With a limited amount of activities to do while loitering in Tampa, many tend to spend time with friends at local restaurants. Recently, sushi has become a staple in the New Tampa area and lots of Japanese-style restaurants have popped up to accommodate frequent sushi cravings.

Koizi Endless Hibachi & Sushi Eatery is in walking distance from Freedom High School and is the go-to place for hungry locals who are looking for a great deal. The restaurant offers a flat-rate pricing system which includes all you can eat sushi and other menu items that you can order. The restaurant also does not charge extra for seats at the hibachi table, where you can watch your food being cooked in front of you.

“Koizi is one of my favorite restaurants to be honest,” said Junior Lamine Diagne, “It’s cheap and easy to pay for. I can get a buffet-style full meal and it fills me up.”

With its close proximity to Freedom, Koizi receives a lot of customers that come to the restaurant on a weekly basis.

“The Koizi staff really appreciates the business of Freedom students,” said Koizi employee and Freedom alumni Bailey Johnson. “We put our heart and soul into our sushi and customer service and we hope to see you soon!”

Although Koizi is a cheap fix for the usually pricey food item, some prefer to dine in at other Tampa based sushi restaurants. Sushi Café, located by Muvico and Panera Bread, is one of these restaurants where students tend to go for quality over quantity.

“I love sushi café over Koizi because they have a killer lunch deal,” said senior Melody Salimian, “you can get hibachi really cheap and sushi too. It brings me so much happiness.”

In the West Meadows area, SushiKo is another enjoyed sushi restaurant with reasonable lunch specials.

“SushiKo is close to where I live and it’s my designated sushi spot,” said senior Vanessa O’Connor, “I love going there with my friends, especially for lunch because it’s affordable and close-by.”

Although it is outside of the New Tampa Area, many do not mind the drive to Takara; another sushi eatery which shares a plaza with Acropolis and Papa John’s Pizza. Takara also has a good lunch deal which includes two sushi rolls for ten dollars.

“Takara is my go-to sushi place because I can always count on them to have fresh fish and good quality food,” said senior Emilie Doeble, “I’ve brought a lot of my friends there and they agree that it is a good change from Koizi and Sushi Café.”

Wherever you chose to go for a bite of sushi, make sure to go during lunch time because that is when most restaurants have cheaper meals. Whether it be Koizi or Sushi Café, these restaurants will definitely not disappoint the inevitable sushi crave.