NOE Sushi Bar Guayaquil: Founder, Branches, Menu
Who founded Ecuador's Japanese-fusion sushi chain, where its four Guayaquil branches are, what is on the menu, and why it serves no burger.
Photo: Freddy eduardo, CC BY-SA 4.0
NOE Sushi Bar is an Ecuadorian Japanese-fusion sushi chain co-founded by chef Noé Carmona, with four branches in Guayaquil: Mall del Sol, San Marino Shopping, Paseo Comercial Bocca and Bamboo Plaza. It opened in 2004 in Cumbayá, near Quito, and mixes Japanese technique with Ecuadorian flavors across rolls, sashimi, ramen, seafood and meat. What it does not have is a burger. If you came looking for the sushi burger Guayaquil has been talking about, NOE is the wrong address; I trace where that trend actually comes from further down.
Editor’s note. This article was commissioned as a profile of a different chef, but no source I found ties that person to NOE Sushi Bar. Every source names Noé Carmona as founding partner and executive chef, so he is the subject here. All facts below were checked on 19 October 2026.
NOE Sushi Bar in Guayaquil: key facts
NOE Sushi Bar is a Japanese-Ecuadorian fusion restaurant brand from Quito, with 13 restaurants in Ecuador, 4 of them in Guayaquil, according to its official site.
- Founded: 2004, at Parque Central de Cumbayá, metropolitan Quito (Vistazo, April 2024; Primicias, sponsored, April 2024).
- Founding partners: Noé Carmona, María del Carmen Borja and José Miguel “Pino” Fiorentino.
- Executive chef: Noé Carmona (as of 2024).
- Cuisine: traditional Japanese cooking fused with Ecuadorian flavors.
- Guayaquil branches: Mall del Sol, San Marino Shopping, Paseo Comercial Bocca, Bamboo Plaza.
- Burger on the menu: none.
- Currency: US dollar (USD), Ecuador’s official currency.
- Abroad: one franchise in South Miami, Florida, opened in summer 2024.
Who is Noé Carmona, the chef behind NOE Sushi Bar?
Noé Carmona is the founding partner and executive chef of NOE Sushi Bar, and the brand carries his first name. Vistazo described him in those terms in April 2024; four months later, Miami station WSVN called him head chef and co-owner.
His story starts far from the sea. A 2020 Expreso profile says Carmona was born in Loja, in Ecuador’s southern highlands, the eldest of 10 children in a farming family. He moved to Quito at 19.
There he spent six years training under Japanese master chefs. That apprenticeship explains the NOE formula better than any marketing line: Japanese technique as the base, Ecuadorian ingredients layered on top.
US press coverage adds more colorful details about his early career. I could not trace any of them to a primary source, so they stay out. The latest confirmation of his role dates from 2024.
Who else founded NOE?
NOE has three founding partners: Noé Carmona, María del Carmen Borja and José Miguel Fiorentino. Vistazo named all three in May 2022; Expreso’s 2020 profile calls the third partner “Pino” Fiorentino.
How NOE grew from Cumbayá to Guayaquil and Miami
NOE opened in 2004 in Cumbayá, a suburb in the valley east of Quito, and turned 20 in April 2024. Its official site calls it “the first sushi and Japanese fusion restaurant in Ecuador”. That is the brand speaking: I found no independent source to confirm or dispute it.
How big is the business? It depends on the year and on what is counted. Here are the published figures, each with its date:
| Date | Figure | What it counts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2020 | 26 restaurants, 600+ direct employees | Whole group (NOE, Kobe, Nubori) | Expreso |
| May 2022 | 29 restaurants, 800 employees in Quito, Cuenca, Manta and Guayaquil | Most likely the whole group | Vistazo |
| April 2024 | 13 NOE restaurants in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca | NOE brand only | Primicias |
| October 2026 | 13 NOE restaurants: 8 in Quito, 4 in Guayaquil, 1 in Cuenca | NOE brand only | noesushibar.com |
Bar chart of NOE Sushi Bar restaurants in Ecuador by city, October 2026: 8 in Quito, 4 in Guayaquil and 1 in Cuenca, 13 in total, according to noesushibar.com. (Chart: Burger Breton, data from noesushibar.com (checked 19 October 2026), rendered with QuickChart)
The brand’s roots are in the capital. If you are heading there for burgers, start with our Quito burger guide.
NOE Sushi Bar branches in Guayaquil
NOE Sushi Bar has four branches in Guayaquil, all inside shopping centers: Mall del Sol, San Marino Shopping, Paseo Comercial Bocca and Bamboo Plaza. The official site lists them by mall name only, with no street address and no hours.
| Branch | Address | Status of the details |
|---|---|---|
| Mall del Sol | Av. Juan Tanca Marengo, Mall del Sol, Guayaquil 090513 | Address from one third-party listing (Wanderlog); store number not confirmed |
| San Marino Shopping | San Marino Shopping, Guayaquil | Street address not confirmed |
| Paseo Comercial Bocca | Paseo Comercial Bocca, Guayaquil | Street address not confirmed |
| Bamboo Plaza | Bamboo Plaza, Guayaquil | Street address not confirmed |
Map of Guayaquil showing the four shopping centers with a NOE Sushi Bar branch: Mall del Sol (marked, north), San Marino Shopping (Kennedy area), Bamboo Plaza (Puerto Azul, on the road to the coast) and Paseo Comercial Bocca (across the Daule river in Samborondón). (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright)
Twenty-two years in, a chain this size should publish an address and opening hours for every branch. It doesn’t, and that is my main complaint as a guide writer.
San Marino Shopping on Avenida Francisco de Orellana, Guayaquil, home to another NOE Sushi Bar branch. The photo shows the mall’s exterior, not the restaurant. (Photo: Freddy eduardo, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San\_Marino\_Shopping.jpg)
NOE Sushi Bar Guayaquil opening hours
No Guayaquil branch has confirmed opening hours, so call or check before you go. For reference only: in April 2024, Primicias gave the hours of NOE’s Paseo San Francisco branch in Cumbayá as Monday to Saturday 12:00–23:00 and Sunday 12:00–22:00. Branches inside malls may also be bound by the mall’s own hours.
What is on the NOE Sushi Bar menu?
The NOE menu is built around sushi and Japanese dishes, split into nine categories on the official site: starters (Entradas), soups and ramen, salads, rolls, sushi and sashimi, Bonsai, seafood, meat and desserts. Not one of them includes a burger.
Signature rolls: what Miami coverage names
Only two NOE rolls have made it into the press, both at the Miami franchise: the Nubori roll and a lobster tail roll. WSVN describes the Nubori roll as eel, shrimp tempura and stone crab under a passion fruit reduction. Whether either is served in Guayaquil is unconfirmed, so ask your server.
How much does a meal at NOE cost?
I found no verified, dated menu prices for NOE in Guayaquil, and I would rather quote none than guess. Prices in Ecuador are in US dollars; check the menu at the branch before you order.
What is Japanese-Ecuadorian fusion sushi?
Japanese-Ecuadorian fusion keeps Japanese technique (the rice, the cuts, the rolls) and brings in Ecuadorian flavors. That is how NOE describes its own cooking, and how the travel company Ecoventura describes it when it lists NOE among its top restaurants in Guayaquil.
Passion fruit is the one Ecuadorian ingredient I can tie to a named NOE dish, as the reduction on the Nubori roll. Guayaquil’s press has its own label for the wider local style: Expreso calls it “sushi criollo”.
Does NOE Sushi Bar serve a burger or a sushi burger?
No. NOE’s official menu has no burger, and no source I found credits it with a sushi burger. Any page claiming a NOE “signature burger” is making it up, as far as the evidence goes.
The sushi burger is real in Guayaquil, though. Expreso reports that the sushi taco, the Japanese burrito and the “hamburguesa sushi” are all in fashion in the city. It credits the sushi taco to Kobe, a sister brand of NOE, but names no venue for the sushi burger.
The best-documented sushi-meets-burger dish we have covered is a long way from Ecuador: my colleague Olivia wrote about Tony Messina’s cheeseburger sushi roll at Uni in Boston. For the reverse move, Japanese flavors inside a real burger bun, read Hana’s guide to MOS Burger in Osaka.
NOE, Kobe and Nubori: one company?
Yes: NOE and Kobe belong to the same group, and in 2020 Nubori did too. Expreso reported in April 2020 that NOE Sushi Corp ran three brands: Noe Sushi Bar, Kobe and Nubori. Whether Nubori still operates as a brand in 2026 is unclear.
Kobe Sushi & Rolls was founded in 2011. In July 2023, Expreso reported two new Kobe openings in Guayaquil, at the Mall del Sol food court and at Plaza Batán, alongside an existing branch in Urdesa.
The Mall del Sol food court in Guayaquil, where Kobe Sushi & Rolls, NOE’s sister brand, opened a stand in July 2023. Photo from February 2024; the Kobe counter cannot be seen in it. (Photo: Freddy eduardo, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mall\_del\_Sol%27s\_food\_court.jpg)
NOE Sushi Bar Miami vs NOE in Ecuador
The NOE Sushi Bar in South Miami is the brand’s first international location, run as a franchise of the Ecuadorian chain. It opened in summer 2024 at 5958 S. Dixie Highway, South Miami, FL 33143, according to WSVN and What Now Miami. Search “NOE Sushi Bar” in English and most results point there, not to Guayaquil, so keep in mind that menu details reported from Miami may not match what is served in Ecuador.
Is NOE worth a stop on a burger trip to Guayaquil?
For Japanese-Ecuadorian fusion, yes; for a burger, no. NOE has been open since 2004, has a founder story you can actually verify, and four Guayaquil branches inside malls you may well pass through anyway. My advice: treat it as a sushi break between burger stops, not a destination, and confirm the hours first. For the burgers themselves, start with our Guayaquil burger guide and our restaurant guides by city.
Sources and method
I did not visit or rate NOE for this profile, so it carries no Burger Breton rating. Every fact comes from the sources linked in the text, checked on 19 October 2026: the official site noesushibar.com, Vistazo (2022 and 2024), Expreso (2020, 2023 and its “sushi criollo” report), Primicias (sponsored content), WSVN and What Now Miami (2024), Ecoventura and Wanderlog. Where sources disagree, each figure appears with its date.
FAQ
Who founded NOE Sushi Bar, and is Noé a real person? Yes. Noé Carmona is a real chef, the founding partner and executive chef of NOE, and the restaurant carries his first name. He founded it with María del Carmen Borja and José Miguel “Pino” Fiorentino.
When and where did NOE Sushi Bar open? NOE opened in 2004 at Parque Central de Cumbayá, in metropolitan Quito, according to Vistazo and Primicias. It celebrated its 20th anniversary in April 2024.
How many NOE Sushi Bar branches are there in Guayaquil? Four: Mall del Sol, San Marino Shopping, Paseo Comercial Bocca and Bamboo Plaza, according to the official site in October 2026.
What are NOE Sushi Bar’s opening hours in Guayaquil? The Guayaquil hours are not confirmed. For reference, Primicias reported in April 2024 that NOE’s Paseo San Francisco branch in Cumbayá opens Monday to Saturday 12:00–23:00 and Sunday 12:00–22:00. Check with your branch before you go.
Does NOE Sushi Bar serve a sushi burger? No. The official menu has no burger, and no source credits NOE with a sushi burger. Expreso reports that the sushi burger is a trend in Guayaquil, but it does not name a venue.
Is NOE Sushi Bar in Miami the same as the one in Ecuador? It is the same brand. The South Miami restaurant at 5958 S. Dixie Highway is a franchise and opened in summer 2024 as NOE’s first location outside Ecuador.
How much does a meal at NOE Sushi Bar cost? Current Guayaquil prices could not be verified. Prices are in US dollars, Ecuador’s currency.
