Owner-namesake Masakazu Homma has decided to finally retire, his son Nao said in an interview Wednesday after the restaurant finished serving lunch. Homma got sick about a year ago, Nao said, and finally caved to the family’s efforts to convince him to retire.
Masakazu Homma prepares sushi during the lunch hour at his restaurant in 2007. Palo Alto Weekly file photo.
Homma sold the 2363 Birch St. restaurant to a couple who plans to remodel the space and open a Japanese restaurant, Nao said.
"It's bittersweet," Nao said. "We're going to miss our customers."
Homma said he wanted to give a "really big thank you" to all of the restaurant's customers.
"If it wasn't for all our good customers over these past years, we wouldn’t be able to make it," Nao said, translating for his father.
The family has put out a book and note at the counter inviting customers to leave farewell messages to the restaurant:
Homma's, which is cash-only, offers a reasonably priced menu of brown-rice nigiri, rolls, donburi, salads and vegetarian sushi in a no-frills environment. (Inside, there’s not much more than the ordering counter, a small sushi bar from behind which Homma works and a handful of tables.)
Head over before Aug. 31 for a final roll, and/or reminisce with this Palo Alto Weekly review from 1994: Sushi, simplified
