Leslie Parrott
Blue Sushi Sake Grill, Franklin, TN, Restaurant Interiors and Exteriors, Photography by Leslie Parrott
Omaha-based Flagship Restaurant Group has opened Blue Sushi Sake Grill at McEwen Northside in Franklin.
Blue Sushi Sake Grill is currently the country’s largest sushi restaurant group running a sustainably sourced seafood program in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.
The Concept
Blue Sushi Sake Grill transforms the sushi experience by merging responsibly sourced seafood with creative ingredients and bold flavors. Guests will find an interior design inspired by Japanese cues filtered through a non-traditional, American lens. From a backlit collage of a massive Godzilla in the lounge area to large geisha murals on the building’s exterior, created by local muralist Eric Mobe Bass, the team has reimagined important symbols of Japan that embody heritage, culture, and hospitality. In the dining room, guests will find wave patterns with cherry blossoms inspired by Japanese prints, overhead, and a white lantern wall. Throughout the dining room and lounge, red lantern clouds hang from the ceiling and hand-finished tables that are inspired by carts found in the Tokyo fish markets, which are custom painted with Kanji characters. Diners will find floor to ceiling windows on two sides of the space. The restaurant was designed by Design Collective Nashville in collaboration with Flagship Restaurant Group.
The Menu
Guests can expect a variety of dishes throughout Blue Sushi Sake Grill’s happy hour, lunch, and dinner menus which also include gluten-free and vegan items. On the small, medium, and large plates section, you will find items like Crispy Brussels Sprouts tossed in creamy lemon miso sauce and toasted cashews, the River Rock Beef featuring all-natural beef tenderloin, served on sizzling rocks with jalapeño ponzu and yuzu kosho, and the brand’s signature Tuna Tower and the Ceviche, made with tilapia, white shrimp, lime juice, cucumber, cherry tomato, avocado, cilantro, sweet onion, jalapeño salsa, wonton crisps, togarashi and chili oil. Specialty nigiri and sashimi dishes include the Cherry Bomb featuring bigeye tuna on top of rice tempura, topped with serrano, sriracha, togarashi and ponzu sauce, and the Yellowtail Serrano, featuring yellowtail, cilantro, serrano and ponzu sauce. The Maki menu includes everything from raw to cooked rolls, like the Godzilla Bomb, Spanish Fly, the Snow White, and the Vegan Cowgirl roll. The Vegan menu includes more than fifteen maki rolls, specialty dishes ranging from Tofu Lettuce Wraps to Kaluna Crispy Rice Cake.
Beverage enthusiasts will find unique cocktails and zero-proof libations on the menu, like the Kokuto Whiskey, made with Legent Bourbon, Japanese Black Sugar, Sansho-Infused Angostura and Orange, the White Peach Daiquiri crafted with Bacardi Rum, White Peach, Lime, Sparkling Peach Sake, and Peach Boba, and the Hapa Highball, consisting of Toki Japanese Whiskey, Pineapple, Yuzu and Bubbles. The restaurant also offers unique selections of sake and Japanese Whisky, as well as beer and wine.
Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing
The restaurant’s menus are fully transparent and include sourcing details about every single menu item. From Bigeye Tuna that hails from Hawaii to Dutch Yellowtail from the Netherlands and Blue Crab from Nicaragua, the Flagship Restaurant Group and Blue Sushi Sake Grill team have made it their mission, through their Conscious Earth program, to educate diners about the quality of food they serve, their commitment to responsible sourcing, and their ongoing partnerships with the leaders in sustainability like the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and non-profit organizations focused on animal welfare.
Blue Sushi Sake Grill is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.