Overpriced, bland food. Disappointed in the miso soup. Overall I wouldn't recommend

RUDE service and OVERPRICED food! One of the waitress was extremely rude and had major attitude problem. When my Dad asked her something in Chinese because the other waitresses and waiter speak Chinese, this one waitress said "Oh MY GOD! They're speaking Chinese." and then turned away. If you are going to be working in a service industry, you need to have better attitude than that or else you shouldn't work as a waitress. We tried using the yelp coupon and they wouldn't accept it because we had 10 people at our party and we tried using 4 of the yelp coupon. They said we need to use 5 of them for them to accept it. There was NO WHERE on the coupon that say that 2 people must use 1 coupon. It only said "limit 1 per 2 people" meaning MAXIMUM 1 coupon per 2 people. The staff were so rude to us afterward because we were trying to use the coupon. They cannot understand what "limit 1 per 2 people" meant. The experience completely ruined our night. I wish I hadn't come here. I will NEVER come back again. The food was alright. There are other sushi restaurants with MUCH BETTER service and price. I recommend you go to HANA Sushi instead of here. Bottom Line: No matter how good the food may be, no customers wanted to be treated like crap. If they continue to have the same RUDE attitude toward their customers, it is the fastest way to lose your customers. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE for BETTER SERVICE AND FOOD!!!! This is what YELP emailed me apologizing for the restaurant stupidity. Hi there, We're writing to let you know that we were recently made aware that you may have encountered some issues when trying to redeem your certificate for Genki Ya in Cambridge. It seems there was some confusion over the multiple Certificates may be redeemed per table, limit 1 per 2 people term. We have since cleared up the issue with the business, and they would be happy to have you back. Please feel free to write me back if you have any questions or concerns. Regards, Gail Yelp User Support San Francisco, California read more

So I decided to give this place a second chance and took my two small children in for lunch yesterday. Once again, it was just us and another table of patrons. This time two women with their small children. Let me just say, the food is good (which is why I went back), but the service is beyond terrible! If you want unsolicited advice (which both me and the other women in the restaurant received) and from a 24 year old Asian boy I might add, then by all means, go! Get a good laugh! If this isn't your thing, steer clear! I now know why so many come in for take out and so few eat in. read more

The delivery system is so good and easy!! I just click the menu from my computer and then wait! That's it! The foods taste good, but sometimes the raw fish was not fresh... I got food poisoning around two times after eating here. Just be aware when you eat sashimi. read more

Bad service. I ordered delivery and it took them two hours. I called them and they just said the food a is coming and then hang up the phone. read more

DO NOT ORDER DELIVERY FROM HERE. Delivery took close to 2 hours. When I would call back I was told, "10 more minutes." This was not the case. The fish itself was chewy and not great quality. The hot order was cold by the time it arrived. Awful experience. read more

Big fan of the takeout online option. For $13.00, you get three rolls, miso, and salad. Always my go to in the area. Great deal and their rolls are great- and you can choose almost any of the rolls they make for the special, even the fancier ones. But it's cash only and the bummer is that the minimum order for delivery is $15, so you have to recruit a buddy or order something on top of it. Nom nom nom. I've never actually been there though so can't speak to that read more

I love this place! I love the atmosphere they've created (casual but nice and fun), I love how nice the waiters are, and I especially love that the food is organic, yet priced so reasonably! The food has always been fresh, tasty and creative. I love the variety and presentation. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, there isn't anything not to love. read more

Always heard good things about Genki Ya and the fact that they are able to open in other locations, tells me their food is expected worth 4 stars on Yelp BUT if I can give 0 star, I most definitely would. Went there on a Friday night, busy. First thing I realized was that there was no wait table at the front so I had to walk all the way to the back of the restaurant to find a waitress for a table. We were given the table right next to the register, which was ok. Looked at the menu and since I am allergic to majority of the shelf fish, I soon found out most of their rolls have shrimp on them and I was sort of forced to just the minimal left over ones. Not a big deal. Then I started to feel very uncomfortable because the, I believe is the owner, kept looking at us like we did something wrong. The whole meal I had to keep my left side sideways so I don't see her staring. The food finally came and we were ready to devour the goodies. Totally lost appetite with the first few dishes and also all the rolls we ordered. The sauce was overpowering and tasted like a roll that is from home. I looked at the sushi chefs and I saw that there were 4 grown chefs stuck in a tiny sushi table making sushi. How good can their sushi be? Definitely not going back again and I really don't understand how they can have 4 stars. (got home and got hit by diarrhea) read more

I just wanted to add a few extra bits of info here. If you order from their website directly, you get a 10% discount. I chose to include the tip online (so it would go on my credit card with the rest of the meal), and when the delivery driver arrived, he asked if I could pay him cash instead. It was too late at that point. He said management holds onto all tips until the end of the month, and if you're ordering delivery early in the month, it sucks for the delivery guys. That has GOT to be illegal, right? As for the food, I loved Genki Ya until I tried Super Fusion II in Watertown. I still like Genki Ya, but I wish they would vary their menu somewhat, and frankly, while one of the better sushi restaurants around, it sort of pales in comparison to Super Fusion in terms of price, size and yes, quality. read more

Nothing really special...not that cheap either. But the health gods at Genki-Ya sure showed me when I asked for 'splenda?' (imagine puzzled look from waiter)..umm 'equal?' (imagine another puzzled look from waiter) ...um hm, 'fake sugar -with a fake Asian accent to see if that would help?' (final puzzled look from waiter)... Finally the waiter raised one finger, turned away and brought back a soy sauce dipping dish, placed it in front of me...and nodded with a smile.. I looked down and there it was...a heaping serving of white, natural, good ole fashioned sugar.....:) The wait staff is ALL BUSINESS here...so make sure you have good company with you. Other than that, normal sushi..though the sashimi cuts are very generous..they're big. I recommend the Sashimi appetizer if you're a sashimi lover and you dont want that much and its only like, $10...its two large pieces of the following: yellowtail, tuna, and salmon. GO and think of me.... Love, Nunes read more

Love this place. Quality ingredients, organic options, unique rolls, and gluten-free tamari. Staff is friendly. It's a small space, so if you are coming with a big group, make sure to reserve a table. read more

Much better than anything nearby. Tried 3 sushi restaurants in the Belmont area on our trip and this blew the other two away! Rolls were perfect - little spice, very fresh and large size. Salad was outstanding and service was fast and friendly. Going to be back for sure! read more

Great place for sushi. I liked the upscale decor, and pleasing overall ambiance. Place was clean and well-lit. Food was good and prompt. Our server was also funny and real easygoing. Would definitely be back for more if in the area. read more

This is our go to place to get delivery. The food is fantastic and if you order from their website, you can get a 2 or 3 roll special that is ridiculously cheap. The catch is that you have to pay in cash. Also, on the website, it says that the rolls come with salad, fruit, and miso soup. We usually get the soup but the salad is often missing. The sushi is always freshly prepared and the delivery is usually made within an hour. read more

Let me start by saying that I love this little plaza, where I usually do my TJ's grocery shopping, CVS, banking, grab a quick Chipotle. I discovered Gen Sushi when my friend was craving sushi, looked it up on Yelp and good reviews. Indeed we ordered about 5 different types of rolls, and it was delicious. Not heavy on the rice, tasty, and generous with their portions. We were very full and satisfied. I'm not crazy about the onning though. It's so solid green, I honestly thought it was a medical office/store. Other than this little tidbit, solid sushi meal! read more

I'm going to update this one to four stars, thanks to their lunch specials. I find myself sitting at home on a Monday night, happy that tomorrow is a week day so I can satisfy my sushi craving with Genki Ya's maki lunch special. I've been back several times since my last review-- mostly for take-out. The food is consistently good and the fish, fresh. I prefer not to eat there, as I'm not a fan of the location and find the service to be a little slow and distracted. For sushi lunch take-out though, Genki Ya is my favorite in the area. read more

I've been to two locations and I think the sushi is good, kind of overprices if you get anything other than the "normal" rolls and I don't think you get amazing rolls for that extra cost. Like, their special rolls are not much better than the regular ones so why spend the money? Just get the spicy tune, salmon, avocado, sweet potato and you'll be satisfied although I have had better regular rolls. I've also only had sushi, gyoza, miso soup and seaweed salad so I haven't had their entire menu but based on what I have eaten, it is a-ok. read more

Genki Ya has excellent presentation, but the real star is that they pick their ingredients extremely well. They consistently serve the best sashimi salmon I've had around here, in generous cuts. Genki Ya also tops my list for vegetarian-friendly sushi places, both in terms of variety (must be a dozen diffferent vegetarian rolls, not to mention unusual nigiri selections like mango or watercress) and quality -- they pick their fruits and avocados as carefully as their fish. Top pick: the Hawaii roll, which is wrapped in mango and avocado. read more

Yummy cooked japanese stuff. Gyoza, terryaki so so good. Sushi is above average. I anticipate I'll be going here A LOT.

Although the food is delicious (been a customer for years) the service and delivery are spotty at best... Tonight, was the last straw with a 2 hour delivery wait (and 1 hour projection at longest...) I understand Friday's can be busy, but accurate wait times would be much appreciated... read more

Having lived less than a quarter mile from Genki Ya on Alewife Brook Pkwy for the last two years this place has become a regular for us. Consistently good sushi and service. The Genki Ischiban roll is a do not miss as is the $11 lunch special. Delivery is fast and reliable and the food is always fresh. read more

Plates were dirty, waitress was rude, had to remind her to refill our water constantly. After we got the bill, she complained about the tip, and demanded more. Pretty ok sushi, but not coming back because of rude staff. read more

Love the spicy triple roll entree, and the chicken katsu curry! the katsu curry is a little over-priced, but its a LOT of food, and quite delicious read more

Sushi first-timer - went here with some friends on a Tuesday night and really enjoyed this place! Tons of tame choices and photos of EVERYTHING on the menu! The mushroom tempura roll and sweet potato roll were great! I will definitely be back. read more

Damn good! Unassuming and simple interior, but very pleasant. Not the best sushi i've head, but very decent, and better than all in Cambridge or Somerville area read more

I'll only order from here online, because the female manager on the other end of the phone order is incredibly rude - sounds like I'm not the only one with this complaint. Tried to order online tonight because we were craving for some yummy protein, but their website was down (orders wouldn't go through). Hubby called to try to place an order, and told the female manager about their website problem. As he was trying to place the order, the woman kept telling him the website was perfectly fine - meanwhile we were still trying to use the website and figure out what's going on. We ended up canceling the order because the woman was so disruptive, unappreciative of our feedback, and just plain rude. Hana sushi is a little more expensive, but at least I haven't experienced any poor customer service. Genki Ya's food is fine, but whoever owns this place should consider some BASIC customer service training. read more

The sushi here is great! Lots of options, I love the sunset roll. More importantly, the staff are also very courteous and accomodating. They honored our order even though we accidentally ordered at the brookline location for pickup. They also let us order 15 mins before closing time. You won't leave this place disappointed! read more

I don't know what's going on with Cambridge Genki Ya lately. I got the vegetable tempura followed by chicken teriyaki. The veggie tempura was good. It's hard to screw up fried veggies. The teriyaki, however, did not make it to my mouth. A good teriyaki is a sizzling filet of meat in an unctuous sticky-sweet sauce. This was a graying mass of boiled chicken breast lathered unartfully with pre-prepared sauce, with steamed veggies. And for $20? You've got to be kidding me. I asked for it to go, after which the entire dish promptly met the trash can outside. It ended up being a Trader Joe's night. If you go, order from the sushi menu, which is reliably excellent and cheaper, and not the dinner menu. read more

Ordered delivery from this place and was very pleased with the person taking all of my is this vegan" questions over the phone, as I was looking to just order vegan items. Had some yummy veggie gyoza, edamame and sushi too. Very satisfying and delicious - highly recommend! read more

Went to lunch with my daughter on a weekday, casual ambience with no wait. Wait staff was friendly and sushi options were vast. However, despite reminding our server twice our appetizer did not arrive until we were done with our meal with no explanation provided. We ended up taking it to go-no discount offered. read more

The food is decent but the service is HORRIBLE. I had food delivered and they sent the wrong appetizer. When I called to ask them to send the correct thing, she asked me to just try what they sent because it was the same price. If they were similar, that would be fine, but there is a big difference between a vegetable fresh roll (what I ordered) and deep fried vegetable tempura. I eventually asked her to refund my credit card and she just told me she'd call me back later. I will certainly not be eating here again. read more

Ugh. I always want this experience to be better. The sushi is solid and a convenient drive from my home, but man, the customer service it pitiful. At this point, it's really "shame on me" to expect a different result than the previous two times, but all three times I've gone to Genki Ya on Fresh Pond I've ordered take out and the wait is absurd. Tonight, I ordered two rolls. Two. Rolls. They told me it would be 25-30 minutes which felt ridiculous to begin with, but ok, they're busy, I get it. I show up 30 minutes later and proceed to wait another 25 minutes for them to prepare my order. Other customers kept piling up at the door experiencing the same frustration I was. That's it --I'm sticking to Hana Sushi from here on out. read more

I don't know what is wrong with the lady at the counter giving such a big attitude. I ordered my food 30min ahead. I came to the restaurant and they were still working on my food. I decided to pay and wait. She didn't tell me anything and made me sign my receipt, walked out to the back and when she came back, basically rushed me to take a seat because I shouldn't be standing in the way. I asked her what's on? And she just rushed me away with her hand like if I was animal. I felt so disgusted by such a service that I felt like people were staring at me and giving me a, this isn't acceptable, type of sign. I saw her doing the same to another guest. Even if the food is good, this restaurant has a pretty low class of service. It is not the right way to treat a guest, not even if he/she is getting a take out. Very unwelcoming and unpleasant to come in and get food. read more

Genki Ya - Cambridge - Not a welcoming place to get food - Sushi Bars Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Genki Ya's katsu curry was alright. Satisfyingly crispy, but somewhat stingy on the katsu. The curry was fairly generous, though bland. Not bad, but not fantastic either. Their oyako-don isn't as sweet and tangy as it ought to be, they should work on the sauce. Fairly decent for the price. I'd probably order from this place again. read more

I am a sushi snob from NYC and I must say this place is great. My in laws live around here and I must stop here every time we visit them. The fish is super fresh and prices are very reasonable. The lunch special is super cheap and comes with soup and salad. read more

Great lunch specials! Busy which is the best sign at a sushi restaurant, not only do you know its good, you know its fresh. Love their sweet potato roll--so hard to find for some reason! Great service--very attentive and fast, which is great when your running time course experiments in the lab and are on a schedule! Excellent miso and ginger dressing on the salad--the orange slice garnish is a great touch too. Love that we have a new place to put into the lunch rotation--Thanks Yelp for introducing us to our new found sushi spot with the coupon!! read more

Tried the sunny roll and sushi dinner. The sunny roll is tasty but too spicy for me. And the sashimi are in general fresh and delicious, although the sushi rice tastes kind of weird. All in all I'd recommend this restaurant, maybe not strongly though due to my own intuition. read more

Sushi is good and you can expect quality in all there rolls. I would have given them the forth star but service in not the best. Specially the cashier ! Man... She is just not enjoying her job nor her self.. Sitting there waiting for take-out, 5 persons came in to order and each one of them same story.. I was surprised nobody of us just took off. ....Well apart from that sushi is great! Just remember if you encounter the cashier lady to breath beforehand 10 times and another 10 times after. ;) read more

The sushi is pretty good. They get three stars for organic, which is fantastic (and the whole reason I ordered sushi from them in the first place). So, by no means do I want to discourage their emphasis on organic ingredients! However, when the order was delivered to my house, it came with each roll packaged individually in non-decomposable, excessive plastic packaging. Why would a restaurant which goes to such lengths to be environmentally responsible turn around and swaddle their food in layers of plastic? If McDonald's did this, I'd assume it was par for the course. But there's something about Genki Ya's bright green menu advertising, "The price of conventional food does not reflect the cost of environmental cleanups that we pay for through our tax dollars" that makes me cringe as I unwrap plastic layer after plastic layer. Sorry, but until the packaging techniques match the "save the environment" language in the advertising pamphlet, I just can't order sushi delivery from Genki Ya anymore. Make sure you specify, when you order, that you want the minimum amount of plastic. read more