Downtown's restaurant scene will get more sushi and noodles late this summer when Obon / Sushi + Bar + Ramen opens at 350 E. Congress St., former home of Gio Taco.
It will be the second downtown sushi restaurant on Congress Street. On A Roll has been in business at the other end of Congress — at 63 E. Congress St. — since 2007.
Obon owner and founder Brandon Katz, who spent six years in management with Ra Sushi, said he hopes to be serving sushi and ramen noodles by the time students return to the Cadence student complex next door in late August. Katz, a 33-year-old Tucson native, also is the acting COO and a minority partner in Tucson restaurants Nox and Goodness.
Katz said the space needs an extensive build-out including expanding the patio and extending the bar.
“It needs a major, major overhaul," he said of the 2,400-square-foot space. "The patio is going to need some revisions. ... We definitely want to match up with that corner and give it what it deserves.”
Landlord Jim Campbell said Obon will be a nice fit with its neighbors — World of Beer tavern next door and Hi Fi Kitchen and Cocktails across the street. Both are magnets for energetic young crowds especially on weekends that Campbell said could be a captive audience for Obon.
Katz said Obon will follow Ra Sushi's lead in providing a party atmosphere to the sushi/Japanese genre while maintaining the integrity of Japanese cuisine.
"We are kind of taking a fusion of what Ra Sushi has to offer and what a traditional mom and pop sushi place has to offer," he said, adding that the menu is still a work in progress with his Korean-born executive sushi chef.
Obon will open at 11 a.m. daily for lunch and stay open until midnight or 1 a.m. most nights and until after 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.
Campbell locked Gio Taco out of the space in early March after the owner,Metzger Family Restaurants, fell two months behind in rent. At the time, Campbell said the restaurant that would take Gio's place would have to have a solid lunchtime plan and energetic late-night ambitions.
He thinks he may have found the right formula with Obon.
“I think that sushi will do great at lunch. And Brandon ... understands the party concept of sushi," which could draw people in at night, Campbell said.
