After some stops and starts, Steve Fujii and his wife Koko (and their two sons, Eric and Charlie) of EBISU have opened their third location: an Ebisu express lunch spot. They will be serving take-out lunch Monday through Friday, plus offering catering for downtown businesses and hotels. The menu includes a variety of salads, onigiri (rice balls), donburi (like katsu don/pork cutlet with egg and chicken karage/sweet-and-spicy fried chicken over rice), vegetable and nigiri combos, bento boxes (all $9.95), and hand rolls.
Benjamin Anderson of The Anderson Studio for Architecture and Pacific Craftsmen, Inc. transformed the former Tasty Express spot on Kearny Street, using dark recycled barn wood for the interior walls, as well as bamboo for other parts of the interior (the new interior has many of the same green materials that were used during the main restaurant’s remodel at 9th Avenue and Irving). There will be several mini hot and cold cases for bento boxes and sushi. As one reader noted to me, “On the same block, about three doors up, Miyabi just opened a take-out lunch place. Looks like a sushi face off.” Hai. 336 Kearny St. at Bush, 415-398-2388.