Hana Sushi — Restaurant in Phoenix

I loved this place for many years before the owner switch, it was a small, presumably family run place with an authentic atmosphere and food, and felt like you were legitimately stepping into a little restaurant in Japan. I was unable to go for several months, and it appeared to be closed until one day I saw it was open again and I stopped in.

First thing that hit me was how bad the atmosphere was under the new owner. Gone were the Japanese style decor items, the chef I knew, staff I knew, and I walked in to a mostly empty restaurant and was somehow still ignored for several minutes until someone sat me at a table and brought me a menu.

Second was that the menu itself is extremely different, and much smaller too. There are considerably less sushi options, and less kitchen options too. Gone were my favorites, no beef bowl or katsu curry, and the sushi rolls are now 'westernized' to heck. Nothing traditional, just a bunch of weird sauces, crab mixes and jalapeno on everything. The food is now closer to Mexican food than Japanese, which is bizarre in a supposed Sushi restaurant.

I ordered the only thing that sounded remotely palatable, the sushi special (which is reasonably close to what they had before), and it was just OK. They don't serve the little salads anymore either before the meal. There was only one group at the restaurant and it was a loud, obnoxious, overweight family who were so unbelievable disrespectful that I almost left without eating.

Kids throwing chopsticks and food, parents ignoring it entirely and shouting on their phones at the table, drinking cans of soda they brought from home (seriously, come on...) and just ruining any hope I had of a peaceful meal to myself. Worse, the staff just let it happen. I'm not sure what happened with the original owners, but the new management has, sadly, completely ruined this restaurant and I have no desire to ever go here again.

Poke Paradise now has my business, or Kura down on Camelback for actually authentic sushi, and I'd implore you to spend your money...

Under new ownership. My first experience lead me to eating spicy tuna that was rather rancid tasting on one half and fine on the other - An oversight, perhaps, but they accomodated me without question and I can appreciate that.

The more important thing here is that every item on the menu is covered in some kind of sauce or flake now, whereas before the previous owner kept it simple and neat, alongside a handful of other items such as the shioyaki or the miso soups theyve had. That is what made this place unique before and its unfortunately not this kind of place anymore. I think a lot of pallets prefer suger-sweet sauces and cheeses and what have you, but what made this place special to me was not that - it was the original owners' dedication to keeping things simple and basic.

Some might like whats on the menu now and thats fine, but this isnt what i went there for and those of us that appreciated the simple sushi and the diversity of the old menu will be sorely disappointed to see this place, which was once unique, rendered into just a basic sushi place like every other.

Service was good though. A glass for...

Hana Sushi is by far the best hole-in-the-wall/hidden-gem sushi place. It’s small, the decor is simple, so is the menu, but the food is sooo dang goooood. The ownership, staff, and menu changed in Jan/Feb 2023, and while I really liked the sushi I ate there before, they definitely upped their sushi game with all the changes. I’m there at least once a week, have tried it all, and can’t complain a bit. The Cage Special, Maverick Roll, and Seared White Roll are probably my top go-tos at the moment. Also, while the sushi is still great without it, if you want to add a bit of extra flavor with a nice spicy kick then I suggest getting the fresh wasabi too — I don’t do super spicy foods, so only a few little drops of this on the sushi is perfect for me. They don’t do fancy happy hour specials or anything, but they don’t need to. You can’t really beat their prices for the quantity and quality...