I came here for the first time with a Groupon and still feel I vastly overpaid. I have no idea how this place has any five star reviews. People reviewing this place seem to complain that $22 for all you can eat sushi is a lot, but many places will charge you that much for just one roll. However, I wouldn't go back it it was free.
Firstly, escolar is a fish that gives is known to give intestinal troubles when eaten and is actually illegal in some countries. While I appreciate that they don't try to call it "white tuna" like some other restaurants, they still offer it and any restaurant who sells this fish is not one that you should go to (it's one of the three "assorted fish" that comes with the rainbow roll, among others, and is the opaque white piece you see in some of the pictures).
Anyway, when we walked in, we were seated at a booths and left alone for about 20 minutes. Again, it was our first time, so having been to restaurants before, we waited for someone to greet us and take our drink order.... talk to us... look at us... anything. Eventually, after I got tired of people glancing at our table and then quietly walking away, I flagged down one of the servers and we explained that we'd not been here before. She explained how the system works - you take a small card, write down the numbers corresponding to the food on the menu you want, along with a drink, and someone will pick up the card and come back with the food - and then we placed an order for hot tea.
I ordered six things on my first card, along with water. My wife ordered four things, a water, and some ginger and wasabi. The items come out piece-by-piece, or sometimes two things on one plate, and often with so much time in between that you forgot what you ordered. Or they will just bring you something that you didn't order at all (like an aforementioned tainted "rainbow roll"). Or they just don't bring you something and you have to guess if they just forgot or if they are still making it and taking a long time. The servers never tell you what they are bringing you, so you can't even confirm it's yours until after you look back at the menu and piece together what it could be.
We placed six order cards between the two of us, each time asking for water that never came, and after she tried ordering the third time, she eventually got her ginger and wasabi.
On top of the odd service, since I had so much time to look around the restaurant between portions, it occurred to me that one of the guys making the sushi had medium-length hair that wasn't covered by a hat, hair net, or anything. I worked in food service for 10 years and I expect that when I go to some other countries, but here in the states, I find it pretty unacceptable because it just shows that you're more concerned about your hair than the food.
In addition, they charge 18% gratuity for everyone. Most restaurants that do this only do so for tables over a certain number because large groups take a lot of time to serve and often end up stiffing the waiter. But we were just two people and the service was terrible. Actually I can't even say that the service was bad, as much as it was almost non-existent. No one ever talked to us, asked how the food is, or if there was anything else we needed. no one even noticed that we didn't have drinks (except for two empty tea cups) for almost the entire meal. When someone did come, they just quietly took the cards from the table and then eventually came back with food that we may or may not have ordered, placed it in front of us, and silently walked away.
The food was okay, but I'd rather have sushi from Publix any day, and the pot stickers and spring rolls were as good as any you get in the frozen food section. The hibachi rice and chicken (which i ordered on my first ticket and got right before we left) tasted like a dirty grill.
Literally nothing about this place is worth mentioning in a positive light. I tried to look for something. Any reader of this can look at my past reviews and I generally try to give good feedback. read more