Taizzi Sushi - Memorial — Restaurant in Houston

Move over, Mikoto, Spring Branch has a new AYCE sushi restaurant, and it stands tall with the other Houston AYCE giants like 9, Masa, True, and others.

Before I write my review of Taizzi, here's a quick primer on AYCE sushi. You have a seemingly infinite number of options in front of you, more so here than even many other places. Start with a small order first to test the waters; something light like sashimi is great here. Big order should come second. As you enter your food flow state, if different types of fish start tasting the same, mix it up with some ginger or some meat or anything to cleanse your palette. Even some sake works. The later orders depend on how full you feel, because any leftovers are going to be charged. If you go with a large group, do NOT order with the intent of "sharing with the table" or "I can eat 3-4 pieces and others will eat the others." Either:

1. Have one person do all of the ordering, to keep track of how full everyone is, or;
2. Order the number of rolls that you know YOU can eat, and share later - and if you eat one of someone else's pieces, they eat one of yours (approximately, of course). Also, it's great to just write down your order on your phone (like on a Notepad app) to remember what you got, and to just show the waiter to make it easier on them.

Alright - now for Taizzi. Reserved for 10 people 5 days ahead of time and changed it day-of to 11 people with no problem. One of our party ran late but we were able to proceed with ordering with 10. Our waiter, Tai, also turned out to be the owner. He cracked jokes and made us feel welcome in his restaurant. He had a very cool story with the naming of the restaurant with the initials of his children's names. This man's memory is insane - he didn't have to write down our drink orders and even mostly remembered who ordered what roll despite a total of 20+ sashimi/sushi roll orders coming at once from 10 different people. Soft drink refills were also very prompt, unlike other AYCE places. We didn't get any refills of wasabi or ginger, but I don't think anyone really asked for it either. Service was overall a great experience from Tai.

The restaurant itself was very cozy. Two waiters managed about 12 tables (though the restaurant wasn't full). The lightning is dim, but not dark (which is why I turned on the flash for some photos later on).

It took about 15 minutes to get our drinks from when we were seated. Food began to come out about 30 minutes after we were seated, as orders were taken after drinks came out. I ordered for the two friends sitting nearest to me and we sampled many rolls from the other side of the table. I would recommend the Taizzi Tower as a unique dish, the "Mistake" roll as a surprising amount of mixed fish to top a roll, the unagi sashimi (which comes out hot and very unique), the Able and Evan rolls (cucumber wrapped are awesome and light), and green tea ice cream or mochi to cleanse the palette (if you can fit it in).

Overall, the sushi was average quality but with many options on how it is prepared, Taizzi will satisfy anyone's sushi itch. The menu is available online for you to scope out before going. They've recently changed from a tiered pricing model to a one-size-fits-all model, which makes the decision a lot clearer. I'll look forward to scratching my sushi itch again without having to drive the distance to another AYCE place.

+Great service +Variety of sushi rolls and other AYCE options ~Relatively...

We are GDINKS who eat out 4-6 days a week so we eat here several times a month but will be taking this place out of the rotation! Tonight the food was not near as good. Shockingly, the service was horrendous/ It is usually amazing! One sever looked right at me as I tilted the glass upright to get the last bit of ice because my drink sat empty for over 10 minutes. It sat at least another 10 till the food finally arrived and we had to actually request refills as they tried to run away. It’s supposed to be ayce but when we ordered the second time it took over 20 minutes for 3 rolls to arrive. One of which had room temperature raw fish that tasted very off. The shrimp gyoza were undercooked with an usually weird tasting “shrimp “ filling. Noone came back to ask how it was so we were not able to let them know it was spoiled even though they had to have seen the pieces we spit into our napkins to avoid getting sick. They brought us our bill while we were still in the middle of eating the food that was good and told us the kitchen was now closed. Even though it was half hour before closing we were being rushed out the door! Had our food arrived in a timely manner we would have been done before they felt the need to hurry us. Even though we used a buy 10 get 1 free punch card we still normally tip 25-percent 40 of the gross amount. However, tonight they automatically added a $14 tip to our $36 bill. Both of us Having worked in food service for many years, despite the poor service and inedible food, had planned to tip $20 cash. I always treated my last customer of the day with the same respect as the first Had we received the same respect and deliciously well prepared food as before we would have given our usual cash tip of $28-$30 However, because of the mandatory tip on two meals, we were not informed of and not posted anywhere like other establishments are double to provide a living wage, we did not tip any extra. If they resent having to honor punchcards they should not hand them out in the first place. The table next to us must’ve also been dissatisfied because they offered us their punch card saying they would never come back after the disappointing experience they had. We obviously will not be returning either! There’s way too many amazing places with excellent food and outstanding service to dine in the Houston area to continue giving our money to this place that takes us and our business...

I am always on the hunt for great AYCE sushi establishments and thanks to recommendations from a couple of trusted friends, I think I have found my new favorite spot. Like most of my favorite spots, Taizzi is a bit of a drive for me, but super easy to get to with lots of parking available. I called earlier in the afternoon to see about making a reservation since I was coming with my whole squad. They were more than happy to do that for us and it was waiting for us when we got there. They also did not make us wait till the whole party got there. Customer service was superb from start to finish, with Tai the owner taking care of us and entertaining us the whole time. Good times!

We were a party of 10, so Tai suggested we all wait to order together so we wouldn't double up on stuff. This was a great plan because we tried many items from their extensive menu. Speaking of menus, part of the AYCE included about 6 pages of delicious items. There is literally something here to please any palette. All their rolls had pics which I have never seen anywhere else. You can also order things a la carte but the value here comes with the buffet. Between appetizers, sushi/sashimi, rolls, and rice, we tried a little bit of everything. All of their fish was fresh and delicious. I will agree with other reviews in that their portions are pretty large, including the cuts on the sashimi and what not. I would have loved to try more things but we filled up on the initial few waves of food that came out. Maybe it's their strategy, who knows. I'm not mad at it either way as we enjoyed everything. They really take pride in their food and it shows. Save room for dessert too because their lava cake and mango mochi was outstanding.

They also have a rewards program where you get a free buffet after so many purchases. Tai found out one of our friends was getting married so he asked if we could all give our punches to the couple so they can come back and enjoy a free meal. We are already planning our next visit back sooner...