Nara Revolving Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Pooler

We went to Nara for dinner Sunday night, after looking at the menu online.

My first disappointment - the menu online, lists an extensive wine and sake selection. Don't be fooled - they do not serve alcohol; only soft drinks and tea.

The place was packed, and there was a 20 minute wait. Totally fine - glad your brand new business is off to a good start and drawing a crowd.

We were seated in a booth, with the conveyer belt of sushi passing right by the table. All dishes from the belt are $4.95, which is not bad.

Things I loved about the belt: • Every dish had a cover over it • It seemed refrigerated. • There were also little signs in front of each section that told you what the dish was.

Things I didn't love about the belt: • Not all of the signs were accurate. There was a sign for vegetable rolls, but what followed was some sort of salad that couldn't be identified. • Some of the signs were completely missing.

Missing from the menu are two of my favorites: Seaweed salad, and Miso Soup. It was a pleasant surprise to see seaweed salad on the conveyer belt, and it was good. Really good. No Miso Soup though.

Rather than a waitstaff, they have tablets at every table that you can order electronically from, if what you want isn't coming by on the belt. Great idea - except the descriptions are missing, and the placement of the tablets is awkward. There's no way to swivel them so you can see, so you have to stretch out across the table to read the items. Awkward.

Also awkward: The tables. Higher than what felt standard, or maybe the seats were lower than standard.

We decided to pull up the menu on our phones, so we could revisit the descriptions of the specialty rolls (which are all named after cartoon characters and superheroes), when I noticed someone delivering a printout to the table across from us, with all the descriptions. I asked for one and it was brought to our table. My opinion: this should be automatic, or at least offered when you're seated; not something we should have to ask for.

We ordered one roll off the menu - the Toy Story - which was delivered by a cute little train on a track above the conveyer belt. It came quickly, and it was good. We also each had a few dishes from the conveyer belt. Everything tasted very fresh, so no complaints on food quality at all.

Our table had a cute little tray with three ceramic containers - one for pickled ginger, one for wasabi, and one for soy sauce. We are both big wasabi lovers, and usually have to ask for extra, so it was nice to have plenty available, and it was good - intense wasabi. Same with the ginger. We always ask for low sodium soy sauce, and the woman attending our table (I can't really call her a waitress, since she didn't bring us food; all that was brought by one machine or another) said it was.

The restaurant itself was very loud, and didn't really allow for the relaxed sushi experience I usually enjoy: Small plates, nibbled at slowly, while sipping wine, and enjoying conversation with my wife. The atmosphere felt more like a place where you'd take your young children so they could be entertained by all the electronics (they have robot who will bring you napkins, chopsticks, etc., and a few electronic prize games), while you eat. Suggestion: if that's the atmosphere you are creating, have something in the way of a kids menu so couples who are craving sushi but can't get a sitter, can have options their kids will actually eat. The majority of little ones are not going to be on board with sushi rolls, squid salad and raw fish.

While the experience wasn't miserable, it wasn't great either. I don't think we'll be back. I'd rather go down the street (or downtown) where I can enjoy a glass of wine or sake on my date night, and where I know what every dish is, rather than the mystery unlabeled or incorrectly labeled dishes on the...

My wife has been begging me to eat here, and I am glad we went for the overall experience. The food was pretty good, but if you are going to go for the conveyor belt sushi, do not go at 9 pm, because they stop adding sushi to the conveyor belt and you have to order off of the menu. Here is why I like that the most, and why we will DEFINITELY return.

EVERYTHING on the menu can be special made simply by using the tablet like device in front of you for the order. I am extremely gluten sensitive, so being able to customize my rolls or nigiri was an absolute BONUS.

The selection of rolls and nigiri is unmatched, in my opinion. The selection is mind-boggling, and there is still so much more to explore on their menu. The menu is HUGE.

The train that delivers your order is super-cool, and it adds a fun element to the whole experience. When that train comes a chuggin', everyone is a watchin'. From the seat, viewing the train is a lookup experience, so you do not get a top-down view of what is being delivered around your section. It is more of a side view. This brings me back to the extensive menu. When you see food fly-by, you wonder, "Hmm, what is that?" There is also a Kitty-faced robot that delivers food around the restaurant as well. Now that robot is fun and freaky all at the same time, lmao. Especially when it is coming to your section and gets so close, you could smell the electronics!

Since there is so much automation, there really is not much for your server to do, but make sure your drinks are full. I still tipped over 20%, but I feel it may have been a little unnecessary to tip so high.

My favorite, so far, was the Fillet Nigiri. Delicious! It's so good actually that I will be recreating that dish for dinner tonight with my lovely wife.

We will frequent here again and bring our jealous daughter along next time for the experience and the Mochi they have on the menu. Yes, they have desserts as well, and for all the ones we saw pass by on the train, they looked...

TLDR: I am so excited about this new local restaurant! The atmosphere and technology is a much needed addition to Pooler. The food is good and the prices are fair. We will be back!

I don't understand the reviews saying the prices are outrageous. It's sushi, it's going to be pricier than a lot of restaurants. $5/plate for specialized sushi rolls with fried elements, multiple kinds of fish, and sauces is a very fair price. I love that you can try several different rolls in smaller portions!

The service was good, not perfect, but they have been open less than a week. All restaurants go through growing pains when first opening. Our server was nice and attentive when we needed something.

You have two options for food delivery: to grab food as it comes around on the conveyor belt or to order from the iPad (food is delivered via the train above the conveyor belt or the robot cart that drives around the restaurant). We did both. The delivery of the food ordered from the iPad is very quick and the conveyor belt sushi tasted fresh. We asked our waitress for some extra sauces and were so surprised to see the robot deliver it to our table!

A couple of criticisms: one of the rolls we liked we only got one of from the belt because they weren't stocking it. We didn't want to order an entire portion from the iPad so this was a bit disappointing. They also didn't have gluten free soy sauce or any gluten free options noted on the menu. In 2023 I don't understand why you wouldn't have something like this to make your restaurant more accessible. The last one, which I sincerely hope they figure out, is the air conditioning. It was HOT in the restaurant when we went. The thermostats said 71 but I don't believe it. It's not super appetizing to eat sushi in an overly warm restaurant.

Overall I loved eating here and will definitely be back. There are some kinks that need to be worked out but the concept of the restaurant is amazing and I'm confident that with time they'll get it...