Hooked On Sushi San Marcos — Restaurant in San Marcos

It's 3am and I'm realizing I'm going to be in for a round of "Tag" with my toilet for the next few hours. 🙄

The biggest issue with this place seems to be poor management. The hostess was about as sharp as a doorknob. I'm not sure what function she served since she basically told us to seat ourselves. Didn't see her helping to-go food or bussing tables when there wasn't anybody at the door waiting... and she looked at me like I was insane when I asked for a second glass for my wife & I to share a beer (since our server only brought 1 even though we told her we were sharing). The restaurant is about average sized for fast casual these days... about 42 seats (among a dozen or so 2-tops & 4-tops). There only seemed to be one actual server on the floor - and another woman who was kinda double-dutying serving, expo & to-gos. This was a Friday night, so maybe someone called out, but one additional employee would have made a world of difference. Probably why I'm sitting on the pot as I type this... sanitation. 1) The area where the cooks put the food up is very close to a service cart containing dining room & to-go supplies. Everybody's sorta got their hands on everything and I didn't see a whole lot of hand washing going on. 2) More specifically, our server was also bussing tables into a service cart with tubs on it - handling used/dirty dishes and then immediately picking up food ready for the dining room - again, no hand washing in-between. Food took quite a while to come out... appetizers about 15+ minutes and dinner (mostly sushi) another 20+ minutes after that. For a small restaurant - and sushi restaurant at that - seemed pretty slow. When our food finally did come out, we were missing a roll and an order of nigiri. We waited a little bit before reminding the expo/server lady who assured us it would be right out. Took another 15+ minutes to get those last two items. (No apology, no acknowledgement from a manager, no adjustment to the bill.) Food quality was average. Portions were actually decent sized and the menu had a good selection of rolls (that sounded good), but after we got them... they were just kinda "Meh". Even w spectacular service, the quality is a bit sub-par for what they're charging. (We were a family of 4 - about $204 before tip.) Atmosphere is more generic and almost a fast- casual vibe. Despite the unsanitary food handling, the dining room has a contemporary look and appeared otherwise clean. Nothing that screams "sushi restaurant" (other than several monitors rotating different pictures of menu items)... but nothing Japanese themed, really.

Overall, doubt I'll ever return...

My experience happened back in November of 2024. 1 haven't been back since and have happily visited Loveboat Sushi in San Marcos instead. My boyfriend and I stopped in for dinner as this was my favorite place to eat. We were told to sit anywhere where there was a place setting. We sat near the door but found it to be too cold. We moved to a 6 top table because it was farthest away from the door, but soon after we were told we couldn't sit there as they needed to save those tables for larger parties. Fair enough. I asked to be seated at the 4 top next to the 6 top and the server said no because the table didn't have the place setting. With no intent to argue with the server we sat at a high top table to remedy the situation. The server was short handed so we took this into account. She came back over later prior to taking our order and said that we could move to the 4 top table I requested to sit at earlier. This made me happy as my back was hurting and I wanted to sit in the booth style seat. When we attempted to sit there the other server that had just shown up for the evening told us that we couldn't sit there and sat us at another table close to the door. Perplexed at the situation we moved again. We sat there for another 15-20 minutes and watched as both servers ignored us. We saw people that came in after us get greeted and have their orders taken. At this point it was clear that the two servers were not in communication with each other and we wouldn't be getting served anytime soon. We got up and left. The servers didn't notice our departure until my boyfriend went to tell them that we were upset that we had not been acknowledged for even a simple drink order and that we would be leaving. The servers took no responsibility and said that they both thought the other server was taking care of us. I would recommend that you train your staff to treat all guests as their table... even if it's not their table. For now, I refuse to visit this establishment as this experience has left a pretty rotten impression regardless of how much I...

1 Star - Disappointing and Uncomfortable Experience at Hooked on Sushi - My husband and I stopped by Hooked on Sushi on San Marcos Blvd for dinner after our workout, hoping for a warm, cozy meal—especially since it was pouring rain outside.

Unfortunately, it was anything but pleasant. When we walked in, the back door was wide open, letting in a flood of cold, damp air. We were the only people in the restaurant, which should’ve been a red flag. I politely asked the woman at the counter if we could close the door since it was freezing inside. She snapped at me—yes, snapped—that they couldn’t because of “ventilation.” I was baffled. There are huge vents overhead, so I asked our server if those were broken since the place felt like a refrigerator. She explained they have to keep the door open because past customers complained about a smell. If your ventilation is that bad, maybe it’s time to fix it instead of punishing your current customers with an arctic dining room. We didn’t even make it to our drinks. The cold was unbearable, and we had to leave before our order arrived. To top it off, the woman up front started shooting me dirty looks as we grabbed our things—like I was the problem for not wanting to shiver through my sushi.

It was unprofessional, unwelcoming, and honestly just uncomfortable. We ended up next door at a pizza shop run by two brothers from Italy, where they were warm and friendly—a complete night-and-day difference. They welcomed us with open arms, and we instantly felt at home. We won’t be back to Hooked on Sushi. If you’re looking for a warm meal and decent service, skip this place and head to the pizza...