This place strives to achieve mediocracy. I keep forgetting how average it is and keep showing up there about once a year. The fish is no fresh, the wasabi is dry and stale and nothing taste like it should. It' sad that there's one one good sushi restaurant in SB - and that's not open for lunch. This place is just not good. read more

Haven't yet enjoyed the dine-in experience at Sun Sushi, but we've gotten takeout a few times and it does not disappoint! Fish is fresh and the ratio of ingredients is spot-on. Sometimes rolls with cream cheese can be too... cream cheesy? But the State Street Roll has juuuuuuuuust the right amount. Also love the "Del Roll" series -- most recently had the Yellow Tail one and it's just the right amount of spice. And this is silly and unrelated to the food itself, but I appreciate their takeout containers -- they put the sushi on a platter-style container, which makes it feel like the restaurant experience came to your home! I normally transfer the sushi rolls from their tiny takeout containers to a plate at home to make it feel nicer / more appetizing, but no messy transfers needed when you order from Sun Sushi! read more

Fantastic sushi. Me and my mom ordered a variety of sushi and the fish was melt in your mouth. My favorites were definitely sweet shrimp and bluefin tuna. We also ordered the shiso salmon tempura which I've never tried/heard of before in LA. It was super bomb though! Service wasn't necessarily bad, but lacking. One of our orders was missed for around 40 mins and my mom had to remind them a few times. When it finally came, it was the wrong order lol Then the second time (not third) was the charm. Overall, service is inattentive. However, I did see that they're extremely busy as more and more customers entered throughout the evening. read more

This place is cute. The service was amazing, and Danny was super on top of it. I'm glad they are able to stay open, and have an outside seating spot. read more

Sun Sushi - Soft crab shell - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Anthony, our server, was the G.O.A.T, ( greatest of all time) he was so awesome, attentive and kind. He would always help people when they are in need and he is so friendly. I love sun sushi with amazing service and food to die for! I highly recommend!! read more

Anniversary sushi dinner!!! Last year when we were in Santa Barbara, we had sushi on the other end of state street. This was much better then downtown!!! We started with seared albacore carpaccio. This was an amazing cut of fish, lightly seared and full of flavor! We then ordered three rolls: Tiger Roll, Mexican Roll and Spider Roll! Two thumbs up for sure!!! The sushi chefs were amazing, staff very friendly, and service was great!! Glad to find this little hole in the wall on the upper end of State Street! read more

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I don't ever leave one star reviews -- especially as someone who has worked in the service industry for over a decade. However, the hostess was so rude when she said she called our names from the waitlist when I never received a call that I felt like the restaurant deserved to know. When I asked her what we should do she said to rejoin the waitlist from the bottom, despite never showing proof that she called our cellphone numbers. I wish I could have experienced the food but I don't think we'll be coming back. read more

I've only been for lunch but their special was great! We tried out the sushi combo which had salmon, scallop, albacore, yellowtail, and California rolls. I'm sure this changes all the time. Of course miso soup too! My hubby had the beef teriyaki and tempura combo and he enjoyed it. I'm always on the hunt for a good lunch special!! read more

i have to try hard to be fair with this review. my hopes were very high as this is the highest-rated sushi restaurant in santa barbara. we booked our anniversary dinner here. this is far from what i consider a 4.5 star restaurant. this is a very typical sushi restaurant. salmon nigiri came topped with a piece of seaweed soaked in (i think) yuzu juice or syrup - it was horrible. it blew away any salmon flavor. i assumed their "japanese fried chicken" was chicken karaage. it's not the light, crispy karaage i'm used to from a japanese restaurant. it's closer to chicken nugget tenders. i think it's correctly not called "chicken karaage" on the menu. this is our mistake for assuming. the rainbow roll was ok. the crab salad was oversalted, but it made up for the tasteless fish. the crunch roll had an unagi sauce with an overpowering taste of soy sauce. we couldnt taste anything but that sauce. the salmon del roll was decent, but we found out why they put that seaweed on the salmon nigiri. their salmon is bland. the salmon lacked flavor and needed the spicy mayo sauce. their "wasabi" is weird. it's gritty, not smooth like the fake wasabi at most other restaurants. i think they're trying to mimic real wasabi, but it still tastes like the fake stuff. it's still very harsh, but with some texture. service was really good. i feel bad for being so negative with this restaurant, but this really should be about 3 stars overall on yelp, maybe 4 for value, because prices are reasonable. we're just visiting for the week, so we don't have any clue which restaurants are really appropriate for certain occasions. the glowing review and some of the photos made us think this was special-occasion quality, but it's FAR from that. read more

First and foremost, the service is an 11/10. Extremely attentive and genuinely friendly, I feel very welcomed to come back and dine here next time I'm in town. I'd recommend making a reservation if you want a table. Two of us came in on a Friday night without a reservation and was seated at the sushi bar (which I prefer). Sitting at the bar alone made the experience better for me, on top of the great quality fish! We each got a Six Step Salmon, each step was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Although wished the menu or sushi chef described the six differences between each step, I would've asked but the chefs were slammed. Next time! Two rolls to share and then 6 nigiri pieces to share of Toro, fresh scallop, and Uni. It definitely satisfied our sushi craving and will be back! Thank you Sun Sushi! read more

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We wanted sushi so ordered online for a to-go order. Online ordering was easy except either they just don't have sashimi or it's just labeled differently that I'm not aware about. Since we couldn't find the sashimi options we got the CA rolls, rainbow roll and state street roll. Kids devoured the CA rolls and the adults devoured the rest. Although the kids were very close to trying the other rolls. Price is reasonable. Good spot in the area. read more

Me and my boyfriend love this place and we keep coming back to it. Sun sushi has become our go to sushi spot in SB. I think that everything's reasonably priced for sushi. The fish is pretty good. Not mind-blowingly amazing, but pretty good. This is the kind of place where I would order nigiri at, and I can't say the same about other sushi places in the area. (The quality of the fish has to surpass a certain level before I'm willing to order nigiri rather than rolls.) read more

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i'm going to give it a 3/5 only because it was missing flavor. if you like subtle flavor you will like it. but for me it lacked salt and spicy. the best roll was their salmon delight it was smooth BUT IT NEEDED some salt flavor added to it. their bluefin was unimpressive and wasn't worth getting the cut was way too lean and usually it will come with fresh wasabi on it but here it did not. As someone from LA we have a lot of sushi options and i honestly think the only piece of sushi that was good was the ikura but that being said i do think this is the best sushi spot in the area i asked for a spicy salmon roll and usually that would be cut up salmon usually with sriracha on the inside and maybe cucumber and avocado but in this case they just splashed some spicy mayo on top. i have to say that the box sushi was almost as good as the ones in vancouver ( they have the best box sushi and salmon sushi) i would suggest for them to try a salmon version specifically with regular mayo not spicy mayo and a jalepeno slice on each piece with a slight very slight sear! now the inside is nice the sushi chefs talk with the people at the bar though while we were there there was some kind of confrontation where two guests got into it a bit but it was just funny for the rest of us . servers were great and service was very swift and efficient . honestly very good but not flavor wise what i would expect if i spend almost 200 dollars read more

Excellent service and freshest sushi. We had a party catered for 100+people and we couldn't have been happier. The owner was very accommodating. read more

LOVE this place. The service id always top notch. The rolls are affordable while still delivering excellent quality sushi. The staff making the rolls are so nice and the food is great. read more

I have been wanting to try this place out forever! I've heard such great things about it. It's located on Upper State in a little plaza, it might be easy to miss! There's plenty of parking around the area though. We came in mid week and there was no wait time, but did end up getting busy! The service is super fast and the food, even better. We got the popular 6 step blue fin tuna and it was a MOUTHGASM each bite!! So simple and flavorful, like butter. I can't wait to try the salmon one. The uni sushi was also fresh and creamy, worth every penny. We also got two simple rolls (avocado/eel, spicy albacore) and a special roll (yellow tail delight roll), which were all fantastic and filling. Dessert was cheap and who doesn't love some mochi to round out a dinner! Can't wait to come back here for another sushi night! read more

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really stoked on the traditional Japanese food, and inviting atmosphere. The chicken teriyaki was actually very good, we'll flavored with good quality meat. The same goes for the teriyaki beef, We we're very impressed with it, 5stars for good quality food and quality meat! highly recommended for anyone looking for a good Japanese style meal. read more

We were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our meal. It was busy but that didn't take away from the experience and our reservation was honored so we didn't have to wait. We enjoyed the salmon steps and a few rolls and we will definitely be back to try more of items on the menu! read more

We had such a wonderful dinner here last night! The fresh scallop sushi was exquisite. Delicate flavors enhanced with a very light sauce. Salmon sama (cooked) crispy and rich deeply satisfying. Great wait staff, recommended the albacore roll, even better than he described. Shrimp and vegetable tempura appetizer perfectly cooked, lovely light batter. We'll be back. read more

This is my joint. I get the sushi lunch special once a week and replace the California roll with spicy tuna. The fish is fresh, especially Tuesday or Wednesday it's pretty much perfect. I know my fish, and have eaten at the best sushi restaurants in LA and Vegas lots of times. Ming is a great guy, great sushi chef. I feel at home, and happy to be a regular. Also, the rice is always perfect, Never a dry grain. read more

The portions were extremely small and it wasn't that great. I chose this place based on reviews and we kind of regret it.

Sun Sushi is our go to for an easy pick up or dine in. Shining star of the menu is the Box Roll. I also love their miso soup and State Street Roll. Sometimes they cut the nigiri too thick and last night the fish didn't taste as fresh as usual but will continue to frequent this spot! Our server was also great. Super attentive and on top of it. read more

Yup this is the place. Staff friendly. Sushi VERY good and somehow me and the wife spent under $200 before tip. And we had our full

Came here on a Sunday before going to SB Bowl. Great atmosphere and great service. The sushi was amazing and the specials were outstanding as well. Definitely making this my #1 stop for sushi in SB. Thanks all. read more

Yelped the best sushi restaurant in Santa Barbara and this place came on top with nearly 200+ five stars reviews. OMG! I can't believe it! I should have read more reviews or checked the photos in details. For the mediocre quality and taste, the food here is absolutely overpriced. The bill for 2 person with tips was $100+ for 6 pieces of sushi, two small appetizers, 2 sushi rolls. In summary, we paid $$$ for dining at a decent/good sushi restaurant but the experience felt like getting street food for a food truck. The Japanese fried chicken was plain and dry, with no dipping sauce. And some of the pieces were overcooked. Ordered toro and blue fin tuna. When the waiter served the dish, he said: this is toro, this is blue fin tuna. THEY ARE DIFFERENT. He emphasized. First of all, the pieces looked identical (the color and texture of the fish). And they tasted the same too. All were badly cut, I don't understand why it had small cuts on the fish?! The Uni sushi had some weird taste. The tuna roll and special tuna roll were similar as what you can get in Whole Foods. Perhaps more reasonable priced as compared to the other dishes. The service was mediocre.. I really did not appreciate the waiter always in a rush and "throwing" the dishes on your table. I'm traveling to Santa Barbara. I felt bad for folks that gave their 5 starts reviews for this restaurant. If this is the best sushi restaurant in SB, you guys have never had good sushi before. read more

Great sushi bar with a local vibe. My husband and I were visiting for the weekend and felt like having sushi, but nothing too fancy. Somewhere relaxed where we could sit at the bar and take our time. Sun Sushi came up, and I recognized it from dining at Tee Off next door, so we came in just before 7pm. It was quiet and we were seated at the bar right away. It feels like a classic sushi bar and they were ready to serve us as soon as we knew what we wanted. The place filled up pretty quickly with a dinner crowd. They have a good drinks list, with beers, wines, and lots of sakes. One of the sushi chefs answered our questions about the sakes and helped us choose one. He was attentive and ready to take our orders whenever we we decided on our next dish. The miso was good, and a generous portion. We got a selection of nigiri - salmon, albacore, yellowtail, toro (fatty tuna), and scallop. Everything was beautifully presented, and most importantly all the fish was excellent. They also change things up a bit, for example the salmon had 2 pieces with ginger and 2 with a spicy concoction on top - not necessary when the fish is high quality, IMO, but it added a little variety. I would ask for the tunas without glaze next time, though. My only complaint is that the rice was a bit dry. We also had a spicy tuna roll, the pieces were nice and small and they were well balanced, with a good amount of spice and not overloaded with sauce. A great experience, and I'd definitely make a point to come back whenever I'm in town. read more

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Long wait for dinner but super fast service once seated. Everything I ate was melt in your mouth delicious. Even the mango ice tea was tea and not diluted water unlike in some restaurants. Overall a great experience. read more

Sun Sushi - 6 steps salmon - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Hidden gem! As a broke college student this is the best option for high quality affordable sushi. Way better than grocery store stuff for a similar price. The wait staff were so kind and food came quickly. The place itself is a little hidden and can get busy but it's worth it in my opinion. Will be back! read more

Probably one of the best sushi places in Goleta/SB area. I'm from LA and have lived in SB for almost 5 years now for school and I have to say this is one of the only decent sushi places. I just wish they offered delivery, I would probably get it every week if they were on DoorDash or one of the apps! The toro is my fav here read more

I broke my wine glass on accident and they were nice enough to reassure me that accidents happen and they replaced it and re-poured my wine. The food is to die for, and it is date night central in there with the lighting and music. 10/10 would recommend. read more

Best Sushi in town! All the specials are "to die for". The halibut carpaccio is the bomb and one of my favorites, and the Red Dragon... Tiger Roll... Mexican roll..Dang.. I guess they are all my favorites! My son is a "sushi snob" and found this place while he was attending UCSB. He and his housemates would try to eat here once a week. While we were visiting..my wife and Tried this place for the first time... and now we are hooked! Reminds of of a small sushi bar in Tokyo that we visited in 2019. We love to sit at the sushi bar, enjoy the bottles of ORIÓN BEER and talk to the chefs... it's a blast... and if you toast a cold Orión or Sake... to the chefs... the whole place lights up with smiles! If you want the best sushi..go to Sun Sushi! Buy some Orión Beer and bring on the laughter and smiles and great sushi. We love this place! 5 stars!!! Every time! Arigato chefs! read more

Such a great spot to get your sushi fix! I got the salmon flight (not what it's really called but forgot the real name) and agedashi tofu. I wish the tofu had a bit more flavor but it was still yummy. Also, they have super quick service which is a huge plus! read more

Sun Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Came here to celebrate a friend's belated birthday. We ordered the Sun roll, Volcano roll, crunch roll, box sushi, and the albacore delight roll and the teriyaki chicken bowl. Looking outside the restaurant, first impression is that it looks like a more run down restaurant but I wasn't going to base it just off looks. The sushi is sooo good! The fish is super fresh and all were really good. The volcano roll however is a hit or miss since its served hot and wrapped in foil which is what you don't expect when eating sushi. The teriyaki bowl was okay, chicken was pretty bland. But I would definitely recommend the sushi. Sun sushi however is a little on the pricier side so expect to pay more. However the quality of the sushi is well worth it. They were super stingy on the wasabi and ginger. There were 4 of us but only served one mini plate for all of us to share. The waitress was nice enough to bring out a little more but only when we asked. We all ordered green tea ice cream for dessert along with Mochi. Can never go wrong with green tea ice cream! They even were sweet enough to sing happy birthday to my friend with a candle on the ice cream which she enjoyed very much! The waiter also offered to take pictures of as well too. Overall the sushi was great and the service was awesome! read more

Sun Sushi - Green tea ice cream - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Honestly I think I've missed something here. I chose Sun Sushi based on the percentage of 5 star ratings on Yelp. I called at 7:00 p.m. to make last minute reservations for 7:30 that evening, Friday. I was told by a women I spoke to that they were all filled and there was a line out the door. With that said, My friend and I thought to just just drive by and see for ourselves and or find another place to dine. We arrived at 7:30 no line and there were open seats at the sushi bar along with 3 empty tables... When we entered the restaurant the gentleman asked if we had a reservation and I told I called and the women that answered would take one. Anyway, We were seated. Service was very OK. It took me to finally get the attention of a server to take out drink and food order. We ordered the Soft Shell Crab Tempura Appetizer, Salmon Skin Roll, Yellow Tail, Uni, Salmon, Sweet Shrimp, Smelt Egg with Quail Eggs and Halibut Sushi along with a Salmon-6-Step. All the fish was of OK quality not the best. the Yellow Tail smelt a little fishy. The Smelt Egg presentation was sloppy with eggs falling off and the Quail Eggs about to drip off. The Salmon-6-Steps was very OK too. The Uni was not the price listed on the menu in fact it was an outrages $15 (isn't Santa Barbara famous for their Uni?) The worse part of the meal was the Tempura Crab and Fried Shrimp Heads. I don't know where they get the recipe from but it certainly was not Tempura which should be served HOT in temperature and light in batter. The coating was a very heavy batter and all the fried food was barely room temperature.. so bad was the Crab that I had to pick off the batter to eat the crab. Food OK, Tempura horrible, Service OK. read more

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I was looking on yelp for a sushi place because I am new to this area and Sun Sushi had so many great reviews so I thought I needed to try it out. When looking at it from the outside it doesn't look like anything special but trust me, the sushi is amazing! I came here with my brother, who is a very picky eater and he said that their beef teriyaki dinner was the best he's ever had. I highly recommend the caterpillar role - the eel was delicious. This place is definitely a must when in SB! read more

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Fresh and delicious. For the price you pay, the food tastes amazingly delicious. Highly recommended.

Sun Sushi very yummy everything I have had here has been delish! Give it a try it won't disappoint. The service is good although I usually get takeout read more

Good food, frash fish ,good service,easy parking, good location, nice people,small businesses.

Nothing beats the quality of the Sushi here. Perfect to my palate, satisfying taste and aroma. Highly recommended place for sushi cravings. read more

Christmas weekend in Santa Barbara!! We ran into Sun Sushi since there were limited restaurants open on Christmas Day! Thank you for being open!! When the host told us it was a 30 mins wait we were happy to wait!! Sushi and the dinner entree was delicious!! The staff managed the busyness of this evening in a way that seemed seamless but we know it was a very busy night!! We appreciate each of your for your outstanding customer service despite the holiday madness!! May the New Year bring much success to your business!! Best getaway for the Christmas holiday season! We will definitely recommend you to family who live in SoCal! Thank you!!! read more