Minato Sushi & Bar — Restaurant in Reno

Came here after hearing recommendations from friends, but I will not be coming back again (and warning others to steer clear as well). First off, the restaurant is very small inside - as we had been warned. There are 6 to 8 tables, depending on the arrangement, and only 12 more seats at the bar. There is no real "waiting area," as we unfortunately found out. We waited over an hour after being told 30 minutes when we first arrived, with just two couples waiting in front of us (which we deemed a reasonable wait, based on the small size of the place). When we asked the server/hostess (she only checked on us once the whole time, about 15 minutes in), she was VERY passive aggressive in her conversation with us after we inquired why we were still waiting so long after the time she told us. The response was rude, rude, rude! Not a good table system with tables open and them waiting for people on the list that aren't there (as that was the reason she gave us), telling us there was STILL two groups in front of us - by the way, we were the only ones standing in the "waiting" area for quite some time. Apparently you can put your name on the list several hours in advance. Any competent hostess would have informed us at the beginning of ALL the parties that were in front of us (rather than just "about 30 minutes"), so we could have made an informed decision about realistically sticking around for so long or to go somewhere else. Needless to say, we decided to leave after our conversation, as no sushi is worth such an awful experience. I've never been so firm an advising to skip a restaurant for purely a service-related issue, but this was simply inexcusable. I can only hope that a place with supposedly good food can fix it's bad service, otherwise there is no hope for this relative newcomer in in already sushi-saturated Reno. One word...

We've eaten here a couple times before in the past and figured since it was nearby while out and about, we would grab the AYCE. Man, what a disappointment. #1. It took 10 min for anyone to acknowledge us once we were seated, drink orders taken. Our server was an awkward orange haired girl who was either high or just completely clueless. #2. Waited another 10 minutes until we flagged another girl down and said we were ready to give our order. About 3 rolls into dictating the order she asked if we were doing AYCE...when we confirmed, she handed us a paper, which is pretty standard for AYCE but that probably should have been asked before we started listing things off. #3. As rolls were brought, they were not named..it was just "here ya go". #4. As frequent AYCE sushi folks, we can identify the ingredients pretty well; several of the items we ordered were missing ingredients described on the menu. The first order of Mickey Mouse came with no surimi at all. Which honestly wasn't that much disappointment once we actually tasted the surimi which was bland as hell. #5. Had to flag down two other servers for various things. Didnt seem like there was any rhyme or reason to table assignments and orange hair girl couldn't even remember what table to return a drink refill to. Overall, the atmosphere and vibe was just weird in addition to the mediocre food. I usually leave AYCE completely stuffed to the point where Im in pain and this time around I stopped ordering before I was even close to full. A waste of $80 for sure.

I try not to write excessively negative reviews but this was straight up the most disappointing sushi experience we've ever had and would have been better off getting a few rolls from Winco for a quarter of the price. Crossing Minato off the list and we will drive a little further next time to get better food...

My friends and I have come here several times and typically, things have been good. My previous visit the food was okay, service was only okay.

Today, the 10th of September, our service was saved by the one waitress who seemed to actually be doing her job. The waiter and another of the waitresses who totally disappeared after two interactions [and reappeared later] left our party waiting.

The male waiter was terrible. He came, took our friends order, and never returned to take mine or my other friends order. We had to finally get the other waitress to take our order. We eventually started to get our food and at one point he came to our table [after ignoring it many times], put a plate down and we asked what it was because he didn't announce the title and we were trying some different rolls.

Instead of answering he picks it up and walks away to another table. We were kind of flabbergasted by that. Eventually, we had almost every dish ordered, except one and we believe that may have been the way he had originally brought but took elsewhere. [Also, I thought in restaurant business if you put food / drink on someones elses table you didn't pick it up and go elsewhere with it].

Anyway, I finally was able to get the only busy, waitress to stop and help us figure things out. She also thankfully refilled my drink because that was neglected as well. While my main complaint is against two of the three staff that were supposed to be taking care of the tables, I also have to say the food was hit and miss. Some things tasted good and fresh whereas others had a weird taste. Like fish that was past its prime...

I might return. I might now, I am sure that is no loss to them. [shrug]. To the male waiter, do better. Don't ignore people...I literally watched another table follow our lead and grab items he never brought...