Revolving sushi bar opening in Johnson County, in former brunch spot
A new revolving sushi bar is on its way to Johnson County — and some of its offerings might be familiar to Kansas City area sushi fans.
After the restaurant Sakura Japanese Sushi Train closed its Olathe location in March, one of its owners is coming back with a new concept.
Umami Revolving Sushi Bar is slated to open in August in a former First Watch at 8180 W. 135th St., Overland Park.
Owners and brothers Trung and Chinh Nguyen are building an L-shaped sushi bar that will run through the restaurant. A conveyor belt will carry sushi and other dishes past diners.
If customers see something they like coming down the line, they simply pick the plate off the conveyor belt. The cost of the meal is determined at the end of the meal by counting up all the plates.
Trung owned Sakura in Olathe, which had a model “sushi train” that chugged along tracks in the restaurant and delivered customers’ food.
Manager Shayla Young said Trung (her father) wanted to start afresh.
“It’s kind of exciting to start something brand new,” Young said.
Sakura was at 1109 Santa Fe Drive in Olathe, which was too far of a drive for many potential customers, Young said.
Its other location in Shawnee at 7474 Nieman Road is still open and has separate ownership.
The new spot, Umami, will serve some of the same menu items — the KC Roll (shrimp tempura, avocado, cream cheese, crab meat, spicy mayo and eel sauce), the Amigos Roll (crab meat, shrimp, scallops, tempura flakes, sriracha, spicy mayo, eel sauce), crab rangoons, etc.
Young compared Umami to Kura, another revolving sushi bar that opened on the Country Club Plaza in 2023.
The Japanese chain has several other locations in the U.S.
“Similar to that — a little more modern, I guess,” Young said.
First Watch closed in February, saying at the time that there was an issue with the lease. It has several other locations in the area, including one nearby at 1140 Nall Ave.
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 11:55 AM.