All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Proposed for Westown
XZ Sushi, set to open at 823 N. 2nd St., will serve a wide range of Japanese fare.
823 N. 2nd St. Photo taken Nov. 8, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.
Andy Zheng was searching for a place to eat. Instead, he found inspiration — and the ideal location — for a new restaurant.
The entrepreneur, who owns three Fusion Poke restaurants throughout Milwaukee, plans to expand his portfolio with ZX Sushi, an all-you-can-eat restaurant set to open at 823 N. 2nd St., in the former Crab It Your Way.
“We were in the downtown area walking around … and saw this place,” Zheng told Urban Milwaukee via email. “I was thinking to myself that it was a perfect place for something. There’s not many options for all you can eat sushi in the downtown area, so it seemed like a good chance to bring more options.”
Unlike his quick-service poke restaurants, ZX Sushi will offer a more formal dining experience with sit-down service and a “unique, modern design,” featuring wood furnishings and low, intimate lighting, Zheng said.
With a stronger focus on ambience, ZX Sushi will offer a wide range of Japanese food, featuring nearly six dozen types of sushi, along with appetizers, soups, and entrees like udon, soba, teriyaki chicken, and fried rice.
Sushi options include vegetarian maki, classic seafood rolls, nigiri, sashimi, and specialty rolls. Signature offerings include the Mango Tango roll, featuring shrimp tempura, cucumber, cream cheese, lobster salad, mango, eel, and mango sauce; and the Caterpillar roll, with eel, cucumber, avocado, and eel sauce.
Seven varieties of ramen, including black garlic tonkotsu, kimchi and spicy miso varieties, will also be available. Zheng said the restaurant will serve affordable lunch options including bento boxes and sushi specials.
Featured beverages will include boba tea, Asian beer, sake and more.
The entire menu is included in the all-you-can-eat format, with a set price for both lunch and dinner service. A larger selection of dishes will be available during dinnertime.
The restaurant aims to become a destination for couples and families seeking an upscale meal, Zheng said. If successful, he hopes to expand with additional locations in the area.
Located on the ground level of the Riverside Lofts apartment building, the restaurant space has remained vacant since 2021, following the departure of Crab It Your Way, which later reopened in a shared space at 2730 N. Martin Luther King Jr Dr.
Zheng plans to complete a series of renovations to the 4,200-square-foot restaurant space, with a target opening date set for March or April of 2025.
At that point, guests can look forward to special pricing during the restaurant’s opening week, Zheng told Urban Milwaukee via email.
A license application for the business is pending city approval. Once open, proposed hours of operation are 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily.
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