Good food and good vibes are what Japanese street food restaurant Kushi & Co. aims to bring to the corner of Bo Diddley Plaza after launching into full operation this month.  

Located in the former Muñecas building at 104 SE 1st Ave. in Gainesville with a view of the Bo Diddley stage, Kushi & Co. specializes in “yakitori” skewers of chicken, steak and shrimp made in-house, as well as other traditional Japanese dishes on the side. 

Award-winning owner and head chef Charlie Keller said everything on the menu is gluten-free and offered at below-average price points to make the food approachable for everyone. Kushi & Co. is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays. 

“It’s cliche, but everything’s kind of tasty, you know?” Keller said. “Across the board, we try and make everything super tasty.” 

Originally from the south shore of Long Island, Keller, 42, started his restaurant career at 15 years old, washing dishes before moving up to the food line.  

After graduating from culinary school at Johnson & Wales and business school in Denver, Keller went back to the Big Apple for restaurant work, navigating the fine-dining scene and opening 16 different restaurants along the way.  

He said an infinite love for hospitality and serving people from all walks of life keeps him going.  

“If you love people, you want to see them smile and you want to see them happy,” Keller said. “What’s better than giving them something that tastes delicious and a beer that’s freezing cold or something, you know? That just means the world to me.” 

After moving to Gainesville in 2020 to be closer to his wife’s family, Keller served as the first executive chef at Hotel Eleo and made weekly treks back to New York to launch nearly a dozen different ghost brands.  

He was executive chef at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille up until last fall, when his friend, Anthony Lyons, came knocking with the opportunity to open Kushi & Co. together. 

Keller said Lyons, a former Gainesville city manager, harbored a passion for Japanese culture and had visited multiple times recently. He said yakitori restaurants are built into the community everywhere, including at bus and subway stations. People gather at the shops after work, talk about life over a few skewers before going home to their families.  

Keller and Lyons wanted to bring something similar to Gainesville.  

“He wanted to try his hand at [yakitori], and when you come to me with something like that, and [say] I think we can make it delicious, I’m not gonna shy away from that,” Keller said.  

After securing the building from the city of Gainesville and starting a few renovations in November 2025, Keller bought enough yakitori grills to begin researching and testing recipes. 

Traditional yakitori is nothing short of an art form, Keller said, requiring learning, practice and dedication. 

The key is cooking the meat so that it breaks down into 28 skewerable pieces. With “kushi” literally meaning skewer in Japanese, yakitori that’s not top-heavy relies on the kushi going precisely through the center of the meat. 

Although Keller doesn’t categorize his yakitori as super traditional, he said every recipe is made from scratch in-house, including his 23-ingredient tare sauce, miso-marinated shrimp, truffle rice and pork belly sous vide for eight hours with koji. 

“There’s a lot of little things that go into, you know, making something like this,” he said. “It’s a fun cuisine.” 

Keller said he wants to make Kushi & Co.’s food tasty and space laid-back so that it’s as approachable to everyone as possible. Since opening, he said he’s enjoyed serving all customers no matter if they’re dressed in suits coming from the court house or homeless.  

Whether it’s the prices, cold beer, fast-casual food, 90s hip-hop or live jazz music playing in the background that draws people in, Keller said Kushi & Co. welcomes everyone everyone to stay. 

“We just thought [Kushi & Co.] would be a cool vibe for the town,” he said. “It’s a beautiful building. It’s in a sick location, it’s like, why not? So we’re here.”