What's 'Sushi-zza?' Chicago spot's unique take out goes viral

CHICAGO (WGN) — The typical Chicago take-out — pizza — comes in cardboard. But in Lake View, there's something fishy about the pizza boxes coming from the local sushi spot Tanuki Sushi and Grill.

General manager Natramon Intragaragate came up with the popular "Sushi-zza" box.

"I like the moment that people open the box and say, 'Oh I thought it was pizza,’ and open it and it’s like 'What? What the heck?'” she said. "It is called the 'sushi-zza' box because it combines with the sushi and the pizza."

It really caught on when food influencer Erica Noblecilla featured the quirky creation on her popular foodie Instagram account Erica Eats Everything.

“They hadn't really tapped into the influencer marketing scene yet,” she said. “I would say I posted my video, it went live, it hit a million. It went crazy.”

The video of her sampling the sushi in a box has more than 7.5 million views and Tanuki Sushi has more than tripled sales.

The pizza box is packed with six to eight sushi rolls. There are nearly 70 types of sushi on the menu and customers can mix and match in their “sushi-zza" box.  It can cost anywhere from $60 to $120 based on the specific sushi ordered.

The initial viral video attracted more social media influencers and the restaurant had to hire more sushi chefs to keep up with the demand for the bamboo-molded, seaweed-wrapped rice creations. 

Open for more than a decade, the once relatively quiet BYOB Thai and sushi spot is now a destination for Chicagoans and out-of-towners.

The “sushi-zza” success story is a lesson on how out-of-the-box thinking combined with the reach of social media can change a business.