A sushi restaurant founded in Wilmette has brought its concept to Buffalo Grove, and held its grand opening there March 10.
Buffalo Grove’s AO Sushi restaurant is the first expansion for a brand begun in Wilmette and originally named the Sea Ranch.
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Charles Cook, the general manager of the Buffalo Grove site, said the new location and new name are both part of a larger plan: setting up even more locations, possibly out of state.
“We’re beginning a chain, if you will,” Cook said. “We want to put together a concept that can be marketed in other areas. But, you have to have a starting point.”
And Buffalo Grove is it: 1,750 square feet — about 500 more than the Wilmette restaurant — with seating for 20 or 25, triple Wilmette’s seven. It offers sit-down dining or delivery for a menu that focuses on sushi.
Cook said he bases his dishes on yellowtail, salmon and tuna — some wild-caught, some farm-raised — and he hopes his operation will complement Dorfler’s Meats, which many consumers visit in that shopping center.
“A lot of thought went into the location and the strategy,” he said.
And for AO’s parent company —seafood distributor True World Foods — that strategy could include more locations.
“Other locations are being looked at as we speak,” Cook said.
The restaurant and store have been around Wilmette for about 30 years, Cook said, evolving from primarily a meat market in its early days into something of a sushi restaurant to fit customer demands. True World changed the title to AO — which is pronounced “ow,” a Japanese word for a blue-green shade. The change was made after discovering that “Sea Ranch” is already registered in some of the states they would like to expand into, according to Cook.
Cook said he worked 16 years in the Cracker Barrel chain, and three more with Steak ‘n Shake.
“I’m relatively new to sushi.” he said.
True World is considering both corporate-owned stores and franchising for a possible expansion, with distribution based in Elk Grove, Scott said.
Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer