There are plenty of places where you can order a sushi roll, but WAVE Asian Bistro & Sushi has built its reputation by asking a much more interesting question: what else can sushi become?

At this colorful downtown Mount Dora restaurant, sushi has been transformed into burgers, tacos, donuts, burritos, pizza, hot dogs, push pops and the now-famous Sushi Crunch Wrap. Many of those creations have generated millions of views online, landed on national television and helped turn a restaurant on Baker Street into a destination for food lovers far beyond Central Florida.

The story behind WAVE, however, started long before anything went viral.

A Mount Dora Story That Started Early

Owner and chef Jonathan McKinney grew up around Japanese restaurants and learned the craft from his father, John McKinney, who was part of the area’s restaurant scene for decades. Jonathan was rolling sushi by the time he was eight years old and spent much of his childhood around the restaurants his family operated.

As he got older and began working professionally in the family business, he also started thinking about sushi differently. Social media was changing the way people discovered food, and Jonathan saw an opportunity to take something traditional and make it more playful, approachable and visually unexpected.

Ideas like sushi donuts and sushi burritos were not exactly standard menu items at the time, but Jonathan believed there was an audience for them. That eventually led him to create a restaurant where those ideas could have room to grow.

WAVE opened in downtown Mount Dora in 2017, and what followed was much bigger than the launch of another sushi restaurant.

When Sushi Stops Looking Like Sushi

The easiest way to understand WAVE is to look at the dishes that have come to define it.

The Sushi Crunch Wrap takes ingredients including spicy tuna, spicy krab, avocado, cream cheese, sushi rice and nori and turns them into a handheld creation that looks more like something from a fast-food menu than a traditional sushi bar.

The same spirit runs throughout the rest of the menu. Sushi burgers use rice in place of a traditional bun, sushi tacos arrive in crispy nori shells and sushi donuts take seasoned rice and form it into the familiar ring before adding fish, avocado and other toppings.

There are also sushi burritos, sushi pizzas and sushi hot dogs, all of which follow the same basic idea of taking familiar sushi ingredients and presenting them in a completely different way.

That experimentation is still continuing. WAVE’s current menu also includes Sushi Push Pops, which stack sushi inside a portable push-up container and come with a small tube of soy sauce that can be poured over the top before the sushi is pushed upward from the bottom. Current varieties include options such as California, Crunchy Spicy Tuna, Mango Tango, Paradise and Veggie.

The creations are fun to look at, but they are also an extension of the philosophy WAVE has followed from the beginning. The restaurant keeps the building blocks of sushi familiar while constantly experimenting with how they can be served.

That approach turned out to be a natural fit for social media.

From Mount Dora to Millions of Screens

Working alongside partner Kelly Leech, who helped build WAVE’s social media presence, Jonathan began sharing the restaurant’s increasingly imaginative creations online.

The response quickly went far beyond Mount Dora.

Over the years, WAVE’s sushi art and unconventional dishes have generated millions of views and attracted national attention. Good Morning America has featured the restaurant multiple times, including segments on its Sushi Crunch Wrap and elaborate sushi art.

WAVE has also turned sushi into recognizable characters and holiday creations, including Baby Yoda and Santa Claus, and has collaborated with online food creators on a massive 16-pound sushi donut.

Those are the kinds of dishes that helped WAVE stand out online, but the more interesting part of the story is that the restaurant behind them remains firmly rooted in downtown Mount Dora. People may first discover WAVE through a video on their phone, only to realize that the place creating all of it is tucked into a small Central Florida downtown.

You Can Still Order a Really Good Roll

For all the attention WAVE gets for reinventing sushi, the restaurant still takes traditional sushi seriously.

The menu includes nigiri, sashimi, hand rolls and a large selection of specialty rolls, including one named specifically for its hometown. The Mount Dora Roll is made with krab and avocado and topped with shrimp, avocado, tempura flakes, spicy mayo and eel sauce.

Other specialty rolls range from familiar favorites to more elaborate combinations, with options including the Rainbow Roll, Flaming Dragon, Mango Madness, Godzilla and the Florida Roll.

That balance is a big part of what makes WAVE an easy place to visit with a group. One person can order sashimi, another can try a sushi taco or push pop for the first time, and someone else can skip sushi altogether.

There’s Much More Than Sushi

WAVE has built a full Asian-inspired menu around its signature sushi creations, which means a visit does not have to revolve around raw fish.

Hibachi bowls can be customized with options including chicken, beef, shrimp and tofu, while the entrée menu also features ramen, Korean bulgogi, teriyaki salmon and other cooked dishes.

The shareable plates are especially in keeping with WAVE’s personality. Sushi Fries and WAVE Nachos continue the restaurant’s habit of remixing familiar ideas, while bao buns, gyoza and calamari offer more traditional choices.

Then there are the Krab Rangoon Mozzarella Sticks, which combine two familiar comfort foods in a way that feels completely at home on a WAVE menu.

Vegetarian and vegan options are available throughout the menu as well, making the restaurant more flexible for groups with different tastes.

Wednesday Is Hand Roll Night

Visitors looking for an especially good time to stop by may want to plan around Wednesday.

WAVE currently offers every hand roll for $5 on Wednesdays, with options including California, salmon, spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, yellowtail, Philly and vegetable rolls.

It is an easy way to sample several different rolls and gives locals and visitors alike a reason to turn the middle of the week into sushi night.

The Experience Is Part of the Meal

WAVE’s atmosphere matches the personality of its food.

The restaurant is colorful and playful, with an energy that feels very different from a traditional sushi bar. That makes sense for a place where presentation has always been such an important part of the experience and where part of the fun is seeing what arrives at the table.

Some restaurants become known for one signature dish. WAVE has built something broader by making creativity itself part of the identity.

You might first hear about the restaurant because you saw a Sushi Crunch Wrap online, or because someone sent you a video of a sushi burger, donut or push pop. Once you get there, though, there is enough on the menu to turn that curiosity into a full meal.

That is part of what makes WAVE such an interesting Mount Dora story. A chef who grew up learning sushi in local family restaurants eventually opened a place of his own, took the food in a very different direction and found an audience far beyond Central Florida.

The result is a restaurant that feels unmistakably connected to Mount Dora while also being unlike almost anything else you will find here.

Plan Your Visit to WAVE

WAVE Asian Bistro & Sushi is located at 301 N. Baker Street, Suite 100, in downtown Mount Dora.

The restaurant is open Monday from 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and again from 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Guests can dine in, make a reservation through WAVE’s website or order online for pickup or delivery. Catering is also available for private celebrations, office gatherings and other events.

If you visit on Wednesday, the restaurant’s current $5 hand roll special gives you one more reason to make the stop.

WAVE Asian Bistro & Sushi
301 N. Baker Street, Suite 100
Mount Dora, Florida 32757
352-383-9283