Best sushi in town. I ate at all the other sushi restaurants. This place is my favorite. No one serves it with dicon like they do. Great service. Bench seats are cramped. Other than that it's all good. read more

Sakura Bana is the Original Sushi spot in Omaha. So that's cool. I've been there 4 times and enjoyed it better every time. The food and service are great and it's not expensive. For a couple, I would plan on spending $30-$35 including tip for a normal sized meal. read more

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I like the food but not sure if they use MSG or not, because I seem to have a stomach ache and I am flushed right after I eat there. Otherwise, the food itself is pretty good. I am a really big sushi fan, and this place is near my office and home but I have high standards for raw fish and I don't feel like this place always meets the mark (every once in a while I get a piece of nigiri that doesn't taste as fresh as I would hope/like). The cooked food is decent (tempura, teriyaki, etc.) but again, not my favorite. I think that Hiro 88 is better but that is also not as good as sushi I have eaten in other cities and I am not talking just about big cities, since I have had excellent sushi in Des Moines. read more

I loved not having to go downtown to Blue to get great sushi! This is close to my home, and service was wonderful. They give you warm rags to clean your hands. Meal portions are large and prices were comparable to other restaurants I've been to. This place is the real deal! There is a HUGE selection of rolls and plate choices. They have private sitting areas for larger groups. My friends and I all got different items and everyone enjoyed their lunch. I will definitely be back. read more

I am a California transplant and this is the sushi experience that I have been looking for in Omaha: sitting at the sushi bar and interacting and ordering from the sushi chefs who are actually Japanese. Owned and operated by a Japanese family, Dad is the sushi chef, daughter is the waitress, son works in the kitchen. We have tried Baby Blue, Kona, Hiro in WestO, and Okinawa at L Street Marketplace. All very disappointing ranging from bad rice and uninterested sushi chefs to incompetent wait staff, too much wow-factor and no sushi bar! What? A sushi restaurant with no sushi bar? This is traditional sushi with no bells or whistles, and they have all of our favorites, Uni, Sweet shrimp, yellow-tail collar, fresh water eel, smoked salmon. But most importantly, the rice is perfect, also, the Miso soup is fantastic. They have been in Omaha since the 80s, Mike remembers going there when he was in college and they were at a different location. read more

My rating is based almost wholly on the food. The maki was very good, and they have a marinated mushroom appetizer that is excellent. The menu has a good variety and they have some happy hour specials at certain times of the day. I like the look and the feel of the place, but I could do without the bright lighting and the large screen TVs. Also, it's not squeaky clean, which didn't both me but putting it out there for others who might prefer a different ambiance. Solid sushi, give it a shot. read more

I forget about this place sometimes but it is by far one of the best and most authentic sushi restaurants in Omaha. The sushi is always fresh and the service is always warm and welcoming. read more

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By far the best sushi in omaha. I love everything about this place. The sushi is always fresh and the environment is very chill. I could come here 4 times a week! The nagamayaki is to die for! read more

As other have noted, this is the generally the most authentic stuff I've found so far in Omaha, although I've still got a few to try. It's also much more convenient for the Midtown crowd, as many of Omaha's Japanese restaurants seemed to have settled way out west. The menu is large, varied, and a pretty good value. The sushi is also good, although I usually try to vary my meal and get a little sushi and some other things. Specifically, though, I highly recommend the spicy seared tuna salad. Definitely good lunch deals as well. For happy hour hunters, they have one, although I haven't personally been there for it as of yet. read more

I had a great time. Wait staff is great. Food was wonderful. But I only give it 4 stars because I made the mistake of ordering the fresh bluefin tuna. It was great but in hindsight I realized it is endangered or at the least severely over fished. So bad on both me and the restaurant. Other then that, we will definitely be coming back! read more

My s/o and I came to try the sushi here. I got the Chirashi bowl and he got a bunch of sushi and maki rolls . The sushi was delicious and the cut of fish melts in your mouth. We enjoyed the tofu appetizer and salads before our meal. Would highly recommend there are many other choices outside of sushi and I was surprised but the size of the menu choices. We will be coming back to try the other options. read more

Sakura Bana - Chrashi bowl and different sushi and maki rolls - Japanese Near Me - Omaha, Nebraska

Sakura Bana (formally Sushi Ichiban) is the most authentic sushi and Japanese food that I've had in Omaha. Agedashi tofu, miso soup, salad with carrot dressing (a trip to SB is never complete without the carrot dressing) and the Sansai Udon is my usual order due to my beliefs but if I'm feeling more like a pescetarian, I'll stuff my self with their beatiful, delicious sushi and a tall Saporo. My kids love the teriyaki chicken and green tea ice cream. I've probably tried everything on the menu (before I had issues with eating mammals and birds) over the years and I haven't had an unsatisfactory meal yet. I'll recommend any of the teriyaki dishes, champon soup, sukiyaki, and unadon. The sushi is always delicious and never fishy smelling like I've had at Hiro. They are also serving some kind of giant rolls that come in maybe two slices. I haven't tried it but the Godzilla roll looks tasty. The atmosphere is always welcoming as is the service. I believe the wait staff are put through some kind of guest service training because they are so attentive and sweet. I think that a lot of them are students because they seem to be there for a few years and then sadly disappear. Regardless, I've never had anything but excellent service here and even more important, I've never been threatened by staff here like I was at Hiro. I know it's not flashy like other sushi places in town and it doesn't have the most cutting edge sauces but SB is definitely tried and true in my opinion. I recommend Sakura Bana to everyone reading. read more

Let me first say I am not an individual who goes online to post inflammatory reviews. In fact, before this experience (which occurred a few hours ago), Sakura Bana was among one of our favorite places to eat. No more. If I could give no stars, I would. The straw that broke the camel's back (during what was to be a birthday meal, no less) was when I had ordered a meal (the oyako don), only without chicken. I have been a vegetarian/sometimes vegan for more than seven years now, and I often have to ask for restaurants to either omit the meat or put it on the side. It's never a problem. Long story short, waiter finally returns with our meals. Even with the chicken being picked out, it tasted very much like chicken -- down to the rice in the meal (all the meal essentially is boils down to: rice, egg, some sauce, a few veggies and -- typically -- chicken). I thought I was going to be sick. I took only two bites of the meal. The first time around I thought it tasted nasty but I was going to give it a chance. I took another bite and immediately felt nauseous. As soon as we saw the waiter again, which alone took some time, we stopped him and explained the situation. My bowl of rice was obviously untouched, with a slight indentation from literally two little spoonfuls of food. Since it was obvious the meal was not as expected, and I had explained my dietary restrictions, the natural assumption was that I would be able to order a comparable meal. That was not the case. He informed me that their kitchen staff did not allow for any substitutions. I would have to pay for the meal, even though I did not eat any of it. Mind you, this "meal" was $12. As an aside, he also quite perplexingly brought the chicken that had been picked out and rewarmed (probably in the microwave) to our table -- as if that was some way of rectifying the situation. It made no sense! I'm a freakin' vegetarian! I told the waiter we would not be returning again, and he could not have cared less. This very much reminded of an episode of a program like "Kitchen Nightmares" or "Restaurant Impossible," whereby failing businesses boast such lack of customer service. In the end, we obviously left the bowls of empty food just sitting there. My bill was close to $40. Plus, the waiter never even came back to take our credit card. We had to go to the front of the restaurant to close the ticket. Although, I have to say, this was pretty typical of the meal even before the fiasco with my entree. I simply let things slide, as I was thinking it was just a fluke. As I mentioned, we went to Sakura Bana many times before, on special occasions and just for regular, everyday meals. I always enjoyed the veg yakisoba and veg soup. Any place worth its salt would have allowed a customer, if they value customers at all, to exchange. First, we were supposed to get soup and salad included with our meal. He didn't even offer or ask about the soup. We had an unusually long wait for our appetizer and salad -- and it was a lazy Wednesday evening. Not a lot of customers. Usually, when I've ordered green tea, the waiters will ask at least a couple of times if I need a refill. They're small cups so I typically do. This time I was done with my cup for some time before he even asked if I needed a refill, very late into the meal. In all, I left hungry (but the meal was so disgusting I actually couldn't eat then anyway) and $40 lighter in my pocket for what essentially amounted to a portion of edamame, a small bowl of salad and a cup and a half of green tea. But you know what? Sakura Bana is out the most, as we (longtime customers) will not be coming back and have already received some comments from Facebook friends who were pretty astounded by our experience, and will most certainly be thinking twice about going there. For me to be moved enough to actually write a negative review (and I just completed a positive one for a Kindle cover business) is really saying something. That's just how awful this experience was. In my more than 30 years on this planet, it is on my short list of the five to 10 worst customer service experiences I've ever had. On a positive note, if you ever find yourself in Omaha, stop by Amatos. We had a great lunch experience there! Friendly service, huge portions -- certainly live up to all the "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" (I think that's the name of the show) hype. read more

Didn't find anything amazing about this place. A couple girlfriends and I ordered an abundance of sushi and it was good, but nothing that made me go "wow!" I will say that there deep fried avocado roll was really tasty and came with a sauce which everyone liked. I'd come back as the prices were decent. read more

Late lunch on a Tuesday. Friendly and prompt staff. Excellent sushi selection, especially the lunch menu and specials. My only complaint is the seaweed salad was small for the price. I had the zombie roll (on special) and a salmon avocado roll. Both were excellent. Can't wait to come back and try more of their menu. read more

Sakura Bana is my favorite sushi restaurant in Omaha. The sushi is great and its a great value...very reasonably priced. The carrot ginger salad dressing rocks. This has become a once a week treat for my husband and I. We really love it. read more

Great restaurant and best sushi in town. Traditional and the owner has been established here for decades. He founded the original Sushi Ichiban and then opened up this location. I recommend their bento box when coming here. Their futo maki is also excellent. Will be back. read more

Wow - I was so underwhelmed by this place. I ordered two rolls (crunchy spicy tuna and mango and tuna) and, had I not been hungry, would have been fine leaving them on the plate - there was just nothing about these to enjoy. The fish on the mano roll was, well, fishy. And that's a no-no for me. I should say that the service was fine, although the ambiance feels more late night diner than sushi bar to me. So, food - two stars, Ambiance - two stars, Service - 3 stars. This place barely earns its two stars in my opinion. read more

It's not possible not to like this place! That is if you like REAL Japanese food. And it is very kid friendly, my friend's little brother loves this place. Omaha is full of unauthentic sushi bars and Japanese steak houses. This restaurant, I can say with full confidence is the best sushi place in Omaha. And if you don't like sushi, no problem, there's is a lot of other food too. The tempura udon is extremely good and satisfying. The staff is also very friendly and ready to make sure you're having a good time and are enjoying your food! If you like sushi and a cool restaurant this is the place for you. read more

I may be biased. I'm not from Omaha and currently, I'm a Chicago native who's spent extensive time in Japan. Not trying to toot my own horn here, but when it comes to Japanese food, I'll say I've had quite a bit. As for Sakurabana, I've been more than once, so I guess that's saying something. Anyway, I wont claim to have tried the majority of the menu, but what I've seen of it, its passable Japanese food. To be honest, I have nothing negative to say. I guess it just doesn't jump out at me for being above average. So with a 3-star rating, YELP gives a little explanation as a reference point. I.E. 3 Stars = 'A-OK.' And I think that's appropriate. You wont be blown away, but youll have a decent time and enjoy decent Japanese food. read more

We had a diverse plate of all sushi last night. We arrived at 8 and the place was packed; not even a seat at the sushi bar was open which we prefer. While we waited, no less than 3 people asked if we had been helped. The sushi menu has expanded if you haven't been here for a couple of years. They have added some of the funky modern combo rolls in addition to the traditional ones. Recently we had been to Hiro and Okinawa, so this was a good opportunity to compare. In the past I would have ranked Hiro as #1, but not anymore. I have been regularly eating sushi for close to 20 years and the subtle differences in quality are sometimes hard to discern. The fish, seasoned rice and preparation we as good as it gets. Okay, maybe not NYC or Tokoyo grade but very, very excellent. A quick way to tell food quality is the strength of the wasabi. Last night it was like an ice pick in your nose! I would highly recommend ordering the hand roll combo. For the novice, they are the "ice cream cone" style. For $18 you get your choice of 4. All were excellent, although it was too much food. In conclusion, the food service and prices all added up to the rare 5 star for us. read more

I've never had authentic Japanese food before this place. It was awesome! Their service was fast and very polite. Their miso soup was some of the best I've ever had! I had their Beef Yokisoba for my meal which is basically a Japanese version of Lo Mein but way better. It had great flavor with tons of veggies and huge pieces of beef. Will definitely be going back again. read more

I was a big fan of Sushi Ichiban, and so naturally gave this place a try when it opened. It was really disappointing. We gave it another shot a few months later, and it was disappointing again. The atmosphere is OK--clean, open spaces. And I guess the service was OK. But the food was not great. Not bad, really, but nowhere near the quality one used to expect from Ichiban. Perhaps that's an unfair standard, but I can't help using it. read more

This place is pretty nice. I like that they sell Japanese snacks at the front counter. (There aren't many Asian grocery markets in Omaha.) The food is also pretty good, sushi and entrees. I've had better, but it's in a land locked state, so you can't have high expectations. It's one of my top three favorite Japanese restaurants in Omaha. Hiro Sushi and Sushi Yakiniku Boy are the other two. read more

We stopped by here during a Spring Break trip. I was here with my wife and 3 kids and we sat at the sushi bar. The service is great. The sushi chef was a pleasure to talk to as well. We liked the place so much that we came back 2 days later for our anniversary dinner. It is a little on the expensive side but was very good. Definitely a favorite of ours when we visit Omaha! read more

My husband, my three kids and I are visiting from Colorado and decided to try Sakura Bana. We are all big fans of sushi and found this place extremely delicious. My kids all ordered a box with sushi, tempura, and chicken teriyaki in it and ate it all. They normally do not care for teriyaki, but my kids said it was the best teriyaki they had ever eaten. My husband and I ate a good amount of sushi and enjoyed it all. We have eaten at many sushi places over the years in a few states including large cities and we both thought this was some of the best sushi we have ever eaten. One of my favorite sushi is white tuna and Sakura Bana is in my top 5 places with the best white tuna. Every bit of sushi we ate there was delicious. We enjoyed it so much that we came back two nights later for our anniversary. The wait staff and sushi chefs were very friendly and attentive as well. We have no complaints about this place at all and will definitely eat here again if we are ever in Omaha again. read more

The food was okay. My stomach wasn't feeling too well after eating the tempura that came with my dinner box. Maybe I just wasn't feeling well that day. Its a nice little place for sushi, fish, or have a little shabu shabu (hot pot) going. Can't really go with a lot of people, because the place is tight, but there are private rooms where you eat in a japanese setting - (shoes off, short tables, etc) that fits around 8. read more

Does not taste like the Japanese food we had in Asia. Rude server (asian female) who suggested we should eat faster because it was time for her to go home. Will never eat there again. read more

This place was simply ok. My coworkers and I (3/4 asian) came here for dinner during a business trip to Omaha. For most of our meals we had been going to American restaurants, so we decided to try something different for our last week. Sakura Bana is located in one of the various strip malls in Omaha and doesn't look like much from the outside. The interior is a pretty typical, American sushi, wood palette, kind of thing you'd come to expect. I did like the pens with appetizers and cartoons on them. As for the food, we got a whole variety of sushi, all of which came together on a neat wooden boat. I personally got the new mexico roll, which tasted a whole lot like an actual burrito. I wouldn't say it was delicious, but it was certainly interesting. As for the other rolls, I was disappointed. Nothing about them was special or notable. They were just normal sushi rolls. For dessert we got mochi and the tempura ice cream, all of which were good. The tempura ice cream in particular was really large, so I'd recommend splitting that. Overall, this place is alright considering it's in Omaha and that there aren't exactly hundreds of Asian restaurants around. read more

This place is decent. The sushi wasn't bad, but it was a little bland, and they could have a better selection of rolls. I really liked the sesame salad dressing. The decor and staff are nice. I'll probably go back, but it's not at the top of my list. read more

Best place in Omaha for sushi. Besides sushi they offer some great Japanese food. The Negimayaki is so delicious, my boyfriend orders it every time. Right after you are seated they bring a warm towel to you so that you can wipe your hands before you eat. Great place for date night. :) read more

I am a HUGE fan of Sakura Bana. This is my favorite sushi place in Omaha. It is fresh and simple. Here are the three meals I get every time I go: 1. tekka roll, California roll, and Godzilla roll 2. bento box e with teriyaki fish, rice, salad, sushi, miso, and an orange 3. hand roll special - spicy tuna (x2), California, and shrimp The salad dressings are so delicious--I get a side of both and drench the lettuce. If you go enough---they'll give you a sushi calendar. ha. read more

the vibe here is old school Japanese with cool semi-private eating areas. The sushi is really fresh(Best in town). friendly staff. forget all those other Trendy sushi places in town. read more

Very delicious. I did need a few more minutes to look at the menu, and was given 10! Yikes. It was a Saturday night, but not swamped. Ordered from the Dream Menu, as it was just me. I am pleased with all that I tried! read more

Bad, bland sushi and mediocre service. I ordered 2 rolls, one with tuna in it and it was most definitely canned tuna - absolutely NOT what real sushi is made of. My husband ordered a chicken and vegetable dish and it was rubbery chicken in an off, old/expired tasting sauce. I don't know why people are giving a decent review besides that Nebraskans obviously don't know what real, fresh sushi is. read more

Great sushi but the service is absolutely horrible!!! I also think the prices are high for what you get. The fish is very fresh and they have some fun rolls. Only giving 2 stars because I am really mad about waiting an hour to even get our sushi and they didn't even apologize for it!!! Would rather go to a sushi place with better service than this place!!! read more

We are regular visitors to Omaha and have eaten here s handful of times. The food and service have been great! For a land-locked location the sushi is above average. The cooked items have all been tasty and traditionally prepared. Definitely a family favorite! read more

Sakura Bana was an amazing experience. The Miso was the best I've had anywhere including in Japan. The Orange Ginger salad dressing was sublime. I had the Yakisoba. It wasn't the same as I had on Okinawa but it was darned close. the Sushi is great and half the price of anywhere else in the area. The ambiance is very comfortable. We have our go to for Japanese. Thanks Tony! read more

Glad to report I did not experience buyers remorse here. I purchased a living social deal here on a whim...I wasn't expecting much based on the reviews...however I found both the service and food to be of the value that I paid.. While this place certainly isnt first class it does give a much more authentic vibe that say...Hiro or Blue..I had rolls, nigiri, tempura squid, some unsual detox tea, and a bento box...the appetizer was my fave (which was recommended byt he waitress) the rolls were OK and my fish in the bento was awesome...antoher intresting note: we were one of the only tables not filled with people of asian ancestry...that was my clue that the place must be doing someting right...I'll go back. read more

Walked in to Sakura Bana at 10 till 10:00 (Closing time), the chef not only accommodated us, but there was absolutely no pressure or rush from the staff to get us out. So hospitable! read more