Hiro Sushi — Restaurant in Scottsdale

Hiro Sushi is top notch, but not in the way that you'd expect. Hiro's does not come in as a "high end" sushi restaurant, touting omakases and bespoke combo flavors. Rather, Hiro Sushi is more of an everyday place where you can visit casually with friends and family to enjoy just great sushi. Again, nothing about this joint is snooty or haughty. It really is a home-style sushi place where the chefs put their heart into serving you a great piece of nigiri and tasty rolls.

The fish is fresh and thickly cut. The rolls are innovative, but more importantly, balanced. The side dishes like the miso-marinated seabass are not done in a stuck up way but as if your grandma would've cooked it for a hearty meal. Definitely tasty. And you can feel the care that has gone into the preparation.

When you remove the formalities imposed by the structure of making, serving and consuming sushi, it really comes down to the love that has gone into the entire flow. And Hiro's absolutely gets this right.

Now is this the best sushi I have ever tasted? Absolutely not. Yes, they are great. But not phenomenal. But then again, you do not judge your mom's food against a Michelin star meal, yet you love it more and lean on it every day. That is what Hiro Sushi nails. It is a very weird way of saying that you find comfort in their food but that is what it is. There is love and comfort in their sushi's and cooking.

Service was a bit spotty as they were super busy and some of the servers seemed overwhelmed. But again, that's okay. Life's not perfect. And most of the times, that's the way it should be.

If you are in Scottsdale, Hiro Sushi should be an absolute destination, more frequently than not....

I came here due to all the wonderful things I had heard about this little sushi joint. Let me say that I was extremely let down by not only the service but the sushi as well. I honestly regret not going to the sushi joint across the street.

When I walked in I had to approach the hostess who was to busy on her phone to see me standing there. After getting seated at the bar it took a moment before I was acknowledged by any of the staff, this restaurant is far to small for that to be acceptable. One I was finally approached the hostess was nice but not very informative or suggestive to help me with highlighting their most delicious rolls.

I ordered the Chirashi and a tuna roll. The tuna roll was warm (even the tuna on the inside) this was weird and it made me a little hesitant to eat. As far as taste goes it was very similar to any other tuna roll you'd get. The Chirashi (sashimi combo item) was actually well presented, however they charged me extra for requesting no squid or octopus.

Although the presentation was appealing I was not impressed with the quality of the fish. It was not cool but room temperature fish. It was also cut sloppily and for the 19 dollars they charged me I expected more fish. I only had 8 pieces! It was mostly sushi rice and tobiko.

I would not suggest this place nor will I be returning. There are far better sushi restaurants. Ones where the chefs will talk to you and make your business...

Really excellent food. The seared sashimi salad was fantastic. .

Our waitress was excellent, and a real kick. Everything else was so good that I wanted to try the tempura. I was a little disappointed because it wasn't any better then the tempura that you find in all the other Japanese restaurants. The disappointment stemmed from the very high expectation I had from the other foods we had eaten. I will probably order it again, because it was still quite good. The only thing that I won't repeat was the sliced pork. It was good, but seemed a little out of place in the context of all the other food that we were eating.

The place is hard to find, basically it's in the chompies / sprouts parking lot. It's in the Southeast corner, and not visible from the street. Park as close to the corner as you can get, and then start walking. Walk into the corner, and you'll find a bunch of offices back there that you didn't know existed. Bear left, and then go left again. You'll see the restaurant on your right.

A quick update. We went in for a second visit, and were not nearly as excited about the menu as we were the first time. Our waitress wasn't there, and the food wasn't as good. The very interesting entrees seemed more contrived this time.

We probably won't go back for a...