KiKu Revolving Sushi, Glendale

KiKu Revolving Sushi Bar sends appetizers, specialty sushi rolls, and desserts around a conveyor belt for guests to snatch whenever they’re ready. Each small, color-coded plate may hold tuna tataki, shrimp tempura, or spicy tuna rolls sprinkled with tonkatsu flakes and drizzled in eel sauce. Even beverages travel along the conveyor belt, waiting for hands to pluck them up. Waiters tally totals at the end of the meal, charging diners for which colored plates they chose and checking to make sure they haven’t accidentally taken someone else’s luggage.

Unlike other restaurants’ conveyor-belt systems, KiKu's isn’t contained to just the sushi-bar area; rather, it travels in a long, wide rectangle to throughout the restaurant. Patrons can sit on the outside of the rectangle at the countertop or inside at one of the tables and booths, all of which provide easy access to the conveyor belt.

The yellow, green, purple, and red plates aren’t the only sources of color in the restaurant. Its walls are also splashed with bold reds, greens, and yellows, and a brightly colored mural of multihued people overlooks the dining area. Pink and yellow paper lanterns decorated with blossoming cherry trees add to the brightness.