Sushi News

New all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in Plano has a chubby name

Sushi looks great. It's just that name.

Photo courtesy of Chubby Cattle

There's a new destination to get all the sushi you could ever want. If only it had a different name. It's called Rolls by Chubby Cattle, and it's an all-you-can-eat sushi bar and hot pot restaurant located at 2001 Coit Rd. in Plano.

According to a release, Rolls by Chubby Cattle is actually a makeover of a restaurant called Chubby Cattle, whose name is no better.

Chubby Cattle was previously a hot-pot place. But now you can also get ramen and sushi, delivered to your table via a conveyor belt where the food circulates the dining room on a little train, with dishes trundling past your table.

Chubby Cattle was founded in Las Vegas in 2016 by Haibin Yang, whose family runs a Mongolian restaurant chain called Little Lamb. Conveyer belt-based hotpot proved to be a hit in Vegas, and it's doing well at a second Chubby Cattle in Philadelphia.

But Plano, not so much. So they've switched to all-you-can-eat sushi, ramen, and hot pot for $27.99. There's also a $32.99 version with "premium" beef.

Rolls include the No. 1 Chef Choice with crab, cucumber, spicy tuna, salmon, white tuna, and jalapeno, with spicy garlic ponzu; and a tempura "TNT roll" with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, whitefish, and cream cheese, with spicy mayo and eel sauce.

There's also a ramen bar where you can customize your ingredients.

This is the second location; there's one in Denver, Colorado that pivoted earlier this year from Chubby Cattle to Rolls by Chubby Cattle.

Chubby Cattle owner David Zhao says in a statement that the makeover is about bringing more to the table.

"Our goal was never to completely get rid of hot pot, we just wanted to expand our menu and provide more variety," Zhao says.

Dear Chubby Cattle and Rolls by Chubby Cattle, if you think that only having hot pot was keeping you from drawing more customers, you were mistaken.

The problem is the name. Nobody wants to admit they are eating at a restaurant called Chubby Cattle. Change the name.

openings

Fried Chicken News

Chicago restaurant debuts its fried chicken and boba tea in Frisco

Chi Tea

Chi Tea burgers and chicken sandwiches.

A new restaurant serving boba tea and fried chicken just opened in Frisco: Called Chi Tea, it's a chain from Chicago that opened its first location in Texas at 4760 Preston Rd. #228, in a former Bonchon Korean in Frisco Village.

According to a release, It opened November 1.

The concept was founded in Chicago in 2020 by brothers Zak Ayyubi, Aman Siddiqui, and friend Abdurahman Sharif, with an unusual goal to pair fried chicken sandwiches, fries, and bubble tea drinks. They've since opened two more locations in Illinois; Frisco is the fourth and the first outside the state.

The name is a little misleading, as it implies it's a beverage place, but there's equal emphasis on the sandwiches and fries. They also tout their welcoming vibe, encouraging customers to eat, drink, and linger.

Their menu features three sandwiches — Nashville hot fried chicken sandwich, a grilled chicken, and a burger with grilled onions, jalapenos, pickles, cheese, and Chi-sauce — which can also be ordered in a smaller slider size.

There are also fries, loaded fries, popcorn chicken, chicken tenders, and mac & cheese, which can be customized with bacon, beef, fries, and other toppings.

Prices typically range from $5 for a single Chi Tea Classic slider to $13 for four-piece chicken tenders.

Boba drinks are entirely customizable, starting with choice of blended smoothie or over ice, with choice of flavor ranging from pineapple to brown sugar milk tea to horchata; and toppings, like popping pearls or cream cheese foam. A regular starts at $5 and a large starts at $6.

Notably, Chi Tea was among the restaurants selected in the recent Spongebob Krabby Patty promotion during October that took place in 12 cities across North America, included a dozen restaurants in Dallas.

"We are very excited to finally bring a taste of Chicago to the Greater Dallas area," says Ayyubi in a release. "This move has been very promising and we cannot wait for the community to welcome us and for us to serve this beautiful city."

openings