Been twenty plus times now. Right now, I'm actually the Duke of the place! First, if fine service is your priority, don't get your hopes up! Sakura is not what I would call "hospitable." It's small and cramped, and the floor bounces you up and down every time someone walks by. It is very loud, usually filled with millennials who never learned how to use an in door voice. The waitstaff is very serious. All business. No smiles. Order, eat, pay, leave! I don't think I have ever had anyone check on my during a meal. Never had a refill of tea without asking. The restaurant is byob, and a lot of people bring something. Once I heard a table of kids bragging about their fake ids with vodka and beer on the table. They also get a lot of college students, and it can get loud. The service can also get slow. I have waited 45 minutes to an hour for 3 or 4 rolls of maki. When they are full, there are a half dozen seats at the sushi bar. It is an inch above my knees. The lowest I have ever seen. The food is pretty good. I get a lot of maki and nigiri. I also get tempura, seaweed salad, and the occasional bowl of udon soup. Complaints? Well, they often overcook the sushi rice. We're talking mush! They also serve your sushi over warm rice, which I don't care for. Portions are on the small side. I don't think they do it right, by any means, but they are as good or better than their competition. I used to go to Tokyo across the street until I saw them putting uneaten rice off a table back in the rice cooker. Not any more! read more

Sakura Restaurant - Maki lunch and extra tuna maki for $21. Sweet! - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

I love sushi, so I heard this was the spot for delicious sushi in providence.Came here with my bf and had the recommended sakura maki a lobster and shrimp sushi roll, yummy yummy yummy! We ordered 4 other rolls, very nice portions and they were all fresh and delicious, a big bonus it's BYOB! Interior wise it's definitely tiny but cozy. Will visit again! read more

Sakura Restaurant - Delicious and great portions - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

Best sushi in Providence even Rhode Island. The service was good and fresh food. REMBER Must Try California Roll and Philadelphia Roll read more

Sakura Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

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I've been to many sushi places in different states, but Sakura in Providence RI remains my favorite! Their BYOB makes it the best time to come with friends and hang out over some bottles of wine in an affordable way, and their Lost Control roll is my favorite in the world. It literally melts in your mouth. A lot of my friends like the Hot Babe roll as well. read more

I came here for the first time this past weekend with a group of friends. The atmosphere was nice, and it was fun to sit on Japanese zabuton cushions. FOOD OPTIONS: The menu has a variety of options -- if you don't like sushi, you can order noodle dishes, meat dishes, etc. Of course, they also had an abundance of sushi/sashimi choices. Some of my friends ordered the nabeyaki, which looked delicious! SERVICE: I think they were really busy the night we came, so take my comments with a grain of salt. Around 5 minutes after we were seated, a waiter came around to take our order. When we said we weren't ready, he left. No one came back for another 20 minutes, so one of my friends went to the front to get a waitress. I don't think the waitress liked this very much because she followed my friend into our dining area and then took another table's order instead of ours... (She then came to take our order.) She was a little impatient with us, too. FOOD QUALITY: I ended up ordering the "Lost Control" roll because it featured several different kinds of fish (yellowtail, tuna, salmon, etc.). Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy the roll because it was really sweet. The fish was fresh, but I couldn't get past the flavor. However, I did enjoy my two pieces of unagi! read more

Dear me, dear my, dear... excuse me, I am in need of a massive nap to sleep off this heavenly sushi and vinocoma. *2 hours later* Well ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you a tale of the wonderland of handrolls, maki, sashimi, and the $10 bottle of wine from my fridge. If I could eat sushi every day of the week and not die/get obese/go broke, I would set up a second bed in the middle of this place's family dining room. Sakura packs an awesome selection of basic to premium handrolls, along with premium maki arrangements presented in a menu-esq fashion that tastes as good as it looks. Couple that with a piping hot bowl of miso soup and you've got yourself a dinner worth the world's largest string of instagram likes. The layout itself is cozy as a bug in a rug - with small rooms of tables, a standard sushi bar, and large family-style rooms (complete with traditional shoes-off floor seating). Oh, and by far the most important part of the excursion - BYOBoozahol. Get good and hungry, head out for a late feast, grab a big ol' bottle of fermented grapes, and you've got yourself a party. read more

We stopped in here for lunch after moving in 2nd year college student. It was actually the student who suggested this place as she had been here several times before and we all agreed on having Sushi/Japanese for lunch. We ordered from the lunch specials - a Bento Box, sushi & rolls, and veggie sushi platter - which all included miso soup and salad. We all enjoyed our food. I should have remembered to ask for the dressing on the side, something I normally do, as they were a little heavy handed in the amount of dressing they put on the salad. Service was ok - nothing exceptional and nothing terrible. Prices were on par with other Sushi places I've been to. A 2.5 star rating would be more accurate if Yelp allowed us to rate in 1/2 star increments. read more

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This is my favorite sushi place in RI. I've been coming here for 11+ years and have never been disappointed. They changed the house dressing a few years ago and the old one was far superior. Luckily, they still have it so you can ask for the "old dressing." It's BYOB, so they don't sell alcohol. The fish is always very fresh. The decor isn't amazing, but the food makes up for it. read more

Sakura Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

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This is definitely a good place to go with large groups. They have enough seating area for 10+ in some of the rooms. It makes it great for parties and large events like birthdays. The staff is also really open to helping with these events as long as you let them know beforehand. We went for a birthday party and they helped us with a cake and everything. The waiter was also very funny and tried to banter with us through the dinner. One draw back was that we were a bit louder and we weren't in the right room for that. I would definitely say that if you plan to have a rowdy event that involves drinking to get the room in the back and not just a large room. That way it is private and you can be louder without angering the staff. We ordered a ton of sushi and different appetizers for the table. The food was good for the price but it's nothing special as far as sushi goes. If you order a lot, they will come out on one large plate so it can be hard to share at the larger table. I wish it they were better about splitting the food so many people can have access. read more

This is our favorite sushi restaurant that delivers through grubhub. It is reliably quick and consistently great quality. Our favorite menu items are sake sashimi and hamachi nigiri. This doesn't come close to great sushi places in NY or SF, but for a night in at home, always a great choice. read more

Been coming to Sakura for a while now. Best sushi around. Always fresh fish! I recommend Sakura to anyone and everyone looking for amazing sushi! read more

Sakura Restaurant - Spicy Lobster, I love you roll, And hot babe roll. All BROWN RICE!! - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

Not a bad sushi restaurant but not the best in town. The spicy tekka maki was just ok. I didn't get sick, but I did question the freshness of the fish. The yam maki however is delicious- buttery with a little crunch. It's byob so that always enjoyable. We had very little interaction with the server- she picked up our order sheet and brought us waters and a place setting. When I asked for a bottle opener, I felt like I was putting her out. In the past I've had similar experiences with odd table side service here. I can't say I won't be back, but like I said there are other options around town and I'd suggest trying them out first. read more

Sakura Restaurant - Spicy tekka, yam and avo maki - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

Love how you get a sushi sheet and just pick away But with me I tend to pick more than I intend, I dont know if this is a genius marketing plan or i just cant help myself.. whateverrrrrrrr Place is on the smaller side, but the fact that it's BYOB makes up for it. Ordered the Spicy Lobster Salad to start amazing, get it. Very flavorful the spice isnt spicy at all, at least to me. I just thought it tasted really good and was actually wondering where the spice factor was. But my girlfriend thought otherwise *shrugs* I've come to realize, whenever i go to sushi places to review, I never remember the rolls i get and im way to lazy to look through the menu to be like "ohh was that it ?!" I should start reviewing a day or two after i go instead of weeks. BUTTTTTT the baby octopus is a must get.. dont OMGEE thats gross blah blah blahh, open up your close mind and go outside the box its amazingg, absolutely amazing i could of just checked off that box 165843521 times honestly. Everything else i had was great too hah. I mean if you like sushi, how many rolls have you had you really didnt like ?! not many at least in my case or im just a fatty. but as long as my tummy is happy all is swell.. check it out octopus read more

Sakura Restaurant - Spicy lobster salad - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

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Updating to 5 stars because since I've moved to Boston I haven't found anywhere that comes close to Sakura and I miss it all the time.

Now don't misunderstand this, as I'm not Japanese nor have I ever been to Japan - and maybe, just maybe, every other sushi restaurant has it wrong. Regardless, I like my raw fish to be chilled somewhere below room temp. Sakura' we're not cool to the touch and just a bit too warm form our liking. They tasted good, just not what I had expected. That said, our Spicy Salmon was not spicy, and the Yellowtail with Scallions did not have any scallions. The seaweed salad we started with was very good. It doesn't need to be repeated as it's already referenced in every other review - the service sucks. If you go in expecting to be ignored you might actually go away with positive attitude if the staff acknowledges you. My wife said it best "one and done" read more

Worst customer service EVER. Ordered a California roll, chicken tempura, spider roll, sweet potato roll. Each grouped together and both completely covered in fish eggs. When we explained we do not want fish eggs (one of us pregnant) we received them and no where typically come with fish eggs especially Sweet potato rolls. When calling to ask to remake she told us call another restaurant and hung up. Very rude seriously. read more

I've been here maybe a total of 4 times since I don't eat sushi often. Each time was ok since they have relatively cheap prices and I don't expect much with the service since there is a language barrier with the chinese staff... But this last visit yesterday crossed the line for us. Went in around 4 and it was empty. Looking around it does look have a japanese restaurant look to it but you can feel that its not really clean. A girl was on the pos system or typing something and just said "how many?" without looking or greeting us. My girlfriend asked if we could sit at the japanese style low tables and she just repeated annoyingly but louder "HOW MANY?" we said "2" carefully and another older woman came out to seat us. This was the first time we've been in the low table room, it had a nice look to it but on closer inspection you can see it looks grimey... There were crumbs on the floor and the furniture looked like it was wiped with a dirty dishrag. I had forgotten this place was BYOB so I asked the older woman who seemed to be our server if they had a drink menu... She looked at me like I spit on her hand and said "huh???" I asked again politely and she just muttered "We are BYOB." with a such a shitty look on her face and walked away. For a second I really thought I was being an inconvenience for her... Why should anyone feel like that going into a restaurant (unless they're really acting obnoxiously) We got up and left to go to Ran Zan. They have a much cleaner place (like the actual japanese sterile etiquette), the sushi is great and actually made by a elderly guy from the country of origin who looks like he's been doing it for decades, not like the chinese kid at Sakura or similar copy and paste chinese owned sushi places who most likely took a month crash course in NY, and the wife of the sushi chef that waited on us is really NICE because she actually cares about her business. Reading a lot of the negative reviews here, there sometimes is a guy, Chong K, who keeps replying apologetically saying they'll make sure the service is better and improved... Man, it looks like you haven't really talked to your staff because the way they are going about things clearly says they don't give a fuck and thats really gonna screw your restaurant over. read more

This is by far the WORST experience I've ever had in the food industry. The staff was rude and very disorganized. I have been here before and just before this visit, I came here the week prior with my teenage daughter which is why I came back with my girl friend, her boyfriend, and my four children. The whole time, they made it seem like we were troubling them. Never took our order and proceeded to tell me that they don't sell drinks. I stared back at her and said, I'm sorry so you don't serve water, juice, or soda?! Things that I know I ordered never came to the table & went we asked for the check to be separated that was another ordeal in itself. Needless to say, WE WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE. The whole time, you have no clue who your waitress is nor do they come back to check up on you or ask you if you need anything else. So far by reading all of the reviews, seems to me they need to fire the entire staff and get some friendly capable ones in there. read more

One of our go-to places for sushi. The fish is always fresh and delicious. It's a tiny place with very little seating, but the food is amazing. The service can be curt and a bit short, but they're quick. read more

The crab Rangoon were tiny but good. Was very disappointed that they didn't give fortune cookies w out to go order. Also gave one pair of chopsticks for a $60 order. Sushi was pretty good read more

Consider this a 3.5 star review, for take out and delivery only. We've ordered from here twice and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of sushi. Portions were good, the fish tasted fresh, and the rice was a respectable consistency (not too hard, not too soft). In fact, I might even argue that this is our new favorite sushi restaurant in this price range and in the general area (east side PVD). BUT...both times we ordered they forgot one of our items! The first time we ordered by phone and they forgot a nigiri order. The second time we ordered online and they forgot a maki order. The first time we thought it was a harmless error, now we're wondering if this is a standard MO... read more

The food was so good after I took a photo of it, ate it, and paid. I went straight to Walgreens 1 hour photo to get the photo printed. I printed 6 copies of the photo and sent it to my friends and family, to show them what I had ate. They didn't ask to see what I had ate, but I thought I would show them anyways. 2 of my friends called me personally to tell me they liked the photo. My parents called to comment on the photo, they told me that it "Looks good!" I will definetly be returning to buy more of the food they have. read more

I wish that this visit was as good as the one before but it really wasn't. We had brown rice sushi, which I understand is not classic, but still the rice was not good, hard and the rolls kept falling apart. Not that the waitress would notice, she came by our table so fast that we never really had time to talk to her. I guess she was super busy (the place wasn't that busy) but she kind of did "drop and run." The spinach and cabbage appetizer was delicious I've got to say, but the sushi, and the service, was not great. read more

We got sat in the corner of the restaurant and I was worried that we would get ignored being there. We were. People next to us got menus, utensils, drinks. Took about 20 min before we even got acknowledged. We were literally about to leave and then she finally came to ask what we wanted. We should have left before that. Took 40 min for beef fried rice. Unacceptable. And on top of that, food was sooo salty. They must not have mixed the salt. There were bits that felt like I was just eating a chunk of salt. Gross. Unimpressive. read more

Ordered delivery from here after reading good reviews. Sushi was tolerable but it was the vegetable tempura that really threw me off. Batter had absolutely NO flavor other than old dirty oil and the sauce it came with I'm pretty sure was also old dirty sink water. It was that bad. Yuck. Spent quite a bit of money and probably one of the worst meals I've ever eaten. Delivery was quick though. That's what the 1 star was for. read more

First things first, you can bring your own booze and wine to this restaurant. So of course, I already instantly like this place. It's dimly lit and sometimes noisy. Surprising large place with seating and space. Parking is also pretty nice in the back. I have been a couple of times and every time the bathroom is tidy. They have good sushi and also very good tempura. Soup and salad are just ok. Service is ok. Rolls are decently priced and not too special, but they are good. read more

After living near Sakura for five years or so, it is by far the restaurant we visit most frequently, so I have to increase our rating. The food is always absolutely delicious. We've gone countless times and never had an issue with our food. The service is almost always mediocre at best. Although, we've had a young man as our server recently and he's been quite good, actually. I really can't recommend a better sushi place in town. read more

I got the sashimi chirashi with like 15 pieces or so with a salad and soup. I thought the fish was of good quality and I liked the shredded daikon. The rice also had a good texture, which takes some skill - it was some of the nicest white rice I have had in that regard. The portions were generous and they used higher quality greens in the salad than the usual iceberg lettuce. I definitely thought it was a good price for the meal. I would like it if they had the option to have rice without sugar in it - I should have asked for house rice. Also, I think the miso soup contained the same cheaper, processed miso and wakame as most Japanese places. The only good miso soup I have found is at Masao's Kitchen in Waltham, MA, or perhaps other vegetarian places I have yet to try. It's worth finding a place with organic miso. Also, about the servers being abrupt, I think that's normal for a place like this. They are very efficient and focused in my experience. The menu said my lunch would come with a dessert and it didn't arrive (I got delivery) but I didn't want it anyway. read more

My all time favorite sushi place! The restaurant is small with traditional setting. The food is amazing; chef specials are never disappointing! Highly recommended for sushi lovers!! read more

Disgusting. Will not be coming back. There was no service to speak of, despite only two other occupied tables. The water smelled foul. The tables were sticky. The restaurant is BYOB, but I didn´t know that ahead of time. The sushi was quite mediocre. No one was watching the basketball game that was on the tv, so I asked the server if it would be okay if I watched the baseball game. She said okay, but then never put it on. Before leaving, I went to the restroom and it was undoubtedly the most disgusting restroom I´ve ever had the misfortune to see. There was dried urine and dark specks all over the toilet and floor- it clearly hadn´t been cleaned in a very long time. It smelled of mold and rotting things. read more

A very unique building to be in. Sometimes you get to sit on the floor. The food was subpar - dishes/sushi are small and kind of over priced. Overall, an O-K place. read more

Have been here quite a few times before, it's always a pretty good experience. I always have sushi and generally it's very tasty and fresh. This past experience was also a very good one as was my dining partners food. We both ordered sushi and it came well prepared and in a timely manner. They have a very good selection and the prices are pretty reasonable. Our server was Okay, not very personable and despite it being very quiet, she seemed to be rushing us along. I repeatedly needed refills on my water and kept having to ask. We also asked for spicy mayo twice as she forgot the first time. Overall it was a good experience, but it could definitely use a good cleaning and decor renovation - it's so dark, dingy and dim inside. read more

Sakura Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Providence, Rhode Island

Service was attentive and approachable. The specialty rolls were good. We had a couple of the shrimp tempura specialty rolls and the chicken tempura roll. All very tasty. For appetizer we had shrimp shumai and shrimp katsu-- not bad! Would definitely come back very convenient and fast service. read more

Let me start by saying that for me, sushi is 50% presentation and 50% taste. Sakura seemed to strike out on both for me tonight. I ordered 1 tekka roll, 1 kappa roll, 1 spicy shrimp tempura roll, and 1 california roll--staples of anyone's sushi experience. You have to be able to make these staples solid before taking liberties with your special rolls. Let's start with the spicy shrimp tempura roll, typically my favorite. Not only was it falling apart on the plate, but it was literally unrolling in front of me. Furthermore, one of the shrimp tails was embedded into my sushi roll. I had to take it apart to remove the shrimp tail prior to eating my roll. On the other end, a piece of lettuce was sticking up 2 inches above the roll in a really sloppy, unpleasant-looking way. Though the tekka, kappa, and california rolls were better put-together, the cucumber was chopped coarsely without the refinery of what sushi chefs are renowned for: uncanny precision and delicacy with knives. Taste was average, with way too much sushi vinegar in the rice. The soy sauce had a sweet taste, which would be okay as an option for soy sauce, but a little odd to force upon everyone. Can I just get some regular soy sauce without the additive? Overall, it's just not my style of sushi. Presentation was sloppy at best, and taste was polluted with too many additives driving out the "clean" taste so crucial to fresh sushi. Sadly, I really wanted to like this place seeing as how it's right off Wickenden (where I find myself hanging out most nights). But you won't find me at Sakura--I'll be over in Wayland Square instead. read more

Here comes a quick-n-simple review. Small place nestled on cute little Wickenden Street, sits Sakura Restaurant. I've dined here several times and finally got tired of the b.s. Here's why... Good food, decent prices. HORRENDOUS service. The second you sit down, a menu is thrown at you. 60 seconds later they want to know what you want to order. You send them away asking for more time. 30 seconds later, they're back. It's a fun little game they like to play, called "let's be as rude as we possibly can." I don't like that game, so I don't go back to play. read more

If I could give it less than one star, I would. They put us in a back room that wreaked of bad rotten fish, made us wait 20 mins, and then finally had us seated. They then forgot an entire persons meal, brought out the wrong food, had to be reminded of what we ordered, and forgot an entire place setting. After I tried to confront our waitress about this, she left mid-conversation and ignored me. I went to another waitress, she then ignored me as well. Went to another... she ignored me too. Finally one talked to me. She decided to accuse me of just wanting a discount, after she treated us terribly. I will never go back here and i hope this prevents you from going there. read more

Wow! What a good sushi place! We had avocado, mushroom, and yam rolls. So delicious! The rice is very tasty. The best sushi I've had in town. read more

Before I looked at the reviews, I thought to myself, "I bet the reviews rave about the food and dock points for service." Yup. We had dinner here with a group of 7 the other night. They were able to accommodate us on a busy Saturday without a reservation as long as we were willing to sit in the room that uses floor cushions instead of chairs (which turned out to be very uncomfortable by the end of dinner, but I guess that's why the seating was available). The food was generally very good, and relatively inexpensive. For a total of $140, we had about 12 sushi rolls, 2 orders of shrimp shumai, 2 orders of edamame, a few bowls of miso soup, and several sashimi selections. Everything tasted fresh, with the American Dream roll being a favorite. Service was iffy. If I'd been on a date, it would have bothered me, but we were having enough fun in our group to not care too much. The waitress repeatedly told us that there was a group of 25 people coming in after us, I suppose with the goal of getting us to leave sooner. It took a long time to give our orders, but once we did, the food arrived fairly quickly. We repeatedly asked for glasses for our BYOB sake and beer, and eventually received sake cups after asking multiple times. We'd decided we wanted to do one sake bomb before we left (hey, we were there for a college reunion and felt the need to recreate our youth!) and finally got the busboy to bring us plastic cups for the beer toward the end of our meal. The second we took the sake bombs, our waitress flew into the room screaming "NO SAKE BOMBS! You go now!" Well, our delicious food was finished, our alcohol was gone, and we'd paid the bill, so . . . ok. Truthfully it was probably the funniest way our experience could possibly have ended. I think the waitress was relieved to have an excuse to clear the room for her 25-top. I recommend Sakura for a group or for when you don't mind a leisurely meal. read more

Inexpensive, high quality and insanely fresh sushi. I've never been unsatisfied with my meals here, whether it's the specialty rolls or yaki soba. My current favorite is the spicy tekka- simple but oh so tasty. Decor and ambiance could be better but this is one place where I'll let it slide. The food totally makes up for it. Also, yelpers have mention that the service isn't great- I partially agree, BUT most of the servers and waiters are extremely friendly, polite and courteous. They really go above and beyond to make sure that you're comfortable. I've had so-so experiences when Sakura was packed (weekends from 5:30-9 are a mad house). However, you just need to be a bit patient. Your tummy will be thankful for the delicious treat. read more

I've always imagined Japan to be a buzzing place full of frantic people and frenetic, hungry tourists. The sushi on that island is rumored to be fantastic (I'm so serious) and no matter what you get, you're sure to be impressed. Sakura is Japan. Really. Constantly packed with students, parents, lovers, friends, frenemies, and celebrities (probably...you wouldn't be able to tell anyway), it's the most bustling restaurant in Providence. Your reservation is worthless - call, ask for a table in 3 nights, hear an "okay thanks," and then a click. It's a fun experience. But the sushi is so amazing that standing in line for an hour - or shoving your way to a front because you did legitimately call for a reservation - is well worth it. The love boat for two comes with the finest cuts of traditional sashimi. Though you won't find Oh Toro in this net, you won't be disappointed: salmon, white tuna, regular tuna, yellow tail, tamago...sushi and sashimi....miso soup and a salad. There's so much fresh food that two people will be stuffed...and then comes dessert. Red bean, green tea or strawberry ice cream. As if people in Japan eat like this all of the time, you convince yourself the extra calories won't hurt...because compared to those spicy lobster triangle sandwiches with three alternating layers of sushi rice, nori, and spicy lobster blend, you just loaded down your throat, a scoop of ice cream really won't do that much damage. Fortunately this place is BYO - meaning you can drink more to make yourself more hungry. read more