Sakura Japanese House — Restaurant in Las Cruces

Service: Waitress was always in a hurry to rush off and seemed unwilling to standby for even two seconds. If I wasn't ready at the very moment she came over, or at least if I wasn't on the ball and ready to order anything the moment she approached, she pretty much disappeared just as fast. Another waitress was cleaning/sweeping not two feet from me in a very tense manner and was very loud with moving chairs around at the bar. I understand the need to keep the place clean but I'm sure it can be done without all the racket.

Food: Chicken Teriyaki was not chicken teriyaki. The sauce was not sauce but more of a gel-like substance reminiscent of duck sauce. I don't know whose recipe this is but it isn't teriyaki and tasted nothing like it. The chicken itself was pounded way too flat and cooked way too hot (as in temperature-wise). Wound up tough and gamey. At best I picked at the center areas and cut away everything else. Also was not a fan of the ginger garnish and quite frankly, it doesn't match the other flavors of what teriyaki is supposed to be so I don't know why it was on there. The rice also had an odd flavor to it that I couldn't quite identify so I didn't eat it (and I always eat all of my rice!).

Other observations: The hibachi grill area seemed like a good spot to be. I may go back for to give this establishment another chance in regards to this specific interest.

Customer etiquette: I have, over the past year, rapidly drawn back on my dining-out habits as customers in general are quite simply obnoxious. Whether it is the children acting like animals (or screaming like them) or the adults doing the same, they ALL now have a tendency to want to pull out their cell phones and play videos off youtube, fb or what have you very loudly while others are trying to relax and enjoy their dinner (even if it wasn't that great to begin with). The reluctance of establishments desire to quell this sort of behavior is one of the main reasons I rarely eat out anymore. I used to drop over $200/week in tips alone over the coarse of two or three dinners (and typically it is just serving one person...me). Now I'd rather save my money and my sanity so I don't have to be annoyed by other customers. This is a direct call on this establishment and all establishments alike to ban the use of cell-phones while in the restaurant. Maybe others like me will want to come back out of hiding and your wait-staff will stand to gain from such policies. Thanks to an annoying child who thinks chopsticks are drum sticks and the parent thinking a video of a screaming child being played at high volume was appropriate, I left very quickly and tipped a lousy $5 on a $25 bill because no one told them to be respectful of other patrons.

This rant is not pointed to this establishment, specifically. I'm directing it to all establishments across the board and will continue to leave negative reviews until wild and unruly customers are reigned in. Until then, I'll keep my money...

Moved here last month from Pittsburgh, by way of Chicago, by way of Texas. Sushi is my favorite food, preferably simple and fresh. I eat it weekly, so moving to LC, I had to ask around about good spots and Sakura was recommended to me.

Disclaimer, I’ve only had it delivered via DoorDash, and that being said I would rate it a solid 4-stars for delivery sushi in Las Cruces. This is not Chicago, obviously - we are in a relatively small desert town and the supply chain situation probably doesn’t lend itself to the most affordable, freshest fish (I can’t get 2-day Amazon Prime delivery!). So I’m very satisfied given the situation!

After about 5-6 orders now, my go-to is the simple tuna roll and salmon roll, with cream cheese rangoons. I have tried 2-3 more special rolls, and I didn’t love them (it’s not usually my choice). I am also usually a spicy tuna ride or die, but I actually did not like the one here (too much tempura/crispy filler). The sushi/nigiri was okay, salmon and tuna was best, yellowtail was okay. I think the simple tuna and salmon rolls are the most forgiving to the fish and they really hit the spot. I’ll order some ikura sashimi to top the salmon too if I’m feeling fancy.

I will say - 9/10 on the crab Rangoon! I was hesitant because Pittsburgh had horrible rangoons, but these are crispy, the sweet chile sauce is among the best I’ve had, and the only thing is that there’s not much more than cream cheese inside. If you’re mad at that, don’t order them, but if you expect more cream cheese than anything they are great.

I’ll continue to order from here, it satisfies my...

Came here on a Friday night after a day at White Sands. Based on the other reviews, we were hoping for a much better experience. First off, we were crammed into an upstairs seating arrangement that was very crowded and next to a large hibachi grill group who were being exceedingly loud. I could barely hear any of my friends across from me.

The food itself was okay, but it arrived an hour after we finished ordering and most of the hot entrees were barely lukewarm (besides the udon soup noodles). I believe many entrees had to be transported via a food lift upstairs but that is still no excuse for nearly cold entrees. On top of all of this, they charged 18% tip by default, which was not disclosed beforehand. We were a large party, but this is something that is better disclosed ahead of time than a nasty surprise at the end of our visit.

Additionally, the bathroom reeked and the faucets looked like they have not been cleaned for months. The windows had signs saying to not touch the windows because they could fall/break and customers would be liable... Needless to say, not the best dining environment either.

Due to the long wait, nearly cold food served to us, and the undisclosed 18% mandatory tip, I rate this...