Soho Sushi opening in downtown Cincinnati's Tower Place Mall

It was just a short time ago when many downtown Cincinnati residents, business workers and visitors complained about a lack of sushi options downtown.  But like downtown Cincinnati's nightlife, food options have also been blossoming, taking advantage of the renaissance occurring in Cincinnati's urban core.

The newest place scheduled to join the mix this May is Soho Sushi.  The sushi restaurant will add to the already popular sushi options at Bootsy's and Mr. Sushi in downtown's Backstage Entertainment District, but do so with a different approach where people can order customized rolls along with standard sushi staples.

"We will offer affordable sushi with good value," said Stephen Harman, managing partner of Soho Sushi.  "A lot of people think of sushi as a splurge item, but we're trying to get past that preconceived notion."

Harman likened the new concept to that of Chipotle where you can get in and out in a short time, get a good customized product and spend less than $10 for lunch.  The concept is one that Harman said he and his business partner had not seen before, and was the main driver behind opening a sushi restaurant.

"We were brainstorming about what kind of business we haven't seen yet in terms of fast, casual food and sushi seemed to be it," Harman explained.  "Everyone that I grew up with and people I hang around with now seem to love sushi, so it made a lot of sense."

With a three-year lease on the space, Soho Sushi will add to the availability of casual restaurants in the southwestern part of downtown including the recent addition of It's Just Crepes which added a second downtown location on W. Fourth Street recently.  Soho's space on W. Fourth Street will occupy a 5,000 square-foot, two-level space at Tower Place Mall which has been in the process of reprogramming itself lately.

"We've seen a lot of growth over the past five years downtown since they they redid Fountain Square and it brought a lot of life back into downtown," said Harman.  "We're hoping to bring some of that traffic over towards us from Fountain Square, draw on crowds going to Reds and Bengals games, and eventually be a part of bringing the urban lifestyle back to downtown."

Soho Sushi (map) will initially be open for lunch and dinner from 11am to 6pm Monday through Saturday.  Take-out and catering will also be offered by calling (513) 246-4261.  Also be sure to follow @SohoSushiCincy on Twitter for special promotions and updates.

Writer: Randy A. Simes
Photography by Tiffani Fisher
Stay connected by following Randy on Twitter @UrbanCincy