Fukuoka Sushi Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Houston

Summary: Delicious food and attentive service. I was craving some sushi the other day, so I pulled up Google Maps. There are two places close to me: a typical take-out deli sushi place in the tunnels and Benihana (which is well overpriced considering their declining quality). Fukuoka popped up as an option, but it is a thirty-one minute walk. I still considered it, since the restaurant bears the name of my grandmother's birthplace. I was thinking that if the place is nice, I would take her sometime; I don't want to take her out for dinner and say, "this place is named after where you grew up, and it sucks." The implications of that. There are no worries, however, as this place was pretty great. Despite being there for lunch, I ordered the dinner version of the Chirashi Bowl. I will say that I wish the selection of fish had more variety, but what I got was still in fact delicious. The fish tasted fresh, and I absolutely adored the cucumbers. Better still was the rice. As of lately, most restaurants have been neglecting the process of seasoning their rice; the seasoned rice is an integral part of chirashi (you wouldn't build a bookcase and say that the shelves are optional). Fukuoka has provided, by definition, a bowl of chirashizushi, and I have missed such pleasure for a long time. The sweet tea had reached the saturation point of sugar, and it was great. Sometimes I crave a sweet tea that delivers on its name; but if you (presuming that anyone has even gotten to this point of the review) don't care for overly sweet drinks, you may want to order the tea half-and-half. The staff was very attentive. They took my order promptly, and they ensured that I did not have an empty cup. From my brief experience, I highly recommend Fukuoka. I will be taking my grandmother there in the near future, and she's the judgmental one...

Update: I came here again (forgot about my initial experience and thought this was a new place). I have more places to compare this to after going to ~5 inner loop sushi places in the last two weeks (Uchi, Nippon, Michiru, Shun, Sushi Wabi). Compared to these places and at least 5 other inner loop sushi/Japanese places, this might just be the worst.

I’m not sure if the others posting here are bots or what but I can’t imagine anyone saying this is the best sushi place in town, unless they’re from rural Texas. The place isn’t clean as a sushi place should be; the dining tables have this sheen/residue on them that comes from using a dirty washcloth. The food itself is okay but it shows that it’s nothing special because they use kani (imitation crab) and cream cheese. These are ingredients used at AYCE sushi places. The price point at lunch is better than dinner, and the a la carte menu’s price point is better than the dinner entree menu. Bottom line, it is average at best if you’re looking for everyday sushi, and it is similar in price point to Uchi at happy hour (but quite a bit below in terms of quality, and far below in terms of service and style).

tl;dr Spent $30+ on mediocre sushi and left unsatisfied & still hungry. Similar portions at Uchi would cost $30+ during happy hour for much better quality, or $20 for an everyday sushi place.

Initial Review: It’s ... ok. Service is very kind and polite. Food and pricing are so-so. I have yet to find an inner loop sushi restaurant that has a good balance of quality/price, and this is...

Another first time try out. If you're looking for an ok sushi spot, pleasant atmosphere, and friendly prices. Check out Fukuoka.

Was greeted right away on my entry. Service was ok, however after our orders were placed. It quickly dropped. No refills, waited for check up, until we called for the check.

Not quite sure why they had an employee stand at the end of our table watching over us for a period of time. (This was a different person from our server) Made it very uncomfortable, but also why I rated this visit lower.

Speciality rolls were priced at around $15 each.

The "Super Shaggy" is a safe option for those trying it out for the first time. The sushi was a good quality.

The "Hamachi Chili Roll" was a confusing roll. The chili spice reminded me of a tajin spice with the citrus on the bottom. I'm torn on this one, but by the end it was too much.

Parking is rather tight in the small lot. But they do have a garage on the corner or you can park across the street.

If you're in the area, think this is a safe choice bet. That's if you can over look the service issues.

Let me know in the comments what your favorites are and thoughts on your...