Sugo Hand Roll Bar — Restaurant in Seattle

Sugo.

Who doesn’t enjoy sushi, right? If that’s you, you can still come and drink or watch me eat sushi and drink. Maybe?

On an October weekday I stopped in, it's fine to go solo, always. Sugo hoists a small array of seats so a reservation is recommended. Yes, it gets tight, spicy and saucy as nori to wasabi or elbows with ginger. Love me some ginger and soy! Once, I wanna see a giant ball of shaved ginger with soy on a sushi menu! Just saying... Yummers, so damn good, healthy too!

Hey, what a treat to attain, receive and witnessed their service just the other evening. Between an elegantly and humble brigade of youthful professionals engaged in swanky sushiness, dates or dinner with sis, you get to watch the talented sushi rollers and their unique take and give.

Sugo sees fit to run a tight ship and certainly the most formative note of my experience dining and drinking at Sugo is how well the staff work as a team. Teamwork doesn’t make any dream work. Not at all! Whomever 'twas that said such, I refute their suggestion immediately and instantaneously, lol!

My experience tells me that really great teamwork make everyone's dreams work and on queue enters the substitute sushi savior Tito to back up the stellar Jonny who is the fixture, the main man that everyone stares at for eight a day at least. He made a positive and friendly chef and Tito the head chef came in to help him out on a night off. All smiles and bottles twirling and crushing the lists of majestic this and that is what they did so well despite the lean machine. Sugo was a croutching tiger, no hidden diner. Woo!

LoL! That was pretty great, you’re welcome! I’ve more, there’s time.

Try the sushi, it's great! Spicy tuna roll...there is something smokey in their and that's one hot sauce... try it, it's delish and hot!

Speaking of hot, I LOVE that I got to come to try the creations of her legendary coordinates & latitudes, the drinks of master mix~libationist, thee Ms. Lei! (wait for applause) Her fruity sensations & imaginative cocktails know no boundries and she doesn't bend or merky placate the top shelf or brand awareness! She works harder, outsmarter and weirder, thank the gods! Her game is real, this cocktail machine and boba babe is a magician and vanishes all inhibition while magically...she leaves no renditions, her appeal is... she’s original, generous, her staff love her, she's courageous and reinventive...so you get to try her rainbow spectrums that honor the lists and your lips, how gracious! I thank you, Ms. Lei, I loved your approach, thoughtfulness and fun in every sip or gulp- exquisite balance! I wish the same for anyone who hasn't gone to your restaurant. I say so with a vibrant heart due your endless smiles, sunny breams and rays, our pot of gold. Your staff are a credit to your leadership, their hearts large and on sleeves, wouldn't you agree?

My favorite cocktail has her 'Space Dance' of joto yuzu sake + joy sake + yuzu + lavender + butterfly pea flower. It is an attention getter and colorful, briming with her 'Rainbow', she paints what looks, smells and tastes like a melted My Little Pony but is so freakin' thirst quenching, puckery and just as well structured as the large aperitif, cafe stem she serves it with. This drink also sparkles and matched my eyes, though her team and her leadership are the real stars in my sky... or her painted rainbow.

Sugo, thank you for a wonderful time. I truly deserve your kindness and I love your togetherness, says what really matters, doesn't it? I value you, your welcome and your best is yet to come.

"Keep...

TLDR: Great quality fish and delicious food, but disappointing experience

I am normally not one for reviews, but I felt so strongly about my experience here that I wanted to share.

I recently dined at Sugo Hand Roll Bar with my boyfriend and while the food was delicious, I left feeling a bit disappointed due to a series of small issues that impacted my overall experience.

Upon entering the restaurant around 1pm there was no wait and we were promptly greeted by a staff member who asked if we preferred to sit inside or at the bar. When we asked if we were allowed to bring in our drinks on the patio, the staff seemed unsure and had to consult the owner. Although the owner was kind enough to let us sit outside with our drinks, her hesitant tone made us feel slightly unwelcome from the start.

Once seated on the patio, we noticed that the table was wobbly. We assumed it might've just been a bad table, so my boyfriend and I moved over to another table nearby. Unfortunately both tables we tried were wobbly, which was quite bothersome and affected our enjoyment of the meal. We had to adjust the table ourselves as we didn't feel comfortable asking the staff for assistance.

When we received the menu, it didn't match what we had seen on Yelp. We were expecting to be able to choose individual hand rolls, but the menu only offered pre-selected sets. We later learned that individual rolls were only available at the bar inside, which was frustrating as this wasn't communicated to us upon arrival. This would have influenced our choice of seating and we would've tossed our drinks.

Despite this, we decided to order a set of 3 hand rolls to share. However, when we placed our order, the waitress responded with "okay, we'll start with that for now," which made us feel a little bit judged in a way and we unsure if we were expected to order more. It was an off hand comment and I know the waitress did not mean anything by it, but it made us feel a bit uncomfortable. We were only in Seattle for a couple days so we wanted to try as many things as we could. We wanted to split something so that we would be able to try other foods later on. Had we been able to order individual hand rolls instead of the sets, I think we would've ordered more though.

Once the food came out, the waitress noticed we didn't have plates to share. So she brought plates and napkins out. But thennnn we realized we didn't get any untensils to eat with. I understand that they're handrolls, which was probably why we weren't given chopsticks, but we needed chopsticks for the ginger and wasabi. Sitting in the patio, made it hard to get the staffs attention from inside. So I had to walk in and ask for the utensils myself.

Regarding the food itself, the quality of the sushi was great, and the flavors were delicious. However, the plastic wrapping around the nori to keep it fresh, turned out to be more of a hassle than it was worth. It made it difficult to remove the wrapper without the filling falling out, requiring us to use chopsticks to hold the fish in place.

In summary, while the food and fish quality were excellent, the experience ruined by inattention to the little details. From the initial welcome to the wobbly tables, the limited menu options, and the lack of utensils, these issues detracted from an otherwise...

I can confidently say Sugo is one of my favorite restaurants after numerous amazing experiences I had with their food and their star manager, Sharon!

My first experience of Sugo was with my now-boyfriend last summer. It was my last night in Seattle, and he offered to treat me with some amazing hand rolls at Sugo. He wasn't lying when he said that! The 5 roll set, the drinks, and the service were top-notch and we had an amazing experience overall. I remember Sharon asking me if we were dating, but I laughed it off because we were just friends at the time. Thanks to Sugo, I was able to wrap up my summer in Seattle and fly back home with a full and happy belly.

My second experience was with my boyfriend shortly after we started dating. While I visited Seattle, we decided to revisit the places we went as friends now as a couple! We knew we had to visit Sugo since we actually started dating. We had Sharon as our server again and told her our story - she was so excited for us! The hand rolls were amazing as always, the drinks were absolute fire, and the service was 10/10. This second visit was when I knew Sugo was way up there in my top restaurants in Seattle.

Most recently, my boyfriend and I visited Sugo to celebrate National Girlfriend Day on August. We grabbed our go-to rolls (the eel, crispy shrimp, and king salmon are life changers), got drinks yet again and were impressed by the unwavering top-notch service the Sugo team provided us. Sugo never disappoints me with their food and service and takes up a special place in my heart thanks to all the fun memories. A special shout-out to Sharon once again for making every visit so memorable and fun. Sugo wouldn't be so high up there in my ranking if it wasn't for her! We can't wait to visit again next month for our one year...