YO! Sushi (sometimes shortened to just YO!) is a chain of

kiosks Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist in an ...

and

conveyor belt sushi , also called revolving sushi or rotation sushi, is a type of sushi restaurant common in Japan. In Australasia, it is also known as a sushi train. Plates serving the sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant ...

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s, principally in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

History

YO! Sushi was founded in 1997, by British entrepreneur

Simon Woodroffe Simon Woodroffe (born 14 February 1952) is a British entrepreneur and business speaker, known as the founder of YO! Sushi and Yotel. He appeared as an investor on the first series of BBC's '' Dragons' Den''. Woodroffe's first YO! Sushi restaur ...

. The current owner is Zensho Holdings, with royalties paid to

YO! Company YO! Company is a British holding company wholly owned by entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe. The YO! Company has several subsidiary companies and brands including: * YOTEL - a chain of capsule hotels at airports and various cities * YO! Japan - A Ja ...

. YO! Sushi opened its first restaurant in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

, London in January 1997. A second restaurant followed opening in

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols Group Limited ( trading as Harvey Nichols) is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831 by Benjamin Harvey; it is headquartered at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections ...

. In 2000, Robin Rowland became CEO, and in 2002, YO! Sushi opened their first restaurant outside London, in Manchester's

Selfridges Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of upmarket department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908. The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Self ...

. By 2003, the company had twelve restaurants open, and the first franchise opened in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. In April 2003, one scene from the movie ''

Johnny English ''Johnny English'' is a 2003 spy action comedy film directed by Peter Howitt and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and William Davies. It is a British-French venture produced by StudioCanal and Working Title Films, and distributed by Unive ...

'' takes place in a restaurant of YO! Sushi. Johnny English gets his tie stuck in the conveyor belt. Two new franchises opened in 2007, one in Dublin, the other in Moscow. In April 2010, they opened their fiftieth company owned restaurant in Market Place, London. In 2008, they became the first catering group to adopt the

Food Standards Agency The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is led by a board appoin ...

's traffic light colour coding system, which allows customers to see nutritional information about the food they are eating. From 1 September 2009, the YO! Sushi in Whiteleys Shopping Centre launched its takeaway and delivery services, allowing customers to go into the restaurant and order their food or order online to get food delivered to their homes. By June 2014, the company had more than seventy restaurants. In October 2016, the company opened its first American stand alone restaurant in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and a few months later, in the Flatiron District in Manhattan, in March 2017. The company had five restaurants in North America, but all of them have since closed. In 31 July 2024, YO! Sushi's parent company Snowfox rebranded to The Wonderfield Group, YO! Sushi and other businesses in their portfolio would be phased out for the Wonderfield branding.

Restaurants

YO! Sushi specialises in delivering sushi to customers using the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese style 'kaiten'

conveyor belt A conveyor belt is the carrying medium of a belt conveyor system (often shortened to a belt conveyor). A belt conveyor system consists of two or more pulleys (sometimes referred to as drums), with a closed loop of carrying medium—the conveyor b ...

method. In each restaurant various

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

dishes and other Japanese cooked foods are prepared in a theater style kitchen in plain view of customers and then set on the thin conveyor belt. The belt carries food around the restaurant in a circuit, allowing diners to pick any dish from the belt. The restaurants are mostly based in the

with the majority in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Restaurants have also been opened in the Middle East in

and

, with others in other countries such as

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In the United States, YO! Sushi has opened five restaurants: There was a YO! Sushi located at the

Westfield Garden State Plaza Garden State Plaza (officially Westfield Garden State Plaza) is a shopping mall located in Paramus, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Owned and managed by Paris-based real estate management company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, th ...

shopping mall in

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

, which is close to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The location opened in May 2015, but it closed in 2017. There was also another location in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

. Then, three more locations opened in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Short Hills, New Jersey Short Hills is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) situated within Millburn, in Essex County, within the U.S. state of New Jersey, and part of the New York metropolitan area. The community is a commuter town for resi ...

The Mall at Short Hills The Mall at Short Hills, also known as the Short Hills Mall, is a shopping mall located in the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey, United States near the interchange of Route 24, JFK Parkway (CR 649), and Route 124. It is located ...

, and

Woodbury Commons Woodbury Common Premium Outlets is an outlet mall, outlet center located in the Central Valley, New York, Central Valley section of Woodbury, Orange County, New York, Woodbury, New York (state), New York. The center is owned by Premium Outlets, ...

mall in

Central Valley, New York Central Valley is a hamlet in Woodbury, New York, United States. The population was 1,857 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a census-designated place. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie– Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Stat ...

. All of the locations in the United States were eventually closed by 2018. Mayfair Equity Partners acquired Canadas Bento Sushi in 2018. The company's headquarters is on Farringdon Road,

, United Kingdom. The company offer a menu with 19 vegan items. At the

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...

Vegan Food Awards 2015, the company's Tofu Katsu Curry won in the category ''Best Vegan Curry''. The restaurant also provides classes in making sushi. In August 2020, YO! Sushi announced that it will shut 19 of its restaurants and cut up to 250 jobs as part of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring process.

Environmental record

In November 2015, the

Marine Conservation Society The Marine Conservation Society is a UK-based charitable organisation working with businesses, governments and communities to clean and protect oceans. Founded in 1978 as the Underwater Conservation Society, the group claims to be working towards ...

rated restaurants on the sustainability of their seafood. YO! Sushi served more species of seafood than the other chains surveyed, and still received a rating of 4.1 out of 5.0 which was among the highest ratings.

References

External links

* * {{UK Food Restaurant chains in the United Kingdom Restaurant franchises Asian restaurants in London Restaurants established in 1997 Sushi restaurants in the United Kingdom Conveyor belt sushi restaurants

History

Restaurants

Environmental record

See also

References

External links