Sushi Ai — Restaurant in St. Louis

My husband and I went here on our first date, and we frequent this spot about 3-4 times a year. The all-you-can-eat sushi is always a great deal and the food is pretty good (love the veggie tempura and rainbow roll). However the last few times we’ve been at this specific location, the service has been pretty rough. Today we went around 3pm and it was a bit busier than usual for the time of day, so we understood it took awhile for the server to get to us. When our food arrived, it all came at once- usually the mini app plates come first- and we were missing three things. We informed our server who nodded but he just … never came back, not to bring our missing plates, not to ask if we needed anything, not even to fill our empty drinks or clear the table. Our table was right up front and we watched him walk past us no less than 7-8 times and didn’t once so much as tilt his head in our direction. After sitting there waiting for another 20 minutes (watching him clear an empty table instead of help the three tables of people waiting on him) I had to walk up to him and say hey we gotta go, can we please get some boxes and our check. He obliged, but then never returned to take our payment so we paid up front. I felt like a jerk having to get his attention that way, but we had an antsy toddler. Even with no training, it seems obvious you should check on the actual people tipping you before cleaning an empty table when there’s no one waiting to be seated and other clean tables already available anyway. Would love to see the service improve because we used to really love...

2023 updated review:

I moved back to STL a few years ago and I'm sad to say that Sushi Ai has completely lost its charm. The laid back atmosphere, kind waitstaff, and hip decor have been replaced by to-go windows covered in graffiti, 20 minute wait times to be addressed at said window, and rushed and irritated staff whether you come for dine-in or carryout. Further, an ex I was dating in 2021 got a wicked case of food poisoning from this place.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a fantastic value. Nowadays, however, Sushi Ai is only worth its (dirt cheap) menu prices. If you want cheap Sushi takeout, this is the place, no doubt. This is no longer a cute place to take a new date. Grab and go, if you can help it.

(Also, their To Go counter? Don't expect anyone to actually show up, lest you wait 20+ minutes. Give it 2 or 3 minutes as a courtesy, then, when nobody shows up, just go inside). Original 2018 review: This was my favorite restaurant in all of saint louis during my years there. A date found a groupon for them and I was hooked from the first bite. Prices, food, and service were always phenomenal (and this location is arguably the best of all the sushi ais in the area). Going here all the time even inspired me to learn how to make sushi myself.

This restaurant chain and this location...

I should've done the buffet style. When the quality of the sushi is only mediocre, you have to do the buffet. That's the only reason I would come here again.

Service was great, while the venue appeared very run-down. I might have to try one of their other locations because this review may have only been specific to their downtown location. And as a California girl, I neeeeed to find my sushi fix.

It seems as though their rolls are hit or miss.. It was too much of a gamble to choose only a few. While the salmon (sake) sashimi was very good, along with its sauce that I was skeptical about at first, their spicy combo roll was the best of the three rolls we chose, I almost had to spit out the St Louis style roll. It had cream cheese and honey in it, but imagine that served room temperature, if not warmer than that.

Speaking of room temperature, they served what could've been a very refreshing and tasty Strawberry long island iced tea at room tempertature as well. The ingredients were good, but they should've been refrigerated. Not pleasant.

Finally, the fried green tea ice cream was good in theory, but there was more batter than ice cream and the texture was honestly like a microwaved tempura (not crispy, a little soggy...