The concept of all-you-can-eat sushi has been spreading like wildfire across the United States over the past few years, and even the landlocked Midwest has caught the wave. Dozens of local chains are infiltrating strip malls, food courts, and hip downtown food districts. In Illinois, it’s Sushi Nova; in Indiana, it’s KanPai; and here in Iowa, we have Izumi. Their first all-you-can-eat restaurant in Iowa opened in Cedar Rapids over 10 years ago. There are four locations now, but I wasn’t paying much attention until Izumi got close enough to threaten my local go-to in Iowa City.
My husband and I have been going to the same loved-by-locals sushi joint for 15 years, quietly sneaking in date days while our kids are at school. But the young ones are bigger and hipper now, and they want to go to. Yet sushi isn’t cheap, and feeding their hungry bellies at our favorite date-day splurge feels like selling our souls to the devil. So we’ve avoided talking about the clandestine lunch dates we sneak in after grocery runs, and I’ve quietly mulled the idea of becoming all-you-can-eat sushi gal—or rather, becoming a sushi buffet family.
Well, after three weekends in a row of dreadful, cabin-fever weather, followed by a long series of viruses on repeat, we had to get out and do something. Something new, potentially exotic, and hopefully time-consuming. But all the big kids really respond to is a plane ticket to Tahiti, watching YouTube, or eating. So, food it is, and not the same old chicken wings and deli subs we always get. It was time for Izumi, an all-you-can-eat restaurant in Iowa with a sushi theme. But my kids didn’t get it at first. They interpreted all-you-can-eat as “buffet,” and assumed we were going to one of the hundred Chinese buffets you can find all over Iowa.
I knew I was mom-of-the -year, or at least for the weekend, the moment we entered the lobby. It was busy, like this-is-the-spot-to-be busy, and we were asked if we could wait 15 minutes for a table. I expected lamentations about crippling starvation from the peanut section. Instead, they were quiet, eyes taking in the faux cherry blossom tree, the sushi chefs bumping elbows behind the bar, and booths full of families with the same genius idea.
On weekends, Izumi serves only the dinner menu, priced at $30.95 per person for ages 11 and up. Not only does that include endless sushi rolls, sushi, and sashimi, but also appetizers, salad, udon, tempura, teriyaki, hibachi, and dessert. To order, one person at the table fills out a cafeteria-style slip for the whole group, with unlimited forms, so you can sit there and eat all day if you choose…