Faster, Stronger, Better?

The AustinSushi.com team took a stroll over to Maki, the latest spin on "fast" Japanese food, and was mightily impressed by this new Austin operation. They are, essentially, a roll-your-own sushi roll bar where you walk up to a counter, point at the ingredients you want, and the person behind the counter (not a sushi chef) makes the requested roll. In order to speed up the delivery time and lower employee costs, they utilize a sushi robot, specifically the Audio-Technica ASM 860, that spreads the rice onto the nori. This allows for relatively unskilled labor to complete the roll.
The place has a noveau fresh ambiance with a pleasant lime green color and spiffy graphics on the wall. It's definitely "fast" food and not a sushi bar, but still a great place to get a sushi fix when you need something fast that's well-prepared.