I have always had a weird fascination with restaurant websites and advertisements (Don’t judge me!). You can clearly see the differences between major chains and small establishments, with the first trying to be trendy and the second trying to be wholesome. But both follow the same formats in web design, for the most part, and it is hard to tell the difference between a layout for Indian food and pizza without looking at the menu.

The exception to this is always sushi restaurants. This specific genre has always managed to remain focused on a very particular image. The second you come across a layout example or screenshot meant to be used for a sushi place, you know it without any pictures or mention of the food being present. It is just something about the overall tone that is strangely universal.

Even with the topic being singular, some of these sites can inspire ideas for any niche. Here are seven that I find great for getting the creative juices flowing.

1. Amura

The first thing you see upon loading this site is a slideshow banner with dissolving effects rather than the usual boring slide-away. The color scheme is nice, with a dark red on black that still manages to look bright and professional. The pictures don’t overdo it in the slideshow itself, and it presents its awards in an easy-to-spot place that isn’t gaudy. It has tabs up top with small drop-down menus where applicable. Then there is an expanded map on the bottom that isn’t at all obtrusive but very helpful.

2. Akai Hana

This is a basic black site with a menu layout at the top and bottom of an animated slideshow with unique banners and fade-outs. The pictures really make the whole thing perfect: professional, attractive and with more than just endless pictures of the dishes. It even has the telephone number right on the front page, which is rare to see and takes care of a major pet peeve I have about sites that don’t provide clear contact details for phone calls.

3. Michi Sushi

Focusing entirely on its dishes, this site gets away with it when others can’t. The reason why is simple: Its food looks amazing. Creative, colorful and done in a unique way, the photos of these menu items manage to capture your attention and keep you interested until you have seen them all at least twice. The rest of the design is pretty humdrum, but that feature sparks plenty of ideas about how it could be used for other sites.

4. Sushi Domo

While all the other sites so far have had the same basic design with the main slideshow and top and bottom strip menus, this one uses a quirkier grid. It has the primary page showing the cool-looking restaurant and then puts everything in carefully measured boxes. There is no header menu – only a map at the bottom. Everything is very basic, but it is fun and functional. There is even a message from the owner welcoming you, which is a great personal touch from a family-owned establishment. My favorite part is that all it has is the main page, the current specials, reviews and a contact page – no frills, no fuss.

5. Wild Tuna

I love smoky-looking designs, and this one is just that. It uses subtle blues and grays to make an effect more striking than black and white. The layout itself could have used something with a bit more pizzazz, but the texture in the background makes up for what the design itself lacks, even if it is a little bit busy-looking.

6. Sushi Tora

I really like this site and the way it uses a theme. The colors are very basic, with a strip of black with gray text at the top that makes up the full navigation of the site. It links to the About page, menu, location info and social media profiles. Under that is a strip of a dark sky blue, and under that is white. But a slideshow in the center dominates the page with some decent images of the menus items. Around it are Chinese letters making up a border, and on either side are arrows for controlling the images – creative and simple.

7. Nori Sushi

I am torn about this website. On one hand, the layout and overall design are really nice. It makes the most of the space without being over cluttered and uses a standard grid system that I think looks really clean. The colors are good, as well. On the other hand the links don’t work! In fact, nothing does. You can click the menu, but nothing else. The arrows on the images that are presumably supposed to let you switch to the next are just pictures with no anchored function. So this one serves as both inspiration of what to do and what not to do.

Conclusion

I love sushi, I love websites and so I naturally love sushi websites. These ones above are some of the more unique I have found from around the web. What are some of your favorites? Let us know in the comments.

Oh, and if the owners of Nori Sushi come across this, you might want to get your website creator to fix the links.

Jessy is the creative blogger for Dobovo, the free tool for inspired travelers.