Zushi Japanese Bistro — Restaurant in Mesa

Early Date Night....... Let's see what kind of mischief we can get into tonight!

-DINNER UPDATE* FOOD REVIEW SPOILER ALERTIF YOU LIKE ZUSHI STOP READING HERE**

Upon getting to the halfway mark of our entrees, wife and I were done!!! The teriyaki sauce tasted like formaldehyde & I'm not sure that the meat in my "chicken" yakisoba ......was even chicken! Honestly, I'm a pretty tolerant guy, but this was something else. I've had Filiberto's carne asada that's less questionable than this stuff. Quite frankly, I'd rather opt for a couple packages of ramen noodles ...

The food was super hot at first and I was hungry, so I started diving right in. It wasn't till the halfway mark that things got interesting. We both laughed about this little insurrection, paid our bill & politely walked out. Only reason we tried this place was because I've heard it's BETTER than Got Sushi - WRONG!!!

Sushi was decent and that's where the story ends .. Would give the entrees a half star review, but not an option. Took forever for water and service. One guy serving on a Saturday afternoon .... interesting indeed.

The reviews here are highly rated. If you like this place, then you'll fall in love with OSAKA in Mesa!!!

Anyhow....next time it's back to Osaka where the food is great, the service is "quick" and we don't walk out smelling like we've been in an embalming chamber. Today's food review is a half a star. Time to go find some decent desserts to balance off this mess...

P.S. - This wasn't the kind of mischief we wanted to get into tonight. ...

Not very good sushi. The rolls are TOO BIG and therefore putting one piece in your mouth makes it hard to even chew! Seriously, the rolls should NOT be so fat, make them bite sized like sushi is supposed to be.

The water tastes horrible here. The waiter said it's Reverse Osmosis filtered, but clearly the RO System isn't working very good! Tastes like tap water.

Service was slow. It took 20 minutes for us to get 4 basic rolls.

The rolls themselves were ok. Not bad tasting, but very plain and bland. Not like you expect sushi to be! Also, instead of putting their slices of fish on top of the rolls, they grind them up like ground beef and shove them inside the roll. That's weird. I don't want pre chewed fish. I want a whole sliver of fish. Rolls should be like sashimi in that regard.

Also I don't understand why they offer American steak, Korean noodles, Chinese dishes, and Thai food. It's supposed to be a Japanese sushi restaurant! They don't know their target market.

Seriously I recommend going somewhere else. It wasn't horrible, but for the price, it was NOT worth it. Most rolls are between $8 and $14 each.

And their happy hour is a joke! They take $1 off. Just ONE DOLLAR off during happy hour. Their only saving grace in their location, since there are few sushi restaurants in Mesa.

Oh and the chairs, wow. They're solid wood with absolutely no padding. My butt and my girlfriends butt were hurting after sitting there. Maybe a big booty person won't mind, but why not accommodate everyone and provide comfortable seating?

Not...

It's amazing to think that Zushi and Sushi Kee are sister companies. I have always had great experiences at Sushi Kee, friendly service, good food and great prices. I have come to Zushi around ten times over the past three years and I seem to always be greeted with a new disappointment. (Unlike the new "Grand opening Teppanyaki" banner which has been on the front of the building for over 3 years). I have been charged full price during happy hour with an argument that our order was input at 8:59, one minute before happy hour. I have had the lights turned out and all music stopped only to play "closing time" by semisonic on a night the manager decided to close early. A paper was written on the window saying they would be closing early and when asked the server stated it was at the managers discretion and she couldn't say. Coming for lunch presents you with a menu section titled Teppan Lunch Specials, first item on front page, however if you are craving teppan only come after 4pm because if you try to order the teppan lunch they will politely inform you its closed until then. Happy hour prices are on average around $.50 off so strap in for killer savings. Sadly the food is generally tasty but I've never seemed to have a very pleasant dining experience. If you are craving sushi I recommend heading a few miles south...