RA Sushi head sushi chef Yoshi Shimooka holds the Tsunami Punch and a sashimi platter. (photo/alandeckerphoto.com)

I can forgive that the font size, combined with low lighting, makes it almost impossible for anyone older than 40 to read the menu. I also will forgive the volume level in the dining room being a couple notches higher than most restaurants — maybe because they were playing Tom Petty, Steve Miller Band and other pre-gen-X-er favorites — and I also will overlook the fact that the adjacent garage charges about $10 to park for dinner, more at lunch.

Why then, you might ask, would I subject myself to such inconvenience just to dine? Easy. The food is that darn good. Some of the dishes are downright excellent, not to mention lovely to look at.

Lovely to look at …. Let’s see, that brings me to the staff. If I didn’t know better — and I don’t — it would be pretty easy to believe that these kids were former cast members of MTV’s Real World, which just finished shooting here in San Diego. Tastily alternative, breasty and very hip, they sport their “It’s more fun in the RA” T-shirts well.

Hmmmm. I’m beginning to sound like an old fuddy-duddy – but don’t get me wrong; it all works. RA Sushi is a well-thought-out, perfectly executed concept with surprisingly good food.

RA Sushi was co-founded by Rich Howland and Scott Kilpatrick, 30-something buddies who went to the University of Arizona together in the early 1990s. They opened the first RA Sushi in Old Town Scottsdale in 1997 and since have opened a second in Scottsdale, one in Tempe, one in Awatukee, Ariz., with another slated to open soon in Chicago.

The menu is extensive. In addition to the lengthy sushi, nigiri and specialty roll list, the chef offers soups, salads, noodles and entrées such as the “Black Pepper Filet Medallions” or “Chicken Katsu.”

Under the “Getting Started” portion of the menu, I most emphatically recommend the “Baked Green Mussels” ($6.75). Silver dollar-sized mussels are topped with dynamite sauce (made of mayonnaise and hot chile sauce), baked and served over wasabi-mashed potatoes. They are a study in decadence.

You’ll also go for the “Smoked Plum Spare Ribs” ($7.75), which are house-smoked, oven roasted and finished with a smoky, spicy, plummy barbecue sauce. They also are offered as an entrée over wasabi-mashed potatoes, which along with some fresh steamed vegetables, make a fantastic meal.

I really, really liked the “Spicy Chicken Teriyaki Udon” and the “Nabeyaki Udon” (both $12), a seafood udon in broth, but I’d rather blow my calories on special sushi rolls like the “Tuna Tempura Roll” ($10); a generous portion of tuna is wrapped in seaweed along with asparagus, yamagobo and crab, rolled in a light batter and quickly fried tempura style. The chef uses asparagus in many of his rolls and it’s a nice touch, adding another layer of flavor and some nice crunch.

Drinks are creative, festive and expansive — especially the tsunami punch for two, to which I have surrendered on each visit. RA Sushi puts on a fantastic happy hour with discounted sushi, drinks and appetizers, so throw on your coolest T-shirt, trucker’s cap and lowest riding jeans and go imbibe with the best of ’em.

— Terryl Gavre