Sushi Ai — Restaurant in Kalamazoo

I came here with a large group of friends per their recommendation since Pacific Rim was closed, and honestly, I had a great time and found the service to be like free entertainment, but I can see why the last reviewer may not have had the best experience.

The food was great--maybe a little over-seasoned or disproportionate for specific aspects, but only in minor ways (a lot of cream cheese in one of the sushi rolls, but that was out of a literal boat of otherwise nice sushi). My biggest regret was not coming on an emptier stomach so I could try more of the sushi, because the food was delicious. Plus, the portions are absolutely massive and reasonably priced. The space itself is small, but clean, cozy, and well-decorated.

The server noted that they had run out of ice, so they gave us complimentary water bottles from the fridge, which he actively refilled (literally, I never had to ask for a refill which I really appreciated). We also were very indecisive about how to split the bill and that lowkey created a lot of unnecessary work for him (so, so sorry for that) but he was incredibly patient with us about it.

As for the so-so parts, the waiter/owner (name started with an M--I'm so sorry I don't remember his full name, but man, do I wish I did!) was definitely rude, but like I said, it was extremely entertaining for my group. For reference, our group consisted of 2 white girls, 2 Latinas, and 2 Asians (my Japanese friend and me, a Korean). When we were laughing at our table while M was talking in Mandarin to the kitchen staff, he stopped us to ask what was so funny and if we knew Mandarin, which made us believe he was talking smack. Again, I could see how this could be off-putting, but we just thought it was funny. M was primarily talking in Japanese to my Japanese friend after asking about her and my ethnicities. He then proceeded to rant about the last reviewers (two Korean girls) and talking, in Japanese, about how he wants to ban Koreans because of that experience. (He just found out that I'm Korean, but seemingly wasn't aware that I also know Japanese.) I'm not sure if he started to sense that multiple people at the table understood what he was saying, but he backtracked and said, "韓国人 (Korean people) は BANNED! Well, I'm not racist. 韓国人は OK, but not those two. I'm not racist." Assuming I know the two Koreans who left a bad review because I'm Korean, he then turned to me and asked me to tell them to stop. Was I caught off-guard? Definitely. Did I also find it hilarious? Absolutely.

I don’t know who this FB Wogus person is, but I will say, for anyone who doesn’t know, that you can ask to keep the menu so you can order as you go to help to cut down on food waste.

TLDR: You know you're in an authentic Asian restaurant when the servers are lowkey mean LOL! This is a great spot to go for chuckles and good food in a group but I don't know that I'd necessarily dine in if I was eating alone or just with one...

I had the worst service of my life at this restaurant. From the moment we sat down, the server—who claimed to be the owner—was rude and aggressive. We tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking it might just be his accent, but it was clear he was just being straightforwardly rude to us.

He commented on our orders, saying we were ordering too much and kept asking if we were sure we could finish. He even mentioned charging us for leftovers( we got all-you-can-eat option), and he delivered these comments in a very disrespectful manner. We are not the type to complain, but the whole experience made us uncomfortable.

I regret not taking a picture of the nigiri (but I do have a picture of the Philadelphia roll, which had an insane amount of cream cheese compared to salmon). The rice-to-fish ratio was terrible; the fish was paper-thin while the rice was enormous. As a result, we left half of the rice on each piece of nigiri. I prefer less rice than what I got. And the manager informed us that he would charge an additional $10 for that. I would have been willing to pay if he had approached us politely, but his rudeness was unacceptable.

When we tried to explain that the rice was excessive compared to the fish, he started yelling at us, insisting that if we entered his business, we needed to follow his rules. According to him, we couldn’t voice our preferences because it was his restaurant. He even remarked that this is how you live in America. Although I am a foreigner, I have lived in the U.S. for quite some time. I became upset and raised my voice, but he continued to interrupt me while I tried to explain our side. He kept insisting it was his rule, his business, and that we couldn’t provide criticism once we walked in.

I know people may judge us based on this review since we ended up not paying for the food. At one point, when I was trying to address the situation, he simply said he would cover it, so there was no longer a problem. When we attempted to speak with the sushi chefs about the poor rice portion, the server said they didn’t speak English. When we tried to talk to the actual owner, he claimed we could only converse with them if we knew Chinese and that he would call the owner in China.

I am disappointed that they didn’t bother to listen to us as customers and chose to yell instead. This is not a way to run a business. Kicking out customers isn’t the solution.

I had visited this place a few times before because my friends liked it, but I will never return again. This is also my first time writing a review, and I ended up writing so much! 😅😅 +forgot to write this, there was piece of hair in...

To be very honest, based on what I've seen recently here, I should not even allow 2 stars and I will explain in my review. I have frequented Sushi AI for some time now, bringing in out of town guests, family, friends, and business colleagues. I would guess I've eaten here 20+ times and I have eaten at sushi restaurants all around the country for many years. Within thr past 6 months, this place had gone from a go to sushi spot to a place I will go when I want to over indulge for a very affordable lunch, but will not ever go for dinner again.

In my most recent experience here, we were one of only 3 tables of guests and we sat near the sushi prep area so we could watch preparation of the food. We were greeted within a couple of minutes and served water with no ice and couldn't seem to get any for some reason. The miso soup was barely warm and unappealing, like a leftover cup of coffee from yesterday. Deep fried appetizers were great as always (crab rangoon and veggies) and Shuman. But this is where it started going wrong.

The owner was prepping while a young chef prepared the rolls, sashimi, etc. He was doing dine in ad well as carryout. The orders were filled extremely slowly and carryout absolutely took priority over dine in. We waited probably 45 minutes to an hour after apps came out to get our platter of assorted sushi. The table next to us waited much longer and was missing some things, as were we. When we asked the server, the chef added it to the list and made no attempt to expedite the missing items. This took probably 20-30 additional minutes. Being AYCE, we wanted to order more and were given a new order sheet, which was added to the list, which we expected. We then got treated to an unexpected show where the owner berated and belittled the server in front of the guests until she went into a side room crying. This was upsetting to some guests of course and yet we were still sitting there like everyone else waiting for food, drinks, etc. She came out a few minutes later and service declined for the remainder of our visit due to her recent berating. We eventually ended our dinner feeling full, but more so empty and upset because of what we saw and heard. I also have also seen a steady stream of new faces working here and I think I know why!

It's getting extremely tough to continue to visit Sushi AI because I see this decline in the entire operation, as do others. Look at reviews from a year ago versus the past 6 months and you can paint your own picture. The owner needs to wake up or he is going to lose something that could be...