Business & Tech

Japanese Restaurant Leaves Plaza, Returns Liquor License

The Braintree restaurant closed without notice in October.

Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant that used a conveyor belt to deliver food to its customers at the South Shore Plaza, closed last month and has been removed completely from the mall.

The company that owned the restaurant, Wasabi South Shore, later informed the Board of License Commissioners by letter that it did not seek to renew or transfer its Wine & Malt Restaurant License.

Instead, Wasabi gave the alcohol license back to the Town of Braintree. Chief Financial Officer Steven J. Pischel, in a letter to the board, did not give a reason for the closing. 

The 1,851-square-foot restaurant opened in August 2012 in the area outside of Macy's. It sat 74 people and utilized a conveyor belt to send sushi and other food around to customers sitting in booths or at a counter.

Wasabi was granted the alcohol license this past June after withdrawing a request the year before in light of opposition from town officials. It closed "on or about" Oct. 12, 2013, according to a letter from the board to the company president.

The company's website still lists South Shore Plaza among its locations, along with a Natick restaurant and locations in Virginia, Texas and Florida. The site does not list a company phone number nor an email address aside from a general "info" email. The phone number associated with the Plaza location is disconnected.

A search of the company records within the Secretary of the Commonwealth website turns up an Arlington, VA address for South Shore Wasabi Co. and lists Clyde L. Davis as the sole executive, but does not include a phone number.

The address listed with the Commonwealth and used by the board for correspondence is for a UPS store in Arlington.

No one from the company appeared at a license board meeting Tuesday afternoon at Town Hall.


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