identify each type of sushi and its ingredients, as it rotates on the conveyor belt.

  The plates are color-coded by price, starting with white plates at $2.29 to black plates costing $4.99. The final bill is based on the number and the color of plates of the eaten sushi.

Proprietor Joe Pan said it’s the first of its kind in Ogden, and is likely the only one currently operating in Utah. (I did an extensive online search, and found a 2008 review for a restaurant called Wasabi, billed as Utah’s first conveyor belt sushi restaurant. However, it has apparently gone out of business. If you know of any others, please feel free to correct me.)

Although it seems like an unusual novelty idea, rotating sushi (known as Kaiten-zushi) is commonplace in Japan. It was invented there in 1958 by a restaurateur who wanted to serve more customers quickly with fewer servers. And many Utahns have visited “sushi-go-round” restaurants in larger American cities as well.

They fit in with today’s fast-casual dining trend, where many people don’t want to spend time ordering and waiting for someone to bring them their food.

  “People say it’s quicker, being able to grab something off the belt, and they can try many different pieces of sushi for less money,” Pan said.

  So far it’s been well-received, said manager Veronica Estrada.  The restaurant opened at the end of April, and Estrada said it’s already gotten many repeat customers. Friends who visited after my Standard-Examiner story ran told me that weekend evenings are pretty busy. It might be less crowded on week nights or lunch.

  Joe Pan (nicknamed Peter Pan by his cooking friends) came to the U.S. from China 10 years ago, and began working in restaurants in Salt Lake City, Arizona and Texas.

  “It was all on-the-job training,” he said.

  While working in a revolving sushi bar restaurant in Phoenix, Pan decided he’d like to open a similar restaurant of his own. It took several years to find the right location and acquire the necessary equipment, including the conveyor belt.

  “It was very hard,” he said. “I had to let them design the belt and ship it here, and I spent several months putting it all together myself.”

  He initially was going to call it Sushi Plus, but then decided to go with Sushi Pro.

    As customers come in, a server seats them and explains how the system works.

  Most of the time, diners will find what they want off the conveyor belt. But they can also place special orders for a specific type of roll, or for non-sushi dishes such as teriyaki chicken, shrimp or beef. The restaurant also takes online orders for pickup.

  What about sushi plates that don’t get taken quickly by customers? Do they just keep rotating and become a possible food safety hazard?

  “The sushi can be kept at room temperature four hours, but we have a timer for each item and keep on the belt less than four hours,” he said. “If the timer goes off, that plate is pulled.”

  I wondered about the amount of time, as in all my food safety classes I was told that two hours in the maximum time that food should be left at room temperature. But, I checked with the Weber-Morgan Health Department spokesperson, Lori Buttars, and found out that four hours, in this case, is allowed. It has to do with acidifying the rice, so the time or temperature is not an issue.

“The food code allows four hours for any food at room temperature if they have applied for a variance from the food code and they can demonstrate their procedures are going to keep the food safe,” Buttars told me.

Also Estrada said that Pan doesn’t start making sushi until people start coming in, so that it can stay fresh.

  Each plate is topped with a clear lid to protect the food from contamination or touching by other customers and it travels past the tables.

  One of the top sellers is baked scallop roll, which is Pan’s own creation. It’s a California roll — snow crab, avocado, seaweed and rice — topped with a small baked scallop.

Another favorite is the Alaska roll – smoked salmon, cream cheese and cucumber. 

  

“The people who don’t like raw fish like the Vegas,” said Estrada. It’s a deep-fried roll of salmon, cream cheese and avocado.

  Location: 4337 Harrison Blvd., Ogden

  Contact: https://www.sushiproutah.com/

  Hours:  Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, noon-9 p.m.

  Prices: $2.29 for individual sushi to $19.99 for 10-piece sashimi combo.