Sora Sushi Pop-Up to Make Flats Permanent Home, Add Patio Later This Month

Sora Sushi, which launched in February as a "seasonal pop-up," plans to stay put in its Flats East Bank location. 

For those who follow Cleveland food news, this story might not be too surprising. Though billed as a pop-up, the restaurant's ownership, the Salerno Group, hinted at the possibility of making the space next to Lago Sora's permanent home. Moving to a brick-and-mortar experience after launching as a bento box ghost kitchen, the trendy sushi spot's popularity, largely thanks to local celebrity endorsements and social media buzz over its dining room with a pink-flowered tree, made the creation of a permanent home seem like only a matter of time. 

“The love and support we’ve received in response is overwhelming," says head chef Fabio Salerno, who also leads Lago's kitchen, in a press release. "We’re really proud to be putting down roots in our home city.”

More than just creating a permanent home next door to Lago, however, the restaurant plans to add a streetside patio with an outdoor bar, additional seating and a similarly hip aesthetic. 

“The Sora patio concept is really going to breathe new life into this brand we’ve grown over the past year,” says partner and designer Kumar Arora in the release. “We took a whimsical approach for the interior space, but our outdoor dining plan is truly a love letter to Asian culture and design.” 

Watch our peek inside Sora Sushi on Instagram.