The Chocolate Giraffe, located in the Cotton District, began serving sushi on Wednesday nights last semester. The idea became so popular that now the Chocolate Giraffe is expanding their sushi nights to Friday and Saturdays, along with the traditional Wednesday. “We started the sushi last May at the request of a private dinner party,” owner Marissa Baggett said. “We waited until school started and had one night a week sushi, but this semester we began three nights of sushi.”
The Chocolate Giraffe not only has sushi, but appetizers, spring salad rolls wrapped in edible rice paper and items to go along with seafood chowder.
“We’re in the process of changing, and our gourmet sandwich shop expanded,” said Baggett, who is enthusiastic about the Asian components that are mixed with American food for a “cross-cultural experience.”
On sushi nights, The Chocolate Giraffe closes from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. to prepare the sushi. When the doors open at 5 p.m., the sushi theme comes alive.
On regular days, The Chocolate Giraffe is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner.
“Sushi is not all raw fish,” Baggett said. “Almost half of it is cooked. It is hard to describe sushi’s taste to someone. There are so many different kinds, and people think of all those elements when they think of sushi.”
If you walk into The Chocolate Giraffe on a sushi night, you will find friendly service and a cozy atmosphere. White lights hang on the ceiling with twine around the ceiling fans. Tiny tables and chairs are spread about the restaurant, and the bar is complete with a face-to-face view of the cook and owner, cooling down rice, chopping up ingredients and making customers’ mouths water.
“The funnest part of our job here is watching people try sushi for the first time,” Baggett said.
The rest of The Chocolate Giraffe staff agreed. They explained that the more you eat, the more you like because the taste for sushi is an acquired taste.
“It was actually good, which was a surprise,” said Mississippi State University student Marcus Jones, who tried sushi for the first time. “I expected a raw fishy taste, but it was totally different. Beware of the green stuff though (wasabi), it’s really hot.”
Matthew Brett and Julie Stallings, both of Starkville, dined together at The Chocolate Giraffe and agreed that the shrimp rolls and fried rice were very good.
“I absolutely love this atmosphere,” Stallings said.
Some customers. like Jason Jones of Memphis, said that The Chocolate Giraffe is world-class.
“I’ve had sushi in many different places like Nashville and Oxford, but the sushi here is high quality. They’ve done an excellent job,” Jones said.
Jones has been a local musician since 1996, and is currently enrolled in music education at MSU. He also performs occasionally at The Chocolate Giraffe. His next performance there is Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.
“I play all kinds of music,” Jones said. “I play a little Tony Bennet, Frank Sinatra, love songs and some comedy. I try to make it enjoyable for the customers. I don’t want to get on their nerves, but I do interact with the crowd, and before long, everybody is tapping their feet and having a great time.