Who else is excited to hear there’s a new vegan sushi restaurant in Long Beach? Honestly, that’s not even a question—everyone loves sushi! The new spot, named Vegan Castle, was founded by a well-versed sushi chef who used to work at Kenshō Vegan Sushi.

Vegan Sushi Chef Tony Do

Tony Do began his career as a sushi chef back in 2005. He started working for Kenshō Vegan Sushi in Westminster right around the time they first opened in August of 2018. In fact, he was the first one who showed up for the interview. There, Do was introduced to plant-based cooking and quickly proved his talents as a vegan sushi chef. After working at Kenshō for about two and a half years, Do decided it was time to venture on and open a sushi restaurant of his own—and his bosses were all for it!

Sandy Do, owner of Kenshō wrote in an Instagram post about how grateful she was for Tony’s work. She said, “I couldn’t keep up with the orders and I needed a break from the kitchen. I knew it was in safe hands when you arrived, and I’ve learned so much since then. I am happy to see you venture out, and I wish you all the success! Go and support.”

Vegan Castle in Long Beach

One day while looking for an apartment, Do stumbled across a building and thought to himself, “Hey, that would make a great sushi spot!” Fast forward to now, Do is operating a full-scale restaurant out of this building that he manifested for himself. *cries happy tears*

Do opened the doors to Vegan Castle in Long Beach earlier this month intending to serve fresh and flavorful sushi to vegan and veg-curious peeps in the area. He told us, “I want to create a menu that vegans and non-vegans will love and maybe even turn them vegan.”

The Menu at Vegan Castle

Aside from classic (yet innovative) sushi rolls, the menu at Vegan Castle features a wide range of delectable dishes such as crispy fish tacos, shrimp hand rolls, spicy tuna on crispy rice, and more. Do also plans to release other menu items like soups and burgers down the line but, honestly, we plan to order an omakase anytime we stop by. Fun fact: Omakase is the Japanese tradition of letting a chef choose your order. The word literally translates to "I will leave it to you,” and honestly, who knows the menu better than the chef?

The Long Beach vegan food scene has taken off within the past few years and we are so happy to add Vegan Castle to the list of restaurants we want to order from on the reg. C’mon, who doesn’t love sushi? Vegan Castle had their soft opening on July 1st and is now open from 12-9pm every day except Wednesdays. You can find the restaurant at 2400 Santa Fe Avenue Long Beach, CA 90810. For more information, follow @vegancastlelb on Instagram.