Bizarre, Society, Torts

That’s Why They Call It Sue-Shi: Los Angeles Man Sues Over Denial of All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Bar

There is an interesting case in Los Angeles where David Martin found an all-you-can-eat offer at a Sushi restaurant a bit fishy . . . or perhaps not fishy enough. Martin went to the Studio City restaurant to take advantage of the all you can eat deal for $28. However, because he is a diabetic, he proceeded to eat the fish and leave the rice. That led Restaurant owner Jay Oh to cry foul and demand that he either eat the rice with the fish or pay a la carte prices. That led Martin to file suit.

Oh says that the offer was for sushi not sashimi, which is just fish. The lawsuit could force the court to render a decision on common meaning of sushi as opposed to sashimi — a quintessential L.A. case. It reminds me of the New York case that turns on the meaning of “hacking the fish” at Jewish delis.

Martin is seeking at least $4,000 in damages for the “humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish.” He also claims that he was discriminated against on the basis of disability.

Source: LA Times

Jonathan Turley

39 thoughts on “That’s Why They Call It Sue-Shi: Los Angeles Man Sues Over Denial of All-You-Can-Eat Sushi Bar”

  1. I’ve eaten at the restaurant in question. It is very good, and the menu clearly states that one must eat everything on the plate, including rice, before ordering another item. They don’t limit portions by mounding rice on the plate; the only rice there is in the sushi itself.

    That said, “Simpsons did it.”

  3. This is the most blatant case of false advertising since my suit against the film, “The Neverending Story”

  5. I’m not saying this is the case here, but I’ve been to a few places where the “all you can eat of X” offer explicitly said that everything on the plate had to be consumed, including a few sushi joints.

  6. I’m with the restaurant on this one. Suppose a donut shop offered all-you-can-eat donuts and a customer licked the frosting off and left the rest. The offer was for donuts, not frosting. In the same way, it is the rice that makes the sushi (consider chirashi-zushi or inari-zushi).

  7. Technically speaking, “sushi” is the rice.

    Sliced raw fish is called sashimi.

  8. One of the prices I’ve had to pay for my new heart is no more sushi
    due to immune-suppressant drugs. While it’s certainly a small price to pay for life, damn AY I love it. Along with it goes the rare steaks I also love. Prior though, if there was an all-you-can-eat sushi place that actually had good stuff I’d be there. Unfortunately, all-you-can-eat restaurants are usually third rate.
    This one couldn’t be any good given the stupidity of the management.

  9. . . .The “bait” was: “ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI,” (not the “switch” to: “ALL YOU CAN EAT RICE”) but the cunning restaurant owner, Jay Oh, did not mention “but you must eat all the Rice I put on your plate.”
    Jay’s hidden agenda was that he expects the “Customer,” David Martin, to eat all the rice (how many pounds of Rice?) and not have room in his belly for seconds on the advertised “Sushi.”
    . . .At the very moment Jay Oh refused to serve David Martin a second helping of Sushi, Dave should have loudly protested that the advertisement was for “ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI,” and not “ALL YOU CAN EAT RICE.”
    . . .For example, if you respond to an MacDonald’s ad that it is offering “ALL YOU CAN DRINK COFFEE,” but MacDonald’s wants you to eat 5 pounds of SUGAR (you gonna eat the sugar?) before MacDonald’s will serve you more “COFFEE,” do you have a justifiable complaint against MacDonald’s?
    . . .Dave could have refused to pay the $28 dinner bill and called the cops to make a complaint that Jay was defrauding customers of “Sushi” and thereby operating a “Racketeering Enterprise” in violation of the U.S. RICO Act.
    . . .Dave could have also sued the Cook, the Waitress, and the Cashier for damages and this would have caught Jay Oh’s attention.
    . . .Also, Dave could have sued the media — Newspaper, TV Station, Internet Publication, and Internet Service Provider — that carried each one of Jay Oh’s “SUSHI” advertisements.
    . . .Suing the “other Parties” gives Dave more latitude to maneuver in the litigation and “leverage” it to persuade Jay that Jay was wrong.
    . . .Dave should have enumerated much more than $4,000 in damages for the “humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish.” Dave also claims that he was discriminated against on the basis of disability, which was a very astute move on Dave’s part.
    . . .In the future, I bet that Jay will be more careful about “pushing” the Rice.
    . . .My guess is that Jay will eventually figure out that the extra helpings of Sushi that Dave wanted to eat would have cost Jay less than the litigation will cost Jay to defend.

  10. sorry mouse placed the the SU at the end….. It is hyper gliding this morning…

  11. Tony C.,

    Nope…..the only thing I like almost raw and that is Beef…… Slap it on the ass, knock its horns off and place it on my plate…..

    MFM,

    That is funny….. I can tell the Meds have not kicked in yet this morning…… I do agree that Children wiping snot off of their runny noses should not be allowed to handle the serving spoons….. But hey….that is just my though…. That is why I don’t eat at those places……

    MetroCowboy,

    That is too true…… I think her time is better spent defending Nancy Grace….. You have heard of single issue voters….. Well MFM is a single issue threader…..

  12. michellefrommadison 1, February 25, 2011 at 11:05 am

    No person who is overweight should be allowed entry to an all-you-can-eat anything, imo. Those people are part of the reason why our healthcare costs are so high. Restaurants should all have scales and height measures at the door, everyone has to pass the height/weight test before being allowed to enter all restaurants, anyone overweight for their height should be banned until a future re-testing imo. Add this measure to the monitoring system like maintaining a valid driver’s license.

    That is the goddamned dumbest thing Ive read in a long time

  13. @AY: Really? You do not eat tuna? That is what most sushi is. What is the point of bait if it isn’t to catch fish (or other seafood) and eat them?

    As for it being raw, well, that’s how I like a lot of my fruit and vegetables. How much a food is cooked is a matter of personal taste (literally speaking).

  16. Reputation, Reputation, Reputation…… a Restaurant can be in a seedy neighborhood… but if its a decent one it boils down to Reputation…….

    I think the management could have put a blanket statement up……that in some cases we can or will limit the all you can eat……..

    It just escapes reasoning to me that people pay so much for bait……

  17. No person who is overweight should be allowed entry to an all-you-can-eat anything, imo. Those people are part of the reason why our healthcare costs are so high. Restaurants should all have scales and height measures at the door, everyone has to pass the height/weight test before being allowed to enter all restaurants, anyone overweight for their height should be banned until a future re-testing imo. Add this measure to the monitoring system like maintaining a valid driver’s license.

  18. You ar right Mike S. about the owner, but this customer is an idiot. Who cares if they won’t allow you to have more raw fish. Move on to the next one on the list and let everyone know that the first place is using a “bait and switch” technique.

  19. How stupid could the management of this place be? This is a no-win situation they’ve placed themselves in for ignoring the predilections of one customer.

  20. That will prove interesting. I have been to a few all-you-can-eat buffets; and I have never even heard of management complaining to patrons about not eating all they take. Or that people are primarily eating the meat products, which is true. I’m pretty sure they expect that up front, and provide the sub-prime grade and mystery-grind for that very reason!

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