Shoutout to the waitress with the platform crocs--patient and kind and charismatic. When we asked her for recommendations, she was honest and told us her dislike and likes on the menu. I also appreciated the attention from the amount of times she came to check in on us. It was also my beau's birthday and she helped him pick out his first legal alc. great service. Sad there was no uni dish. Would come again if in area. read more

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My husband is a big fan of sushi and ramen so I am writing this review on his behave. He enjoyed the sushi it was fresh. The ramen was also good but he felt the broth could have used a bit more flavor. Over all it satisfied his sushi and Raman craving during our trip. read more

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The food here is amazing, and the staff is always really nice, very clean and warm welcoming.

Loved the Red Dragon Roll generous serving of spicy tuna on top of loaded roll and the Spider Roll was so fresh and tasty-no greasy fried taste at all Great service at the sushi bar, would definitely come back! read more

Good place to go for lunch specials. Service is attentive which is good when you go with a couple of babies. I explained a couple of allergies and they were good about it. Lots of parking so it's a convenient place to go for lunch or dinner. Highly recommend for lunch tho! read more

ZERO STAR REVIEW Not the first time I had a less than pleasant experience here. Unfortunately it's the only sushi spot in the valley. It had been years since I came back after having funky tasting tuna. This time my teenage son became seriously ill after eating dinner here. He began violently vomiting and I ended up taking him to the er. Spent about 13 hours admitted and on IV fluids, zofran and Benadryl. The bad fish here gave him a diagnosis of SCOMBROID a food borne illness caused by improperly refrigerated fish. This causes a histamine buildup in the bad fish which causes a very intolerable reaction when consumed. My son was throwing up, had a rash all over his face and chest, spiked a fever while in the er and had an elevated WBC. it was a terrible ordeal for him and just awful as a mother to see her child in this condition. Not only did this experience scare us but no way will we ever eat sushi again and most definitely won't be eating at this disgusting restaurant. I will be contacting them regarding their insurance carrier. This kind of negligence is unacceptable. Don't care if it's a small town, people trust that food is being properly stored and prepared and thrown out if there is even an ounce of doubt. Do better A-Ru. DO NOT EAT HERE. read more

I'm posting this since this place was just added to "Top Ramen" spots--this is NOT one of them, per my experience. We have a place in Solvang that's fantastic. The bok choy was overcooked, in fact nothing in this dish felt fresh, they were annoyed that I asked for bok choy at all... I was disappointed, because in the past I have really enjoyed their sushi, although they could really use to upgrade their ambiance--not inviting to dine here. Sorry A-Ru, but my last experience with you left such a 'bad taste in my mouth,' I had to say something. read more

We had the food here twice. Both service and food are great. Prices are reasonable as well. Definitely will return.

A wonderful experience. The location is easily accessible and well-lit. Especially liked the halibut appetizer. Everything was quite fresh and readily available. A lot of original (to the area...) dishes. Service was prompt and friendly. We will be going again. read more

What a great find! The food was amazing and the hospitality from the sushi chefs made us feel really comfortable. Great vibe and really fresh and delicious food!! read more

A-Ru Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

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The freshness of the sushi was super and customer service was very helpful. This is a must destination of you visit the area. Will definitely come back again. read more

A-Ru Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

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While visiting Solvang, I found A-Ru Sushi on Yelp. My mom loves Unagi Don and so off we went to visit this restaurant. I ordered Beef Teriyaki and Tempura shrimp/veg and mom ordered the Unagi Don. Mom LOVED IT! Generous portion over rice along side of marinated seaweed My beef teriyaki was more a korean style of sliced beef with onions and bell pepper tossed in teriyaki sauce which i prefer more japanese style but the Tempura was one of the best i have ever had. The batter was perfectly fried and delicious! I know many Korean run Japanese restaurants as the culture is so close. Highly reccomend and loved the service and food! As an Elite Yelp Reviewer i give a 4 star rating (as Beef was good but too saucey and sweet) read more

This little sushi spot is an unexpected gem in Buellton. We opted for sushi on our one night in the area as we had eaten a lot on our SoCal road trip and we were craving fresh and light. Though it was busy and social distancing no longer obvious, service and food were solid. read more

Ordered a spider roll.... missing eel sauce and avocado. Looks completely different from menu. read more

A-Ru Sushi - Spider roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

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Good food, quick service. Live right across the road and have been enjoying their food for many years.

Pulled off the road to go to la bottle bistro because of the Yelp reviews. They were having a private party. Their recommendation was Ah ru. Ordered gyoza, monkey brain appetizer, tempura plate, #53&#58. Most of menu appeared to be variation of California roll. Alot of Asian people in the restaurant so that is a good sign would give it 3 1/2 but ended up rounding up to 4 read more

A-Ru Sushi - Monkey brain - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

Tasty food and friendly service! We ordered the katsu don, bulgolgi bowl, miso soup, ramen with egg, and two dinner combos (teriyaki, tempura, gyoza) -- everything came exactly as ordered and tasted really good. The staff was also very nice! Would come again! read more

The food was ok, service was ok, but sushi price was not on menu but i didn't think it would be this outrageous. Beware of getting sushi from this place read more

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Incredibly slow service. Took for ever to get a pork cutlet and a couple of ramen/udon soups. Restaurant was not busy at all, we were told after 2 sushi plates served that the other dishes were going to take long, but they took ridiculously long. Food was just ok. Asked if we wanted a couple of miso soups due to the long wait and then we were charged $5 for them. Also server and cooker has a mask that they wear on their chin (better not to wear mask at all). Not a good experience. read more

The seaweed salad is very spicy. I've never had a spicy seaweed salad. Yellowtail color was delicious! Miso soup was delicious! Order the green salmon roll but substituted tuna for salmon. This cost $5 and there was barely any tuna in the end pieces. I felt they cheated us out of tuna. They did take the surcharge off the bill. We got the beef teriyaki boat for our child. It was more beef Bugatti not teriyaki. The tempura was good. Hand rolls (unagi snd California roll) were also good. Hitching post red wine was also a good mild wine. read more

Freshness of fish - 5 stars Value - 3 stars Service - 2-3 stars Wanted to like this place because the fish was super fresh and such a surprise to find a sushi place in sleepy buellton. Like others have stated, the service really drags this place down. Young inexperienced kids try hard but they are forgetful and don't pay attention nor anticipate if diners have what they need. I'm mean to I really have to ask for a dish of soy sauce if I ordered a sashimi dish? Might you not ask if I'd like a bowl of white rice with that? Hey, can I get that beer I ordered 10 minutes ago? Uh, if you asked me if I wanted regular or low sodium soy, why did you bring me regular when I wanted the other? All little things but they add up to an annoying experience. As for value, I ordered the namesake sashimi dish. It's $20 and you get only about the same amount of fish as a $14 signature roll. But the fish was super fresh. I would have liked to give this place 3.5 stars rather than 4, but am always more inclined to be generous with small local establishments. Do wish they'd read their reviews and get themselves some decent wait staff. read more

Some people say quality over quantity, I... don't know how I feel about this one. To say I left the restaurant happy and satisfied would simply be untrue. Agedashi Tofu -- Deep fried tofu served in dashi broth. It lacked flavor and was served room temperature. Such a simple dish but was a disappointment. Uni -- The waiter said their Uni hailed from San Diego which was entirely new to me as I've only had Uni from Santa Barbara and Japan. The texture held its own but melted in my mouth. Rich, creamy with a note of sweetness to finish. It was a first to see avocado served in the nigiri. I thought it was unnecessary and somewhat took a bit of the uni's light. Albacore Lover's -- Was shocked to see the size of this "roll." It was literally half of what is served anywhere else. The 2 pieces of Uni Nigiri took up 2/3 of this roll, as a size comparison. The roll consisted of spicy albacore and cucumber on the inside and seared albacore and avocado on the outside. Could not detect any sort of spice nor was the albacore all that seared. It was an average roll that does not justify the price in terms of quality and quantity. This place draws a crowd so reservations are strongly suggested when coming during the weekend. We were lucky enough to arrive right before the rush and were able to snag a table without a reservation. read more

A-Ru Sushi - Agedashi Tofu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

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Located right off of the 101 and Murray this place is convenient and easy to find. The service is excellent, fast and very friendly, the food is not as bad as the reviews posted. I ordered the sushi lunch special for $21.95 with consisted of miso soup, 5 pieces of sushi (chef's choice) and a roll of your choose. I also ordered a yellowtail roll on soy paper with jalapeño, my lunch was pretty good and better than most places I have tried in more metropolitan areas. read more

A-Ru Sushi - Sushi lunch and yellowtail roll with soy paper. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

This was my first time at A-Ru, and it was wonderful! The staff was very welcoming, the service was great, and the food was fresh. I had the yakitori to start, followed by a rainbow roll and a side salad -- all delicious. I was pleasantly surprised at how light, but flavorful the sauce on the yakitori was, as well as the dressing on the salad. Nothing was drenched, but had the perfect amount and flavor. I read in a previous comment that the restaurant is under new management. Given my experience tonight, I can't imagine anyone giving less than five stars now! read more

A-Ru Sushi - Rainbow Roll, Salad, Sushi Combination (in back). So good! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

They are under new management! The food was great. The nigiri was really good quality and solid, generous slices. And the special combination was a really good deal for a lot of well-made sushi. They're definitely doing wonders to rehab the reputation of the A-ru sushi of just a year ago. The wait staff was very polite and friendly. We even got free Jeon, which was very nice. I was originally hesitant to come here, but I'm glad I did now. I'll definitely be coming back. read more

A-Ru Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

We are from Los Angeles and came up for a mini vacation to Solvang for our anniversary. We wanted something not to heavy so that nixed the steak joints and I'm not a fan of Italian so scanning the rest A-Ru was near our hotel (Anderson), we hadn't had sushi for a while so we rolled the dice on a sushi joint in a small town (yes we do like to live dangerously). Wow, who would of thought I would find one of the best sushi joints I'd ever been too! The staff was amazingly attentive and freindly, a flash back to pre pandemic courteous freindly servers. We ordered 2 sushi rolls, edememe, and a tempura plate to share. Wow, just wow! Fresh made the way we requested (soy paper)so fresh, clean and great tasting, just not enough adjectives to describe how happy we were to come across this place! Shout out to the staff that worked Sunday August 7th, 2022.. the server was a young man guessing in his teens and he was running that joint like a pro while the sushi master worked his magic behind the counter... 4 thumbs up from me and hubby, if we had more thumbs the would all be up! THIS PLACE IS A MUST IF YOU ENJOY SUSHI AND ARE VISITING read more

I have to admit that I was apprehensive about having dinner at a Japanese restaurant out in the middle of nowhere. The reviews were pretty decent but it's located in a strip mall and the restaurant itself has dark windows. We stepped in and were greeted immediately. While there were no tables available, we lucked out and were seated at the sushi bar. Menus were presented and drink orders taken. The menu is small. Sushi and sashimi and rolls dominate. There are a few hot mains such as chicken teriyaki, kalbi beef ribs, and nabeyaki udon. There wasn't the usual plethora of bento boxes and I missed seeing Hamachi kama on the menu. On the other hand, we were extremely pleased with what we did order. Nigiri - Toro, Hamachi, Sake -- beautiful slices of fish laid over perfectly seasoned rice. Natto Roll - 5 stars - or so I was told. you won't get me to eat that. Rock Shrimp Tempura - absolutely delicious. perhaps a smaller portion than some restaurants might serve but portioned properly for an izakaya. Agedashi Tofu - served hot, hot, hot! possibly the best flavored and most attractive presentation that we've seen for such as simple dish. Kalbi Beef Rib Dinner with Miso Soup, Rice, Salad and Pickled Veg.- I took a sip of soup and a piece of Kalbi and both were well above average in flavor. My biggest gripe with most restaurants is that the Miso Soup has either reduced on the burner and gotten very salty or is served at a lukewarm temperature. No such problem here! Very delish! Nabeyaki Udon - The broth was clean and clear, the udon had a nice chewy texture. There was an assortment of kamaboko, mushrooms and two tempura prawns. Our overall experience was delightful. The staff made sure that my tea and water were filled throughout. Yes, I agree that pricing might be somewhat higher than a typical sushi-ya but so was the quality of the food and service. Sometimes you do get what you pay for! read more

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Went to try this last night. Yellow tail sashimi was amazing. Next I tried the drunken Tiger roll. It was also top notch.

Last weekend my boyfriend and I placed an order with Postmates. An hour went by, and Postmates canceled our order! Super bummed. But I called A-Ru and asked if it was still possible if I was able to pick up the order anyways. The manager on duty was so kind, and said the food has been ready for a while, but asked if we would be willing to wait 20 minutes for fresh food. I assured her that I wouldn't mind taking the food that was supposed to be picked up, but she insisted. She also apologized profusely, and said they had been having issues with Postmates. I definitely did not mind waiting, and was extremely grateful, and blown away at their customer service. I frequent this restaurant, and have never had any issues. I know this was not their fault by any means, but they handled it amazingly well, and I will continue to support this restaurant. Thank you for being so kind! Looking forward to more sushi in the future! By the way, the food was DELICIOUS as always. read more

Terrible service!!!. Waitress was super slow and inefficient.. especially considering there were only 3 other tables of small groups. We even asked to put our order in and she told us one minute and hurried away, not to return for over 20min. Other parties there were also there forever, not getting waited on. I would have left but really wanted sushi. The other person I was with got her food 5 min after I got mine.... When the food finally came it was just okay- definitely not the best or freshest sushi, but not horrible so I will give 2 stars. This restaurant needs to hire more people! Don't come here unless you want to have lunch take over an hour! Also pretty pricey for "lunch special." read more

A-Ru Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

Delicious meal. The miso soup was my favorite. Very flavorful. The service was fast and the food was great.

Great sushi! We are visiting Solvang and decided to try the local sushi. Glad we found this spot. So fresh and delish! We went on a Friday evening and it wasn't too busy. The service was excellent and the fish was fresh. I highly recommend! read more

We moved to Buellton in 2003. ARU was a nice atmosphere place that had okay sushi. We haven't gone back in many years. Last night we went again. This place is smaller, has dirty tables and the food is pretty bad. Also, the prices simply are not worth it. The place reminds me of Orcutt Burger for Japanese food. So disappointing. The beer was super cold though. read more

The service was good. One young woman seemed to be taking care of the whole dining room. I'm not very familiar with sushi, but it was just okay. We actually enjoyed the sushi from Albertsons more. ‍ read more

We tried this sushi place out since it was recommended by our hotel. Let me tell you the service was wonderful and the sushi was delicious. The fish is so fresh that you could taste it. I would definitely stop by again when I'm heading north. read more

A-Ru Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Buellton, California

Called in for a pick up order of sushi combo, bento box, dragon roll, yakuza roll and nabeyaki udon. Sushi was fresh and udon and chicke katsu were still hot. I'm impressed by their udon--they put noodles on the side and it was as good as dining in. Was surprised to find a free appetizer inside. Definitely recommend during these stay home times. My family was happy not having to fix dinner/do the dishes that day. Very satisfying. I took the photo of their menu & specials/discounts. read more

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With this being one of two sushi options in the valley we decided to give it another chance. Sadly, we were very disappointed with the food. Our total was over $100 for 2 people and it was not worth it at all. Even my rice was inedible:/ read more

Extremely overpriced and not a lot of food. It was good but I was still hungry and spent $30. Very disappointing.

Got the Sashimi combo #1 and sushi was decent. Four pieces each of Tuna, Salmon and Yellowtail. Will come back here again.

Not the most exciting, and NOT worth the price. Unfortunately there is just no good sushi in the valley except from a grab and go via New Frontiers or El Rancho. Sorry guys, you're price point and service is not worth a dine in experience read more