Revolving sushi restaurant with serving robots and prizes opening in Fishers

Nov 03, 2024

Sushi is on the move in Central Indiana.The area will get its first tech-centric service sushi restaurant when Kura Revolving Sushi Bar opens in Fishers next week.Kura diners are served via conveyor belts that run through the place to deliver food. It also has robot servers carrying drinks, tableside tables for ordering and machines that dispense prizes.The lunch and dinner spot will open at The Station at Fishers District, 11594 Whistle Dr., Suite 120, on Nov. 7.Customers pay by the plate. Sushi plates are $3.75 each. That includes nigiri and rolls.Other restaurants have introduced serving robots and ordering kiosks, but this is likely the most extensive use of tech for customers start to finish at a single dine-in space in Indiana — from guests utilizing remote waitlists on the app to them paying using mobile checkout.

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Not everything is left up machines. Humans are in the kitchen preparing the food; and staffers will seat customers, show them how the system works and refill their drinks. Each table has a button so that customers can call the waitstaff.

The Fishers location is the first in Indiana and 70th in the U.S. for Irvine, California-based U.S. Kara Sushi USA. The company, which started in 2008, has opened 50 U.S. locations in the past four years. It is a subsidiary of Japan-headquartered Kura Sushi Inc., which operates more than 600 restaurants internationally.

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Food is served on a two-tier conveyor belt system. One conveyor belt snakes through the dining area carrying plates of sushi, covered by a ventilated lid that limits airborne exposure and helps track plates to monitor how long items have been circulating on the belt. Another upper-level express belt is used to get food directly from the kitchen to the tables of those ordering via touch panel tablet.

Diners can rack up games and prizes at each outing. For every five plates finished, a short anime or game plays on the tablet screen at the table; and a prize is dispensed from a machine triggered by every 15th plate placed in a tableside disposal slot. The prizes change out quarterly.

Currently, Kura has a promotion with Nintendo’s Pikmin video game series. In the past, prizes have been related to DC Entertainment, the “We Bare Bears” cartoon, the “One Piece” manga and TV series, the “Dragon Ball Super” manga series and Sanrio’s Hello Kitty.

The menu of more than 100 items also includes noodles, hot and cold sides and desserts. Kura touts its preparation using high-quality ingredients free of artificial sweeteners, seasonings, preservatives and colorings. For example, it uses real snow crab in its California Rolls are made with real snow crab, and its wasabi is manufactured in Japan.

The concept has been big in the U.S. with workers taking counter seats to get in and out during their lunch breaks, young couples on date nights and families, said Kura Sushi USA spokesperson Lauren Murakami

“It’s a really fun entertainment experience where you are immersed in this fusion of food and technology. You see this double-layer conveyor belt system right next to you as you're dining; so, there's constant motion,” she said. “Then you have the drink delivery robots coming around catering to guests. And you have the prizes that shoot down every 15 plates. It's a great atmosphere for everyone."

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The 3,700-square-foot restaurant seats about 126 people, including 10 counter seats.Pickup and delivery orders will also be available through the restaurant’s app or at order.kurasushi.com.

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar will have its soft opening at 11594 Whistle Dr., Suite 120, Nov. 7-9, operating 12-9 p.m.Its regular hours, starting Nov. 10, will be 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

The grand opening is 11 a.m. Nov. 10, when the first 300 dine-in guests will receive a commemorative Fishers location sticker. The first 50 dine-in guests each day Nov. 10-12 who show a Kura Sushi Rewards member QR will get a Pikmin x Kura Sushi T-shirt.

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at [email protected] or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X: @cherylvjackson.