21 Sushi House Yucaipa — Restaurant in Yucaipa

My family and I have been going to 21 Sushi House in Calimesa for years and was thrilled to hear they opened a second location In Yucaipa. We decided to try it out to see if there is any significant differences. The first thing we noticed when we walked in was that this new location has a bigger, more spacious dinning area. It was also relatively busy but we were welcomed by the friendly staff and quickly seated. Our waitress kindly explained that this new location has the same base menu as their original location but there is an added bonus which is that their new items menu is included into their ayce (unlike the Calimesa location). Their ayce is the same price as their original place, about $35 per person.

Some of my personal favorite rolls we ordered was the mango tango and the TNT from their new special items. Both have a delicious balance between sweet and savory. The TNT is one of the most unique rolls I’ve ordered because the nori and rice is fried together to create a little boat like base while there’s a generous amount of tuna on top. The serving sizes here also seem to be a lot more, we were shocked by the amount of seaweed salad that was given and the miso soup was filled to the brim.

There’s only two main things I was unhappy about our experience. I was disappointed that the spicy tuna and the spicy scallops wasn’t spicy at all. And midway through our meal, an odd, terrible smell wafted through the air. It kind of smelled like burnt plastic and there seemed to be no air filtration system. It took a while before the odor went away but that made my stomach uncomfortable.

Overall, my experience was good, I honestly prefer the Calimesa location more but mainly for nostalgic reasons. If you are interested in trying their new special rolls without breaking a budget, I would definitely recommend the Yucaipa location unless you rather pay...

The food was really good. We ordered an assortment of things and didn't do the all-you-can-eat sushi. Everything tasted fresh. Despite the review I just read before mine, we thought the miso soup was really good and had the perfect amount of saltiness. The food was garnished nicely and had good attention to detail. If I was rating on food alone, I would give five stars to the chefs. My biggest gripe was the smell of the cleaning products in the place and their closing routine. From the moment we walked in, we couldn't shake the smell of the cleaning products. You want a restaurant to be clean, but you certainly don't want to be smelling cleaning products as you eat. They were SO potent. Scent affects the taste of food and I could smell them the whole time I was eating. The smell lingered in my clothes when I returned home, no joke. Part of the reason the smell was so strong was that the entire staff started expeditiously cleaning the place half an hour before closing time; chairs were on tables, floors were being mopped , things were being removed from our table... I get it, they want to go home, but it seemed like management stops paying them at closing time sharp. The sushi chefs left the second the place closed. Our server left 5 minutes after us. The cleaning up while we were eating was really unseemly and made us feel like we had to rush through our meal even though we should have had a half an hour to finish. We are...

Overall it's nice. The only real issue was that the Chicken Fried Rice wasn't as flavorful as the one in Calimesa. They also had a young waitress who REALLY emphasized the fact you needed to FINISH ALL the sushi you ordered or you would get charged. She then repeated it again later going as far as saying that included the rice. I been to this one and the Calimesa one before and I understand the policy. But the way she said it made me feel a bit panicked like they were going to really just hover around the plates or something and charge me for leaving anything behind. IDK it was a bit weird, I get it but I never been approached that way before at any buffet or all you can eat including when I've been here.

Sushi wise they were OK to good. Maybe the panic that set in took away from the flavor but that's going to cost them a star.

The rest of the staff was really nice and made me feel comfortable but it's one of those "too late" situations. I'll update if I go back to this location and if they improve. For now I would say if you can go to the Calimesa location do that but this one does OK for itself...