It’s not a buffet, but close. Stuff yourself at new River Park-area Fresno restaurant

Bethany Clough
·3 min read

Inside Look is a Fresno Bee series where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses, local landmarks and news stories.

Workers at the corner restaurant at Blackstone and Nees avenues used to sling pizza when it was the California Pizza Kitchen.

Four years after it closed during the pandemic, the restaurant is bustling again, now with sushi chefs making minuscule cuts with sharp knives, turning fish into pieces of art on a plate.

Tsukiji (pronounced Sue-kee-jee) Japanese Cuisine opened in mid-May and is in the midst of its soft opening, where it works out the kinks before announcing its big grand opening.

It’s an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant. But it’s not a buffet.

It’s a concept that host Madison Wisener spends a lot of time explaining to curious customers.

“I always say, ‘It’s like a buffet, but we have food runners that run it to you,’” she said.

See, Fresno loves buffets.

We mourned Sweet Tomatoes when it closed (and was turned into offices), along with the closures of both HomeTown Buffet restaurants.

And we pined for Golden Corral for years before The Bee broke the news that the buffet was taking over the former HomeTown spot on West Shaw Avenue. It’s aiming for an end-of-summer opening.

All-you-can-eat sushi

A vibrant dining room greets customers at Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine, which offers an all-you-can-eat menu now open in the former California Pizza Kitchen location on the corner of Blackstone and Nees avenues in north Fresno.
A vibrant dining room greets customers at Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine, which offers an all-you-can-eat menu now open in the former California Pizza Kitchen location on the corner of Blackstone and Nees avenues in north Fresno.

At Tsukiji, you can eat all you want for one price, but there is no sharing of serving utensils or breathing on sneeze guards covering dishes.

The food is brought to your table with servers just like in a typical restaurant.

Meals cost $21.99 for lunch and $34.99 for dinner Kids under 4 feet tall eat for $11 at lunch, $18 for dinner. Toddlers and babies are free.

“Everything is made to order, so it’s not sitting out,” said manager Guan Wu.

That’s important because sushi is the star of the show here. You don’t want it, especially if it involves raw fish, sitting around.

There are other items on the menu too, including 10 kinds of fried rice, noodle soup and the popular steak and short ribs cooked on the hibachi grill.

But “sushi is our main focus,” Wu said.

Some popular favorites? The Snow Mountain roll, featuring shrimp tempura and cucumber, topped with imitation crab and mayo so “it represents a mountain with snow on top.

Also popular are the Sexy Girl roll (with spicy tuna) and the Crazy roll with shrimp tempura, cucumber, avocado and crab meat.

Sake and Japanese Asahi beer are available.

Bryan and Lita Heyano of Kingsburg tried the restaurant for the first time this week.

“I like it because I can eat a lot,” Bryan Heyano said as he dug into a spicy tuna roll.

Customers are given chopsticks, but can request forks if needed, Wu noted.

Tsukiji does not have “cheater chopsticks,” the chopsticks connected at the top to make it easier for newbies to use.

But Wu will show how to make your own. He places the chopsticks end-to-end, rolls a napkin around them and folds the contraption into a U shape.

What is Tsukiji?

Tsukiji is an area in Japan home to the Tsukiji Market, a popular tourist attraction known for its quality ingredients and good prices, Wu said.

The Fresno restaurant is owned by a group of people with their own restaurants in the Bay Area. Some of them also own a another Tsukiji in the Sacramento area.

The Fresno location only takes reservations for parties of six or more.

And it looks drastically different than its predecessor, the California Pizza Kitchen. Although the owners didn’t do that much renovation, they did get new seating (no more sitting inches away from a stranger separated by Plexiglass).

The ceiling is also covered in pink blossoms that evoke Japan and flags that reflect traditional Japanese decor.

The restaurant also tries to make sure it doesn’t waste food, asking that customers not order more than two full sushi rolls per person at a time.

“As long as you finish a majority of the food, we let you guys order again and again and again until you’re about to explode,” Wu said.

Details: Tsukiji is at 7985 N. Blackstone Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. Dinner is served all day Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. 559-493-5707.

A Crazy Roll, featuring tempura shrimp, is served up at Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine, an all-you-can-eat restaurant now open in north Fresno.
A Crazy Roll, featuring tempura shrimp, is served up at Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine, an all-you-can-eat restaurant now open in north Fresno.
Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine, which offers an all-you-can-eat menu, finally opened in the former California Pizza Kitchen location on the corner of Blackstone and Nees avenues in north Fresno.
Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine, which offers an all-you-can-eat menu, finally opened in the former California Pizza Kitchen location on the corner of Blackstone and Nees avenues in north Fresno.
Guan Wu, manager at Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine in north Fresno, holds a Crazy Roll sushi dish, one of the restaurant’s more popular items, as chefs prepare orders for customers on Monday, May 13, 2024.
Guan Wu, manager at Tsukiji Japanese Cuisine in north Fresno, holds a Crazy Roll sushi dish, one of the restaurant’s more popular items, as chefs prepare orders for customers on Monday, May 13, 2024.