self admitted die-hard sushi fan and zanmai is by far the best in boulder. great atmosphere, super friendly staff, awesome fish, and phenomenal rolls. the z-9 is to die for and the buddha roll comes in second. read more

i dig this place. it was great. good prices for basic rolls, a little more for combo rolls. expect to pay $5 for a regular roll and $10 for a fancy one. read more

LOVE THIS PLACE! Super yummy and great service! Id highly reccomend for sushi!

Great food, great atmosphere. If your out with a group and looking for a good time this is the place to go. Other sushi restaurants in Boulder are stuck up and a lack of atmosphere. read more

I'd have to agree with another reviewer, this place is probably the place to go for sushi in Boulder. Fresh fish. Their "Special Roll" menu was great. Highly recommend the Death Roll for those who likes a little zing to their sushi. The happy hour prices were a little more expensive than others but well worth it. Will definitely be back. read more

I come from a part of the country that has very good food and have traveled quite a bit and as such, have had sushi from many sushi restaurants and at a variety of price points. I have now found myself at Sushi Zanmai four times over the years and each time was not impressed, with this last time being the worst. The rolls were mostly rice and what little fish they did have, lacked in flavor. And this unenjoyable sushi had a high price tag for what was delivered. The positive is that the service was friendly. Bottom line, the sushi is not good at Sushi Zanmai...at all. read more

Didn't have the food at all, but a great karaoke place on Fridays! Problem is that the karaoke period is too short, from 10pm-midnight. It should be at least one hour longer. But great warm sake and great karaoke. read more

This is a family friendly eating place that also manages to be hip at the same time. The food was excellent, especially the squid salad as a starter. Our table also had tempura, teriyaki, and combination sushi dinners. Everything was really well prepared and the service was great. I will definitely be back when I am in town. read more

I've ordered lunch to-go from this place twice now. The first time, my friend went to pick it up after 20 minutes after they told her it would be 15 minutes. She got there, the restaurant was completely empty, and it took them an additional 45 minutes to bring the order up. The second time, I asked for the exact same dish, and the hostess wrote down something completely different. When she presented the order, she insisted that because it had already been prepared, we'd have to pay for it, but they would still make me what I had originally ordered if I wanted. I'm not bothering to go back after witnessing their piss-poor service read more

I love, love, love, love, love this place! Grab a big group and reserve a private room or find a seat at the sushi bar and enjoy their tasty delights. Leave the spicy rolls until the end of the meal if you want to be able to enjoy the full flavors of the more mild rolls, sashimi and sushi. Also, their karaoke is a blast! read more

The best sushi I have had so far in Boulder (though to be honest that is not saying too much). Go during happy hour when single pieces of nigiri are only $1.25. Had to dock them a star for their rice, however; it was not nearly sticky enough, so I had to end up eating with my hands. Though I like to do that anyway :) read more

We went here on a Saturday night around 6pm. This wasn't the best idea, but we had no idea how popular the place is. There was a line out the door, and a 20-30 minute wait. We ended up waiting around 10 minutes and sat at the sushi bar. The server was completely in the weeds. We sat there for a while just wondering what the proper sushi bar protocol was. We had to ask one of the chefs, who was very nice and happy to explain some of the rolls. We ordered through him, but we had to wait for the server for our drinks. We actually got our sushi before our beers. The food definitely made up for the service. It was really fresh, and I appreciate that they stay somewhat true to traditional flavors instead of getting "wrapped" up in the trendy fusion sushi of today. Overall, the service can be pardoned considering the place was busting at the seems with chaos and people. I would recommend coming here on a weekday or just at a more off hour. That way you can fully experience the food. read more

Decent sushi...sometimes, I have to say, the fish doesn't taste 100% fresh and that's my only complaint.

I drive by alot of sushi places on the way to get here. The spider roll is my favorite (and cheap comparatively). It is always busy, but worth waiting for. What I like about it most is that it feels authentic. There's more Hibachi places to get sushi than just regular sushi spots in CO. Only problem w/ Hibachi is you pay more for not much better sushi. That's why this place is a gem, good for a couple rolls a beer, leave your collars and dress shoes at home. Plus they gave me and my fiance free sake on my birthday :) read more

My new favorite sushi in Boulder. Great pricing, fresh sushi, fun staff. Will definitely be returning many times to come.

So I have a dirty secret.... I used to hate sushi... I know i know! what? How could that happen? Im not even a picky eater, and I will eat almost any strange dish put in front of me.. However for most of my life, all I can say is, maybe I was plauged by people who had bad taste?? Well 2 years ago, my then new boyfriend suggested sushi.. and I went on my usual "I hate sushi, ive tried it 20 times, and never liked it".. and its true.. I really did try it many times.. but it was always.. hmm unsettling in flavor. I dont know if it was the overabundance of seaweed (not my favorite flavor), or just not FRESH evenough. I also have no problem with raw meats, and will eat raw red meat without issue. So it was truely confounding to not like sushi.. well that fateful night, I decided ... ok ok.. I will try it one more time... Well 2 years later, I LOVE sushi, thanks to zanmai. Maybe my pallet has changed or something, not really sure what happened. Anyways last night for valentines we went here. Woofed down $80 worth of sushi, which made for a wonderful valentines. I dont find the service to be bad here. If its busy, what do you expect? Many restraunts I frequent.. the service might be slower if they are busy.. it happens. I feel like the service is always super nice to me, and even if they are slow, they still make sure Im taken care of. We didnt have reservations.. it took us about an hour to get seats at the sushi bar (which I had never done, so that was cool!). Was very busy for valentines. I was only sad about them being out of Sea Urchin. Always get a squid salad! This is awesome way to start you sushi off right! Everything Ive eaten here is to die for, and amazing. It turned me into a sushi lover! Rolls are great, but so is everything else. I love squid and shrimp stuff, so awesome. For being all the way in colorado not near an ocean.. id say the food all tastes really fresh! Dont forget to get a piece or three of mochi ice cream... yumyumyum Sushi Zanmai changed my opinion of sushi as a good in general.. now I cant get enough.. I will always be spoiled by zanmai, being its the 1st sushi place I liked.. It has now set the "bar". Want to try out sushi den in denver.. heard its good.. now if only someone in colorado sold fugu! read more

I really like their food and the restaurant is nice, but the service isn't the best. I made a reservation for a large group that was supposed to be a surprise birthday party for my husband, but the staff refused to seat anyone until I showed up with him (I gave them my credit card to charge when I made the reservations). So, because my group was so large, some had to stand outside in January, some were in the lobby, and some wear roaming around. Naturally, this completely ruined the surprise effect and cost me over $900 for a half surprise. Disappointing to say the least. read more

Nice selection of sushi and rolls at a good price. Everything was fresh. Also the wasabi was nice and hot!!

My favorite sushi place ever, the sushi is always fresh and delicious, you can tell quality is their main goal. The sashimi pieces are huge and succulent and they are very friendly too. Also, they have a good happy hour!! read more

We like it here the food is great. Our family has been coming here since the late 80's. One of my kids actually created a roll she likes that is not on the menu and they make it for her every time we come. I would recommend them to anyone. read more

my favorite sushi place in boulder. this place has great seating. you can have private rooms which makes your dinning experience that much better. the sushi is always great and i have never had a bad time at sushi zanmai read more

My husband and I are new to the Boulder area and are attempting to find our new fav sushi restaurant. We went here this past weekend and were disappointed. I ordered sushi which was quite good- the california roll was great, but overall, the sushi was nothing special. My husband ordered the teriyaki meal and disliked it. He actually got sick the next day- he thought the meat was very greasy and the meat was not seasoned well. The most surprising aspect of our meal was we didn't realize that this was a college kid hangout. We were lucky enough to be next to a table doing saki/beer shots (not sure the game) but it was loud and not even the loud rock music overshadowed their noise. I feel like an old person writing this (only in my 30s I promise) but if I'm not at a dive and not paying dive prices, I prefer to not fee like I'm at a dive. Not the place to take a romantic date, but if you feel like hanging with some college kids doing shots and want to eat sushi while people watching in a weird bewildering way- this is your place. read more

coming from new york and growing up on the ocean i love sushi. it took me two years to find this place in boulder since i have been here but it is my favorite by far. best sushi place in boulder. read more