Westwood’s Blue Sushi Sake Grill opens Wednesday

The first area Blue Sushi Sake Grill plans an 11 a.m. opening Wednesday in Woodside Village, 4705 Rainbow Blvd. in Westwood.

The menu includes a large traditional and creative maki, sashimi and nigiri menu, rounded out with Asian-inspired appetizers, soups, salads and entrees such as its River Rock beef tenderloin served over a plate of sizzling hot rocks, Crispy Coconut Chicken, and shishito peppers with house-made sauce (garlic, soy, butter and shichimi).

Under “Raw,” customers can select such items as the Godzilla Bomb with tempura blue ball, tuna, yellowtail, togarashi, serrano, ponzu and sriracha, and the Spanish Fly with yellowtail, spicy crab, tuna, shallot, cilantro, serrano and yuzu ponzu.

Under “Not Raw” it offers such dishes as Crunchy Cabbage with spicy tofu, vegan tempura napa cabbage, vegan mayo, sriracha and scallion; avocado and brown rice; the Eden Roll with vegan tempura sweet potato, grilled asparagus, edamame hummus, sun-dried tomato, brown rice, soy paper and olive oil; and the Rodeo with seared tenderloin, shrimp tempura, avocado, cilantro, radish sprouts, sriracha-fried onion rings and fresno pepper aioli.

Blue Sushi serves dishes at the center of the table in a traditional Japanese style that is meant for sharing.

Its signature cocktails will include the Samurai Saketini made with cucumber-infused vodka and the coconut mojito with Cruzan Aged Light Rum. It also will serve premium cold sake, martinis, beer and hot teas.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. It also has happy hour food and drink specials from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, along with a late-night happy hour from 9:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The concept was founded in Omaha in 2002 and there are currently eight locations in Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. Locations also are planned for Chicago and Kentucky.

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 9:24 AM with the headline "Westwood’s Blue Sushi Sake Grill opens Wednesday."