And we are going to party!  Save the date, Nov. 9, 2019 for a celebration of Hama Sushi, and of course their proprietor, the one and only Hama Mama, Esther Chaing!

Here is a message from Hama Sushi.

It’s OFFICIAL! BLOCK PARTY next weekend because we are 40!  It’s been an incredible FORTY years Venice Beach and would like to invite the whole community to join us in reaching this historic milestone

 

If you have lived in Venice for any amount of time, chances are you have been to Hama Sushi on the Windward circle.  Well, today we will get to know Esther Chaing, also known as “Hama Mama.”

Esther, a familiar face around town, is the owner of Hama Sushi, which is the west coast’s first sushi restaurant.

Esther likes hoola hooping, hiking, watching classic movies and reading all sorts of books.

Esther first came to Venice in 1977 while she was earning an A.A. in textiles at L.A. Trade Tech. Here she met her future husband, John, who was working with the artist Robert Graham at the time.  During their courtship, Esther and John would take long walks through the canals, beach, and boardwalk, forever endearing Venice in their hearts.

During her 27 years in the garment industry, Esther employed a staff of over 80 full time employees,  many of who worked for her for over 20 years. To this day the former employees stay in contact and have an annual party to catch up.    As well, Esther founded a preschool in Harbor City called My First School.  The school still operates today.  Most of the kids who went to the school  were children of Esther’s employees.  Now, they are fully grown and attend the annual mixer themselves.  Among them are policemen, teachers, college students and more!

In 2004 she bought Hama Sushi, and moved back to Venice, the town where she met her love.   For two years she ran both Hama and her garment business, then in 2006 sold her factory and became a full time Hama Mama.

Esther is very active in the community and supportive of a wide variety of causes.  Every Wednesday for over 10 years, she has gone to the boys juvenile camp in San Bernardino to run a Bible study and counseling class.  As well, Hama Sushi has organized and hosted the Venice Japanese Memorial Marker  event for the last seven years and is set to do it again in 2019.

Her son is a firefighter in Watts, and her daughters are a pharmacist, house wife and manager for an architect company.

She says her favorite item on the Hama menu is the green devil roll.

Esther loves being outside and says living near the beach lets you taste nature.

Speaking of tasting, if you have not tried the soft shell crab app or spicy scallop roll on Hama’s happy hour menu, you should.   Happy hour is now 3-7 p.m. Monday-Friday.  Woohoo!

Hama Sushi offers:

• Happy Hour Everyday 3PM – 7PM
• “Hama-Wood” in the patio
• Historical Venice photos in their dining room.
• Rotating artist every other month in the their large outdoor patio.  Want to show your art at Hama?  Contact Esther or Tony!
• Surf movies on their screens in their patio
• All night happy hour during most sport games at the bar
• Closing theme song, played every night, is Hotel California by the Eagles
• Regular Hours:  Monday – Thursday 3PM to 10:30PM. Friday and Saturday 3PM to 11PM.  Sunday 3PM to 10:30PM
• View Dinner Menu
• www.hamasushi.com

 

See you at Hama Sushi on November 9th!

213 Windward Avenue –  Venice, Ca 90291. (310)396-8783.    www.hamasushi.com