Sushi Daruma — Restaurant in Salinas

I've visited Sushi Daruma three times in the past month, hoping each time would be better than the last. Unfortunately, my experiences have been consistently disappointing.

On my first visit, despite it being a slow Tuesday night, it took a whopping 20 minutes just to get water on the table. My group and I waited patiently, only to find the same issue on a Thursday visit. Again, the restaurant wasn't busy, yet we waited another 20 minutes for drinks before leaving out of frustration.

Thinking perhaps the third time would be the charm, we returned on a busy Saturday evening. Surprisingly, drinks were being served promptly to other tables. We placed our order, but only one drink arrived after 10 minutes for our group of four. We never got our other drinks and didn't even bother to inform the server since this was always an issue the previous times. The food took an additional 45 minutes to arrive, and when it did, the baked and deep-fried rolls were cold.

When we politely informed our waitress about the issue, we were told nothing could be done, and we would still be charged for the food. This lack of accountability and poor customer service is unacceptable.

Overall, I cannot recommend Sushi Daruma. There are plenty of other sushi spots in town that offer a welcoming atmosphere, exceptional customer service, and most importantly, better quality sushi. Save yourself the disappointment and...

Visiting my parents during Thanksgiving and decided to try this new sushi place that opened since I’d been gone. It’s a small place, and they have limited seating, they did a good job getting us sat, their were 6 of us in our group. They had constant traffic of to go orders and people looking for a table. Obviously, a popular choice amongst locals. We ordered some appetizers. Fried tofu which was generous in portion and delicious, and fried calamari which was cooked perfect, just enough crunch but not tough. We had miso soup which was perfect, hot and flavorful! We all had sushi rolls and they were good, the wasabi was not as spicy as I like and tasted a bit weak like it was watered down. The rolls themselves were good, but just didn’t have the intensity in flavor I enjoy. The service was very slow, but not bad. Our server was attentive to our needs, but the asks took awhile and the food did as well. I would go back, it was good, and the prices were reasonable and maybe it was an off night and as a newer place they may just be needing to find their...

I've gone in the past and have good experiences but unfortunately today sucked! :( Someone was smoking outside the restaurant so the inside smelled like smoke unfortunately. I tried the sashimi and saba shioyaki. I wasn't a fan of the sashimi, the shioyaki was okay but while eating I got a huge fish bone I ended up choking, I ran to the restroom and threw up. This was close to closing time at 2:30 so the workers had no concern, they just wanted me out of the restaurant. I came out with my eyes watering and they just looked at me and said have a good day. It was a bummer, I would've complained then and there but they were wrapping up to close. Definitely won't be returning unfortunately. My other experiences have been good with tempura and teriyaki chicken but please be careful if you...