Meiko Sushi — Restaurant in Pleasanton

Once entered, we were immediately greeted with a wonderful smile, and they were happily to assist us. After being escorted to our table, which was delightfully fun to experience; because it had a Japanese sliding door style that added to the pleasant atmosphere of the interior. The service we received was outstanding. Everyone who came to our table to assist was pleasant and helpful! Now the food: Octopus Salad - 5 ☆ The cold salad had a lot of flavors, refreshing from the cucumbers, and the Octopus was just right not to chewy.

Grill Squid - 4.5 ☆ It was deliciously good, but I believe the spices that were used may have been a bit powerful. But overall, it was still delightful with lemon and the spicy mayo.

House salad/Miso soup - 5 ☆ When going to a sushi place, you can tell by their salads and miso soups. Overall, both were amazing and rewarding, in my opinion. Especially the house salad. The dressing they used for their salad was addictively delicious and flavorful.

Kids meal bento - 5 ☆ The size of the portions was surprisingly large. He was happy and was full. He had leftovers for the next following day! The chicken teriyaki were cooked perfectly and weren't overbearing saucy.

Bubble Roll (no fish eggs)- 5 ☆ Yes, Yes and YES! I really enjoyed this roll. I would highly recommend this roll. It was very light but yet had an amazing texture and taste. This was my favorite.

49er (no fish eggs) - 5 ☆ This roll was delicious as well. The tuna inside was different from the other 49er rolls we've had before. So, the red tuna made it a bit more smokey taste to it. Which resulted in a great blend with the salmon on top. I would recommend it if you enjoy tuna with salmon.

We also received a pleasant surprise of a complimentary corn tempura!! The whole group really enjoyed this side dish. It was new and different for all of us. Perfectly fried and battered corn. Soooo good.

Overall, the whole experience was unbelievably fun and enjoyable. The atmosphere and the service were A++++, and the food was fresh and packed with flavor. I will definitely be back and will recommend this place to others.

::: Oh, sorry, side note - Warning: they do add a hot sauce fee of a 1$ 😅 but for us, it was worth it. We enjoy our Sriracha...

Had the Chirashi Special (inc. salad, but no soup). The quality of the sashimi was excellent. However, the restaurant is severely short staffed. There was a line out the door on a Thursday at lunchtime, but only one waitress handling phone orders, take outs, and eat-ins (outdoor on the sidewalk). I had ordered pick up through DD, but still had to wait for almost 10 minutes while my completed order sat on the back counter; the waitress was busy on the phone taking an order.

2/19/21 Update: Friday lunch today. There was zero wait time with two waitresses. Two item bento (sashimi x 3, nigiri x 2) isn’t quite enough - I had to make some miso soup at home to compensate. Next time, I’ll go for the 3 item bento or the bento special.

3/3/21 Update: They removed the ringer at the front counter, so I had to wave down the waitress. Luckily, I was in and out in 2 minutes. Assorted sashimi lunch 12p for $18.95 is a good value/upgrade from large Poke Bowl for $15 elsewhere. The slices were smaller and one grade down from the chirashi special, but still excellent and well worth it. This may become my standard go-to order at Meiko.

3/5/21 Update: Chirashi Regular was excellent! A good value at $22 for the quality. The Chirashi Special had better slices for $25, but the Regular was fine, nonetheless. Both Chirashi were a step up from the regular sashimi- plus you get vinegar rice and the tamago. I was in and out in 30 seconds on this Friday (two waitresses). I think the high turnover at Meiko ensures that you get fresh sashimi.

7/16/21 Update: I have ordered the regular Chirashi Sushi two more times. The first time, I noticed a drop in quality in the sashimi/cuts and much heavier tasting rice. Not sure if the drop in quality was a fluke, I waited a couple weeks and then ordered again. Unfortunately, the same consistent drop in quality. Tastes like they changed chefs. Service is still fast and friendly. Dropping...

I leave this review as a Doordasher, and a warning to people planning on ordering Doordash or delivering for this location.

I was left waiting for 30 minutes to pick up the order after i arrived. about 5 minutes into waiting i noticed bags lined up behind the bar with Doordash tags on them. I asked them if my order was ready and told them who i was delivering for and gestured towards the bag, I was told they were not ready and left alone at the reception area. I asked two more times while waiting, noticing the same bags sitting behind the counter this whole time.

Eventually I grew fed up with sitting there and walked over to look at the bags behind the counter myself. Sure enough my orders were right there I asked the chef if i could take them, they said yes, and finally after waiting for 30 minutes when i didn't have to wait at all, I left. I'm used to being left to wait at this business for 10 to 15 minutes but this was by far the worst experience i've had delivering doordash for a business.

I delivered cold food to my customer 30 minutes later than i could have, wasting my time, and ruining the meal i delivered. My recommendation to the store is to find a new system to deal with dasher because clearly this business is not organized enough to receive dashers in a...