Sushi Spot Arcata — Restaurant in Arcata

Great wait staff but honestly I've eaten here atleast a dozen times and only gotten 1 or 2 orders that were properly prepared. I worked in a real sushi restaurant in a major city and tiny details are absolutely the name of the game. However there is very very little attention being put into each order here. for example their rice(most important element) is usually a bit damp/soggy and has even tasted like vinegar once. They almost never have balanced proportions of the ingredients within the roll. It's very inconsistent. Heck they don't even cut the pieces the right size. Honestly you should NEVER EVER send such work to a table. And it doesn't seem like they have management that is aware of the correct standards to uphold I am really not picky so we continue to go but I keep my expectations very low & I recommend you do the same. Even though Tomo can occasionally make rice correctly they're not much better and usually much more busy. Neither establishment is acceptable by any real standard... But it's Humboldt, so.... Here we are again .I continue to tip well because you can't put ish the service for the chef's work. If you do enjoy it, I highly recommend experiencing a well maintained sushi restaurant one day, because it'll probably blow your mind. Sorry about the bad review but it's just the damn...

Very friendly staff and welcoming atmosphere. Awesome music on Tuesday night with James Zeller music. Good sushi. The dragon roll was my favorite. It was quite tasty and beautifully presented. I'd go back (and will) just for that and the music. The California roll was meh - there was nothing wrong with. It just didn't fill me with delight. I wouldn't order it again though. Just too ordinary for my taste. The miso soup was warm and comfortable, a great way to start. The edamame were decent. A bit salty and yet not super flavorful. That said, I'd still get them - cause I love edamame. I love that they had Tamari (it's gluten free). Thats a big plus for me. I also love that they gave me as much wasabi as I wanted. I love wasabi. Theirs is decent wasabi too. All in all, it was a bit pricey - but everything is these days right? It was a little over $60 for 3 rolls, some pot stickers, two soups, one edamame and two mochi's and tip (it's included if you use a credit card). No drinks. Maybe that's not so much? What do you think? I think I'm stuck in the 90's when I would get great half price sushi (if you went at just the right time) in Berkeley.. Not a great reference! I'll go again for the dragon...

Tomo was close to closing, so we chose the Sushi Spot as a fill in. And it performed admirably. The wait time for a table was very manageable and the staff was friendly and accommodating.

I will note the restaurant puts a mandatory gratuity on orders, which I did not notice on the menu. The staff was great, so I don’t have any problem with the tip amount. And they didn’t leave a line for a tip to trick customers into tipping again. But why not just state a percent of your sales go directly toward staff and just list the prices as that?

The food was a mixed bag. The rainbow roll was just okay, which isn’t the best when sushi is in your name.

The tempura was very large, which I guess justifies the price. But tempura should be an appetizer and this was enough for a whole meal or an app for 6-8 people. Since we were a smaller table, this was just too much. There was a good selection of items in the tempura including asparagus that belongs and bell pepper that did not, based on flavor.

The curry was very good. Big portion, good flavor, a little heat, and a nice variety of vegetables mixed in.

Overall, this would have been higher if I didn’t know a better sushi restaurant was...