Sachiko Sushi — Restaurant in Tucson

So, so good. My boyfriend and I are self-proclaimed sushi snobs as he grew up in Japan and I’ve been working at sushi restaurants for almost my whole life. I think it’s safe to say that we will be becoming Sachiko Sushi regulars.

It’s a smaller space but we absolutely loved the authentic vibe of the restaurant with all the Japanese trinkets and menus on the wall. We went and had dinner on a Sunday night and it was packed so there was a bit of a wait. We opted for the sushi bar instead of a table because we like watching the sushi chefs do their thing, and service was very quick and friendly. We’re not the biggest roll fans so we were really pleased to find out they had a big selection of nigiri and sashimi available. The Kobe beef nigiri special was absolutely fantastic, by the way.

I judge sushi restaurants by the way they pack their nigiri— and they did such an incredible job at that. The perfect ratio of rice and fish. The sushi chefs at Sachiko are no doubt, professionals in their field. We didn’t order any rolls so I can’t comment on that but if you’re looking for some the freshest sushi in town, it’s going to be at Sachiko.

Now I don’t leave reviews at all, for any experience whether it be good or bad, but I felt compelled to say something after what happened during our visit there. While we were eating at the sushi bar, a family of 8 came in and asked to be seated. The server helping asked if they had made a reservation, they answered no so they were told it was going to be a 15 min-30 min wait. They said okay and prompted to wait outside. About 20 minutes pass, parties of 2s and 3s are being seated and the lady of the larger group comes in to complain, saying they’ve been waiting “forever”, how “they’ve been watching everyone else get seated but them”, and “that the servers could just put two tables together so they can sit down”. My boyfriend defends the staff right away, commenting they should’ve made a reservation. She barks back at him saying the restaurant doesn’t take reservations (even though the server asked if they had made one from the very beginning and they replied no), yells at the server some more, and walks out. She comes back in and angrily declares she doesn’t need a table anymore. I had just finished my meal and thanked the sushi chef, but this woman felt so attacked; so taken aback that she didn’t get what she wanted right away and someone had the audacity to call her out for it that she thought I had said something insulting to her as well. She got in my boyfriend and I’s face, screaming “excuse me?!” and ran out of the restaurant in a huff before we could say or do anything to her. I don’t know if she’ll leave a review talking about the tantrum she had that everyone in the restaurant witnessed but if you happen to read hers, just know this is what really happened and the staff at this busy restaurant did everything to accommodate her and her 8-person family who demanded to be seated on a Sunday night with no prior reservation. Embarrassing. But otherwise, Sachiko is amazing with quality food and...

The SLOWEST, MOST DISMISSIVE, ABRUPT, UNCIVIL, PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE customer service in ALLLLLLLL of Tucson by the WAITRESSES. The Latina woman working here who takes and delivers your drink order is sweet as pie and busts her tail. Only to have some of the WAITRESSES here, be aggressive, rude and condescending to her.

The Sushi is good but their portions have become smaller since the closing of their Valencia location.

My family and I have made several trips here. Today, we went at 5 p.m and while this is considered "rush hour" there were PLENTY of open tables and nobody waiting. My family and I were seated for quite some time and we had 4 or 5 WAITRESSES pass by our table several times, be right next to our table, etc and none of these waitresses acknowledged us. We had our menus pushed to the side, looking around and obviously ready to order. When one of these waitresses was right next to our table, I said "Excuse me" and she did nothing but walk away. 2 or 3 minutes later another waitress was next to our table and this time, I said a bit more loudly "Excuse me" and this waitress kept on moving, none of these waitresses acknowledge us being there at any time. They could have, at some point, at least said "I'll be right with you" and this would have helped but my family and I got none of this.

Upon my second time saying "Excuse me" while the waitress behaved as if she did not hear me, the closely placed tables seated near us, did hear me. The different tables all looked at me and I said "This happens EVERY time that we come here. Am I right?" they all smile, laugh and nod their head in agreement with many of the people saying "Yes!". The table right next to us said "You're right! We were JUST asking ourselves; "Why did we come here AGAIN?..".. After another couple of minutes we got up and left.

I have other stories that I could share but this was todays. The good sushi is what keeps us coming back. SOMETIMES we get a pleasant waitress and my family and I cross our fingers that this will happen again. My guess is this is MANY other patrons hope as well, by the overwhelming agreement that I received from ALL of the patrons around us.

OBVIOUSLY staffing is an issue here. So WHY not hire more staff while also being sure to hire KIND and attentive staff. There are PLENTY of people out here looking for a job. People with a service history who KNOW that there is GOOD and EASY money to be made when you are simply kind and attentive AND make eye contact like the lovely Latina who takes our drink order. Give her a shot. I'll bet her tips would look MUCH greater than what the current wait staff get because like many, we tip the wait staff depending on how well their service to us is.

Please Sachiko, do better. If you think that you're doing okay now, I promise that you'd be doing SO much better if you cleaned house and placed some GOOD and attentive...

I visited for the first time to order take out after seeing positive reviews. Staff had some diversity so I hoped they were friendly—but I was wrong, they were very rude. I waited for 10min without being acknowledged. I politely asked a server if I can place an order to go and she gave me a look with attitude and said “you can go ask yourself”. I will not be back. It’s so painful to be treated with such disgust. Most ppl won’t get it and will try to minimize it since they don’t experience it but all I can say is bias and prejudice . I saw another woman of color come in to order and same thing, was not being acknowledged for sometime then a few white couples and families and white passing Latino families came and were pretty quickly attended to and not during periods of a lull.

After seeing ppl who look opposite of me being treated with kindness even when they themselves were rude to staff and I was not.

I paid $123 for the food. The crab and snapper rolls were tasty, the takoyaki was disappointing. Not that bias justifies any food but it was not worth it. I can tell staff worked hard and I appreciate that but I don’t appreciate racism.

The place was decently busy, not slammed and they had many moments were there was a lull. Again I cannot think of any valid reasons for this treatment unless I was being disrespectful which I was not. I was patient and polite did not deserve any of that. I wanted to give the place a try that is the only reason I stayed and spend my money. Never again. This is the first review I have ever made, I’m not the type to complain but this was not something I could ignore. If your experience has been the opposite of mine—that’s fine and I’m glad, I’m just giving my experience and never want anyone feeling or experiencing what I did regardless of your background. Thank you for reading...