Sushi Bay — Restaurant in Oʻahu

For perspective we came around 420pm. It was our first visit here and they stop taking orders at 5pm. We were told that if we still wanted to get seated that we should order all of our food at once because they stop taking orders at 5pm. We could still sit and eat our food but they wouldn't be able to take any orders after 5pm so anticipate how much food we want and order everything at once.

Our entire meal felt rushed. They have a very sweet older server there who has a very anxious energy as she's trying to move everyone along. After she sat us she took drink orders in a rush and forgot to bring out an extra miso soup and our sodas. Our server was very patient and helpful. Even though we sat down to eat pretty late into their service hours she tried to make sure we had enough time to look over the menu and answered all of our questions. She checked on us periodically and made sure we received all of our orders. We sat at the sushi counter and a couple of the chefs kept sighing in exhaustion at the sight of all of the people who came and ordered during the entire time we were there for our meal.

Our food was delicious but honestly we didn't enjoy it. The place is clean. The rest of the servers continued to work through cleaning everything without rushing patrons. One of the takeout people yelled at the older lady I talked about earlier in frustration and refused her help with distributing takeout orders but she did it anyway--so there was tension there.

I will have to do an update and come early for food and service as I don't feel that this was a fair experience even though it's the only...

TL;DR at the bottom.

My wife and I came here on Saturday (9/21) around 6:30pm. The restaurant was full, and there were at least a dozen people waiting outside. To be seated, you walk in, sign your name and how many people in your party, then you wait outside for them to call you. About 10 minutes into our wait, two girls walk up to the restaurant and I overhear them say "If the wait is long, ask so-and-so if she can seat us." Or something along those lines. They took a look at the list, then went up to one of the waitresses, whom of which was apparently their friend. 10 minutes go by and those 2 girls, who got there after my wife and I, and a handful of others, got seated before all of us. Other people waiting noticed this too and were not happy. It was incredibly unfair to those of us waiting. We waited almost an hour while they had to wait only 15~ minutes.

It's a shame, because the sushi, portion sizes, and service is great. It's honestly my favorite sushi on the island, we drive all the way from Kailua to eat here. If it wasn't for this incident, I would happily give it 5*.

Those girls receiving VIP treatment, and getting bumped up the list before all those people, myself included, just because they were friends was absolutely not okay. Management need to inform their staff to treat all customers, friends or not, equal.

TL;DR: Waitress' friends got special treatment, and were seated way before everyone...

Sushi bay is one of my favorite sushi spots in Hawaii that my local friends highly recommended. If you are looking for sushi in the Kapolei area then I would definitely recommend! The fish is super fresh and the portions are filling. There are tons of different rolls that are all very good. I always order online ahead of time and get to go since there is a long wait!

Food I come here and just order a bunch of different rolls or entree items to share with friends. Some of my favorites that I recommend are salmon skin, spicy salmon, garlic salmon, baked mussels, masago temaki, masago, and any of their rolls. If you want like a fish bowl, the salmon don is good too.

Atmosphere I’ve never actually dined in so cannot say too much about it other than the place is very busy. Tons of people waiting around either to sit down or pick up an order.

Pricing Prices depend on what you get since everything in a price tier, but in general they are reasonable. With such good tasting food and fresh fish, I think that Sushi Bay is very worth it.

Service The staff was nice. The restaurant is pretty busy though so it can be a wait for the food and feel like they are in a rush.

Other Located inside a strip mall so there is a free parking lot. Can be difficult to find parking though since it is a...