Downtown Sarasota restaurant opening a new, two-floor Lakewood Ranch location

Years in the works, a popular downtown Sarasota restaurant's new Lakewood Ranch location, spanning two floors, is nearly ready to open its doors.

Tsunami Sushi & Hibachi Grill will hold a grand opening Jan. 19 at 11627 State Road 70 E. in The Green at Lakewood Ranch shopping center, said Samuel Ray, who co-owns Tsunami with Jeffrey Karasawa. It will be the second location for Tsunami, along with its restaurant on downtown Sarasota's Central Avenue, across from Selby Library, which opened in 2011.

Ray said the idea to open in Lakewood Ranch came from catering in the area and seeing all the houses and people there, as well as wanting to reach their customer base that expands well beyond downtown Sarasota.

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“We actually have tons of customers that are driving downtown and saying, ‘Oh, we wish we were closer and we didn’t have to drive 45 minutes to come eat here,’" Ray said. "So there were always people asking us to come out here.”

The Lakewood Ranch Tsunami's menu will be largely similar to the one at the downtown Sarasota restaurant, offering a variety of both seafood and vegan sushi rolls, as well as hibachi grill dishes and other popular Asian entrees such as General Tso's chicken.

Yet the new Tsunami will have an increased bar presence, Ray said, with a full-liquor bar that will offer cocktails as well as a separate bar menu of small plates. Ray estimated that the Lakewood Ranch location's roughly 3,500-square-foot building will seat about 180: 60 in the dining room, 44 at the bar, 40 upstairs, two dozen outside and a dozen at the sushi bar.

Tsunami plans to be open daily for lunch and dinner at its Lakewood Ranch restaurant, with the possibility of expanding to late-night hours as well. For more information, visit tsunami-sarasota.com.

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Downtown Sarasota's Tsunami Sushi to open Lakewood Ranch restaurant