How to buy sushi in Colorado, when I'm not there?

October 25, 2006 10:35 AM

If my sister and I didn't live halfway across the country from each other, I would take her out for sushi for her birthday. Since I can't be there, and she can't be here, I'd like to pay for her and her boyfriend to go out for dinner instead. What's a decent sushi place I could send them to in or near Fort Collins, CO, and how do I pay for it?

She's not a sushi expert by any means, so it's not like the place needs to have the crazy weird sushi preferred by aficianados. Some tasty rolls and a nice atmosphere are all that's needed. Suggestions in Boulder or Denver would be fine too, as she makes the trip down to the bigger cities fairly often.

Bonus points for recommendations on how to actually pay for someone else's meal from afar. In my perfect world I could just tell my sister and her boyfriend where to go, and have the restaurant charge my card for whatever they end up spending. Failing that, I'd be happy to buy a gift card over the phone and have them hold it at the restaurant for her. In this age of credit card fraud, do you think a restaurant would go for either of these ideas? Got any other suggestions?

Thanks for your help, everyone!

posted by vytae to food & drink (14 comments total)

I unfortunately can't help with the sushi restaurants in Ft. Collins, but depending on when her birthday is (if you'd have enough time to get it in the mail), you could send her one of those pre-paid Discover cards or Mastercards and tell her they're only to spend it on sushi?
posted by slyboots421 at 11:08 AM on October 25, 2006

In Fort Collins, there are several sushi places, but for a special occasion, I'd go to Suehiro. (223 Linden St, 970-482-3734) It's in Old Town, has a nice atmosphere, and is pretty much as good as sushi gets 1200 miles inland.

As for payment, you've got me. But the people there have been very nice to me in the past, so try giving them a call.
posted by zeypher at 11:32 AM on October 25, 2006

Maybe I've missed something, but is there a reason you can't just buy a restaurant gift certificate and send it or have it sent to them? It shouldn't take more than a couple days for a local restaurant to mail it to her.
posted by boomchicka at 11:55 AM on October 25, 2006

Boomchicka: some restaurants don't have gift certificates, especially when they aren't chains.

Call the restaurant and ask them. What they might be able to do is have a form that they fax to you & you sign (I know that a restaurant I worked at did this) and then they'd run your credit card after the meal. It all depends on the restaurant's policy. Get a few names of restaurants and then call them all and see how they will accomodate you.
posted by witchstone at 12:03 PM on October 25, 2006

I like Jeju in Ft. Collins (238 South College Avenue 970-416-7733) on the south end of Old Town, but I've not been to Suehiro. Jeju at one time had a tempura fried cheesecake that was easily the best thing I've eaten in the past few years. I'm of no help in recommending places in Denver/Boulder, but I hope people chime in so I try out someplace new!
posted by dr. fresh at 12:13 PM on October 25, 2006

My sister and father did this exact thing for my wife's birthday a few weeks ago (we had sushi too), and it was awesome - she really enjoyed it! I would suggest contacting her boyfriend and having him do some of the legwork - find a good/fancy place, make sure that she doesn't have other plans, make reservations, etc ) call the restaurant and tell them you'll be paying for their meal (and tip). Most restaurants would not have a problem with you leaving your credit card number for this kind of thing. My sister and dad also had a small bouquet of flowers delivered to the restaurant, and they were on the table when we got there.
posted by sluggo at 12:25 PM on October 25, 2006

If I were you, I'd get her boyfriend in on the plan. First of all, he may have made other plans to take her out on her birthday, so it would be considerate to check in with him before making any plans from afar. Not to rain on your parade, but I'd be a little weirded out if my SO's sibling made plans for the two of us for his birthday, since I consider that to be a celebration generally planned by one's SO or by other friends and family members in the celebrant's geographic area.

But assuming he likes the idea of having you plan their birthday date, he can act as your financial proxy, either by paying for the dinner and having you reimburse him or by receiving money from you and using it to buy them dinner. He may prefer to do it on a night other than her actual birthday, and he may have an idea of a restaurant she would like in the area, since he knows it better than you do. I'd make him your co-conspirator, ask for his help, and go from there.
posted by decathecting at 12:38 PM on October 25, 2006

Boulder has a few good sush places, as I recall. Hapa Sushi on the Pearl Street Mall seemed popular, but I think Sushi Zanmai (a block or so off the Pearl Street Mall) was a bit nicer.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 12:41 PM on October 25, 2006

HighTechUnderpants: Yeah, in Boulder (where I live) Sushi Zanmai is the way to go. Hapa is trendy and has some interesting dishes, but is expensive and not that high quality IMHO. I know some people like Sushi Tora a lot, and it does tend toward authentic, but I've always been a bit dissapointed (especially by the service.. ick). Japango is so-so, but has an all you can eat night, and a good bar.

In Fort Collins (my SO lived up there for two years, and I drove up every weekend), Suehiro was always a good meal. Nimo's (on Elizabeth) was good, but the atmosphere is brightly lit stripmall. Mt. Fuji (South College) underwhelmed me every time and has the same strip-mall chique. Never tried Jeju.
posted by zeypher at 1:17 PM on October 25, 2006

My favorite local sushi spot is Sushi Hana in Longmont, although I mostly go there for non-sushi dishes. The atmosphere is pretty straight-forward... cozy, but nothing too fancy.

In Fort Collins, I've heard good things about both Suehiro and Jeju, but I don't have any firsthand experience.
posted by jal0021 at 2:46 PM on October 25, 2006

ok, I know nothing about Ft. Fun besides that there's a fantastic place a block north of campus where you can get calzones the size of your head, that doubles as a tattoo parlour/headshop/sex shop (that stuff's all upstairs before you ask).

that said I do know Boulder.

Hapa is terrible. terrible terrible terrible. trendy, overpriced, overflowing with the abercrombie and fitch crowd and the sushi is not that great.

Zanmai is the place to go if you want fancy 'roll' style sushi, tho their quality has kinda slipped in the past year or so.

Tora has the best nigiri sushi but I agree their service is slow. I'd call it more 'relaxed' than 'bad' as they don't pressure you to turn tables like they do at the trendier joints.

All of the sushi places in Boulder are very, very crowded on any weekend night, and generally get destroyed right at the 7.00 dinner rush, and never really recover seeing as practically no place in Boulder is ever open past 10 or 10.30.

The owners of Tora have recently opened a new place in Gunbarrel, in the strip mall next to King Soopers (just south of Lookout Rd.). The sushi is amazing, the service is amazing, it's neither trendy nor pretentious, they do good business but are never crowded and I think it's the bee's knees.

of course this could be because it's 2 blocks from my house but what do I know?

anyway Hana in Longmont is really good too. I think their sushi is good, probably better than Zanmai, definitely better than Hapa.

2nding what decathecting said about checking with the bf first, too.

good luck.
posted by lonefrontranger at 4:14 PM on October 25, 2006

rats of course I forgot a link to my fave place. It's called Akiyama, and here's a link to a Daily Camera review where they raved about it.
posted by lonefrontranger at 4:17 PM on October 25, 2006

Thanks everyone, these suggestions and mini-reviews are really helpful. It's nice to hear what the ambience is like, so I don't send them to someplace whose "atmosphere is brightly lit strip mall." I'm going to call around to a few places to see what payment options they'd be willing to work with. (Please feel free to keep suggesting, though!)

Also, rest assured that I'm not stepping on any toes or interfering with other birthday plans. I wasn't planning to force them into any specific day for the dinner, but even so, this plan is a bit . . . ahem . . . belated.

Also, getting the boyfriend involved is a really great idea, and I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it on my own. The only trouble is, I have no idea how to get in touch with him without asking my sister for his contact info. They're a relatively recent item, so I don't even know his last name yet. I'll check with other family members to see if anyone knows.
posted by vytae at 9:08 PM on October 25, 2006

My grocery store, the mall information booth, and the local convenience store all sell prepaid credit cards with both the AMEX and MC imprint. In your shoes I'd find a recommended sushi restaurant (chowhound.org has good writeups often, or you could post this as a question there) and print out the information and send it accompanied with the card.

Unfortunately those cards - offensively - seem to have a $5 to $10 cost on top of the amount you put on them, so they're inferior to a gift certificate. On the other hand this way she can ignore your suggestion and go get a facial if she prefers.
posted by phearlez at 11:52 AM on October 26, 2006