Six Chef’s Perspective on Nobu & Sushi
by Sergio C. Muñoz, Special Feature for the US Hispanic Business Council (USHBC)
According to a Pew Research Center data analysis, 12% of all restaurants in the United States serve Asian food. Today, sushi is widely available from coast to coast but restaurants that serve Japanese food account for 28% of Asian restaurants in the U.S. According to Caroline Price at Toast, here are some relevant restaurant datapoints:
There are more than 700,000 restaurants in the United States:
150,100 single-location, full-service restaurants (independent)
41% of restaurant firms are minority-owned; 19% of restaurant firms are Asian-owned, 14% are Hispanic-owned
Business formations in the restaurant industry in May 2025: 24,682
According to Lauren Fernandez, CEO at Full Course, “As an investor in restaurants, what I see happening in 2025 is the emergence of a new wave of culinary entrepreneurship shaped by tech, capital, and community, where cultural resonance and scalability finally coexist. In comparing what Nobu must have had in front of him to open a single independent location in Los Angeles in 1987 to what a talented chef has in front of them in 2025, I believe the modern chef is walking into an ecosystem rich with incubators, AI, digital loyalty, and delivery platforms, but also navigating higher barriers to differentiation and financial sustainability.”
Video Link: https://youtu.be/3ML0uAmi06I
To read Sergio’s feature on Nobu: https://intelatin.substack.com/p/thoughts-on-nobu-documentary
To connect with Sergio to feature your restaurant business, email: smunoz@intelatin.com
For more inspiring stories follow Sergio C. Muñoz on LinkedIn or subscribe to his Intelatin, LLC substack.