KENOSHA, Wis. — When you think of good sushi, Kenosha often doesn’t come to mind. But Soon's Sushi Cafe has become an absolute hit in its 19 years of business. However, they might not be around for much longer.
The owners, Robert and Soon Noel, said that they might be closing their doors for good. They said it's just getting harder to run a restaurant as they get older. The two will turn 85 in 2023.
“Next year thinking about quitting because it will be 20 years that we had the restaurant. It will be our 25th wedding anniversary, and we’ll both be 85," Rober Soon said.
Soon and Robert opened the shop it 2004 when they were both in their mid 60s. The sushi restaurant has become beloved by many. It has been consistently ranked among the top sushi spots in Wisconsin during the past decade. It's why Soon's Sushi Cafe was able to last so long.
“In 2008 when there was a recession, a lot of places were going out of business and everything else and I can’t figure it out yet, but our business doubled," Robert said.
Maybe it was fan loyalty. Or maybe the sushi was just that good.
While the restaurant survived the recession, it almost didn't survive a fire. In 2019, a fire tore through the restaurant. Robert and Soon closed up shop for about a year and a half. It almost put them into an early retirement if it weren't for the dozens of calls Robert would get everyday asking when he would open.
“We were booked for two and a half days before we even opened. Then all of January we were booked for four days ahead. February was two days. March was two days," he said.
But now their journey is coming to an end. Sushi won’t be rolled there much longer. It’s not closing in the next couple of weeks. So, you don’t have to rush to get down here, but you should try this sushi while you still can. It’s definitely worth it.
