Sushi was decent, but it certainly won't set the world on fire. The salmon's color was a little off, but at least the hilariously shaped clam provided entertainment for us. I used to eat here a lot before I moved, and it's always been a solid place. It's not the best in town (Ichiban gladly fills that role), but it certainly gets the job done. The only thing is that the number of people here celebrating birthdays borders on the absurd. I'm happy for them, but when your meal is interrupted for the 7th time by a drum line of hispanic/asian men, you want to stab someone with a chopstick.
(3)
Jenelle F.
My husband and I come here regularly for the hibachi grill. We always choose the share option and find that it has always been enough for the both of us. Nice big portions. The only downside is that you don't get to choose your chef, so the taste is always different. The fried rice might be too salty or too bland, just depends on the chef. The indonesian chef is pretty good. His fried rice was delish, veggies were seasoned well and salmon was cooked right. Would recommend coming here, but like I said could be hit or miss.
(4)
Paul C.
I had a very good lunch today, and I thought I would share information (and a photo) about my nice Maki combination. The sushi combination #2 on the lunch menu consists of a Tuna roll, California roll, and Crunchy Shrimp roll. All three rolls were excellent. The rice was cooked perfectly and the ingredients were fresh and flavorful. The Tuna roll was my favorite of the three. It had nice slices of fresh ahi tuna that were bright and firm. The Crunchy Shrimp roll contained tempura shrimp and the light batter was a good complement. The California roll was rolled well. It contained cucumber, avocado, crab, and fresh orange roe. The wasabi had a uniquely spicy and horseradish-y flavor, and the pickled ginger was crisp and tasty. Everything was expertly prepared and precisely presented on a white plate. Sumo's has a fairly extensive lunch menu on the sushi side. In addition to three sushi combinations, there is a variety of soup choices and bento box options.
(4)
Lee C.
We arrived about 3:00PM on Saturday and the place was fairly empty. We were seated immediately. The service was okay but not stellar. Although not problematic, it took a little longer than expected to get water, get to order, to get food, get refills, etc. I ordered the sushi delux platter, which was okay but not stellar, once again. It seemed like the tuna wasn't quite as fresh as I would have liked. Like most sushi, it was overpriced. The child with us got the steak dinner, which was huge and quite a good deal. The cook came in and did a fantastic show of cooking. He was quite a conversationalist and funny. Very good experience with the cook. I think this place is overpriced.
(3)
Sarah H.
We chose sushi for my birthday dinner. Well we sat on the sushi side where you could see the men slicing and dicing. Decor was a little dissapointing for what i expected a nice sushi steak house to have but just more casual i suppose. I was a little overdressed but thankfully the business men kept me from being too out of place lol! My husband ordered fried rice with meat and made the mistake of puting some awful sauce on it that ruined his whole dish but he tried to suffer through. Still wasn't worth as much as they charged, but he agreed it was good before the sauce :) I ordered the spicy tuna roll and the eel roll. Basic rolls and they tasted about equivalent to Publix sushi. Not overly impressed with the rice preparation on the seaweed but I didn't get sick. Our waitress was busy and never filled up our waters and I had ordered a side salad that I never got, then when i was still hungry and didn't want to wait to order more sushi I told her to go ahead and bring it. The salad was a salad dressing soup with a splash of watered lettuce and they charged like 3 or 4 dollars for it! Dressing was the typical hibachi ginger dressing and was good, but not as a soup! I think we just went on an off day, but I don't really care to ever go back. I guess it satisfied my sushi crave although I've been to a lot of places that have way better specials and prices.
(2)
Kevin R.
Wide sushi selection, friendly staff a little expensive but high quality and
(4)
Marty S.
Good food but very noisy. Hard to have a conversation here over dinner.
(3)
Jakey P.
Ok first off, my wife and I have been coming to Sumo for a while now. This will be the last time I eat here, or at Kobe Steakhouse on 280 for the last time, since it is owned by the same person. We started off just like any meal. The service was good, so was the sushi. We were sitting with 5 other people, who we did not know. Once the chef came in, and started cooking, a woman came in really pissed off at him saying he was supposed to see her first. She was extremely mad at him, to the point where she was knocking on the table with every word she said. Well every person at the table was shocked she chastised the chef in front of the guest. The chef was clearly distraught, and had trouble cooking the orders. When she walked back by, my wife and another woman on the table told her that was unprofessional. She completely blasted my wife, and had a pissy attitude to my wife. We were at the point of leaving. Come to find out, she was the manager! And the owners sister! Everyone at the table was shocked at her attitude. Well on the way out, my wife was trying to get the number of the owner from the hostess, who was completely clueless. The manager / sister came over with a shit ass smile, saying she would take our information, and get him to call us back, BUT WOULD NOT GIVE US A Number. She also said the chef must have told us to say everything. The chef was scared to say anything to us about her! And when my wife confronted her, everyone on our table was complaining. Complete strangers telling her she was a shitty manager.
(1)
David B.
Ate on the hibachi side for New Years Eve. I ordered lobster and shrimp and my wife ordered filet and lobster with an order of sushi to start. The maguro was ok, but the eel tasted like it had been frozen. The "crab" was terrible (bad imitation crab should probably be listed as such). My wife ordered her steak medium rare and it was served medium well. Both of our lobsters were overcooked by a few minutes (as we were watching it happen). Not surprisingly, the lobster was was too tough and somehow had gristle added to it from the grill. Both my wife and I had shell in our lobster meat that I actually had to spit out.
(1)
Nicole B.
Pretty good! I had stopped going to Sumo years ago and I don't remember why. Went today for a company luncheon and the Food was very tasty. I had the Hibachi grilled salmon. It wasn't fancy. Cafeteria style plastic cups? Plastic water pitcher? And the Ginger salad dressing was gloppy. But other than that, the food was very tasty. I especially liked the Teriyaki Sauce on the salmon and the seeds. Service was brisk, efficient, and friendly enough for a casual lunch. I would go back. Especially for the price.
(3)
Winston C.
So I found myself in Birmingham AL on a Friday night on the way to the Alabama LSU game. Most of the restaurants I came across were chains and had at least an hour wait, Sumo had immediate availability so I was a little concerned, but being hungry I figured I would give it a shot. I sat on the hibachi side so I could enjoy dinner AND A SHOW, the reality of the experience is that it was like all of the other Japanese steak houses out there, same corny jokes and decent portions of food that doesn't really leave any type of lasting impression at $22 a plate. Would I go back? Probably not because again- it's Birmingham and I have no reason to go there.
(3)
Joey S.
My wife & I have just recently began trying sushi. This has quickly become our go-to place when we want a sushi fix. My wife's favorite roll is the crunchy shrimp roll. I've always been pleased with the freshness of their fish and love getting the tuna nigiri. We have yet to dine on the steak house side of the restaurant, but have ordered from the Hibachi menu and were impressed with the steak especially. It was more pleasantly seasoned (ie, much less sauce) than most Hibachi-style restaurants I've visited. We've been during a variety of times during the day and night (even during the Super Bowl) and have yet to have to wait for a seat in the sushi section, though there have been lines waiting for the steakhouse side.
(4)
Dubose C.
Sumo's restaurant is divided up into two sides: the "cook before your eyes" Japanese steak house side and a large, nice looking sushi bar. Having now tried both sides of the restaurant, I can honestly say that while the steak house side produced some of the best food of its type in town, while the sushi side is average at best. The steakhouse side provides a salad and soup with its meal with both being rather delicious, while menu choices include hibachi steak (what I recommend), chicken & shrimp and others. The standard culinary acrobatic act applies, however the chefs are rather personable and the meal proceeded at a good pace. The sake was a tad over priced at well over $10 for a large serving, however, it was of a better quality than I usually find in some bars downtown and it complimented the meal well. The sushi side of Sumo I found to be much less enjoyable on a previous trip. While their sushi isn't bad, I found that after acquiring a taste for Surin West's or Thailand's, this just couldn't compare. Overall, I highly recommend trying Sumo for their steakhouse fare, which is large in serving size and very delicious. Subsequently, I would say that if you're in the mood for sushi, try one of several other possibilities between Hoover and downtown Birmingham.
(3)
Rocky R.
Probably one of the better HIbachi grills in birmingham, simply because of the atmosphere. The food itself is good, but nothing particularly special in comparison to others.
(4)
ashraf a.
sumo is a perfect place to have family dinner at one of their hibachi style dinner table. its always fun to have the the chef's do tricks for you and engage you in the whole dinner making experience my favorite chef there is belo he is from Bali and he always makes the experience fun for me and my family.
(4)
Lucy T.
The hibachi grill is amazing. Need to come back weekly :)
(5)
Jennifer T.
We came to Sumo for dinner before a movie. There wasn't much of a crowd and we were seated right away. The best part of our entire experience was the guy who cooked our food. He was very pleasant and funny. The negatives about Sumo was the food. The noodles were Alfredo noodles, which confused me. The rice, noodles, and vegetables were burnt and left an unpleasant after taste. The steak was not very well seasoned; however, the shrimp was decent. I will never come back here.
(1)
B. H.
A friend and I went here for sushi, so we obviously sat at the sushi bar. Our waitress was not that great, but the other waitress in the section seemed to be helpful. The food was rather good, our sushi was made very quickly (perhaps too quickly considering the appetizer came after the sushi), but normally if you have a complaint about sushi its that it is too slow. But it was tasty and quick. The edamame was decent and the beef tataki was good (though perhaps a bit too thickly sliced for my preference). My problem comes with 1) our pretty unhelpful waitress, and more annoyingly 2) the hostess station. Please, please, PLEASE invest in a pager system or some other method other than having the entire crowd of people waiting in a very small space while the hostess yells out party names written in pencil on on a piece of paper. Not only does it force you to sit near the hostess while waiting and thus be in a very crowded and cramped small uncomfortable space with limited seating (which can be a big pain on weekends) but when sitting at the sushi bar, all you hear is SMITH PARTY OF 2 SMITH PARTY OF 2 over and over and over. Its unpleasant and I will have no desire to return to Sumo as long as this constant yelling takes place.
(3)
Madison J.
Despite other reviews, I had a great experience! We ate at the grill for dinner. The service was excellent, food was delicious! I couldn't eat it all so I had it for lunch the next day! Will go back.
(5)
Randy B.
Quick service very good food and entertaining!! We also had the sushi which was very good and our grandchildren went and thoroughly enjoyed it.
(4)
Ted K.
Some of the best sushi we have found in the Birmingham area. We used to go at least once a week when we lived there and go back every trip when visiting. The spicy Yaki Udon is incredible too!
Sorry, Store hours have not been updated. If you are the owner of this restaurants. Please update the store hours.
Specialities
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Classy Noise Level : Quiet Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Garrett P.
Sushi was decent, but it certainly won't set the world on fire. The salmon's color was a little off, but at least the hilariously shaped clam provided entertainment for us. I used to eat here a lot before I moved, and it's always been a solid place. It's not the best in town (Ichiban gladly fills that role), but it certainly gets the job done. The only thing is that the number of people here celebrating birthdays borders on the absurd. I'm happy for them, but when your meal is interrupted for the 7th time by a drum line of hispanic/asian men, you want to stab someone with a chopstick.
(3)Jenelle F.
My husband and I come here regularly for the hibachi grill. We always choose the share option and find that it has always been enough for the both of us. Nice big portions. The only downside is that you don't get to choose your chef, so the taste is always different. The fried rice might be too salty or too bland, just depends on the chef. The indonesian chef is pretty good. His fried rice was delish, veggies were seasoned well and salmon was cooked right. Would recommend coming here, but like I said could be hit or miss.
(4)Paul C.
I had a very good lunch today, and I thought I would share information (and a photo) about my nice Maki combination. The sushi combination #2 on the lunch menu consists of a Tuna roll, California roll, and Crunchy Shrimp roll. All three rolls were excellent. The rice was cooked perfectly and the ingredients were fresh and flavorful. The Tuna roll was my favorite of the three. It had nice slices of fresh ahi tuna that were bright and firm. The Crunchy Shrimp roll contained tempura shrimp and the light batter was a good complement. The California roll was rolled well. It contained cucumber, avocado, crab, and fresh orange roe. The wasabi had a uniquely spicy and horseradish-y flavor, and the pickled ginger was crisp and tasty. Everything was expertly prepared and precisely presented on a white plate. Sumo's has a fairly extensive lunch menu on the sushi side. In addition to three sushi combinations, there is a variety of soup choices and bento box options.
(4)Lee C.
We arrived about 3:00PM on Saturday and the place was fairly empty. We were seated immediately. The service was okay but not stellar. Although not problematic, it took a little longer than expected to get water, get to order, to get food, get refills, etc. I ordered the sushi delux platter, which was okay but not stellar, once again. It seemed like the tuna wasn't quite as fresh as I would have liked. Like most sushi, it was overpriced. The child with us got the steak dinner, which was huge and quite a good deal. The cook came in and did a fantastic show of cooking. He was quite a conversationalist and funny. Very good experience with the cook. I think this place is overpriced.
(3)Sarah H.
We chose sushi for my birthday dinner. Well we sat on the sushi side where you could see the men slicing and dicing. Decor was a little dissapointing for what i expected a nice sushi steak house to have but just more casual i suppose. I was a little overdressed but thankfully the business men kept me from being too out of place lol! My husband ordered fried rice with meat and made the mistake of puting some awful sauce on it that ruined his whole dish but he tried to suffer through. Still wasn't worth as much as they charged, but he agreed it was good before the sauce :) I ordered the spicy tuna roll and the eel roll. Basic rolls and they tasted about equivalent to Publix sushi. Not overly impressed with the rice preparation on the seaweed but I didn't get sick. Our waitress was busy and never filled up our waters and I had ordered a side salad that I never got, then when i was still hungry and didn't want to wait to order more sushi I told her to go ahead and bring it. The salad was a salad dressing soup with a splash of watered lettuce and they charged like 3 or 4 dollars for it! Dressing was the typical hibachi ginger dressing and was good, but not as a soup! I think we just went on an off day, but I don't really care to ever go back. I guess it satisfied my sushi crave although I've been to a lot of places that have way better specials and prices.
(2)Kevin R.
Wide sushi selection, friendly staff a little expensive but high quality and
(4)Marty S.
Good food but very noisy. Hard to have a conversation here over dinner.
(3)Jakey P.
Ok first off, my wife and I have been coming to Sumo for a while now. This will be the last time I eat here, or at Kobe Steakhouse on 280 for the last time, since it is owned by the same person. We started off just like any meal. The service was good, so was the sushi. We were sitting with 5 other people, who we did not know. Once the chef came in, and started cooking, a woman came in really pissed off at him saying he was supposed to see her first. She was extremely mad at him, to the point where she was knocking on the table with every word she said. Well every person at the table was shocked she chastised the chef in front of the guest. The chef was clearly distraught, and had trouble cooking the orders. When she walked back by, my wife and another woman on the table told her that was unprofessional. She completely blasted my wife, and had a pissy attitude to my wife. We were at the point of leaving. Come to find out, she was the manager! And the owners sister! Everyone at the table was shocked at her attitude. Well on the way out, my wife was trying to get the number of the owner from the hostess, who was completely clueless. The manager / sister came over with a shit ass smile, saying she would take our information, and get him to call us back, BUT WOULD NOT GIVE US A Number. She also said the chef must have told us to say everything. The chef was scared to say anything to us about her! And when my wife confronted her, everyone on our table was complaining. Complete strangers telling her she was a shitty manager.
(1)David B.
Ate on the hibachi side for New Years Eve. I ordered lobster and shrimp and my wife ordered filet and lobster with an order of sushi to start. The maguro was ok, but the eel tasted like it had been frozen. The "crab" was terrible (bad imitation crab should probably be listed as such). My wife ordered her steak medium rare and it was served medium well. Both of our lobsters were overcooked by a few minutes (as we were watching it happen). Not surprisingly, the lobster was was too tough and somehow had gristle added to it from the grill. Both my wife and I had shell in our lobster meat that I actually had to spit out.
(1)Nicole B.
Pretty good! I had stopped going to Sumo years ago and I don't remember why. Went today for a company luncheon and the Food was very tasty. I had the Hibachi grilled salmon. It wasn't fancy. Cafeteria style plastic cups? Plastic water pitcher? And the Ginger salad dressing was gloppy. But other than that, the food was very tasty. I especially liked the Teriyaki Sauce on the salmon and the seeds. Service was brisk, efficient, and friendly enough for a casual lunch. I would go back. Especially for the price.
(3)Winston C.
So I found myself in Birmingham AL on a Friday night on the way to the Alabama LSU game. Most of the restaurants I came across were chains and had at least an hour wait, Sumo had immediate availability so I was a little concerned, but being hungry I figured I would give it a shot. I sat on the hibachi side so I could enjoy dinner AND A SHOW, the reality of the experience is that it was like all of the other Japanese steak houses out there, same corny jokes and decent portions of food that doesn't really leave any type of lasting impression at $22 a plate. Would I go back? Probably not because again- it's Birmingham and I have no reason to go there.
(3)Joey S.
My wife & I have just recently began trying sushi. This has quickly become our go-to place when we want a sushi fix. My wife's favorite roll is the crunchy shrimp roll. I've always been pleased with the freshness of their fish and love getting the tuna nigiri. We have yet to dine on the steak house side of the restaurant, but have ordered from the Hibachi menu and were impressed with the steak especially. It was more pleasantly seasoned (ie, much less sauce) than most Hibachi-style restaurants I've visited. We've been during a variety of times during the day and night (even during the Super Bowl) and have yet to have to wait for a seat in the sushi section, though there have been lines waiting for the steakhouse side.
(4)Dubose C.
Sumo's restaurant is divided up into two sides: the "cook before your eyes" Japanese steak house side and a large, nice looking sushi bar. Having now tried both sides of the restaurant, I can honestly say that while the steak house side produced some of the best food of its type in town, while the sushi side is average at best. The steakhouse side provides a salad and soup with its meal with both being rather delicious, while menu choices include hibachi steak (what I recommend), chicken & shrimp and others. The standard culinary acrobatic act applies, however the chefs are rather personable and the meal proceeded at a good pace. The sake was a tad over priced at well over $10 for a large serving, however, it was of a better quality than I usually find in some bars downtown and it complimented the meal well. The sushi side of Sumo I found to be much less enjoyable on a previous trip. While their sushi isn't bad, I found that after acquiring a taste for Surin West's or Thailand's, this just couldn't compare. Overall, I highly recommend trying Sumo for their steakhouse fare, which is large in serving size and very delicious. Subsequently, I would say that if you're in the mood for sushi, try one of several other possibilities between Hoover and downtown Birmingham.
(3)Rocky R.
Probably one of the better HIbachi grills in birmingham, simply because of the atmosphere. The food itself is good, but nothing particularly special in comparison to others.
(4)ashraf a.
sumo is a perfect place to have family dinner at one of their hibachi style dinner table. its always fun to have the the chef's do tricks for you and engage you in the whole dinner making experience my favorite chef there is belo he is from Bali and he always makes the experience fun for me and my family.
(4)Lucy T.
The hibachi grill is amazing. Need to come back weekly :)
(5)Jennifer T.
We came to Sumo for dinner before a movie. There wasn't much of a crowd and we were seated right away. The best part of our entire experience was the guy who cooked our food. He was very pleasant and funny. The negatives about Sumo was the food. The noodles were Alfredo noodles, which confused me. The rice, noodles, and vegetables were burnt and left an unpleasant after taste. The steak was not very well seasoned; however, the shrimp was decent. I will never come back here.
(1)B. H.
A friend and I went here for sushi, so we obviously sat at the sushi bar. Our waitress was not that great, but the other waitress in the section seemed to be helpful. The food was rather good, our sushi was made very quickly (perhaps too quickly considering the appetizer came after the sushi), but normally if you have a complaint about sushi its that it is too slow. But it was tasty and quick. The edamame was decent and the beef tataki was good (though perhaps a bit too thickly sliced for my preference). My problem comes with 1) our pretty unhelpful waitress, and more annoyingly 2) the hostess station. Please, please, PLEASE invest in a pager system or some other method other than having the entire crowd of people waiting in a very small space while the hostess yells out party names written in pencil on on a piece of paper. Not only does it force you to sit near the hostess while waiting and thus be in a very crowded and cramped small uncomfortable space with limited seating (which can be a big pain on weekends) but when sitting at the sushi bar, all you hear is SMITH PARTY OF 2 SMITH PARTY OF 2 over and over and over. Its unpleasant and I will have no desire to return to Sumo as long as this constant yelling takes place.
(3)Madison J.
Despite other reviews, I had a great experience! We ate at the grill for dinner. The service was excellent, food was delicious! I couldn't eat it all so I had it for lunch the next day! Will go back.
(5)Randy B.
Quick service very good food and entertaining!! We also had the sushi which was very good and our grandchildren went and thoroughly enjoyed it.
(4)Ted K.
Some of the best sushi we have found in the Birmingham area. We used to go at least once a week when we lived there and go back every trip when visiting. The spicy Yaki Udon is incredible too!
(5)