After two decades of doing kitschy fun Japanese food in the desert, Sushi Hama closed its doors at 3971 N. Oracle Road sometime last month.
The large restaurant space tucked back into a shopping center near the Tucson Mall sits vacant. All the furniture has been stripped out, and a small piece of paper scribbled with the word "closed" has been taped to the door.
Since sushi chef Bo H. Kim opened the restaurant in the late '90s, Sushi Hama had introduced raw fish to countless Tucsonans and University of Arizona college students. The colorful restaurant was well known for its techno themed happy birthday song, dramatic towel tossing and all-you-can-eat sushi for $18.95.
Kim, who went by the nickname "Pancho," sold the restaurant about a decade ago to open up Mido Sushi in Chandler. Since then the restaurant has gone through a couple different owners including Ramon Rafael Tovar, who was unable to reach by phone.
This ain't your regular sushi joint. IOU Sushi will serve rolls from the South Pacific island of Pohnpei in Micronesia.
Meanwhile ...
Just a block up the road in the Home Depot shopping center, a new sushi joint called IOU Sushi is slated to open in the next few months. The name sounds like it's a reference to "Dumb and Dumber," but it's actually a foreign word from the tiny island Pohnpei in the South Pacific. (In the Pohnpeian language, it's pronounced e-yo and means "delicious," according to IOU's website.)
IOU Sushi's owner Rocketchun Holden was raised in the South Pacific, but currently operates two of these sushi restaurants in Boise, Idaho. The restaurant is going in here at 4280 N. Oracle Road, Suite 180.
IOU will serve sushi rolls from the South Pacific, which apparently can be little bit sweeter than the Japanese kind. And if the restaurant here is anything like the ones in Idaho, it also has an all-you-can-eat menu!
