Lack of time should never keep you from having an excellent lunch, but sometimes even traditionally higher quality dishes don’t do well on the go. Sushirrito, a fast casual sushi restaurant, combines oversized sushi rolls with a Latin flare that folks at NYU have yet to take a liking to.

LS sophomore Juhi Dalal, who was familiar with the chain’s original locations in her home state of California, was not surprised to see that Sushirrito has opened a new location in the Flatiron District.

“They look pretty cool but they are cold and messy,” Dalal said. “They’re not for me, but New Yorkers are adventurous and tend to have refined palates so I could see it being just as successful here.”

CAS sophomore Mai Fukata’s love of traditional Japanese food led her to try Sushirrito after seeing it advertised on Uber Eats.

“Honestly, it was just okay,” Fukata said. “It is kind of difficult to eat. It was like maki sushi — which is similar to California rolls but with seaweed on the outside — but much bigger.”

Despite the similarities between the two, Fukata does not think that Sushirrito’s namesake sushi burrito lives up its claim to be a revolutionary way to enjoy high quality sushi on the go.

“The taste isn’t the same as a traditional sushi,” Fukata said. “You just get one part of the sushi in a bite, not the whole thing. So instead of experiencing the sushi part, the cucumber part, the avocado part, the seaweed, and the other parts simultaneously, you’re getting only one part per bite with sushirittos. I felt that it ruined the experience.”

In addition to being underwhelmed by its food, Fukata has a more serious problem with the rapidly expanding fast food chain.“As a Japanese person who really loves traditional Japanese food, I don’t like it when Japanese food gets westernized or becomes part of a general Americanized fusion,” Fukata said. “Most people think all Japanese people eat is sushi and don’t know about other kinds of Japanese food. It makes me sad because I want people to know about tsukemono, takoyaki, somen and okonomiyak, but at the same time I don’t want to put those on the market to be used for the creativity of others.”

Concerned that Sushirrito could be part of a larger movement to westernize Japanese food — as Taco Bell did for Mexican food and Panda Express did for Chinese food — Fukata does not plan to revisit Sushirrito anytime soon.

“In my honest opinion, sushirittos are unnecessary,” Fukata said. “It’s just a cute idea that doesn’t live up to the hype.”
Sushirrito is at located at 12 W. 23rd St.

Email Taylor Nicole Rogers at [email protected].