Best sushi in Virginia! The rice is amazing. Love this restaurant! Yes, it's busy. Yes, it's small. Yes, it's amazing! Go eat and enjoy!

Solid sushi, but service left much to be desired. When we asked about sushi, the waitress acknowledged our inquiry but never followed up. We weren't sure she even remembered we had asked until she appeared with sake at the table ... But given they had six or seven selections and we had yet to specific, it was no surprise they brought us one we did not desire. The "BIG" rolls are gratuitous and unpleasantly large to eat. Miso soup is great and the tamago is perfect! read more

This place is the best! Friendly, attentive staff...great background music and the food is amazing quality for the price. Love it!

Went to Now & Zen for the first time last night and I was definitely impressed. It was pretty crowded for a Wednesday, but the sushi was great and came out FAST! We had the Spicy Salmon & the Crunch rolls, both of which were delicious. FYI -- the "Big Rolls" really ARE big! We ordered miso soup and two of the Big Rolls and couldn't even finish them. I'll be back! read more

Honestly the best sushi I have ever had! We also got the tofu steak which was fantastic. It was crispy and the sauce was sweet but tangy. Our waitress was so sweet and attentive! read more

NOPE. (First off, there was a dog in the kitchen. That has got to be a health violation.) I put in a to-go order. "30 minutes," she said. Great. When I got there 30 minutes later, I had to stand around for an extra 30-40 minutes as the clearly overworked cook scurried around in the kitchen trying to get plates out for the three tables of dine-in patrons. 1hr and 10min for a to-go sushi order. No apologies. No explanations. Just absolute indifference. What would have salvaged this experience... great sushi. But it was not great. It was less than mediocre. Tokyo Rose has far superior sushi rolls. The one compliment: they are generous with their sashimi. But don't even bother. read more

The best thing about this place is the reviews. The sushi was flavorless, the avocado was not ripe, the huge chunks of fish (too big to eat in one bite) were of poor quality and also lacked flavor. I was told it would take 20 minutes for 4 rolls and 1 order of sashimi but it took a little over an hour even though there was no one in the restaurant and 1 take out order prior to mine. Save yourself time and money. Go to Miako. It's cheaper, faster and 1000 times better. read more

Super disappointed with the service here. It took them over 3 hours to make our food and whoever was speaking on the phone spoke with a lot of unnecessary sass. Would have not been as upset with the wait time if they hadn't given an estimated pickup time 1 and half hours earlier than the food was actually ready. will not be returning until they fix this horrible situation. **have to edit this because they somehow seemed to ALSO forget part of our order. read more

OK food but horrible service. Portions are huge compared to the price. The sushi rice was not nicely done, since it fell apart as soon as I picked it up by chopsticks. Service was bad. The whole restaurant was understaffed. Our waitress never came to our table except when took orders/brought food. When we asked her to take a few plates away, she said "you guys are killing me". That's the most welcoming thing I've ever heard from a server. We wanted to order dessert, but then gave up because of the endlessly wait for our waitress. What made our impression even better was to discover that they automatically charged us 20% tips. Attentive service is an important component for most Japanese restaurants, but apparently the owner of Now and Zen cannot care less. read more

NOT SAFE-I went to Now & Zen for a delivery pickup last night. The order was not ready and patrons/drivers were waiting in the narrow entry were social distance was impossible. People had to pass shoulder to shoulder. Staff not wearing gloves including handling money, credit card slips, etc. then packing food. I sent my pickup back for re-assignment to another driver-informed customer of the reason-and told the restaurant staff I did not feel safe. No more pickups at this location. read more

The worst sushi we've ever had. The rolls looked as if they were prepared by someone who just bought a sushi kit and was trying it out for the first time. They were way too big with too much rice and had little flavor. The service was terrible and the courses were brought out in a disorderly manner. The cheap wall panel was pulled away from the wall at our table and the restroom is a combination of pretentious and disgusting - complete with spiderwebs. I would avoid this place at all costs. read more

Pretty good tasting sushi, didn't love the cut, service was polite and helpful with suggestions for menu options

Last evening my wife and I and four friends dined at Now and Zen, Two of my friends had eaten there often and raved about their experience. I must say they were correct. The menu items were many and all reasonable priced. The location just off Market Street was convenient and the ambience was superb. We selected a number of items from the menu sharing all of them which really made the experience fantastic. Got to say the best item I had last night was the fried oysters. The staff and service were friendly and very attentive. read more

I had a great first experience here the other night. The food is fresh an authentic. I live in Japan for 3 years and have sorely missed properly prepared Japanese food. While the menu offering is small, what Mr. Sato prepares is excellent. I had the yakisoba and a side dish of an eel and avocado roll (the best I've had since I've been here). On top of that, it is inexpensive! It reminds me of one of my favorite little places in Osaka. It is a great little lunch spot or to grab dinner on the way home. I highly recommend it- and better than the other Japanese offerings in Charlottesville. ** to the editors of yelp, this shouldn't have been taken down and I resent it** read more

Best Sushi I've ever eaten, Period! We've been recommended Ten as the best Sushi date restaurant in C-Ville, but no way. If you like your sushi way over-salted, go to Ten. If you like tasty and fresh sushi, with great presentation you will love Now and Zen. Come early on a weekend night cause it fills up fast, or plan to wait, because it is in a house, and the seating is limited. Some people complain about authenticity of the food, and I've never been to Japan, but everybody in the kitchen and most of the restaurant are Japanese...so that seems pretty authentic to me. But I don't care what my eyes tell me, my tongue tells me this place is legit. Watch out for the big rolls, cause they really are BIG! Otherwise, come and eat here, you will not be disappointed!! read more

Love the green giant.......I change the cream cheese to extra avocado which makes it perfect for me! Love the chef/owner!! And i live a block away so eating in or taking home is easy read more

Now and Zen...my absolute favorite place in Charlottesville, and I'm about to tell you why in a very long winded way. For a while, every time my sweetheart and I decided to spring for a night out, we would talk about all of our options and try to find a reason not to go to Now and Zen because we always end up there (... and because maybe we should try something new?). After an hour of debate and a pre-dinner drink, we always find ourself cozied up at one of the intimate tables at Now and Zen, commending one another on a choice well made. First off, why it only has a 3.5 star average rating is completely beyond me. I can only surmise that some folks are a bit frustrated with occasional long wait times for food...only in America would that be a problem. I have eaten at Now and Zen more times than I can possibly begin to count, and sometimes the food comes out faster than others, but never is it a problem in the slightest. For context, I never come to Now and Zen in a rush, or with a deadline of somewhere to be afterwards. I come there for a relaxed intimate experience where I can linger in wonderful conversation over a truly exquisite and fresh meal. The wait staff are EXTRAORDINARY - they are friendly and warm and always treat us like family. I would imagine that the reason the food occasionally takes a little bit of time is that Chef Toshi is really the only dude back there in the kitchen - he has some other small help, but he is really the driving force that prepares food for an entire packed dining room (or sometimes two). He's incredibly committed to quality and tradition, and I've never had anything I haven't felt was served with complete integrity and honor to the fine ingredients. Toshi uses organic and local when available, which makes a huge difference. The menu is SO comprehensive. Not only is there an entire 11/17" page of tightly packed sushi options, there is also an enormous section of delicious starters, incredible small plates, and an array of traditional Japanese comfort foods (amazing yakisoba, curry, udon). What should you get? Well, I spent a while eating at Now and Zen and limiting myself only to their sushi roll selection. One year, however, on Valentine's day, my love and I were seated next to a Japanese couple who kept receiving the most beautiful and delicious looking food. They were warm and receptive to our curious questioning, and they told us about each course. The next time we went to Now and Zen, we ordered that exact meal, and have been getting a facsimile ever since. The rolls are FANTASTIC. You can't go wrong. As far as rolls go, my favorites are spicy yellowtail, spicy scallop (Toshi doesn't screw around with that spicy mayo - the spice factor here is finely diced scallion and sriracha), eel avocado, salmon skin, maui, and yellowtail shiso (Toshi grows his own shisho). The other options, however, make it worth straying from the rolls. Perfect Dinner? Always start with the Tuna Avocado Carpaccio - it comes in a giant kayak of a dish, and is tons of fresh tuna, avocado, slivered almonds, and roe, on a bed of fresh spring greens with fantastic dressing wasabi and soy dressing. If you're feeling like you want two starters, get either the panko oysters, aburi salmon, tuna tartar, OR the sashimi salad, if it's in season. Follow up with the Chirashi Bowl - it's a great way to sample a large quantity of the freshest cuts of fish, and also comes with a little bit of seaweed salad, egg nigiri, avocado, spicy tuna, and a pile of perfectly cooked sticky, slightly sweet, warm, fresh rice. If you're feeling hungry and ambitious, you can also select a large roll - rainbow, hamachi, volcano, or tarantula (which, is the perfect counterpoint to the raw freshness of all of the other courses - it's a fried softshell crab in a GIANT roll with cucumber, eel sauce, sriracha, and the spicy mayo - used properly this time - and is BRILLIANT). My sweetheart consistently wants a roll or two to go so we can have a second course of fish at two am...which, can't hurt, right? Take a while to order, and drink lots of wine in between courses. Pepper your evening with deep and soulful conversation. Guaranteed recipe for a transcendental evening. THANK YOU NOW AND ZEN! read more

A year ago, I wrote a great review of Now and Zen. Unfortunately, I cannot do so today. Customer service appears to be diminishing, reading reviews and now first hand experience as of yesterday. I called for take out, and was told that take out orders started 15 minutes later. Then why answer the phone? It was 4:45 pm. I was told that they "open" at 5:00. Twenty five minutes later, 5:10, I called for take out and was told that no more take out orders were being taken at that time, and I should call back later. Which didn't happen. We chose another restaurant. I'm sorry, but I have owned a successful restaurant. We would open our doors early when customers were waiting, and close late when customers continued to arrive. It was just the wife and I, employees could go home rather than run late if they wished. Maybe the owner should take a good look at customer service in continuing his business. Or lose customers and close up shop. read more

A friend and I went to Now and Zen, and I have to say this is probably the worst restaurant experience I have had in my life. The service was painfully slow, and we had our entire meal picked out before the server came over to ask what we wanted to drink. We ordered an appetizer and a seafood and noodle soup that was supposed to be made with fish stock. The menu listed that this soup had a couple meatballs, and I have dietary restrictions, so we asked for the soup without meatballs which our server assured us would not be a problem. Our main course came out before our appetizer, and in the soup, there were pieces of chicken, which not only was not listed on the menu, but I was a vegetarian for 12 years and have just recently started eating fish, but haven't eaten poultry or red meat in 13 year, so I could have gotten seriously sick if I had trusted the restaurant and eaten that soup. We talked to our server and one of the managers about getting the meat-free soup that was actually the one listed on the menu and found out the restaurant is switching to chicken in the soup because seafood has gotten too expensive (so basically they were being cheap). They agreed to fix the ramen soup and we triple confirmed that we wanted fish broth and no meatballs or chicken, just seafood as listed on the menu. After waiting another 30 minutes for our new order, we opened the soup to find meatballs in it. Needless to say at that after and hour an a half of wasted time we left, and the restaurant did comp our meal, but the manager chased us down after we left to tip our server who had repeatedly made mistakes, which my friend did. Save yourself the headache and a lot of time, and just go someplace else in Charlottesville. I understand when things go wrong, but Now and Zen doesn't pay attention to their orders and offers terrible service and really didn't offer a way to fix this terrible experience. read more

This is the best and the cheapest Japanese joint in town! This place is a gem. Food is fresh and the owner is hella cool though he might take a while to make your food, but have patience because it's soo worth it! It's a small restaurant with a close-knit feel, I love it! Everything on the menu is great! As fat as I sound, I wish I could eat everything on there (it's a compact menu) in one sitting. Great place. Stop by. read more

I've never posted a review, in fact I didn't even have yelp before this. I downloaded this app for the soul reason of posting this review and to my surprise I found a review with a very similar experience. Let me make it easy, the food is delicious but the service is TERRIBLE! Literally the worst service ever it's not even worth going. The server was sweet and I don't directly blame her at all but the food was really slow, a table that got there after we had ordered our food got their food before we did! When my mother went to ask about it the server was polite and while I believe she may have forgotten to ring in the food, I cannot fully blame her for I work as a server myself and understand how stressful it is. What I do want to warn everyone about is this lady that told us to leave when asked to speak to the manager claiming that "she doesn't like the way we were speaking to her" I mean what the fuckity fuck, we were perfectly polite and asking a fair question also from working in the restaurant bussiness I can say that customer service should always be a priority and now and zen failed to prioritize it! Besides this insane lady ( I read a review from a month ago and im almost positive it's the same lady!) another time I went to celebrate my 18th bday and our table was neglected for an hour and a half (as in no server greeted us) because the only server working had personal problems with one of my friends at the table ! Wtf!! I love the food but needless to say service has always been awful! They have a weird schedule for bringing out food a lot of time apart and honestly it just sucks and is not worth it. I don't think I'll be returning to now and zen after tonight and I'm warning others to do the same for the sake of their sanity! read more

I was so excited for the pop up Ramen night. We were one of the first couples seated and an hour later when we got our ramen. It was delicious! The bad news is that we both ended up with food poisoning. I noticed many people comment on Facebook that they had the same experience. I really liked this place, but they need to make some changes! read more

Now and Zen in a nutshell: great value, fresh fish, friendly chef, contemporary setting, long wait so order ahead or do take-out to spare yourself the trouble. I've experimented with their menu, but my go-to is still the trio roll combo. The chirashi would be a close second. read more

Great food. Recently, prices went up and some of the staff are not as kind as in past. They often don't stick to posted hours. "We got tired of sitting around"... While the place was more than half full. read more

Forgot appetizer, didn't give refills, not attentive at all. Highly disappointed. Good food, bad service.

The food is decent, and is sometimes worth the wait. They'll also randomly not accept your to-go orders if they decide they're too busy, so that's sort of a crap shoot. Basically, you can eat well there most of the time if you don't care about service. read more

Can you give zero stars? The sushi here is awful. The rice is bland and flavorless and they use far too much in each roll. We ordered tuna Rolls and they all came out 40 minutes later and were warm. It was not cheap but I couldn't force myself to finish. Will have a difficult time even walking by the restaurant. Truly the worst meal I've had in charlottesville. read more

Highest quality fish and rice I've had in cville and perhaps the biggest portions of fish I've had at any sushi restaurant! Salmon nigiri is the best I've had since nyc. Great service too. All the crazy roles they have are fun but i recommend skipping right to the good stuff- nigiri and sashimi read more

I ordered two rolls and some nagiri. Nagiri was fine, nothing better or worse than I've had elsewhere. One of my rolls was supposed to be a tempura roll, but it wasn't... instead I got a roll that was on the outside both rice and rice crispies? Maybe the rice crispies were supposed to be the tempura, but it was just gross. I'm not sure if I even got the correct roll. read more

By far the best Sushi I have had !! The best in Charlottesville !! Generous amounts !

Consistently the best flavors! Chef Sato's dishes have me wanting to move in and eat through the entire menu.

Best sushi in Cville.. The service is pretty horrible though. Staff isn't the nicest and the wait time can be a little absurd. I would recommend take out vs. eating in. In my opinion they need to fire all the help and replace with individuals who can attempt to treat customers with respect and offer quality service. read more

The best place to get sushi in Charlottesville. The rolls and massive. The prices are not bad either. It can get very crowded to be sure to go early especially if you're in a group. read more

Only giving this one star for the purpose of writing this review. I am highly disappointed in the customer service at this restaurant. Today was my first and FINAL time ever coming here, which partly sucks because the Dragon roll was quite satisfying. A friend brought me here to try the food. Upon arrival, there was a sour smell in the air as if something was going bad. We had been seated at a table next to the window which contained a lot of active spiders and webs (One spider building a web and almost climbing on my friend) which resulted in us moving to the back of the restaurant which looked like a VIP section which made it a bit nicer. My friend and I ordered the same exact thing (The Dragon roll sushi and Gyudon (Beef Bowl) ($13) with an order of the pork Gyoza). The Dragon roll was very good, but I did not like the beef bowl, particularly because it just did not satisfy, so after taking TWO bites I told my friend (who had eaten all of his) that I did not want it and he called the waiter over and I told the waiter that I did not enjoy it and did not wish to order anything else. My friend and I had assumed that it would be taken off of the bill, especially since I only had two bites. After receiving the check we saw that my beef bowl had not been removed. When we went to the counter to check out, the manager (did not get his name but he is an asian man) argued that I had eaten half of the beef in the bowl to which my friend and I responded that I did not. He said that he had served enough bowls to know when someone had eaten a lot of it, which to me was extremely insulting when I had taken a picture of the food before I ate it to post to my social media and compared it to the bowl after it had been taken and saw that there was clearly little to no difference. first and foremost, I was not served a big portion of beef, it only appeared so because it was shredded beef and it was spread to cover the bowl which was 95% rice. He had told me that restaurants do not give free meals to customers who order something to which I responded that in the business world if a customer did not enjoy a meal and BARELY ate any of it then it is in the best interest of the restaurant to rightfully accommodate the customer. After going back and forth with him for several minutes, and having him attempt to "negotiate" with me by offering to allow me to pay half and then knocking it down to $3 I told him how and money hungry he seemed and how unprofessional he was being by trying to charge the bites that I took and I then requested the contact information to the owner of the restaurant, whom I will be contacting right after I post this review. He finally took the bowl completely off the bill after minutes of useless back and forth, which my friend was confused about because when he had brought his girlfriend here before and she did not enjoy a certain item, they took it off of the bill. I was genuinely looking forward to returning here but not only has this business lost money, but they have also lost a new customer (and potential customers as I will not be recommending this place to ANYONE). Great business move! read more

Delicious sushi in a perfect location. We ordered a few of our favorites and we're not let down- Philadelphia roll, dragon roll, and shrimp tempura were all served as they should be. Although we got our order to go, while we waited we were able to appreciate the sophistication of the ambiance. Service was friendly. We will add this to our list of go-to places for sushi. read more

Fantastic sushi! All the rolls we ordered were delicious and well-made. The ambiance was a little loud/collegey for our taste, but the food made it worthwhile. This will be our new regular sushi joint! read more

New Orleans roll is AMAZING still and the speed is cured by getting there early! The servers are always excellent and very personable and there is always a LOT of food. Tons of seaweed salad and you can split it. Never disappointed with the food. read more

I love this place. The food is great. But the service...well, it could be a lot better. The pros: the sushi is great, and very well priced. The appetizer and other Japanese food choices are great. The black cod with miso is a delicious dish and priced at half of what the same dish costs at Ten. There are also unique choices that are not standard fair at Japanese restaurants like the Nagasaki Gyouza. The fried tofu (agedashidofu) is the best I've ever had and I lived in Japan for 3 years. There are a lot of mixed reviews here with regard to the sushi and large amounts of rice. Sushi is not a stand alone dish, it is about creating balance and harmony amongst the ingredients. It is also about the rice. They do it better here than any other place in town. Cons: the service. It isn't good. The food prep is slow and the service staff is slow, unapologetic and minimally competent. The chef owner is a such a cheerful person and takes such pride in his made to order food (this is why it is so slow) I've come to accept that this is part of the experience. So my advice- go here, the food is great at the price point. But plan to wait awhile, if you come solo-bring a book. But worth the wait. Try the pork belly...amazing! read more

The quality of the sushi/sashimi/rolls is good (compared to other places in Charlottesville). But the average wait is way too long, because there is 1 server, 1 chef(?), and 1 cashier covering 20~30 people. On a regular weekday evening, I had to wait 50 minutes for 2 people to sit and another 30 minutes to get the food. I would do take outs unless you want to wait for 1~2 hours to get the food in a place with terrible parking... read more

An inexpensive alternative to a sit-down Japanese restaurant. The place is small, and doesn't really have waitstaff, so it would be best for take-out. Had the Gyoza (ok, a little burnt on the bottom) and the Spicy Roll combo. Sushi is good for the price. read more