Sushi Republic is moving soon to a larger space -- the current location often has lines out the door on weekends -- just down Tate Street to the spot formerly occupied by Filet of Soul, Valencia and (meaningful for those of us of a certain age) The Belstone Fox.

I'm hoping for patio service, so I can bring my shumai-loving dog to lunch.

Best sushi place in town, IMNHO -- maybe EUG, whose experience with the staff differed sharply from my own, will give it another try.

Comments

[Joe Killian]

This is the only restaurant I think could beat the curse of that building, which housed four different places just while I was at UNCG.

The parking on Tate Street is just sort of generally horrible. Maybe utilizing the off-street parking behind the building will help out.

[Lenslinger]

Are you saying Filet of Soul is gone? Damn! I loved that place...I knew I should have gone more often. I'd try this new place you speak of but as culinary southerner, sushi just won't do. Damn...

[Cara Michele]

The Belstone Fox... I could never remember the name of that place.

[Ed Cone]

They've got plenty of cooked food, too, 'Slinger -- and it's possible to love both 'cue and hushpuppies and raw fish...meet me there for lunch sometime.

Michele, I knew some folks who had trouble remembering the name of the place on the same night they were there...

[Britt Whitmire]

Sushi Republic is excellent.

[J. Neas]

I've never had trouble with the staff there (as EUG did) and they've always been very nice. Not to mention the best rolls in town - the crunchy spicy-tuna wrap is a long time fantasy of mine come true - a Japanese/Mexican hybrid. Mmm.

Not to mention, home of my 2nd favorite calamari appetizer in the world. (The first being located elsewhere in NC, so as far as GSO goes, a sure thing.)

[Laurie]

Sigh. I miss Crocodiles myself. But I love Sushi Republic and if it will give them more room and they can hire more staff to handle the lunch crowds it will be a great thing!

[cari]

i love sushi republic. i went there with my sis christina who knows the guy who owns it. we only had dessert, but still, it was rite amaze. try their fried strawberry ice cream thingy!

[Ian McDowell]

I've never had a problem at Sushi Republic. It's great, but perhaps not my favorite, as I sometimes want something more Japanese and less Californian-Korean-fusion. For authenticity and variety, I like the sushi bar at Asahi, but service can be problematical. The chefs are great and so are many servers, but the owner's daughter can be less than charming if she's your waiter. Surly younger family members pressed into labor are not uncommon at restaurants owned by immigrant families. That's not an issue at Sushi Republic, where the second-generation "kids" ARE the owners (and thus emotionally invested in the business) and their servers are all hired from the local labor pool and thus subject to being fired if they screw up.

Wasabi was also superb, the one time I ate there.

[Ian McDowell]

What the heck was the Bellstone Fox? I came here in '81. King Arthur's had just closed and the street was abuzz w. rumors of how the Hell's Angels had taken it over, until New York Pizza hired sensei Vic Coffin and his 'Nam buddies to roust the bikers, whom the cops wouldn't mess with. Since then, I recall it being Crocodiles, Valencia's, Group Therapy, Phazes (where "feminist pornographer" and Tina Fey lookalike Tristan Taormino sat in my lap), Fillet O' Soul and Sushi Republic.

A couple of those joints might have died from what Anthony Bourdain calls Cokehead Owner Syndrome, which kills so many restaurants in the US. Fillet of Soul had to move because Tate Street's full of Waspafarians and Trust Fund Hippies who can't appreciate real soul food. I knew they were doomed when they were forced to replace the ham hocks in their collards with turkey. Damn hippies.

[Ed Cone]

Belstone Fox was a bar and I guess also restaurant, first thing I remember being in that space, back in the late '70s.

Agreed on Asahi, both food and service.

Bourdain's formula aside -- and I don't discount it at all -- the problem with restaurants on Tate Street often seems to be attracting a regular clientele from the rest of the city, instead of relying on the natives.

An element of Sushi Republic's success, from my observation, is that it draws a lot more than college kids and profs -- I see Irving Park and Starmount ladies and business people at lunch, and a broad mix of young and yup and middle-aged at dinner. The good food, cool atmosphere, along with the relative scarcity of good sushi places and the investment of the owners, is a winning combination.

I'm not sure North Carolinians (as opposed to, say, New Yorkers) are looking to get their soul food in a relatively upscale restaurant. I love soul food, but I eat it sparingly, and I'm much more likely to find some neighborhood haunt when I do.