Sumo Sushi & Seafood — Restaurant in Rochester

My boyfriend and I went here for Valentine’s Day 2021. We called a few days before because their website says they take reservations, but we were told over the phone that they will only be doing walk-ins. Weird for such a busy holiday but we didn’t mind. We arrived to sumo sushi around 5:30 and we were told it would be a 45 minute wait. We put our name down and went across the street for some drinks. About an hour went by with no call. We went back to sumo and asked how much longer, they said 15-20 minutes. We waited in the car for another hour. We waited 2 HOURS to be seated. If we had known the wait was going to be that long, we would’ve gladly went somewhere else to celebrate the evening. Instead, they underestimated wait times and made us wait much longer than we thought. I understand restaurants can’t guarantee wait times, but if you’re unsure, you should overestimate instead. As we finally enjoyed our meal, we noticed many other couples complaining about wait times and service. Also, it seemed like there were no managers working. There were only three employees working the entire dining room: one answering calls and taking walk-ins, one doing carry-out, and only ONE SERVER for all six tables. On valentine’s day there should have been at LEAST two servers, preferably three for better service. Our server took forever to bring us anything since he had so many tables to deal with at once. The food was great, which is why I’m giving Sumo Sushi one star. Everything else was a huge disappointment and our entire night was wasted waiting for a table we thought would be ready in 45 minutes. We won’t be going here again. You can find sushi just as good at places that know how to properly staff...

Take this review as a one-time limited experience and may not reflect the restaurant in its entirety. TL;DR - I wont be back by my own choice.

First time here with some family. Went to sumo because of the glowing referral about their vegetarian sushi because 2 of our group of 5 cant eat fish. I got a few fish rolls and they got a few of the veggie rolls. And this is going to sound weird but some of the flavors were good but the food was horrible. My fish and crab rolls were mostly rice. They also had very little flavor. While raw fish has its own natural flavor and can lend balance and its own flavors, most of sumo's rolls are either baked, broiled or fried and they didnt put seasoning, roe, sauce or really anything other than dry cooked fish on the rolls I got. But the rice had a nice refreshing taste that was really ALL i tasted on my end. But.... in stark contrast but also the same issue in my opinion was the veggie rolls. They came in a bowl because it was drowned and sitting in a pool of sauce, and the flavor of the sauce was really good. But i couldnt taste anything but the sauce and actually had to look up what was supposed to be in it to try and search for those tastes. My understanding of sushi is its about art and balance to create a symphony of flavors from each ingredient for each whole bite you take. For my experience, it was an orchestra with 1 really loud trumpet player. But I wont go full karen and demand that anyone change anything like I am somehow more important than others. Its just not my preference is all. I still wish Sumo all the success and hopefully they are still around in a year or so and maybe give them another try (and just not get any of those 7...

I have a gluten allergy. When I stopped in I specifically asked if they could make a specific roll "gluten free." The response was yes. Well, after I received my order I had panko crumbs and sauce that appears to be sauce that has gluten in it. I double checked my receipt and noticed that there were no special notes for gluten free preparation. I went back inside and inquired about the ingredients. The chef pulled out his phone to attempt to find the ingredients... After about five minutes the host came back and said the crumbs were GF (which I was not totally convinced). I didn't even ask any questions about the batter or the sauce because at that point, I was not confident that the dish did not have gluten in it. I ended up taking the rolls home and giving them away. Gluten allergies (or any food allergies) can be quite serious to some. Allergic reactions to some could mean the difference between life and death. As it relates to gluten and individuals with celiac... Ingesting such ingredients could reak havoc on the body. I would just suggest that if you have any allergies, that you really make sure the host takes notes, and include those notes on the bill. This way, the chef who is preparing the meal will know ahead of time. The staff was nice, so I did have to give some stars. I will return again. However, this time I will make sure that I do a few follow ups before...