The hostess escorted us to our table. The table was clearly dirty. Me and my wife stand there and I am staring at the hostess because we are not seating down. Instead of asking if something is wrong she gets on her phone and ignores us. We then go to the bar and the bartender wipes it down. There are seeds on the table and wet. Restrooms were nasty, hope kitchen is cleaner. Waitress was nice and attentive. Food was good. read more

KOI Restaurant and Bar - Dirty urinal. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Brownsville, Texas

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The atmosphere and service was very good. The sushi needs some work. Very scimpy and not presented like traditional Japanese sushi generally is. Gyoza and Miso were good. read more

KOI Restaurant and Bar - Unique decor, very nice. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Brownsville, Texas

I've had a lot of good sushi at a lot of different places and I'd have to say, I'm not a fan of Koi. Just a warning for people looking for sushi in the city...cream cheese is their favorite thing and is like a staple ingredient to Brownsville sushi. Positives: 1. The place is really nice and upscale with high ceilings, bamboo decor, and koi fish paintings. 2.They hold fight nights and show games there without cover and I think they even turn into a club once in a while. 3. The fried rice is awesome! NEGatives: 1. The fried rice is full of soy sauce and is pricey! 2. Miso soup is not miso soup! It's a very daaark colored base, that resembles watered down soy sauce, with seaweed. Definitely no miso paste in there. I was sad I had no "clouds." 3. The prices are out of this world ($12+) for bland sushi. My friend got a vegetarian roll and I know that it already sounds like it doesn't taste like anything already but seriously...it tasted like nothing. It was like EATING water. I should have told them that instead of using cream cheese as a main ingredient, they might wanna use sushi vinegar...you know, the stuff that you're supposed to use to season the rice but whatever. LOL. The other rolls have rice that are drenched in soy sauce and/or fried, and stuffed with cream cheese. They still don't taste like much but if they aren't drenched, fried, or stuffed, well good luck on having your taste buds even slightly tickled ;) 4. Salmon sashimi - cost an arm and a leg and it looked like thin rugged cuts of salmon on a bed of seaweed. I was praying that it was at least fresh buuuut i don't know...i just don't know. 5. As nice as the place is, it is quite loud with music blasting even on a non game/fight night. Lighting might be a tad bit too dim. The only reason I would return to this place is if there was some sort of event or someone was celebrating something but I'd probably eat elsewhere before going. read more

If you have tried or have been used to real japanese food (especially sushi rolls) don't ever try this place. They were so awful because the rice has a heavy consistency. Also, you can barely see the protein (i.e. salmon or tuna) in the roll. Plus points though: clean, nice ambience and they play music on some days. read more

The sign was misleading. "Best sushi in South Texas." I saw this sign several times when driving into work during the week I was in Brownsville Texas. A few of us decided to get out to KOI for some raw fish. I'll start by being very nice. Koi had an *awesome* decor. For a moment, I forgot that I was in South Texas...I was instantly in some chic New York restaurant. Dark reds, dark woods, and dim lighting... it was incredible. There were paintings of fish on the walls, bamboo dividers, and the waiters were dressed very fashionably. I'm going to use the decor to transfer into the ambiance, however. Even though the place was decorated quite well, there was loud pop music at near deafening levels when we arrived. This was a total clash from the otherwise tastefully adorned eatery. To be fair, I believe there was a birthday going on or something... about 15 minutes into our meal, the lights dimmed and some swanky lounge music was turned on. This was perfect. I asked the waiter if they had "unfiltered saki". I like my saki creamy and cold, and although it took several times asking and describing, the waiter said that they did indeed have it. Just like the sign, the waiter was a liar! I was brought the same cold saki that the rest of the group was brought, and although it wasn't bad, I was quite disappointed. Next, we ordered appetizers. We had chicken skewers of some sort (which were actually quite delicious) that reminded me of a Hawaiian style. I don't remember the second appetizer we had, but it was equally as tasty. This was the highlight of my evening, as here's where my experience at Koi turned South. The sushi was miserable. The rice was old, cold, and dry. The nigiri was also cold, almost frozen, and thinly cut. The rolls were extremely small, contained almost no filling, and were made with the same crappy rice that everything else was made with. The fried roll we ordered had a burnt taste to it. EVERYTHING had Cream Cheese in it. The garnish was a joke, and the presentation was amateur. Several rolls had a Mexican flair to them, which in theory, may have been a delicious execution. However, when it comes to sushi, Koi is the fail. Equally as bad as the sushi was the price... the three of us spent over $100 on crappy sushi. I've been told that there's another sushi bar in town (I think it's called Uchi) that is actually quite delicious. Anyway, it is my great opinion that one should avoid Koi at all costs. It was probably the most miserable sushi experience I've had anywhere. Ever. read more

This was the first time I visited this restaurant and I try sushi roll but I don't remember the name it got flavor I think I rather eat sushi from H.E.B it has better taste. I order a cranberrie martini and it was tasteless no flavor it tasted like medicine. Maybe that roll had no taste I should go and try different stuff. Other thing I didn't like it was to dark where my table was and I order half rice and it was to salty. read more

KOI Restaurant and Bar - a plate of sushi rolls - Sushi Bars Near Me - Brownsville, Texas

Took my girlfriend there about a week ago. The service was slow, and memory selective. What I mean is I asked for silverware, wasabi , and water. The waitress suddenly "forgot" all three times. Stop pow-wowing by the bar area and do your job. Anyway, I ended up getting those items myself. The sushi was fair. However a suggestion: Stop trying to put a Latin influence on Japanese Sushi. Does not work. The lighting in the dining room was quite dark, and had to resort to the flashlight on the phone to see the menu. They could make small changes in my opinion, and it would be a lot better. I would have to say go somewhere else. read more

My friend took me for lunch, we had to get our own menus, they don't carry eel sauce, our drinks & food took forever even though there was only 1 other table, and there was a number of tables which had not been cleaned nor were ever cleaned in tbe duration of our meal. NOT recommended. The hostess also had the messsest hair i had ever seen on a hostess. Reminded me of a 6 year old who had been playing outside for hours. read more

KOI Restaurant and Bar - Dirty tables, and no excuse. The place is empty. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Brownsville, Texas

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This is one of my favorite places when I am in Brownsville. The place is beautiful to look at, yes, but I think the food is great and well worth the trip. The Sunumono Salad is absolutely delicious - light and flavorful. Their rolls are great- fresh, and a ton of variety - they never disappoint. Not all the rolls are typical sushi, but I love the south Texas influence and creativity. Always something new to choose. read more

It was comical how bad our service was. I went with a group of 4 people. We were all amazed that such terrible service was even possible. We half assumed that we were on some candid camera prank show. Convincing our waitress to get us 4 waters was like pulling teeth. She brought 1 water at at time with about 5 minutes in between each. When we tried to order cocktails it was even more of a disaster. We were given an option of 3 drinks on a drink menu of over 20. The rest she said, were not available. When we asked for beer she simply said no. When we placed an order for food she acted like we were speaking German. Most of the people at the table spoke both English and Spanish and tried to speak to her in Spanish but she still gave them the same blank look. It took about 10 minutes of gesturing and pointing to order. And she walked away with out taking the order of one of the people who was at the table. We had to ask her to come back. When about 20 minutes (and 3 waters in)she finally brought the veggie tempura appetizer, it was a sad sight to behold. It was nothing like what it normally looks like, just a spattering of green peppers, cauliflower and a few carrots. No tempura sauce. No plates. By the time we got her to bring us plates- one by one again. With a deep look of confusion as to why we would need plates to share an appetizer or sauce of any kind the appetizer had gotten cold. Was it a super busy night? Maybe our waitress was stressed by how many tables she had?? No. There were about 4 tables of people and 3 waitresses. Thought the experience while exasperated, we were never rude to our waitress. We thought that perhaps with some encouragement or patience she would step up her game. Not the case. After 45 minutes into the whole terrible experience she put a COLD miso soup on the table-- With NO miso!! We sent it back paid for our cold veggie tempura cancelled the rest of our orders and left. I've been here before, and while the service is usually lacking the food can be decent. But, it looks like they've lost any grip that they might previously have had on sanity. I'll never return and caution my friends to stay far away. read more

This place is gross. The food is disgusting......has that weird taste of pre-made sushi. They had good martinis, but very expensive. Try that bar next to Khan's grill on 802. The sushi situation in Brownsville is so sad. Luckily, HEB does a pretty good job! read more

I went to this place for my birthday, and I probably would have walked out sooner if I wasn't thrilled to be visiting with two girlfriends back home. It was a Sunday night, the place was mostly empty and we went because they had some rolls on special. The first tip off was the guy rolling the sushi looking like the dude on the couch who forgot to change his dingy grey shirt, or more likely didn't care to. The next red flag was the bored waitress walking around munching out just to drive home the irony of having to wait so long for your food. The martinis were okay, but the sushi was terrible! Mostly rice with hardly any filling. Eventually we got tired of waiting to order a second drink and possibly some different rolls, so we moved to Carino's down the way. It might not have the posh atmosphere of Koi, but at least the waiters pretend to give a sh*t. read more

I like koi restaurants but this place disappoints. I've been to this place several times and not once have had good service. The last time we went we ordered sushi and two bowls of rice we were the only ones there and they took 30 min to bring out the food. Horrible service. read more

I'm sorry, but this place is a joke. Best sushi in South Texas? Not even close. I settle for their sushi rolls only because its one of TWO sushi restaurants in Brownsville. The sushi just doesn't live up to its pricey standards. I will admit, they have the BEST yakimeshi rice around - delish with chipotle sauce - it is divine. This hot spot clearly caters to the rich from Mexico. I've seen enough of these snobby restaurants. The waiters don't even speak English. Keep in mind, I'm fluent in Spanish. In one instance, I spoke English the entire time only to be rudely spoken to in nothing but Spanish. Quite the annoyance, I find. This restaurant is in need of some humble personality. All in all, I've begun making my sushi at home. So, when I feel like having some of their decadent fried rice - also a bit pricey - I make an exception to make the mile long drive. One star for the sushi (among other dishes i.e. tempura etc.) Two stars for the fried rice, YUM read more

Service isn't that good here. The food is ok & the drinks are good... but because of the terrible service I wouldn't recommend this place. Slooooow servers & forgetful too. Got asked twice what I had ordered. read more

Not so good service, they got our order wrong, forgot one of our dishes, we didn't get napkins or silverware, the waiter had no clue about the menu, the food was not worth the price, never coming back read more

I came for happy hour and it was just not that good. Better sushi to be had elsewhere.

As soon as I walked in I noticed the establishment was beautifully decorated and the décor and artwork were impressive. Then, everything after that was down hill. As I walked in the establishment to have lunch, the hostess was standing behind the bar rather than at the door to greet customers. She was not rude but was far from the "normal" hostess attitude that one would expect. Once seated, I was given a menu that was absolutely filthy. Spilled drinks and debris were on every page. I had to go rewash my hands after I ordered.. I noticed some items on the menu were completely marked out with a black marker and other items were covered with white out and replaced with an item written with an ink pen. (very tacky IMO). The temperature in the dining area was a little hot an uncomfortable. When the waitress approached my table she never introduced herself or greeted myself or my party. I noticed right away her ability to converse in the English language was severely limited. I ordered the Philadelphia roll with salmon, avocado, and cream cheese with wasabi on the side. When my order arrived, my wasabi was missing and I had to re ask for it. When my order arrived, I initially noticed that there was a lot of rice in the roll compared to others I have preciously eaten at other establishments. The pieces of the salmon and the other components were very small. As for the taste, I was actually surprised. The roll was actually quite tasty. The rice was cooked well and all the components tasted good. However, due to the aforementioned issues, I will not return for another meal. read more

Beware avoid eating at all cost!!!!!! Eating at Panda Express is a joy compared to Koi. The Chicken was very dry, overcooked (burned) and salty. The yakisoba noodles were tasteless. (The noodles were not cooked with the rest of the vegetables ) The pineapple chicken was swimming in sauce. The best item on the menu is "plain white rice". read more

I don't like giving bad reviews. But this is one of the worst places in Brownsville to eat sushi, period. Supermarket sushi is better. Buffet sushi is better. The sushi is dry, has almost no fish, and and is bland. The soy sauce tastes diluted and gross. I was very disappointed, to say the least. The decor may be beautiful, and the fried rice may be good, but if you are advertising sushi, please, AT LEAST HAVE ACCEPTABLE SUSHI. I hope this restaurant improves its sushi, or it will probably go out of business. The reviews on here and the vacancy that I have experienced when going into the restaurant speak volumes. read more

The sushi rolls are sliced paper thin, with a very miniscule morsel of what might have been fish. Service isn't rude, but is very inattentive. The ambience is decent and drinks were ok. For dinner, look elsewhere. read more

I went for a special occassion. I just returned from Fort Gordon, GA after 8 months in ARMY training. I'm a sushi fan so I decided to give KOI a try. The ambiance is GREAT, the decorations are GREAT, the uniforms are GREAT !! The food was GOOD and I have 2 types of sushi: Philadelphia Special and the KANI roll. Both were very tasty, until I found a bug in the sushi. Since we got there, our waiter did NOT have any ettiquette nor any formality. He took much longer to take our orders and if we needed anything we had to flag him down since he showed no interest if our food was fine. He did not bother to give us refills in beer or anything else. When I noticed the bug on the second set of sushi, I had to call another waiter to look for him since our waiter was nowhere to be found. When he arrived i asked him, "Does that look like a bug to you?". He leaned forward and said. "Oh yea", took the plate and left. 30 minutes later I flagged him down and asked for the bill since he had no interest in that either. When I asked him what was gonna happen, he said, "I didn't charge you the sushi. Would you like to speak to my manager?" I said no, paid and walked away. I would never go back to the restaurant just becuase of the service. EVER. read more

I give this restaurant one star because it won't let me give them any less! I've experienced bad service here in the past and it has always been one of my main complaints from Koi. The food had been generally ok. It is not amazing but there are certain things I do enjoy such as the Sunomono salad and the rice. Which in moments of weakness have caused me to forget all bad experiences and visit this place again. After having been convinced by my niece to give it one more try since it was 2 for 1 roll Sunday I ventured again to this restaurant. We ordered sashimi and nigiri.... The nigiri was basically a big blob of rice with a chunk of fish (salmon and tuna) wrapped with a tiny strip of seaweed. It was too big to fit in our mouth! The sashimi which is supposed to be sliced thin was just a bunch of butchered fish on a plate. Not at all what we were expecting. If there isn't a good sushi chef available they should at least let us know. I think this place has a lot of potential to become an enjoyable restaurant if only management would care a little. They should watch over the staff (make sure they give good service to a paying customer). The waitstaff always seems more interested in what's going on behind the bar or inside the kitchen than what the customer needs. Countless times we have had to stand up and look for our waiters because they won't come to the table. read more

The food is disgusting! Place looks nice but is very deceiving. Service was terrible! Servers sat & talked, ignoring customers. Sushi tastes like crap. Veggies tempura, Soba beef soup & Chicken yakisoba were not good. Asked to speak to a manager & one never came. DO NOT EAT HERE!!! read more

Wow... this was bad. Sushi rolls were 90% rice and the tiny bit of fish thst was there tasted old and smelled. The rice tasted old as well. Sent the food back. Wasn't going to risk food poisoning. Edaname was over cooked. Service was oooooooo slow and we were 1 of 2 customers in the whole place. Sushi from the grocery store was better than this food. If you know what good sushi is you will not find it here. Sorry Koi this was just nasty and you should really consider another a new menu and chef. AND invest in quality food. read more

This place is hit or miss. Great ambiance and decent prices. I've noticed that this place is usually empty the few times that I've gone and now I realized why. I went in a few days ago and had the pleasure of having the worst server ever. I was not greeted at all, the food took forever and when it arrived my Yakisoba had a strange taste and was full of what appeared to be dirty oil so I barely touched it. There was more than enough staff present but none of them were attentive or the least bit friendly. I left without a thank you and no more than two words from my server throughout my whole visit. It was a very awkward and unpleasant experience to say the least. read more

Misleading when more than half of the reviews are filtered. That should say it all about the quality of food and service of this place.

Regular sushi. Service is okay. The combination fried rice is the only thing worth it (it's really good).

I agree that the signs at Koi are misleading... It was a Sunday night and my party of 4 arrived at Koi a bit before 9:45pm. As soon as we walked through the door, a waiter approached us telling us the kitchen was closed. We were confused since their sign outside says they close at 10:30pm and their big OPEN sign was on. We asked that at what time they close the kitchen, if it was 45 minutes before their sign advertised. I asked if at least the bar was open for some drinks then. He just sighed and said he couldn't do anything about it. We asked to speak to the manager (thinking there probably wasn't even a manager present who would allow the staff to shut down so early), but there he was at the bar. We went up to him and asked if we could be served dinner. He pointed at the sushi bar/counter that was already completely wiped clean (which means they had started clearing out at least 10-15 minutes before that) and said with a disappointed face: "well, we can but it's going to take a long time, if you want to wait." Obviously, I didn't want my food prepared by people who didn't want to be there and by staff that didn't want to wait on me, so we said no thanks, and walked away. Main point of this review- I don't know if the owner knows how his restaurant is being run, but really- if you don't want to work late hours- don't advertise that you do! I doubt we'll be back- worse than bad food is bad service!!!! read more

Terrible service of any restaurant here in Brownsville they take forever and bring the orders out wrong 90%percent of the Time I don't suggest them to anyone food is good but service is absolute trash. Please hire new staff read more

I have low expectations for a sushi bar in small towns. Being from Houston I have choices of some of the finest sushi restaurants. So even with low expectations of the food quality I was not prepared to witness an infestation of roaches at the food counter. I came in for a business meeting and decided to stop for lunch and sit at the sushi bar. I saw 2 roaches on the counter where I was eating and one on the back of the bar where the hot sauces and condiments were stored. I finally killed the second roach on the counter before I left. Food was mediocre, but again I had low expectations. The roaches were disgusting. read more

Awful customer service!!! I guess they have no REAL manager. I have gone once and it is the LAST time I will ever go. Waiters take forever to take order, bring drinks, and even longer to bring entrees!!! Absolutely sad that people actually go to KOI!!! read more