Came here 6 times throughout my 4-week summer research program at UC Santa Barbara. Service was incredible, but the food was even better. I specifically loved their hot soups (army stew, tofu soup with clam, etc.), but every single dish I tried was phenomenal. The vibes are amazing, and I would 100% recommend this to any person visiting the area. read more

The workers are very nice and this was a great meal for a hot day. the california roll was so soft and delicious and it was such a good variety of food. thanks guys!! read more

Sushiya Express - teriyaki chicken bento (miso soup, california roll, teriyaki chicken, fried dumplings, salad, tempura sauce, rice, furkake) - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

After the change of ownership what used to be 6 pieces of galbi for bento dropped to barely 3 pieces of galbi. Newly hired employee mentioned that the water was free and at one time filled only up to half of bowl for soup. Very helpful. Some things simply didn't stay the same with the change of ownership. read more

This place is 5-8 minutes away from UC Santa Barbara. We came here to check out the school when we found this place. The Food was so good and served fast and hot. They have cozy and beautiful ambiance. The staffs are all friendly and even they gave us complimentary sweet water melons... We definitely will come back here and highly recommended ! read more

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I tried new menu! Sooo gooooodd!! It's not that spicy but savory and sweet I loved it! read more

Sushiya Express - Spicy Sesame Chicken Plate - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

Really good, sushi tastes good!, and definitely gonna revisited. wutong is nice, real gooood

This is my FAVORITE sushi restaurant and I am a picky eater but Sushiya is the BEST. Ive been here so many times and I promise you the quality is better than any expensive nice ambience sushi restaurant in downtown SB and all inexpensive ones combined. Sushiya is the best and the workers are always so kind and always smiling. I love visiting sushiya for my sushi fix, the quality is consistent and it hits every time. I always get their dragon roll, Alaska roll, and spicy baked salmon roll, all so delicious I can never decide my favorite. The rolls are BIG, portions are generous and it comes with free miso soup which is really yummy too! Thank you Sushiya for the amazing food, kind service, and good vibes. read more

Sushiya Express - Dragon roll (top left), Alaska Roll (bottom), Spicy Baked Salmon Roll (top right) - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

Ordered two udon: regular and tempura, and chirashi bowl. I honestly think out of 100+ sushi restaurants I went to this is one of my top 10. The portion is generous, food is tasty and perfectly seasoned, and service is so fast. Despite it being to go the food was excellent. I can't imagine how much better it would be in person. read more

Honestly a great place to eat, really enjoyed the bulgolgi lunch special. The staff was extremely nice and helped elevate the experience.

Stopped in for lunch with my coworker. The family service is wonderful. What a great example of a family bringing great food to the community. I we ordered the Hawaiian, Dragon, and two other rolls at their recommendation. So fresh, great food. Will be back very soon for more! read more

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Surprised to find this restaurant in Isla Vista, an area of mostly college students. I dined at this restaurant on a Saturday afternoon while visiting my daughter at UCSB. She and her bf wanted sushi for lunch but we were short on time and a trip to Santa Barbara would not have worked. At their suggestion, we ate here. I wasn't expecting much since it was located right next to the school and the word "Express" is in the name. Fortunately, our experience exceeded my expectations. They've dined there before so they knew what to expect thus the recommendation. Here's what I experienced. *A small to medium sized "order at the counter" sushi restaurant with Japanese decor. *Indoor and outdoor (communal) seating. *A small parking lot with easy parking since most walk or bike there. *Street and city lot parking readily available. *Good amount of options on the menu. *Pricing comparable to more traditional sushi establishments. *Friendly service at the counter and table. They bring the food to the table. *Tasty food and decent portions. *Fast service. *Functional restroom with key. We ordered 2 veggie rolls, a rainbow roll, a dragon roll, a spider roll, edamame and unagi sushi. Our meal came with miso soup. The rainbow and dragon rolls looked very similar to each other and appeared to resemble the shrimp tempura rolls over what we ordered. But they were good so we had no complaints. Our taste buds were happy and our bellies were full. I loved the convenience. I will definitely be back! read more

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The korean food is very good and authentic, the portions are large and the sushi is fresh. The rolls and very large and will get you full. Service is fast and easy. read more

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Recently went back to try their Korean food! When others said the Korean food at Sushiya is good, they weren't wrong. This bulgogi is textbook for taste and texture and is overall a good dish. However, $23 for this dish is incredibly overpriced considering how easy it is to cook at home and similar dishes in other high cost of living areas. Their miso soup was also barely warm. read more

Sushiya Express - Bulgogi - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

Service was great and my party got seated immediately. Waiters were very friendly and the ambiance is nice and peaceful. The food came out quick and it was fresh and delicious. read more

The Kimchi Stew, along with all the other Korean food, is delicious. The owner is really nice and the servers, mainly Jett, Justin, and AP were very friendly and welcoming. Great restaurant. read more

The food is great with great service. All the employees are very friendly and helpful. I loved the vibe of the store as well.

This place always has some great food and service. Restaurant is a go too for anything asian related and always has exceptional service.

Great food and service. The ambiance of the restaurant was very friendly and the workers were great

I love their food. They have Korean cuisine and Japanese! It's amazing how nice they are and the place is nice too!! read more

Sushiya Express - a table full of food - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

The fish they use for their sushi is not fresh, and it's given me a stomachache the past couple times I've eaten here. I got a roll (not sure of the name) with salmon that was meant to be baked. The salmon came back seared on the top, but it was cut unevenly in chunks (and not in thin slices, as I'm used to), so parts of the salmon were undercooked and parts were seared. Not the most pleasant consistency or taste. My go to order here used to be the tempura udon, but I think they got a new chef, because the soup base for their udon is extremely salty and barely drinkable and the noodles are always overcooked. In addition, the tempura has become extremely greasy and is frequently not cooked through in the middle and you can taste the uncooked flour, which is extremely offputting For the price, quality of the food, and size of the portions, Sushiya Express isn't worth it (in my opinion) read more

I never would have thought to come to IV to eat Japanese and Korean food, but the pictures on yelp looked nice and I decided to give it a try, and it turned out to be a nice surprise. The rainbow roll was medium sized, not as generous as Goleta Sushi House, but still decent size made with fresh fish and came with a bowl of miso soup. The shoyu ramen came out fresh and hot. It was not Nikka, but the attention to detail earned some points for me. The tender pork belly was finished on the grill and the egg was cooked to the right consistency. Lastly, clam soondofu was good enough to curb my craving for Korean stews. It came with half a dozen clams, an egg, and lots of custardy tofu. It could use a little more seasoning and I wish they offer some kimchi with the Korean dishes. Sushiya will be a good alternative to Choi's since the later closes early. read more

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I had heard this place was under new management so I wanted to check it out. At first glance of the menu I thought it was a little pricey until I received my order and realized how large the portions were. I ordered the kimchi fried rice as well as the snowcone roll. For some reason I thought the kimchi fried rice was a la carte and wondered why it was so expensive. As for the snowcone roll, I also expected just a normal small roll. Both items are quite large and came with an order of miso soup. Needless to say I had plenty of leftovers to take home for dinner and enjoyed multiple meals out of these two entrées! I would love to come back and try to seafood Ramen! That really caught my eye as well as a few other entrées. read more

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We ate here and loved it ! Easy to park. Fish was fresh and good. Nice little patio outside when the weather is good. Five stars for sure ! read more

I like the combos here, I think they are a good value. Sushiya is fairly average in every way but the combos are decent. The spicy chicken wasn't spicy enough but I did enjoy it. It's always dead here and it's a good place to go if you're just chilling in IV. Hair in the sushi roll, come on that's a fail. I didn't let that instance detract otherwise the rating would be lower. Just want people to know that they should check their roll. read more

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The food quality is better than ANYTHING you'll find in IV. I got the miso ramen and my friend got the gaucho ramen. Both tasted really good! I usually get the Korean food here when I'm craving something from back home, and everything's authentic. Their tofu soup is my fav! Service is great too! Sushiya has a bad rep cause of the old owners but it's been under new ownership for a while now I've read a couple of bad reviews and it just sounds like ppl are too cheap to pay for good food... Go try this place out! read more

Sushiya Express - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

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delicious food and the staff there was great! the lunch bentos are extremely good and has a wide variety of items, 10/10

This sushi is good given the options in IV. I had a rainbow roll and it was good. They have outside seating during the pandemic. I would say the waiting time is a bit long (around 20 min). If you are craving sushi and you are in IV this is a good option. read more

Sushiya Express - Rainbow Roll - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

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Sushiya was once a formidable foe for healthy gut bacteria. Ever since its ownership takeover in 2016, it has since become a formidable foe for my wallet. There were certainly lumps and bumps along the way, from my co-workers' experiences with the place, but it seems to have truly improved in quality. I ordered a dragon roll and California roll, while Emily L. purchased a snow cone roll and tempura California roll. Paying $20 (including tax) for just two rolls left me with a bit of sticker shock, even if it made for a nice dinner and midnight snack. No bowl of miso soup would ever make me reconsider that thought! I think the quality for our food, however, was solid. The eel was broiled wonderfully. While the roll was drenched in too much unagi sauce, I think it was a solid choice given the crunchy shrimp tempura and crab meat. Crab salad was mixed with quite a bit of mayo. Both rolls were incredibly filling. I tried some of Emily L.'s snow cone roll, only to find out shortly after that we got the wrong roll (hence the star subtracted). We ended up with something with baked salmon and broiled cheese, with a hint of spicy crab salad. Nonetheless, it was tasty. New to the menu is a wealth of Korean dishes, including promising spicy seafood ramen and tofu stew. These dishes all fall within the $10-20 range, topping out at a platter of bulgogi for $17.99. It's way more expensive to order on SB Menus, so you should suck it up and place an order in-person. read more

I used to hate this place, but ever since the new owners came in I come here all the time! I was skeptical to try their new Korean items, but I gave in bc my cravings got too strong. Their kimchi stew is actually GREAT (coming from someone who knows what good kimchi chiggae tastes like), and I catch myself coming back every few weeks. Only downside is the price. I'd come much more often if just one meal here didn't make such a huge dent in my wallet. Tbh it's pretty overpriced. For $13, I only got half a container of kimchi stew and rice (see picture). In LA or OC, I could get much much more stew WITH side dishes for only $9. Another price comparison - $13 can get you a gigantic plate of nachos at Freebirds that you can split between two or three people. Hope they reconsider the pricing... otherwise, food/service is good & I recommend! read more

Sushiya Express - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

Definitely still not good sushi, at least for the price they charge. Sushi tastes very mediocre, nothing really that would make it stand out or make you excited about the food. Had the chicken katsu a couple times, watch out it really does look disgusting, very spongy and definitely a cheap meat. They will NOT work with you on substitutes, even though you would ask for substituting a meat for tofu (cheap?!), they would still charge you $2 a piece. A little stingy when you charge so much for the bowls. Service is alright. read more

Sushiya Express - Crying Gaucho Roll! - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

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To be honest, I wasn't stoked on this place when some coworkers and I ordered from SB Menus for lunch one day. When they reopened after a change in management, I still hadn't heard great things, but now I'll be back. We got one of the large combos and it came with several rolls, various types of nigiri, some seaweed salad, and miso soup. We also got some monkey balls on the side and those turned out to be a hit! The sushi was also surprisingly good for a shop based in IV. They put generous slices of fish on the nigiri and while the rolls weren't amazing, they were solid. My only complaint would be that the monkey balls had a little too much sauce on them and fell apart easily, but not a big deal. I'm excited to try out the Korean dishes on their menu! read more

Sushiya Express - Monkey balls - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

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I've never had a problem with Sushiya before and have always liked their sushi, but they've jacked up their prices so much. At this point, your spending nobu prices on mediocre sushi. No thank you read more

I'm so glad there's a sushi place in IV! I like their rolls a lot, but the only big downside is the pricing. The service is decent, the waiting time is decent, but it will blow a hole in your wallet. Now that the poke stores opened up, I think it's more willing and worth it to get one of those instead. If I'm in an urgent mood for rolls though, Sushiya will do. read more

Sushiya Express - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

Probably best Asian place around Reviews anything lower than four stars are pretty extra I think. New ownership if there were bad experiences in the past... RESTAURANT: indoors and outdoor patio with fenced in area for dogs ! Interior upgrade is good, noise level is good. Very clean and not too hectic SERVICE: super kind owners and nice staff !! PRICE: medium but totally worth quality FOOD: super hot and fresh :) VARIETY: excellent!! Poke bowl, korean soup, katsu, sushi, udon, ramen, dumplings, u name it. One of the two places here you can get Korean food!!! read more

Sushiya Express - Poke option in a non poke-only restaurant ! - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California

Not very good.. expensive and bland nothing special and they don't have ice uggh.. why?

I don't understand all the 1 star reviews, My parents and I visited last week and had some great food. I was surprised at how fresh tasting the fish was too, considering it is located so close to UCSB. A little weird as it was self-serve, but the girl at the register was super outgoing and friendly! Softshell crab: Crunchy coating like fish sticks, the crab was fresh and not fishy! comes with a salad which had a dressing that i really liked, wish they sold it in a bottle. Sushiya Roll: Delicious! They put a mustardy type of sauce which was a refreshing touch, I thought it was unique. Hawaii Roll: Spicy tuna on the inside and topped with fresh Ahi. The ponzu type of drizzle on it gives it a nice acidic touch. Tonkotsu Ramen: Yo, I eat ramen at least 3 times a week back home in SF, and their broth is comparable to the better ramen places there. The chef told us they make the broth in house, which wins brownie points. No runny yolk or chashu here, but never the less simple deliciousness. Spicy Seafood Ramen: Not too spicy, and packed full of flavor and seafood! Not overly fishy either. They gave us Mochi Ice Cream on the house, and Im not the one to complain about free dessert! I hope they stay the same cause I'll be back! read more

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For a little sushi spot in a college town, Sushiya Express definitely goes above and beyond. I've been coming here since my freshman year and always order my absolute favorite--the Alaska Roll. I'm impressed every time at how fresh the salmon, avocado, and crab taste. As an LA native who grew up eating good quality sushi, I can tell you that the sushi at this establishment is good quality, and more than this, is very reasonably priced. Additionally, the wait time is usually no longer than twenty minutes, and service is always great. Highly recommend this place if you're looking for some good sushi in IV. read more

Been going to Sushiya for a while. It's one of the best quality food you will get in Isla Vista. The best sushi place in great Goleta area!

Japanese food....not at its best. ITs "fast food" that takes some time. Their food is somewhat greasy, such as the crazy roll, or somethign that deals with spice. For some reason the spicy sauce is oily and leaves a bad after taste. But i do recommend their udon,. Its at a good price and it can't go wrong. Pair that with spicy tuna (doesn't use the sauce mentioned above) read more

I have to say this is awesome even though it's not like the rolls I had in Asia. Never expected the fillings to be so creamy. I'll definitely order it again. read more

Sushiya Express - Spicy Baked Salmon Roll - Japanese Near Me - Goleta, California