Sushi restaurant coming to former Lake George Howard Johnson's

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The former home of the last remaining Howard Johnson's restaurant in the U.S. is adopting something new this year. The restaurant is trading in American family fare for sushi.

Washington County Japanese restaurant Sushi Wa is set to open a new location inside the former Howard Johnson's on Route 9 in Lake George, an employee confirmed to NEWS10 this week. Sushi Wa opened in 2021 at 368 Broadway in the village of Fort Edward.

According to reporting by the Albany Times Union, Sushi Wa intends to open the new location by the end of August, with the same menu as the restaurant's existing location. Sushi Wa offers standard and specialty sushi rolls, hibachi, and other Japanese entrees.

The Lake George Howard Johnson's first went up for lease in December 2021, remaining closed and vacant through the 2022 summer season. First opened in the 1950s, the restaurant was part of a now-shuttered national chain.

The Lake George location is owned by the DeSantis family, with operators changing over the decades. In 2017, then-operator Jonathan LaRock was arrested on counts of sexual abuse and endangerment connected to at least 15 employees. The restaurant was operated by Bill Sullivan from 2018 to the end of the 2021 season.