Ocean City 2 has closed Ocean Sushi 2 on Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse as permanently closed. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) (Charlie Miller/(Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com))
Syracuse, N.Y. — Less than two years after opening with big ambitions and even bigger space, Ocean Sushi 2 on Erie Boulevard East has closed its doors for good.
A sign posted on the restaurant’s front door says the restaurant permanently closed last Sunday, thanking customers for their support “over the years” and directing gift card holders to its original Ocean Sushi location in Liverpool.
“It has been our pleasure serving this community and we sincerely appreciate every visit, meal and memory shared with us,” the message reads.
Ocean Sushi 2 opened in August 2024 inside a massive, fully renovated building at 2960 Erie Blvd. E., a space that had sat vacant for nearly seven years.
Owner Paul Huang transformed the former Grimaldi’s Ristorante site into a 14,000-square-foot restaurant designed to blend Japanese, Korean and Chinese cuisines with a late-night, high-energy atmosphere.
First Look: Ocean Sushi on Erie Blvd Lunch at Ocean Sushi on Erie Boulevard: (left to right) sauce beef, soft tofu seafood stew, beef bibimbap and a sampler of sushi. Ocean opened last week. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com) (Charlie Miller/(Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com))
At full capacity, the restaurant could seat about 250 people and featured multiple bars, a banquet room and a basement level with five private karaoke rooms, a rarity in Central New York. The concept leaned into variety and spectacle, offering nearly 200 menu items alongside a nightlife element aimed at college students from nearby Syracuse University and Le Moyne College.
Early reviews noted both the restaurant’s ambition and its growing pains. While the sushi — a hallmark of Huang’s original Liverpool location — remained a highlight, the sprawling menu and multi-concept approach occasionally stretched the kitchen thin.
Still, the restaurant stood out.
Restaurant critic Jacob Pucci noted both the restaurant’s ambition and its potential in a September review, writing that “the potential to shine (and sing!) is strong,” even as the sprawling concept showed “a few kinks to work out.”
Its teal exterior, expansive footprint and karaoke-driven basement made it one of the more distinctive dining additions along Erie Boulevard in recent years, a bold swing in a competitive restaurant scene.
Customers with gift cards can still use them at Ocean Sushi’s Liverpool location on Oswego Road, the original restaurant Huang opened about 15 years ago.
The Erie Boulevard building is now vacant. It’s unclear what, if anything, will move into the space next.