When Robert Ly & Teresa Tran founded Sus Hi Eatstation in August 2011, they sought to change the way people think about sushi – creating not only an amazing concept with good food,a solid system and operations, but also a fun and quirky environment for “Ninjas” to work in and for customers to dine in.
“Ninjas” are the folks behind the counter crafting up the Sus Hi dishes, as well as customers that dine there. I suppose it is a general term for all people that enter the world of Sus Hi.
Robert and Teresa came up with the idea while in an ice-cream shop one night and after a few months of R&D followed by the business development, Sus Hi Eastation was born.
They started very small with just 6 Ninjas and now their business currently employs over 35 Ninjas.
They worked tirelessly for an entire year, every single day from the break of dawn until past midnight to keep the business running.
Now 3 years later, they have stepped out of the restaurant to work on expansion with their team. Without their team, Ninjas and customers, Sus Hi Eatstation will never be where it is today.
Robert and Teresa are extremely grateful for the support of such beautiful and positive people in their lives (including each other – they’re scheduled to wed this year).
“When you walk into Sus Hi Eatstation, you instantly become a Ninja. You are greeted as Ninja by Ninjas with fun nicknames. While in line, you’ll hear things like the resounding boom of the gong when your appetizers are ready, Ninjas yelling FIRE when they melt cheese and interesting greetings to draw you into the Ninja culture.”
“You’ll choose your style of sushi first – roll, bowl, or wrap? After you decide on your style, you’ll move on to choose the protein combination you’d like. Mix and match your favorite protein choice of tuna, spicy tuna, salmon, spicy salmon, krab, chicken tempura, grilled chicken, shrimp tempura, cooked shrimp, or steak. After that you’ll choose from an array of fresh ingredients like avocado, cucumber, cheese, bacon, scallions, jalapeños, mango, strawberries, sweet potato flakes, tempura flakes, masago and much more.. Lastly you’ll top it off with your favorite sauces. We have over 20 different sauces to choose from.”
Appetizers include krab rangoons that are made fresh daily as well as their newest item – rice fries, found only at Sus Hi Eatstation and currently flying out the door.
“Our most popular item is the rice bowl. Customers completely customize it from beginning to end so each bowl is different and unique in its own way,” said Teresa, co-owner of Sus Hi Eatstation.
“We cater to ALOT of vegetarians and vegans because we are very vegan friendly – more than half of our menu is vegan friendly,” Teresa told us.
Last year, Robert and Teresa submitted an application to compete for the title of Brighthouse Regional Business of the Year in the medium sized business category.
Out of over 350 applicants, 170+ were chosen to give a 6 minute pitch in front of a panel of judges. This 6 minute pitch was “Shark Tank” style followed by an additional 6 minutes of question and answer.
“After our pitch, we were very confident that we will become one of the finalists for the event, but did not find out the results until a few months later when they announced us as one of the top 9 finalists! Months went by as we waited for the grand gala and alas, we took home the grand prize and placed first in our category!”
The grand prize included over $100,000 in promotional awards from Brighthouse Networks.
The Sus Hi Eat Station’s team includes:
Robert Ly, Grandmaster Fun Ly – visionary
Teresa Tran, Grandmaster MISO EEL – integrator
Thomas Wang, Master spARC – management
Tiffany Chan, Master Turtle – marketing
Ryan Plaza, Master Time – relations
The core values of the Sus Hi team include FUN, PASSION, CREATIVITY & INTEGRITY
“As a team, we have fun together and create fun for our Ninjas through the environment and culture of the brand .”
“As a team, we are passionate about what we do and support our Ninjas in developing their own passions through retreats, events, challenges, transparency and genuine love.”
“As a team, we focus on creativity and being innovative and provide creative opportunities for our Ninjas to learn, grow and express themselves.”
“As a team, we believe in always doing the right thing and guide our Ninjas to establish the same values in their everyday life.”
Their goals for the upcoming year? Expansion to multiple locations and continuing to serve it up for their Ninjas.
