Groupon + Free Sushi = Fun

Finding a great sushi restaurant is like finding that perfect little black dress. You know the dress I’m talking about, tight fitting at all the right places, flattering in any light and angle… the kind of dress you can dress up or down and will always be appropriate. Good sushi restaurants are easy to find, but the best ones force the eater to do heavy research and taste testing. To fall into the category of my “favorite sushi restaurant”, eateries must pass each of the following criteria: flavor, variety, friendliness, price and convenience. Because of the high saturation of sushi places in DFW, gaining new customers is often easier than getting regular customers to return. By offering excellent deals on Groupons or advertising specials on Yelp, businesses hope to hook a new customer and keep them coming back for more.

I bought my first Groupon recently, my boyfriend and I have intended to try this sushi place called NAAN in Uptown. We originally walked in and found it to be a little pricey, but remembered seeing a Groupon for it, so I waited for it to come back around to buy it. The Groupon entitled us to $60 worth of sushi for $30; it seemed like the perfect way to sample a wide variety of rolls without paying full price. After hearing rumors about businesses not wanting to honor these types of coupons, I felt a little nervous with my first purchase, but it worked beautifully. Oddly enough, the most difficult part was ordering enough food to total $60.



Naan's Volcano Roll



My boyfriend Justin and I both love rolls with crab, shrimp and tuna, also anything containing the phrase spicy – naturally we decided to order something called a “Devil Roll”, skeptical of the supposed heat level, we felt we could take it on with confidence in our ability to finish the roll. We also ordered an SMU roll, a volcano roll, a Texas Tornado roll and an order of prime beef short ribs. I like to think of myself as someone who can handle heat, spices, chiles, peppers, etc. that being said, the Devil Roll defeated me. Despite looking innocent enough, the small roll filled with tuna and spicy Japanese mustard packed a punch to the tongue, throat and nasal passages. I had two pieces and couldn’t attempt the third. After consuming several pieces of the remaining rolls, I determined that the SMU Mustang Roll was by far my favorite. Filled with cream cheese, avocado, salmon, topped with crab and a spicy sauce, this roll was out of this world. And because my boyfriend goes to SMU Law School, the chef gave us an additional one to take home for free! All together, I’d say a successful evening out, between Groupon and the quality of Naan, we will most definitely be back, especially for the half-priced happy hour.