My cousins and I enjoy the sushi at Kanpai! Every roll we ordered tasted fresh and delicious. The server was friendly and attentive. My small complaints were that they were out of two of the wines my cousin ordered which were less expensive so he had to order the more expensive glass. We also noticed several fruit flies, which I understand are a common nuisance in the summer but a little off putting when you're eating. read more

Atmosphere is really nice in the restaurant. I got my order to go though. Food is really good! I'd come back again for the dine in experience. read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Rainbow Roll (bottom) Dancing Dragon (Top) - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Pork Gyoza, sushi, beef yaki udon, and a side of chicken fried rice, green tea & strawberry mochi The udon noodles came with a side of warm miso soup! Everything was so good and super filling! The fried rice was such a solid portion for being a side The melon/pineapple cocktail paired perfectly too The mochi was the perfect ending! Vibes were cozy & super chill! Check out my food review page for the full review on IG: @ratedbyaleena read more

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Came to Kanpai for a double date and I was very very pleasantly surprised at the level of fish quality of their sushi! Very cute location kind of isolated from everything else. Service was great! They have random weekly deals that were ok. FOOD: - Gyoza: very standard, would recommend if you just really like gyoza. I tend never to order them because I always feel like they taste the same as store bought frozen ones. - Stuffed avocado: I loved this!! I always like avocado but this was just a very yummy creamy appetizer. Kind of like a jalepeno popper but creamier - Party Boat: we couldn't decide on what to get so we ended up sharing this between the 4 of us and it was amazing! The rolls it comes with usually weren't the ones we wanted but we were able to switch them for rolls that were the same price on the menu! Their sashimi cuts were THICK and very fresh tasting. Pricewise was on the higher end but I think it was absolutely worth it! Would def come back to get their sushi again. read more

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The server named Cross implied I couldn't afford a 52 dollar bottle of sake and just rubbed me the wrong way. I think black folks need to steer clear from this place until they ensure servers aren't appearing rascist. read more

This updated review is for the takeout I recently got. Super easy to order online. The food was ready in a very timely manner. They only do takeout (maybe unless you try another delivery service) but we live close enough so walking over isn't an issue. The one thing I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND and honestly might get exclusively from now on is the fried avocado appetizer! It's stuffed with seafood and is truly perfection. Highly recommend!!! read more

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This was a pleasant surprise. Always see it available on OpenTable so decided to give it a try. Apps good, rolls good, sashimi good, udon noodle bowl also decent. So we'll be back for the sushi - thought it was good quality, nothing iffy. Service was great. Ambiance needs help - dim the lights, put up some string lights, candles on the table maybe and put on some music that's vibe-y and this place maybe is harder to get into. Wouldn't take too much. Food is a 4*, ambiance is a 2*, service was 5*. Two apps, one drink, one sake, 2 specialty rolls and a dessert order was not over the top expensive either for the 2 of us. Eating out is not cheap anymore, but I didn't roll my eyes at the final bill. read more

Get the sushi boat, great service. Awesome date night with a welcoming atmosphere. My fiancée and I love going there when we have that itch for sushi. read more

I tried kamakaze and shared the nigiri dinner with my friends. The nigiri dinner came with soup, salad, spicy tuna roll, and 9 pieces of chef's choice nigiri. To be honest, I don't like spicy tuna. It tasted different from other sushi restaurants, much spicier than usual. However, I could tell that all the fish were of high quality. Overall, my experience here was perfect read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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I walked into this place expecting greatness. Besides it being sparsely occupied, the atmosphere and music were on point. Sat at the bar ready to go: the service from Maxwell was legit. But then comes the but... The food. So I mean, read my reviews. I eat a lot of sushi, so I feel like I should be your trusted arbitrator of all things raw, like Ol' DB. When I see negri served a la carte, I'm like, "Okay, let's go for some bomb sushi!" However, I must admit that this place fell short in terms of flavor and quality. Let's just say it was quite average. I've had better rolls from Whole Foods that were both cheaper and higher in quality. With the exception of the hamachi, everything else was lacking. The fish quality was comparable to what you'd find at a sushi belt restaurant. Yeah, I said it. Man, I really wanted this place to be amazing, but unfortunately, it left me feeling underwhelmed with mediocre sushi. Even the soy wasn't good. Like how do you mess yo soy sauce? Don't give it a try haha. There are much better places close by. read more

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I ordered take out. The rolls were delicious as usual. I decided to order the Tofu Teriyaki, which has a description of deep fried tofu with vegetables tossed in teriyaki sauce. What I received was tofu in a reddish brown spicy sauce (did not want spicy) with a lot of onions (assumed would come with more than one veggie, maybe broccoli, carrot, etc.). Disappointing. read more

Got a last minute reservation on a Saturday night. Place was busy and service a little slow, but it gave us time to enjoy a few Kirin. Ordered the "Love Boat" for two. Assorted sashimi, nigiri and choice of two rolls. Food quality was great! read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Love Boat for two - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

3 diners - a large assortment of maki and nigiri. 5 stars - Food: cut, flavor, quality, size, freshness. 4 stars - Service. A bit on the slow/negligent side, but okay. Didn't know the menu as much as I would expect. 3 stars - pricing. Nigiri was per piece and seemed expensive by other comparisons who usually do a two-piece order for about 25% price increase. 0 stars - Service/food prep. What turned out to be a 2-hour dinner was started by the longest wait time for food to be delivered. To my knowledge (seen) there was only one chef. Wasabi & Screaming Tuna have multiple. WAY too long. And the restaurant was not crowded. 0 stars - a menu listing snow crab on many items ... but when asked and confirmed ... wasn't ... but was (imitation) Krab or pollock which usually contain wheat. As Celiacs (GF) this is paramount. AND, the soft shell crab was said to be GF, but was deep fried in cross contaminated oil !! Wrong, wrong, wrong. 0 stars - Asked for two different cocktail menu item drinks. Neither were available when ordered, (bar was out of xxxx) etc, etc. read more

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I am not originally from the Milwaukee area and have only been here for 3 years or so total. I have tried a lot of the sushi places in the area. I also have a few friends and family members that love sushi as much as I do. Between all of us I thought we pretty much had all of the sushi places in the Milwaukee metro area covered. When a supervisor at my work told me about this place, I have to admit I was pretty skeptical. I had never even heard of it or had any of my friends or family say anything about it. I have to admit I am pretty mind blown as I sit here writing this review. The place I thought was "the best sushi place" in the Milwaukee area has been topped by this place! I arrived on a Monday right at 5:00 PM, so it was not very busy. My server, Jackie, was very friendly and attentive. I didn't get a chance to see the whole restaurant as I was seated in a booth up front. The front area/bar area is very nice and I could see where this would be a great location to hang out with friends or even for a nice date. I ordered 3 rolls: rainbow, spicy salmon and spider. Everything was delicious! The freshness of the fish was outstanding! I also liked how the wasabi was blended with a bit more moisture in it so it easily dissolved into my dish of soy sauce. I have eaten at dozens and dozens of sushi places across the country and this is the first place I have seen do this! I will definitely be back to check out the whole restaurant and to enjoy the incredible sushi here! read more

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We had the Oyster Shooter (which had a nice bite), Stuffed Avocado (which was absolutely amazing), Menage a Trois, Dragons Den, Boss, Blue Fin Nagiri Atoro, Truffle Parmesan Akimi (an interesting and savory blend of flavors) and Vegetable Udon. All were extremely delicious, and the presentation was beautiful. Our reservation was taken without hassle, and followed up with a confirmation text. We were seated in a well lit booth near the sushi bar, which is always a showpiece. Unfortunately, there was no bartender the night we were there, and they were down a host. This meant the owner and on-site staff had to work extra hard to service the guests. While there was a wait for drink and food, the quality of what we had was worth the wait. I will definitely be going back to eat my fill of sushi! read more

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I love Kanpai, they have a great variety of sushi and I love that their menu really spells out the dishes so you know exactly what to get. Their prices are a bit higher than other local sushi restaurants but definitely still worth the price. We felt that they took great measures to keep their staff and customers safe among the pandemic. Had a great time and will be happy to return again. read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Hawaiian Volcano, Rock n Roll, Veggie Makin and of course Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc! - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

YUM! And oh so welcoming. The minute I walked in the door with my date, I was greeted with hellos and welcomes from the sushi chef and our server Jackie. Jackie was wonderful and made our experience oh so special. We ordered a few appetizers (edamame, hamachi ponzu which I highly recommend!) to start. Followed by a couple of rolls. The space was great! read more

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I had one of those sudden veggie maki cravings and I thought well, I haven't had Kanpai since before the pandemic began, so why not? I chose the order online and pick up at the restaurant option for this past Wednesday's dinner, and I am very happy with the ease of it all. I placed the order a couple of hours in advance, and got the email confirmation and then the text message when the order was ready. For pickup, there's a designated area, so it's all no-contact for now. So, about the food...I ordered veggie maki rolls and an order of three veggie rolls and it was all fresh, yummy, and satisfying. Check them out. read more

I'm crazy about Kanpai's salads. I could eat one of these every day of my life. First of all, they are huge for the price, and the ginger dressing is to die for. The ingredients are always fresh, and the addition of avocado to the salad is a nice contrast to the crunchy greens, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. The salad is so big it is about two meals worth of salad. 100% worth it. My other go-to order from Kanpai is their friend gyoza. It's a never-fail app that I absolutely love- always fresh, crunchy on the outside and warm and filling on the inside. I always get an order of gyoza with my salads if I'm feeling extra hungry, and they make the perfect complimentary meal together. The sushi- in the past, I've never had a Kanpai roll let me down, so I was a bit disappointed in the Green Bay roll. I got half an order (4 pieces for $8). I was willing to pay that for a half order of a special roll, but would not do it again with the GB roll. The Green Bay roll is supposed to be really creamy, but it tasted more like it was just doused in mayo and no other flavors were added to it. I usually don't throw rolls away, but this one did not get finished. May have been fluke, but I likely will not be ordering that one again. Overall, Kanpai is almost always consistent with their food, which is tasty, fresh and totally worth it! read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Left to right: Side salad w/ginger dressing; 1/2 order of the Green Bay roll; Fried gyoza - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Amazing experience at Kanpai! Delicious vegetable gyoza and edamame to start. Ordered the loveboat for two which was amazing, lots of nigiri and sashimi with two fun rolls. Soup and salad included. Food took slightly longer than expected so they gave us an extra carafe of sake on the house - our waitress was so kind and attentive. Highly recommend! read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Loveboat for two - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

We came in for downtown dining and boy was that a good deal. Lots of food for $35. We knew that we probably wouldn't be frequenting this place, so we opted to get two different entrees to split and ordered two extra rolls outside of the DD menu. The bad: every roll is so saucy except for the Trio roll. Each of those rolls had an element that I hated/took over the flavor, which made the rolls unappealing (cilantro, Serrano pepper). I just took out the elements that I didn't like and they made the rolls 100x better. Prices are obnoxiously expensive. $5-7 per sashimi/nigiri roll?! No. Even the fried gyoza was too saucy. The Thai Chili sauce was just too much. We scrapped a lot of it off, plus it just overpowered the flavor of the pork filling. So that app was a huge miss for us and would not recommend it. Why the cream cheese?! Cream cheese has no place with sushi. The good: the fish was absolutely delicious. For being in the Midwest, I was pretty impressed with the fish itself. I got Buri Toro and Sake nigiri; absolutely delicious. If it weren't for the price, I would have got more. These two pieces and the Trio roll were the best parts of this meal. Highly recommend those rolls. The fish is really what makes sushi, sushi. The rest is just fluff. And although I can appreciate an inventive roll, these just didn't stand out to me and I wouldn't get them again. The rolls that came with the DD menu were the Trio Roll, the Boss roll and the Kamikaze roll. Trio was delicious, Boss roll was okay and the Kamikaze roll was overpowered by the Serrano pepper. I would probably do DD again, but choose the sashimi/nigiri option. The two extra rolls we ordered were the Double Tuna and the Ménage a Trois. The Doubke Tuna would be so good without the crap ton of cilantro! Why does a roll need that much cilantro. For me it was too much so I took it all out and then enjoyed the roll. Ménage roll was okay, not worth the $17 it cost. Overall experience was good. Service was friendly. Seating was so awesome and private. Like I said, Downtown Dining is such a good deal from this place and I think we'd go back for this, but probably won't be back otherwise. read more

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Very good food, good size rolls and amazing ambiance. The ménage a teoría roll and Rock n roll maki are definitely my favorite. The seating area is very private in the booths felt like I was in my own world with my friends. Will definitely be coming back read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Rock n Rock and Roll Maki - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I am a sushi addict and Kanpai is hands down the best sushi restaurant in Milwaukee. Forever spoilt by Californian sushi, I kept getting disappointed with midwestern quality until I discovered Kanpai. Sit at the sushi bar, enjoy chef's incredible knife skills and if you are lucky, you might get their secret homemade soy sauce that is to die for. Fish quality is top notch and more recently they even started to get specials delivered from Japan (had an exceptional fresh uni last time I visited). Rolls have great fish to rice ratio. They even have rolls that they set on fire in front of you and it actually is delicious and not just gimmicky. Service is wonderful too. I am so lucky that I live next door! read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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I eat at Kanpai last night and it was amazing! I ordered the southern bibimbap and a drink. The bibimbap was extremely hot just the way I like it.Everything had great flavor and beautiful presentation. It was a perfect meal for an overcast day. Extremely kind waitstaff as well. I will say that comp pie doesn't look like much on the outside. I almost didn't think that the restaurant was open because the windows are so cloudy. But when you step inside, it's beautifully decorated and pays homage to Japanese culture and heritage. The restaurant set up is extremely practical. The seating is very comfortable and there is an assistance button at the booths if you need to get the attention of your waiter and you don't see them. 10/10 will be coming here again. read more

Service is always top notch especially for the area. Food is great. Many options for diverse pallets make it an easy option for me. Spicy crispy chicken is what I personally consider comfort food. read more

My first visit to Kanpai was with my coworkers on a fine Thursday! The place seemed authentically Japanese from the inside and that is part of the charm here. There are regular tables as well as booths (we did a booth). We did lunch specials and got a bunch of rolls to share. It came in a boat and looked delicious. So much variety and pleasing to the eye (see pic). Our server was very knowledgeable and recommended us good options to combine for lunch since we are a group of four and wanted a lot of variety. The boat had a variety of tuna, salmon, California, white Tuna, Tempura etc. All the Sushi was very fresh and delicious. I have heard that they have a patio so can't wait to go there during summer. Overall it's a great place in the third ward for a nice lunch or even an amazing dinner! read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Food was pretty good, I just thought it was a bit overpriced for meat and rice to go.

The food was great. An the service was even better.. love the outside sitting area .the pizza was amazing..restrooms clean an neat.

The staff is always amazing, friendly, and easy to talk to. Even with a full restaurant on a weekday you never wait for long. Food is excellent. read more

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The best menu item was the stuffed avocado appetizer. Biggest issue: The online menu has happy hour discounts expressly stated (such as Monday half off Sake) but when you get the bill, they say that's for their other location, even though it doesn't say that online. Very frustrating and took forever to get figured out. In the end, didn't get the half off sake either. Edit: just found out we got charged twice as well read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

So good! Great food and great service. I started with the Stuffed Avocado and OMG, heaven! Unique and delicious, 4 large pi Hot Spider roll was also delicious. Marked as spicy but it wasn't overly so. read more

So far, Kanpai gets my vote for the best sushi in Milwaukee. My only complaint is that their menu is massive and confusing with lots of pages of pictures of sushi and Korean. It got to the point where I finally had to ask for help. My waiter (a friendly enough sort) tried to explain and I sort of cut him off. I said "How about we just let the sushi chef make the recommendations and I'm sure it will be great." He wasn't put off by that at all, simply asking how much I wanted to spend and if there was anything I didn't want. That was easy. A few minutes later, the appetizer I had requested arrived (that part was easy), a plate with five steamed dumplings were just excellent. Just as I drained the rest of my first beer, the sushi plates arrived. The first, something they call Veronica, was a black rice roll stuffed with white tuna and salmon and avocado. It was amazeballs. Absolutely delicious. The second plate (Naruto) was tuna and salmon and snapper and yellow tail and snow crab in a cucumber roll (difficult to eat) and in a small bowl of something they call "yuzo sunomono" and I have no idea what that is other than lemon juice and maybe a rice wine. All I can say is "don't drop your sushi" because it will cannonball this stuff all over your shirt. In the end, my meal was *exactly* the amount that I said I wanted to spend and that makes me extremely happy. That my taste buds were similarly satisfied while my tummy was full and we have ourselves a five star review. I would absolutely return to Kanpai and I would suggest that you give this place a try! read more

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Kanpai Izakaya is a sister restaurant to Wasabi in Brookfield. Kanpai focuses on sushi and Asian fusion on small plates. I've only dined there once so far, but I had a pretty good experience. We started with the delicious Red Dragon Roll with tuna tartar, jalapeno, soft shell crab, avocado, spicy mayo and topped with tobiko. Then we moved on to the Wagyu Jalapeno Poppers, which we enjoyed although we would have liked to taste more of the beef. The Ahi Tuna Tower disappointed in texture and flavor, but the Blue Crab Cake was a hit. We even ate the tiny crab that was deep fried and served with it. It was scary for me but glad I did it. My favorite item was the Calamari stuffed with miso braised pork with hoisin and cilantro and a side of AWESOME squid inked forbidden black rice. I would order this dish again just for the rice and to be able to say I ate "forbidden black rice!" Anyway, I definitely plan to go back to Kanpai to explore more of the menu. read more

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I'm a little torn on Kanpai - there's lots to like and some things I'm not crazy about. Atmosphere:A Lots of warm wood - super stylish. Definitely a great place for "date night". Drinks: C They've got a good (12-15 choices) sake list but the menu offers no descriptions at all - boooo. I was forced to inquire about a dry offering and out waitress helpfully recommended several choices in the $35-50 (!) range for 300ml. As if, sister - my much cheaper pick was just fine, thanks. Menu: C+ Extensive & confusing. There are tapas listed in several different places on the menu (like the tapas concept). Grouping them together would make it easier to figure out. Lots of specialty rolls, some Korean choices and assorted specials mean you don't lack for choice. Food: C+ The "basic" (I.e. spicy crab) rolls were better than the fancy ones. My favorite was the MKE which was crab, shrimp and snapper. On the plus side, when they advertise spicy - it actually is. On the minus side - way, way, way, way too much rice. Our Kanpai roll had a 1/2" thick layer of it meaning the roll pieces were impossible to eat easily. Also, the tuna in the Kanpai roll was a little fishy. Meh. Value: ? It seems like Kanpai runs a lot of specials and our visit was no exception. They had many signature rolls 1/2 off which was cool. So our so/so Kanpai too-much-rice roll was $9 - had we paid the full $18, I would have been pissed. Regular price signature rolls are $14-18 so try to take advantage of specials. Service: B Lots of others have mentioned "weird" service and I'd probably agree a little, though our server was attentive and pleasant. Just a bit hover-y. Overall: C+/B- I definitely liked the atmosphere at Kanpai, and the sushi we had wasn't bad considering the price we paid. There are lots of other choices with better food and value though. read more

It has been a while since dining out for sushi, but tonight, we were pleasantly surprised by a 5 star sushi night! Yum! We ordered several nigiri sushi and the flavors were so fresh! The wine was paired perfectly. Excellent job, excellent service! Kanpai! read more

Let me start out by saying we are from Kansas City, we're visiting Milwaukee for one night and went through the list of highly rated sushi places and ended up here. It's a great atmosphere when you walk in, but it was a little bit hot. It was not busy, at all. But we still waited at the hostess stand for at least 5 minutes watching staff walk around without giving us attention. We should have walked out at this point. The service continued to be terrible. The waiter looked like he just woke up from a nap and did not want to be at work. Then he could not have acted more inconvenienced when we asked questions about the menu.. I wouldn't normally ding an entire restaurant based on one waiter but the hostess and other staff (water refill attendant) were just as rude. We felt like we were trapped in a hipster nightmare and we weren't cool enough to be served at this restaurant. The sushi was good, not fantastic. The Korean BBQ was so salty we couldn't finish it. We were sick about spending our money here instead of another restaurant. I will say I rarely give bad reviews and make a lot of excuses for bad service, but this one time I can't ignore the treatment we received. This place isn't a cheap place to eat. You can't provide bad service at this price. read more

Despite sitting next to a window in winter which led to a slightly chillier seat, my turtleneck kept me nice and warm. The Hawaiian volcano rolls, which are the equivalent of sushi-s'mores since they are lit on fire in front of you, were a treat sent from heaven/Hawaii/the kitchen. The spicy/double tuna rolls had a little kick, like a child who is in the process of learning that they can kick you in your shins and laugh it off without any punishment because you think they're cute. Excellent atmosphere, fantastic restaurant. Great menu, lot of options. Will most definitely without a doubt go back to Kanpai in the near future. read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Hawaiian Volcano Maki - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Awesome happy hour deals like their wine wednesdays and sake mondays. The food matches its elegant decor and while service can improve on its efficiency, fresh, quality sushi is what's most important at a sushi restaurant. Kanpai meets my standards on that matter, so I frequent here more than any other sushi places in Milwaukee. Get the jalapeño poppers for app, and the O My God roll is amazing (it comes flaming!) and so as their spicy maki rolls. Their sashimi cuts are big and fresh, not a wimpy skimpy cut like some other places. Be sure to make a reservation on weekend nights. read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Jalapeño Poppers - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

One of my favorite asian restaurants. The stirfry noodles and sushi are noticeably fresh, food is hot and well cooked, and the luscious flavors make my mouth water just writing this review. Whatever negatives have been written about Kanpai are relatively ignorant and are likely one off occasions. Try this place! Normally I don't try below 4 star restaurants, but GIVE KANPAI A CHANCE. It's great! read more

Came here with one of my sushi loving colleagues for downtown dining week. The amount of food you got on their fixed price menu was pretty amazing, specially for sushi. Had a choice of salad or miso soup as appetizer. My entrée was three rolls-you had your choice of several. I would say the quality was good but not fabulous. There was a lot of the rice around the rolls, and I ended up picking out the fish inside simply because I could not eat that much rice. read more

Kanpai Izakaya - Three rolls-tuna, spicy tuna, and a trio - Japanese Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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