Horrible service. Rude waitress, I mean the rudest ever. Sushi Chefs don't make eye contact, look sullen and fed up. New menu doesn't include edename or fruit desert anymore. The sashimi was not tasty that means the fish is old. Been going to Gen Kai for over 20 years because it's always been a fun atmosphere with awesome sushi but things have changed and not for the better. Prices have doubled. Less food is included. Fish isn't fresh. Waitresses have a rude. Chefs look like they want to run away. Depressing atmosphere. read more

I live nearby and have eaten inside Gen Kai over 20 times and ordered takeout over 20 times. Pre-pandemic the food was decent and I would've probably given this place a 3.5 stars. However, since then the food quality has gone downhill. The place has always been a bit of a "dive" inside - looks like they haven't remodeled since the 90s. It's dark and not very inviting and awkwardly laid out. However, despite that, the relatively good food kept me coming back. The sushi quality now is mediocre at best. Fishy tasting sushi and odd textured tuna (crystal-like and an odd color). The service from the waitstaff and front desk is awful. The sushi chefs are always nice though. The prices on the websites are lower than what you pay when you pick up - they are aware and have known about this for over 4 years now and refuse to change it. Overall, I'd say, unless you are desperate for some sushi, go elsewhere. read more

BEST SUSHI IN DANA POINT WITHOUT QUESTION!!! Such and amazing spot - the hungry tiger and sashimi roll are my personal favorites. Let's put it this way - I eat there a minimum of once a week and I still crave it! So amazing! FRESH FRESH FRESH!!!! read more

Great service, melt-in-your-mouth rolls, great dining room, affordable for high-quality sushi and sashimi. Love this place. read more

This is based on the most recent visit. We had 0 waiting time and we were served drinks quickly. Food was another story. We received 1 of our edememe in 10 min... but our 2nd order came by after 20min. We received our screaming O after a total of 45min wait. Our next roll came 15min later. Another 10min we received another roll. Another 10min we got one more. In total we waited 1hr 45min for a total of 5 rolls, 1 screaming O, and 2 edemame. We didn't receive our 6th roll because we got tired of waiting and just asked for our check. We asked our waitress multiple times when our food was coming but only got a passive "it's coming" as she walked away. Only after we complained that we have waited 1.5hr did she become more attentive. I would name her but she never introduced herself. We watched people who came 45m-1hour after us not only get food, but finish their meal and pay their bill. Now that we got over the bad part, the only positive is the quality of food. The screaming O melts in your mouth and the quality of fish is as usual is amazing. The deluxe dragon roll didn't have the crunch roll so we really got an eel roll. Pros: the bus boys and person refilling water were on top of it... but I guess it isn't hard to remove 1 plate every 10min. Also we got 2 sake and a beer for free. TLDR: wait was stupid long. Food is great quality. Fix your speed/customer service and I'll update the post to what it should be. This has been 1 of 8 visits to this restaurant. read more

Beware, they "guestimate" your bill. No itemized receipts, just a total. Would be nice to understand the bill when it arrives.

First time having sushi in months thanks to Genkai's takeout! Oh how I've missed their sushi, everything was packed nicely and we got a variety of their lunch specials and rolls after calling in an order. Every nite was cherished! Thanks so much for working so hard during these times! Shout out to Yoshi and the amazing sushi bar staff for always keeping it fresh Hands down best and freshest sushi in OC! I've been coming religiously with my family since I was a kid, service, staff, and food is always top notch. The lunch specials are out of this world and an amazing price for such delicious selections. I usually get the lunch "Happy Meal" which comes with a ton of sushi & sashimi... enough for two people but you won't want to share. All of their rolls, appetizers, and other entrees are amazing too, and beautiful... seriously get that dragon or caterpillar roll and you'll be in awe! I always indulge in the tempura deep fried icecream on my birthday. read more

Came here last Friday night for the Sushi bar and was SUPER disappointed. I came by myself and the hostess tried seating me in between TWO couples. The bar was tight and small so I explained to the woman that I rather sit on the other side that was empty. She persisted and DID NOT let me sit where I wanted to sit. It was clear she was prioritizing her economic interests, so I ended up walking out. I know she wanted to keep the empty seats for larger groups but I didn't feel comfortable sitting there. Never again. It's a shame too because their food is good. read more

We arrived shortly before they opened and were welcomed by quite a line. Apparently this place is every bit as popular now as it was 15 years ago. We sat by the sushi bar. Apart from the strong smell of bathroom freshener everything was perfect. We had two rolls, miso & oysters. Fantastic atmosphere and the food is so fresh and delicious. read more

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The wife was in the mood for sushi, and I know better than to try to derail that particular train: so sushi it would be. We hadn't really established for ourselves a go-to Japanese place--asking around a bit, an acquaintance recommended Gen Kai. And now... I am indebted to this acquaintance for life. *sigh* Your Humble Reviewer is not a fan of raw fish, no matter how lovingly and creatively prepared. So, I went with a reliable alternative: Teriyaki Salmon. The lovely Mrs. Your Humble Reviewer ordered the Mango Roll and the Hawaiian Roll. The wait staff must spend all their free time working out, because the portions were enormous. In my case, barely a challenge; but Mrs. Y. H. R. had no hope of finishing more than half of what the server had slid in front of her. But that was all good news for _me_, because I helped myself to at least two (OK: four) pieces of the deep-fried delectable that was the Hawaiian Roll. I haven't been to Hawaii in a while, but apparently they like their sushi cooked, breaded, and deep-fried. Now I understand why people want to go there all the time! The H Roll is wrapped in rice paper and what I can only describe as Japanese panko. It contains crabmeat, which--as Tom Hanks' character in Cast Away will attest--is always cooked. Apparently it also includes albacore, which I did not discover until well after I'd consumed great quantities. Not sure if that was raw, but I do know one thing: we will never speak of this again. Never. The Mango Roll does indeed contain raw fish; specifically, spicy tuna. And, you know: mango. The wife declared it delicious. Finally, my salmon dish was both substantial and exceptional. I eat a LOT of salmon (not infinite options for a non-mammal-eater like myself), and this was among the best I've had: meaty texture, neither dry nor fishy. I paired my meal with a golden, ice-cold glass of Asahi, because beer is like a pair of blue jeans: it goes with everything. The service was friendly and prompt--especially impressive considering we visited on a busy Thursday night. And--what's this?--why, it's a check that does not threaten to derail my retirement! If there is anything better than a sizable, delicious meal at a reasonable price served by an attentive staff, I probably wouldn't be discussing it on a family web site. We will definitely be returning to Gen Kai Sushi, and when we do, we're gonna show up hungry. read more

Wish there was an option for a "no star" review. Absolutely worst service I have experienced in all my decades of dining. Staff was very pushy on last call at 9:15p and didn't bother asking for last call items. Then when the front staff looked at my credit card receipt and saw that I crossed out the tip line because I was going to pay cash they had the audacity to ask for tip. I have NEVER had any restaurant ask for tip in such a manner. It was confrontational and rude. Tips/gratuity is not mandatory or to be expected. It's earned and I was half tempted to not give anything based on such response. However, I have worked in food service before and can have compassion for the situation. I will NOT be dining here again. read more

Would give negative stars if I could. For the love of all that's holy grt to the 21st century and get a POS system. Worst customer service with reception EVER!! Do not come if you want organized customer service.. read more

Came here based on the Yelp rating. The sushi (Robert's roll was okay but kind of bland as to flavor, the California Roll and Spicy Tuna were good). However, stay away from the chicken teriyaki dinner. The chicken breast was grilled to leather and all they did was pour a diluted teriyaki sauce to try to mask the dry chicken. I am Japanese and this is not way it is done ... it is marinated. To add insult to the meal, the gyoza was burnt and I am not sure what the other item was????. We complained about the chicken breast being dry but we were told that is the way it is ... so we did not eat the leather or the meal. Ate the sushi and left. Would have rated this place a zero but the redeeming factor was the sushi ... probably should have rated this as a 1 star even with the sushi. read more

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Small Japanese Restaurant in Dana Point, Ca. Very good food. I had Teriyaki with sashimi. This is very popular place with the locals. It's a casual atmosphere, good for family with children. The staff are very friendly. read more

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This is a somewhat gross little sushi place with a rude hostess who is more busy with the online orders than anything else. The dining room is crammed and you walk by several people making sushi in a hot room totally maskless. Food everywhere, yuck. The food itself is meh. Huge portions. Can't remember the last time I didn't eat my sashimi. It was cut thick and not your normal sashimi cuts- I kept gagging on it. Lots a screaming kids everywhere. Staff was totally overwhelmed. Stick to the rolls and come on off hours. read more

Gotta love the Baja Style Yellowtail! Stopped going cuz quality seemed to drop but have bern back twice recently and glad to see it is back ti normal read more

Always packed at opening, but a 5 minute wait is well worth it. Rolls are as good as they look. We always like avocado on whatever roll we order. If you are jonesing for sushi, this is the place. We want for a romantic pre-birthday celebration and as usual we had a great time. read more

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Great spot! Solid sushi and a great atmosphere. Fun place to grab some great food. Very unassuming from the outside, but very nice spot.

Amazing and different fresh sushi rolls that are absolutely delicious! The soups are also so flavorful. Large portions and priced reasonably. read more

Monday Dec 19, 2022 We arrived about 6pm at Gen Kai Sushi, our friends recommended it, and said ( Won't regret if you do/will if you don't). Intrigued me since I've been called a foodie by my friends who know me. We were seated right away. The place is really noisy and very difficult to hear each other much less hear the Server. Personally, I prefer less noise, but hey I'm here for the food. Gen Kai has been around for over 40 years at this location. It was busy so of course it was a good sign. When I am in a new place I typically ask the server "since I'm only here this one time, what do you recommend?" The server suggested the following: we added the Lobster roll. My wife ordered the Whitefish(saute with mushroom and asparagus in a special sauce). It was accompanied with Tempura, salad, rice and more. We also ordered a Lobster Roll. (Tempura Lobster, avocado with soy paper, Tiger shrimp Mayo sauce) and Screaming O (seared tuna sashimi on top of radish noodles in a ponzu shoyu/mayo sauce, at least that's what it looked liked). Screaming O is one of their specialty dish. Haven't encountered it anywhere else. Dessert was Green Tea ice cream, Mango ice cream. So how was it? The first inkling this restaurant might be exceptional started with the miso soup, your typical first encounter for a Japanese restaurant meal. If there ever was umami in miso soup, this place definitely had it. It's miso soup (was...full body, earthy, substantial taste and flavor). My wife also raved about the soup. Now I've lived in Denver over 35 years and have tried numerous restaurants in Denver and throughout the USA, and have sipped a lot of miso soup, practically all the miso soup I've tasted in the past is thin, dishwater like, no flavor and no body to it. I guess I should move to California (LOL). I could have just drank a couple bowls of this miso soup and called it a night. It was superb!! My Wife ordered the Whitefish, she wanted something different, not your typical salmon, mahi mahi, ahi ahi, etc. Since we are in California, I guess the whitefish they served might be the California tilefish ( I forgot to ask the server what type of Whitefish their chef used in this particular dish) The whitefish was very tasty, great flavor, firm and even a bit of crispness to it when you took a bite. The chef seasoned the dish marvelously and served one of the best whitefish dishes I have tasted in a long time. We usually avoid whitefish dishes because, many times, it is a bland over cooked dish made by inexperienced cooks. Everything else that accompanied this dish, even the tempura broccoli, truly hit the spot!. I ordered the Screaming O. Okay, my fault, I didn't ask enough questions, such as what is the sauce. Now I believe a ponzu shoyu sauce is a very personally created flavor sauce that is made differently by each person/cook/chef. The basic ingredients are the same but you can add, subtract, and vary the measurements of each ingredient when making the ponzu sauce, and there's the rub that makes the flavor unique for each individual. This particular ponzu shoyu sauce recipe didn't excite my taste buds. However I appreciated the way the chef built the Screaming O. It was a detailed work of beauty building this dish. All the other dishes for our dinner were simply outstanding!! Overall from start to finish, this is a 5 out of 5. I hope to come back again and try some of their other dishes, and especially look forward to tasting the miso soup again. read more

Great service came in near closing and still got five star service kind busers and quality food Parking in rear Fair pricing Recommendations: Spicy garlic edamame Shishito peppers Sashimi dinner plate Cucumber outer role/ or rice paper rolls with sashimi inside Crispy rice with spicy tuna Potstickers steamed Hand made sushi rolls to orders Sushi burrito Poke bowl Omg list goes on! Great for pickup Togo or dine in casual for fam love this place! read more

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Always really good everyone's always really friendly. I love getting sushi here it's got a nice authentic vibe to it and it always tastes awesome. Some of these reviews people are posting are down right embarrassing.. from misspelled errors all over to one even literally admitting they went in a minute before closed and were surprised by the response by the staff? Really? Have y'all never worked in a restaurant? What if some large party went to ur work when you've had a long day and were prepared to go home. You're lucky they even took you. Whatever tho, the restaurant is really good I love coming here. Prices are really reasonable as well, parking is eh but that's not their fault it just fills up quick. This place has been here forever and there's a reason. read more

Food is great but our server was angry and rude. Hidden gem as long as you get the right server

I come here with my grandparents about once a month. This is some of the freshest fish you will find, expertly prepared. I typically order the sashimi dinner special, which comes with a fair amount of sliced fish, miso soup, a small salad, rice, and ice cream at the end, all for $23. And in a tall Sapporo, and you're full with a little buzz for $30. I will say the joint could use some renovations (part of the charm is how I look at it), and possibly some training for their servers - neither will wow you if it's your first time. However, when they aren't completely slammed, the servers get you what you need in a timely manner. The owners are ALWAYS there and are always pleasant and happy to see you. I hope this place stays around with all of the redevelopment in the area. With the quality of the food, they deserve a spot on the map. read more

The absolute BEST!! Freshest sushi, best service! We dine with them at least weekly. Love them all and love their food. read more

During this terrible covid pandemic, My go to meal has been Gen Kai. You have to try the baked mussels and the sushi burrito! read more

Been coming here for over 20 years and fortunately for them the sushi and the food is amazing. That being said I cant understand why they cheepen the experience year after year with strange choices that make it my last choice when getting sushi. For years, they wouldn't clean the soy sauce splatter off the wall and was incredibly just dirty feeling. After the lock down and they repainted and cleaned thing up they have now stuck plastic food photos to the wall in each and every booth....foods amazing not cheep but vibe is more than off. Hope they figure that atmosphere is a big part of dining out. read more

Our second time trying this place. Both times we had the same experience. We ordered several rolls and spent quite a bit of money. Sushi was not fresh, we weren't able to eat any of our order. read more

I just love my sushi from this place. Yoshi is the best ever. I love the sashimi roll, caterpillar roll and a few other items on the list. I never been disappointed read more

I hadn't been here in a long time and I don't know why because it's just delicious and the prices are so reasonable that I don't know how they can do it. I went for lunch and had the chicken teriyaki and tempura for $12 and I thought it was a mistake, because it also came with two large shrimp tempura, besides all of the large tempura veggies. And it came with two sides, soup and rice! Chicken was so tender and savory! Great price and a big, delicious lunch. I'm definitely going to go back now more often. read more

Very disappointed at dinner here last night to be told they weren't offering their sunset specials nor did they have draft beer, both which were still listed as available on the menu. No reason given. Have been coming here for over a decade, now rethinking about returning. read more

2-stars/D rating because not every dish we ordered was bad. I don't want to relive the entire evening, so I'll try to get to the point. From the start, it felt like our server was overwhelmed. We got our drink order pretty quick, but it took a while to get our egg rolls (with a side of ketchup??? And mustard???) to arrive. Our edamame never arrived so we just canceled the order after waiting 35 minutes. The tuna I ordered was a mix of fresh with definitely NOT fresh fish. My friend liked his sushi burrito, and I like my taco sushi. Trying to get our server to do a slow pause to allow us to order anything else was quite a challenge. Never were we asked if things were satisfactory, or if we needed anything. I felt like we may have one more shot at getting our server's attention. If I had a piece of paper, I would have taken notes just to make sure we didn't miss anything. We were hours into a sushi dinner with minimal eating and maximum waiting. *Please note this is a Thursday and there were several open tables (i.e, place wasn't packed). We weren't the only table struggling to get basic service. Seems it was a bad night at Gen Kai. Shared our stories with a couple tables while we set off flare guns trying to gain the attention of our server. In the end, we got the servers attention, made our last order and received it. The hardest play of the night was getting the bill so we could just get out of there: One pass...two...three...excuse me? Four...five...excuse meeee??? Six...EXCUSE ME?!? Finally had to get up off my seat and chase the server down, "EXCUSE MEE!" It felt like we were imprisoned-reminded me of the movie HOSTEL if I may be dramatic: we just wanted to go home at this point. Gen Kai used to be my favorite sushi place 30-something years ago. Hell, even last year, I enjoyed a nice lunch here. This experience was so bad, I'm sad to say, I won't be back. With the prices and all the other options open, why would I waste my time? read more

We waited one year to come back to what was once my favorite sushi restaurant in OC, the service was awful, the waitress and even the manager ignored us not only one but 3 times, our food arrived 50 minutes after we ordered and they decided to change the menu without telling us, not serving what you actually could read in the menu/ At some point we felt we were an inconvenience to them, they were rude and very dismissive. On top of all this the food was very "average" not yummy anymore, sad ... read more

What has happened to Gen Kai Sushi??? Prices are 20-25% higher. Smaller portions, too! We went back for lunch recently and disappointed with what used to be a pretty good Japanese restaurant. Apparently, others are disappointed, as well. They used to have a regular lunch crowd. Only my wife and I and one other table with two women. I'll be checking reviews... probably won't return. Sad. read more

We visited this place for the first time yesterday evening, and the experience wasn't the best. We placed our order before a table next to us and they got there food before us, we still needed to wait 20 more minutes for our food, and the waiter forgot to ring up one of my rolls. She never came to check up on us, I kept needing to be turning my back to look for her to get a refill on my drink for the longest. The roll I was waiting came out and it tasted fishy. Really bad experience not worth all the wait. read more

Probably the best sushi I have had in a long time, it was delicious melt in your mouth and beautifully crafted. Service was wonderful. A great place to sit at the sushi bar and have a lovely dinner. We were greeted kindly when we entered and when we left. Felt very authentic. read more

Amazing food and a truly unique experience, if you sit at the sushi bar you are designated your own personal chef, if you venture to try this place ask for tony he was absolutely phenomenal. He took the time teach us how to make perfect sushi rice and teach us home cooks different techniques on how to make perfect sushi. The food was delicious, so good that we returned the following day to dine in again. Highly recommend trying the Hungry Tiger Roll (perfect amount of spice), Dana Point Roll, and if you get lucky enough to have to have Tony as your chef let him personalize rolls to your liking. HIGHLY RECOMMEND read more

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This is an area where people don't know what good or bad food is when it's in front of them..:this is an example of a place that's serves terrible food and people think it's excellent. For starters, take a look at the carpet in the dining room. It's disgusting. It's full of numerous dark stains from god knows what and who knows the last time it was cleaned!! Let's start with how we were seated. We were treated by a frazzled server and then by a second server who saw that our first server walked away from us and offered to get us our drinks. The first server didn't like this... this is a sign of bad organization. I'm a server, you usually know what tables you have and which ones you don't. Our appetizers came out slowly which was okay because it was busy, but none of them tasted fresh and our edamame had many brown spots...a sign it was old. We asked for steam edamame and it arrived to us pretty cold, like it had been sitting out for a while??? We ordered maybe 5-6 dishes some of these were appetizers. Our food took a while but it was busy. Here's when stuff really went down hill: It was obvious our server didn't know what we ordered and this restaurant does not have a good way of tracking orders. I had to remind my server twice of items that were missing, and by the second time she didn't look very happy. She didn't know what was missing which is a red flag because IM A SERVER AND I PAY ATTENTION WHEN ITEMS ARE MISSING FROM MY TABLES. Not once did our server ask us if we wanted refills for our waters. Not once did our server come by and check up on our food. None of our food was fresh. Most of the items tasted, old, were brown and tasted off. I had the uni nigiri and my nori tasted very weird. All of the avocado on my rolls were brown and nothing tasted fresh!! Finally after we finished our food, for 30 minutes we waited for our server to appear. They were never walking around and we had to flag them down from the kitchen to get their attention!! When confronted that they were avoiding us, they made an excuse that "they had three bills in their hand" then had the audacity to ask if we were angry. Once we got our bill our server turned her back on us and walked away, after we had waited 30 minutes to for our bill!! This is terrible service!! As a server, I give the bill prompt to the customers instead of having them wait forever in order to leave the restaurant. This place not only needs to clean their restaurant, my mother noticed how disgusting and filthy the booths were near the wall, BUT THEIR FLOORS ARE FILTHY!!! Your food isn't fresh and your servers are terrible and don't want to be there!! Never going back here ever again!!! read more

Excellent service and always wonderful food! Today I was with a large group and ordered the chicken teriyaki for lunch and it was delicious! They accommodated our group so well with all the meals coming out together and we were easily done within an hour. read more

This sushi spot was recommended by my brother & his wife. It's a tiny little place that we almost missed driving by. We made reservations which we didn't need at the time we arrived but if you plan on a late dinner I'd highly recommend it. The place was really busy when we were leaving. The food was delicious and we will definitely be going back for more. read more

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