I've always known about Sumo's super popular HHours. Went for my first visit, and the space is modern and bright. Feels very contemporary and not like a darker wood ambiance of more traditional Japanese sushi places. This place must generate most of their business from their super packed HH. Once 5pm hit, it got noticeably busier, and by 530pm- fully packed. Sumo is maybe one of the few places that allows takeout of their HH items because they know how crowded they get. That is generous of them. I think their prices are among the most affordable for HH sushi around this area and everything was fresh. I am not picky sushi rolls person, but I would guess their sushi quality is average, made for mass consumption and general public, not for people who really want Japan level top grade sushi/ sashimi. Service: it all depends. Most of the servers are college aged young women. So a lot of them huddle and talk during busy HH time while they constantly scan the busy entrance for new diners. It can take awhile for someone to actually come take your order; we were lucky our server was pretty sweet natured. But in general I don't get the vibe that most of the servers are very focused about their jobs. But with busy HH, warm and friendly service isn't a priority. We're here for the HH deals and fresh affordable sushi. For these points, Sumo delivers. The ambiance: modern and bright, not my first choice. I prefer more low key settings. I think if I came to eat solo, eating at the sushi bar would be a pleasant experience, if I came before 5pm rush. read more

Sumo Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Ventura, California

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I came here once for their reverse happy hour. Everyone who assisted my friend and I were nice and helpful. Main reason I am giving Sumo a 2 star. I ordered their seaweed salad and their rose roll. It was okay. Nothing mind blowing, but I did get food poisoning from it. It was the only thing I had ate which is how I know it was from this. I know some of my friends enjoy coming here, but I will not be coming again. read more

Sumo Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Ventura, California

Horrible rude day manager!! I came to Sumo this AM, I was the first customer and made an order for 3 which cost $49. Since there was no one in the restaurant and it was cold, I asked if I could sit down while my food was prepared. JUDY, who works there, told me I could wait outside. Upon telling her it was cold and asked if I could wait inside, she said yes, but I needed to stand next to the door. I recently had back surgery and can not stand for a long time so I asked if I could have a table she told me "no, we need the tables, we just opened. "...even though there was NO ONE in the whole restaurant! IT has about 20 tables and 8 seats at the sushi bar! I persisted in telling her I wanted to sit down. She rudely told me I could sit at the front table but "had to move if it got full.". Could not have been ruder! When I left only 4 tables were occupied! Try and be courteous! I will never come here again and suggest you don't either. read more

Sumo Japanese Restaurant - Empty restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Ventura, California

Just be aware, when signing your name for your credit card for TO*GO orders, BE AWARE, & know that they will add the tip themselves, WITHOUT asking. I went to go get cash for my tip, from the car, thinking that would be better for the servers, when I noticed the price on my receipt was $10 more than my order was announced. I asked her & she said if you don't look, we add the 20%. I think that's pretty shady but I was going to get $10 anyways, as I was a waitress, so I over tip all the time, it's just pretty SHADY if you ask me I learned the hard way. I have not yet had an issue with the taste, the food is good and that's why I'm back but yeah shady. It's not OK especially since I come from this type of business. On another note, I had to turn around because they forgot some gyoza make sure you check your receipt. Make sure you check your bag read more

We got confused with another sumo restaurant with the same name. This location is better. The lunch special has big portions at a great price. The taste was great. Servers were friendly and fast. Overall a great experience and we will definitely come back read more

The girls answering the phone give inaccurate takeout times that doesn't correspond to 3rd party food delivery apps. Feels like they do this on purpose to drive away business when they're busy. The estimate given was over an hour long for a take out order at 8PM on a Saturday. I get that it's busy but your establishment allows for takeout orders to come in simultaneously so patrons should be treated with the same courtesy as a dine in. Maybe they need to hire more people to keep up with the demand but you don't lie and say your wait time is an hour and 15 minutes when grubhub and DoorDash had 35-40 minute pick up estimate. Girl had an attitude as well, and did not sound friendly. Took our business elsewhere read more

The wife and I love coming here during there happy hour . Pretty good HH . There crunch rolls and there House Roll are our favs. There bento boxes are fire . Does get busy during the night HH but food is worth it ! read more

Food was good, service and hosting were terrible. Time to find a new sushi spot with better service

First impression- It's located in a cute shopping mall. Parking- There's plenty of parking bc of the shopping mall but it does get very crowded. Entrees- Bento Box- These are always great because they allow you to try a bit of everything. In mine, I got the nigiri, California roll, teriyaki salmon. It's a lot of food but it's not heavy at all. The fish should have been cut better as it was hard to eat. . The salmon teriyaki was great. I ate almost everything and I wasn't in a food coma which was surprising! It also came with some miso soup not pictured but good. My friend got the rolls and he enjoyed them as well Service- They are a bit slow but it was lunch time so likely they were just busy. It took about 30 minutes for the food to come out so keep that in mind if you're on a lunch break. Overall- I am looking forward to going back for that bento box sometime! read more

Sumo Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Ventura, California

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Food good. Service awful. This place has slowly gone downhill over the years but they have a few classics I always love. My husband loves their rolls and I love their Bento boxes. It's generally pretty loud on there especially when it's a full house. As with any place there is bound to be some off days but more often than not those days are more frequent when I have been. I have found the servers seem to hate their job or their customers- no matter how nice or patient you are. There are a few specifically who are outright rude and act like you're inconveniencing them by being there. Tonight is what really drew me to finally wrote a review. When we were seated we received one menu to share. They saw there were two of us and gave us one anyway. A couple minutes later they asked if we wanted appetizers or needed more time. We said no thank you but we were ready to order. She stopped, stared at us and did a slow hard blink. It was just short of an eye roll. She seemed upset and inconvenienced that we were ready to order. Fast forward to dinner. We ordered our food. It came timely. For the most part delicious. However there was a hair on our roll. We told our waitress by saying "I'm so sorry bother you but can I please get a new roll, there's a hair in mine". She said ugh I'll be back, I have to look into it. She comes back after whispering about it with the staff right behind us and said she would make an entire new bento box (some had already been eaten). She takes the food away and takes the re-order for us. Then some other Girl came by and said we will just remake this roll and give you a side of rice. She took the edamame also and didn't replace it. That second girl also seemed upset like we asked for hair in our food or that WE were the ones being rude. Not once did they apologize or even offer a discount of a kind (which wasn't expected or requested). Literally not even an "I'm so sorry let me replace that", or "I'm sorry for the wait or Inconvenience, here's your food" or ANYTHING. When we went to leave, the girl that made the decision was nowhere to be found because I would have like to talk to her about their lack of customer service. I'm not going to put names or a picture of the hair in the food but if you you're looking for somewhere with respectful, nice, patient or even helpful servers this isn't the place for you. If you're looking for decent food and don't care about that other stuff then this place is okay. read more

The food here is excellent--full of flavor and genuinely delicious. Unfortunately, the customer service did not match the quality of the food and could use significant improvement. Our waitress was not very attentive to our needs. When placing our order, we clearly requested an accommodation regarding an ingredient we did not want included. Despite making this clear, the order still came out incorrectly. After the food was delivered, it was difficult to get our waitress's attention, and we felt somewhat forgotten about. It wasn't until she noticed us standing up--as if we might be leaving--that she approached the table, asked if we needed anything else, and then handed us the check. This restaurant clearly has great food and a lot of potential, but improving the level of service and attentiveness from staff would greatly enhance the overall dining experience. read more

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Came here for the first time this past weekend. Not a bad location with the food and everything being solid and clean. Service was great also, only thing was some of the portion sizes were all over the place read more

We all know that you don't come here for their service. . . but, this time they crossed the line. Sumo has recently changed their seating policy and hasn't ironed out that policy across their team. As my daughter walked thru the door to electronically sign in, the hostess stopped her and said she could seat us now if we would sit at a table. "Sounds good," my daughter replied, and went to get her 95-year-old Grandmother sitting outside. When they returned, the hostess told her that she can't seat us because the whole party (he was parking the car) must be here. The manger, arms crossed, stood next to the hostess, when my daughter leaned in to ask for an exception to the "New rule" explaining that she had already brought Grandma inside the restaurant and It's difficult for Grandma to go back outside, sit down again, and then get up again. The hostess and manager refused to accommodate us and accused my daughter that she was "aggressive." But, the hostess had already told us she'd seat us right away (because several tables were open and we agreed to sit at one (as opposed to the booths, that were all full) was fine. That's the reason she went back outside to get Grandma. The female Manager was highly argumentative to our seating request. Rather than reading the room and the situation, the manager created an uncomfortable experience for everyone, which included a strange man that stood next to my daughter and asked for his opinion! We enjoy the food, but it is NOT worth the bad service we've received for years, and the bad attitude from new and old personnel. We won't be back. read more

Got food poisoning from their salmon before I could even leave the restaurant. Ate dinner and within 20minutes was so sick in their restroom. I will never go back . I still had to pay for my meal... read more

Our party arrived after a strenuous and exciting day of hiking. The waitress Veronica was so helpful and attentive to our large group. We ordered so many appetizers, and entrees that filled the table; in addition to our requested refills. At the end of our meal, we requested our bill be split. At most restaurants, they make it seem like it's the most complicated and difficult task. Veronica was a champ, she did it so swiftly and efficiently. Our food was scrumptious, service spectacular and overall a sublime time. read more

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Great food! Freshly made! Staff is great! Happy hour is great! New to the area and will continue to attend!

The manager there Jazz I believe is her name she wears glasses.. she was so rude. She had no problem telling off a younger female staff member so that others could hear. I was a customer and it was disgusting her communication skills. From what I witnessed that is no way to manage anyone. Bad very bad! read more

I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't left a review for Sumo until now. My wife and I come here on average about once a week. It's our favorite sushi spot in Ventura, and they have an incredible happy hour. Even at the busiest times, we get seated within 15-20 minutes. They've had their off days where the sushi was just decent, but we've been here so many times we know what they provide on average. Give this place a shot! I couldn't praise them enough on how good it is. I'll upload pics next time we go read more

Every time I go here, I have great service and great food. Prices are a little steep, but that's normal sushi

Sumo is our favorite Happy Hour sushi place ! With the new remodel , it's a nice vibe ! Service has always been great though they are packed during happy hour. My go to is The Alaskan non baked and the dynamite . Soooo good ! I love that they still do happy hour despite today's economy . They even do reverse happy hour !!! read more

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Food is really good, service is decent. I placed a crunchy roll to go and it tool 45 MIN to be ready! I understand it was a friday and it was busy but 45 minutes for a single crunch roll is ridiculous. read more

I went to the Ventura location yesterday with 3 friends and the manager was very rude and asked me to leave in front of the whole restaurant. I had brought my lunch in to join my friends who were going in. The manager made a big deal about bringing anything in her restaurant and asked me to leave. Very embarrassing. I will never go in again and my 3 other friend said it was not that important to go there if they are worried so much about losing one meal for the day, but could have gained 4 patrons. If you go there be sure to go through the strip search before sitting down so you're not asked to leave. read more

Very professional all the staff, the food was delicious enjoy the food and drinks definitely I recommend it to all my family and friends

Sumo Sushi: Once a Knockout, Now Just on the Ropes Ah, Sumo Sushi in Ventura--where my expectations went in doing high kicks and came out doing the walk of shame. I used to love this place. Two years ago it was the Miyazaki of my mouth. Now? Let's just say if the food had a black belt, it was in disappointment. Let's start with the $18 salmon sashimi, which I'm pretty sure was trimmed from the part of the filet salmon use to apply deodorant. Thin, pale, and tougher than a vending machine wasabi pea. The spicy scallop hand roll had a generous helping of chopped scallops swimming in what I can only assume was mayo's evil twin, Duke's/Hellmann. I was one dollop away from calling the fire department for a grease spill. And the Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna appetizer? Let's just say the avocado was so overripe it had dreams and regrets. It looked like someone dropped a sushi roll, tried to reassemble it, and said, "Meh, close enough." At these prices, I expected a culinary sumo slam. Instead, I got taken down in the first round. Shame, really--this used to be a favorite. But with quality circling the drain and creativity in witness protection, I'll be tapping out for good. read more

Sumo Japanese Restaurant - Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice - Japanese Near Me - Ventura, California

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3 standards that should change here: -very unfriendly hosts: multiples of them absent of initial greetings. - inappropriate cleaning protocols, such as mopping a fairly fully seated section - a rude and ridiculous allowance in a routine. -uncommunicative & interruptive servers: it's a lucky guess (or unlucky) approach with table interactions, and a given, that servers will rush you to pay only minutes after your order arrives. Is there a bone of training on timing? On a bright side, the cast of servers iminating "my job sucks but the work-drama is fun!" -- is amusing to watch! With an overly ample staff (15-20 members for 25+\- small tables) everyone runs around looking busy, yet does one task at a time. They aren't multitasking. It's an overstaffing mess, followed by a mass exodus of clock outs. Such wasteful labor, and hopefully the owner/s can note this for future refinement & success. Thank goodness for their hearty pour of a glass of wine. We enjoyed that generosity. Negative comments are hard for us to ever say, because trust us, hospitality is very hard!! Our family knows so because we've been in the industry for years running a bustling restaurant for ourselves. Caring for guests' experience is the #1 daily mission. We aren't expecting 5 star service on a Tuesday from a neighborhood sushi spot, yet zero stars service is outright super sad. We give one star to be nice. read more

I have been coming here for years and their service has really changed. They don't check in with you once your food is served to you. They always wanna rush you to seat and you have to know what you want as soon as you're seated. Over the years I've always been very very patient and this restaurant was always my number one, but their service as a whole has really changed. Now I feel like it's time to look for another sushi place. read more

The food was phenomenal. Our whole group was happy with everything food item that came out. I got my sister to try some rolls for the first time. The service absolutely sucked! They sat us down no utensils, no napkins. Our waitress was no where to be found waited 10-15 mins every time we ordered something. I had to wave people down to get napkins or more water, refills, anything. We weren't checked on to see how we were doing. I was charged for items I didn't receive. We were also rushed out towards the end. I have to say the food made is number one recommendation but the service I wouldn't sit in there again. read more

At first glance this appears to be a regular Sushi place. So I already knew what I was going to order. That being said it's hard for me to admit I have a shellfish allergy prior to ordering. Veronica our server made sure to notify the chefs & make sure precautions were taken in preparation of my groups meal. Preventing any cross contamination. An inviting dining are with 3 TVs for sports fans. I have to say everything including the service was pretty Amazing!! I will definitely be back! read more

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My top place to go when I want sushi they are sooo fast and sooo attentive. They make eating out fun and easy. They also have a really good happy hour menu which has a lot of good items on it. read more

Sumo Japanese Restaurant - Cucumber wrapped California roll, lychee capri soju, Alaskan roll - Japanese Near Me - Ventura, California

The staff is kind and the restaurant is clean. We always love to go for their lunch special. My favorite is the tempura and California rolls. My daughter loves the teriyaki beef. Can't wait to go back. read more

I recently gave Sumo another chance after speaking with someone in charge and was very pleased with the response. So we went back and again I was so happy with the food and the service. Linda read more

Excellent service by Luis Octavio. We rolled deep for my sisters birthday party of 15 and he carried us from beginning to end! No complaints, just complete satisfaction. Food filled everyone up as this is one of our favorites for sushi spots to hit up. They have great appz to choose from and variety of drinks to make it a party! We were sat at the very corner where it was a little tight. Once you sat down, you can not get up unless you ask the person on either side to get up and so on until you reach the end. The plus side is there's not much distraction from anyone else. We loved Luis and we will be returning! read more

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Descent sushi but there are better options to pick between in both Ventura as well as Oxnard. My experience follows... I placed an online order for my family and it was ready when I arrived yet I mistakenly left one small roll off my order. When I asked if they could make a small 6 piece roll really quick as I already waited 45 mins for my original order, they told me I would have to wait an additional 20 minutes which would have made my original order cold. Unfortunately they wouldn't accommodate like other Sushi Restaurants would and have in the past. If you want amazing service and sushi, I would recommend Anaba in Oxnard as they are off the charts. read more

Sumo has really gone downhill. It took over an hour and a half just to get 3 rolls and one order of tempura veggies. While I was waiting, a family came in, sat down, ate their entire meal, and left before I even got my food. When I finally received my order, the tempura was cold. To make it worse, the staff didn't seem apologetic at all. Really disappointing experience. read more

As for as the food, the food is great. As for the customer service/ cashier who took my order she took it upon herself to add a tip onto my debit card without asking me first. My order came to $26 & change. When I asked for the receipt ( which she wasn't going to give me, had i of not asked for a receipt.) She took it upon herself to charge more on my debit card with OUT my ok. When I said something to her about it she played stupid. I was in a rush and had to go.my order was to go read more

I had the worst experience today at Sumo. Purchase Gift card in December as a gift. My family and I had dinner when it was time to pay they said my gift card was inactive I had my receipt and credit card I used to purchase the gift card but they still did not honor it. I've been eating there over 25 years I support local Restaurants purchase gift cards but I will never eat or buy another gift card from Sumo. read more

The food was nice. But I was so impressed by the waitress Delana. Just a pleasant person who just smiled often and just seemed like a happy person who enjoyed people and her job. Have not had such a pleasant and nice person serve us in a long time and it was so refreshing I had to let her know in person as well. Hopefully you get lucky enough to be served by Delana. (I hope I spelled it correctly) read more

I haven't dined in at Sumo for quite some time so I can't speak to that, but I have been coming here for take out orders during happy hour pretty consistently since moving to the area about 5 years ago. Sumo is affiliated with the now closed Octopus chain that used to be in Encino that I loved as well as the currently open H2O in Northridge and Sumo in Newbury Park. They have a solid menu of offerings including your typical appetizers, some nice carpaccios, bento boxes, special rolls, etc. Sumo has decent food at affordable prices during happy hour and decent prices on nigiri all day. Sumo is not the place I would go if I am expecting the best sushi - it's the kind of place you go when you want a good deal on some Japanese food, and where the quality is good enough that it will still taste fresh. If you want top notch or more exotic types of sushi, there are better places in the area to go for that. Their happy hour rolls are where they shine IMO - very decent prices for good sized rolls. The sumo roll, snow roll, and salmon crunch roll are among my favorites. The only item I have had that I did not like was their sunomono salad, it was basically just a pile of soggy cucumber, it was sliced way too thin and had absolutely no crunch to it. read more

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I came in at 7:56 PM and ordered at 8:10 PM. I received one of my rolls at 8:15 PM, but the other two rolls did not arrive until 8:55 PM. The shift supervisor, Judy on March 2, 2026, told us they had already finished making the two rolls after I informed them that I wanted to cancel the order. I specifically told her that I no longer wanted the rolls since we had been waiting for about 40 minutes. She responded by saying that "waiting 20 minutes for food is normal" (it was 40). She also said that next time, I wouldn't be able to cancel the rolls. Mind you, the restaurant was not even half full when I went as dining in. read more

Sumo Sushi is one of those places that just gets it right. The happy hour is fantastic and easily one of the best values around if you're in the mood for sushi. It may not be a super high-end sushi spot, but don't let that fool you -- the fish quality is still really good and everything comes out fresh. For the pricing, it's honestly a great deal and makes it easy to order a bunch and try different rolls without feeling guilty about the bill. The happy hour is a huge win with solid portions, a good selection, and prices that actually make sense. It's a fun, relaxed place to eat and perfect for a casual night out with friends. Great sushi, great value, and an awesome happy hour -- Sumo Sushi is an easy recommendation. read more