Hapa Sushi Grill and Sake Bar — Restaurant in Boulder

UPDATE: I visited again on 8 Sep 2025 and had a wonderful time. The food was good and service was impeccable. Added new photos to this review. Still recommend this restaurant to everyone. My family tried this restaurant a while back without me and told me about their wonderful experiences and mentioned that they wanted me to try it. Being from Hawaii, I naturally thought the name of the restaurant was intriguing; not to mention, the term, "Hapa" has a special meaning to me. I was recently in Boulder so my daughter and I visited this restaurant on 3 Aug 2025. We arrived a little later than the normal dinner window so the restaurant wasn't busy at all which was perfect because I didn't feel like waiting for a table - yes, we were starving.

When we walked in, we were immediately greeted and escorted to our table. After we sat down, we were provided with one of the best service a customer can have...courtesy of Savannah - she was extremely professional, attentive, friendly, and very efficient. All quality traits that every restaurant employee should emulate. In fact, prior to ordering our food, I looked at one of the dishes that were brought to our table and unfortunately, when I lifted one of the plates, it was dirty (see attached photo). I brought this to Savannah's attention and she immediately resolved the issue, following it with an apology. Though, I would hope in the future the kitchen staff would quality check their items before they make them available for servers to bring to the tables. Regardless, things happen and it was resolved.

We ordered Miso Soup, Ginger Pork Gyoza, Vegetable Tempura, and Taro (Tuna) Poke for our appetizers; Hapa Roll, Statue of Liberty (SOL) Roll, and Beef Teriyaki Dinner for our main entrées; and Da Kine Punch and Hapa Draft for our drinks. The appetizers were good; the miso soup and tempura definitely stole the show for the appetizer round. The gyoza was good; however, I was shocked with how it was prepared...it didn't have as much crisp to it as you would get at a Japanese restaurant. The texture almost reminded me of a Chinese-style (pan seared) dumpling...but it was still pretty good; just not what I was hoping for. The SOL Roll was outstanding; I'm mainly an ahi tuna guy so I was taken back at how refreshing (and crisp) that roll was - that apple provided a whole new level to that roll. The Hapa Roll was ok; for some reason, the tuna didn't taste like it should have (I found it strange considering the Taro Poke was great). I know land-locked states are limited to how fresh a fish can be, but this one didn't taste fresh at all. I have never received bad ahi when I was in Hawaii (of course), and in Las Vegas (where I currently reside). I still finished it and it never made me sick afterwards so perhaps it was just my tastebuds? Also, the Beef Teriyaki was adequate; nothing to write home to Mom about...but it wasn't bad either.

The restaurant was clean with very nice décor and a respectable amount of space; both interior and exterior. The restaurant's logo was fascinating which makes me wonder of the history behind picking that logo/character. The price-to-quantity/quality ratio was reasonable and I highly respect this business for their continued support to the active men and women of the Armed Forces, including its Veterans - thank you for that! Overall, I liked my experience here, as depicted in my 4-star rating. I can definitely see myself returning for another visit whenever I'm in the city again. I highly recommend this restaurant...

It truly saddens me to have to write this review, since I have been an avid fan your cuisine since I moved to Boulder. Your food usually tastes great.

Unfortunately, there is much to be desired in your carry out staff and procedures, your Hapa app, and your phone receptionist. The last four times I have ordered delivery through your app, there have been mistakes with my orders. Twice, in one week, I ordered a large portion of Hamachi yellow tail sashimi (8 pieces) and received a small portion (4 pieces). Both times I was refunded for the entire price of the sashimi, but was still disappointed. The manager gave me a $50 gift card in apology after the second time.

The next time I ordered through the app, using the gift card, I ordered the large portion of sashimi, and called to confirm that it was definitely correct on the order. Everything came in that order, except for the 6 Sprites that I ordered, which the delivery guy had to bring back. Also, the sashimi portion looked like the same size as a small portion, but sliced into 8 thinner slices.

Today, when I ordered delivery through your app, I hoped that there would finally be a change in the quality of your online order service staff, but I was once again disappointed. Even though the delivery guy was thorough and efficient, he was also responsible for checking the order before taking it out for delivery. I received one Sprite, instead of six (AGAIN!), and an avocado roll instead of a Negihama roll.

I called and complained that I did not receive what I ordered, and that this had happened to me three or four times before. The woman on the phone said she would get a manager.

I was put on a silent hold for several minutes, and then the same woman came back on the phone and offered to send me another full order or issue me a refund. I said that I would like the 5 Sprites and a full refund. I was never put on with a manager and never sent the 5 Sprites that I was promised.

After waiting nearly an hour for a confirmation of my refund, I called in once again talking to the same woman. She said the refund had definitely been processed and it can take up to 5 hours sometimes. She said nothing about the Sprites and still did not put a manager on the phone. I said "Thanks" and hung up. 10 to 15 seconds later, I received a confirmation of my refund in my email.

Your employees are not focused on the details, do not seem to care about the bagging process, and are in desperate need of training.

I'm sorry that I can no longer be a patron of your establishment.

After talking with owner, he was nice enough to give me a gift card for another order. Except for getting the large sushi order wrong for the third time, everything was delivered correctly, and it appeared that there has been some...

My boyfriend and I wanted to try out Hapa, since we were walking around Pearl St and have been craving sushi for a few days. We were pleasantly surprised to see there were so many options on the menu! Since eel is usually my favorite, I opted for the Anakyu Roll and my boyfriend decided on the Rock n Roll. We went in the front to place our order, greeted by two friendly hostesses. They told us to place our pick up order with the lady at the tablet in the back bar. We thanked them and headed back.

This is where our experience started to take a turn. The woman told us to wait one moment while she was finishing something, no problem. After close to 5 minutes she finally took our order, but seemed pretty annoyed to do so even though we waited quietly and patiently. We paid for our food and were told after the fact that it would take about 35 minutes. It would've been more ideal to know before before we paid, since it was freezing and we were told we need to pick up our food in the back alley. But again, we just thanked her and walked around outside for a while.

Once it was around a half hour, we got to the pick up area (next to a couple dumpsters in the alley behind the restaurant). My boyfriend called to see if our food was ready and the girl said she would check. He said he appreciated it and she (sounded like the girl at the bar) followed with an unamused yeah and ended the call. While we waited just a moment, a very nice guy asked our name and quickly returned with our food. We got to our hotel no more than ten minutes later, hungry and excited to dig in.

I really wish I could say something nice about my roll, but I only ate about a piece and a half before I had to pitch it. The roll was SO fishy and did not taste fresh at all. It was also surprisingly dry. Even my boyfriend agreed I should stop eating it just in case. For as many times as I've gotten eel sushi from other places, I've never had an experience like this. I fear for how my stomach will react later tonight. As for his Rock n Roll, it was mediocre. He wished it would be better quality for the price, even though he didn't necessarily have high expectations. I tried it and I agree it wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't great either.

Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed with Hapa Sushi to the point where I'm not sure I would like to have it again. Not only was the sushi pretty bad, but the one woman just had an attitude with us for no reason. We would rather try some of the other restaurants next time we are...