Kyoka Sushi Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Round Rock

It's finally open! We stopped in to check if they were open yesterday and it was their first official day open (7/11)! We were able to find a seat right away for the two of us right at lunchtime (12PM). The restaurant was fairly full at the time and we had to wait to get our drinks and food orders in as the servers were quite busy with the lunch crowd. Our food took a bit of time to arrive and 3/4 of the sushi rolls we ordered off the lunch AYCE menu came at the same time on separate plates. By the time the server came back around we'd nearly finished all 4 rolls and placed our next order and had to wait around for those to be made (they also all came out at the same time but this time on the same larger platter). We were not given dishes for soy sauce (bottles are on the table - both regular and low sodium). Wasabi and ginger are on each of the sushi serving plates.

Our appetizer came out piping hot and very fresh. I've never had such good and fresh crab Rangoons but be warned they didn't have much crab inside and tasted more like fried cheesecake desserts than crab Rangoons. If you're not a crab fan and like savory/sweet dishes you'll love them but if you expect to taste the crab you will be disappointed.

We ordered a Japanese soda (the trick to opening the bottle is to take the plastic cap off and then break it into two pieces by pressing the middle off the outside so you can use that piece to push on the top of the bottle). I wish the server had helped us open the bottle because the instructions on the bottle weren't making sense and we had to watch another table open theirs to understand how to open the soda.

The sushi was plentiful, delicious, and fresh. We ordered a total of 8 special rolls: Tiger Eye, Volcano, Austin Roll, Dragon Roll, Shaggy Dog, Rainbow Roll, Orange Dragon, and Crazy California.

Our favorite was the Dragon roll - so good! The spicy tuna wasn't spicy and was a little bland in flavor.

The price for the AYCE is amazing for such good quality sushi ($19.95 for...

FOOD was alright for the price. Sashimi was not fresh, rolls were aight. Nothing really stand out, the only dish I had that was decently good was Teriyaki Shrimp.

SERVICE was extremely, extremely lacking and this coming from an ex-server/host stand point. Restaurant was basically empty when I stepped in (probably about 4-5 tables) and they still had me wait at the waiting area for 10-15 minutes because they could not find the host to settle me down to a table. As a server, it is best to keep track of who turn it is, even when you're not directly in charge of them. My first impression was they lack the ability to work independently. You can sit the guest down first to whichever table / area designated to the server, have the guest look at the menu, get their drink. That would give the server enough time to figure out who was turn that was. Even when my server was pretty nice, service was slow and she forgot my drink while having the time to chat with her coworker. I left a tip still because I'm understand the effort it takes, but the service was NOT WORTH IT. My experience with the host was limited, but i was expecting more of a welcoming atmosphere. Also, not sure if it was me mishearing, so please take this with a grain of salt but I heard them saying about the tip as I walked out of the restaurant. Number one rule is NEVER talk about that matters in front of your guests, you're ruining the restaurant's reputation as well as your own income. I did give a 15% gratuity on my bill because the service I received was not worth a typical 20%. Overall, I am not coming back. This was probably one of the worst experience I've had eating...

Took the family out for all-you-can-eat sushi and decided to try Kyota. We've been to several AYCE sushi spots, so we have a pretty good sense of what makes a place stand out.

Service: The service was excellent—super responsive and attentive throughout the meal.

Atmosphere: The space is open and roomy, but it was very loud. It was hard to carry on a conversation, and at times we had trouble hearing our server.

Food: Mixed reviews from the family overall. There were only two items I wouldn’t order again: the 911 roll and the peppered tuna. The 911 roll had an unpleasant fish paste that didn’t sit well with any of us, and the peppered tuna was drenched in a sweet sauce that overpowered the fish.

On the bright side, several dishes were excellent. The Volcano Roll, Shaggy Dog, hibachi steak, and shrimp were all delicious. My wife especially enjoyed the chicken fried rice and everything else she ordered.

Value: Great pricing—under $32 per AYCE, which is solid for an AYCE sushi experience.

Overall: Definitely worth trying. While not everything hit the mark, there were enough standout dishes and good service to make it a place...