Mt. Fuji
Six years of photographs illustrate the family atmosphere at Mt. Fuji.
The children whose faces adorn the wall are getting older, but they are still frequent visitors of the Japanese sushi restaurant and hibachi steakhouse.
“They never say goodbye to us, they just keep coming back,” said Qiao Lin, whose sister and brother-in-law own the restaurant.
Lin said the restaurant has been a family affair from the beginning. The Lins would get together as a family and cook. They knew they had good food, and they wanted more than anything to bring families together to experience their unique flavors.
“Every [Japanese] restaurant has similar things, like the Yum-Yum Sauce and the Ginger Dressing,” Lin said. “We figured out how to make it thick, smooth and tasty to keep people coming.”
Mt. Fuji offers Japanese-style seafood and steak, made-to-order sushi, fried rice and, the most popular specialty, hibachi. There are six grills for chefs to cook any kind of meat customers request.
“When you taste it, you can tell the difference,” Lin said. “That’s what keeps people coming around. They’re crazy about the rice and the sauce.”
Lin remembers a young girl who came into the restaurant with her mother. She was about 5 or 6 years old and had impaired vision, but as soon as she touched the fried rice, she knew what she was eating.
“Ah, this is the rice, the fried rice, and this is the sauce,” she said. “I just love it. It’s just really good.”
“I heard it from the side, and I was like, ‘That’s what we are here for,’” Lin said. “We bring them food. It’s really simple, but when you feel that, it’s really great.”
Owning the restaurant and working together as a family also allows the Lins to control the quality of the food. They ensure that every fish is of the best quality before turning it into one of Mt. Fuji’s specialty sushi rolls.
Some of the more popular rolls are the Foxy Lady and the football-inspired Roll Tide Roll and Tiger Roll. They experiment with different combinations, and Lin said they enjoy bringing different cultures together in their food. Rolls are usually on special once or twice a week.
Business has always been stable by word-of-mouth recommendations, and the Lin family tries to make people feel special.
People often come in to celebrate birthdays with Mt. Fuji’s complimentary fried ice cream, birthday singing and the disco ball they turn on for the occasion. They even stay open on Christmas and are usually packed with people who have made Mt. Fuji a holiday tradition.
“It’s kind of special,” Lin said. “People come here to gather together with families, mostly. Most of our customers are families, and it’s family style.”