Sora handroll bar — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Sora has only been open for about a month, so it’s clear they’re still figuring things out. The team seemed noticeably understaffed during our visit, and while they were doing their best, the experience didn’t quite match the expectations set by the price point.

The space at The Handlebar has a lot of potential, but the layout feels cramped. Most of the seating is outdoors on the sun-facing side, which led to a constant shuffle of umbrellas to keep guests shaded. The overall setup felt much more casual—almost more like a bar than a restaurant meant for a full meal experience.

The food itself was fine, but nothing memorable. The hand-rolls were very small for the price, and while freshly made, the quality didn’t justify the cost. You’re mostly paying for the location at The Grove and the atmosphere. We left hungry, and unfortunately, underwhelmed.

A small but strange detail: if you sit outside, the hand-rolls are served wrapped in plastic, presumably to protect them—but it takes away from the experience and leaves you with a pile of plastic at your table.

Cocktails were also just okay. One had to be sent back because it barely tasted of alcohol, which was disappointing for a place aiming to feel elevated.

Overall, Sora feels more like a tourist spot than a true hand-roll destination. I wouldn’t go back based on our visit, but I hope they work out the kinks—it’s still early days, and there is potential here if they can refine...

Pretty shocked at all the good reviews on here. The service was pretty bad (the people at the table next to us arrived after us, yet somehow were eating before anyone even took our order).

When we arrived we asked to sit outside - it is a rooftop restaurant afterall. The host said it was a better experience inside and began to seat us there. It smelled vaguely of old fish inside. We asked again if we could sit outside, and then she allowed us to. By the way, everyone else there was seated outside. No one was seated inside!

The food was decent, but they call them hand rolls, so that's what you expect. The prices are about twice what a normal hand roll costs, and the portions are much smaller. What you actually get is about the equivalent of 2 bites of a cut roll, in a larger than necessary piece of nori, I guess to give the illusion that it's bigger than it is?

Also while we were there we opened the umbrella next to our table to block the sun. Shortly after a staff member came by, closed the umbrella, moved it away from our table, dragged a propane heater over in its place and started to turn it on. I had to ask him not to turn it on. It was around 5pm, the sun was shining brightly onto us. What??

So many better places with better food, better service, and better atmosphere. I wouldn't waste your time...

The food and the service was very good. Unfortunately, the presentation of putting two pieces of plastic on the outside of the nori changed what could have been a nice meal. It is very difficult to remove the plastic. It's so tricky that the waiters instruct the customers on how to remove them by "pinching one end and pull the plastic off on the opposite end. Then pinch the nori on the side without the plastic and pull the off. The issue is that the plastic sticks to the nori and doesn't easily slide off. These are not rolls, these are open face dishes and as you squeeze on end the rice slides out on the plastic and falls, often getting all over your fingers, making them sticky. I had to keep dipping napkins into my glass of mineral water to use to clean my fingers. It was a messy experience not just for our table but for the tables on either side of us. The restaurant could remedy this but having wider dishes, where the whole "roll" could be made in place instead of using a narrow wooden dish and using plastic to support the food. We didn't have an alcoholic drinks and the bill was very high. And I mean very high. I'm use to expensive bills when I go out for sushi but this was way beyond reasonable, esp. for the experience. If I'm going to spend a lot of money on a meal, it shouldn't be a...