There’s bright new red lettering in place on the building’s front façade of 5511 Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights, formerly home of Boston’s Pizza and Sports Bar, which closed in November 2023.

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Progress toward opening a new Korean barbecue and sushi restaurant, doing business as Must Be Cow, is “moo-ving” along.

There’s bright new red lettering in place on the building’s front façade of 5511 Sunrise Blvd. in Citrus Heights, formerly home of Boston’s Pizza and Sports Bar which closed in November 2023.

A permit application for an interior remodel of the 8,500-square-foot stand-alone restaurant building was filed with the city in November 2024, said Marisa Brown, the city’s communications officer.

Just above Must Be Cow’s front entrance, in the center marquee position, is a colorful caricature of a cow in tan coveralls that is holding a piece of sushi with a pair of chopsticks.

The playful name of the new restaurant along Sunrise Boulevard was first confirmed by both Kathilynn Carpenter, executive director of Sunrise MarketPlace and reported by the Citrus Heights Messenger in early January.

Co-owner Jason Duan said in a recent telephone interview that an opening date is expected this summer.

Duan is a business partner in Sizzling Lunch, a Bay Area-based Japanese fusion restaurant chain that currently operates eight locations in the area. 

Must Be Cow is the duo’s first new restaurant concept outside of the Bay Area. Duan said he looks forward to bringing his take on Korean barbecue and sushi to the city of Citrus Heights.

 

Progress toward opening a new Korean barbecue and sushi restaurant, doing business as Must Be Cow, is now “moo-ving” along.

“We’re in the process of finalizing the new menu for Must Be Cow,” Duan said.

Duan said the full-service restaurant will offer both Korean barbecue and all-you-can-eat sushi. The restaurant includes about 44 dining tables equipped with individual grilling stations, a sushi bar and bar that will serve beer and wine, according to Duan.

Public notice of a filing with the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) for a new on-sale beer and wine license on the premises by the co-owners, Must Be Cow, LLC, is displayed in the restaurant window at its front entrance.

Must Be Cow Korean BBQ and Sushi is the fourth incarnation of the stand-alone restaurant on Sunrise Boulevard, which was built in 1978.

The restaurant was the location of the Peppermill Restaurant and Lounge, a Logan’s Roadhouse, before becoming Boston’s Pizza. The former Marie Callender’s Restaurant and Bakery located next door on Sunrise Boulevard closed in 2019.