Sushi Burrito Restaurant Comfortably in Control
I’m fortunate enough to work near a sushi burrito restaurant called Sushirrito. There are five in the Bay Area and I expect there will be many more.
These people are in charge, and I have no problem with that. Their burritos, which are filled with wasabi mayo, line-caught yellow tail, roasted onion crunchies and other goodies from heaven — exist in their own time and place.
It’s the same place where fancy coffee and the iphone lived before 1992 and 2007, respectively.
Sushirrito doesn’t abuse it’s power, but it is comfortable in its own skin.
A sign up front:
Our food is best consumed immediately after rolling.
(Eat it now — don’t mess with the program)
And…
Please, no modifications or protein additions.
(If that doesn’t work for you…. well, there is no other protocol).
After you pay:
Thanks for your purchase. Please rotate the screen back.
You are expected to get things ready for the next person. It reminds me of the note at work telling us to do our own dishes. I’m fascinated by the Sushirrito operations manager who made the decision to add that prompt. Seems like high risk for little reward. Eliminating a miniscule employee hassle at the risk of pissing off a customer.
Sushirrito workers are serious people, and there won’t be any pleasantries or shared discussions around “How is your Tuesday treating you?” But they aren’t malicious. Their product is so good, they could be soup nazis, but they aren’t. They make the order right every time — that is their focus.
Studying them reminds me of the famous saying about World War II:
“Before the War, The Brits walked around like they owned the world. After the War, the Americans walked around like they didn’t give a damn who owned it.”
Sushirrito doesn’t give a damn where they sit in the San Francisco food chain and they don’t give a damn who you are. It’s the same process for all. No substitutions, and turn the iPad back around when you’re done. No special treatment — just an efficient process to deliver a transcendent lunch.
And one more thing. Sushirrito doesn’t blow its own horn all the time like Chipotle. You aren’t going to see any billboards on 101 bragging about the number of organic flies in the carnitas. They rely on fascinated, satisfied and compliant customers like myself to spread the word.
If this post gets me kicked out of Sushirrito, I’m going to be very disappointed.
