Niku Sushi — Restaurant in Anaheim

Absolutely the Worst Dining Experience at Niku Sushi

I walked into Niku Sushi at around 7:10 PM and was sat fairly quickly by the manager, Henry. So far, so good. Within about 5 minutes, our server, Clara, came by and I asked her a few questions about how the menu worked. I told her right away that I wanted the sashimi all-you-can-eat so they could start that immediately. We placed our order within 10 minutes — just simple items: sashimi, nigiri, and a few baked dishes.

Meanwhile, another party was waiting to be seated for 20–25 minutes after us, and the table next to us ordered about 5 minutes later than we did. That’s when the chaos started.

We overheard Patty, another staff member, deliver a huge order to the wrong table… then do it again to the table next to us — which turned out to be our order. The kicker? The four guests at that table admitted it wasn’t theirs but started eating it anyway. No one from staff stepped in to correct it.

Our soju — which should be quick and easy — took 10–15 minutes to arrive. Thirty minutes into our wait, the table next to us got half their orders (baked dishes and multiple rolls). Then, the table that got seated 20 minutes after us received a large nigiri order before we had anything.

When we finally asked Clara what was going on, she said “the kitchen’s backed up.” If that were true, how were tables that came after us getting served first? Forty minutes in, we got one baked mussel — wrong order, since we had asked for two.

We explained that we were running out of time because we had to leave for the airport. Henry, the manager, stepped in and offered nothing except a 20% discount. We asked to take some of our order to go, but I reminded them that I had asked for the sashimi all-you-can-eat right at the start. They said they couldn’t do that because of the owner’s rules. They made the mistake — how is that my problem?

We waited several more minutes just for the check, which came to nearly $100 for a meal we barely touched. The to-go food they boxed up was nowhere near $100 worth, especially for an “all-you-can-eat” place. The “sorry” we got was cold, robotic, and showed zero empathy.

After charging my card, Henry finally agreed to take off 50% — but by that point, the damage was done. We left after 1.5 hours, still hungry, frustrated, and needing to find food elsewhere.

Bottom line: • Completely disorganized service. • Wrong orders given to other tables twice by Patty. • Newer tables served first while we waited nearly an hour. • No real attempt from Clara or Henry to make things right until after multiple complaints. • Absolutely no sense of accountability or care for customers.

This was a textbook example of poor training, worse management, and zero customer-first mentality. I will never return, and I strongly recommend avoiding Niku Sushi if you value your time,...

EDIT: Menu and owner response states order 10pp is only for the first round which is why we tried to order more the second round. The waiter came back to the table and told us we cannot order more than 10pp during any round. Which is why I pointed out the menu and he said the menu is wrong and that we need to reduce our order.

The AYCE is LIMITED. 3 rounds, 2 hours, and each person can only order 10 PCs each round. Unlike other AYCE places each nigiri order only comes with 1 PC instead of 2. The limitation of 10/pp each round makes ordering uneccesarily stressful. Makes you feel like you have to ration your orders.

When going over the rules with the server I mentioned that it wasn't actually AYCE then. They saaaaid we can order more than 3 rounds "if we were even still hungry by then" (doubt that would be the case). The food comes out slow so your time would run out before that.

Each round we had to ask for our paper back because they never returned it on their own and each time it felt like they were surprised we wanted to order more. Definitely felt like a tactic to discourage from ordering more. It made me feel embarrassed(?) for wanting all you can eat.. at an AYCE restaurant...

The food itself was not that great. Albacore was dry and tasteless. Salmon collar is not the full collar like you would expect. Salmon and yellowtail were ok. We also found a hair on one of the last pieces of nigiri.

Some of the servers were ok and I get they're just doing their job by regulating the rules.

Will not be returning and...

Food was great but service is terrible. And although the food was good, the menu is standard and they charge the same AYCE price as other local spots that have much more choices, far less rules, and more unique dishes. For starters, they have a 2 hour time limit yet take 30-45 min between rounds despite having more staff than customers on hand. They have limits on how much you can get of certain dishes which defeats the whole purpose of AYCE, and offer no "premium" option. We had no set waiter, getting 3-4 different people serving us at a time, and tried to wave a girl down but got ignored. Honestly my issue lies mostly with the service, the cold demenor and having to ask 3x for some ginger, on top of waiting the 30-45 min between rounds really kills the mood of the meal. This place is a stark contrast to my favorite AYCE sushi place in Cerritos called Sake2me, which has much more options, better quality, and better service for the same price as this place. I'd highly recommend going there instead, even though there's usually a long wait (but a long wait means it's good!) Just reserve on yelp an hour ahead of time. I hope this place can model after them, it would be really nice to have something nearby like that!

ALSO before you hit me with the whole "were so sorry" Mr owner, it looks like you've been getting reviews similar to mine for months. If you really care then replace your wait staff, or put in cameras so you know who's the bad eggs. Your business will otherwise fail like so many others in the area. Service...