FOOD & DRINK

Fresh Concept

Killer Sushi serves chef-crafted rolls and cocktails on the water

By Sara Edwards

Killer Café, the former 24-hour, family-owned cafe concept, has now become Killer Sushi, an evening sushi bar with oversized booths and fresh, hand cut sushi and sashimi with gorgeous waterfront views. The new restaurant opened in May 2022 after a year of renovations and recipe testing. Kevin Michaels is one of the co-founders and owners of Killer Sushi, along with two other popular restaurants, Killer Shrimp and Killer Yacht Club. He said the family has been working on a sushi concept for one of their restaurants for about six years and, after opening the restaurants back up after COVID, the late-night, 24-hour diner space wasn’t working anymore. “Transitioning to sushi was like a natural progression,” Michaels said. “We had a good grasp on what made a good sushi bar so we went fully in on the design and brought in the right chefs to make sure everything was put together perfectly.” Killer Sushi sits in the same location as the former Killer Cafe, but has been completely renovated with a brand new sushi bar and counter. The back patio that overlooks the Marina was redesigned from Formerly Killer Café, Killer Sushi is a new restaurant in Marina del Rey that serves fresh, hand cut sushi and sashimi.

an old brick to complete wood patio seating space. Michaels and his family have been industry running their three businesses in the restaurant for 35 years and have a background in commercial and sport fishing. He said they are one of the only commercially licensed docks in the Marina and work closely with local fishermen to supply the restaurant. They close on Monday and Tuesday in coordination with their fishermen’s schedules to catch fresh fish like bluefin, catfish, yellowtail and tuna for the week. And whatever fish they can’t get locally, they source around the world from the freshest fishermen. “We’re tied in with the commercial fishermen around the world and especially the local guys,” Michaels said. “There’s really no one else that has their own fishing boat that brings them fish.” Michaels shared that the restaurant has experienced sushi chefs who design rolls using Killer Shrimp spices to add a new spin to traditional sushi rolls and menu items. The restaurant has traditional sushi and hand rolls like a caterpillar roll, Philadelphia roll and spicy tuna roll, but they also have chef specialty rolls created by the sushi chefs themselves. Some of the notable rolls are the Surf & Turf roll, a piece of tempura shrimp and cucumber topped with seared filet mignon, garlic, scallion and garlic soy; and the Rock & Roll with spicy tuna, cucumber and soy paper topped with a spicy, creamy aioli, shrimp, basil oil and habanero soy. “There’s some unique stuff you won’t find at other sushi bars that plays off our spices and taste profiles,” Michaels said. “Our goal is to just have the freshest ocean-to-table fish as possible and bring in the amazing staples from wherever the best fish in the world is.” The restaurant also has its crafted specialty cocktails that pair perfectly with the food, along with a variety of sake and Japanese whiskeys. “The restaurant turned out exactly how we wanted it to turn out,” Michaels said. “We have thousands of people that we serve that have become like family at our nice, communitybased restaurant on the water.”

Killer Sushi

4213 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey 310-578-2250 killersushimdr.com