We practically tripped over this sign today as we were walking downtown at lunch.

Needless to say, we were appalled.

Which got us to thinking: How can they improve Bocho?

The answers to which came to us faster than salmonella to a sun-baked potato salad.

How can they improve Bocho?

Easy.

> Change the name. (It’s awkward and means nothing to nobody.)

> Change the signage. (It is an elevation of art over the obvious….and all that “art” is doing is confusing people over what this place obviously is.)

> Change whatever stupid scrim/screen covers all the windows and makes what’s going on inside a mystery to passersby. (You have a gorgeous, well-appointed sushi bar….show it off!)

> Change the menu. (If that means bringing in another operator, so be it. Generic, neighborhood sushi surrounded by difficult parking is a recipe for failure. As with burgers and pizza, the sushi IQ of America is light years ahead of what it was ten years ago. The same old same old won’t cut it anymore….unless you’re in a soulless, generic shopping mall….like Downtown Summerlin.)

> Close for lunch. (All-you-can-eat-sushi is only one stop away from Asian buffets on the shitty restaurant train. You won’t make any money and you will drive away real customers who want to spend real money for the real thing.)

> Make it special. Right now it is anything but (see above). As with pornography, we don’t always know what makes a restaurant “special,” but know it when we see it. (Here’s a hint: it usually involves doing something no one else is doing….or doing what everyone is doing better than anyone else.)

That’s it, owner/operators of Bocho. That’ll be $5,000 (or roughly a quarter of what some highly-paid restaurant consultant would charge you to give you the same advice).

On the other hand, if all you want to do is run a generic, by-the-numbers sushi bar, stay the course and have at it. We doubt you’ll be in business by the end of the year.

Sorry, but that’s the way we see it.