I know - I know - I know This place looks like your weird uncle should be crashing on the couch with an expired milk jug, dirty boxers and way too much time on his hands but this place is legit. My wife and I come here EVERY time we want sushi. The atmosphere makes you feel like you should have brought a house warming gift to dinner but the food is good and they treat you well. Its def not snobby or hipsterish. I always wonder why a place would leave alcohol (or anything for that matter) out and open for customers to take. More than once I thought to myself I could just grab a beer and chug it and no one would know. I'm suprised this close to yorktown that some pimple faced virgins aren't doing it.....but whatever works for them! I'm always coming back to this joint - next time I'll bring a casserole! read more

This place is awesome! Excellent service and friendly environment service. Need to come here once a week to treat myself. read more

Sushi-Zen - Japanese Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Truly amazing sushi. I love sushi and have tried a lot of places in the DMV area and this place just made it to #1 on my list. Very fresh fish, and wonderful service, will definitely be returning. read more

Good sushi, convenient location, kid friendly, but can have inconsistent service. It's been hit or miss in the past, but mostly hit so this remains our go-to sushi spot. read more

Always good but even better during corona times! Fantastic health procedures. They make really great sushi and they care about their customers. I've lived in Arlington for three years and finding this place was such a win. read more

The food and service were great!! The place was very clean and was greeted with a warm friendly welcome. If you like sushi then you're going to love this place!! read more

The sushi was good. The service for pick up was not. The lady who rang me up was rude, particularly when I asked if my entire order was there and ready. I left and they called me to tell me I had forgot something when it was actually them who forgot to give it to me. Do yourself a favor and go some where else. read more

Our meal here was fine, but there are better choices in the area. My table ordered the chirashi and a roll and nigiri combo. Upon presentation, the chirashi bowl's contents appeared lacking for a $27 dish. The roll combo looked great and tasted okay. Too much rice and not enough fish on the nigiri. I also tasted an odd aftertaste in the miso soup here and would have preferred a milder flavor. Overall, an okay experience and a fine choice for a neighborhood sushi run. read more

I moved to Arlington almost 3 years ago. I am a sushi fanatic. I have tried every sushi place/ restaurant around here. I found this place and now grab some sushi about every friday. Sushi Zen has bit larger rolls than other surrounding sushi places. I honestly think they have the best rolls and the freshest fish around. The nigiri portions are very generous and really allow you to taste how great their fish really is. My favorite part is the staff & chefs. They know me by name and always greet the regulars. Wouldn't get sushi anywhere else. I recommend their salmon/avocado roll, unagi roll, oshi (delicious) roll, and toro roll or nigiri if your feeling spunky read more

I'm kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to food. Sushi Zen is the ONLY place I keep coming back to for sushi. I feel like every time I go to Sushi Zen they somehow top their previous efforts. Someone on here was complaining about them skimping on fish. My Glebe Roll tonight was literally overflowing with Salmon (which was amazing). They were out of something we wanted so they comped us free Nigiri (fatty salmon belly) and OH MY GOSH so good. The customer service is great too. After maybe 2 visits they remembered us and our favorite dishes. The place is always packed, so that's a really nice touch. Basically, bottom line--I love this place. Its 3.5 Yelp rating personally offends me. read more

Sushi Zen is my go-to Japanese restaurant in Arlington. The sushi has been good almost every time I have dined here. I say "almost every time" because on my last visit the sushi was not up to the usual standard. I had ventured into a new kind I had not tried before, but even the basic ones were not as flavorful as usual. That being said, the tempura was very good. It was light and fresh. This last time, the service was also slow and not at all up to the usual warmth and care I have become used to and assumed was standard at Sushi Zen. I believe we had just hit one of their rare off days. I fully expect that this will be remedied at once. Because of my usual experiences there I will certainly return soon and continue to recommend this nice little restaurant to my friends and family. read more

So good! The quality of the food is excellent. The selection of traditional and specialty rolls is great! This is our go-to for local sushi. Staff is very friendly and attentive. I hope this place never changes! read more

As a graduate student I got to work on a student consulting team for Sushi Zen. During the semester I got to know the family that owns the business and they are great. I ate there quite a few times and I found the food to be delicious! They are what I would call "American" portions of Sushi. They really try to be family friendly and help people new to the cuisine. That may hurt their authenicity but I eat a lot of sushi and I found it to be up to par with the more expensive, "authentic" sushi places downtown. read more

got a fairly large order for 4 to go. we ordered when we got there, and they were quick to make our order. we ordered 7 different types of rolls, miso soup and salad, seaweed salad, and age tofu. we also ordered the lavender honey ice cream and ate while we waited. disappointing: the age tofu was just ok. its much better at some other places. the "crust" around the tofu wasnt right. I also thought the lavender flavor in the ice cream was too overpowering. although it was good, i wish the lavender was muted just a bit. the wasabi was not strong enough. had to use almost ALL of it to get the normal punch of that wasabi flavor. good: fresh, delicious rolls. the one roll with the shrimp tempura in the middle and tuna and avocado on top was amazing. I forget what it was called. we also replaced the philadelphia for fresh salmon instead of smoked salmon. read more

I've been here twice now in the last year. Despite the bad reviews I've read on here, I've been impressed with this place. I've had a wide variety of their nigiri sushi (tuna, boston mackerel, salmon, flounder, etc) along with their rolls and everything has been fresh and tasted great. I'm not quite a sushi conosseuir (may be spelled wrong), but I will keep coming back here. Even my filipino fiancee who knows sushi better than anyone thinks this is the best place in Arlington. Friendly service too! Average prices. read more

Two years ago, my friend who's sushi fanatic took me to sushi zen after I had a dream about eating sushi (which I have never done before lol) and I absolutely fell in love with it. The servers are very kind and hardworking. The sushi is amazing and I love the variety of the sushi. Just an amazing place. read more

I've taken a lot of friends to Sushi Zen! It's the best sushi in Arlington and maybe even northern VA. Simple and delicious.

This place is one of the worst sushi I have ever had. Service, food, atmosphere, cleanliness-- horrible, horrible, horrible. There just too much rice on the rolls, not enough meat, and double the amount of unripe avocados than needed. Service was terrible; slow and unresponsive. The udon soup had frozed carrot, brocoli and green beans -- frozen vegtables you would get at Giant. Never ever go back there. Not worth the money. read more

Wow...most of these reviews pretty much hit this place on the head. I was pleased with my Tempura and salad when I first came here, but the sushi rolls were EXTREMELY small. To be honest, it was insulting. I actually feel really bad about taking my parents here when they visited and wanted sushi - but this was before we knew about Endo Sushi (see other review). Plus, the price was too high for the quality and amount we ordered. You can get twice as much at Endo and pay the same. Plus they never ask if you want dessert or more refills on your drinks or tea. :( Thumbs down. The parking lot is bad and it's not near a metro. Only one star because the tempura was ok. read more

Was there yesterday for dinner at the sushi bar by myself. I had high expectations due to the good reviews on yelp and this time got me wrong. I'm server at busy Japanese restaurant too lol, so I know what's good services and food should be like. I ordered sashimi dinner and it looks just like they threw everything in there unprofessionally but they are fresh though. Let's talk about service. I feel like I was being left alone after I got my sashimi, no one bother to ask me if everything is ok or if I want another drink. NOT ONCE!! Oh well I shouldn't expect much anyway but I won't go back there again. 3 stars for the fish and $3 fresh wasabi when they told me they didn't have it but they did and automatically charged me without letting me know meh. read more

I was recently at Sushi Zen with a large group of people ( a reunion) and had a wonderful meal. My husband and I ordered the Tempura Combo and had excellent shrimp/veggie tempura and the most delicious salmon teriyaki. The portion size was huge. We also had the miso soup and a salad with a delicious Sushi Zen house salad dressing. Our group tried the different ice creams and I really liked the red bean ice cream and the ginger ice cream was good. I wasn't crazy about the green tea ice cream (wasn't sweet enough). I tried the plum wine and liked that. This is a family owned restaurant and they were very accomadating for a large group of people (15). When I am back in the area, I will go to Sushi Zen again to eat (might even try the Sushi!!!!) read more

Have I really never reviewed Sushi Zen? I go here about 3 times a week for lunch and dinner and everything is always spectacular. Let me begin by starting with the obvious, fresh, delicious fish. Every sushi restaurant needs top quality fish and Sushi Zen has it. Not only is it fresh but the rolls and sashimi are prepared perfectly, everything is always perfect. Every meal starts with some of the best miso soup that I have ever had and it only gets better from there. I am a huge fan of their sashimi, the chefs, Chef Yuh, Chef Brian and Chef Carlos are truly masters. Their skills at the counter are unparalleled, their plating and presentation are stunning and some of their rolls are truly creative. I have never had a bad meal here, my go to dishes are any sashimi platter, the blue fire roll, the Arlington roll and my new favorite, the chai tuna roll, AMAZING! Sit at the sushi bar and watch the chefs prepare some amazing dishes and ask them for something special, you will never be disappointed! Chef Carols makes everyone feel like a regular, he knows your order after 2 visits and makes you feel like you are the only customer he has! Sushi Zen is a gem, if you are craving sushi, look no further. read more

I had no idea this place was even here. Awesome lunch specials (changing daily). We got sushi boxes for pretty cheap, it was like 10 bucks if I remember correctly. There was a ton of different sushi, made for us on the spot, and it was fast too. I was really really happy about it. read more

If you're having a bad craving and really need to have some sushi, this place will do it in a pinch. However, its not a place I would frequent if I didn't live down the street from it. The sushi is pretty standard and not memorable, but the people seem interesting. Its ok I guess read more

I love this place! Every time I come back to the DMV area I go here because it is so good. I know I can trust the freshness of the fish and will always have a nice waitress. Not to mention, the salad dressing is good enough to drink (not kidding, people!). Not sure what these other people are talking about, maybe they came on a really busy night as it can get crowded. read more

after having tried sushi rock, Asahi, Hikaru, and Endo - all in courthouse, I decided to give sushi zena shot. I found Sushi Zen to be the best of these restaurants. Yes, the service is a little slow, but the quality of the sushi was fantastic (by DC area standards). Prices were very reasonable and the portion sizes were excellent. We got 2 miso soup, tempura, 3 special rolls and 2 hand rolls. with Tip it was $75 and we ate a lot. i highly reccomend sushi zen and will go back. read more

Good little place to satisfy your sushi cravings. The miso soup, cucumber salad and edamame were all standard (that's a good thing) and the sushi itself tasted very fresh. Would go again. read more

I'm another one that doesn't understand the bad ratings some of the reviewers have given this restaurant. My wife and I have always been pleased with the food. I will admit that sometimes the service can be slow, but that usually happens when they are short on waiting staff. I've tried a few other Sushi restaurants in the area, but I always come back to Sushi-Zen. I didn't give it a five star because, I've never been in a five star restaurant..... Folks say there is such a thing, but I've never seen one... read more

Sushi Zen has the best sushi in Arlington and DC and at prices that are very reasonable.

Man, people either love it or hate it here, huh? Well I'm squarely in the middle, 2.5 stars! I'll round up since I don't believe Sushi-Zen deserves the 1 and 1 1/2 stars other reviewers have given it. While it is a tad bit on the expensive side. I've found their portions to be generous and their service to be good (as good as an Asian establishment can get). About their sushi: the fish was relatively fresh and there is a wide range of choices for rolls. I got their scallops with "special sauce" sashimi; while the scallops were fresh, the abundance of mayo overpowered them. I would say Sushi-Zen would suffice if you're not a sushi snob, but if you're really picky about your fish, you can probably find something wrong with Sushi-Zen. read more

We took a chance on Sushi-Zen after our longtime favorite spot closed, and we're now customers for life. When my son tried uni, our waiter made a huge deal out of it and my son felt like he was the center of a party! read more

Coming from California where my wife and I had a favorite sushi restaurant we found ourselves searching for a quality replacement after we moved to Annapolis. It was like finding a diamond in the rough when we happened upon Sushi Zen while exploring the DC area, and we have returned multiple times despite the long drive. Sushi Zen is family friendly, with excellent service and a surprisingly large and unique menu that caters to sushi fans as well as those who haven't yet acquired an appreciation for the finer things in life! Most importantly however, is the nicely portioned - fresh sushi. My wife and I have moved once more and we are now searching again for a quality sushi restaurant. We don't normally write reviews but we are missing Sushi Zen so much now that we are in North Carolina we felt we should share this wonderful restaurant experience with you. read more

Great sushi place. Not cheap, but I would say about 80% of the time we get great sushi from this place. We order staples like salmon avocado, and it's usually very good. However, there have been 2-3 occasions where the fish is not good quality and has stringy or chewy pieces in it that you can't eat. read more

When our go-to sushi restaurant changed hands, then closed, we were looking for another favorite sushi restaurant. Having eaten sushi all over Northern Virginia and Washington and having enjoyed phenomenal experiences in Austin, San Francisco, and Tokyo, we really needed to find a sushi restaurant with great, fresh ingredients and superb taste. I have recently learned that they use organic rice--they don't advertise that, as far as I know. Presentation, service, quality, and taste have always been exemplary. Of course, we go on Mondays when Oanh is working--both at lunchtime and dinnertime--and for us, that is important! As I have heard some sushi chefs say...rice preparation is key...and they are the first restaurant that I have found in the area that has that down pat. Kudos! read more

We like Sushi-Zen because the service is very friendly, the atmosphere is casual and cozy and the sushi is fresh and delicious. It has become our go-to Sushi place. read more

It's been too long: this is my home and favorite sushi restaurant, the best! We travel quite a bit and sample all kinds of regional foods, but a stallwart wherever we go is sushi. And when we get home, we often head straight to Sushi-Zen with their welcoming and friendly atmosphere and delicious selections. When you go, don't forget to order the miso soup and garden salad! read more

Amazing sushi, pricey but worth it! Great selection of maki rolls. I highly recommend trying their seared salmon sushi. Will come !!!!!

The prices don't seem too much higher than your average sushi place on first glance, but my fiancee and I always end up looking at each other at the end of the night wondering how we spent $80+ on dinner. The menu is huge and kind of all over the place. The house salad is my least favorite of all of the sushi places I frequent (the ginger dressing tastes like it is mostly mayonnaise...gross). Other than that, the food is very good, but not the best for the price. The sushi boat has a yummy selection & is good for sharing. It's a nice date restaurant. The staff is always very friendly. Overall, I would go back and enjoy it, but it's not my favorite. read more

Can't believe I didn't try this place sooner, since it seems that the kids and I are risking death in this crazy parking lot a few times a day. Gosh, it just gets busier and busier there, but so many good businesses and not enough land; what are you going to do? The staff at Sushi Zen is super nice. I went there with my 4 year old daughter, not expecting that she'd eat a thing. (in fact, we arrived with a full bowl of Tutti Frutti for her). They were very nice about her bringing in outside food and also brought her paper to color. I got salmon teriyaki and it was delicious. Teriyaki can sometimes be too sweet, but this was just a marvelous, well-balanced sauce and a good sized portion of fresh salmon too. A very nice neighborhood sushi place, well worth consideration if you have not tried it. read more

Great sushi in East Falls Church! Their service is just as great!