If you are looking for an incredible meal at a restaurant who understands service, presentation, and quality then YAMA is the place to go. From initial greeting to our server Catherine, everyone was welcoming and took great care of us. We started with a Sashimi Bluefin tuna tasting of Akami, Chu Toro, and Oh Toro...all were delicious but really loved the Chu Toro. The shaved ginger and fresh ground wasabi were perfect accompaniments. A special treat of A5 Wagyu Nigiri...incredibly marbled and melt in your mouth flavors. The California Roll...extremely fresh and great flavors for something considered a standard in the sushi world. An order of Pan Fried Gyoza were good and nicely fried while the Trumpet Mushrooms had a very meaty bite, earthy flavors, and a spicy kick. The Ginger Salad is probably the best rendition I have had with all of the vegetables fresh and crisp and the ginger dressing impressive. Love how the Steak Teriyaki was presented and the flavors were perfectly balanced and did not overpower the dish. There was a nice char to the steak, the vegetables were well cooked but still crisp and tender and the rice was solid. Our exceptional waitress also brought out a beautiful chocolate birthday cake to celebrate the occasion, an excellent touch to a phenomenal meal. If you are looking for exceptional meal and great service...you will find it here. read more

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Super bummed because we've been ordering weekly from Yama. Food quality is sometimes uneven, but tonight the tuna in the rolls was visibly off. The spicy tuna was also bad, but hard to see any discoloration due the preparation. The Miso soup was also not their usual - almost no miso and substituted lower quality chopped mushrooms compared to the usual ingredients. I ordered through Postmates after an issue in ordering from the website meant my order had been lost when I arrived on way home from work. It happens, not a big deal. We loved Yama so we decided to eat a snack and wait an hour to get it. I decided to call Yama directly since this was a food issue. The manager could not have been less interested in talking to me. I told him I wasn't as worried about getting my money back or whatever. I genuinely wanted to them to know that something was wrong in the kitchen. He said he doubted that and just kept telling me to "call" Postmates... I guess we will have to find a different option for Friday dinners. $120 is too much to spend and not only get a bad meal, which happens, but then zero concern from the manager. Can't trust this place. read more

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Every visit is an amazing, Aaron the bartender is so professional and attentive to everyone's needs. If you like the bar scene I definitely recommend sitting at the bar with him! Sushi is always so fresh and the perfect light lunch! Will definitely come back again. Thank you for taking care of us YAMA! One of the best Asian Restaurants in South Charlotte!! read more

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The food is fresh and delicious. Great portions. Service is stellar. The platings are edible art. The Chief (Cao) is amazing. Soooo dialed in to his craft. I love this place. Can't wait for my next meal here. CH read more

Best sushi in town. Bar none. Always my go-to sushi wether alone, with my wife or with clients. Top shelf Sushi. read more

Yama - Chu Toro, Hamachi, Sake roe, eel roll, Grey Goose Martini-up. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Since my last review, I've noticed an improvement in Yama's food and consistency. The fish has been fresh and I appreciate the variety of fish available. I do wish the parking lot in waverly wasn't always so packed. It makes picking up to-go orders annoying. read more

I went here for a lunch date with my husband. We very much enjoyed ambiance, food, and service. We were actually talking about how we need to come back when we left the restaurant. Definitely give this place a try. I wish we tried this sooner. read more

The sushi as good but the stars of the show were the short ribs and the cocktails! The bartender was our server and he was making the drinks. We had the red geisha so good! read more

Yama - Short ribs - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Freshest sushi in town! Been living in Charlotte for 27 years, and this location has the best fish! read more

I love it here !!! Greatness They texted me when my table on the patio was ready and I had the best time. Thank you read more

Yama - Beautiful day for Beautiful lunch at Yama on the patio . Best in town - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Just wow. Awesome vibe and really good food. We ordered the chicken katsu curry and the teriyaki shrimp rice bowl. There is no way one person eats the katsu chicken without help. So much food. Really good food. Shrimp and fried rice was also very good. Waitstaff was friendly. Prices aren't cheap but it's worth it. Outdoor seating and an indoor bar. Will I go back? . Often too. read more

Mya (blonde hair waitress) is amazing! Great service! Absolutely loved her. Food was good. Drinks were strong. Great ambiance.

I rarely ever give a restaurant 4 stars but today my first time visit to Yama deserves it. It used to be that a restaurant was only rated based on the service, food taste, decor and prices but now a restaurant following social distancing rules instead of being greedy for $$ and filling every table is one of the main things that I look at when doing my review. Arrived a little bit after 1 pm and the hostess assured me that no other customers would be seated at tables next to us....very comforting! Charlie provided excellent customer service and the food was fresh and good tasting. We ordered a couple of teriyaki chicken entrees, calamari, Japanese fried chicken, shrimp shumai, magic sushi roll and the shrimp/veggie tempura. Finished it off with the molten chocolate cake! And what most impressed me about this restaurant is that even though they close from 3 pm to 5 pm they did not rush us out the restaurant and it was after 3 pm and we were still eating. Will definitely return! read more

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Bring back old bartender that knows how to mix cocktails. Service at the bar was slow and the drinks were not at a level that used to be there. Shame the old bartender is gone. Will go elsewhere read more

So excited that the Yama Waverly finally opened. The only take thing I could think to complain about is the parking. It is not great but once inside you'll quickly forget that as you indulge yourself in their delicious food. I tried the Miso Soul and crunchy roll both were delicious. The miso soup had sea weed, tofu, mushrooms and onions . It was so good and the crunchy roll featured shrimp tempura and crab, both made this roll so delicious. It is everything I knew it would be. Be warned. I will no doubt be "checking in " here a lot . Love Yama . Two thumbs way up read more

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Ok, so I don't eat sushi (or any seafood for that matter) but my husband loves it so sometimes I go with him. We usually pick a time when I am not super hungry and that is exactly what we did this time. We shared an order of edamame and an order of gyoza. Both were delicious! We also had some cocktails and they were amazing. My husband had a bunch of sushi rolls and liked them very much as well. Service was great and the restaurant very pretty and upscale feeling. read more

I love this sushi place. The food is good and reasonably priced. The service was good. The feel of the restaurant

Made a reservation for two the same day just a few hours before. It's located in a busy plaza so parking wasn't fantastic, especially at 7 pm on a Saturday but we got lucky and found a close spot. We walked in and we're greeted and sat immediately. Our server was friendly and very quick with service. We ordered Pinot Grigio and Sappora draught which was fantastic. Next up was shrimp dumplings and OMG they were incredible. For my entree I ordered the Morrison Roll which is shrimp tempora and thin sliced filet mingon with a spicy aoli and wow. It's a very interesting roll that I've never seen before but it was to die for. My boyfriend got the Waverly roll and it was just as good and was gone in minutes. We had the chocolate molten cake for dessert and did not disappoint. We were in and out in 40 mins. Amazing experience! read more

Yama - Morrison roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Absolutely one of the best sushi places in the area! Wait staff excellent, sushi amazing & steak teriyaki terrific. read more

Yama - Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Never disappoints! Pictured are the spicy salmon Naruto, yama sushi bowl and the naughty akimi. All superb! read more

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Very thankful to have had Yama drop into Waverly. The fish is always fresh. I haven't had a bad dish yet. This is our goto for Sushi around Weddington. NOTE: I recently logged into Yelp after many moons and see I never finished this review. The service and food are still great! Since I had started this review, that area has really packed up. Good luck finding a spot out there! read more

Started off with the calamari, was good. For the main, I got the sushi for two and it filled me and the person I went with up. Though I wasn't completely hungry prior so you might need a roll or two extra. Service was great and the atmosphere was too. read more

Yama - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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We love this sushi and Japanese restaurant! Great service and great food! Highly recommend reservations.

Food is always fresh tasting and delicious. Restaurant is bright and clean. Bar has innovative drinks.

I love this place! Sushi is so good! The food is always yum and the service is great!

I went here for lunch wanting to eat a bowl of ramen. Only to find out no ramen on menu. Only noodle dish was a stir fry udon I decided to order the katsu curry for $16. Omg. It was only chicken katsu rice and a soupy curry sauce with no flavor. I was very DISAPPOINTED!!! They don't even give fukujinzuke which is the appropriate pickled veg when eating curry!! Of course they don't give soup because the curry was soupy already, so I guess the owner feels that you don't need soup!! The chicken katsu it's self was also bland with no seasoning! I even had to ask for utensils. The server replied "oh sure, we can give you utensils". Like I was supposed to eat it with my hand I guess!! Plus the utensils they gave me was dirty. So I had to clean it my self. Side note: my 15 year old daughter can cook better curry than this place... In my restaurant I charge only $10.95. And you get more for the price. I know the owner is Chinese. I think you should not do Japanese food if you don't know how to make it right. Stick to Chinese food... but maybe you will screw that up too!! read more

Yama - A $16 chicken Katsu curry. Not worth it. Especially with no flavor - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Nice laid-back environment. Great service. Typical hibachi food I will go back for turnlear martini. read more

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This review is for take out fried calamari, yaki udon and sushi sashimi platter for two. Fried calamari was soggy(no wonder it is like that after taking out! I won't order fries next time!) I like the sweet sauce that comes with calamari though. Their sushi and sashimi is so good! It is melting in your mouth. Yaki udon with chicken was mediocre. But definitely this place is great for genuine sushi/sashimi lovers! read more

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Very good food, great staff, and convenient location. Never a bad meal or experience.

Ordered the spider roll without cucumber. Roll was cut into 5 small pieces. Service was good, sushi was alright. read more

Yama - Spider roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

First time here and love it! So close to our home, just a six mile ride. But the food, was just perfect! Looking forward to trying it again. read more

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Takeout dinner was the pits. The tofu appetizer was downright disgusting. It was soggy AF, had no flavor whatsoever, and the consistency was mush. The taste resembled a paste of flour and water. Tasted way worse than eating tofu straight out of the container. The udon dinner and the chicken teriyaki was worse than I would expect at a mall food court. The rolls were "fine" but not flavorful. The spicy rolls were not at all spicy. There was nothing in our order that was good. Soup was ingest-able. Tempura was edible. It was ridiculously insanely expensive. Especially in view of how lousy everything tasted. Overall a really crappy dinner. read more

I'm generally skeptical (perhaps a bit harshly) of sushi spots once I get out of the big coastal cities known for having great sushi (mainly NYC, and to a lesser extent SF and LA). That said, my recent meal at Yama was a pleasant surprise and quite enjoyable. Coming in before noon meant the place was a bit empty when lunch started, but by the time I had finished, the entire restaurant was basically filled up. Service was solid and generally quick, with only a small mixup on which items were or were not available right off, but the waiter remedied that quickly. The food also came out fairly speedily, which was good given I did not have much time in town. The menu has a mix of sushi and sashimi specials, a la carte specials, and the usual assortment of 'special' rolls one can order at more Americanized sushi restaurants. The miso soup was pretty on the nose - nothing too special about it - but the sushi and the rolls were quite good. The special roll I had, with spicy toro and unagi, was a nice flavor balance that wasn't too busy. The tuna sashimi special was also quite good; I usually don't do sashimi at most sushi places I eat at unless it is part of the omakase, but the quality of the tuna, both the regular 'maguro' cut, as well as the fatty tuna slices, were both excellent. The uni (from Hokkaido) was just as good as one should expect, although there was a touch too much rice in each bite. While I am not in Charlotte too often, I wouldn't hesitate to say that Yama does a pretty good job on the sushi front. It isn't going to be the most traditional spot, per se, but for a more American-style sushi place, it does a yeoman's job of providing a good meal. read more

This place is near my hotel. The fish is top notch. The people and the service are fantastic. In the end, it's all about the food. The sushi here is incredible. read more

Yama - Specialty sushi rolls with light rice. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

We just tried Yama after searching Yelp for a Korean place and seeing they had Kalbi on their menu. The Kalbi was incredible, but the sushi was the absolute best I've had--unforgettable. The service was a 10/10 as the staff seemed highly professional and attentive to every detail. We will definitely be back! Definitely try the truffle salmon by the way ;) read more

Yama - Salmon tasting - Sushi Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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This place is a gem. Really good food and service. Molina our server was very attentive and on point with her recommendations. We dined on calamari and Tori Kara-age for apps and for dinner we had the Lobster, Morrison, Ballantyne rolls and the Sashimi plate. Everything was so delicious. read more

A couple of years ago Yama was definitely a winner. But the last few visits have not been worth the price increase. I've spaced these visits out over several months so now I know it's a consistent drop in quality and service. Plus Waverley's parking lot is jam packed with drivers thinking they're Dom and Brian ready to stomp some fancy Italian sports car into embarrassment. Too many wanna be Fast and Furious drivers. Sitting outside on the patio of Yama sounds like having a meal on the side of a drag strip. Oh well. Charlotte has so many places to eat I doubt I'll miss Yama. read more

Yama's good is excellent and I have truly never had a bad experience. While there have been times, during dinner rush that require patience it's definitely worth the wait. Would recommend to anyone who is an avid sushi fan. It is also on the fancier side with attire for anyone looking for a nice date night or classy dinner. read more

Top notch service, nice esthetic/ambiance, freshest/highest quality sushi and food in town. Must order: H&M roll, Brussel sprouts, kalbi beef ribs. You won't regret it. read more

I've been dying to check out this spot since it opened and just needed a girls' night to do so. We were seated so quickly for a Friday night during the Christmas holiday that I was almost scared! But those fears were quickly eased with the first cocktail. Although small, the cocktail menu had a few good suggestions. Definitely try their signature ones. We started with calamari which was very good. I love calamari rings so I don't have to pick through an appetizer to find them. I'd read rave reviews about the Crunchy to. And OMG was it delicious....so much so that I had the waiter bring a second one. Only tip... avoid the tables next to the bar. I felt like bar patrons were infringing on our space. read more