Meet the Vegas busboy-turned-CEO keeping SUSHISAMBA above the competition
Omar Gutierrez was born to be in the hospitality business: he grew up in Vegas, after all. Now he’s the co-chief executive officer of the SUSHISAMBA Group, the operator of the City’s original hype spot at the top of the Heron Tower. He tells City PM how he’s staying ahead of the competition
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Omar Gutierrez must feel like he’s drowning in compliments. When SUSHISAMBA opened, it was the only place to go after work – for lunch, for post-work cocktails, for late-night partying. Now it’s surrounded by other hotspots offering a similar vibe. Does he pine for the good old days when life was a little easier?
“Competition keeps you on your toes,” the likable man who started in the industry as a busboy, laughs.
“When we opened, all three floors were just busy, organically, we didn’t honestly have to market. We were the only show in town. But over the course of time, and especially after Covid, this floor in particular started to be empty,” he tells me.
That was the driving force behind the latest SUSHISAMBA innovation: the SAMBA ROOM, a new bar, lounge and private dining area which was launched not just with a star-studded party but a short film featuring Daisy Lowe and Portia Freeman. Business has been good: no surprise perhaps when the room’s theatrics include a dining table which lowers from the ceiling, complete with the usual spectacular views of the capital that Sushi Samba is known for.
“It’s the best private dining room in the city,” he tells me confidently. And the rest of the joint is still buzzing, with the brand focusing on offering customers the full experience from a drink at the bar upstairs to dining to post-prandial nightcaps.
The brand is now a global giant, with a particular footprint in the Gulf, but Gutierrez is keen to grow the brand’s offering – through new launches like the Samba Room but through a bigger expansion in the US.
“We’re a US brand and we’ve only got one restaurant in the States,” he laughs. With new investment from Dubai-based owners, the plan is to go big on home turf in the year to come.
“We’ve got a tried and tested concept. And we’ve seen some competitors come and go. We’ve got that longevity that gives us confidence that we know what we’re doing.”