Nama Sushi Bar - Bearden — Restaurant in Knoxville

In addition to having the best sushi and Japanese fusion food in Knoxville, Nama’s is a restaurant that we have been attending for approximately six months. Nama’s has a diverse menu and excellent staff and a shaded, safe location in the heart of Bearden. The Bearden location has beautiful trees surrounding the actual restaurant that adds a zen ambiance. The interior lighting also makes eating indoors satisfying. Namas has capacious men’s and women’s restrooms with marble floor work and large sinks for hand washing. Moreover, there is often paper towels available to open the door upon exiting so one does not soil one’s clean hands. Each meal is served with wooden/bamboo chopsticks, a plastic soy sauce container and black cotton table napkins. The soy sauce provided by Namas is in the traditional Japanese tradition.

My wife and I always eat at Nama’s together and Nama’s is a place where people know our names. In turn, we know their names and it feels like logical family/kindred spirits. We feel this is an essential dynamic that adds to a symbiotic relationship with the staff.

We have seen Wes move from restaurant manger to general manager as he has put in a great deal of time with the company and we are proud of him. Wes has always made us feel at home at Namas. With servers such as Logan, Brandon, Katie, Nicolas, Henry, Alex, and Kat, it would be difficult to not like Namas (we will miss you Phil). The service is top notch. When we order sushi, miso soup, a bowl (Sautéed Shiitake Mushrooms, Carrots, White Rice, Tofu, Snow Peas, Crispy Wontons, Bok Choy, Scallions, served on a Sweet Soy Vinaigrette Sauce) and a sweet tea, it usually takes a minute for the drinks and soup. But, the Sushi and Bowls take a bit longer because this is not a fast food facility. Great food takes time and we are proud to wait the ten minutes to fifteen minutes to obtain a great entree. Nama’s has real sushi chefs who are excellent and one feels like you just entered a Japanese ambiance. Larissa, Chase, and Stephanie often take our “to go” orders over the phone and the service is incredible. The desert has always been an endorphin rush experience as they have seasonal deserts such as strawberry shortcake, key lime pie, Basque cheescake with matcha, and Nama nanner’s. Every desert is an extraordinary experience. We are not drinkers but, Nama’s has lots of saki and wine. Namas also has daily lunch special that changes but, lunch and half price sushi nights are a great time to explore the depth of the menu. Japanese cuisine is offered at its finest at Bearden Namas. Cheers to Sophie (restaurant manager), Wes and all of their staff. To see a restaurant like Namas thrive in Knoxville makes us very happy and we will continue to eat, support, and recommend (to friends and family) a diverse, and enlightened staff. Thank you Namas for making a magical ambiance that cannot be outdone.

I actually began eating at Nama’s first restaurant downtown right after it opened in 2004. Since, I was away at the University of Kentucky acquiring my M.S. in Genetic Engineering until 2009, my visits to Namas was limited to breaks from higher education. After I graduated and moved back to Knoxville, TN in November of 2009, I began visiting The Tomato Head and Namas occasionally. Now, Allison and I visit Namas once to three times a week depending on our schedules. Namas is a place where one can go for half price sushi on Mondays and Thursdays. Or, one can go for an intimate dining experience during the other week days. Namas has indoor and outdoor seating and every employee has great attitudes. We feel safe. In fact, Namas is a safe place and takes pride in diversity that we hold near and dear to our hearts. So, if one is looking for an exceptional dining experience, Nama’s in Bearden is the best place in town to have a sushi meal. There are other locations but, we feel at home at the Bearden location. Summary: -Excellent for lunch -Excellent for dinner -Excellent for takeout -Excellent for dessert -Excellent for outdoor dining -Excellent...

My husband took me to Mama on 7-16 for my birthday dinner...which happened to be on a Monday this year..as a result of that on mondays at nama its a little more busy than any other day of the week (i believe) for 1/2 priced (not all) sushi!! We didn't wait long though maybe 15 minutes and during that time we did get a delicious drink from the bar!! We got a seat outside and were quickly greeted by our server...she quickly got our drink and took our order!! Shortly our sushi came and OMG was amazing!!!! Seriously the best sushi I have EVER had 👌🏼👌🏼💥💗 Even though we did order from the 1/2 price list the quality was not compromised !!! It was delicious & fresh !! My husband doesn't really like sushi much but that night he ate just as much as I did!! The food was perfect!! We did have an issue where our server disappeared for about 25 minutes and we hadn't had any sushi for what seemed like forever lol (when your hungry)... I had to go and request her service from another server..that was the only issue and I know they we're super busy but I hadn't even seen her...so maybe she was on a break or something than (someone could have filled in for her). Next time we will just order everything at once instead of a little at a time. I still give this 5 stars because even with that little issue the night & food was perfect.👌🏼💥🖤..the service could have been slightly better but our server was perfect besides that!! If your servers take a break maybe have someone step in & take care of the tables!! 🤷🏼 thank you for amazing food on my...

As of August 2019 Nama is sushi roulette. You might get lucky, but you probably won't.

My wife and I have been regularly visiting Nama for the past couple years, and witnessed a steady and consistent decline. Today was our last trip to Nama.

The hot sake was room temperature. The crab dip had virtually no trace of crab. The tuna in the spicy tuna roll appeared mashed and pulpy, like it was pureed and then smashed and tasted completely bland. The poke bowl was a pile of lettuce and shredded tuna and brown avocado with no sauces. On our previous trip, I ordered the sesame beef, which tasted like dirty water. Nama used to be a restaurant which delivered food as advertised. Today, McDonalds delivers entrees more closely resembling their photos.

The atmosphere is visibly deteriorating, with leaky pipes in the ceiling dripping onto tables, restrooms that look like they aren't regularly deep cleaned, and no music anymore. What's with that? The music here used to be great!

The service can still be good occasionally, but more often than not you'll end up with busy, inattentive or downright antisocial staff. Our server today was good though.

At one point I would have said Nama is my favorite restaurant in Knoxville, but it's really in a steep decline. At this point if we want sushi that isn't a gamble we'll be going to Whole...