Let me start off by saying there is definitely something to be said for word of mouth chatter. Not that anyone doubted. I shared my Tom + Chee post on Facebook (and if you read that post I wrote it quickly because friends who follow me on Foursquare wanted to know about it) and within a week three friends let me know they visited Tom + Chee. That brings me to Yelp. I started writing reviews because Alex Shebar* became the community manager and I realized there was more to it than just reading reviews (I used to search for reviews of libraries). I wrote enough reviews to become Elite, which means I get invited to parties hosted by local places, like Soho Sushi. I’ve even told my friend in Baltimore to get on the Yelp wagon.
Due to working far east of downtown and being an avid lunch packer, eating downtown has to be a planned event and typically sushi doesn’t top the list. After reading about Soho Sushi in the latest UD Alumni magazine, I put it on my list of places to visit and support. When I saw this Yelp party was going to be at Soho Sushi, I was delighted and made it a point to find Steve and talk to him.
If you’ve never been to Soho Sushi or have reservations about eating sushi, this is the place to go because it is like Subway or Chipotle in that you read off the giant menu board while the staff assembles your rolls. Totally custom.
Some snippets from our conversation:
*Fusing your choice of non-traditional sushi ingredients is the idea behind the new name, Fusian, and that they’re not totally tied to soho
*where possible they purchase local, fresh ingredients, which got me thinking of my other blog Lunch It Punch It
*they do catered lunches for businesses that want to offer a healthy, fresh lunch to their employees. Reminds me of the catered lunches my pharmacist sister gets and how many are in the fast food arena
*they just signed the lease for a place on Brown St. so come this fall I hope the UD kids embrace them
*kids can get a PB&J roll so this isn’t a place parents need to shy away from
He said he could talk all night about his business and his enthusiasm is great, so besides being a fellow Flyer, I do hope they do well!
This Yelp party was a 2-hour event where all those in attendance had the opportunity to try a full meal (not typical of Yelp parties) and some even went back for seconds. This generosity was wonderful because it exposed so many to not only the food, but their customer service. For those that were new, the staff helped walk you through your selections without making you feel stupid for asking. Working in customer service, my test is to tell the staff that I’m new to their establishment and see if they attempt to win me over as a customer or blow me off. They won me over and that was before I mention I was looking for the UD alum 😉
If you’re a UD alum in the Cincinnati area or will be visiting, I recommend you check out Fusian / Soho Sushi.
Soho Sushi on Facebook
Soho Sushi on Twitter
Now, I need to get over to Yelp and write some reviews, then think of something crafty to make so I can post that before someone thinks this is local review blog.
*I met Alex last year when he and another guy randomly tweeted and invited me to join them for dollar burgers at Bar Louie. I went even though I thought maybe they had invited the wrong person, but I realized they’re just nice people, who like me like meeting new people. From there I learned about Alex’s 100 Films of the AFI project and joined in for a few films and even brought some new people myself.
