WAVE Sushi — Restaurant in Maitland

I have been to the Mt.Dora location so I was very excited to try this new one that is much closer to me. In a building off Horatio in Maitland that has a foxtail coffee and a pizza shop, this small but neat and modern new WAVE was really clean and nice. Indoor and outdoor seating available. Once inside you order at the counter and they give you a number and you take a seat, they will bring the food out to you. I will say the menu is drastically smaller than the original wave. Similar to how Chibi Domu operates as a smaller domu location, this is similar. We got 2 rolls and I got a "spicy tuna burger" I paid 44+ dollars for my burger and 1 roll. That's pretty steep. The first roll we got was the Dynamite 2.0? It was SO good. But really small for the price of $16. But it was very very good and had TONS of flavor. The smokey torched sauce ontop really set it apart as probably my favorite thing we ordered. I got the Bushido roll for $12, it was ok. It was very plain tasting and really just loaded with rice. We ate all of it regardless. Now to get to the burger. You can ask for your rice patties to be plain or fried, I wanted fried to give it a crunch. The spicy tuna mix inside was delicious and very good quality..but once again the rice portion was just astronomical. You are paying for so much rice. And I absolutely understand that the rice is what gives structural integrity to a lot of their gimmicky sushi like the pizza or the burrito or even the burger. But kust know you are mostly paying for a big amount of rice in the shape of a "burger" I really enjoyed my time here and all of the food was delicious but I think my favor goes to the OG...

I’ve been following Wave on Instagram for what feels like forever, but since their original location was in Mt. Dora, it was always a bit too far during our Orlando trips. So when I found out they opened a new spot in Maitland, I made it a must-do on our latest visit. (Which also happened to be my birthday!)

We were in town celebrating both mine and my husband’s birthdays at Universal, and I told him the only thing I really wanted that day was to try Wave. Let me just say… It did not disappoint!

I had the sushi tacos and crab rangoon fritters. Both were phenomenal! Flavorful, fresh, and beautifully plated. It was everything I hoped it would be and honestly ended up being the highlight of my entire trip. The vibe of the restaurant was just as great as the food - cool, modern, and welcoming.

Also want to give a shoutout to the staff. Everyone was super friendly, and we had a few interactions with a red-haired girl working there who was especially sweet and helpful. I wish I had gotten her name, but she really made the experience that much more enjoyable.

So glad I finally got to experience Wave. It’s safe to say this won’t be...

I was very excited to try this restaurant because it seemed to offer an interesting & unique take on sushi. While the menu is in fact interesting & unique, the quality of the food is just so-so especially for the price. Two entrees & one side without drinks was over $60! When your predominant ingredient is rice & you are a fast casual restaurant that's a little wild! I wouldn't even mind the price if the food was top notch, but it was honestly bland. We paid extra for spicy entrees, but they both severely lacked flavor overall. We tried to doctor it up with some eel sauce (which was an extra $2) but the fact that it was the only identifiable flavor said all we needed to know! On the bright side, the presentation was nice, the food came out fast & the seafood tasted fresh. Aside from the food, the service was good, the establishment was clean & the staff were friendly. The parking was a little limited & due to the shared space with other establishments, it was very noisy. Overall it was an okay experience for a one time thing, but in my opinion for the price vs food quality there are way...