Sushi Garden Aptos — Restaurant in California

Last night we stopped at Akira sushi in Aptos and it was packed with a line and 45 min wait. So we left and decided to stop at Sushi Garden in Aptos. After a five minute wait the hostess seated us at a table. As soon as we walked in I noticed food all over the floor and the table we were brought to had food on it as well as the chairs. I initially just figured they were busy and stepped around the food and brushed it off the chair and table with my napkin. Once seated we were brought water and looked over the menu, which also had food smeared on it. Our waitress arrived and asked if she could get us anything besides water to drink. I ordered a glass of red wine. The waitress arrived a few minutes later with white wine. I told her I ordered red and she apologized and brought it back. She returned with red wine and took our order. We ordered 6 rolls and as we all ordered them she was not paying attention because we had to repeat them three times. We also asked for no cucumber in any of the rolls as my husband is allergic. We also ordered miso soup and edamame. The soup came right out and 5 min later the sushi rolls arrived. The rolls all had cucumber in them. After we were almost done eating our dinner the edamame arrived with so much salt we couldn't eat it. Throughout our dinner we watched the 6 wait staff laughing talking standing around and looking at their phones. We also never received a refill on water. We were disappointed and dissatisfied with the overall experience. We will never return to this...

I say this with some hesitation, as my son worked at Sushi Garden in Capitola while going to school. In thankful for that. However, having since moved to Aptos I started frequenting Imura Japanese Restaurant in Watsonville. Unfortunately, this evening I stopped by Sushi Garden in Aptos Village. The comparison in cost is amazing. I order the exact same things each time I eat sushi, I know that's not necessarily adventurous but I know what I like. Point being that it levels the playing field when doing a comparison. My Bill at Sushi Garden is almost double the cost as that same meal at Imura Japanese Restaurant in watsonville and the service is different. Imura Japanese restaurant is managed and ran by adults, in fact the owner or adult manager are there every night and they actually really care about your dining experience. Two things beyond just Service and personal experience, again at Sushi Garden my Bill for the exact same items was almost double and when I received the bill with the suggested tips 18%, 20% and 22% it's calculated the tip not on the sub total but the total including the TAX. SO your tipping on state tax. It's like your getting the opportunity to thank the state of California each time you eat at Sushi Garden.

So to sum it up please keep frequenting all the Sushi Garden locations, pay twice to an operation that's operated hands off by High School students, pay twice what you should and then get shamed into tipping including tax just to...

I was very suspicious of this place. The location in a strip mall and because of the multiple locations. (is it a chain?) I also prefer Japanese owned sushi restaurants but I'm Soooo happy we decided to eat here.

Pros: Great atmosphere, high ceilings, big TVs with sports on, comfortable seating, great view of the sushi chefs, clean bathrooms, excellent sushi/sashimi, nice staff, $20 off your bill on your birthday (super generous), ice cold beer in frozen glasses, big salad with creamy goma dressing (this sesame dressing is as good as my wife's!) complimentary edamame, good tempura.

Cons: The tempura dipping sauce is completely wrong, ruins the tempura. They use the same sauce for their Age Dashi Tofu and it's also completely wrong. Also the tofu pieces should be larger and softer, the contrast of the soft tofu and the crunchy coasting with the slightly sweet umami sauce makes Age Dashi Tofu one of my favorites. Their teriyaki sauce is mostly corn starch. (I lived and cooked in Japan for years and the sauces are so important and not hard to master so I know you can do it.) The bowls for their Chirashi Don are too heavy and clunky and they should give a little more sushi rice.

Having said all this the Chirashi Don is still excellent. This is a great sushi place in a convenient location if you are in Aptos. We will be...