Sushi pizza, a poke bar and an herb garden are coming to Plaza Midwood next month

Sushi Guru, a modern Japanese sushi restaurant, is expected to open a second location the week of March 12 at 1217 The Plaza (next to Whiskey Warehouse). Their original location is located in SouthPark at 6601 Morrison Blvd.

Co-owner and corporate chef, Cy Santos, says the new location will have the same menu items as their first restaurant but will include more hot items. They’ll have lunch specials, bento boxes, rice bowls, noodles, fried rice and specialty sushi.

The 3,500 square foot restaurant will have a poke bar downstairs where they’ll serve custom poke bowls and house-made poke bowls. The bowls will start around $10.

Sushi Guru joins a rise in poke locations that have opened across town including HI Tide Poke & Raw Bar and Umami PokéRito, while King Fish Poke is planning on opening in the next few months.

Upstairs at Sushi Guru, they’ll have a sushi bar as well as an herb garden on display and for restaurant use. There will also be an outdoor patio — perfect for those summer nights.

A sauce kitchen will be built in the back of the building after opening so Santos can bottle and distribute his creations to supermarkets like Publix and Whole Foods.

Here are the top five menu items we’re most excited about, based on the current menu:

Sashimi Pizza: Served raw. Toasted pita topped with edamame hummus, fresh slices of salmon or tuna, fish roe, sweet peppers, onions, scallions and drizzled with wasabi aioli and eel sauce. $14.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYGJv2_AAlL/?taken-at=215251313

Spicy Tuna Temaki: Hand roll style (1 piece). $8.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV4c2yHHFFc/?taken-at=215251313

Tuna Avocado Salad: Gluten free. Fresh cubed tuna and avocado tossed in sesame vinaigrette. $12.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWp9W-EgADg/?taken-at=215251313

Tuna Crunchy Roll: Tuna or salmon with avocado, kani and cream cheese rolled in tempura flakes. $14.

Super Tuna Crunch @sushiguruclt #cltfoodguide #charlottefoodguide #cltsushi

A post shared by Charlotte Food Guide (@charlottefoodguide) on Aug 6, 2016 at 7:31pm PDT

Mango Mochi: Mango ice cream wrapped in rice cake. $6.

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Photo: Sushi Guru

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Sushi pizza, a poke bar and an herb garden are coming to Plaza Midwood next month."