Rock N Roll Sushi, an American style chain, plans to open a Colorado Springs location in early 2023.

An “American style” sushi restaurant chain that mixes traditional seafood dishes with a music-themed atmosphere is coming to Colorado and launching its first location in the Colorado Springs area.

Rock N Roll Sushi will open in leased space in a multitenant retail building being developed northeast of Marksheffel Road and Constitution Avenue on the Springs’ east edge, in unincorporated El Paso County.

Franchisee Kyle Gerstner said he’s targeting a first quarter 2023 opening for the restaurant.

Founded in 2010 by a husbandand-wife team in Mobile, Ala., Rock N Roll Sushi now has more than 50 locations, mostly in the southeastern United States, according to its website.

Its menu includes sushi, seafood rolls, hibachi, salads, soups and appetizers. As part of its rock-and-roll theme, menu items are grouped into categories such as “opening acts,” “classics” and “headliners.”

The restaurant, which will include a sushi bar and alcohol bar, will be decorated in what Gerstner called a 1980s and ’90s motif, with guitars, photos, a stage and a video wall that plays music videos from the era. It also will have dine-in seating and a pickup window.

As Rock N Roll Sushi’s franchisee in Colorado, Gerstner signed an agreement with the chain to open 25 locations statewide, which he said he hopes to do over the next decade. There will be as many as five Pikes Peak region restaurants.

Gerstner, who lives in Florida, is familiar with Colorado Springs’ restaurant scene.

A franchisee for Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Gerstner opened his first Freddy’s in the Pikes Peak region a decade ago and now owns five locations. A sixth Freddy’s is under construction as part of the multitenant building where Rock N Roll Sushi will open, he said.

Gerstner also was part of a group that operated two Pie Five Pizza restaurants in the Springs, though they closed in 2017 after only about a year.

His knowledge of the area made Colorado Springs a natural location for the state’s first Rock N Roll Sushi, Gerstner said.

“We’ve been very fortunate in the Pikes Peak region with Freddy’s and know the area very well and see a very good introduction to the state right there in Colorado Springs,” he said.

Gerstner might have brought burgers and pizza to the area, but said he’s also a “huge fan” of sushi.

Rock N Roll Sushi presents good food with a fun vibe, he said. While there’s competition among sushi brands, the Rock N Roll Sushi concept is “different enough, yet familiar enough, to be a different opportunity for any diner in the area that would be interested in sushi or hibachi,” he said.

“It’s an Americanized version of traditional sushi,” Gerstner said. “It is a fun and vibrant atmosphere. It is different to any other sushi option out there. It is the same high-quality product and I call it very approachable. There’s little to no apprehension for anybody to come and enjoy sushi or hibachi.”