WEST POINT — It is often said that variety is the spice of life. Downtown West Point certainly has a wide variety of places to eat, with one of the most unique being Miso Sushi House, located at 705 3rd Ave, West Point.

According to co-owner Suk Son, Miso has been in the area for 10 years, and under her family’s ownership for nearly five. At the time Son along, with her husband, Joong San and daughter, Mirim, were living in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Son recalled the restaurant was not doing well when her family took ownership.

“We did struggle a little bit,” she said. “In the south, it’s hard to challenge people to try new foods.”

Son added that the solution was pretty simple, let people know what they had. Now, thanks to advertising and self-promotion, things are better.

“It’s pretty slow right now, but hopefully it will pick up when school starts back,” she said, noting how Miso, like many downtown restaurants, sees a dip in business when nearby schools like Point University close for the summer.

Miso serves mostly sushi, but offers cuisine from other Asian countries as well.

“We mostly serve Japanese sushi and sashimi but we also have Vietnamese dishes,” Son said. “We are experts on Vietnamese food. Right now we only serve [Vietnamese] soup, but we plan to expand.”

On an average day, the restaurant sees about 150 customers, most of whom come for lunch.

Son noted that every item on the menu sells evenly, so picking a top dish is difficult.

“We have a bento box that has a little of everything that we sell a lot of,” she said. “Everything really sells evenly.”

As a way of keeping things fresh, Son and the rest of the Miso crew have added new items to the menu, mainly the Vietnamese items.

“The previous owner only carried Japanese food,” she said. “We’ve been adding Vietnamese items a little at a time. This year we plan to add even more, including full versions of Vietnamese dishes.”

There are six people on the staff at Miso, mostly family with a few non-relatives. The family originally hails from Korea. They decided to take over Miso because they liked the area.

“We’re happy with how things have been but we would always like for them to be better,” she said. “That’s what everyone wishes.”

Miso Sushi House is located at 705 West 3rd Ave, West Point. They are open Monday thru Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. For more information, call them at 706-645-7070.

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