Sushi Ai — Restaurant in Eureka

Start by looking at the 2 photos of the Sushi rolls that I was served before reading further and it looked even worse in person. I’ve read all the great reviews so Ive waited awhile to post this review. The lunch was on 07/17/2024. I arrived at 1:25. I ordered off the menu- 1 Cucumber Roll, 1 special roll, and Shrimp Tempura and a Kirin Beer. A big guy who seemed to be a high school senior came up and introduced himself as the owner and said he would be taking care of me personally. Maybe he was the owner and just looked very young he was dressed like a host at a good restaurant and he stood out from everyone else because of his size. 5 or 6 employees (all younger Asian guys and 1 Asian lady in her later 20s was sweeping) we’re cleaning up from the lunch crowd. I drank the beer and still no food so I ordered a 2nd beer. The manager said my tempura was ready if I wanted it or I could wait until my Sushi was done so I said yes I will take the shrimp now. When I got it it was cold and it looked so cold and greasy I thought it had come out of the trash but that seemed like a crazy thought so I took a few bites and then stopped because it was horrible. My second beer was done and so after waiting a total of 50 minutes I stood up and I told my waiter I was leaving and every male employee - kitchen clean up guys! started talking to me at once saying my rolls were just about finished and I should stay and eat so I went back to my table and sat down. I have never ever had the kitchen staff at a Chinese restaurant talk to me and here everyone was talking at once - it freaked me out. Finally at 2:20 the rolls were brought out and every single employee stopped working and was totally quiet - not a sound. They weren’t looking at me just silently staring in front of them at nothing special listening for something- I think to hear what I was going to say. That freaked me out even more. I looked at the rolls which I took pictures of and thought again that they looked like they were taken out of the trash again. I stood up and asked for my bill and said that the rolls looked horrible and with that 4 or 5 kitchen guys started saying at once I should eat them and they made special just for me and the owner/waiter/manager was also saying I needed to stay and eat the Sushi and I didn’t eat a bite and finally got my bill for over $34. I didn’t get ugly and I even left a 15% tip. I just quietly paid my bill. This lunch occurred on July 17th. I wonder if the owner was out of town...

We have a hard time finding AYCE Japanese restaurants when on the road so when we found this place while visiting, we were excited. The first mistake I made is expecting something similar to what I was used to and we've eaten at A LOT of all you can eat restaurants in the country. Secondly, for $24 pp, I shouldn't have expected a big variety. The AYCE menu was minimal. Not only were there only 3 ice cream flavors and no other dessert options but it wasn't included in the price of the meal (.99 cents additional per scoop). Neither was the tea because we were charged $6 for a pot of tea (2 ppl). No sashimi, and hot items were next to nil. No teriyaki options, yakisoba, wakame salad, takoyako, shrimp tempura (just veg) or pork katsu. These are always our main items to order because they are usually on the AYCE list but none to be found. The sushi was decent. We don't eat a lot of rolls but the ones we do were a bit disappointing. The spicy salmon and tuna were mushy as opposed to chopped cubed fish mixed with the spicy mayo sauce and added crunch of fried panko or tempura batter rolled up so that can see the the division. It tasted almost like there was cream cheese mixed into it which made it taste a bit odd. I could have been wrong but that was the flavor both my husband and I tasted.

Service was great. She was extremely friendly and helpful. The restaurant was nice and clean with a good amount of tables and space so you won't feel crowded.

Would we come back? Likely because the sushi and crab rangoon was good but will order from the menu next time to give that a try or do a take out order to fulfill our...

Just all around NOT GOOD with poorly prepared food! The roll was loose and just fell apart, the nigiri was just wrong, the white tuna and tuna had a terrible taste (only ate one piece of both leaving the rest behind), and the service was beyond aweful!!! I've now woke up with a terrible stomach ache after having dinner there... thank goodness we only ate one piece of each tuna, this hurts bad enough. This was the only food I've eaten in the last 14 hours and I'm well aware of what food poisoning feels like, so it's definitely your food that's making me sick. I had high hopes because of the quality of other Sushi Ai locations, but my hopes were crushed. Huge disappointment, I can never go back because it's dangerous to eat raw fish at a place that doesn't respect proper food prep. I've been in the restaurant business for many many years, very knowledgeable on how restaurants run and I have never encountered a sushi restaurant that's failing on every aspect of the restaurant business. I know you're a new restaurant, but that's just...