While Downtown students take a break from school, the Arizona Center is hard at work with some summer changes.
Some of those changes include the opening of a new restaurant called Sushi KoKoRo & Noodle Bar and closing of the Arizona Center Quick Mart convenience store.
“(The opening) went pretty good, and we were so busy for our first day,” said Lena Ko, the owner of Sushi KoKoRo.
As of now the restaurant isn’t accepting Maroon & Gold Dollars, but they will give 10 percent off to all students with proper school identification. The restaurant opened Tuesday for business, but won’t have their official grand opening day until June 15.
What sets Sushi KoKoRo apart from other sushi restaurants is that their sushi is served much faster, Ko said, adding that most plates won’t take more than five minutes to serve
For Downtown students, such as Erica Silva, a journalism senior, the restaurant’s location is convenient.
“Now that I know it’s open, I will go there,” Silva said. “It’s a non-fattening meal and I have a summer class around lunch time so it would be nice to go there.”
Even though the business is new, the restaurant plans to have specials for students, Ko said.
“We’re working on a happy hour for the students after we get our liquor license,” Ko said. The owner plans to get an alcohol license for the restaurant in late June or early July.
Another change to the Arizona Center is the shutdown of the Quick Mart, which opened in 2010, after just over a year of business. A Downtown Devil investigation late last year found the Quick Mart to have higher prices than the Taylor Place convenience store or other surrounding stores.
David Roderique, president of Downtown Phoenix Partnership, said that no matter how good a business does, some inevitably will shut down because some businesses are experimental.
The center is making money overall, however, with the help of restaurants, Roderique said. The nearby area will also see a new apartment complex in the next couple of years as well as an expansion of the University of Arizona campus that will be moving downtown, which is going to help the Arizona Center find added success, Roderique said.
Contact the reporter at maritsa.granillo@asu.edu
