Roll With Da Best

Aloha Roll ($11.50)

With the convenience of selecting sushi off of a conveyor belt, diners at Genki Sushi can enjoy a casual family-friendly ambiance across 12 locations statewide.

Following its motto of “Better Sushi Today,” the restaurant franchise offers a combination of Japanese and local flavors in reasonably priced dishes. The goal being to improve the quality of each plate that it serves.

Genki Sushi began when 24-year-old Japanese sushi chef Fumio Saito had a vision of creating a modern sushi restaurant that served kaiten sushi — translated as “revolving” sushi. And so, in December 1968, Saito pioneered the use of a conveyor belt to serve the dishes.

There are now more than 360 Genki Sushi restaurants around the world and the business has been in Hawaii for about three decades. It initially opened to offer a comfortable dining spot for visitors from Japan.

Genki Sushi’s purchasing director and site operations manager David Moon provides insight on what the franchise is doing to celebrate International Sushi Day on June 18.

DO: How will Genki Sushi be celebrating International Sushi Day?

DM: We are celebrating statewide at all of our 12 locations with a free special of SpicyAhi Tuna (price varies, dine-in only).

DO: What is the mission of the restaurant?

DM: We always strive to evolve to accommodate the ever-changing trends and tastes of the community with high quality products at fair prices with the friendliest and fastest service available anywhere in Hawaii and Washington state.

We are committed to improving the quality in everything we do — from the speed in which we deliver our food, the taste of our sushi, freshness of the produce we use, to our level of service and the atmosphere in our restaurants. Making small changes and continuing to improve everything we do based on our vision of “Better Sushi Today,” Genki Sushi will continue to evolve to provide better sushi today.

DO: What is your favorite dish?

DM: I love every dish we serve — especially the Spicy Tuna (price varies).

DO: Are there any dishes offered that are unique to Hawaii?

DM: Spicy Tuna, Spam (and) Poke dishes (prices vary) as seen on our menu on our website are unique to Hawaii.