Japantown mainstay Ino Sushi, famous in part for its fantastically fresh fish and in part for the gruff temperament of chef-owner Noboru Inoue, is closing its doors forever next week as Ino-san and his wife are retiring. The tiny, mom-and-pop Japantown sushi bar has been in business since 1978, and is consistently ranked among the best sushi places in San Francisco — including on SFist's own list. And between Ino-san's strict rules for enjoying his food, the restaurant's 20 seats, and Mrs. Inoue's house-fermented soy sauce, it has remained one of the city's semi-secret gems for nearly four decades.

As Eater reports, via a fan on Yelp, Ino Sushi will close sometime next week, or by next week, and this is incredibly sad news.

Ino-san has received much press over the years, including in this Wall Street Journal piece titled "Sushi Bullies," for being one of the country's most notoriously abusive Japanese chefs, though he of course doesn't see it that way. While he's never kicked anyone out of his restaurant, he has made it his mission to train all diners in his restaurant — where, if you sit at the bar, your nigiri is served directly on the immaculate wooden bar, no plates — to dip their sushi in soy sauce fish-side-down. If you dare to dip it right-side-up, rice first, you will be scolded. But, as Tablehopper warned several years ago, "Don't go crazy pouring a lake of soy sauce into your bowl. Ino-san will totally arch an eyebrow at you."

Also, cell phones have become the bane of Ino-san's existence, and he won't put up with them buzzing on his bar. And as one diner told the Journal, you'd better not scrape off any of the generous smear of wasabi he puts on your fish. "No. It needs the wasabi," he told her.

One of Ino's other claims to fame is his ankimo, the monkfish liver nigiri that he keeps on the menu year-round despite it being a winter delicacy in Japan. Domo Luke chef-owner described it for Grub Street, saying, "Ino-san steams the liver in its own form, a whole lobe of foie gras of monkfish, then he slices it and serves it over rice... It's lighter than you expect, and really delicious."

If you can manage to get a reservation before the final service arrives (which at this point, given the loyal following of Ino Sushi and its few seats, is unlikely), consider yourself lucky.

Previously: The 11 Best Sushi Restaurants In San Francisco