SUKO Japanese Cuisine — Restaurant in San Antonio

🍣 Tiny but Mighty – Sushi Worth the Wait! 🍣

This little Japanese gem might be small in size, but it’s BIG on flavor and even bigger on vibe. The sushi? Chef’s kiss. The atmosphere? Cozy with a splash of Tokyo-cool. But heads up—they could definitely use one or two extra sets of hands out on the floor. Our server was sweet, but bless her—she was in a full-on episode of Survivor: Sushi Edition. We got forgotten a few times like the last dumpling in the steamer. Failed to bring plates for the appetizers, extra wasabi, and soy sauce you must ask for with your order. Gave a slight delay to full enjoyment.

BUT… the food absolutely made up for it. We ordered the chef specials and the 6-bowl tasting adventure (yes, adventure—it felt like a culinary mystery box challenge in the best way). Every dish was ridiculously fresh, flavorful, and plated like art. And don’t get me started on the spider roll—I would fight someone over the last piece. That was my MVP of the night! Most if not all the dishes really didn’t need the added ginger or soy sauce wasabi that our server didn’t bring timely. So that was okay in the grand scheme of the night.

Also, major props to the owner for checking in on us—it added a warm, personal touch that reminded us we weren’t actually invisible. Oh—and fresh wasabi? YES PLEASE. None of that neon-green paste imposter.

All in all, it’s the kind of spot you forgive the chaos for, because the food slaps that hard. Just pack a little patience and an appetite, and you’ll leave...

What a joke of a restaurant! We made reservations, but they had us only down for 2 instead of 4 people (they were notified that we were celebrating my brother's birthday and my parents' anniversary). They said they could not accommodate us (despite plenty of seating available) because the food has to be prepared ahead of time (first red flag that this would not be a good omakase place as omakase is NOT prepared ahead of time - that's the whole point of it being fresh as possible!). I've been to many omakases before, including Japan, and this is NO authentic omakase place. 2nd red flag is that the sushi chefs don't prepare the food in front of you. 3rd red flag is they serve other stuff besides sushi on their regular menu. Anyway, we asked if we could just eat off the regular sushi menu since they couldn't accommodate us for the omakase and they said they would not charge us the cancellation fee. After sitting down for a while, they came to our table and said they could not wave the fee. This really pissed us off so we just walked out and will spend our money elsewhere. Poor customer service and lack of understanding. I've already argued to my cc company and got refunded for the cancellation fee. This is no way to gain customers (it wasn't like we weren't going to spend money there anyway). I asked to talk to the manager, but they were not available but have no desire to go back because (a) of the way we were treated and (b) it does not appear to be an authentic or good...

TLDR: superb Japanese NYC restaurant vibe in San Antonio. Atmosphere ✅ food ✅ service ✅

My Recommendations: Kitchen: A5 Wagyu Ishiyaki Sushi: Barracuda (it’s one of their seasonal fish so do check with the server for the availability), O’Toro, and Kimmedai

Detailed review: I’m visiting from NYC and I can say they bring the upscale NYC Japanese restaurant vibe to San Antonio. The food, ambience, and service are all exceptional and feels like I’m in NYC restaurants. My favorites are the A5 Wagyu Ishiyaki and Wagyu Pocket (for kitchen dishes) and for sushi (nigiri), I love the Barracuda, o’toro, Kimmedai (golden eye snapper) - these 3 items are must try items as they do dry-aged system. My friend and I ordered ala carte for the sushi and they all tasted like what you’d get when you go for an omakase (they have it too but you must reserve in advance. Besides the 3 fish above, we also ordered the Uni (so delish!), Masunosuke (King Salmon - I love Salmon), Hotate (scallop), and Madai (Japanese Sea bream). For cocktails, we had their Mango Crushed cocktail and Pink Beach Mocktail. As someone who isn’t a big fan of tequila, their Mango Crushed (that has tequila) is really good and I can drink it perfectly.

In all honesty, it’s worth visiting Suko Japanese on your way to downtown San Antonio. You’ll leave with a big smile and happy tummy! Cannot wait to come back again when I’m...