Nova II Sushi Bar & Asian Bistro — Restaurant in Atlanta

TLDR: Cannot recommend, at least not on Sundays

My friend had a wonderful experience on his last visit (on a Friday), so we decided to go. For quick background, we got into the restaurant around 7:30pm and left around 10pm (and you will soon see why it took us so long). We are 4 international students and the conversation with the waitress happened in Mandarin.

Service: 0 out of 5 While it was Sunday night, the wait was ridiculous long. It took them one hour to deliver our order, which was 3 combos. We also ordered a roll, but it never came. We felt the food wasn't enough, so we asked to add another combo, which took another 30~40 minutes. There were other small things like we had to ask twice before they brought the coke we ordered, as well as when we asked for more soy sauce and got forgetten until we asked again, but here comes the main part of the story. As a table of 4, when we get our checks, we noticed that an 18% tip (calculated based on after tax total) was already put on. We asked the waitress why this is the case, and her response was that Sunday is especially busy and some customers left without tipping so the restaurant is automatically adding tips for Sunday. I don't know if the policy is true, but it didn't make much sense to us. We asked if she can reprint the checks without the tip so we can write our own tips, and she said she had to check with the manager, which took another 1520 minutes because "the manager was busy." When she finally brought our reprinted checks, she went "Only this time!" Without second thought, I responded: "This time or not, I don't think it is right to put tip on our check (for a group of our size) instead of letting us write our own tips." And her response (to me) was "I don't think you have been in the U.S. for long enough," implying the restaurant policy is a norm, which I have never experienced in my 9 years of stay in the states, in Georgia or other places. It was pretty outrageous to me and I ended up putting only a 11% tip on the check.

To be fair, here are the rest of the review. Food: 3 out of 5 Fish (sashimi) was ok, around average level. But considering the price point and the quantity offered, it was not the best. Their sushi rice was great though.

Environment: 4 out of 5 Clean and organized place overall. I personally am not a big fan of the red and purple lighting as they don't make the fish look more appealing (in fact quite the opposite), but I am sure there are others who like this kind of vibe.

Edit: Generic reply from owner to any low ratings. I believe the review itself has explained in enough details the source of...

Midtown and ATLANTA Sushi Lovers - check out NOVA II! I went to the original Nova in Buckhead and loved it but as was a little too far (or they didn't offer delivery then, I forget) I didn't go there often. Now that Nova II is in Midtown, I have to spread the good word about the quality, consistency, presentation, and variety of options. I LOVE that they have different options to add to your roll, or upgrade to Cucumber wrap (yes, low carb, plus delish crunch) or brown rice instead of white rice or keep as is. No other Sushi restaurant that I know of does that or has those options. Most restaurants aren't even doing Cucumber wrapped Sushi rolls. I know, don't mess with the original, but in trying to still enjoy Sushi and keep carbs low, it's forward-thinking and healthy-minded of Nova and Nova II to offer. Don't think you will be getting the cheap Sushi prices, as I know they source their fish and ingredients from quality places, but it is all worth it.

We ordered the Tom Yum Seafood Soup and though was kinda expensive ($11 for 2ppl), the broth was so delicious and flavorful and the seafood tasted so fresh and full of flavor. The Yellowtail Jalapeno appetizer was fantastic, as was the Naruto Roll (we added asparagus for extra crunch and fiber) and the Two Thumber Roll (added jalapeno and was large portion too!).

HIGHLY recommend Nova II Sushi in Midtown and their original location, and Jay the Manager obviously cares about the quality of the food as well as maintaining consistency even in the times of COVID (prices, availability, supply and demand, etc) in order to run a successful location....

Do NOT eat at this restaurant. The owner is a thief. I purchased a certificate from Local Flavor for $20 for $40 worth of food in January 2022. I went to this restaurant for the very fist time a few weeks ago. After I placed my order, I presented the certificate and the owner told me it had already been REDEEMED. I told him that this was impossible as I had never been to this restaurant. He told me it was redeemed in January and I explained that this made no sense, as that when I purchased the certificate. He told me to call Local Flavor. I asked him if they were open, and he said "no, you will have to talk with them tomorrow." We paid our bill and left. The next day, I finally reached Local Flavor through my credit card record of the certificate purchase. I called the 800 number and talked with someone named Jazz. She told me that it was the OWNER of this RESTAURANT who had REDEEMED the certificate - not me!! She also told me that he has a habit of doing this, as they have had a multitude of complaints of this exact same thing happening. Please see the screen shot of her email. This owner is a scam artist and I would stay very far away. The food wasn't even...