Hungry Sumo — Restaurant in Milwaukee

I have had dinner at Hungry Sumo twice now, and both have been good experiences. The second time visiting was a little better than the first. Both visits, the food has been delicious and fresh. Hungry Sumo is a great sushi and ramen option in Bay View, and I look forward to the next time we go!

Our first visit, we ended up with a 1.5 hour wait (but we didn’t have a reservation). We ended up going to Vanguard a few doors down for a couple of drinks while we waited, and we were conveniently contacted via phone when our seats were available. We then were placed at the sushi bar, which was a little disappointing after waiting over the estimated wait time for just two people. Our second visit, we went with a group of four and we were seated in about 20 minutes with no reservation, at a regular table.

We started off both dinners with sushi as an appetizer. The sushi at Hungry Sumo is excellent and easily as delicious and fresh as any other location in Milwaukee. There were so many fantastic looking rolls to choose from! I wish the price point was a little lower, as I would love to go to Hungry Sumo and order only sushi for dinner, but I feel the bill would be well over $100 for two people if we did so. The rolls were beautifully presented and delicious.

We then opted for ramen as our main dish. I chose the Tonkatsu ramen the first time, and the Spicy Miso ramen the second. I love Tonkatsu, but I felt like Hungry Sumo’s was done a disservice by the pork. The charred flavor from the pork, which would have been good on its own, overpowered the broth so I was a little disappointed. The ramen was good over all though, but usually the broth on Tonkatsu ramen is just such a standout. The second time, I was very impressed by the Spicy Miso. For some reason the pork char worked better with this, and the broth was spicy but not too spicy. I also enjoyed the other toppings in the bowl a little better for the Spicy Miso than the Tonkatsu.

The second visit, we tried the appetizers of the pork buns and the tuna poke. Both were delicious! Hungry Sumo also has a great selection of sake, including their house-made sake which was recommended by our server. I would highly recommend trying it as well!

Whether you’re looking for a great spot for a date night or a friends’ dinner, Hungry Sumo is an excellent option. The appetizers, sushi, and ramen are all delicious, with fresh and high-quality ingredients. I look forward...

Our most recent visit was a big disappointment for us. We showed up about 45 minutes before closing and when we entered, the entire place was still very full. The hostess first greeted us and then asked if it was just the two of us. We said yes, expecting her to say there was going to be a little wait for a table. Instead, she looks around and then back at us and says unfortunately there won't be any tables for quite a while and that they won't be able to serve us tonight. I was a bit shocked as I have never been denied service before, especially when there was still 45 minutes until closing. I told her that we would be more than happy to wait a little bit to see if a table opens up, but she still insisted that we could not be seated tonight. I was pretty upset as we drove about 30 minutes to come here because we prefer them over every other sushi place.

My wife turned to me before leaving and asked if maybe we can just take a order to go. The hostess immediately said "yes we can definitely make some food for you to go if you want"? I said no as I was quite annoyed and didn't feel like eating food in the car or another 30 minute drive back home to eat it. Instead we ended up leaving, and while standing outside our car trying to decide where to eat instead and only 5 minutes after we had left, two different groups of people were leaving the restaurant which frustrated me even more. If you are a restaurant that states you are open until a certain time, you should be able to serve people until that certain time. I recommend making a sign stating that you can no longer seat people 30 minutes before closing. We were planning on spending over $100+ on sushi and appetizers. I just find it weird when restaurants don't want to take people's money?

The reason I'm still giving this four stars is because the food actually is fantastic and it really is the best sushi we have had since moving here to Wisconsin. We have been to quite a few places and this is still hands down the best place for good sushi and authentic tasting miso. I really hope we aren't disappointed again otherwise we'll have to continue our search for another...

Came here for the first time after hearing raves about the sushi and then seeing it mentioned as the best sushi in Milwaukee on Reddit. Our waiter was very nice, we had great service, and we liked the atmosphere. Our family of 3 ordered a bottle of wine, veggie gyoza, tonkotsu ramen, maki (2 rolls), and nigiri (2 sets). The gyoza and side salad were pretty good and the miso soup and ramen were great. But the sushi--the reason we came and over half our bill--was awful, especially the nigiri. We had the summer and Lady Marmalade rolls, 9-piece nigiri set, and 7-piece aburi nigiri set (seared with sauce).

The Lady Marmalade roll was the most complex (lots of stuff in/on it) so it was not terrible. If it had all been Iike that, I would have just shrugged off Reddit and wanted to come back so we could try the pork buns, pad Thai, etc. But all 3 of us tried and could not enjoy the summer roll or nigiri. Some of the nigiri was extremely fishy (I've only encountered such a 'fishy' taste on a few occasions in lake fish, and never from sushi), some barely had any flavor, some (especially the seared fish) had awful texture and was dry or very chewy, and it generally seemed poorly preserved.

I did not expect this to be mind-blowing, hand-selected fish like at a Michelin-star sushi restaurant where it melts in your mouth...but like, I have had much more enjoyable sushi from the grocery store. We regularly get sushi around Milwaukee, and while I have been disappointed before, I have never had fish (maki, nigiri, or sashimi) that I would call gross. So if you go here, don't order sushi. Get the ramen or entrees.

We left at least 10 full pieces of nigiri and a roll's worth of maki on the table and had no desire to take them home. Our waiter then apologized for the fish they had, so maybe it's usually better and they just didn't have any good fish left? But in that case they should not be offering it. Definitely a wasted family night out at over...