Katara Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Wellesley

I was hesitant to try this place. I very rarely give sushi restaurants a chance if they are below 4 stars just due to wanting to avoid food poisoning but something about this place had me feeling things would be better than 3.9 stars. Looking through the window there was a big lunch crowd, the decor and atmosphere looked lovely and the menu was exciting to me.

I’m happy to give this place 5 stars. They are way better than a 3.9 .

I was given a complimentary appetizer while I waited for my main course. The staff was kind, the decor was modern and welcoming. They had no problems with my request to add something to my meal and made it look easy. I would certainly come back here.

If I could give my thoughts on how this place could go above and beyond I would urge them to remain humble. I get the sense the staff feels the 3.9 rating is not justified which unfortunately will mean there’s potential they will miss opportunities to become the best of the best.

Service wasn’t as buttoned up as you’d hope for the price point. I’d recommend they ensure there is always someone front of the house checking in. I was left without service for large gaps of time with the whole staff back in the kitchen. This should be a priority to address.

I’ve seen others comment on cleanliness. I don’t think this is a concern in a good safety way at all but if they want to keep the 5 stars coming I’d recommend their sushi station be less cluttered. Removing the toaster ovens from the customers view and a

Here’s to hoping more 5 stars follow from here and that they continue to seek improvement. I’d urge customers not to be quite so harsh on small businesses like this. Provide feedback that is realistic and allows them to grow. Bombing them with a 1 star should be reserved for truly...

I was a customer for a while but I am not planning on coming back. At this particular location, there is a gross negligence to covid safety and no appreciation for customers. There is a very small foyer where one suppose to pick up food, which gets crowded because the pick-up process is not organized. As a result one is faced with a choice either go inside into a crowd of 3-4 in the area of a size of an elevator or wait outside guessing if your order is ready. When I pointed this to a hostess and suggested how to improve the process, I was told that this way it is better for her. Great! Never mind customers! All one have to do is in the first message after ordering food indicate that another message will be sent out when the order is ready and ask customers to come in when such message is received. It's really not that difficult if one only cares. Apparently, this restaurant does not. Oh well, it is not the only sushi...

Based on reviews I was excited to try this place for sushi. We got take out. Disappointing: the sake in the middle of my role was not fresh, and there were flakes of crunch inside the roll here and there, despite my alerting them about gluten allergy, and cross-contamination. The hand roll I ordered specially was made with crunch throughout. (Very expensive dog food, but the fur kids seemed to enjoy it!) For good measure I followed my few bites with anti-pathogens. Ick. Two stars because the level of care on taking my order was great, and they were fair on call back about the hand roll, and took it off the bill. Also the cooked meal a family member had was delicious:...