Sakana has opened its second New Jersey restaurant at 25 NJ-23 in Wayne, bringing the made-to-order all-you-can-eat Japanese format it already operates in New Brunswick to Passaic County. The restaurant soft-opened Sept. 19 and is now taking reservations.
Unlike a walk-up sushi buffet, Sakana uses a tablet-ordering system. Guests order sushi and other Japanese dishes in rounds during a 90-minute all-you-can-eat seating, while an à-la-carte menu remains available for diners who do not want the unlimited format. Sakana lists the last AYCE seating at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Sakana Brings Its Tablet-Ordered AYCE Format to Wayne
The company says menus and prices vary by location, and it has not posted a Wayne-specific AYCE price. That leaves one practical detail still unresolved, but the operating format itself is clear: this is a full made-to-order unlimited restaurant rather than a buffet line built around pre-plated sushi.
The address adds a little real-estate contrast to the opening. The building formerly housed a Hooters, meaning the conversion swaps wings, televisions and a conventional casual-dining layout for repeated sushi rounds and tablet ordering. The shell was already designed to move a lot of diners through a large dining room; Sakana is simply asking them to stay for another round.
The Former Hooters Starts a Very Different Restaurant Life
Wayne gives Sakana a second New Jersey foothold after New Brunswick and provides the small regional concept with a chance to prove that its AYCE model travels beyond a college-market setting. The restaurant has not announced additional locations, so for now the expansion count stands at two.
