Umiya Sushi — Restaurant in San Antonio

I’ve come here about 10 or more times since their grand opening and have always loved it and had a wonderful time. You can choose to order a la carte but the buffet is where you get the most bang for your buck. This is what I’ve always gotten.

Appetizers are served 2 per order but of course you can always order more (this means they’ll bring out two at a time, for example 2 gyoza on a plate each time you order gyoza). Desserts are the same deal. Oftentimes I just try to catch my server anytime I see them and put in another order before it even comes out.

Sushi rolls are served to you depending on how many you order at once. 1 roll, you’ll get a full rolls worth, 2 rolls, then it’s divided on one plate, and so on. It’s really best to order only 2 rolls per person at a time unless you’re looking to sample.

You can also freely customize any roll you order at no extra cost. Ask for something added to it, taken off, cooked differently, switch a meat, etc. they will do it because all of the rolls are freshly hand prepared to order. I love that.

I’ve tried all of the small plates and sashimi/nigiri and they serve plentiful and it’s well worth the money even if this is all you get. One criticism, the fried rice is just that, fried rice, nothing else added to it.

I’ve always enjoyed coming here and found that no matter how busy it is they were pretty speedy in sending out food, the hardest part was catching your server to order more- which explains why they are always hiring new servers. HOWEVER at my most recent visit, it was during lunch and hardly even close to how busy I’ve seen it get at dinner times on a Saturday (usually there would be a wait) and get service was SO slow. Not just from the server but from the kitchen. We spent an hour and a half there and were only able to order twice, when usually we order 5 or 6 times before leaving. A lot of time was spent waiting on the kitchen for our dishes to come out and a couple of times our dishes were given to the wrong table which delayed our experience even more. Some of our orders never even came out and we had to reorder them not once but twice. One of my orders even came out wrong (a Hawaii roll with spicy Mayo, which it usually never has), which was shocking, perhaps they have new sushi chefs! It was very disorganized and slow at our last visit and I was extremely disappointed. Usually they are on the ball with bringing food out and I’m able to have a good time, but they let me down. Also this last time the music was trash when it’s usually 80s. Boo.

Every 6 months or so the price increases by $1 (as of November ‘23 lunch is $20.95 and dinner is $30.95)

I hope they are not going down in quality but up in prices because that was my experience last time ! I would still recommend...

When I arrived with my party, we were first asked to sign in on the tablet, as we waited we were asked if we signed in properly and that if I put my name correctly on the tablet. They couldn't find my party on their waitlist.

After we were seated we had the waitress hand us our menus, they took our drink orders and food orders. Our drinks took a while to get to our table, it was a full house I suppose so I gave it a pass. From the moment we sat down it took 30 minutes to get out a white rice, miso soup, and noodles. We still were missing the rest of the order. 15 minutes after that, one of our members got their sashimi order and sushi rolls finally. We waited for the rest of the food, 10 minutes later we are asked, "are you ready for another round?", we were still waiting for the first round of food to arrive. 4 of us were without our order an hour into being seated at the table. They resent the order after checking in on us. The order didn't fully come out the 2nd time again. The third time we asked for an update, our order came out. The raw fish was room temperature, not even cold.

There was a large birthday table next to us, our waitress was also attending that table it seemed. The table kept distracting her from my table and putting in orders when we were trying to put in our orders. The waitress was overwhelmed obviously and it was costing my party heavily on the service end of our visit. If you have a waitress/waiter attending a big party, have other waiters help out their section. The person bringing out the food was different every time it seemed. I don't know who was our dedicated waiter/waitress.

The food was also brought out to the table at different times, as in a waiter/waitress would carry around a huge amount of food and you'd think it's all for your table. No, only the rice and miso were yours. The rest of the food on there is for another table. When our food got lost we were told it was misplaced when being carried out or put on another tab on accident. This wouldn't happen if you simply brought out each "round" of food together to the same table instead of scrambling to just take things out of the kitchen counter to different tables by different waiting staff.

Overall, unorganized waiting area, room temperature raw fish, unorganized delivery/transition of food from the kitchen to the table. Poor service quality. The food came out and the ice on my drink was melted by then.

I cannot recommend this place to a family or any group of people planning to go out to eat together. Maybe my experience would be different if it was just myself and a plus one, less people to mess up...

Update: It means a great deal to know that my feedback was heard and taken seriously. Your response reflects a level of integrity and accountability that’s rare—and deeply appreciated. I understand that mistakes can happen, but it’s how they’re handled that makes all the difference. Your professionalism and genuine concern have completely shifted my impression of Umiya.

Because of the way you’ve handled this, I’ll be updating my original 2-star review to a 5-star one. You’ve shown what true hospitality looks like, and I want others to know that this is a place where feedback is valued and respected.

Inital Review: I’ve dined at Umiya several times before and usually enjoy the experience. I tend to be decisive with my orders and ready to close out when the time comes, so I appreciate efficient service. On this visit, I was seated in Amara's section. She greeted us warmly and was sweet at the start, which set a positive tone.

However, as the evening progressed and the restaurant got busier, I noticed a shift. Despite placing two orders and being ready to settle up, Amara passed by our table multiple times to assist others, even after I handed her my card to process payment. I received a notification that the payment had gone through, but she continued to walk past our table without returning my card or acknowledging the transaction.

When I politely asked if she still had my card, her response was an eye-roll followed by, “I don’t like to be yelled at.” That comment caught me off guard. I had never raised my voice—I simply waved her down as needed. I brought this to the manager’s attention, emphasizing that I’m not the type of guest to leave a $0 tip based on service. The manager shared that tipping should reflect the customer’s experience, which I understand.

Ultimately, I left a 10% tip—far below what I typically give. I’m not sure if Amara was having an off day, but I want to be clear: I did not yell, nor would I ever treat waitstaff disrespectfully. Most servers would welcome the chance to close out a tab, especially during a busy shift. I hope this feedback is taken constructively, as I genuinely enjoy Umiya and want every visit to reflect the great service I’ve...