Sushi Restaurant Closes
Houston's best sushi restaurant abruptly closes: Will it open again?
This week has become a rough one for fans of Houston restaurants. Italian restaurant Coppa Ristorante has temporarily closed due to "building maintenance issues," and well-loved Midtown Vietnamese restaurant Van Loc will end its 28-year run next month. Now a CultureMap reader sends word that she found MF Sushi, widely considered the best sushi restaurant in Houston, closed when she tried to visit on Wednesday.
Alex Kinjo, co-owner of MF Sushi with his brother chef Chris Kinjo, confirms to CultureMap in an email that the restaurant is "reorganizing" and will be closed temporarily. Pressed for details on what needs to be reorganized or when he thinks the restaurant might reopen, Kinjo simply responded "we will let you know when we're ready."
Adding to the confusion is that MF Sushi's website only shows an upcoming Atlanta location that's slated to open in 2015. The Houston location's address is not listed.
The Kinjo brothers previously operated a sushi restaurant in Atlanta called MF Buckhead that earned nationwide acclaim, with Bon Appetit picking it as the country's sixth-best sushi restaurant (Uchi was eighth). It closed in 2011 when an economic downturn led to a lack of customers. They came to Houston for a fresh start in 2012 and found an immediately receptive audience thanks to Chris's elaborate, multi-course, omakase tasting menus. MF suffered a setback when a fire closed it for over six months, but the restaurant reopened in May.
Neither Chris nor Alex have made any secret of their desire to return to Atlanta, but Alex told CultureMap back in March that his brother would be primarily based in Houston. Whether that's still the case remains to be seen, but the signs, at least for now, aren't good.