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Karma Asian Fusion is now open. With a soft opening last week and a grand opening scheduled for Oct. 8, everyone is excited about the new restaurant.
“Any time a new restaurant comes into a town, it’s not necessarily to be a competition,” General Manager Hope Alvarez said. “It can be good for everybody because it can bring more people to an area. Winchester has a great downtown business district and restaurant presence. It’s a great walkable spot. You can find a little bit of everything and we’re bringing a sushi element to the town.”
Karma opened Sept. 26 at 16 Thompson St. in a space formerly occupied by a Dunkin’, a real estate office and a spa. Their specialty is sushi, but also features Chinese dishes. They also have Peruvian style sauces. Things are mixed and matched, hence the fusion element.
“Sushi has always been popular,” Karma Regional Manager Jimmy Pratt said. “It’s been around a long time and is a clean diet.”
Combining three spaces added to the time needed to install the restaurant and historic elements of the building had to be respected.
Karma also has restaurants in Burlington, where Alvarez previously worked, Concord and Andover. They are owned by Iverson Guo, but it’s not a typical chain.
“They’re not cookie cutter restaurants,” Pratt said. “Each has a different feel and dishes can be different because we have different chefs.”
As a result, each restaurant’s performance is evaluated on its own merits.
“There are different variables,” Pratt explained. “It costs different amounts to open a restaurant in each community, so we evaluate each restaurant individually. Most restaurants struggle in the first year, although we usually do better than that.”
Seating in Winchester is currently at 100, but an outdoor patio scheduled for next year will add 40 more seats. Karma also has an upstairs function room, which Pratt said will be used for VIPS and special events. Some may be related to Karma being an official sponsor of the New England Patriots.
So why come to Winchester?
“The owner picked Winchester,” Pratt said. “He likes the town and the community feeling here. It fits in here. We like to be part of the community.”
Alvarez agreed.
“We’re not just in the restaurant business, but the people business,” she said. “Part of a manager’s job is to interact with guests. It’s an opportunity to get feedback.”
So far everything seems to be going well.
“Everyone has been very receptive and friendly,” Alvarez said.
“Everyone has been very nice,” Pratt added. “The clientele has been great and are excited for us to be here.”
