Kura Revolving Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Garden Grove

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar – The Fast Food of Japanese Dreams (and Nightmares)

This isn’t Nobu. This isn’t Jiro dreaming of anything. This is Kura, where sushi comes delivered on a goddamn conveyor belt, and your standards get lowered just enough to say, “Yeah, I’ll eat 19 plates of robot fish.” And you will. You’ll eat them all. Like a sushi-drunk raccoon who found a credit card.

Located in a Garden Grove strip mall next to God knows what, Kura isn’t special—but it’s dependable, clean, and weirdly comforting. Like drunk texting your ex who now owns a Tesla and does yoga. You know it’s not the best idea, but it feels right in the moment.

Let’s be honest: The sushi is mid. Passable. Functional. You’re not gonna cry tears of joy over a spicy tuna roll that came to you on a plastic train, but you’ll eat it, nod quietly, and say something like, “It’s not bad,” while sipping hot green tea and quietly reevaluating your life choices.

The salmon’s alright. The shrimp? Questionable, depending on how long it’s been circling like a plastic koi pond of sadness. The eel is sweet and sticky and feels like cheating, which is to say—it’s probably the best thing on the menu.

And then there’s the thrill. Not from the food, no—don’t get it twisted. The thrill comes from the touchscreen, the plate count climbing like you’re on a sushi speed run, and that weird plastic anime capsule machine dropping you a toy like a reward for eating yourself into a quiet panic.

Every 15 plates, a prize. Because nothing screams adulthood like crushing $60 worth of rotating fish for a plastic eraser shaped like a tuna.

The staff? Fast, invisible, efficient. Like ninjas in aprons. No complaints. This whole place runs on Disneyland-level logistics—but with the soul of a vending machine. And I say that with love.

The vibe? Sterile. Bright. Slightly dystopian. Like a Tokyo airport food court built by IKEA and emotionally distant engineers. The ambiance is “tech startup cafeteria” meets “sushi Chuck E. Cheese.”

Final Take? Kura isn’t going to change your life. It’s not transcendent. But when you’re broke, hungry, and want a culinary rollercoaster that requires zero human interaction? Kura absolutely hits.

This is functional sushi. The kind of meal you eat when you’ve got $30, a sushi itch, and no desire to be emotionally challenged. You won’t write home about it. But you’ll be back. Because it’s reliable. Fast. Cheap-ish. And when you’re sitting in that booth with your fifth empty plate and soy sauce on your shirt, you’ll realize:

This place isn’t great.

But it’s...

Looking for an affordable sushi spot?

Stop scrolling and go to Kura. Their wait times are minimal, however, you can check live wait times by downloading their app. You can also join the wait list.

This Kura is my favorite spot compared to some of their other locations. Their staff is friendly and shorter wait times.

I like the revolving sushi bar because you can see and choose your own sushi. It's affordable for the family and easy to order. They have a cute robot that brings your drinks.

You can also order from their menu. Not all locations have identical menus. This location offers garlic fried rice which is not something offered at other locations.

You pick your plate from the conveyor belt and drop the plate in the slot once you're done. You get a small prize for every 15 plates. They have a different theme every month and prizes vary from small stickers to pins and other little goodies. Tetris is the them this month.

Their menu is displayed on a tablet and allows you to order drinks, soup, appetizers and sushi. It also displays mini cartoons when you drop your some plates in the slots. The kids will love it.

My favorite dishes at Kura are... Garlic fried rice Salmon Sock eye salmon Yellowtail Salmon crunch roll Salmon skin and shishito peppers Tuna Miso soup Scallops Edamame

They have many other selections including watermelon, small rolls, hand rolls, tempura, ramen, and a small variety of desserts.

The place has plenty of seating. They can sit no more than 5 or 6 people per booth. If you are a bigger party than you can ask to sit at booths across from each other.

The staff is super friendly and take good care of their customers. My favorite...

My brother got take out 2 OJYU Boxes $11.40 each but there were exactly 3 small shrimp tempura, 2 small fish tempura, and 1 small green pepper tempura, and a small portion of beef. Everything small. So that means if you divide this portion into each box, it would contain about 1 oz of beef, 1.5 tiny shrimp tempura, 1 tiny fish tempura, and a tiny half green pepper tempura. Seriously??? I could not believe my eyes when I opened the boxes. I had to give my elderly Mom 2 shrimp and elderly Dad only 1. I gave Mom the green pepper tempura but she didn't eat it because she doesn't like pepper tempura. Kura went cheap giving each box a half shrimp yall! Half of a shrimp!!! They couldn't even provide 2 pieces each box. For the vegetable, a half of a tiny green pepper each box! Holy cow! Are businesses hurting this much guys? And instead of using better vegetables like yam, potato, zuchini, egglant...like most other Japanese restaurants use, but no, they went way way lower than standard. In my 49 years eating Japanese food at Japanese restaurants across the country, never have I seen such entree like this one. What an insult! Never again. I would...