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Wasabi customers help restaurant move to temporary location

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By ZACH PLUHACEK / Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, Apr 29, 2007 - 11:54:10 pm CDT

Restaurant owner Robert Burns wanted people know Wasabi is still in Lincoln.

He also needed help moving dozens of tables and chairs a couple of blocks to a temporary location.

So Sunday, his most devoted customers and employees marched in a two-block parade down 14th Street, carrying decorations, furniture and supplies from the old location at 239 N 14th St. to the temporary spot in Phreddy’s Phillys at 114 S. 14th St.

“We’re trying to move there to here in one night,” said Burns, who owns both restaurants. “All these people are volunteers that are just customers.”

Wasabi moved to make room for a parking garage and high-rise project. Another restaurant next door, Taste of China, recently closed for the same reason.

Wasabi had been at its old location six years.

David Welch had been eating at the restaurant regularly for four of them. He designs Wasabi’s Web site.

“We want to keep Wasabi in town here,” he said. “If (Burns) can’t get some help from the City Council, we may be losing him.”

Burns said he will be meeting with City Council members today to discuss possible assistance in moving to a permanent location.

Right now, his eyes are on a spot he has taken a lease on at 10th and N streets.

“After six years of doing business I have to start over,” Burns said. “We need something to help us out to get started.”

Reach Zach Pluhacek at 473-7395 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com.


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Doug wrote on April 30, 2007 5:51 am:
" If the council helps one person it will have to help anyone who asks for it or they will have suits coming out of their ears and I will be one of them "

 sushi fan wrote on April 30, 2007 10:36 am:
" If a tenant, not the owner of a building, is forced out by future developments shouldn't the city have a responsibility to the tenant? The landlord walks away with their check in hand and their tenant is left at the curb. MARCH ON WASABI ROBBIE!! "

 New story please wrote on April 30, 2007 10:51 am:
" How many times are we going to hear this recycled story? Sorry you had to move but so do a lot of people. Move on and start making something of your new opportunities. Most people don't get as much support as this guy. "

 seriously?? wrote on April 30, 2007 10:54 am:
" Assistance in moving to a permanent location??? Relocation is part of small business. We had to do it when the building we were in was sold and nobody "assisted" us with our move. I still have the receipts of what it cost us to move -- maybe I'll show up at a city council meeting and get laughed at, too. And anyone who says “Well, he had to move because the city is redeveloping the area –“ – that’s the same reason we had to move. "

 You just ruined Phreddy's wrote on April 30, 2007 1:11 pm:
" I went down there today for lunch, although you just opened a few months ago, you're already closed while you renovate for Wasabi. The size of the place was small to begin with, I think Phreddy's is going to be forgotton. "

 Hands out wrote on April 30, 2007 3:56 pm:
" That's what this sounds like to me. My guess is he already got a big fat check to move out in the first place. As has been said, this is part of having a business. "

 milk toast wrote on April 30, 2007 5:40 pm:
" let's see.. If you have to have people who frequent your resturante help you move,you are not a sucsess.I had dinner at Wasabi twice it was a grand dissapointment.I'll have the california roll and the cheese steak...get it???? "

 jim wrote on April 30, 2007 10:59 pm:
" If the city is going to help him start over, why doesen't help me get started. I'm sure I could create a better restaurant. "

 What negativity wrote on May 1, 2007 8:57 am:
" Interesting batch of comments. I know for a fact that he does not have a big fat check as of the time of the move. I don't know what type of business all of who got booted have, but a restaurant is not like a retail store, where you move supplies, plug in lights and a cash register and open the doors. There is an extreme amount of work and costs associated with starting up a restaurant - unless you move into a spot that was already designed for a restaurant. I have known at least one restaurant that was in a similar situation that had to close its doors after being in the new space - all in the name of progress. "

 move on wrote on May 2, 2007 3:01 am:
" We owned a restaurant and had to move. I agree its hard work. It’s nice of his customers to want to help. If you’re not up to it or need assistance from the city to pay for it, you might want to rethink what you’re doing. Asking for a handout is a cheap way to get something free in a competitive business. Ever-increasing food costs, payroll, employee turnover, equipment problems, possible relocation, and a number of other things are all part of running a restaurant. If you didn’t know these were standard issues before you opened the business, now you do, so either accept them or get out. "

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