Dozo Sushi and Bar — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

It was about 245pm this Tuesday afternoon. I knew that I really wanted sushi for my late lunch but was opposed to the usual places I frequent and wanted to try somewhere new. I had almost acquiesced to some other form of cuisine on my way home when all of a sudden, to my right I saw the sign reading "Dozo Sushi and Bar". I made the next right and parked my car. For a moment I was a bit confused because despite the sign in neon red reading "open", this unassuming, quaint corner spot flanked by a carwash and some other unmemorable business seemed to almost be closed. I got out my car and walked to the entrance anyway. When i made it inside i first noticed how small the joint appeared to be. There was a row of booths on the east wall, a set of booths on the north end of the room, a modest sitting area at the entrance, and the primary bar greeting you immediately upon entering the establishment. I stood at the front for approximately two minutes before being greeted by anyone and at that moment, I was starting to wonder to myslef if I had mad a mistake.

Now a commanding presence from behind the sushi bar said "Hi there" and came around to greet me. He was friendly and had a bright and enthusiastic tone that made me forget about the initial two minutes of solitude that began to shape my initial impression. He asked me how I was doing and how many were in my party. I told him I was doing well and it was just me. I asked if I could sit at the bar, and he replied--well received--you can sit anywhere you like. Just the sort of thing a customer wants to hear.

Now as I sat at the bar, book and cell phone ready to divide my attention during lunch, my server came to greet me and offered me the drink, sushi and tepanyaki menus. She was pleasant and polite and made me feel welcome. Fast forward to when my meal came out, I was without a proper soy sauce dish until finally I asked for one, but once that was resolved all was perfect. And anyway, why quibble over trite details?

Now on to the good stuff! Before my meal was ready, as I was finishing my self-imposed one chapter of reading before dining, I found myself distracted by the ambiance. Forget everything I mentioned about being unassuming or quaint, because once the flow began, you couldn't help but notice the overall vibe was just solid. The music had a jazzy mellow smooth flow that was perfect for the dining experience. For a relatively small place, you could see that the space was utilized in a way that gave a big restaurant feel with a perfect flow and the perfect balance of space for groups or individuals dining. You didn't feel isolated or as if you were right on top of each other as guests. And that bar I mentioned that greeted you the second you walked in, you realize it was artistic in it's presentation and held an overabundance of choice from the bottom to the top shelf, without being overstocked or gaudy. The setup in hindsight was actually pitch perfect as it was the perfect balance of quaint and cute look, with elegant and well-respected feel.

And finally, the crown jewel. The meal itself was absolutely the most beautiful arrangement I've bore witness to in some time. I ordered the Shiro Maguro/White Tuna, The Kill Bill and the Avalanche. The dish was symetrically served on one dish rather than separately and adorned with orange slices--thin--raspberries and a fresh Lilly in the the center of the plate. And I must say, they were not stingy with the ginger or the wasabi--a personal point of note for me.

I honestly could write an entire novel on my experience, but suffice it to say, I can't wait to return and bring friends.

Pro's - Good value, friendly staff, exquisite presentation, quality product Opportunity - No misses here. Seems like an up and coming outfit with the usual growing experiences--I won't call them pains--and I wish them nothing but the best as they continue to shine an grow.

I strongly recommend Dozo to all conoisseurs, but don't be too hasty, as I'm looking forward venturing back a few more times before the lines are...

I loved this place ever since the first time I went. It was always my favorite sushi place in town, where my partner and I go only on special occasions where we look forward to it for days. Yesterday was my birthday, so it was one those special times.

But Dozo totally ruined my birthday.

First, I ordered a celebratory plum wine. I should have immediately taken note of the amount of attention the waitress was paying, because she checked my ID and not only did she not mention anything about the current date, but also repeated back the wrong state listed on the ID. Sure, whatever, I’m not gonna force anyone to tell me happy birthday.

Next, I tried to order my favorite roll (the shitaake mushroom), and was told they had run out, so I ordered the marinated squash roll instead. No big deal; I’ve worked in food service for over a decade, so I know how that goes. But no more than 5 minutes later, I overhear the table behind me order the shitaake mushroom rolls as well, and their order was accepted with no problem. If I had been told it would only be 5 minutes, I totally would have waited. Oh well, again, no big deal.

But here’s what ruined the day. We get our big plate of sushi, I immediately go in to take a piece of the marinated squash roll (the very first piece I grab), and without me having to even take a second look, I pull out what very much looks like a strand of facial hair; dark, short, curly, thick, about an inch long. I should have taken a picture. I consider what I would want a customer to do, and I also consider what I would do having been a food service worker in this position as well. So, we wait for our waitress to come by so we can talk about it.

Twenty minutes pass, and nobody has even looked at us. I watch our waitress take other tables’ orders, bring out drinks, and even have a full conversation with a customer about how he saw her at some event the other day and wanted to say hi, or whatever. It became obvious that we would just keep waiting, so I went up to the front counter. Our waitress had her back turned and was inputting an order in the POS, and another waitress was talking to someone else. So, I kept waiting. Someone walked in the front door, and the other waitress looked directly past me and went straight to her. That’s when I decided to physically put myself in front of the counter entrance, so that our waitress had to turn around and see me. She finally did, and I said we had a very real issue at our table that we’ve been waiting on. She said she’d be come over right away… and then we waited for another 5 minutes while she served more drinks.

When she finally did come to our table, I immediately mentioned the lack of service. She responded with, “yeah, it’s just…” and trailed off with no apology. I moved on and mentioned the hair, and showed her the plate with it. Still with no apology, she responded with asking me what I wanted them to do… suddenly making it my responsibility to remedy the situation? I told her I was uncomfortable because I don’t know if there are any more of these hairs in any of the other pieces of sushi on the same plate. She took the plate and said, “I’ll let the sushi chef know, because that’s not cool”.

I wasn’t about to waste the rest of my birthday just waiting. So, we just got up and left. Nobody even stopped us out the door.

I see the reviews for this place, and I know how unprofessional and insulting the responses to negative reviews are. Don’t bother this time, because I never leave reviews and I never check this stuff, so I’ll never see whatever hurtful things you say or threaten. And you’ll definitely never see me at Dozo again. I’m very much aware what negative reviews do to a business… there’s a reason for that. I just needed to share my experience with anyone interested about how this well-revered and over-expensive place I used to love had just totally ruined my birthday in one of the biggest ways a food service establishment can lose business.

…So, yeah, look out for those hairs in the sushi. At least the plum...

First and foremost the staff was attentive and friendly. The atmosphere was inviting, and the menu looked great. We came here to try to find a new sushi spot that could become our regular spot, so we decided to order light, just a basic California roll and a spicy tuna roll plus a couple of appetizers. We got the stuffed jalapeno, and the takoyake. When the takoyake came out the first thing we noticed was the excessive amount of sauce squirted onto the dish. It was completely covered in sauce. The kewpie mayo didn't taste authentic, it was almost as if they used real mayo as a substitute and just loaded it on. The takoyake would have been better if it had less sauce as by the time we were able to scrape enough of the sauce off of the balls to eat it, they were soggy from absorbing too much sauce anyways. Next came the stuffed jalapenos. This dish looked ok apart from the mountain of parsley and babies breath they used for garnish. There was more of this garnish than there was actual food to eat, and again with the amount of sauce that was loaded into the plate covering the appetizer to a point were the flavor of the dish was the flavor of the sauce, even after scraping the majority off. Once we bit into the "stuffed jalapenos" we noticed that it was shredded crab salad with a couple slice of jalapeno in it. I would not call this a stuffed jalapeno as there was hardly any jalapeno in it. Needless to say this appetizer was the best part of our meal. After I unloaded a whole plate of garnish off of it. Then the sushi. They brought both rolls out on the same plate, and low and behold, between the two rolls, another mountain of parsley. There was little bits of parsley stuck to the sushi and if you ask anyone, parsley does not go with sushi. That being said, after taking a literal hand full of parsley and babies breath off of the plate, (my hands are huge by the way) we started to eat the sushi. The spicy tuna had a decent flavor and the spice eventually kicked in on an extremely mild level, but then the after taste was bitter. I had to soak a piece in soy sauce for over a minute to cover that bitterness. The California roll was super basic with what seemed to be sweet crab meat almost as if it has sugar mixed in. We elected to not order any more rolls, pay the bill and leave. Sushi is supposed to be pretty. It is supposed to look appealing and appetizing. It is supposed to appear fresh and colorful. I feel this place sauces everything to hide the fact that the food quality is not up to par. They load so much garnish onto the plate to give it an appeal like it's fancy when all it does is make their dishes look trashy. Any other place that sells quality sushi does not add garnish, but we had sliced strawberries, random leaves, babies breath, and an absolute obscene amount of parsley on every dish. The sauce, rather than a drizzle to compliment the flavors was overpowering to a point where you couldn't taste the actual food. Like a toddler just spooned it onto the food. The fish was fresh, no fishy taste, but for me the sauce and garnish was just too much. And while there is a lot of potential for improvement, sushi is just not something I personally am willing to compromise quality and flavor for "making the plate look pretty!" Because if it was quality sushi, the plate would already look pretty without the gimmicks. But some people like that, so I couldn't say I will not recommend them, it just wasn't for me. I know people who like a lot of sauce and I would definitely send them here. As for any negative comments the owner may give to my review, it is what it is. I just hope that maybe some suggestions would be...