Fear not: Despite what you may have heard, Domo Sushi is not closing, nor did it ever.
Two weeks ago, a Reddit thread announced the impending closure of Domo Sushi, located a block over from the embattled Kis Cafe in Hayes Valley. Kis closed after just three months in business after an interaction between its chef owner Luke Sung and Karla Marcotte, an influencer who complained about shabby treatment, went viral.
The Reddit thread included an image of the storefront’s window at 511 Laguna St. with a note that read: “Domo is closing. Last service 8-2-2025. Thank you for your support for the last 17 years.” Domo is another project of the James Beard-nominated chef; on LinkedIn Sung is listed as the “operator” of the business.
However, Domo never did shut down and it doesn’t intend to, staff told Gazetteer. While closure was discussed, the restaurant decided to continue operating. Management remains the same, the staff said, but alluded to the possibility of that changing in the future.
Luke and Kitty Sung opened Domo in 2008 with Kuo Hwa, who formerly cooked at Blowfish Sushi to Die For. Luke and Kitty previously owned and operated Marina restaurant Isa. They sold Isa in 2009, a fact apparently overlooked by the Yelp brigade which flooded its reviews with negative comments following the Kis incident. The business’ profile on Google now states “Isa is not affiliated with Luke Sung or Kis Cafe. Luke left Isa in 2009 and since never been back.”
“A guy [on TikTok] named Ed Choi pointed the hate army toward Domo,” Sung told Sara Deseran of The San Francisco Standard last week. “People have been leaving hate comments all the way from Copenhagen, England, Malaysia.”
“Everything is broken into pieces,” he said. “I have to try to pick it up and glue it back together.”
