So, I had not eaten live sushi until this place. It was it that I had turned my nose up at it, the fact is, I did not Know it existed in the USA. Live sweet shrimp was truly a treat as was the strawberry desert. Truly a new experience and one I will go back for EVERY time I end up in Irvine, CA. Chef Brian was awesome.
(5)
Isaac Arace S.
We come here every Friday. The food and atmosphere is fantastic. Brian, John, Nicole, Melanie and Tommy are very hospitable. The dishes that Brian and John prepare are over the top. My daughter has become addicted to sushi because of Maki's. Must try there : Hardcore Omakase Yellow tail Carpaccio Crunch roll/ hand roll (Shrimp) There prices are very fare.
(5)
Peter T.
Came here once just to try it. Had to wait almost 45 minutes to be seated even though there were obviously open tables. When I asked the hostess why we haven't sat yet, she apologetically said there weren't enough servers to cover all the tables. When we finally sat, the sushi was ok but the a bit overpriced. I'm glad I tried the place but probably won't be going back.
(2)
Charlie J.
This is far most the best sushi place for lunch I have ever eaten and I be mad at you sushi places in this is very clean courteous service very nice friendly and a lot of fortune a lot of portion I'll be coming back here I wish I could come back every day for lunch but twice a week I will be definitely I give this four thumbs up he's here
(5)
Emeri Q.
Aweosme spot for a late night dinner scene, came in and was greeted right away by a friendly face. we ordered seafood nachos which was very fulfilling (6pcs),Monkey Brain roll,crispy rice and calamari. Our waiter hooked us up with free miso soup too..yay for free stuff! Service was a 5out 5 for sure and food was a 4 because we really didn't order any of their special but with the food that was served to us tonight there is no doubt that there hardcore omasake must be super good. Will definitely come back to this spot if I'm ever around Newport area.
(4)
Dave F.
Bomb sushi get the omakasi and sit at the sushi bar you will leave stuffed uni rice is fire
(5)
Darrell L.
Ate here with a large group. We were seated on the patio which faces the street in a busy intersection. It was very noisy and half the people were sneezing because of the pollen/dust. Would suggest not sitting on the patio unless you want extra "street flavor" in your food. Decent food at great prices for lunch so would definitely recommended it for that. Have a mix of both japanese and korean food since it's korean owned. Paid the bill for the entire group of 10 people. Fast forward 3 weeks, realized the restaurant double charged me. Called the first day at a non-busy time (after 2:30pm) to be courteous. No one answered. Looks like they don't even pick up phones between their lunch/dinner break. Called again the next day at 11 to tell them they double booked my card. Lady refused to help me and told me to call again another day???? I said, it was urgent. She said call again after 2:30pm. I told her I did that yesterday and no one answered. And then she hung up on me. Let's hope the next time I try again, I get the double charge reversed. I hate it when restaurants are not willing to help you especially when it's their fault they double charged.
(1)
Ericka T.
Came for the first time here with my family and I loved everything about this place. Everything was so delicious and everyone was so friendly. I will definitely be a regular!!!!
(5)
James Y.
WOW !!!! This place is AWESOME. My family and I eat a lot of sushi and this place is way up there on my list. Everything was fresh and it was very delicious, the service was top notch. We had and excellent time and enjoyed the food. I will be a customer here for good. I can really recommend this place.
(5)
Diane V.
One of my favorite sushi places! I think I was so used to my ghetto sushi joints and now I have seen the light. Come here for fresh sashimi and great roll combinations.
(5)
Danny And Yvette B.
The food was decent this time. Not the best sushi I had but not too bad, if you have time ... Actually been here a couple years ago before for drinks and dinner and this is why I thought of it for lunch cause I was in the area. The food took forever to come out! But I am going to only base my review on the food. =)
(3)
Gino M.
A restaurant is only as good as its owner. I host a new TV show and a national sushi event called Sushi Smackdown. Often when I do an event at a new restaurant, I cross my fingers hoping they do a good job for my crowd. Each restaurant has to serve my fans 17 dishes in four categories. Appetizers rolls, sashimi and desserts. My fans rate each dish as it comes out 1 to 5 stars. The goal is to find the restaurants best in every category. Sushi Smackdown is a really fun sushi party that opens up the locals eyes to each restaurants menu. I had the pleasure of hosting our first event at Maki Zushi last week. My fans were extremely happy as was I. Food and service absolutely fantastic. I recommend Maki to all my sushi fans, not just because of its great sushi, but because of the owner Bryan. He cares about his customers and runs his restaurant with heart.
(5)
Alice C.
good luck getting your lunch in within 1 hour at maki zushi, because it ain't gonna happen. been here several times for lunch specials (which are pretty overpriced, btw) and the service is slow, and the food takes even slower to come out. i don't think there is anyway to spend less than $10 for lunch here, everything is easily $15 with tax and tip. now onto the food. the sushi here are sloppily presented and small. the curry rice, teriyaki beef, mac salad, and salad are all meh. all in all, there are better sushi joints in the neighborhood for lunch.
(2)
Bota A.
Decent food, nice interior, not so good service. Interior 5* - I really like their interior, restaurant has booths, long sushi bar and some tables (for big groups they can easily connect tables) Service 2*- When we arrived at the parking lot, our favorite waitress was leaving (can't remember her name). So there were 3 servers- an old lady, one girl and a guy with thick glasses. I kinda felt like they were ignoring us because we had to call them to get our water glasses refilled or ask them to our dirty dishes away. None of those 3 servers stopped by our table to ask if we were doing okay. Wish the other girl was there tho! Food: 5*- for all our rolls and sushi. Salmon sushi, toro and unagi all were so good. They melted in our mouth. 5*- nabeyaki udon 4*- calamari salad- it's crunchy goodness, one star down because they put too much salad dressing. 1*- Chicken Don- my friend ordered it but she didn't even have her second bite, because there was chunks of undercooked onions the dish wasn't as good as the last time we had it. 1*- Prime rib dinner plate- the beef was dry and hard. It didn't taste anything like prime rib! So overall this place gets 3.5 stars. We would be back hoping for better, but of course it's not our first choice of Japanese restaurant anymore.
(3)
Matt H.
What happened? I was gone for two weeks and all of a sudden, I walk in and can't recognize any of the staff. Even Yoshi is gone. Oh well, at least the fish is still there. After all, that's why I go to a sushi restaurant. A bad chef can turn good fish into bad sushi, but the best chef around can't do much if the fish is bad. So the chef has changed, but the fish is still the king here. The menu prices dropped as well, at least for the more common nigiri items. The sake happy hour deal changed as well, and I think the small bottles are a little overpriced, but my wife and I had about what we normally order in a night and the bill was actually lower than I was used to paying, a very pleasant surprise. So sorry Yoshi, I am sad to see you go, but Maki is still retaining it's place as my go-to sushi joint. Especially that they are open Saturday afternoon again.
(5)
Rikku C.
I brought my friends to this place because they craved sushi and this was #3 in OC according to the OC Registers. Went in around 6:30pm and were sat immediately for there was only one other table. I am not like most other people who would say "oh geez, it's dinner time and no ones here! Something's up!" But that should've been a sign. We ordered the Calamari appetizer while we waited for a friend to arrive. This order took about 10 mins. That's fine. It was tasteless. Here, you order by a piece of paper but no pen. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if that's for the servers or for us. But I'm pretty sure it's now. So hey, how about a pen or pencil? At last we ordered a kyuri roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a regular sashimi plate. I thought I would make it easy and write on the top corner "Sashimi-Reg" and we confirmed it with our waiter. Tasteless Calamari. Kyuri Roll was ok, I've had it elsewhere. Spicy Tuna Roll was decent. That one had green onions, Masago, Spicy Tuna mix and (probably) Mayo on top of the rolls. We failed to see how this restaurant was rated #3. So we were waiting on the sashimi to prove us wrong and blow our minds... And boy were we right! This place should not be #3. We ate slowly, waiting for the sashimi that our waiter never put in the POS. We thought maybe the sushi chefs were just taking forever on it. There were two sushi chefs and a waiter and a waitress. There was my table of 3 and another table of 1. I shouldn't say the service was bad but I won't say our waiter was great or even good. He came by to give us waters, our food, asked if were ok. He should've double checked if we got all our orders. So we naively waited. But they are just watching TV. ALL OF THEM. See, the three of us have worked in restaurants for more than at least 5 years each. We KNOW what it's like. But we don't know how you can mess up when you only have ONE table. We got our check through the waitress. Lovely smile. NOT. What the heck? Did I slash your car tire or something? If you cannot provide decent service, go elsewhere! This is not for you! Lastly, I usually don't care for this at all. But I thought some of you fellow helpers should know: this is a Korean restaurant. I don't mind Koreans or fusions but we were looking for full on Japanese restaurant. In conclusion, I would rather eat frozen seafood than come back here.
(1)
Sergio K.
I simply stopped by because I needed to grab something quick before a meeting which was in the area. For me sushi is a bit of a religion. As soon as I walked in, I knew that this was not just another strip-mall sushi place. The fish tank with truly the freshest specials possible, which are still swimming when you order them. Live Sweet-Shrimp and Live-Scallop (ok seen other places) but what about Live Uni, Live Abalone and even Live Lobster. Salmon, Yellow-Tail and Blue-Fin Bellies. Just a great place for superior sushi and sashimi. I guess they do have rolls, ramen and other style dishes, but frankly why bother?
(5)
David G.
Great Sushi! Good atmosphere, the place is always busy. Service is above average and the menu has a good selection, place is awesome...
(4)
Marie AK C.
Been here quite a few times, but haven't been back since the last time -- there was a new, younger chef who seemed to hold back on the portions (hence the 4-stars). This review is based on my previous dining experiences. First of all, Maki Zushi is hidden amongst industrial buildings and a public storage. Surprisingly their sushi and dishes were better than some sushi joints in the heart of swanky Beverly Hills. It's just as expensive as some of those swanky sushi joints! So be prepared to spend some $$$ here. Lots of rolls and dishes to choose from. My faves are sashimi salad, baked salmon roll, chirashi, oysters and my all time fave: Cilantro & tuna lovers roll (this is so yummy and sadly this is the dish the last chef scaled back on). I experienced live uni here for the first time in my life. It was fresh and fantastic! Overall, good food and service. Be ready to drop some dough$ Pros: Unique selection of sushi and rolls. Never had to wait to be seated. Ample parking. Cons: Sushi chefs are not consistent with their portions. Pricey!
(4)
Michael L.
I come here at least once a month. Awesome service and sushi. I brought my whole family here including kids and grandparents for Omakase and it was insane!
(5)
Jodi N.
Sat at the bar and enjoyed watching the chefs create some pretty awesome rolls Everything was so yummy and super fresh. Awesome customer service. Happy hour from 5 to 6 Monday through Friday!! I think it may be my new favorite place for sushi
(4)
Jerry-LegalShield F.
My Salmon bento box was awesome! Service was very good as well. If you're local in town or just driving by you gotta try this hardcore sushi!!!
(5)
Meeyoung C.
Everything was delicious! Very fresh. Some Korean fusion - which we love. Our waitress was fantastic, patient, helpful and on top of everything. The live uni was incredible. Kids had bento boxes - more food than we expected. The ramen noodles were chewy, and the spicy broth is SPICY and flavorful. Soft shell crabs - yum! And at the end of our sashimi platter, they fried our shrimp heads for us - it is a must to try! We enjoyed everything.
(5)
Mike M.
Stopped in for our first visit last night. We will be back. 5 stars across the board for a nice atmosphere, good service and top rate sushi. Like many sushi eaters there are standard items I'll try at a new place. Ikura, uni, yellowtail and spanish mackerel. All were top rate, but especially the mackerel which was by far the best I've ever had. (The fresh salmon roe was a very close second) And the way it's presented is quite unique as well. After I'd devoured the two pieces (check my pic for a view of this masterfully prepared item) I was presented with what I imagine were the fried remains of the fish after the two pieces had been sliced off the sides. This was a fabulous touch and very tasty. Very happy that we finally tried this establishment and look forward to many return visits.
(5)
Patricia M.
Horrible service. It's not worth going back even for free food. We waited over 30 minutes to be seated then another 20 minutes before we were told they would take our order. The managers friends came in after us and got seated and served before they even took our order. The manager handled the situation very poorly. Would not recommend it.
(1)
Jordan K.
Great service and great food! My favorite sushi place in Tustin by far.
(5)
Aida C.
This place is good not the best Sushi I have tasted but it passes for a quick lunch
(3)
Jed K.
I am torn about this place. On the one hand this place is great fun, coming here with my friend who knows the sushi chef, Yoshi. We had happy hour beers and a lot of fun talking about chef knives and he made us uni shooters, real wasabe, grilled tuna belly, seared anago, BIG TORO and generally we had a blast. On the other hand I came here as a "regular" customer with my parents and found that my sushi snob of a dad didn't like the place, the presentation and quality was unremarkable, and my mom freaked out when the shrimp on the chirashi started moving when she poked it. The toro was decent, but at $34 dollars nearly anything should be decent. The rolls were decent as well but otherwise not something I would recommend. I still like the Tuna, Avocado, Cilantro rolls but overall I no longer think of Maki Zushi as that "one great sushi restaurant" that I always thought it was. Maybe I was better off not knowing. Ignorance is bliss.
(3)
Tina L.
This is by far my favorite sushi place. We heard about it through a good friend who is obsessed with quality sushi. If you come, sit at the sushi bar in front of Yoshi. I like that he educates you on the fish and how he's preparing it. Also, I've never had real wasabi until I came here. You have to ask for it and the wasabi they give you is from the actual plant. The toro melts in your mouth and it leaves you wanting more. We also had the lobster sashimi... I suggest that you get it only on special occasions. Bc their lobster ranges from $50 - $75. I can't wait to go again... :)
(5)
Becky C.
Rolls were good, nothing special but definitely good! Service was a little disjointed, overall it was fine!
(3)
Pierce T.
I came in to try the rolls here and boy were they good. The server was extra polite and catered to our needs. The only thing that was mediocre was the udon. It was a little bland. The albacore toro is to die for!! Must try this place if you are a sushi addict.
(4)
Manha M.
This place is a decent sushi restaurant for the area. Most of the rolls are rather uncreative, but if you are looking for traditional sushi this is a great place. Most of their "special" rolls are simply a CA roll topped with different fish and special sauces--nothing too crazy! Their jumbo sea scallops are fantastic as is the Albacore Special roll. If you enjoy traditional sushi this is a great place. The service is nothing amazing, unless you sit at the bar with Yoshi.
(4)
Momo K.
Came here to get some decent sushi and left somewhat satisfied. I would have liked to try more variety of sushi, but apparently, it turns out, everything we ordered was just a CALIFORNIA ROLL topped with something! The BSCCR (Baked Scallop, Crabmeat, Avocado, Crunch, Masago, Cucumber w/ Eel Sauce) looked amazing and had a nice mountain of baked scallops on it. However, it was drenched in too much eel sauce that you couldn't really taste the other flavors and there was no sign of "crunch" in it. The Baked Salmon Roll (Salmon, Crabmeat, Avocado, Cucumber w/ Eel Sauce) was rather nice though. The salmon was soft and had a light taste to the palate, but definately enough flavor. This time the eel sauce was minimal and accompanied the rest of the sushi in a balanced manner. The regular California Roll tasted a bit different than other california rolls I've had before (say, benihanas or what not) but it tasted good. Not too much avocado (which I actually appreciated, because I don't like huge chunks of avocado that take up the whole inner roll) and just enough crab meat blend inside. Even the sesame seeds topped along the rice stood out yet added a nice flavor to the rolls. My favorite of the night was the Garlic Albacore Roll (Seared Albacore, Crabmeat, Avocado, Cucumber, Onion w/ Garlic Sesame Sauce). It was like none other sushi roll I've tasted before and was packed with a sweet onion flavor as well as the added garlic kick. The albacore tasted really fresh as well. The only thing I can gripe about is the service--not the best service tonight. Eventhough it wasn't overly busy, not once did the waiter or the waitress ever stop by our table to refill our drinks. Couldn't seem to get a hold of them either as they kept passing our table. All in all, would give a 3.5 but I'm rounding down on this one.
(3)
Di J.
It's surprisingly really good! It's a bit on the pricey side, but we went during Happy Hour, so we left happy and full.
(4)
Justin L.
Came here with a buddy of mine because I was in the mood for some udon - hence Japanese food. We were seated right as we walked in and got a table toward the back area. The setting is decent and they have all these window shutters hanging on the walls for decoration. Meh. The menus were laminated with bright colors and texts glowing from page to page to tease you and your appetite. Well for the most part, the menu pretty much switched up my craving for udon to this dinner combo of donburi (chicken + egg over rice) and tempura. My buddy ordered te dunbury also (but got tatsuki/pork + egg over rice) and cold soba. The portions were alright but we were kinda craving more so we ordered a "Something Atlantic something" roll. It was basically a california roll but iwth salmon on top. It was too salty but it got the job done as I like to say. All of the food was kinda overpriced as the donburi combo came to be about 13 and the roll (which my buddy and I split) came to be about 9. Yeahhh those rolls are expensive. BUT, I almost forgot to mention... they have 99cent beer mugs on tap! I think our waiter said it was ichiban beer or some kind of mediocre japanese beer. But i mean who cares! It's 99cent beer mugs!! Pretty cool. Service was good. Our waitresses were cute and came by our table fairly often to check up on us which was appreciated. Overall... a little to above average quality of food with a little bit higher than I'd like price tag. A solid 3 star rating.
(3)
Spencer J.
I've been to Maki-Zushi a few dozen times over the past three years, and after today I will NOT be returning. No restaurant is immune to sporadic issues with food quality or service, but a certain amount of grace and professionalism can definitely help minimize a customer's negative perception. Today my Charashi arrived with a healthy serving of long black hair buried in the rice. I calmly asked for another one and was looked at like I was being difficult. It was replaced pretty quickly (unlike my soda, which sat empty for about 20 minutes). I didn't expect a discount (which I did not receive), but I did expect some sort of apology. Nobody said a word...like it's totally normally to eat somebody else's hair with your sushi. It's probably my fault for having such high expectations, but I did spend $24 on lunch for one and was treated like a third world citizen. (I should have left when I realized the patio door was open and there were flies buzzing around the sushi bar. EW.)
(1)
Betsy C.
2.5 stars A friend treated us to this place and we were excited to try all the different types of sushi. We were seated quickly and shown the menu. I was quite impressed with the selection on the menu and was very excited to give all the interesting dishes a try. The BSCC caught my eye and I definitely wanted to try that. The dishes took a while to come even though the place wasn't jammed pack. It was slightly unnerving especially when we had 5 hungry kids. My most anticipated dish, BSCC looked a lot less exciting in real life though. I thought it was doused with way too much mayo and the scallop themselves were tiny. Probably not worth the price. The other dishes were good but nothing I've never had before in other places though. In the end, the slow service really turned me off. I probably won't be going back unless someone's treating.
(2)
Summer C.
This place has really great sushi and a great happy hour. Everything is super fresh. Even the house sake is delicious...the miso soup they serve free with dinner is the best ever. The decor is super cute and staff very friendly. The ONLY thing I found wrong with this place is when they are busy the service lacks a little. But if you come when it's slow then you get the best service I've had in awhile! This is our new favorite sushi place for causal sushi dining.
(4)
Caroline B.
I have worked in the same strip mall as this place for 6 months and only recently started ordering lunch here. I always get the Tokyo lunch box with bulgogi and spicy tuna. While $9 might seem pricey for lunch, the sheer amount of food is worth it. It comes with a salad (which has bomb dressing. seriously i love miso dressing and the stuff they sell at albertsons is not even close) and miso soup. The box itself has rice, bulgogi, shrimp and vegetable tempura, and 1/2 spicy tuna roll. The bulgogi is very good and has lots of mushrooms. It tastes very good. The meat is tender. I usually get it with only vegetable tempura and it is some kind of squash. It is sooo good. The spicy tuna has cucumber in it which gives it a good crunch. This is my new favorite lunch place. My one complaint is that I get this to go and it can be messy sometimes. Some people might hate on the parking, but I am already there so it works out!
(4)
Jerrold S.
I came hear after reading a glowing review from a Chowhounder. I'm a bit surprised reading some of the comments but I'll reserve judgement since I'm from LA where sushi is much more expensive than OC and service is spotty. We didn't have any issues with the service and the prices seemed pretty reasonable for the quality of fish. $7 for order of yellowtail belly and red snapper. The yellowtail belly was sublime - fatty, smooth, odorless - a beautiful piece of fish we had to go for seconds. They have a lot of different types of rolls that its hard to choose. We tried the spicy albacore roll that was topped with a bunch of spicy red peppers. We enjoyed that as well. The uni was $12 (ok so thats sort of expensive) but it was fresh as heck and some of the best uni I've had recently. I'd definitely go back here.
(4)
Jesus T.
good sushi and deal! 30% off for the rest of the year... mon-sat
(4)
Phi D.
The environment is pretty nice. Maki Zushi has a wide variety of sushi and rolls. The specialty rolls are pretty good. We ordered the Super Crunch roll which was fresh and delicious. The Special Spicy Tuna Roll is an odd roll, it's as if the jalapeno and cream cheese was stuffed in this unique meat (I think), basically it looks like two different rolls on one plate with spicy sauce. Overall service was great and food was OK.
(3)
Scot K.
Best sushi restaurant in Southern California. Even better during happy hour! I think the current happy hour promotion is 20% off most sushi. I highly recommend trying items off the "Specials" board since it is all fresh items and you won't find many of them elsewhere. Some of my favorites include: -Live Uni -Big Toro -Live Sweet Shrimp -Yoshi Roll
(5)
Brittany B.
I have been here a couple times with my gramps. We always order the bento box- a nice eclectic mix of japanese food. The salmon is always perfectly cooked. The service can be a bit slow, but I think lunch is the best time to visit~
(4)
Lena B.
UPDATE: 09/25/07 tried their sushi by yoshi (yes, a japanese chef). awesome aji!!! awesome fatty tuna!!! warm, well seasoned rice, which was different from table serviced sushi...why?! some dent on someone else's bank account (sorry!!!), but defintely worth it since the fish was HUGE! --------------------------------------------------Â---------------------------------------------- do not come here from 12 to 1 unless your boss is with you or he/she takes longer than an hour lunch. the wait can be longer than 30 min and it takes forever to order since there are only 2 servers working. yeah, i was frustrated to wait in a very crowded, noisy place. i also became very skeptical since i was the only asian person there (you know what i mean...a japanese restaurant without single japanese). i must say the food (especially their combo menu) is really good value for the price. salad, soup, udon and teriyaki were all good. the sushi? fish was ok, a big chunk, but the rice had no vinegary sweet flavor. same thing with the rice on rolls. it seems like they offer daily specials for really reasonable prices.
(4)
Monica V.
I tried this place for lunch today and I think the quality of the food lived up to the generally positive reviews. Food: I ordered the sashimi plate - 9 pieces of sashimi, although one of those pieces was a cooked shrimp. Another had a bunch of roe on it. But there was tuna, albacore, salmon, the white thing with the roe, the shrimp and, um. Something else. The core sashimi - the slices of raw fish - were fresh and excellent. None of that "take a bite, realize you cannot bite through it because of connective tissue in the wrong place, sit there with a piece of fish you cannot sever or swallow in your mouth and try to run through the socially acceptable alternatives in your head" stuff. Each piece was soft and easily eaten and had a good flavor. The miso soup that came with the order tasted a bit odd to me - but I don't know if that is because it was off, or more authentic than I usually get. My dining companion ordered two types of rolls. Maki Zushi is not for sushi snobs since ,as its name pretty clearly says, it is big on rolls. One entire side of the sushi ordering menu is different kinds of rolls. I didn't try any but my companion said they were good. The menu also has many non-sushi options including combination lunches, making it suitable for mixed groups of sushi-appreciators and sushi-avoiders. Service: Service was mediocre. No one offered a refill on our hot tea. We asked for a fork 3 times, I'm not sure if one ever came. However, they did take reservations at lunch so we had no problem being seated. It really wasn't that crowded anyway - maybe 12:30 is past the peak time, or maybe everyone is leaving town for the holiday weekend. Location: The parking is bad - I got a spot right away but looked around and didn't see any others. There must be a lot of turnover though, some of the other tenants are Starbucks and other fast food places. Decor: The website gave the impression of a higher-end place - something like Wasa which was what I was trying for, although not for any particular love of Wasa. I think the food here surpasses Wasa but it looks more like fast-food from the outside, and like a small ordinary restaurant from the inside. It had white table clothed tables so it's classy enough, but lacking that that overall zen divine design feeling of Wasa. Price: Not bad. Not high for sushi. The sashimi plate was about 12.95 or something in that range. Seems reasonable to me.
(3)
Elizabeth H.
The sushi was good, but the service was the worst I have ever experienced. We had to practically beg to have our drinks filled and were completely ignored. The same happened when we needed our check since we were on lunch break. Worse yet was the fact that the owner/manager was standing there, looking around and never offered to help...even though he stared right at us. Overall, the taste is not worth dealing with the terrible service. There are so many better sushi places nearby. Don't waste your money or time here.
(1)
monica p.
This is one of my favorite sushi restaurants. I can always count on the food to be served fresh and taste delicious. They also serve great size portions that are satisfying.
(4)
Dan K.
I have been a couple times to Maki Zushi (for dinner), and everytime has been a pleasant experience. A break-down in bullets: Reasonably Priced for a Sushi restaurant. Tasty sashimi - It may not be the most scientific test for a sushi place but I judge heavily on the quality of the sashimi, and Maki Zushis was very good. I got salmon and halibut. Variety of Rolls - Not sure of the names, but they were all good, presented nicely and had some creative combinations. Comprehensive menu - Not just sushi, they have a number of dishes, try the teriyaki salmon. Very good Happy Hour specials - $1 Kirin, need I say more? Fresh food - Everthing tasted fresh, and to illustrate the freshness a story of one of our last outings there. We were sitting by the sushi bar, close to where they keep the shrimp. One of the shrimp - I guess eager to be eaten - jumped out and onto the counter. The chef quickly came and picked it up, laughed it off and apologized. A couple of minutes later, the shrimp jumped again. This time the chef had to move the jar far away. The waitresses we have had, have all been nice. All around a solid sushi restaurant, with a great happy hour and my favourite sushi restaurant in Orange County.
(4)
LE L.
This place may be small but its sooo bomb. Real sushi... I used to work about 5 minutes away from this restaurant so this was the go-to place to satisfy my sushi cravings during lunch. Spicy Tuna II... Tempura... Dynamite Roll...Cilantro Lover's Roll. Their happy hour is awesome too. I think the tap beer is a dollar per mug... So Ive left this place a lil more than buzzed at times. But I always leave HAPPY and satisfied with my sushi fix.
(4)
Noah C.
There comes a time in a man's life where he simply has to get on a table, and scream "ENOUGH!!! WHY MUST EVERY NEW JAPANESE RESTAURANT IN ORANGE COUNTY BE OWNED BY KOREAN PEOPLE??????" Don't get me wrong. I love Korean food. LOVE IT. Would rather eat Korean food than anything else in the world. Korean people make good Korean food. I should know; half of my family is from Korea. Koreans have made Korean food for hundreds of years. They should stick to it. They should not, however, make Japanese food. And they should especially not put "spicy teriyaki bulgogi" on a sushi bar menu. I will throw a paltry two points their way for having 2 for 1 large bottles of Sapporo. Get drunk enough and their vaguely sushi-ish creations might tingle your palate a bit. But all in all, this is that same old run of the mill sushi place that you can find on any street in any city in Orange County, LA, SF, New York, hell, even New Jersey. And probably Seoul. The staff was also very nice to us. But their food? Nah. Never again. I've had it.
(2)
Elisabeth K.
this place is tasty!! The service is just okay, but the rolls are pretty darn good. The only draw back is the price to some of their sushi. 18 dollars for 2 pieces of scallops are just a little too high for me. :)
(4)
Antonio S.
As an avid sushi eater, this is one of my favorite places in southern california. The selection, chef's knife work, and creativivity of their rolls are outstanding. There are so many items on their menu that are offered nowhere else that I've been. Notable items on the menu are the white sardine, baked jumbo scallop roll, anything on the live menu, and the bento boxes are a great and affordable lunch.
(5)
Francesca O.
The Sushi here is very good, and very fresh. Since it can get very busy at lunch hour or like on a busy evening, the wait can be a little frustrating. Its not a huge place, so this is expected. I don't mind, because i think it's one of the better sushi spots in the area. Happy hour prices are good.
(4)
Manly C.
Service: Excellent--polite, *efficient* servers. You can even pick up orders. Sushi chef at the Bar seems very nice, likeable, and knows his art of sushi. Good prices. Per my experience, non-sushi eater and bento box lover, I give this place a 4. The food and service are always good. Compare the teriyaki sauce and marinating job of Maki-Zushi to the Sushi place in the plaza/Alton and Yale (right next to Starbucks, can't remember the name, not really worth remembering), Maki-Zushi's bento's teriyaki trul excels. So as far as the (limited) food I eat, I say that they hit all the right spots with my bento order. I give them a 4 because I noticed my plate's got some serious crack. That's just cheap. Restaurants should never ever cut corners on things that affect the presentation of their food...makes their quality rating go down a notch.
(4)
Angela K.
Special picy tuna roll was delicious!
(3)
Frank K.
I'm not too sure why Noah thinks its such a bad thing that korean people own sushi restaurants. I see nothing wrong with having a more diverse menu along with the traditional sushi. This place is my go-to spot right now for sushi. Sushi is my comfort food. It makes me feel all warm and happy inside. If you are a sushi snob or if you get mad that there are untraditional items on the menu, i suggest that you sit at the sushi BAR. They discourage you from ordering from the regular menu at the bar but i have not seen them refuse a customer's order when there. Yoshi, their head sushi chef(is japanese, if that matters) is great. He is very friendly and definitely knows what he's doing. Yoshi personally goes to the fish markets earrrrlllly in the morning and selects his own fish. They carry most all the common fish and also gets a lot of the better stuff. Ive had about 3-4 different types of toro(yellowtail, big toro, bluefin toro[wow], and probably at least one other type. Other things that i remember were japanese sea snail, spanish mackerel, japanese kobe beef, live scallops, live sweet shrimp(heads either deep fried or cooked in miso), live uni, live clam, kumamoto oysters and a bunch of other stuff that i dont remember. I think everything that i mentioned above except the sea snail are normally on their sushi menu. Their fish has always been very good quality. Their normal yellowtail was some of the best ive had and the yellowtail toro was amazing also. Yoshi will also sometimes accommodate special requests if you call in. For one of my friend's birthdays, we were able to get a whole live lobster. We ate the tail meat as sashimi and the claws in miso soup. It was great, but definitely not something i would normally order because of the cost of lobster(about 75 bucks). I've also had several of their desserts. The standouts were the green tea tempura ice cream. MMMMM...it's green tea ice cream that is deep fried quickly with tempura batter sprinkled with powdered sugar. Also the green tea creme brule was great. Can you guys tell i really like this place? haha
(5)
Richard B.
My wife and i eat sushi 3 to 4 times a week. So we feel we know good sushi. Well we hear Maki Zushi does live sushi so we cant wait to go. We showed up for a saturday lunch Time. There were only two other couples in the resturant we ordered hamachi Belly it takes them 15 minutes to get us one order!!! Plus we tried the Live Uni Good not worth the $23 dollar price tag. I than ordered a toro nigi hand roll no rice they charged me $17 bucks!!!! The sushi was average but with so many other places to go you should skip it.
(1)
S K.
The food is good. However, the service is really really really slow. The restaurant was not busy at all the both times I took my family there. It took them about 25mins just to bring the soup and salad out. On my last visit, the waitress got my order wrong (Chicken vs Beef) and blamed the mistake on me. And when the bill came she charged me for the correction. WOW..... Hopefully, they can improve on their service.
(2)
Troy H.
Props. Live Uni. Crazy fish specials. This place is really alright. Kinda Korean. Kinda Japanese. But all good.
(2)
xrawx x.
move over ikko + another sushi place my friend and I frequent..i have found my new secret spot that will probably no longer be a secret. too bad it is hidden in tustin because really whats in tustin?! well..heres a place for ya - maki-zushi! i came here because I heard the uni is LIVE and so is the SHRIMP. Literally Yoshi the best sushi chef entertains you with the history of each item. ive never had LIVE uni and SHRIMP before, ive had it fresh but not this fresh literally!!! kind of freaked me out with the thought of a moving shrimp before placing it in my mouth - probably about the freshest thing EVER as far as quality sushi goes-the uni shell still moves!!! freshest uni but too fattning for my palate. theres a place in beverly hills called urasawa that my sister swears to get a second job to foot the bill - im taking her here first :) decently priced for sure!...cheaper than ikko and ikko is probably about 200 bucks for two with a bottle of sake. this place you can walk away eating top quality sushi for about 150..remember, its fresh!
(5)
ML T.
owner changed enough said. this is no longer a place id recommend for sushi
(1)
Sophia N.
This place is smaller than i thought it would be. but it was pretty nice inside. The grilled spicy chicken teriyaki is soooo good! and you get plenty. during lunch its 8.50 served with rice and salad. i had sukiyaki for the first time, it isnt something id get again. the dish was really hot. but it wasnt that great. happy hour was from 2-6 and luckily i was there at 2, just in time for happy hour. i had the cailfornia roll, 8 pieces for 1.95. thats a pretty good deal for some really good california roll. and i also had the spicy crunch roll for 4.95? , it was cut into tiny slices, but it was still tasty. i really dont have any complaints here, we had a really good lunch, good service and a good experience.
(4)
Lily P.
I love this sushi place. We eat here regularly, the head sushi chef Yoshi is very friendly and their fish is fresh and it's better than the 3 other sushi places that we pass by to get here. They've been open 7 months and I hope they stay around much longer since they are much better than other local sushi places.
(5)
Edgar D.
We had a chance to check out this place based on Elmo Monster's Monster Munching Blog ( elmomonster.blogspot.com ). I was surprised to find out about this place on Elmo's site since I pass by it almost everyday on the way home from work. The inside of the restaurant looks like most other classy sushi joints so I was really hopeful that the sushi was good since we were starving. We ordered four sushi dishes: the Calamari Crunchy Roll, Salmon Skin Roll, Cilantro & Tuna Lovers Roll, and House Special Roll. The Calamari Crunchy Roll was okay, but the other rolls were damn good...in fact, I think they're worth going back for. You want to know what else is worth coming back for at this place? - it's the 99 cent Kirin special that runs during dinner! I think I'm calling this spot out on my next man-date!
(4)
Suzy S.
I have never walked out of a restaurant before. I am a patient person, but there is a line. I will never go back to Maki-Zushi. This place is a terrible lunch decision. I wanted to like this place I really really did. I work nearby and would love to have a good go-to sushi lunch restaurant away from the traffic nightmare that surrounds the district. Lets just say I get an hour for lunch and with how close this restaurant is to my office I should have ample time to sit down for lunch and maybe even grab Starbucks on my way back (all of which I have done with other restaurants in this area). I sat at the sushi bar thinking that this would be the most efficient place to order and eat since I was dining alone. I sat there for at least 10 minutes without a menu. Eventually I grabbed one myself. I read through my options and made a quick game plan (again this is a workday lunch I'm not going to go Omakase on a time crunch). I folded my menu and sat there. I tried to make eye contact with the sushi chefs... nothing... I tried to make eye contact with the servers... nothing... about 10 minutes later a server finally asked if I was ready to order. I ordered a side salad, a vegetable cut roll, an order of salmon sushi and an order of albacore sushi. And then I sat there...patiently ... but hungry It took about 10 more minutes for somebody to ask me if I had any of my food yet, when I said "no I haven't gotten any of my food yet" she asked me what I ordered. I reminded her as she checked I mentioned my side salad in hopes that she would bring that sooner since I was about 5 minutes away from eating my own foot. When I got my side salad about 4 minutes 59 seconds later (my foot gets to live another day) I looked at the time and asked if I could just get the rest of my meal to go . I figured it must be almost done since the rest of the lunch crowd either already had their food or has already left and I no longer had time to eat there. So I sit and eat my salad, expecting any minute to see a sushi chef making a veggie roll and putting it in a box. About 15 minutes later I'm really starting to panic. I still don't see my veggie roll being made, people that arrived after me have already gone through their whole meal. Finally I get up and ask a server if my meal is almost ready. When she asked the sushi chef he said something to the effect that he had the order right there and it was next. The food still wasn't made. I really didn't have time. I paid for my salad and told them to cancel my order. I left the restaurant starving without time to stop some place else.
(1)
Vinny H.
They brought me the wrong order. Sent it back. Brought it out again and tried to brush off the fish (which I could still see) and they didn't think I would notice it was the same plate. Sent it back again. They brought the same plate back out again. Sent it back again. By this time everyone of my colleagues had finished their lunch already. GOT IT BACK AGAIN AS THE SAME PLATE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Worst customer service I have encountered in a long time. Will not be going back. No wonder you are a poorly rated place.
(1)
Hashanah K.
Decent. They don't do special requests... They just give u what they give u. Service is good.
(3)
Melissa G.
The food is ok the portions are great! The service is horrible! We had the worst experience with Maria she was so rude! When she came to take our order my friend asked her what the chef special was and she said "I don't know it can be anything" ummmm what?? When she brought our food she made fun of us for not knowing exactly what we ordered. Sorry we don't know the menu In detailed it was our first time there. The worst part was at the end when we asked for our bill, we wanted to tell her to split the check for everyone but she walked away so fast we didn't have a chance. When we got the bill we were already so upset we were just going to have her split it for all 6 of us but we decided we didn't want to be rude like her. So I wrote down the last four of the credit card for every order to make it easier for her. It took more than 15 minutes for us to walk up to the register because we were going to be late from our lunch. When we walked up to her she said " you guys should have told me you wanted separate checks from the beginning it would have been so much easier" I couldn't believe she said that in such a rude way and annoyed. She definitely didn't Receive a tip from us on a 90 dollar bill, and we will not be returning neither will everyone in our building that is across the street from you guys. I made sure to let everyone the horrible service we received.
(1)
chanel l.
Won't return
(1)
Oscar H.
So I have been coming here since 2008 and I would always very happy with the service and the food this place has always been great. But today after work I had been craving my favorite Seafood nachos and my Tuna lovers roll, to my surprise I was disappointed with the service from the waiters after I told them as concern customer that the nachos were not the same as I remember the taste and even the look of them. After I they tried to correct the issue it was still NOT the same man it makes me feel bummed out because I have been coming here for years and everything had always been great. But I'm not saying this place is not good but just today it was not as good as it should have been.
(3)
Elizabeth F.
Sushi was good,the staff was very welcoming. My husband and I came close to closing time and they didn't mind us at all. We ordered the 911 spicy roll and the rainbow roll both which happened to be very tasty.
(4)
Derek O.
Awesome food. Terrible service. Very unorganized staff. Took way too long to receive our food. Another customer even stormed out and cancelled their order after announcing that she was waiting at the sushi bar for 25 minutes.
(3)
Richard K.
As a rule, I usually avoid Korean-owned sushi, shabu-shabu and pho restaurants. To my fellow Koreans: adding traditional Korean ingredients DO NOT make Japanese and Vietnamese food taste better. The only exception, in my opinion, is Mexican...some times. That said, Maki Zushi, despite being Korean-owned does sushi right. They import several items from Japan. They offer house-made wasabi (not the neon green toothpaste). They offer several live items when available. They offer exotic selections such as Japanese white sardine, parrot fish, and needlefish. I typically stick with sushi so I can't say how their rolls or bento boxes are, but my friends who've had them have good things to say. Best sushi I've had in south OC
(4)
John K.
Have you ever ordered live uni (sea urchin) and received refrigerated uni (from the wooden tray) instead? Not cool. It was my first time here and realized too late that this is a Japanese Restaurant operated by Koreans. Nothing against Koreans or their food. Wife and I go to Kaya in Irvine for our Korean fix all of the time. When crave Japanese, you'd go to a place like IKKO in Costa Mesa and other similar venue, there is a certain expectation for the price point. I am just saying for the pedestrian food that they serve is not worth my time or my money. Taiko in Irvine is great for the traditional American version of the Japanese cuisine and at a great price. But when you ordered "live" Uni and was served refrigerated version and still charge the customer for the price of the live uni ($20 vs $8). It's, like, either they did not pay attention to their ticket or bait and switch. Hey, there is just too much competition for my money. if you don't step it up, then be prepared to be left behind.
(1)
Hannah B.
I've been going to this place for many years only because of their good food but chef is extremely rude, he never welcomes you or replies when you say "Thank you" before you leave, rest of staff are not so friendly either.
(1)
harry s.
Awesome place, "Bruce" is the funniest sushi chef and he absolutely knows what he's doin'! Great fresh food, uni the freshest, mix of authentic Japanese and creative cuisine. Enjoy with Amdahl black on freezing frost glasses, highly recommend!
(5)
Nancy N.
rudest people i have seen. Their open hour shows lunch open until 2:30. We arrived at 2:15, the open sign was still on, as soon as we tried to open the door, a waitress ran out and slammed the door shut, also reaching up to turn off the "open" light, wow they could have nicely said "we are closed". And change ur open hour to "only when we want to serve". Never again
(1)
John L.
Here's what you need to know. Excellent Japanese sushi chefs are gone. Korean guys with middling skills are making sushi. The fish quality is now poor to mediocre. Omakase is now a bad idea here. I spent $150 (for two) and left without eating much. It is BAD. What was once a very good place is gone.
(1)
Glen L.
I know it's only a few months since my last update but I just have to mention a couple things I just learned. I'm usually not a big fan of saba, but Yoshi makes his own in house and the difference for me is night and day. Monkfish liver is another item I'm not usually a big fan of but this past Sunday I've been converted! Yoshi makes his monkfish liver inhouse. My order arrived slightly warm since it just came out of the oven. The closest thing I've had to foie gras since the ban in California. Also I had an order of Live Boston Uni. Boston Uni is smaller and slightly green in color compared to the more well known Santa Barbara Uni. Boston Uni have a better texture to me. Get them while you can, who know's when they will be out of season.
(5)
Ryland C.
I didn't read the recent reviews which turns out to be a blessing because we might not have come. It was late on Monday night and we had a choice of seats at the bar. We told the sushi chef to surprise us with his most creative dishes. Wow!!! We where blown away by every dish he brought out and how fresh the sushi was. I've never had fresh wasabi before and now I'm hooked. We have gone to several sushi places and asked the chef to surprise us and had several great experiences and when the bill comes we are usually not surprised as we expect to pay $150-$200. We were shocked that our bill was under $100 with several adult beverages. We will definitely be back and the sooner the better.
(5)
Coco T.
Good sushi, not so great service.
(1)
Sonia R.
Nice little spot, best times to come are 5 early before the rush hits. Prices are decent and quality is above average. Waitresses could pay more attention to details and be more customer friendly.
(3)
Carolyn W.
I've been driving by this place for a few years now and finally decided to try it out. It's a cozy little place with super friendly sushi chefs and servers and delicious sushi. The pieces are definitely on the small size, but nice quality. I'll be back!
(4)
Ricardo G.
I arrived there to eat at 920 pm. And they closed at 10, but they had closed the door already I drove 15 minutes to eat here. Waist of my time!
(1)
Alayna W.
This is by far my favorite sushi restaurant. My boyfriend and I are weekly regulars, coming in on Friday nights for our usual lobster roll and orange County roll. We've been coming here every Friday for almost 2 years and cannot ask for a better sushi restaurant. Their fish is always fresh and delicious. The waitresses deliver great service (nicole is our favorite!) and you can't beat the prices. $10 bucks for a baked lobster roll! The only reason it gets a 4 instead of a 5 is due to the inconsistency in wait times. Sometimes we get our food right away, sometimes it can take 20 min or so depending on the night or who is making it. Thanks Maki Zushi!
(4)
Lucy J.
Came here for the 1st time with my co workers for lunch and order the salmon teriyaki. The portion was great for the price nothing extraordinary. We jus wanted something quick for lunch and this place was close by. I was not please with the service. We had to asked three different waitress for our beverages. Two days later we decided to come here for happy hour. I ordered the salmon again, this time it came out cold and salty! I asked what they had done differently, the waitress told me they didn't do anything different. Then two minutes later came out and told me they added salted butter (why! Japanese don't even use butter! Asians don't use butter in their food!). I was so disappointed, they made another piece of salmon for me but I was already taken back by the other that I jus didn't want to deal with another piece. Only thing we enjoyed was the happy hour wine selection. Other than that the food jus did not cut it. Just keep it nice and simple!
My favorite sushi restaurant. The 911 roll is delicious and spicy and the Atlantic treasure roll is so yummy! They are a bit expensive and they seem to change policies often (sometimes you "always" get a soup and salad with your entree and sometimes they have no idea what you're talking about), but overall great place for sushi rolls!
(5)
B M.
This is my go to sushi spot. The sushi is fresh and and the service is always friendly. The only reason I don't give it a five is it can be inconsistent with food delivery times. Prices are cheap as well.
(4)
Vincent L.
As someone who can't tell a lie even to save my life, I was utterly shocked to read tedtedted's attack on my original review from April. So shocked, in fact, that I made a special detour to Maki Zushi to investigate when I was in Southern California the other week. I have the pictures (see above) and even a timed, location-based Yelp check-in on my mobile device to prove that I was actually there. Maki Zushi has not been sold and has not changed management. When I walked in, I was relieved to see Yoshi (the head chef and co-owner) at the sushi bar as he always has been. This place is his baby. He founded it with a partner (another of the chefs) 7 years ago, and plans to keep going as the owner-chef for many more. More expensive items on the sushi/sashimi menu, like live scallops and kinmidai, are delivered fresh daily, and are as good as ever. For more conventional tastes, the rolls are as large and saucy as ever, and Yoshi has also hired a new chef to deliver an expanded menu of cooked items, as Glen L. mentioned in his commendably accurate review. If anything, reading slanderous or, at the very least, misinformed reviews will give your eyes a workout, if you want to see how far you can roll them back. I've traveled around the world (literally) and have had many exquisite sushi experiences at different price points, and trust me, Maki Zushi is as good as it gets.
(5)
Johnnie N.
Where do I begin? The food? The service? The way the place is ran? Let's start with the servers? You could swear they all just got out of high school and are idiots. Maybe they're just told to do this because boss looked lost himself. I've never seen this level of incompetence before even at a McDonalds. Real sh*t! Now I wish had went to McDonalds instead because at least my appetite would have been satisfied. The sushi here is cheap for a reason. It's not authentic-Japanese made. It didn't taste fresh and the rolls were less than mediocre. When I looked in the back I soon realized there were no Japanese folk in the house. The servers never even came back around even though the place is like 10 feet squared and there were only 2 tables. Never got my water refilled and I even had to ask for the first cup of water. Definitely cannot recommend this to anyone who enjoys real sushi and half decent service. Sure enough I will never be coming back here. TERRIBLE!!! You have been warned.
(1)
Jimmy R.
This place is legit. They give really good portions and their prices are reasonable. The food tastes good which is typically of most Japanese restaurants. It's comparable to Kappo Honda in Fountain Valley, without the long wait (which the wait is worth it for Kappo Honda) and not as pricey. No complaints!
(4)
Edith H.
The best sushi and imported Japanese beer offering in OC. My go to destination for quality sushi and they have an awesome secret menu...ask for the 'Dancing Shrimp' Roll of you are a fan of shrimp and sauce pairings or 'El Pollo Loco' for a spicy habanero kick!! The best service and incredibly fresh sushi and sashimi selection. The hostess is always super friendly and the sushi bar atmosphere is upbeat and fun. I had the Blue Fin Toro and it was truly delightful. There fresh wasabi is a must and if they haven't sold out you must try the Wasabi Cucumber!
(5)
Edgar ..
Favorite sushi spot ever! 911 roll/ jalapeño albacore/ and anything custom you like! The new owner is awsome and custamizes your rolls to your liking.
(5)
Jayson O.
3.5 stars. I should probably come here more than I do to get my occasional sushi craving fixed while at lunch, but I just often forget it's there. Maki is tucked in a small, and difficult to enter/exit corner plaza on Redhill and Edinger. Especially at lunch time, this lot can fill up fast. Place is clean, with slick black and white lines of furniture, tile floor, and seemingly well lit. A small sushi bar with a flat panel TV adorns the entrance, and both booths and free standing tables make up the rest. A small enclosed patio is off to one side that kinda reminds me of a decorative hardened bunker. Your best bet for lunch are the Bento Boxes. They have quite a selection, and each box comes with a side salad and a bowl of Miso soup. You get quite a bang for your buck here, and if you're on a tight schedule, you really can't go wrong here. Like most sushi establishments, they have a myriad of daily specials on a dry-ink board for the various handrolls with local names. Sushi appears fresh and firm, and pricing is what you'd expect. Be wary of large groups however. I found that orders tend to get 'messed up' or 'forgotten' on more than one occassion when attending with large groups. And sometimes your party won't receive all their order at the same time. That's why I knock them .5 stars. It just hasn't happened to me once, but a handful of times where my party was constantly asking where this was, or where that was. You'll get it, but sometimes you have to gently remind the 'staff' you still have a handroll owed to you or your drink needs to be refilled if sitting at a table or booth. If they could get this down, I have no problem giving them an extra .5 star, but sometimes if you're not ordering a bento box for lunch....expect to wait a bit longer than you'd expect.
(3)
Ricardo A.
This place went from 5 stars to 1 in my book. So I go there after 3 weeks and I can't recognize any of th chefs or other staff. I notice 3 fish tanks and all the TVs off including the one that displays all the great dishes the real Maki-Zushi used to serve. After the food comes I noticed they serve all the food different. Even the rice is different. I asked the waitress if they had changed ownership... She hesitated and said "no". Liar! The old Japanese chefs are gone replaced by Koreans. One of them was having a beer while preparing food while the other went out to the patio to have a smoke. I really felt cheated and never going back. If you are used to the old owners you will be extremely disappointed. Sad to see a good sushi place go.
(1)
Jeremy N.
I've been to this place before and had a decent experience so that's why this review got 2 stars...but this time-not so much. The cuts were uneven, haggard looking pieces of fish and some of the roles didn't even get some of the tuna it was so horribly uneven. If this would have been my first visit ever I'd never return in a million years. Maybe, just maaaaaybe I might be willing to come back to try it out on a different night. I suppose it could have just been an off night with the bad crew ...it is a Monday night, but still- this was just wrong.
(2)
Barry C.
This place got a piece of shit service. Longest wait time ever on the slow Monday night. Do they only have one chef or what? 1 star for the service and 1 star for the food. Fair enough. Enough said.
(2)
Hannah E.
This is the kind of place where I could pretty easily justify giving any number of stars. It really depends on where your priorities are. If your priorities are to get great sashimi, period, end of story, it will probably be five stars for you. The fish is pretty incredible if you order it piece by piece. Their salmon toro converted me from a salmon toro hater to a salmon toro fan in about five seconds. Even the fish in the lunch special chirashi is selected with care, with incredibly pillowy light pink maguro and hamachi with all the heavenly dark red edges left on. However, if you care at all about value for money, you'll probably never come back. The prices are such that I looked at the list, blinked, and asked my dining partners, "What, is this for six pieces or something?" No, it was for two. I mean, I'm talking about $25 uni, $30 scallops, and even the simplest fish, maguro and salmon and similar, are $13 for sashimi. The lunch chirashi was $15, a reasonable price until it showed up and there were about 8 pieces of (albeit wonderful and delicious) fish in it. Also, the rice was dry and tough: rice snobs need not apply. I think they might do better with a re-branding - nobody expects a joint in a strip mall on Edinger named, of all things, "Maki-Zushi", to have such incredible sashimi. They expect it to have good crazy rolls. Which it might... who knows. But its sashimi really deserves an audience of sashimi snobs (complete with deep wallets), and I bet it's not getting it.
(3)
Athena L.
Mehh, this place was okay. I was really hungry and was on a time crunch for a movie, so this was nearby. It was a Saturday night and we were one of the 3 parties there... This place has your average rolls at your average prices. The only thing that I thought was pretty good was the Baked Scallop and Lobster roll. I think it was the Maki Zushi Roll 2? Overall, average sushi place with average food. Nice and clean restaurant, but I'd recommend going elsewhere if you're expecting great sushi.
(3)
Kevin B.
Chef Bruce is the best! Fish is great quality and always fresh! Can't beat happy hour!
(5)
Shane C.
This place is awesome..Yoshi, you rock!!! The freshest seafood around. The price is on point for the quality of seafood.
(5)
J. C.
I've been wanting to try this place for like a year but just never had a chance to try it. Wow so disappointed!! It's not bad but it's certainly not that great and a bit over priced to be honest. I'm more of a sashimi over rolls person but I tried 2 rolls and one of the rolls I picked up was one of those "micro" mini rolls that cost $11.95???? I don't place a lot of emphasis on price but when it doesn't make sense.....then it just doesn't make sense. I also got an Albacore Lovers Roll supposedly a crowd favorite..........reaaaaally? Ehhh, just a basic tasting roll. I doubt I'll be back.
(2)
Marcos H.
Quick service, good eats, and reasonable specials. Quiet ambience and neat decor. Simple!
(5)
Cliff C.
This place had it all: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. First, The Good: the wait staff is friendly and attentive, the selection of fish and specialty rolls is fairly extensive, and the cooked dishes are OK. The Bad? Well, I don't know how else to put it other than the fish was too cold. 'What? Too cold?!' you scoff. 'Isn't that the point?!' you ask. Sure, but listen, there's a reason a good pint shouldn't be drunk ice cold. You wanna TASTE it. And that same logic should be applied to a slice of toro, too (particularly one that's marketprice). I know there's a very fine line between too cold and not cold enough, but finding it is the chef's job, not mine. All I'm asking for is a chance to savor the toro's rich, buttery goodness, not have my tastebuds stunned into frigid submission. Maybe this is what they mean by "Hardcore Sushi" on their sign -- or maybe that's refering to the prices. But The Ugly? As my three companions and I walked out after spending a considerable amount on our lunch, neither of the two chefs said 'thank you' to us. Didn't even bother to look up from what they were doing. OK, they might've been slammed, and it's a minor quibble to be sure, but I don't know about you, that's what I like about Japanese places -- walk in and hear 'Welcome!' leave and hear 'Thank you!' They care because they want you to come back. No, thanks. Next time I'll try somewhere else.
(2)
Michelle P.
This place used to have amazing happy hours but they must've changed ownership in the last year because the prices went up. Still not too bad but now I won't go as much.
(3)
Leah D.
Sure enough, I ended up back here with family, and it was better this time. Maybe I just caught them on an off night before.
(3)
Sarah J.
I never cared for Uni until I had the Live Uni at Maki-Zushi. Amazing! In the past I had poor service and nearly gave up on this restaurant until I met Susan. She is the best! We'll be dining there more often just because of her. Thank you, Susan!
(4)
Manley M.
Did not have food coma : / Unhappy customer Never coming here again I prefer Sushi Gen!
(1)
Tamara M.
Ordered sushi for lunch here for me and a couple coworkers. We ordered it on the phone to pick up to take it back to work since it was a busy day at work and it's close. We got back and noticed they gave us two wrong items that we did not order. I don't eat tempura at all and they gave us two tempura rolls instead of what we actually ordered (rainbow and some other non-tempura one my coworker ordered). I was annoyed but I figured it was too late to go back over there and say they messed it up so I gave the tempura rolls to someone else to eat. Whatever was in the tempura roll looked like canned tuna though. Ick. The salmon sashimi had a fishy taste. No good. The pieces themselves were larger than average, but the taste was poor. Spicy yellowtail not very spicy. Pretty bland taste for something labeled as spicy. And I don't know what the thick orange sauce was that they gave us, but it looked a bit like an orange version of pepto bismol. Pass.
(2)
Brad T.
Not that great. My wife and I went here for dinner after reading some reviews on here, plus I've driven by this place a couple of times. We got the $28 boat dinner as mentioned by other yelpers, and it was not very good. We got the terriyaki chicken, salmon, and a couple of rolls. Beware, the choices of rolls that come with the boat are limited to the cheaper rolls. I thought we ordered the terriyaki chicken breast, although the chicken that came with the boat was terrible. Lots of tendons and ligaments, and was pretty much inedible. We tried to clarify this with the waitress, and she said we ordered the terriyaki chicken, and the chicken breast was a different item. Well I told her we wanted the chicken breast, and she brought that out instead. It was better. The tempura they brought with the boat was awful. Not hot at all - it felt like it had been sitting out for hours. I asked for some hot tempura and they brought it out in a few minutes. It was indeed hot, but very greasy. Now for the part that matters. The sushi - not good. No sir. We got a few rolls with our boat, and none were too good. Fell apart easily, and tasted kind of slimy. All in all, this place just isn't very good. We definitely prefer Mitsui in Irvine (we are a little biased because Mitsui is like a 2 minute drive from our house). Although it is a little more expensive, it is much better. One positive is the service here. Waitresses were friendly, and brought food quickly. They remained friendly, even though I was in my "complainer" mood. Even after sending back dish after dish, they did not say anything. B Bain out!
(2)
Nermeen M.
Really nice ambience, we sat in a booth. Miso and salad come with sushi orders which is awesome. We ordered a variety of food; edamame, gyoza, udon, crunch rolls, philly rolls, Eel cucumber rolls, shrimp lover rolls. The gyoza is deeelicious! The Chicken katsu udon had curry in it so to me, it wasn't the best but hubby liked it. I enjoyed my crunch and philly rolls and my friend thoroughly enjoyed her rolls also. It's not the BEST sushi i've ever had, but it's pretty darn tasty. Waiters and waitresses were prompt (which is so hard to come by anymore) and very nice. Some of the special rolls are a bit pricey, but the simpler rolls are more reasonable. I would go again and try something different next time.
(4)
Romuel Dave C.
Hand's Down.. one of The best sushi places in the Irvine/Tustin area. If one was a sushi Aficionado... one could spend maybe $80-$120 on himself indulging in some of the best raw seafood one has tasted in a while. First Off, their Kumamoto oysters are amazing, so fresh, and so delicious with a bit of lemon, and a bit of the sauce they give you. All their fish are really fresh, and you can tell your fish is fresh, well, when it doesn't taste like fish! They have these "boat combos" that are great split between a few people. Their cheapest boat, around $30, is perfect for 2 people, and even include this wonderful... tomato... that ironically enough, tastes like a strawberry! It blew my mind away at how the Japanese are so inventive with their culinary arts. So if you want great sushi, and great food, and have a bit of $$ to spend, come to Maki Zushi.. HARDCORE SUSHI!
(4)
Katherine O.
Totally random, but my parents and friends all came here (independently of each other) on the same weekend. And there are probably 400 sushi places in between our houses and this place. They usually have Laker game specials, and the edamame was really really good. I know, edamame is pretty standard, but this place must have a Japanese grandpa in the back tending to their edamame garden with love. Oh! And I recommend their cilantro tuna roll. The fish was fresh and the rolls were all pretty Americanized, but still delicious. I wish I worked around here and could frequent their happy hour.
(4)
Jae K.
This place was the worst place ever that I ever been. The owner was yelling at his employee, horrible customer service, and there was a hair on my sashimi and did not even care about it.
(1)
Mindy J.
I've been wanting to eat here for years, but Fiance refuses to eat at sushi places in strip malls. He's out of town this wekend, so I get to do what I want. The tuna and salmon nigiri were excellent. Some of the best ever. The manager told me that the chef's brother owns a fish market, so they get fish deliveries every day, not just on Tues and Thurs. I got some kind of baked scallop roll. It was good. It wasn't spectacular, but I'd order it again. I just mean that it didn't outshine other sushi restaurants. Not like their nigiri. Oyster shot was pretty good, too, but it always takes a brave soul to down one of those. I have no problem with it, but you know. They brought me miso soup without me even asking, so bonus points for that. And I got a pretty big discount because it's like happy hour all the time there. Now to convince fiance of the joys of strip mall sushi.
(4)
Gerry O.
The decor was well done with dark woods and muted colors. I loved the outdoor patio space but it was a little small with a large table for 12 in the center but not much else. The interior space was tastefully appointed with nice contemporary japanese touches. Not elegant or overstated but not cheap and clique either. Dress is business casual is appropriate. If I had one negative is the bathrooms are not as clean as I would like but the decor was well done. The food was excellant. Everything was super fresh. We had the Cilantro and Tuna roll, Orange County Roll, Tustin Tuna Roll and I had Chirashi. You can always judge the restaurant by the quality of the Chirashi sushi and I would rate it a B+. All the portions was very generous and the presentation was good. The prices were average but they have an early bird special where if you order by 11am you get a 20% discount...I highly recommend that. Can't wait to go for Happy Hour where for the same 20% discount. Our tab was about $50 for five people and we were absolutely full. I would recommend this restaurant to everyone.
(4)
Jemi A.
This is one of my favorite Sushi restaurants in the area. Their live menu can't be beat. My brother and husband can't get enough of their Live Uni. They serve it with the spiky shell that continues to move because it was live just seconds prior. Pretty freaky. I love their Fresh Aji - never fishy tasting, always fresh. I especially like their rolls. They have this one spicy tuna roll with jalapeno peppers that keeps me coming back for more. The prices are also fairly reasonable.
(4)
Mika O.
I don't know why I even thought of agreeing to go there.. This is why I hate going to lunch for sushi with co-workers. (Nothing wrong with them. It's just that I hate preaching around that what they eat is not really an authentic sushi.) The place has overpriced, over-flavored and over-sized sushi. I normally order Bento Plate for lunch from this type of place, but even that was not good. Tempura was not fried with fresh oil (I could smell somewhat industrial yuckiness) and batter was not crusty at all. Sashimi was cut in a wrong way, rice was too sticky, and miso soup was way too watery. Even traditional baked mackarel was too oily. Stupid me for coming here.
(1)
Stephanie C.
Tustin. Errrr where is that?! OHHHH, near Irvine. My knowledge of socal geography is non-existent, directionally challenged if you will. So when my flight arrived in the good ole OC bubble, I had a hankering for a sushi roll and luckily a good friend of mine took me somewhere to try to satisfy the craving. Sushi spelled with a "Z" and claims of being "hardcore". Hmm...questionable. static.px.yelp.com/bphot… Nothing out of the ordinary here but the extensive menu could use some help with more pictures of the rolls (I will lend them my iPhone pics if need be). I EAT WITH MY EYES!...more so than my stomach...which is probably why I struggle to finish all the food I over-order. But my momma said leave no rice in the bowl or you will marry an ugly husband...and I ain't leaving that to chance! Let's get it rollllllin... Spider Roll - crispy goodness static.px.yelp.com/bphot… BSCCR - scallops. are. good. the best of the 3. static.px.yelp.com/bphot… Shrimp Tempura Roll - not bad and I like sauces on my rolls. SAUCE ME. static.px.yelp.com/bphot… Spanish Mackerel static.px.yelp.com/bphot… I eyed the chalkboard that had scribbled on it Happy Hour 99 cents for 10 oz beer and my eyes lit up for a second. But decided on sake (takes up less room in stomach = more room for sushi), he chose an unfiltered sake (Creme de Sake) static.px.yelp.com/bphot… . Somewhat of a milky consistency with a sweet aftertaste...I liked! Prices were average and no wow factor but I'd come here again to get my sushi fix. Errrr...if I'm ever in Tustin again. Wait...where's Tustin? :P
(3)
Holly B.
Never have written a review but had to say something. Worked in the restaurant business for over 10 years and brought friends (six of us in total) from out of town who have owned their own restaurant and my husband and I were so embarrassed. We live close to the restaurant and boasted about how cool it was to be able to walk to a sushi restaurant; however, they were very busy and we were put in a corner. We had to ask over and over again for certain items and at the end of the meal, I asked for a complimentary dessert and was told that they couldn't do it. Whoa, this is unbelievable! I still tipped over 15% (because I know what it's like to be busy) but I will not go back. Whoever owns this restaurant should be ashamed. Trust me, I will spread the word about this review.
(2)
Sandra O.
I had dinner here with a friend and we ordered the boat for two. For our meats we selected the spicy Teriyaki and pork cutlet. I really liked the spicy Teriyaki. For our sushi rolls we had spicy Tuna and the crunchy roll. Both were terrific and tasted very fresh. I would definitely eat here again.
(4)
Bara T.
One of the things that Yoshi-san does that I don't see other places doing when they make the sushi .... If you are ordering from the blackboard menu, those are the daily current price specials. Yoshi-san will take the whole fish, say needle fish, and then fillet the fish ON THE SPOT, then make sashimi or nigiri out of it, then hand it to you. THAT'S what you are paying for when you sit in front of him. THAT'S why it takes so long to get your food, because it is made from scratch. Just about everything we order from that blackboard, Yoshi has to spend time filleting and cutting to order. (Super large fish like tuna, hamachi, is the exception. We've seen Yoshi-san take out a large chunk of tuna and cut chuutoro and ohtoro for us.) There's another sushi chef there who's either Chinese or Korean or something, We've never sat in front of him. When we go there, they automatically sit us in front of Yoshi-san. A lot of sushi places, the chef already pre-cut the fish, and put it in the cooler trays and only use that. When you pay for the expensive blackboard specials, it's expensive because of the specialty fish and where it came from, and you are paying for Yoshi-san's expertise in fish and on-the-spot filleting skills. Sushi is expensive. And because you are eating raw fish, any sushi-ya has to be scrupulously clean, and have to be very very careful with the fish. Many sushi places, especially "all you can eat sushi" places, all serve not fresh fish, or worse, resuscitated fish. After getting sick one time too many, I restrict the places where I eat real sushi. Maki-zushi is still our favorite. Honeybuns can talk about the varieties of fish, where to fish, how to fish etc with Yoshi-san.
(5)
Karen C.
I think I could have been more excited about this place if I had ordered sushi rolls instead of chirashi. I mean in my own opinion, besides freshness, how good can fish from one restaurant be compared to another? My boyfriend was ecstatic about this place and I could see why. He's almost always the one to pick up the check when we go out to eat and I know he felt like he got his money's worth on this one. He paid $12.95 for a combination box that included two different kinds of chicken, vegetable/shrimp tempura, miso soup, salad, rice and california rolls. Sidenote: My chirashi came with miso soup and a salad too. I don't have much to comment on my actual food(Fish was very fresh but based on all these reviews, that's to be expected. I think it's a little redundant to point that out again) but the sushi rice was very good. It was flavorful enough to eat on its own. And the wasabi was also very fresh. It was almost like I was spreading room temperature butter on bread. Second, this was the cheapest japanese dinner bill we've ever had. $33 for the entire meal and we were both stuffed. Usually we have to order an extra sushi roll but we did not have to do that this time. Third, he thought and I agreed that the california rolls were the best california rolls we've had. In his words, they were fresh and very flavorful. There were things he disliked that I agreed with. The chicken was pretty dry and he compared it to great steak teriyaki chicken. Service was pretty bad. It took them long enough to get our drink orders that we were ready to give them our food orders too when they came by (despite the fact we had never seen the menu previously to being in the restaurant). Funnily enough, the drinks came 5 minutes after the food came. We were also told we would get a second menu but that menu never came. I think the service would have been more upsetting if it weren't for the incredibly nice and genuine manager that we dealt with. We will definitely be back but I"ll opt for sushi rolls next time to see if I can up the review to 4 stars.
(3)
L W.
Overpriced. Didn't try the live stuff, as they were out of it that evening, but did have the "fresh" uni. Not "fresh" at all. Overpriced. Overpriced. Overpriced. $16.50 for two small pieces of old, refrigerated uni. Won't be back.
(2)
P. H.
I have only tried the Omakase service at the sushi bar. They have an abundance of live selections as mentioned by previous reviewers. Prices are high for these delicacies, but you can't beat the taste. The chef creates beautiful presentations! Food: Come for the live goods and fresh fish! Drinks: Half off beer/sake during happy hour! Service: Friendly. Efficient.
(4)
Iam H.
awesome sushi!! check it out
(5)
Camilla S.
This place rocks best sushi in town and friendly service also. Great. Prices
(5)
Randy W.
Whenever I am in the OC, I make it a point to visit. The sushi is great, and the people are friendly. The only negative is the sushi portions are small.
(4)
Jerry M.
Best for fresh sashimi. The chef is a master of toro. He seems to be able to get toro from just about any fish. Try the yellow tail or salmon toro if it's on the board. High quality fish excellently prepared. Inventive rolls too. Try the atlantic treasure roll. Well worth a visit.
(5)
Alice L.
Came here for dinner with a couple friends and it was a full restaurant. Got seated in the back and was left to our menus.... for a very long time. Apparently there was only 1 waitress and 1 busgirl. With a restaurant full of people? Yea..... ok. When we finally got her attention, which meant one of my friends got up to tap her on the shoulder and point in our general direction, she came to take our order. We got Love Boat for 2- $29 Atlantic Treasure Roll- $9 Cilantro and Tuna Roll- $12 House Special Roll- $11 Even though we were warned that the Boat takes 20 minutes, we decided to go ahead with it and figured that the rolls would come first anyway. Well. It took 25 minutes for ROLLS to come and then 10 minutes later the Boat came. Wth? By then we were starving and was wolfing down everything. I joked that it was their tactic, to make us starve to make the food taste better. Or was it really their intention... I donno. The quality of the fish was OK, nothing too special. The Boat had several fried items like Tempura, Banana, some meat items like Chicken Teriyaki and Korean Bulgogi, salmon sashimi, and 2 mini portions of rolls of Eel Cucumber and Crunch Roll. For 5 people it was about $66 which isn't bad for the amount of food we got. However the service was horrible, no apologies whatsover even when we audibly let her know our displeasure in waiting. Well guess what? Tip IS optional.
(2)
Andrew P.
although the overall quality of the fish and ingredients were good, however the service wasn't great for the prices you pay. i waited over 15 minutes for my first order and the place wasn't that busy. not recommend for lunch if you are on limited on time. since there are too many choice in the area i don't think i would go back after my first time. sorry.
(2)
Whitney Y.
The 7th Year Special is awesome! 30% off non-specialty rolls?! Yup. $2.50 sushi?! Yup. Best deal ever.
(5)
Juan M.
I should of known this place sucked as soon as I walked in. The smell of old fish hit my nose like a baseball bat. Way overpriced for the quality, worst of all my plate had dry crud on it. Gross.
(1)
Michael C.
Sushi is good .. Biggest problem is that if your work only allows an hour for lunch you will be late guaranteed .. You get your food in around 45 mins .. This happened to me twice and it's sushi it's not like their cooking anything ... Great relaxing place with fresh sushi
(3)
Puddy Tat C.
Hello All, This is the sushi place to visit due to the freshest fish in town to the fun loving nature of the chief's and staff. I brought my father here for fathers day and he truly enjoyed the soft-shell crab and the cilantro tuna lovers roll! The staff is helpful and fun and always make our time here memorable a few things I would recommend: 1. Salmon Sushimi / Yellow Tail. 2. Cilantro Tuna Lovers Roll. 3. Spicy Kenny hand-roll. 4. Fresh Mackerel or Aji Also don't be scared to have the cheif make you something off the menu, further they have a great selection of quality sake. Enjoy, Tat
(5)
Isabel M.
Love this spot!!!
(5)
Denise A.
This place was not bad, but not the best. The fish is fresh, but overpriced. I have been to A LOT of sushi spots and prefer sushi and sashimi to rolls. I have to say my typical favorites is the chirashi bowl. Last night at Maki Zushi we decided to try a couple of rolls and got the Yoshi roll which had no rice, was huge, and wrapped in cucumber. This roll was ridiculous and huge and hard to manage with chopsticks, let me add that for a white girl I am pretty damn good with chopsticks. The other roll we ordered was the garlic albacore roll which was easier to manage and tastier as well. We also ordered sushi: halibut, salmon toro, white tuna, big-eyed tuna, albacore, & yellowtail. My favorites were the halibut, white tuna, & albacore; alas I have still had better. They have all day happy hour from like 5pm-10pm and buy the first drink and the second drink is $1 specials which are good, but expect to fork out some dough for the food itself. The sushi chefs were very nice and attentive; however the waitresses were slow and nearly non-existent. For something local to my house this is not bad, but I still prefer Kaori ( yelp.com/biz/kaori-fulle… ) in Fullerton.
(3)
Anha N.
This place is amazing! Fresh fish, great rolls and REAL WASABI!!! The service was awesome also! We went here during happy hour and all the rolls were 20% off. The sushi platter was great also! 14 pieces for just under $20. I will definitely come here again and again!
(5)
Tom D.
The restrooms at Maki-Zushi are top-notch! Clean, Sanitized, and in good repair. You can tell that these guys take good care of their entire restaurant & kitchen.
(5)
Tina D.
THE best, freshest fish you can find. I've been coming here for years and it just gets better and better. I love this place so much that I'm always disappointed anytime I stray. Trust Yoshi to take good care of you behind the sushi bar. He knows what he's doing!
(5)
Esther P.
my go-to sushi joint when i'm in the mood for sushi or sashimi... Most sushi places do not get a repeat visit from me... so that says much for Maki-Sushi.
(5)
Stacey K.
My first trip to this place was alright... my second trip there recently was worse. Bad service, waited 45 minutes for a piece of salmon to come out, had to wait 20 minutes for my water to be refilled, and another 15 for the check. Free edimame wasn't worth it and I lost my appetite by the time the food came out. The waiter was nowhere to be found. Overall, very boring experience with mediocre food. Go elsewhere if you're wanting the full Japanese cuisine experience. Man, what a bitter sounding review... and im not even pms-ing haha.
(2)
Sum S.
recently renew the menu and decor a little, price went way up but food is the same as b4, dont see any difference. will not come again, pricy food with average quality. .
(2)
Janna L.
Love Love this place. We love everything about this place. The food is AWESOME and the staff is always so friendly. Even our four year son loves the hand rolls, chicken teriyaki and the salad. I think he loves the dressing more. LoL. I personally love the tuna and cilantro.
(5)
Ashley M.
Lets get to the goods... The Good: - Happy Hour is 4-7 which is 20% off all the rolls. - Large beers for only 3 bucks. - Sushi is pretty good and seemed fresh. - Miso soup is complimentary. yummm - It's never too crowded so you should be able to grab a seat. Not so Good: - The service is terrible, if you ask for something don't expect get it for awhile, if at all. - The prices are a little expensive if you're not ordering during happy hour. Overall, this place isn't bad. if I'm in the mood for sushi and the time is right, this is where I'll be! P.S. My fave roll is one that has jalapenos and cilantro, soooo good.
(4)
Alli F.
First time at Maki-Zushi and it was great. From the food to the customer service. The 7th year anniversary prices were fantastic! We'll definitely be back.;)
(4)
David F.
Very good for the price. Lunch bento boxes are good and then the sushi for dinner is way above average.
(4)
Brett R.
This is a great place for sushi! Most people don't know it's there so it is a hidden treasure. Easy to get in on Friday and Saturday nights. The resturaunt is very clean which is unusual for sushi, usually you feel like your in a bad 80's tv show with Crocket and Tubbs, but this place has a modern feel. The food is good, exactly what you expect in a sushi place, many dishes you recognize with a few originals. This one of mine and my daughters(she's 18) favorite places. I totally recomend it!
(5)
Cindy C.
Went here recently after a long time. Being 8 months pregnant, I couldn't eat the "real" stuff so I had to stick to the rolls and stuff. Definitely not as good. My husband had the omakase but it appears the quality is not as we remembered it. Prices also went up. his omakase was $110 alone! I don't think we'll be coming back here soon.
(3)
Patrick V.
Maki-Zushi serves up some of the most authentic Japanese sushi this side of the Pacific, and I've been to Japan so I don't often say this so generously. From traditional tuna sushi to modern American-fusion rolls, Maki-Zushi serves up some of the most tasty Japanese seafood that I've found in Orange County. Its salmon sashimi is fresh with just the perfect texture and the sukiyaki beef was spot-on genuine. The prices are decent -- not cheap, but not an arm-and-leg rip-off. And the service is excellent. It's a smaller restaurant, so it's more ideal for dinners for couples or a small group of friends.
(4)
Smart G.
You know, if you're a big sushi eater, I guess the place is probably pretty good for its food. I am not a big sushi eater so it was just OK for me. However, the service sucked!!! I am not very demanding, but I do expect that the Waiter will come by at least once during the meal, to see if you need something or what ever. This guy came to drop off the check, and that's pretty much it. In his defense, the place was pretty busy, considering the lunch rush was over. Still, not my fault. I did mention it to him, and he was very cordial and apologetic, now consider the fact that he's young, and probably doing this as a job to put himself thru college. Anyway, the food was OK, I would normally order the tempura plate and only sample the sushi. this time it was all sushi. I suppose that this might also be a trendy evening spot. Big sushi eaters (colleagues) tell me this place is pretty good.
(2)
Victor C.
Came here with the coworkers because we all heard it was really good. For the price you pay, you would expect more, however the rolls are tinier than a 50 cent piece and are mediocre at best. We ordered 6 rolls and only got 5, so while we were waiting on our jalapeno albacore roll, we decided to order two more orders of salmon tuna sushi. Another twenty five minutes comes by and we don't get anything, so we decided to ask about the albacore roll. The waitress comes back and replies "The chef said you already got the roll." We deny this as we were still hungry and waiting. Another ten minutes goes by and we still didn't get any of our remaining orders. We end up cancelling the order as it's been too long the rolls are small anyways. This has got to be one of the slowest, overpriced, most disappointing sushi joints ever. And no way are you supposed to argue against the customers, we had a party of 5, and all of us were certain that we did NOT get our sixth roll. Total wait time for the last two was over 30 minutes.
(1)
Mike B.
The best Sushi I have had in some time....
(5)
Kathleen H.
Except for the high prices, this place has the best variety of fish and shellfish I have had in the area. In the last couple of months I have come here to get my sushi fix about once a week or once every other week. If I could afford it, I would eat here every night! I discovered half moon scallop recently. It has the texture of mirugai but softer, like the fresh scallop. Its flavor is sweet. The cost is far less than the mirugai. We ordered a whole aji sashimi. I loved the garnish on top and the ponzu on the side which accentuates the flavor and the fattiness of the fish. After We enjoyed the beautifully prepared aji sashimi, the chef deep fried the bones of the small-size fish which is always fabulous and matches well with the Japanese beer. We then ordered our prennial favorites - hamachi belly sashimi, live scallop (HUGE) served on the half shell, live ama ebi, and kumamoto oysters topped with "eggs" (ikura, masago, quail egg, etc.) as well as items that we don't have often - Ika from Japan, grilled anago lightly sprinkled with sea salt, fried soft shell crab, akagai (orange clam, similar in texture to mirugai but not as expensive). Finally, we wrapped up our sushi feast with uni. OMG that was a ton of excellent food. I felt like I was floading on a cloud so fulfilled with delicious fresh sushi and of course, the price tag was equally high. I enjoy this place so much. But, I really need to learn to control myself and keep to a budget!
(4)
Catherine W.
Another average Korean owned Japanese restaurant. We arrived at 11:30am on Friday just to beat the lunch crowd. The service was good at the beginning but soon got worsen as people started to arrive. We've ordered: ~Chirashi($17.99): came with 2 pieces of Salmon, Red Snapper, tamago, tuna and a tiny piece of cooked shrimp, comparing to the picture on the menu it was lacking in substance and quality, because on the picture it also showed Uni, Sweet Shrimp, Octopus etc. ~ I think for $17.99, it's such a rip off! ~ Spicy Tuna Salad ($9.65): a scoop of mixed spicy tuna on top of bite sized pieces of lettuce with sesame dressing. I didn't like the dish at all because they added alot of chopped cilantro into the spicy tuna mixture. ~ Sukiyaki (14.95): an averaged sized iron pot, filled with cubes of tofu, beef slices, mushroom, egg, carrots, cabbage, and noodle, all cooked in the sweet sukiyaki sauce. Although very average, but was my favorite dish of the meal. Will probably come back here for lunch again if I crave for Japanese food, since it's right down the street from my work. But as far as authenticity goes, my all time favorite is still Ikko.
(3)
Andy C.
This place is better than most Irvine/Tustin sushi joints and the roll prices are good. They have been running their dollar Kirin draft deal for a while now which is an added incentive to go. The bento boxes are very well executed which tells me there's a well-trained cook staff. I've never tried their nigri or sashimi but its a tad pricey so I might hold out of a more a place with better ambiance if I'm going to shell out that kind of dough. Orders are slow during lunch time, but go there from 2-6 and they have happy hr roll prices :)
(4)
Victoria Y.
While the fish was fresh I felt the rolls were missing something. I really enjoyed the soba and the baked scallop roll.. but the spicy tuna and their house special roll just wasn't my thing. The spicy tuna's taste was drowned out by the too creamy sauce and the house special roll just tasted funny to me. Something about that particular combo of fish and vegetables I didn't like. Also, the prices are really high! Too high I think for the food. The portions are large though. I might come back for soba or during happy hour where prices are more decent.
(3)
Carrie h.
This place is very close to my work and the sushi is pretty darn good. The sushi is good, but nothing crazy to write home about. I usually get the veggie roll and miso soup. Their miso soup definitely lacks tofu, which kinda sucks, but it still tastes really good. Their rolls are always made with really fresh ingredients, which in my opinion is key to good sushi. The only real fault with this place is that it is soooo small and gets really crowded at lunch, which sucks because then you can hardly chat at your table and actually hear what people are saying. This also makes it really hard for groups; however whenever we go, we usually have about 8 people and they are more than happy to do what they can to accomodate you. The staff here are some of the nicest people ever and are great at customizing orders and which I'm kinda notorious for :) Maki Zushi is great food and a great location for me; nothing more, nothing less.
(3)
Black C.
4 stars since they are not really that fast with drinks, soup or getting your order ready. Food is fresh and prices are good. Been here a few times for lunch and is very nice.
(4)
Tiffany D.
It is hard to tell when they are open, the tint on the windows is super dark. I'm not sure if they are under new ownership- but last I was here was pretty decent. Beers were I think BOGO (Free) - Sushi specials were cheap ($1.00-2.00) I ordered Liver/Gizzard(?) Yakitori (No on liver first time around) The meat was tender, not over cooked to where it was like eating leather. Not bad. Would have been happier had it been more than one little stick. (2-3 would have been super) Have not been back for a good couple of months- I'm a glutton and prefer to have buffets vs. one shot rolls. :) Call me Hefty - S'all gravy! Would have been back a few nights ago, but they were closed at 10 - WTF? They should be open until at least 11- there are hungry people willing to spend moolah on tiny fish and tiny grilled insides. :P
(3)
Christa A.
Not veggie friendly at all. Most everyone I know who goes here enjoys this place. I go and enjoy the happy hour. Good prices, no joke. Damn crowded at lunch.
(3)
Jill B.
The roads to my place were closed so I found myself here during happy hour to pass the time. Turned out to be a pleasant predicament. Half off rolls? Yes please. Got my usual California and Crunch roll (I'm still a sushi newb and the texture of raw fish grosses me out), and for kicks, tried the Baked Lobster roll. Yum, yum, and yum! The fam joined me so we also split a Teryiaki Chicken plate, which I don't recommend actually. I have definitely had better chicken elsewhere. Stick to the rolls, for sure. The restaurant itself is small, but clean and modern in decor. Our server was super sweet and attentive. I'd probably only go here during happy hour though because good sushi can get pretty costly!
(4)
Amanda B.
I like going here for lunch, it's not packed, good quality sushi. I go for the bento box with sushi as it is the best deal. Staff is pretty good, parking is not always great though.
(3)
Jon O.
Sushi was about average I'd say, nothing too special, not bad either. The salmon and regular hamachi was flavorless, tho I will admit the hamachi belly was nice, but the main reason I came here was because of jerrold's review of live uni for $12---just an fyi--the price has gone WAY up from when he had it 3 months ago,--had to try it once but it wasn't phenomenal or out of this world good, by any means, not that I eat uni all that much...I If yer gonna spend that much $$, just go with the high end Toro, which was cheaper than the uni and should be a lot better. Service was pretty inattentive, barely coming around to clear plates and didn't even offer a refill on tea or water, if the place was busy, that would be one thing, but there were 5 people eating in the restaurant and 2 servers-maybe I'm being harsh, eh?
(2)
Ayami H.
i was going to give this place a 3 star (i'm usually very generous about my stars...) but after seeing the other reviews, i dont feel as guilty about being honest and giving them a 2.5. i'm rarely in santa ana but was here to visit the office in this location. my coworker suggested this place and told me it was pretty good... she said it was japanese owend so i had high hopes. she was actually pretty sure about it... appearance was cute. kinda modern/japanesey? but from the style i kind of doubted it was japanese owned. the sushi chefs did not look japanese at all... hmm... i knew alot of time and money was spent on the appearance of this place. good marketing on their part. anyway... they had the usual lunch and dinner special, sushi specials blah blah but they were pretty expensive for what they were serving. i ordered the cihcken katsu bento box. about $9 and it included a weird tasting miso soup, lots of salad, a scoop of rice, shrimp/potato/pumpkin tempura, 4 pieces of a tiny tiny california roll (i knew for sure after seeing this that it wasnt japanese owned... or at least owned by someone who opened this place to serve good sushi...), and about 8 strips of the katsu. overall the food was ok. maybe a B-, but for the price, maybe a C. i've had better and cheaper ones with better quality in whittier! :) and they are korean owned :) our waitress came by once. we had to flag her down about 4 times and she still didnt notice us. another girl was helping and she kept forgetting to bring us stuff that we requested... service was really a 2 star. they weren't rude but they were not helpful. i'm sure i'd come here again if i had a craving for japanese food during lunch time near the santa ana office, but i'd probably never go there just because i wanted japanese food.
(2)
Mrs S.
It must be a good place to eat if my husband goes there on his lunch break and spends close to $20.
(3)
Kay D.
Another change to the happy hour: The $1 Happy Mugs are back! Woohoo! (translation: 5-10pm you get on tap Kirin mugs for $1 a pop!) I am officially addicted to their albacore toro. They prepare it with their house special ponzu sauce (i.e. garlic-y heaven sauce). YUM! Anything with the ponzu sauce makes me drool. I LOVE the garlic albacore roll (one step away from being the albacore toro...). I am also a fan of the heart attack on rice: baked scallop roll. YUM! My fiance got the sukiyaki and hated it. I think he thought it was going to be like the yakisoba dishes. Oh well. Meanwhile I feasted on my albacore toro and various sushi rolls. YUM! I can't get enough of this place!!
(5)
Rich L.
Service was awesome. Price was quite pricey. There's outdoor seating in their "back yard." It's quite pretty from the inside. The food was good. They had a "nacho" sushi dish. Yes, you heard me right, nachos. They claim it's their most popular dish, and though it wasn't so pretty it was quite good. So try that out.
(4)
Simone C.
My favorite Japanese restaurant!!! Love love love the udon!!!! And rock-n-roll sushi's!!! Price: Great prices!
(5)
Frankie D.
If you are in search of a traditional japanese sushi place in orange county maki zushi is IT! If you're into California rolls or rolls in general gtfo. Go to chef yoshii and do it omakase and you'll be wowed! The fresh market price sushi is out of this world. Try the big toro, king salmon, live amaebi, live scallop, and the baby yellowtail. Trust. The best authentic sushi bar in socal.
(5)
Alice L.
Came here a few weeks ago to treat a co-worker to lunch. The place seems pretty authentic and the prices are pretty good. I really like that htey offer a lot of food for lunch time prices. The lunch special we got was hot udon + spicy tuna rolls. It came with miso soup, salad, and fried tempura. It came up to be about $12 for the lunch set. My only issue with them is that the rolls were a bit sloppy looking. Traditional japanese sushi is neat and doesnt quite fall apart in your hands. these kind of looked like ones i could make on my way.. I'd come again for a quick sushi fix for lunch but thats about it.
(3)
Rob R.
this place was recommended by someone we met at another sushi bar. my wife and I are always up for trying new (to us) sushi-yas as we've been to our fair share. we discoverd this place is more fusion and not an authentic japanese restaurant in even the loosest sense - the owners are not Nihon-jin but Korean and our "chef" evidently was the owner. To be fair the fish sellection and quality were above average but the shari was oversalted and fell apart from the neta - too much vinegar? our chef had a poor sense of pace and rushed all the orders - a big no-no. its not like we were in a hurry or they had people waiting for the bar. we spent $150 for two including 3 large beers, mostly nigri-sushi and a few maki-sushi. i wouldnt recommend this place for an authentic experience, based on other comments it looks like happy hour i.e cheap drinks and fusion type rolls is the way to go, its just not our preference.
(2)
Jeffrey Y.
Best fish in OC. Salmon, spanish mackarel are my favorite. They've got a great variety of sushi, beyond the standard salmon, yellowtail, and tuna. They don't mess around. The fish is so good, I rarely even mess around with the rolls as there is so much good sushi to be had. Try it out.
(5)
Travis B.
I went to Maki Zushi on New Years day after realizing that our usual sushi places were not open due to the new year. All I can say is WOW the atmosphere was comfortable and the sushi was extremely fresh although it comes as cost. Great service, great food! Give it a shot! I give this place an A.
(5)
Gabriela M.
Had another amazing sushi dinner at Maki-Zushi. Ordered multiple live items including: live surf clam, sweet shrimp, Octopus, and live soft shell crab. The live Uni is a must have and never disappoints. If you know sushi, you will love their Toro and Kinmadai (golden eye snapper). Sit at the bar, Omakase not required. Beers are buy one get one for one cent! New yummy deserts include an ice cream sandwich with a sesame cookie and coconut ice cream... Amazing! It's a must try spot of you're in the OC.
(5)
Nancy L.
My hubby and I have been coming her for over 5 years. Maki Zushi is where our sushi venture all began.. So I've decided to make this sushi joint my first food review. We always request the sushi bar in front of Chef Yoshi where he'll serve you only the best. This is where I discovered my love for live uni, live abalone, fresh kinmedai, o toro, bluefin from Japan, live amaebi, kumamoto oysters, conch, live scallops, mirugai...the list goes on and on. They have a large selection of fish and it's always fresh and served perfectly! I'm not a big fan of rolls but my friends say it's tasty, looks good but I prefer my fish in it's pure form. Happy Eating!!
(5)
Dustin J.
Went here for a friends birthday. We had a reservation for 6 but only 3 of us arrived on time. They sat us without our full party and took drink orders. The rest of our party was going to be 30-45 min late. We informed them about this and they were very understanding. We ordered and began to eat. I had the spicy tuna roll, live clam, and salmon toro and halibut. I must say they all went beyond my expectations. The presentation was beautiful and everything was served fresh. The taste was just amazing. The service was by far the best service I have ever had. I would recommend the spicy tuna roll and salmon toro to anyone that goes. Will definitely be returning here for another spectacular time.
(4)
S L.
My girlfriend and I dined at Maki-Zushi after seeing its ratings on "10 best Sushi in OC." We had early dinner on Monday. Service is very cordial and the sushi was fresh and the service was excellent. They had a "buy one bottle of wine and the next one is for a $1" that we took advantage of and took the second bottle home. Love their lightly seared garlic ahi tuna sushi. Outdoor seating is available, but it's summer and the hot/humid day...we took advantage of the AC environment. The ambiance is wonderful!
(5)
Steve K.
Sushi Quality in a Tail-Spin I don't like having to reverse great reviews, but I like this place much less and have to keep it honest. Greed has killed another great restaurant. Here's an example of a great place with great potential to be a leader, instead, it's free-falling to the depths of quality and value you find in commercial grade sushi. The quality has reached a new low, and to add insult to injury - they pieces, formerly nice size, now almost transparently thin, and smaller than a domino. And add to that - the prices are 2x what they used to be. Sorry Yoshi - you've broken the sacred rule of the restauranteur: Never kill the quality or value in your menu, or you'll die a slow death. RIP.
(1)
Ivan L.
Ordered a few items to go. 20 minutes they said, came back in 20 then they said 10 more minutes. Came back in 10 minutes and waited 10 minutes and nothing. Worse service ever. Can't comment on the food because I never effing got any!!!!
(1)
Pai Hao A.
Very sad indeed. Good food. Terrible service. Needs new management. With so many options out there, I'm shocked this place hadn't gone out of business yet. Arrived at 9:20pm. They close at 10. Was told I couldn't order. What kind of restaurant does that? So fail.
(1)
Melly K.
Absolutely delish! One of my favorite sushi places!!! Everywhere else seems to just put a piece of fish on top of a cali roll, but this place is unique and every roll is different. Can't wait to go back!
(5)
Flying Squirrel S.
The best sushi around. Garlic albacore sushi roll, seafood nachos, yellow fish lovers roll and Yoshi Roll!!
(5)
Stephen B.
I used to love this place. I honestly dont know what happened. I ordered 2 black cod miso sake and they were literally less than 1oz each my wife thought it was a piece of sashimi. So sad i even told our server and all she had to say was sorry. I also ordered a hamachi kama and it was pretty tiny also. Maybe i just had a bad day but for less than 1oz of meat thats pretty bad. She could of gave me a discount but she didnt. this place was one of my favorite places to go for sushi but not after how tiny everything was.
(1)
Rafiq A.
The food here was AMAZINGLY FRESH as well as GOOD!!! Came here for lunch, then found myself BACK the next day for dinner After work lol The only thing i would say the place needs help with is SERVICE. Had to wait for simple things like my Sake for my large Asahi beer amongst a few other instances i wont go into because Over all. I WILL be back for more Great food.
(4)
Lin L.
Not sure if it was due to Monday but the sushi I had were not fresh at all. Their "live uni" was not live or even fresh either, served in a very small portion, and way overpriced by charging $19 a piece! Customer service was not bad though that's why I'm putting in an extra star.
(2)
Benj N.
Quite the amazing lunch. Their spicy tuna is addicting. I have a passion for it. The portion is good and the prices are good for the size and quality. Take into consideration I have not had any other sushi except their spicy tuna and lunch specials. However this comes from multiple lunch experiences. The missing star comes from the service. It lacks a little bit. They are a little bit slow as well. But he food is great and the location is convenient.
(4)
Rudy T.
When a friend wanted to come here for a birthday, I was honestly skeptical, the least to say. Growing up in LA meant having J-Town and all that it had to offer. Looking on yelp didn't help ease my worries with only 3 stars. However, throughout the night, I my skepticism was thoroughly removed. We were greeted by Yoshi, and right from the get-go, had a great interaction with him. Throughout the night, he proved to be genuine in his passion for sushi and sake, and his food was delightful and fresh. His portions, for our party, were rather generous and priced very fair, with solid quality fishes. What made his sushi unique for me was his little extra touches to bring out the flavor of the fish. His garnishings on the white tuna was excellent and at $4.25 for 2 pcs, I couldn't resist ordering more. I don't look at sushi as needing garnish. I don't use soy sauce/wasabi, I don't eat the ginger, and try to keep a pure mind about raw fish, but honestly, I loved the little tid-bits he adds to some. Some of our sashimi was kept in pure form without additions on it, such as the toro. I believe Yoshi has an ability to channel exactly what he wants you to taste out of his sushi, and that is a skill. To be fair, perhaps my great experience here was due to sitting at the bar with someone Yoshi is familiar with, but I have to write it as I experienced it, and I would definitely come back and recommend it.
(4)
Gerald T.
if it was rated on food alone it would be much higher but we felt cheated on our yelp coupon. there was a 20% coupon on yelp & we presented it to waiter before we ordered. he looked confused & asked the manager who gave us the green light. after we ate & asked for the bill there was no discount given. when asked, the waiter said that the manager changed his mind saying the coupon shouldnt still be up on yelp. now we feel cheated. dont say one thing & do another.
(2)
Myke D.
Everything a REAL sushi connoisseur would appreciate. The live menu is worth the trip alone. Go, just go. You'll be back again, and again.
(5)
Logan E.
Driven by for years thinking it was another MakiYaki chain that only serves rolls. No, this place is better. As a died in the wool Tommy Sushi guy, Maki Zushi is well above average. I'll b we back.
(4)
Jennifer L.
This place has undergone a bit of a makeover. I'm hoping it's because of new management. My latest experience did a complete 180. I met my friend for, what had to be, a super quick lunch because I had so much work to get back to. I should've read the board outside because then I would've known about the great happy hour deals they had going on. They had some great deals on cheap rolls. I got the chicken donburi and udon combo. It was the perfect combination to satisfy my rice and noodle craving all in one sitting. Since it's lunch, the portions are obviously smaller but nonetheless filling. The service was top notch that day. Our waters were constantly filled, our food came in a quick and efficient manner, and all our requests were instantly met. It's still not the best but it will do whenever I'm craving for Japanese while at work.
(3)
Jimmy L.
I had better, thats all I can say about this place. On a short notice, this is the only place we can booked for dinner. Even with reservation, we had to seat outside in the patio. Besides it was a bit hot, this is not too bad, when we open the menu I was shocked by the price. This is jot your typical cheap restaurant. My wife ordered the chief special. The fish again is okay but Wiith the price, I was expecting a lot more. With so many choices out there, I would probably go other places instead of returning. Unless I have to again.
(3)
Thomas C.
This place looks very westernized on the outside, but serves authentic and hardcore Japanese dishes -- they even have live uni ($20) and amaebi ($15)!
(4)
Brent L.
Went there for lunch. When I got there with my coworker it wasn't even busy. He order a sashimi and I got a bento. He got his sashimi first and even that took kind of long for what it was. 15 minutes later I got my food, but he was already done. I had to get it to go. So I didn't get to eat. At least I got my water with lemon. New Year's resolution kept .... eat less lol. I will give them 2 stars because the food wasn't bad.
(2)
Ben P.
I really like Maki-Zushi. It is definitely my favorite local sushi restaurant. The staff is very friendly. The food is delicious and fresh. The plates of food are of good proportion and are always beautifully arranged. If you're not into sushi, they have several japanese inspired dishes that will tickle your taste buds as well. My favorite thing to order is the classic Salmon Sushi or the Amberjack Sushi (which has real wasabi on top).
(5)
Eric H.
Phone: "Ring-Ring!" Me: "Order for pick-up. I'd like an Osaka Bento Box" Hostess/Waitress: "Okay, one Osaka Bento Box. Anything else?" Me: "......ummmmm, don't you have to ask me if I want a California Roll or a Spicy Tuna Roll?" Hostess/Waitress: "You have to pick the meat!" Me: "Ummm, okay, no thanks." *click* It's been over a year, and I thought to myself," Maybe I've been unfair to this place. Maybe things are different. Maybe its me and not them?" Well, no, it's them. They remain as clueless as ever, and you should not go to this restaurant.
(1)
Vern G.
I like this sushi place. A little pricey but you can always get in, and they have some creative sushi dishes. Their rolls are typically the best value.
(4)
John O.
This is our go to sushi joint in the OC. The fish is always fresh and the live uni is to die for. If your willing to splurge, try omakse with Yoshi. It's an experience. Wife and I tried it got halfway through it before we called it quits.
(5)
Reema H.
Love the albacore tuna roll! MJ (a.k.a the manager) was actually serving us this sat afternoon, and was so accommodating and polite. He was super helpful especially with the bf's unusual requests: ponzu sauce, thin-ly sliced lemon. Honestly the nicest guy and super quick with our orders. We barely had time to finish things before our next order came out. Dishes were cleared just as quickly. Love it. It was a Sat afternoon around 2ish...and it was empty! Hence the excellent service but still think he went above and beyond. He told us to try the spicy tuna hand roll II. Super fresh! He said they literally get fresh fish every day from an LA fish market. I believe him. So good! 2nd time going there, and loved it even more than the first time! Everything was so fresh and light. Here's what we ordered: -albacore tuna roll -spicy tuna hand roll regular and II (II is much better and has chunks of fresh cut tuna!) -yellowtail nigiri -salmon nigiri -sunomono salad (zesty and tangy just the way I like it!) And it comes with complimentary miso soup! Definitely recommend if your in the area. And even if your not.
(5)
Helen P.
Good lunch menu :)
(5)
Wilson T.
I happened on this sushi place today and I gave it a whirl. I ordered the bluefin special $6.95, yellowtail $4.25, salmon toro $4.75 and the lobster tail roll (11) The cut on the sushi are a little small, considering the price. All of the fish is pretty good quality and the rice is minimal which lets you taste the quality of the cut. The thing is though that the quality of the rice definitely needs improvement. The wasabi is great though as it is freshly made. None of that powdery stuff that other places use. I paid $33 after tax/tip for myself which is too much considering I wasn't much full.
(3)
Nicole W.
Loved their rendition of spicy tuna (cilantro red jalapeño & tons if avocado); they import most of the seafood used. Have cost effective items as well as a premium section; $600 for premium sashimi plate. Next time I'm in Tustin I will drop by for lunch.
(4)
Victor L.
Fish is incredibly fresh and the food is delicious!. They specialize in the unique and rare. This not a newbie sushi joint, so if you're expecting ayce or rock bottom sushi prices, this is not the place for. If you're looking for different and quality, this will be your new hidden gem.
(5)
Michelle T.
This place is only a few blocks from our new house and we always pass it by, despite the not so great reviews we decided to check it out Friday night. Honestly, I actually enjoyed it. The service wasn't the best, we had to wave over the waiters/waitresses a few times for refills eventhough there were only two other tables besides us. They were friendly though. It was after 7 so the Happy Hour was on until close, 20% off beer and drinks, not the best happy hour but it's still something. We tried several rolls and the seaweed salad. You also get a complimentary miso soup which was a nice bonus. The seaweed salad was delicious, tastes the same pretty much anywhere you go. My favorite bite was the unagi, seriously it was amazing, I love that there was a little char to it and the sauce was amazing, it was still warm too. I could have filled up on these alone. Spicy tuna was nice big chunks of tuna which was a nice change, it was good but I'm not a big fan of sauce all over my sushi, I prefer it plain so you can taste the fish. The only exception to that was the Cilantro & Tuna Lovers Roll. I REALLY loved this. If you like cilantro it's a must. The roll is topped with big chunks of tuna, avocado, and cilantro, w/spicy mayo. My bf didn't love it as much but I think next time I might just go with this and eat it all myself! I'm really craving it now just thinking about it. We had some other rolls but I forgot what ones they were. Overall it's not a bad place and I can't wait to go back and try some things off the "live" menu, especially the Uni :-)
(4)
Judi S.
Maki-Zushi was our second choice for dinner since Sushilicious had at least an hour wait and a dozen people in line at 8PM. I actually drove right past Maki-Zushi on the way to Irvine and ended up coming here instead on the way back to Tustin. The sushi chef, Yoshi, was familiar but I can't remember where I've seen him before. Once our order was in, the food came to us quick and steady while we sat and talked at the sushi bar. Dinner included: salmon toro sashimi salmon sushi shrimp sushi flying fish egg lion roll california roll The presentation was ordinary. The quality and quantity were good, but not great. They did not make an effort to clean away any used plates so each of us ended up with a pile in front of us when we were through eating. That was annoying. To me, there seemed to be a general lack of that highly sanitary cleanliness I've come to expect from a good Japanese restaurant. That fact kind of bothered me. You could see the visible layer of dust upon the black sushi bar and bits of fish along the outside upon the glass of the refrigerator case. It made me wonder how sanitary the prep area really was. After Yoshi yelled "check", we were forced to flag down a waitress whom was nonexistent throughout our meal to get the bill. Again, annoying. Call me a sushi snob- I don't care, but Maki-Zushi doesn't compare to Taiko in service, presentation and quality.
(3)
natasha f.
I went to this place on a sunday thats the best part they are open on SUNDAYS! There was happy hour all day and the rolls were pretty good! This wasnt the BEST but not the worst. Our waitress was sweet but the sushi chef was kind of stand offish but supplies us with everything we needed and had our orders in a timely manner. Ill definitely be returning but maybe only on sundays
(3)
Jeff C.
Always great service. Sushi is really good for a reasonable price. Especially when you hit happy hour.
(5)
J P.
The food is excellent! This is my new sushi spot.. I ordered the garlic albacore roll, baked scallops roll.. It was so tasty, hit the spot. The waitress was nice even though I mistakenly walked in around 2.55pm. they close at 3 and they open back up at 5pm for dinner. The music here was at the perfect volume and the flat screen was a plus. I really enjoyed my visit here.. :) Second visit, we tried the spare rib bento and the salmon teriyaki..very disappointed. The spare rib was almost raw and it had too much fat on it. They had some chicken katsu looking thing on my bento box that was so dry and just looked like it was sitting out for awhile. The california roll was good and some tempura was ok. but I was very disappointed with the meat. The salmon came out and it looked great but my kid said it didn't taste like anything until she put soy sauce on it.. I give this restaurant 5 stars for their rolls, and 3 stars for their teriyaki and bento combo. I will definitely go back, there is always room for improvement.
(3)
Karen W.
Maki-Zushi is sooo delicious. The restaurant is a bit commercial-looking for my taste, but the fish ( media4.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ) is incredible and beautifully presented. I wasn't a huge fan of the mussels ( media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ) or the oyster shooters ( media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ), but I wouldn't be a fan at any other place either, so that doesn't count. The soft shell crab roll ( media3.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ) we ordered was huge and flavorful, with the perfect amount of crunch. We also had tender bulgogi over rice. There's not much to say about Maki, but that everything I had was really fresh and delicious. I am a big fan.
(5)
Marian B.
15 Courses Omakase Sushi Dinner. OMG! I was in SUSHI HEAVEN! Extremely fresh and delicious sushi! Quality was EXCELLENT and Yoshi-san was great! He really took care of us! I'm pretty much a sushi snob. I don't go to AYCE sushi places (my stomach dies) and I sit at the bar most of the times (unless it's a big group or the person I'm with isn't a snob like me). I don't like using soy sauce for good sushi because that will mask the true taste of it. Oh and they use REAL grated wasabi! Awesome I'm not going to list every single dish (detailed review will be on my blog) but every course just reiterated what an amazing culinary experience I was having. The freshness, the textures, everything from our live sweet shrimp to the oysters, the uni, the toro, EVERYTHING was superb. MMM I'm imagining it again and I think I just drooled on my shirt. Oh and total damage for 2 people for this amazing omakase meal with no alcohol was over $200 with tax & tip. Pricey but well worth it. Maki Zushi, you have made a fan out of me and I grant thee one of my rare 5 stars! =D I can't wait to go back.
Eat this: Sweet Shrimp - so fresh the heads are still moving, really! Then they take away shrimp heads and fry into a delicious crispy treat. Really must try! Uni Shooters - Only place I've ever had Uni Shooters. Perhaps I'm bias since I love love LOVE uni, but it's delicious. If you like oyster shooters, then uni shooters are it's upscale poshy cousin that you'd much rather be seen with. Albacore Salad - pretty large portion with lots of albacore. Quite tasty, not the BEST I've ever had but worth a taste. I deduct 1 point for using iceberg lettuce. Really, good salad does not start with iceburg lettuce at least throw some seaweed in there. Rolls - they had tons of rolls, I don't recall the names but I had one with jalepenos on it and it was really good.
(4)
Young L.
Love this place! Deluxe Sashimi Set is the best! The sashimi is very fresh and cuts are pretty generous. Only negative thing I can think of is the service. The restaurant is run by the servers only and there seems to be no structure. That causes customers to be impatient. I go there knowing it's going to be like that and I'm ok but I can't speak for others who demand top notch service from a sushi joint.
(4)
Stephanie Y.
I was sent down to Tustin for field work with a couple coworkers and we were really craving sushi. I yelped and this place had pretty good reviews and was close to the client's office, so we decided to try it. However, I had a bad feeling as soon as I walked in. Everyone had rolls, and there was one Asian customer in there. My coworkers ordered the bento boxes, which looked pretty standard, and I ordered the negi toro roll and an order of sushi (I forget which). The fish was fine, nothing special, but I really didn't like that they put wasabi in both without warning me. I have no tolerance for wasabi and ended up taking both apart to remove it. It wasn't disgusting, but I wouldn't return and I would only recommend it to people that only like rolls aka people one step above those who say they love sushi but only eat California rolls and won't touch raw fish.
(2)
Susan K.
can i give this place negative stars? horrible customer service. extremely rude chefs (to their own workers). ridiculously overpriced food for the tiny portions. goodbye forever
(1)
Lisa T.
Came for happy hour (4pm-7pm) today and received 30% off my meal! Awesome! We didn't leave until 7:20ish, but we still got the happy hour price. We come here often and were happily greeted by our wonderful server. Young Korean guy... he's the best! Always smiling. The place was super busy for a Thursday night. Service was fast. Food was delicious.
(4)
Sara B.
Seafood nachos are my favorite!! I would go there for those alone! The staff is always very kind and helpful with suggestions. With those suggestions we tried the mackerel special which we likened to fish bacon! It was tasty! We also had Spanish mackerel sushi which was good but with a bit too much flavor added. We had a sashimi that was delicious and tender but once again too much added by the chef. I was overwhelmed by lemon! Usually my favorite sushi is spicy tuna rolls but they're not my favorite here.
(4)
Toshi B.
I had this place for lunch the other day with two co-workers. I had the Kansai Lunch which came with either 8 cali or 8 spicy tuna roles, choice of meat and rice, miso soup, tempura, and a salad. If that sounded like a lot of food...it definitly was and the price was pretty reasonable too! (11$ish) There was a nice wide selection of meats, I chose the yellowtail collar which was somewhat small but all the other food definetly made me full. My coworker got the pork tonkatsu instead and it looked like he got a good amount...(jealous...) Being a former Sushi Roll chef, I was kinda disappointed with the not so very pleasant-to-the-eye spicy tuna roll, and my non-former Sushi Roll chef co-workers agreed, but it tasted fine. Also there seemed to be a wide selection of bentos but they were all just a small variation of the same bentos(less/more rolls, sashimi or meat, udon or no udon) with fancy Japanese names(which had nothing to do with anything really). All in all the place was pretty good and I can definetly find myself going back there again!
(4)
Vivian M.
I had my doubts about this place, but that's only because of the location. First, the actual restaurant is very nice and typical looking of most sushi places. My boyfriend and I stopped in around 5:45 pm in hopes of the happy hour before hitting up a movie... there were only two other table being used and one waiter. The waiter was very attentive and nice, which I've got to say is absolutely rare for a sushi restaurant. Second, the happy hour is from 4-7 and consists of $2.99 large beers and 20% off all rolls. Um YES. Third, after ordering we got free salads and miso soup. The salad had only one piece of iceberg lettuce [total bonus] and the dressing wasn't the fatty thousand island but a nice light Italian. Fourth, our roll, the Jalapeno Albacore role was fantastic and spicy. So good.! We also got the sashimi rice bowl which was pretty pricy [$18] but extremely tasty with the fish tasting very fresh and the rice tasting fantastic. Fifth, OUR FOOD CAME QUICK. Maybe it was a fluke but our food came so quickly I was blown away. Our waiter got a 25% tip, which rarely happens. So I highly suggest coming here.
(5)
Kudos Y.
I am a big sushi lover. This place isn't real Japanese place. I cant recommend this place to my friends. The place is clean. thats the only one good thing. Way expensive compared to the food quality . And the server is not that nice. No, the worst service! Never again.
(1)
Jennie N.
Maki zushi, hardcore sushi. That deserves a big badda boom at the end. I like this place a lot! Lots of parking outside, a cute corner japanese garden at the front entrance, and a neat and spacey interior. Inside, there are window booths, plenty of seating in the center, and a bar in the back. We were greeted and seated as soon as we stepped in. Everything on the menu sounded delicious and the pictures looked great too. My bf and I came for dinner (not hh) and we ordered: Tea: It was hot Japanese barley tea with grains of rice. I love the taste of slightly burnt rice. Perfect with the sushi we ordered. Water: Hehe I have to comment on this bc I appreciate restaurants that give you a nice big glass of ice water with a slice of lemon in a clean cup. Which they did :) Miso Soup: Hot, Soupie, and its freeee. Not a lot of restaurants give their miso soup for free you know Side Salad: Lettuce and greens with sesame dressing I think? Salads that are complimentary are usually not that great and I rarely touch it but this one was good. Finished every bite. Seaweed Salad: This was simply delicious. Only $3.95! Cilantro Tuna Lovers Roll: A+! This had tuna, avocado, cilantro, jalapeno, kaiware and cucumber with some spicy creamy mayo sauce. I've never had sushi with kaiware in it before and I love these sprouts. $12.95 Super Scallop Volcano Roll: This was baked and hella yummy! I think its like a california roll with lots of scallops on top and creamy sauce topped with fish eggies. $10.95 Jalapeno Albacore Roll: The jalapenos on this was actually spicy. Albacore on the outside, tuna and cucumber inside with cilantro with some amazing sauce. The pieces were huge too. $8.95 We obviously over ordered and had to take some to go but everything was really good! The guy that helped us was very friendly. Our drinks, food, and bill came quickly and he evened checked up on us in between. It came out to $47 with tip which I think is great for the portion, taste, quality, service, atmosphere and everything. I shall pencil maki zushi in for happy hour next week yayy
(5)
Marianne G.
So when I first went here I complained about the table-cloth prices for a non-table cloth place. Hubs and I did a date night and decided to go here and we sat down to a table with a tablecloth. BAM. The food was excellent. They had a blue crab roll on special which I didn't order but I heard someone else order it and then shortly thereafter I smelled blue crab bowling. (I know this smell, my parents' house cooks it for special occasions.) The service was friendly and fast. It was a Monday night so it wasn't that busy but it was also during happy hour. Speaking of which the happy hour thing confused me a little bit. The first beer is $7 and then the 2nd beer would be half off. They didn't mention the 3rd beer...or the 4th. Haha. So that was the only thing that confused me of the evening.
(4)
Tasha H.
Love it here! I bring new friends weekly and they are hooked. They have one of the largest selections of fresh seafood. Usually at a sushi restaurant you cannot find this many live seafood to pick from. Live sweet shrimp, live octopus, live scallops,live clams , live sea urchin and much more. My favorite is garlic albacore, Yoshi roll, live sweet shrimp, spicy shrimp lovers roll. Sit at the bar and you can run into some fun locals to dine and chat with.
(5)
Sap S.
Maki Zushi is a great place. I've been to it many times and it's definitely one of my fav restaurants. The food is great, Yoshi san is awesome and Abbai was probably one of the best servers around. I honestly don't think these people giving bad reviews know much about sushi or rolls to hate on this place like this. The location is awesome, the prices are awesome, the location is awesome, this place IS awesome! I'll definitely be coming over during weekdays to watch me some NBA Playoffs! LA Lakers all the way son! *Oh and I must recommend the Baked Scallop and Lobster roll, simply mouthwatering!!!!! *Also this place is NOT under new management. I've been there for a couple of years and the people are the same! *Parking might be a little troublesome but there is plenty of space in the back, some people are just not so smart! lol, and what do you expect? The place is so good, parking lot is ought to get full!
(5)
Michelle T.
Couple of reasons i never order omakase. First of all, do u know how many desserts i can turn those dollars into that i hand over to the Chef's whim to give me whatever he wants? Secondly- i am not a hardcore sushi eater-i'm one of those japanese people who loves California rolls. i know- for shame... So this may make you not trust me on sushi reviews, but for MY experience here, i had a delicious meal. For about 40 bucks, i shared a rainbow roll, salmon sushi (so delicious!) and a bento box that came with chicken katsu, tempura (i love the potato stick tempura- like fries), ALBACORE salad, 4 piece nigiri (chefs choice came with 2 albacore, egg and shrimp), seaweed salad, rice and miso soup. Chef Yoshi used to work at a sushi bar in west LA, and a few of my friends now drive all the way to Tustin to see him. Mainly for the Toro. We noticed the pieces are a bit smaller at the new establishment according to my friend, but it's still yummy fresh. With a "hardcore sushi" sign, they have a lot of LIVE sushi (see menu). For non hardcore peeps like me, Bento Boxes are a good deal and they have a good selection of sushi rolls. Get the salmon!!!Melts in your mouth- seriously!
(4)
Tina K.
Decent food, okay prices but don't bother coming during lunch time. Staff cannot handle the rush...especially on a Friday. DO NOT expect to get your food at the same time if you come with a group of people. We waited for over an hour and twenty minutes after ordering to receive our food. The staff seemed to acknowledge the problems with orders getting backed up, but did little to remedy the situation other than continually apologize. Think twice about coming here.
(2)
Hack S.
If I could give this place five negatives I would. The menu is not descriptive wot so ever. Most of the items make no sense. The food tastes fine the service is fine. Why hav a menu at all? The menu is everything. Make the menu concise or don't make one at all.
(1)
Brian K.
This place is amazeballs!!! I've bee here on several occasions for birthdays, including my own, and I can honestly say this is by far my absolute favorite sushi place. You cannot beat the freshness and quality because Yoshi-san orders his fish daily. I took one of my friends here for her birthday and she said this place is on par with some of the best sushi she's ever had, including Japan. Need I say more???
(5)
Sopa S.
An OK place that serves decent sushi at a pretty high price for what you get. There's other places better around Irvine, quite frankly. Heck, even the all you can eat sushi tastes better.
(3)
Minhee K.
I love this place. The rolls are so good. And I love sushi set. It's coming with salad and soup as well.
(5)
alicia h.
I have been here many times and service has always been perfect. The food is good. This time i went the service was very slow and took for ever to get the items., usually they are pretty fast. Other than that the food was good.
(3)
Ami S.
Tried to eat here for lunch, got there at 2:30, that's HALF AN HOUR before lunch closes, they refused to seat us, saying they already closed. Well then we refuse to ever give them our business again.
(1)
D H.
I eat sushi at different restaurants several times per month. I was truly not impressed. I had a reservation and no one greeted us. We went and sat at the sushi bar on our own. The restaurant had been open for 20 mins. No one offered us a menu. I had to go get my own soy sauce from a different table. After 10 mins I had to ask for someone to take our order. Sashimi was good-average. Rolls were very small and over priced. Toro toro roll didn't look or taste that great. The worst part of it was I got food poisoning 1 hour after I got home. Sorry, but I'll never go back.
(1)
Courtney H.
Used to go to this place on a weekly basis. seriously, we were GOOD customers. One instance I placed an order, they said 20 min. I gave them some extra time and got there in 30 min. when I got there the order wasn't ready. ok...how much longer? as I wait in the restaurant 15 min goes by. I walk up to the owner and ask what's taking so long and when do they anticipate it will be ready? the owner says NOTHING to me, but walks back to the kitchen. seconds later the receptionist runs out and apologizes. I wait yet another 10 min and my food is finally ready. so now it's been nearly an hour. the owner never once apologized or said anything to me. how rude to treat a recurring customer like that! never go here!!!!!
(1)
Janna N.
The sushi here is amazing, very authentic. I had the best halibut here I've ever had;)
(5)
Christina K.
Came here on weekday in recommendation of a friend who said it had relatively good and affordable sushi. The restaurant is located in a strip mall so there there really is nothing to say more in regards to the ambiance. Not exactly a place to go for a romantic date, but perfect casual dining when one is craving sushi! I was impressed with the menu which boasted a decent selection of fresh market fish and live uni!
(3)
John L.
One of my top spots for sushi. I'm not talking about rolls and beginner sushi. I'm talking about fresh, raw sushi. If you are a true sushi connoisseur, do yourself a favor and sit at the sushi bar in front of head chef, Yoshi. Ask him what is good that day and sit back and enjoy. They have such a wide selection. Here are a few: blue fin tuna, otoro, kin midai, shi maji, aji, uni, tai, halibut, yellowtail, baby yellowtail. They also have a great live selection such as surf clams, scallops, mirugai, amaebi, uni, abalone, and razor clams. Sometimes they have live lobster and hairy crabs. I was recommended to this place about 4 years ago and I must say it is still one of my all-time favorite places. I've been to practically every good sushi place in Orange County, but I still come back to Maki Zushi! If you like drinking with the chef, Yoshi loves sake. He's not much of a beer guy, but he loves his premium sake. Just like any other good sushi place, it's not cheap. So expect to spend some money for the full experience. It is well worth it though. Just don't get hooked, because it can become an expensive habit!
(5)
Mary R.
It's alright. Not very authentic, but it gets the job done. Definitely too pricey. One roll (good sized) is around $10-$16. That's nuts. One roll isn't enough for any sushi lover. In OC, you constantly get ripped off for boring "meh" sushi. It's kinda sad.
(3)
Mel M.
I'll admit, me and the hubby only came here because the place we were going to originally was closing as we drove up. But.. I'm so glad that happened cus I think we found a little gem! The hostess/ sushi chef's were very nice. It was pretty late so there were only two other couples left there other than us, but we didn't feel rushed at all to order, eat, or pay. We ended up ordering the Maki Zushi Love Boat for Two (corny name, I know.. not to mention it literally came in a wooden boat! haha!) It came with Miso Soup, House Salad, Rice, Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura, Chicken Karaage Choice of Sashimi or Edamame Choice of 2 Meat Choice of 2 Rolls We didn't expect it to be SO HUGE! but it was really delicious. We got the chicken teriyaki chicken was cooked perfectly and they used all breast meat which was amazing! The short ribs were also very good and the rolls that it came with were yummy as well. The tempura came with sauce that was sooo good that we used it all up! The place itself was very open and clean, I honestly didn't expect much from a place who's slogan is "hardcore sushi"... but I guess you can't judge a restaurant by its catch phrase! :)
(4)
Jennifer Dawn O.
This was the first time I tasted the Miso soup and didn't push the bowl away. Actually, their soup was delicious and I finished most of it. However, my Dad and I were too satiated from the Salmon skin roll and and an Albacore dish to need the soup and salad. I think in future I will straight off ask they not bring those two items and save my self for sushi and rolls. I am not a sushi aficionado by any stretch but do know fresh food artfully and thoughtfully prepared when I see and taste it. Such was this refreshing little sushi spot. I will be back soon!
(5)
Celeste G.
This place was recommended to my sister and I by a friend so we decided to check it out and LOVED what we found. So much, in fact, that it might be our new favorite sushi spot. The food was amazing! Between the two of us we tried several rolls, but I think our decided favorite was the Tokyo Dragon Roll (it's in the baked section of the menu). Everything was very fresh, delicious, and was ready really quickly! Our rolls also included miso soup and salad which was an added plus. For those who like indulging on a little vino with their meal, they have a generally good selection of alcohol for a sushi place, and when we were there (on a Sunday), they even had a "buy one, get the next for $1" special going on that was pretty great. It is a little bit on the pricey side (rolls seemed to be anywhere from $8-$18), but honestly, it was worth it. And no worries, if you want to go here with friends who aren't the biggest sushi fansi, they do have alternative options! Overall, it was an awesome experience! I'm so glad we found out about this place because I don't think we would have ever come across it by chance! I'd say, if you're a sushi enthusiast like myself, definitely give it a try if you're in the area!
(5)
Carmela A.
Fresh and yummy sushi. I ordered their Cilantro and tuna lovers( spicy how I like it) and their vegas roll, also their baked scallops.My children ordered kids terriyaki chicken also delish. Their prices are reasonable.Service is great, we will be back for more...
(5)
Ally T.
last night we had omakase with yoshi. it was pretty amazing. he presented us with a wide selection of sashimi including: live octopus, live uni, live clam...toro, tai, aji, amberjack, hamachi, needlefish, sardine, bluefin, scallop. the amaebi was a standout as was the aji. when the sashimi was presented to us, he would explain where it was from and instruct us on how much real grated wasabi or soy to use... i would say its a really nice place to have dinner. service was really good, our matcha tea cups were never empty nor cold. i have to admit, when my date mentioned we were coming here for dinner, i winced at the name...as their tagline is "hardcore sushi" i expected the worst. an important reminder to not judge a book by its cover! i would put it in my top 5 places...be sure to sit at the bar with yoshi...(iposted some pics so you can see oue entire omakase)
(4)
Sara L.
Fresh fish, good flavor. Rice wasn't perfectly done. But my in-laws took me here. Hm, I have to knock off stars for the fact that they serve Bluefin. I mean COME ON, it's almost extinct already! Get your ass in gear and STOP serving bluefin. I feel like if maybe I shame the sushi places I go that serve it, they'll stop serving it. I should be so lucky. When in the area I prefer to eat Chinese, Vietnamese, or Persian, but Maki-Zushi is certainly a decent spot and much more fresh and higher quality than most strip mall sushi joints.
(3)
Fernando G.
The best sushi restaurant in Orange County... way better than the over rated "RA". Need to try the Cilantro & Tuna Lovers Roll, that is one of my favorites. Great place over all...
(5)
MathTutor O.
My favorite sushi restaurant! Their hamburger steak, Maki Zushi nachos, and jalapeno albacore rolls are my favorite!
(5)
Maggie C.
I've been coming to this place for a few years. I used to go to another sushi place near South Coast Plaza off Bristol and Sunflower (the location should give it away), but I switched over to Maki and have not gone back. First, the freshness of the meat whether its fish or chicken is guaranteed. Everything tastes so clean and does not taste fatty or oily. Second, the prices are not too bad considering the quality and cleanliness of the place. Third, I'm not a "hardcore" sushi person, but I can see when other customers order "hardcore sushi" that they are delighted at the taste and quality. Fourth, there's enough variety for the non-hardcore fans to try something a bit more adventurous without getting too hardcore. I recommend the Maki Sushi Roll II, Shrimp Crunch with cream cheese (yum!), cilantro and tuna lovers roll, popcorn lobster roll, spicy crunch roll, and the baked scallop crucnch roll. Also the miso soup is amazing!
(5)
Mercy C.
I'll give this place a LOW 3 stars. The waitress and servers were attentive enough. The rolls are good... and decent priced. But the sushi that I've had was bad. The Ankimo was not very flavorful. The Oyster shooters had not oyster flavor. If the oyster is going to be so small... put in less ponzu or less sake so that SOME oyster flavor will stand out please. I asked the chef to make me a CHOPPED spider roll... he said he knew exactly what I wanted... and handed me a normal spider roll. @_@ Seems like a good place for a lunch combo though. Just don't go off the menu.
(3)
Yasu R.
Our favorite sushi place in OC. The sushi and sashimi here is always fresh... the price is very reasonable and love the staff there. Everyone we've encountered is super friendly. Diner here regularly with our 2 little ones and they always go out of the way to accommodate us. If you want good sushi, look no further.
(5)
Melissa C.
The Love Boat is still only $28. It includes two sushi rolls, two kinds of meat, sashimi, chicken karaage, tempura shrimp and veggies, miso soup, salad, and some little tempura fried bananas. Such a score. And they have tablecloths, so it's fancy. If you're looking to get a lot for a little, this is the place to be. And whoever comes here looking for true, quality sushi? I mean, come on, the place is Korean-owned. There's so many great sushi places with excellent Japanese sushi chefs within 10 miles of this place that it's silly to judge it in that way. Sushi Murasaki, Ikko, Angotei, and Sushi Shibucho? Why would you go to Maki Zushi when what you want is those other places? They make a mean Philadelphia Roll, and the Chicken Karaage is yum yum delicious.
(5)
Danny H.
Somewhere in her smile she knows, That I don't need no other lover. Something in her style that shows me. I don't want to leave her now, You know I believe and how...at MAKI-ZUSHI! - Beatles (something) Came here for lunch and first thing i noticed was that its got a clean/nice feel to it. There's good spacing between tables and the bar is available as well. The sushi menu has many options - actually more than i would've liked lol - but the sushi chef was very helpful and i ended up ordering the lobster tail roll. It's cool because this place uses real lobster tails as opposed to some other stuff that you see on lobster rolls and it was tasty. the unagi was fresh too so overall, no complaints. Food: 4 stars --- Service: 3 stars --- Atmosphere: 4.5 stars --- Price(value): 3.5 stars
(4)
J G.
We used to love this place - but my ...how things have changed. First of we used to frequent this place A LOT. Then I am not really sure what happened - change of management maybe? but we went there earlier this week for dinner and we were surprised with the changes. First of, our server was freaking MISERABLE! She looked like she didn't want anything to do with that place. SHE WAS NOT FRIENDLY AT ALL nor did she pay attention to us. She was an older Asian lady - she never checked on us, never filled our drinks and was rude. We were trying to order and were asking about the new menu and while I was talking to her, some people came in and she immediately focused on the people walking in blatantly ignoring me. The new dinner menu SUCKS! Aside from the HUGE price jump, they limit the choices. They offered a bento box, but you can't make any selections. The dinner menu is VERY limited and VERY disappointing. As we were eating our meal, the entire time, we were thinking about how disappointed we were and how it might be the last time we go there for dinner. We loved this place when MJ worked there. There were a few servers in the past that were fantastic, but I guess the dinner server we got that night - SUCKED. The sushi grade is good - but if you're expected to pay for a pricey meal, shouldn't it match great service? Overall, food is good, prices has jumped, older asian lady server SUCKED. The best time to go there is for lunch since it's cheaper and dinner menu is way overpriced for the amount of food they serve.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Dogs Allowed : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
ryan w.
So, I had not eaten live sushi until this place. It was it that I had turned my nose up at it, the fact is, I did not Know it existed in the USA. Live sweet shrimp was truly a treat as was the strawberry desert. Truly a new experience and one I will go back for EVERY time I end up in Irvine, CA. Chef Brian was awesome.
(5)Isaac Arace S.
We come here every Friday. The food and atmosphere is fantastic. Brian, John, Nicole, Melanie and Tommy are very hospitable. The dishes that Brian and John prepare are over the top. My daughter has become addicted to sushi because of Maki's. Must try there : Hardcore Omakase Yellow tail Carpaccio Crunch roll/ hand roll (Shrimp) There prices are very fare.
(5)Peter T.
Came here once just to try it. Had to wait almost 45 minutes to be seated even though there were obviously open tables. When I asked the hostess why we haven't sat yet, she apologetically said there weren't enough servers to cover all the tables. When we finally sat, the sushi was ok but the a bit overpriced. I'm glad I tried the place but probably won't be going back.
(2)Charlie J.
This is far most the best sushi place for lunch I have ever eaten and I be mad at you sushi places in this is very clean courteous service very nice friendly and a lot of fortune a lot of portion I'll be coming back here I wish I could come back every day for lunch but twice a week I will be definitely I give this four thumbs up he's here
(5)Emeri Q.
Aweosme spot for a late night dinner scene, came in and was greeted right away by a friendly face. we ordered seafood nachos which was very fulfilling (6pcs),Monkey Brain roll,crispy rice and calamari. Our waiter hooked us up with free miso soup too..yay for free stuff! Service was a 5out 5 for sure and food was a 4 because we really didn't order any of their special but with the food that was served to us tonight there is no doubt that there hardcore omasake must be super good. Will definitely come back to this spot if I'm ever around Newport area.
(4)Dave F.
Bomb sushi get the omakasi and sit at the sushi bar you will leave stuffed uni rice is fire
(5)Darrell L.
Ate here with a large group. We were seated on the patio which faces the street in a busy intersection. It was very noisy and half the people were sneezing because of the pollen/dust. Would suggest not sitting on the patio unless you want extra "street flavor" in your food. Decent food at great prices for lunch so would definitely recommended it for that. Have a mix of both japanese and korean food since it's korean owned. Paid the bill for the entire group of 10 people. Fast forward 3 weeks, realized the restaurant double charged me. Called the first day at a non-busy time (after 2:30pm) to be courteous. No one answered. Looks like they don't even pick up phones between their lunch/dinner break. Called again the next day at 11 to tell them they double booked my card. Lady refused to help me and told me to call again another day???? I said, it was urgent. She said call again after 2:30pm. I told her I did that yesterday and no one answered. And then she hung up on me. Let's hope the next time I try again, I get the double charge reversed. I hate it when restaurants are not willing to help you especially when it's their fault they double charged.
(1)Ericka T.
Came for the first time here with my family and I loved everything about this place. Everything was so delicious and everyone was so friendly. I will definitely be a regular!!!!
(5)James Y.
WOW !!!! This place is AWESOME. My family and I eat a lot of sushi and this place is way up there on my list. Everything was fresh and it was very delicious, the service was top notch. We had and excellent time and enjoyed the food. I will be a customer here for good. I can really recommend this place.
(5)Diane V.
One of my favorite sushi places! I think I was so used to my ghetto sushi joints and now I have seen the light. Come here for fresh sashimi and great roll combinations.
(5)Danny And Yvette B.
The food was decent this time. Not the best sushi I had but not too bad, if you have time ... Actually been here a couple years ago before for drinks and dinner and this is why I thought of it for lunch cause I was in the area. The food took forever to come out! But I am going to only base my review on the food. =)
(3)Gino M.
A restaurant is only as good as its owner. I host a new TV show and a national sushi event called Sushi Smackdown. Often when I do an event at a new restaurant, I cross my fingers hoping they do a good job for my crowd. Each restaurant has to serve my fans 17 dishes in four categories. Appetizers rolls, sashimi and desserts. My fans rate each dish as it comes out 1 to 5 stars. The goal is to find the restaurants best in every category. Sushi Smackdown is a really fun sushi party that opens up the locals eyes to each restaurants menu. I had the pleasure of hosting our first event at Maki Zushi last week. My fans were extremely happy as was I. Food and service absolutely fantastic. I recommend Maki to all my sushi fans, not just because of its great sushi, but because of the owner Bryan. He cares about his customers and runs his restaurant with heart.
(5)Alice C.
good luck getting your lunch in within 1 hour at maki zushi, because it ain't gonna happen. been here several times for lunch specials (which are pretty overpriced, btw) and the service is slow, and the food takes even slower to come out. i don't think there is anyway to spend less than $10 for lunch here, everything is easily $15 with tax and tip. now onto the food. the sushi here are sloppily presented and small. the curry rice, teriyaki beef, mac salad, and salad are all meh. all in all, there are better sushi joints in the neighborhood for lunch.
(2)Bota A.
Decent food, nice interior, not so good service. Interior 5* - I really like their interior, restaurant has booths, long sushi bar and some tables (for big groups they can easily connect tables) Service 2*- When we arrived at the parking lot, our favorite waitress was leaving (can't remember her name). So there were 3 servers- an old lady, one girl and a guy with thick glasses. I kinda felt like they were ignoring us because we had to call them to get our water glasses refilled or ask them to our dirty dishes away. None of those 3 servers stopped by our table to ask if we were doing okay. Wish the other girl was there tho! Food: 5*- for all our rolls and sushi. Salmon sushi, toro and unagi all were so good. They melted in our mouth. 5*- nabeyaki udon 4*- calamari salad- it's crunchy goodness, one star down because they put too much salad dressing. 1*- Chicken Don- my friend ordered it but she didn't even have her second bite, because there was chunks of undercooked onions the dish wasn't as good as the last time we had it. 1*- Prime rib dinner plate- the beef was dry and hard. It didn't taste anything like prime rib! So overall this place gets 3.5 stars. We would be back hoping for better, but of course it's not our first choice of Japanese restaurant anymore.
(3)Matt H.
What happened? I was gone for two weeks and all of a sudden, I walk in and can't recognize any of the staff. Even Yoshi is gone. Oh well, at least the fish is still there. After all, that's why I go to a sushi restaurant. A bad chef can turn good fish into bad sushi, but the best chef around can't do much if the fish is bad. So the chef has changed, but the fish is still the king here. The menu prices dropped as well, at least for the more common nigiri items. The sake happy hour deal changed as well, and I think the small bottles are a little overpriced, but my wife and I had about what we normally order in a night and the bill was actually lower than I was used to paying, a very pleasant surprise. So sorry Yoshi, I am sad to see you go, but Maki is still retaining it's place as my go-to sushi joint. Especially that they are open Saturday afternoon again.
(5)Rikku C.
I brought my friends to this place because they craved sushi and this was #3 in OC according to the OC Registers. Went in around 6:30pm and were sat immediately for there was only one other table. I am not like most other people who would say "oh geez, it's dinner time and no ones here! Something's up!" But that should've been a sign. We ordered the Calamari appetizer while we waited for a friend to arrive. This order took about 10 mins. That's fine. It was tasteless. Here, you order by a piece of paper but no pen. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if that's for the servers or for us. But I'm pretty sure it's now. So hey, how about a pen or pencil? At last we ordered a kyuri roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a regular sashimi plate. I thought I would make it easy and write on the top corner "Sashimi-Reg" and we confirmed it with our waiter. Tasteless Calamari. Kyuri Roll was ok, I've had it elsewhere. Spicy Tuna Roll was decent. That one had green onions, Masago, Spicy Tuna mix and (probably) Mayo on top of the rolls. We failed to see how this restaurant was rated #3. So we were waiting on the sashimi to prove us wrong and blow our minds... And boy were we right! This place should not be #3. We ate slowly, waiting for the sashimi that our waiter never put in the POS. We thought maybe the sushi chefs were just taking forever on it. There were two sushi chefs and a waiter and a waitress. There was my table of 3 and another table of 1. I shouldn't say the service was bad but I won't say our waiter was great or even good. He came by to give us waters, our food, asked if were ok. He should've double checked if we got all our orders. So we naively waited. But they are just watching TV. ALL OF THEM. See, the three of us have worked in restaurants for more than at least 5 years each. We KNOW what it's like. But we don't know how you can mess up when you only have ONE table. We got our check through the waitress. Lovely smile. NOT. What the heck? Did I slash your car tire or something? If you cannot provide decent service, go elsewhere! This is not for you! Lastly, I usually don't care for this at all. But I thought some of you fellow helpers should know: this is a Korean restaurant. I don't mind Koreans or fusions but we were looking for full on Japanese restaurant. In conclusion, I would rather eat frozen seafood than come back here.
(1)Sergio K.
I simply stopped by because I needed to grab something quick before a meeting which was in the area. For me sushi is a bit of a religion. As soon as I walked in, I knew that this was not just another strip-mall sushi place. The fish tank with truly the freshest specials possible, which are still swimming when you order them. Live Sweet-Shrimp and Live-Scallop (ok seen other places) but what about Live Uni, Live Abalone and even Live Lobster. Salmon, Yellow-Tail and Blue-Fin Bellies. Just a great place for superior sushi and sashimi. I guess they do have rolls, ramen and other style dishes, but frankly why bother?
(5)David G.
Great Sushi! Good atmosphere, the place is always busy. Service is above average and the menu has a good selection, place is awesome...
(4)Marie AK C.
Been here quite a few times, but haven't been back since the last time -- there was a new, younger chef who seemed to hold back on the portions (hence the 4-stars). This review is based on my previous dining experiences. First of all, Maki Zushi is hidden amongst industrial buildings and a public storage. Surprisingly their sushi and dishes were better than some sushi joints in the heart of swanky Beverly Hills. It's just as expensive as some of those swanky sushi joints! So be prepared to spend some $$$ here. Lots of rolls and dishes to choose from. My faves are sashimi salad, baked salmon roll, chirashi, oysters and my all time fave: Cilantro & tuna lovers roll (this is so yummy and sadly this is the dish the last chef scaled back on). I experienced live uni here for the first time in my life. It was fresh and fantastic! Overall, good food and service. Be ready to drop some dough$ Pros: Unique selection of sushi and rolls. Never had to wait to be seated. Ample parking. Cons: Sushi chefs are not consistent with their portions. Pricey!
(4)Michael L.
I come here at least once a month. Awesome service and sushi. I brought my whole family here including kids and grandparents for Omakase and it was insane!
(5)Jodi N.
Sat at the bar and enjoyed watching the chefs create some pretty awesome rolls Everything was so yummy and super fresh. Awesome customer service. Happy hour from 5 to 6 Monday through Friday!! I think it may be my new favorite place for sushi
(4)Jerry-LegalShield F.
My Salmon bento box was awesome! Service was very good as well. If you're local in town or just driving by you gotta try this hardcore sushi!!!
(5)Meeyoung C.
Everything was delicious! Very fresh. Some Korean fusion - which we love. Our waitress was fantastic, patient, helpful and on top of everything. The live uni was incredible. Kids had bento boxes - more food than we expected. The ramen noodles were chewy, and the spicy broth is SPICY and flavorful. Soft shell crabs - yum! And at the end of our sashimi platter, they fried our shrimp heads for us - it is a must to try! We enjoyed everything.
(5)Mike M.
Stopped in for our first visit last night. We will be back. 5 stars across the board for a nice atmosphere, good service and top rate sushi. Like many sushi eaters there are standard items I'll try at a new place. Ikura, uni, yellowtail and spanish mackerel. All were top rate, but especially the mackerel which was by far the best I've ever had. (The fresh salmon roe was a very close second) And the way it's presented is quite unique as well. After I'd devoured the two pieces (check my pic for a view of this masterfully prepared item) I was presented with what I imagine were the fried remains of the fish after the two pieces had been sliced off the sides. This was a fabulous touch and very tasty. Very happy that we finally tried this establishment and look forward to many return visits.
(5)Patricia M.
Horrible service. It's not worth going back even for free food. We waited over 30 minutes to be seated then another 20 minutes before we were told they would take our order. The managers friends came in after us and got seated and served before they even took our order. The manager handled the situation very poorly. Would not recommend it.
(1)Jordan K.
Great service and great food! My favorite sushi place in Tustin by far.
(5)Aida C.
This place is good not the best Sushi I have tasted but it passes for a quick lunch
(3)Jed K.
I am torn about this place. On the one hand this place is great fun, coming here with my friend who knows the sushi chef, Yoshi. We had happy hour beers and a lot of fun talking about chef knives and he made us uni shooters, real wasabe, grilled tuna belly, seared anago, BIG TORO and generally we had a blast. On the other hand I came here as a "regular" customer with my parents and found that my sushi snob of a dad didn't like the place, the presentation and quality was unremarkable, and my mom freaked out when the shrimp on the chirashi started moving when she poked it. The toro was decent, but at $34 dollars nearly anything should be decent. The rolls were decent as well but otherwise not something I would recommend. I still like the Tuna, Avocado, Cilantro rolls but overall I no longer think of Maki Zushi as that "one great sushi restaurant" that I always thought it was. Maybe I was better off not knowing. Ignorance is bliss.
(3)Tina L.
This is by far my favorite sushi place. We heard about it through a good friend who is obsessed with quality sushi. If you come, sit at the sushi bar in front of Yoshi. I like that he educates you on the fish and how he's preparing it. Also, I've never had real wasabi until I came here. You have to ask for it and the wasabi they give you is from the actual plant. The toro melts in your mouth and it leaves you wanting more. We also had the lobster sashimi... I suggest that you get it only on special occasions. Bc their lobster ranges from $50 - $75. I can't wait to go again... :)
(5)Becky C.
Rolls were good, nothing special but definitely good! Service was a little disjointed, overall it was fine!
(3)Pierce T.
I came in to try the rolls here and boy were they good. The server was extra polite and catered to our needs. The only thing that was mediocre was the udon. It was a little bland. The albacore toro is to die for!! Must try this place if you are a sushi addict.
(4)Manha M.
This place is a decent sushi restaurant for the area. Most of the rolls are rather uncreative, but if you are looking for traditional sushi this is a great place. Most of their "special" rolls are simply a CA roll topped with different fish and special sauces--nothing too crazy! Their jumbo sea scallops are fantastic as is the Albacore Special roll. If you enjoy traditional sushi this is a great place. The service is nothing amazing, unless you sit at the bar with Yoshi.
(4)Momo K.
Came here to get some decent sushi and left somewhat satisfied. I would have liked to try more variety of sushi, but apparently, it turns out, everything we ordered was just a CALIFORNIA ROLL topped with something! The BSCCR (Baked Scallop, Crabmeat, Avocado, Crunch, Masago, Cucumber w/ Eel Sauce) looked amazing and had a nice mountain of baked scallops on it. However, it was drenched in too much eel sauce that you couldn't really taste the other flavors and there was no sign of "crunch" in it. The Baked Salmon Roll (Salmon, Crabmeat, Avocado, Cucumber w/ Eel Sauce) was rather nice though. The salmon was soft and had a light taste to the palate, but definately enough flavor. This time the eel sauce was minimal and accompanied the rest of the sushi in a balanced manner. The regular California Roll tasted a bit different than other california rolls I've had before (say, benihanas or what not) but it tasted good. Not too much avocado (which I actually appreciated, because I don't like huge chunks of avocado that take up the whole inner roll) and just enough crab meat blend inside. Even the sesame seeds topped along the rice stood out yet added a nice flavor to the rolls. My favorite of the night was the Garlic Albacore Roll (Seared Albacore, Crabmeat, Avocado, Cucumber, Onion w/ Garlic Sesame Sauce). It was like none other sushi roll I've tasted before and was packed with a sweet onion flavor as well as the added garlic kick. The albacore tasted really fresh as well. The only thing I can gripe about is the service--not the best service tonight. Eventhough it wasn't overly busy, not once did the waiter or the waitress ever stop by our table to refill our drinks. Couldn't seem to get a hold of them either as they kept passing our table. All in all, would give a 3.5 but I'm rounding down on this one.
(3)Di J.
It's surprisingly really good! It's a bit on the pricey side, but we went during Happy Hour, so we left happy and full.
(4)Justin L.
Came here with a buddy of mine because I was in the mood for some udon - hence Japanese food. We were seated right as we walked in and got a table toward the back area. The setting is decent and they have all these window shutters hanging on the walls for decoration. Meh. The menus were laminated with bright colors and texts glowing from page to page to tease you and your appetite. Well for the most part, the menu pretty much switched up my craving for udon to this dinner combo of donburi (chicken + egg over rice) and tempura. My buddy ordered te dunbury also (but got tatsuki/pork + egg over rice) and cold soba. The portions were alright but we were kinda craving more so we ordered a "Something Atlantic something" roll. It was basically a california roll but iwth salmon on top. It was too salty but it got the job done as I like to say. All of the food was kinda overpriced as the donburi combo came to be about 13 and the roll (which my buddy and I split) came to be about 9. Yeahhh those rolls are expensive. BUT, I almost forgot to mention... they have 99cent beer mugs on tap! I think our waiter said it was ichiban beer or some kind of mediocre japanese beer. But i mean who cares! It's 99cent beer mugs!! Pretty cool. Service was good. Our waitresses were cute and came by our table fairly often to check up on us which was appreciated. Overall... a little to above average quality of food with a little bit higher than I'd like price tag. A solid 3 star rating.
(3)Spencer J.
I've been to Maki-Zushi a few dozen times over the past three years, and after today I will NOT be returning. No restaurant is immune to sporadic issues with food quality or service, but a certain amount of grace and professionalism can definitely help minimize a customer's negative perception. Today my Charashi arrived with a healthy serving of long black hair buried in the rice. I calmly asked for another one and was looked at like I was being difficult. It was replaced pretty quickly (unlike my soda, which sat empty for about 20 minutes). I didn't expect a discount (which I did not receive), but I did expect some sort of apology. Nobody said a word...like it's totally normally to eat somebody else's hair with your sushi. It's probably my fault for having such high expectations, but I did spend $24 on lunch for one and was treated like a third world citizen. (I should have left when I realized the patio door was open and there were flies buzzing around the sushi bar. EW.)
(1)Betsy C.
2.5 stars A friend treated us to this place and we were excited to try all the different types of sushi. We were seated quickly and shown the menu. I was quite impressed with the selection on the menu and was very excited to give all the interesting dishes a try. The BSCC caught my eye and I definitely wanted to try that. The dishes took a while to come even though the place wasn't jammed pack. It was slightly unnerving especially when we had 5 hungry kids. My most anticipated dish, BSCC looked a lot less exciting in real life though. I thought it was doused with way too much mayo and the scallop themselves were tiny. Probably not worth the price. The other dishes were good but nothing I've never had before in other places though. In the end, the slow service really turned me off. I probably won't be going back unless someone's treating.
(2)Summer C.
This place has really great sushi and a great happy hour. Everything is super fresh. Even the house sake is delicious...the miso soup they serve free with dinner is the best ever. The decor is super cute and staff very friendly. The ONLY thing I found wrong with this place is when they are busy the service lacks a little. But if you come when it's slow then you get the best service I've had in awhile! This is our new favorite sushi place for causal sushi dining.
(4)Caroline B.
I have worked in the same strip mall as this place for 6 months and only recently started ordering lunch here. I always get the Tokyo lunch box with bulgogi and spicy tuna. While $9 might seem pricey for lunch, the sheer amount of food is worth it. It comes with a salad (which has bomb dressing. seriously i love miso dressing and the stuff they sell at albertsons is not even close) and miso soup. The box itself has rice, bulgogi, shrimp and vegetable tempura, and 1/2 spicy tuna roll. The bulgogi is very good and has lots of mushrooms. It tastes very good. The meat is tender. I usually get it with only vegetable tempura and it is some kind of squash. It is sooo good. The spicy tuna has cucumber in it which gives it a good crunch. This is my new favorite lunch place. My one complaint is that I get this to go and it can be messy sometimes. Some people might hate on the parking, but I am already there so it works out!
(4)Jerrold S.
I came hear after reading a glowing review from a Chowhounder. I'm a bit surprised reading some of the comments but I'll reserve judgement since I'm from LA where sushi is much more expensive than OC and service is spotty. We didn't have any issues with the service and the prices seemed pretty reasonable for the quality of fish. $7 for order of yellowtail belly and red snapper. The yellowtail belly was sublime - fatty, smooth, odorless - a beautiful piece of fish we had to go for seconds. They have a lot of different types of rolls that its hard to choose. We tried the spicy albacore roll that was topped with a bunch of spicy red peppers. We enjoyed that as well. The uni was $12 (ok so thats sort of expensive) but it was fresh as heck and some of the best uni I've had recently. I'd definitely go back here.
(4)Jesus T.
good sushi and deal! 30% off for the rest of the year... mon-sat
(4)Phi D.
The environment is pretty nice. Maki Zushi has a wide variety of sushi and rolls. The specialty rolls are pretty good. We ordered the Super Crunch roll which was fresh and delicious. The Special Spicy Tuna Roll is an odd roll, it's as if the jalapeno and cream cheese was stuffed in this unique meat (I think), basically it looks like two different rolls on one plate with spicy sauce. Overall service was great and food was OK.
(3)Scot K.
Best sushi restaurant in Southern California. Even better during happy hour! I think the current happy hour promotion is 20% off most sushi. I highly recommend trying items off the "Specials" board since it is all fresh items and you won't find many of them elsewhere. Some of my favorites include: -Live Uni -Big Toro -Live Sweet Shrimp -Yoshi Roll
(5)Brittany B.
I have been here a couple times with my gramps. We always order the bento box- a nice eclectic mix of japanese food. The salmon is always perfectly cooked. The service can be a bit slow, but I think lunch is the best time to visit~
(4)Lena B.
UPDATE: 09/25/07 tried their sushi by yoshi (yes, a japanese chef). awesome aji!!! awesome fatty tuna!!! warm, well seasoned rice, which was different from table serviced sushi...why?! some dent on someone else's bank account (sorry!!!), but defintely worth it since the fish was HUGE! --------------------------------------------------Â---------------------------------------------- do not come here from 12 to 1 unless your boss is with you or he/she takes longer than an hour lunch. the wait can be longer than 30 min and it takes forever to order since there are only 2 servers working. yeah, i was frustrated to wait in a very crowded, noisy place. i also became very skeptical since i was the only asian person there (you know what i mean...a japanese restaurant without single japanese). i must say the food (especially their combo menu) is really good value for the price. salad, soup, udon and teriyaki were all good. the sushi? fish was ok, a big chunk, but the rice had no vinegary sweet flavor. same thing with the rice on rolls. it seems like they offer daily specials for really reasonable prices.
(4)Monica V.
I tried this place for lunch today and I think the quality of the food lived up to the generally positive reviews. Food: I ordered the sashimi plate - 9 pieces of sashimi, although one of those pieces was a cooked shrimp. Another had a bunch of roe on it. But there was tuna, albacore, salmon, the white thing with the roe, the shrimp and, um. Something else. The core sashimi - the slices of raw fish - were fresh and excellent. None of that "take a bite, realize you cannot bite through it because of connective tissue in the wrong place, sit there with a piece of fish you cannot sever or swallow in your mouth and try to run through the socially acceptable alternatives in your head" stuff. Each piece was soft and easily eaten and had a good flavor. The miso soup that came with the order tasted a bit odd to me - but I don't know if that is because it was off, or more authentic than I usually get. My dining companion ordered two types of rolls. Maki Zushi is not for sushi snobs since ,as its name pretty clearly says, it is big on rolls. One entire side of the sushi ordering menu is different kinds of rolls. I didn't try any but my companion said they were good. The menu also has many non-sushi options including combination lunches, making it suitable for mixed groups of sushi-appreciators and sushi-avoiders. Service: Service was mediocre. No one offered a refill on our hot tea. We asked for a fork 3 times, I'm not sure if one ever came. However, they did take reservations at lunch so we had no problem being seated. It really wasn't that crowded anyway - maybe 12:30 is past the peak time, or maybe everyone is leaving town for the holiday weekend. Location: The parking is bad - I got a spot right away but looked around and didn't see any others. There must be a lot of turnover though, some of the other tenants are Starbucks and other fast food places. Decor: The website gave the impression of a higher-end place - something like Wasa which was what I was trying for, although not for any particular love of Wasa. I think the food here surpasses Wasa but it looks more like fast-food from the outside, and like a small ordinary restaurant from the inside. It had white table clothed tables so it's classy enough, but lacking that that overall zen divine design feeling of Wasa. Price: Not bad. Not high for sushi. The sashimi plate was about 12.95 or something in that range. Seems reasonable to me.
(3)Elizabeth H.
The sushi was good, but the service was the worst I have ever experienced. We had to practically beg to have our drinks filled and were completely ignored. The same happened when we needed our check since we were on lunch break. Worse yet was the fact that the owner/manager was standing there, looking around and never offered to help...even though he stared right at us. Overall, the taste is not worth dealing with the terrible service. There are so many better sushi places nearby. Don't waste your money or time here.
(1)monica p.
This is one of my favorite sushi restaurants. I can always count on the food to be served fresh and taste delicious. They also serve great size portions that are satisfying.
(4)Dan K.
I have been a couple times to Maki Zushi (for dinner), and everytime has been a pleasant experience. A break-down in bullets: Reasonably Priced for a Sushi restaurant. Tasty sashimi - It may not be the most scientific test for a sushi place but I judge heavily on the quality of the sashimi, and Maki Zushis was very good. I got salmon and halibut. Variety of Rolls - Not sure of the names, but they were all good, presented nicely and had some creative combinations. Comprehensive menu - Not just sushi, they have a number of dishes, try the teriyaki salmon. Very good Happy Hour specials - $1 Kirin, need I say more? Fresh food - Everthing tasted fresh, and to illustrate the freshness a story of one of our last outings there. We were sitting by the sushi bar, close to where they keep the shrimp. One of the shrimp - I guess eager to be eaten - jumped out and onto the counter. The chef quickly came and picked it up, laughed it off and apologized. A couple of minutes later, the shrimp jumped again. This time the chef had to move the jar far away. The waitresses we have had, have all been nice. All around a solid sushi restaurant, with a great happy hour and my favourite sushi restaurant in Orange County.
(4)LE L.
This place may be small but its sooo bomb. Real sushi... I used to work about 5 minutes away from this restaurant so this was the go-to place to satisfy my sushi cravings during lunch. Spicy Tuna II... Tempura... Dynamite Roll...Cilantro Lover's Roll. Their happy hour is awesome too. I think the tap beer is a dollar per mug... So Ive left this place a lil more than buzzed at times. But I always leave HAPPY and satisfied with my sushi fix.
(4)Noah C.
There comes a time in a man's life where he simply has to get on a table, and scream "ENOUGH!!! WHY MUST EVERY NEW JAPANESE RESTAURANT IN ORANGE COUNTY BE OWNED BY KOREAN PEOPLE??????" Don't get me wrong. I love Korean food. LOVE IT. Would rather eat Korean food than anything else in the world. Korean people make good Korean food. I should know; half of my family is from Korea. Koreans have made Korean food for hundreds of years. They should stick to it. They should not, however, make Japanese food. And they should especially not put "spicy teriyaki bulgogi" on a sushi bar menu. I will throw a paltry two points their way for having 2 for 1 large bottles of Sapporo. Get drunk enough and their vaguely sushi-ish creations might tingle your palate a bit. But all in all, this is that same old run of the mill sushi place that you can find on any street in any city in Orange County, LA, SF, New York, hell, even New Jersey. And probably Seoul. The staff was also very nice to us. But their food? Nah. Never again. I've had it.
(2)Elisabeth K.
this place is tasty!! The service is just okay, but the rolls are pretty darn good. The only draw back is the price to some of their sushi. 18 dollars for 2 pieces of scallops are just a little too high for me. :)
(4)Antonio S.
As an avid sushi eater, this is one of my favorite places in southern california. The selection, chef's knife work, and creativivity of their rolls are outstanding. There are so many items on their menu that are offered nowhere else that I've been. Notable items on the menu are the white sardine, baked jumbo scallop roll, anything on the live menu, and the bento boxes are a great and affordable lunch.
(5)Francesca O.
The Sushi here is very good, and very fresh. Since it can get very busy at lunch hour or like on a busy evening, the wait can be a little frustrating. Its not a huge place, so this is expected. I don't mind, because i think it's one of the better sushi spots in the area. Happy hour prices are good.
(4)Manly C.
Service: Excellent--polite, *efficient* servers. You can even pick up orders. Sushi chef at the Bar seems very nice, likeable, and knows his art of sushi. Good prices. Per my experience, non-sushi eater and bento box lover, I give this place a 4. The food and service are always good. Compare the teriyaki sauce and marinating job of Maki-Zushi to the Sushi place in the plaza/Alton and Yale (right next to Starbucks, can't remember the name, not really worth remembering), Maki-Zushi's bento's teriyaki trul excels. So as far as the (limited) food I eat, I say that they hit all the right spots with my bento order. I give them a 4 because I noticed my plate's got some serious crack. That's just cheap. Restaurants should never ever cut corners on things that affect the presentation of their food...makes their quality rating go down a notch.
(4)Angela K.
Special picy tuna roll was delicious!
(3)Frank K.
I'm not too sure why Noah thinks its such a bad thing that korean people own sushi restaurants. I see nothing wrong with having a more diverse menu along with the traditional sushi. This place is my go-to spot right now for sushi. Sushi is my comfort food. It makes me feel all warm and happy inside. If you are a sushi snob or if you get mad that there are untraditional items on the menu, i suggest that you sit at the sushi BAR. They discourage you from ordering from the regular menu at the bar but i have not seen them refuse a customer's order when there. Yoshi, their head sushi chef(is japanese, if that matters) is great. He is very friendly and definitely knows what he's doing. Yoshi personally goes to the fish markets earrrrlllly in the morning and selects his own fish. They carry most all the common fish and also gets a lot of the better stuff. Ive had about 3-4 different types of toro(yellowtail, big toro, bluefin toro[wow], and probably at least one other type. Other things that i remember were japanese sea snail, spanish mackerel, japanese kobe beef, live scallops, live sweet shrimp(heads either deep fried or cooked in miso), live uni, live clam, kumamoto oysters and a bunch of other stuff that i dont remember. I think everything that i mentioned above except the sea snail are normally on their sushi menu. Their fish has always been very good quality. Their normal yellowtail was some of the best ive had and the yellowtail toro was amazing also. Yoshi will also sometimes accommodate special requests if you call in. For one of my friend's birthdays, we were able to get a whole live lobster. We ate the tail meat as sashimi and the claws in miso soup. It was great, but definitely not something i would normally order because of the cost of lobster(about 75 bucks). I've also had several of their desserts. The standouts were the green tea tempura ice cream. MMMMM...it's green tea ice cream that is deep fried quickly with tempura batter sprinkled with powdered sugar. Also the green tea creme brule was great. Can you guys tell i really like this place? haha
(5)Richard B.
My wife and i eat sushi 3 to 4 times a week. So we feel we know good sushi. Well we hear Maki Zushi does live sushi so we cant wait to go. We showed up for a saturday lunch Time. There were only two other couples in the resturant we ordered hamachi Belly it takes them 15 minutes to get us one order!!! Plus we tried the Live Uni Good not worth the $23 dollar price tag. I than ordered a toro nigi hand roll no rice they charged me $17 bucks!!!! The sushi was average but with so many other places to go you should skip it.
(1)S K.
The food is good. However, the service is really really really slow. The restaurant was not busy at all the both times I took my family there. It took them about 25mins just to bring the soup and salad out. On my last visit, the waitress got my order wrong (Chicken vs Beef) and blamed the mistake on me. And when the bill came she charged me for the correction. WOW..... Hopefully, they can improve on their service.
(2)Troy H.
Props. Live Uni. Crazy fish specials. This place is really alright. Kinda Korean. Kinda Japanese. But all good.
(2)xrawx x.
move over ikko + another sushi place my friend and I frequent..i have found my new secret spot that will probably no longer be a secret. too bad it is hidden in tustin because really whats in tustin?! well..heres a place for ya - maki-zushi! i came here because I heard the uni is LIVE and so is the SHRIMP. Literally Yoshi the best sushi chef entertains you with the history of each item. ive never had LIVE uni and SHRIMP before, ive had it fresh but not this fresh literally!!! kind of freaked me out with the thought of a moving shrimp before placing it in my mouth - probably about the freshest thing EVER as far as quality sushi goes-the uni shell still moves!!! freshest uni but too fattning for my palate. theres a place in beverly hills called urasawa that my sister swears to get a second job to foot the bill - im taking her here first :) decently priced for sure!...cheaper than ikko and ikko is probably about 200 bucks for two with a bottle of sake. this place you can walk away eating top quality sushi for about 150..remember, its fresh!
(5)ML T.
owner changed enough said. this is no longer a place id recommend for sushi
(1)Sophia N.
This place is smaller than i thought it would be. but it was pretty nice inside. The grilled spicy chicken teriyaki is soooo good! and you get plenty. during lunch its 8.50 served with rice and salad. i had sukiyaki for the first time, it isnt something id get again. the dish was really hot. but it wasnt that great. happy hour was from 2-6 and luckily i was there at 2, just in time for happy hour. i had the cailfornia roll, 8 pieces for 1.95. thats a pretty good deal for some really good california roll. and i also had the spicy crunch roll for 4.95? , it was cut into tiny slices, but it was still tasty. i really dont have any complaints here, we had a really good lunch, good service and a good experience.
(4)Lily P.
I love this sushi place. We eat here regularly, the head sushi chef Yoshi is very friendly and their fish is fresh and it's better than the 3 other sushi places that we pass by to get here. They've been open 7 months and I hope they stay around much longer since they are much better than other local sushi places.
(5)Edgar D.
We had a chance to check out this place based on Elmo Monster's Monster Munching Blog ( elmomonster.blogspot.com ). I was surprised to find out about this place on Elmo's site since I pass by it almost everyday on the way home from work. The inside of the restaurant looks like most other classy sushi joints so I was really hopeful that the sushi was good since we were starving. We ordered four sushi dishes: the Calamari Crunchy Roll, Salmon Skin Roll, Cilantro & Tuna Lovers Roll, and House Special Roll. The Calamari Crunchy Roll was okay, but the other rolls were damn good...in fact, I think they're worth going back for. You want to know what else is worth coming back for at this place? - it's the 99 cent Kirin special that runs during dinner! I think I'm calling this spot out on my next man-date!
(4)Suzy S.
I have never walked out of a restaurant before. I am a patient person, but there is a line. I will never go back to Maki-Zushi. This place is a terrible lunch decision. I wanted to like this place I really really did. I work nearby and would love to have a good go-to sushi lunch restaurant away from the traffic nightmare that surrounds the district. Lets just say I get an hour for lunch and with how close this restaurant is to my office I should have ample time to sit down for lunch and maybe even grab Starbucks on my way back (all of which I have done with other restaurants in this area). I sat at the sushi bar thinking that this would be the most efficient place to order and eat since I was dining alone. I sat there for at least 10 minutes without a menu. Eventually I grabbed one myself. I read through my options and made a quick game plan (again this is a workday lunch I'm not going to go Omakase on a time crunch). I folded my menu and sat there. I tried to make eye contact with the sushi chefs... nothing... I tried to make eye contact with the servers... nothing... about 10 minutes later a server finally asked if I was ready to order. I ordered a side salad, a vegetable cut roll, an order of salmon sushi and an order of albacore sushi. And then I sat there...patiently ... but hungry It took about 10 more minutes for somebody to ask me if I had any of my food yet, when I said "no I haven't gotten any of my food yet" she asked me what I ordered. I reminded her as she checked I mentioned my side salad in hopes that she would bring that sooner since I was about 5 minutes away from eating my own foot. When I got my side salad about 4 minutes 59 seconds later (my foot gets to live another day) I looked at the time and asked if I could just get the rest of my meal to go . I figured it must be almost done since the rest of the lunch crowd either already had their food or has already left and I no longer had time to eat there. So I sit and eat my salad, expecting any minute to see a sushi chef making a veggie roll and putting it in a box. About 15 minutes later I'm really starting to panic. I still don't see my veggie roll being made, people that arrived after me have already gone through their whole meal. Finally I get up and ask a server if my meal is almost ready. When she asked the sushi chef he said something to the effect that he had the order right there and it was next. The food still wasn't made. I really didn't have time. I paid for my salad and told them to cancel my order. I left the restaurant starving without time to stop some place else.
(1)Vinny H.
They brought me the wrong order. Sent it back. Brought it out again and tried to brush off the fish (which I could still see) and they didn't think I would notice it was the same plate. Sent it back again. They brought the same plate back out again. Sent it back again. By this time everyone of my colleagues had finished their lunch already. GOT IT BACK AGAIN AS THE SAME PLATE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Worst customer service I have encountered in a long time. Will not be going back. No wonder you are a poorly rated place.
(1)Hashanah K.
Decent. They don't do special requests... They just give u what they give u. Service is good.
(3)Melissa G.
The food is ok the portions are great! The service is horrible! We had the worst experience with Maria she was so rude! When she came to take our order my friend asked her what the chef special was and she said "I don't know it can be anything" ummmm what?? When she brought our food she made fun of us for not knowing exactly what we ordered. Sorry we don't know the menu In detailed it was our first time there. The worst part was at the end when we asked for our bill, we wanted to tell her to split the check for everyone but she walked away so fast we didn't have a chance. When we got the bill we were already so upset we were just going to have her split it for all 6 of us but we decided we didn't want to be rude like her. So I wrote down the last four of the credit card for every order to make it easier for her. It took more than 15 minutes for us to walk up to the register because we were going to be late from our lunch. When we walked up to her she said " you guys should have told me you wanted separate checks from the beginning it would have been so much easier" I couldn't believe she said that in such a rude way and annoyed. She definitely didn't Receive a tip from us on a 90 dollar bill, and we will not be returning neither will everyone in our building that is across the street from you guys. I made sure to let everyone the horrible service we received.
(1)chanel l.
Won't return
(1)Oscar H.
So I have been coming here since 2008 and I would always very happy with the service and the food this place has always been great. But today after work I had been craving my favorite Seafood nachos and my Tuna lovers roll, to my surprise I was disappointed with the service from the waiters after I told them as concern customer that the nachos were not the same as I remember the taste and even the look of them. After I they tried to correct the issue it was still NOT the same man it makes me feel bummed out because I have been coming here for years and everything had always been great. But I'm not saying this place is not good but just today it was not as good as it should have been.
(3)Elizabeth F.
Sushi was good,the staff was very welcoming. My husband and I came close to closing time and they didn't mind us at all. We ordered the 911 spicy roll and the rainbow roll both which happened to be very tasty.
(4)Derek O.
Awesome food. Terrible service. Very unorganized staff. Took way too long to receive our food. Another customer even stormed out and cancelled their order after announcing that she was waiting at the sushi bar for 25 minutes.
(3)Richard K.
As a rule, I usually avoid Korean-owned sushi, shabu-shabu and pho restaurants. To my fellow Koreans: adding traditional Korean ingredients DO NOT make Japanese and Vietnamese food taste better. The only exception, in my opinion, is Mexican...some times. That said, Maki Zushi, despite being Korean-owned does sushi right. They import several items from Japan. They offer house-made wasabi (not the neon green toothpaste). They offer several live items when available. They offer exotic selections such as Japanese white sardine, parrot fish, and needlefish. I typically stick with sushi so I can't say how their rolls or bento boxes are, but my friends who've had them have good things to say. Best sushi I've had in south OC
(4)John K.
Have you ever ordered live uni (sea urchin) and received refrigerated uni (from the wooden tray) instead? Not cool. It was my first time here and realized too late that this is a Japanese Restaurant operated by Koreans. Nothing against Koreans or their food. Wife and I go to Kaya in Irvine for our Korean fix all of the time. When crave Japanese, you'd go to a place like IKKO in Costa Mesa and other similar venue, there is a certain expectation for the price point. I am just saying for the pedestrian food that they serve is not worth my time or my money. Taiko in Irvine is great for the traditional American version of the Japanese cuisine and at a great price. But when you ordered "live" Uni and was served refrigerated version and still charge the customer for the price of the live uni ($20 vs $8). It's, like, either they did not pay attention to their ticket or bait and switch. Hey, there is just too much competition for my money. if you don't step it up, then be prepared to be left behind.
(1)Hannah B.
I've been going to this place for many years only because of their good food but chef is extremely rude, he never welcomes you or replies when you say "Thank you" before you leave, rest of staff are not so friendly either.
(1)harry s.
Awesome place, "Bruce" is the funniest sushi chef and he absolutely knows what he's doin'! Great fresh food, uni the freshest, mix of authentic Japanese and creative cuisine. Enjoy with Amdahl black on freezing frost glasses, highly recommend!
(5)Nancy N.
rudest people i have seen. Their open hour shows lunch open until 2:30. We arrived at 2:15, the open sign was still on, as soon as we tried to open the door, a waitress ran out and slammed the door shut, also reaching up to turn off the "open" light, wow they could have nicely said "we are closed". And change ur open hour to "only when we want to serve". Never again
(1)John L.
Here's what you need to know. Excellent Japanese sushi chefs are gone. Korean guys with middling skills are making sushi. The fish quality is now poor to mediocre. Omakase is now a bad idea here. I spent $150 (for two) and left without eating much. It is BAD. What was once a very good place is gone.
(1)Glen L.
I know it's only a few months since my last update but I just have to mention a couple things I just learned. I'm usually not a big fan of saba, but Yoshi makes his own in house and the difference for me is night and day. Monkfish liver is another item I'm not usually a big fan of but this past Sunday I've been converted! Yoshi makes his monkfish liver inhouse. My order arrived slightly warm since it just came out of the oven. The closest thing I've had to foie gras since the ban in California. Also I had an order of Live Boston Uni. Boston Uni is smaller and slightly green in color compared to the more well known Santa Barbara Uni. Boston Uni have a better texture to me. Get them while you can, who know's when they will be out of season.
(5)Ryland C.
I didn't read the recent reviews which turns out to be a blessing because we might not have come. It was late on Monday night and we had a choice of seats at the bar. We told the sushi chef to surprise us with his most creative dishes. Wow!!! We where blown away by every dish he brought out and how fresh the sushi was. I've never had fresh wasabi before and now I'm hooked. We have gone to several sushi places and asked the chef to surprise us and had several great experiences and when the bill comes we are usually not surprised as we expect to pay $150-$200. We were shocked that our bill was under $100 with several adult beverages. We will definitely be back and the sooner the better.
(5)Coco T.
Good sushi, not so great service.
(1)Sonia R.
Nice little spot, best times to come are 5 early before the rush hits. Prices are decent and quality is above average. Waitresses could pay more attention to details and be more customer friendly.
(3)Carolyn W.
I've been driving by this place for a few years now and finally decided to try it out. It's a cozy little place with super friendly sushi chefs and servers and delicious sushi. The pieces are definitely on the small size, but nice quality. I'll be back!
(4)Ricardo G.
I arrived there to eat at 920 pm. And they closed at 10, but they had closed the door already I drove 15 minutes to eat here. Waist of my time!
(1)Alayna W.
This is by far my favorite sushi restaurant. My boyfriend and I are weekly regulars, coming in on Friday nights for our usual lobster roll and orange County roll. We've been coming here every Friday for almost 2 years and cannot ask for a better sushi restaurant. Their fish is always fresh and delicious. The waitresses deliver great service (nicole is our favorite!) and you can't beat the prices. $10 bucks for a baked lobster roll! The only reason it gets a 4 instead of a 5 is due to the inconsistency in wait times. Sometimes we get our food right away, sometimes it can take 20 min or so depending on the night or who is making it. Thanks Maki Zushi!
(4)Lucy J.
Came here for the 1st time with my co workers for lunch and order the salmon teriyaki. The portion was great for the price nothing extraordinary. We jus wanted something quick for lunch and this place was close by. I was not please with the service. We had to asked three different waitress for our beverages. Two days later we decided to come here for happy hour. I ordered the salmon again, this time it came out cold and salty! I asked what they had done differently, the waitress told me they didn't do anything different. Then two minutes later came out and told me they added salted butter (why! Japanese don't even use butter! Asians don't use butter in their food!). I was so disappointed, they made another piece of salmon for me but I was already taken back by the other that I jus didn't want to deal with another piece. Only thing we enjoyed was the happy hour wine selection. Other than that the food jus did not cut it. Just keep it nice and simple!
(2)Walter M.
I spend a lot of time at a nearby store and after work I'm hungry, so generally I get food nearby. Quiznos closes super early as does Starbucks so it's really either Fresca's or Maki unless I feel like getting in my car and driving which usually means I'm ordering for the whole store and that's not gonna happen often. I almost exclusively order to go, but have eaten here a few times in store before the shop moved nearby. First impressions and thoughts were that the place almost doesn't fit in. It's a corner center with no real anchor so it's mixed use. Windows are facing the wrong direction, less than ideal visibility. It's open, warm and inviting with the shorter sushi bar style. The staff is welcoming, especially the chef's whose customer service is impeccable. Suggestions, quality of fish and ingredients and construction. I did find their sushi rice to be a little overcooked. Their cuts are very consistent. They plate with a little more artistic flair . Offer all the high end options like live uni the experienced are used to. Light on the rice to let the fish shine, but the rolls are small, even the hand rolls. Fresh wasabi though. Comfortable, chairs and some slightly intimate décor. If found their salmon to be firm and fatty, tuna to be soft and almost malleable with just the tongue. Table service could be better, it is generally ok, but sometimes I have to ask for water refills. So the biggest reason it's not a higher rating overall is the price. It's about 10-15% higher than other sushi in the area and it's not filling. I ordered 3 rolls to go and dropped $44 +tip. I'm impressed with the cilantro tuna, 911 and others, but can't justify eating here at these prices more than once a month. Their premium sushi is also quite high considering most sushi restaurants source from the same few vendors and even the highest quality sourcing can be had for less. I can get live sweet shrimp from my fish monger in San Diego by the pound for half this.
(4)Sara A.
My favorite sushi restaurant. The 911 roll is delicious and spicy and the Atlantic treasure roll is so yummy! They are a bit expensive and they seem to change policies often (sometimes you "always" get a soup and salad with your entree and sometimes they have no idea what you're talking about), but overall great place for sushi rolls!
(5)B M.
This is my go to sushi spot. The sushi is fresh and and the service is always friendly. The only reason I don't give it a five is it can be inconsistent with food delivery times. Prices are cheap as well.
(4)Vincent L.
As someone who can't tell a lie even to save my life, I was utterly shocked to read tedtedted's attack on my original review from April. So shocked, in fact, that I made a special detour to Maki Zushi to investigate when I was in Southern California the other week. I have the pictures (see above) and even a timed, location-based Yelp check-in on my mobile device to prove that I was actually there. Maki Zushi has not been sold and has not changed management. When I walked in, I was relieved to see Yoshi (the head chef and co-owner) at the sushi bar as he always has been. This place is his baby. He founded it with a partner (another of the chefs) 7 years ago, and plans to keep going as the owner-chef for many more. More expensive items on the sushi/sashimi menu, like live scallops and kinmidai, are delivered fresh daily, and are as good as ever. For more conventional tastes, the rolls are as large and saucy as ever, and Yoshi has also hired a new chef to deliver an expanded menu of cooked items, as Glen L. mentioned in his commendably accurate review. If anything, reading slanderous or, at the very least, misinformed reviews will give your eyes a workout, if you want to see how far you can roll them back. I've traveled around the world (literally) and have had many exquisite sushi experiences at different price points, and trust me, Maki Zushi is as good as it gets.
(5)Johnnie N.
Where do I begin? The food? The service? The way the place is ran? Let's start with the servers? You could swear they all just got out of high school and are idiots. Maybe they're just told to do this because boss looked lost himself. I've never seen this level of incompetence before even at a McDonalds. Real sh*t! Now I wish had went to McDonalds instead because at least my appetite would have been satisfied. The sushi here is cheap for a reason. It's not authentic-Japanese made. It didn't taste fresh and the rolls were less than mediocre. When I looked in the back I soon realized there were no Japanese folk in the house. The servers never even came back around even though the place is like 10 feet squared and there were only 2 tables. Never got my water refilled and I even had to ask for the first cup of water. Definitely cannot recommend this to anyone who enjoys real sushi and half decent service. Sure enough I will never be coming back here. TERRIBLE!!! You have been warned.
(1)Jimmy R.
This place is legit. They give really good portions and their prices are reasonable. The food tastes good which is typically of most Japanese restaurants. It's comparable to Kappo Honda in Fountain Valley, without the long wait (which the wait is worth it for Kappo Honda) and not as pricey. No complaints!
(4)Edith H.
The best sushi and imported Japanese beer offering in OC. My go to destination for quality sushi and they have an awesome secret menu...ask for the 'Dancing Shrimp' Roll of you are a fan of shrimp and sauce pairings or 'El Pollo Loco' for a spicy habanero kick!! The best service and incredibly fresh sushi and sashimi selection. The hostess is always super friendly and the sushi bar atmosphere is upbeat and fun. I had the Blue Fin Toro and it was truly delightful. There fresh wasabi is a must and if they haven't sold out you must try the Wasabi Cucumber!
(5)Edgar ..
Favorite sushi spot ever! 911 roll/ jalapeño albacore/ and anything custom you like! The new owner is awsome and custamizes your rolls to your liking.
(5)Jayson O.
3.5 stars. I should probably come here more than I do to get my occasional sushi craving fixed while at lunch, but I just often forget it's there. Maki is tucked in a small, and difficult to enter/exit corner plaza on Redhill and Edinger. Especially at lunch time, this lot can fill up fast. Place is clean, with slick black and white lines of furniture, tile floor, and seemingly well lit. A small sushi bar with a flat panel TV adorns the entrance, and both booths and free standing tables make up the rest. A small enclosed patio is off to one side that kinda reminds me of a decorative hardened bunker. Your best bet for lunch are the Bento Boxes. They have quite a selection, and each box comes with a side salad and a bowl of Miso soup. You get quite a bang for your buck here, and if you're on a tight schedule, you really can't go wrong here. Like most sushi establishments, they have a myriad of daily specials on a dry-ink board for the various handrolls with local names. Sushi appears fresh and firm, and pricing is what you'd expect. Be wary of large groups however. I found that orders tend to get 'messed up' or 'forgotten' on more than one occassion when attending with large groups. And sometimes your party won't receive all their order at the same time. That's why I knock them .5 stars. It just hasn't happened to me once, but a handful of times where my party was constantly asking where this was, or where that was. You'll get it, but sometimes you have to gently remind the 'staff' you still have a handroll owed to you or your drink needs to be refilled if sitting at a table or booth. If they could get this down, I have no problem giving them an extra .5 star, but sometimes if you're not ordering a bento box for lunch....expect to wait a bit longer than you'd expect.
(3)Ricardo A.
This place went from 5 stars to 1 in my book. So I go there after 3 weeks and I can't recognize any of th chefs or other staff. I notice 3 fish tanks and all the TVs off including the one that displays all the great dishes the real Maki-Zushi used to serve. After the food comes I noticed they serve all the food different. Even the rice is different. I asked the waitress if they had changed ownership... She hesitated and said "no". Liar! The old Japanese chefs are gone replaced by Koreans. One of them was having a beer while preparing food while the other went out to the patio to have a smoke. I really felt cheated and never going back. If you are used to the old owners you will be extremely disappointed. Sad to see a good sushi place go.
(1)Jeremy N.
I've been to this place before and had a decent experience so that's why this review got 2 stars...but this time-not so much. The cuts were uneven, haggard looking pieces of fish and some of the roles didn't even get some of the tuna it was so horribly uneven. If this would have been my first visit ever I'd never return in a million years. Maybe, just maaaaaybe I might be willing to come back to try it out on a different night. I suppose it could have just been an off night with the bad crew ...it is a Monday night, but still- this was just wrong.
(2)Barry C.
This place got a piece of shit service. Longest wait time ever on the slow Monday night. Do they only have one chef or what? 1 star for the service and 1 star for the food. Fair enough. Enough said.
(2)Hannah E.
This is the kind of place where I could pretty easily justify giving any number of stars. It really depends on where your priorities are. If your priorities are to get great sashimi, period, end of story, it will probably be five stars for you. The fish is pretty incredible if you order it piece by piece. Their salmon toro converted me from a salmon toro hater to a salmon toro fan in about five seconds. Even the fish in the lunch special chirashi is selected with care, with incredibly pillowy light pink maguro and hamachi with all the heavenly dark red edges left on. However, if you care at all about value for money, you'll probably never come back. The prices are such that I looked at the list, blinked, and asked my dining partners, "What, is this for six pieces or something?" No, it was for two. I mean, I'm talking about $25 uni, $30 scallops, and even the simplest fish, maguro and salmon and similar, are $13 for sashimi. The lunch chirashi was $15, a reasonable price until it showed up and there were about 8 pieces of (albeit wonderful and delicious) fish in it. Also, the rice was dry and tough: rice snobs need not apply. I think they might do better with a re-branding - nobody expects a joint in a strip mall on Edinger named, of all things, "Maki-Zushi", to have such incredible sashimi. They expect it to have good crazy rolls. Which it might... who knows. But its sashimi really deserves an audience of sashimi snobs (complete with deep wallets), and I bet it's not getting it.
(3)Athena L.
Mehh, this place was okay. I was really hungry and was on a time crunch for a movie, so this was nearby. It was a Saturday night and we were one of the 3 parties there... This place has your average rolls at your average prices. The only thing that I thought was pretty good was the Baked Scallop and Lobster roll. I think it was the Maki Zushi Roll 2? Overall, average sushi place with average food. Nice and clean restaurant, but I'd recommend going elsewhere if you're expecting great sushi.
(3)Kevin B.
Chef Bruce is the best! Fish is great quality and always fresh! Can't beat happy hour!
(5)Shane C.
This place is awesome..Yoshi, you rock!!! The freshest seafood around. The price is on point for the quality of seafood.
(5)J. C.
I've been wanting to try this place for like a year but just never had a chance to try it. Wow so disappointed!! It's not bad but it's certainly not that great and a bit over priced to be honest. I'm more of a sashimi over rolls person but I tried 2 rolls and one of the rolls I picked up was one of those "micro" mini rolls that cost $11.95???? I don't place a lot of emphasis on price but when it doesn't make sense.....then it just doesn't make sense. I also got an Albacore Lovers Roll supposedly a crowd favorite..........reaaaaally? Ehhh, just a basic tasting roll. I doubt I'll be back.
(2)Marcos H.
Quick service, good eats, and reasonable specials. Quiet ambience and neat decor. Simple!
(5)Cliff C.
This place had it all: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. First, The Good: the wait staff is friendly and attentive, the selection of fish and specialty rolls is fairly extensive, and the cooked dishes are OK. The Bad? Well, I don't know how else to put it other than the fish was too cold. 'What? Too cold?!' you scoff. 'Isn't that the point?!' you ask. Sure, but listen, there's a reason a good pint shouldn't be drunk ice cold. You wanna TASTE it. And that same logic should be applied to a slice of toro, too (particularly one that's marketprice). I know there's a very fine line between too cold and not cold enough, but finding it is the chef's job, not mine. All I'm asking for is a chance to savor the toro's rich, buttery goodness, not have my tastebuds stunned into frigid submission. Maybe this is what they mean by "Hardcore Sushi" on their sign -- or maybe that's refering to the prices. But The Ugly? As my three companions and I walked out after spending a considerable amount on our lunch, neither of the two chefs said 'thank you' to us. Didn't even bother to look up from what they were doing. OK, they might've been slammed, and it's a minor quibble to be sure, but I don't know about you, that's what I like about Japanese places -- walk in and hear 'Welcome!' leave and hear 'Thank you!' They care because they want you to come back. No, thanks. Next time I'll try somewhere else.
(2)Michelle P.
This place used to have amazing happy hours but they must've changed ownership in the last year because the prices went up. Still not too bad but now I won't go as much.
(3)Leah D.
Sure enough, I ended up back here with family, and it was better this time. Maybe I just caught them on an off night before.
(3)Sarah J.
I never cared for Uni until I had the Live Uni at Maki-Zushi. Amazing! In the past I had poor service and nearly gave up on this restaurant until I met Susan. She is the best! We'll be dining there more often just because of her. Thank you, Susan!
(4)Manley M.
Did not have food coma : / Unhappy customer Never coming here again I prefer Sushi Gen!
(1)Tamara M.
Ordered sushi for lunch here for me and a couple coworkers. We ordered it on the phone to pick up to take it back to work since it was a busy day at work and it's close. We got back and noticed they gave us two wrong items that we did not order. I don't eat tempura at all and they gave us two tempura rolls instead of what we actually ordered (rainbow and some other non-tempura one my coworker ordered). I was annoyed but I figured it was too late to go back over there and say they messed it up so I gave the tempura rolls to someone else to eat. Whatever was in the tempura roll looked like canned tuna though. Ick. The salmon sashimi had a fishy taste. No good. The pieces themselves were larger than average, but the taste was poor. Spicy yellowtail not very spicy. Pretty bland taste for something labeled as spicy. And I don't know what the thick orange sauce was that they gave us, but it looked a bit like an orange version of pepto bismol. Pass.
(2)Brad T.
Not that great. My wife and I went here for dinner after reading some reviews on here, plus I've driven by this place a couple of times. We got the $28 boat dinner as mentioned by other yelpers, and it was not very good. We got the terriyaki chicken, salmon, and a couple of rolls. Beware, the choices of rolls that come with the boat are limited to the cheaper rolls. I thought we ordered the terriyaki chicken breast, although the chicken that came with the boat was terrible. Lots of tendons and ligaments, and was pretty much inedible. We tried to clarify this with the waitress, and she said we ordered the terriyaki chicken, and the chicken breast was a different item. Well I told her we wanted the chicken breast, and she brought that out instead. It was better. The tempura they brought with the boat was awful. Not hot at all - it felt like it had been sitting out for hours. I asked for some hot tempura and they brought it out in a few minutes. It was indeed hot, but very greasy. Now for the part that matters. The sushi - not good. No sir. We got a few rolls with our boat, and none were too good. Fell apart easily, and tasted kind of slimy. All in all, this place just isn't very good. We definitely prefer Mitsui in Irvine (we are a little biased because Mitsui is like a 2 minute drive from our house). Although it is a little more expensive, it is much better. One positive is the service here. Waitresses were friendly, and brought food quickly. They remained friendly, even though I was in my "complainer" mood. Even after sending back dish after dish, they did not say anything. B Bain out!
(2)Nermeen M.
Really nice ambience, we sat in a booth. Miso and salad come with sushi orders which is awesome. We ordered a variety of food; edamame, gyoza, udon, crunch rolls, philly rolls, Eel cucumber rolls, shrimp lover rolls. The gyoza is deeelicious! The Chicken katsu udon had curry in it so to me, it wasn't the best but hubby liked it. I enjoyed my crunch and philly rolls and my friend thoroughly enjoyed her rolls also. It's not the BEST sushi i've ever had, but it's pretty darn tasty. Waiters and waitresses were prompt (which is so hard to come by anymore) and very nice. Some of the special rolls are a bit pricey, but the simpler rolls are more reasonable. I would go again and try something different next time.
(4)Romuel Dave C.
Hand's Down.. one of The best sushi places in the Irvine/Tustin area. If one was a sushi Aficionado... one could spend maybe $80-$120 on himself indulging in some of the best raw seafood one has tasted in a while. First Off, their Kumamoto oysters are amazing, so fresh, and so delicious with a bit of lemon, and a bit of the sauce they give you. All their fish are really fresh, and you can tell your fish is fresh, well, when it doesn't taste like fish! They have these "boat combos" that are great split between a few people. Their cheapest boat, around $30, is perfect for 2 people, and even include this wonderful... tomato... that ironically enough, tastes like a strawberry! It blew my mind away at how the Japanese are so inventive with their culinary arts. So if you want great sushi, and great food, and have a bit of $$ to spend, come to Maki Zushi.. HARDCORE SUSHI!
(4)Katherine O.
Totally random, but my parents and friends all came here (independently of each other) on the same weekend. And there are probably 400 sushi places in between our houses and this place. They usually have Laker game specials, and the edamame was really really good. I know, edamame is pretty standard, but this place must have a Japanese grandpa in the back tending to their edamame garden with love. Oh! And I recommend their cilantro tuna roll. The fish was fresh and the rolls were all pretty Americanized, but still delicious. I wish I worked around here and could frequent their happy hour.
(4)Jae K.
This place was the worst place ever that I ever been. The owner was yelling at his employee, horrible customer service, and there was a hair on my sashimi and did not even care about it.
(1)Mindy J.
I've been wanting to eat here for years, but Fiance refuses to eat at sushi places in strip malls. He's out of town this wekend, so I get to do what I want. The tuna and salmon nigiri were excellent. Some of the best ever. The manager told me that the chef's brother owns a fish market, so they get fish deliveries every day, not just on Tues and Thurs. I got some kind of baked scallop roll. It was good. It wasn't spectacular, but I'd order it again. I just mean that it didn't outshine other sushi restaurants. Not like their nigiri. Oyster shot was pretty good, too, but it always takes a brave soul to down one of those. I have no problem with it, but you know. They brought me miso soup without me even asking, so bonus points for that. And I got a pretty big discount because it's like happy hour all the time there. Now to convince fiance of the joys of strip mall sushi.
(4)Gerry O.
The decor was well done with dark woods and muted colors. I loved the outdoor patio space but it was a little small with a large table for 12 in the center but not much else. The interior space was tastefully appointed with nice contemporary japanese touches. Not elegant or overstated but not cheap and clique either. Dress is business casual is appropriate. If I had one negative is the bathrooms are not as clean as I would like but the decor was well done. The food was excellant. Everything was super fresh. We had the Cilantro and Tuna roll, Orange County Roll, Tustin Tuna Roll and I had Chirashi. You can always judge the restaurant by the quality of the Chirashi sushi and I would rate it a B+. All the portions was very generous and the presentation was good. The prices were average but they have an early bird special where if you order by 11am you get a 20% discount...I highly recommend that. Can't wait to go for Happy Hour where for the same 20% discount. Our tab was about $50 for five people and we were absolutely full. I would recommend this restaurant to everyone.
(4)Jemi A.
This is one of my favorite Sushi restaurants in the area. Their live menu can't be beat. My brother and husband can't get enough of their Live Uni. They serve it with the spiky shell that continues to move because it was live just seconds prior. Pretty freaky. I love their Fresh Aji - never fishy tasting, always fresh. I especially like their rolls. They have this one spicy tuna roll with jalapeno peppers that keeps me coming back for more. The prices are also fairly reasonable.
(4)Mika O.
I don't know why I even thought of agreeing to go there.. This is why I hate going to lunch for sushi with co-workers. (Nothing wrong with them. It's just that I hate preaching around that what they eat is not really an authentic sushi.) The place has overpriced, over-flavored and over-sized sushi. I normally order Bento Plate for lunch from this type of place, but even that was not good. Tempura was not fried with fresh oil (I could smell somewhat industrial yuckiness) and batter was not crusty at all. Sashimi was cut in a wrong way, rice was too sticky, and miso soup was way too watery. Even traditional baked mackarel was too oily. Stupid me for coming here.
(1)Stephanie C.
Tustin. Errrr where is that?! OHHHH, near Irvine. My knowledge of socal geography is non-existent, directionally challenged if you will. So when my flight arrived in the good ole OC bubble, I had a hankering for a sushi roll and luckily a good friend of mine took me somewhere to try to satisfy the craving. Sushi spelled with a "Z" and claims of being "hardcore". Hmm...questionable. static.px.yelp.com/bphot… Nothing out of the ordinary here but the extensive menu could use some help with more pictures of the rolls (I will lend them my iPhone pics if need be). I EAT WITH MY EYES!...more so than my stomach...which is probably why I struggle to finish all the food I over-order. But my momma said leave no rice in the bowl or you will marry an ugly husband...and I ain't leaving that to chance! Let's get it rollllllin... Spider Roll - crispy goodness static.px.yelp.com/bphot… BSCCR - scallops. are. good. the best of the 3. static.px.yelp.com/bphot… Shrimp Tempura Roll - not bad and I like sauces on my rolls. SAUCE ME. static.px.yelp.com/bphot… Spanish Mackerel static.px.yelp.com/bphot… I eyed the chalkboard that had scribbled on it Happy Hour 99 cents for 10 oz beer and my eyes lit up for a second. But decided on sake (takes up less room in stomach = more room for sushi), he chose an unfiltered sake (Creme de Sake) static.px.yelp.com/bphot… . Somewhat of a milky consistency with a sweet aftertaste...I liked! Prices were average and no wow factor but I'd come here again to get my sushi fix. Errrr...if I'm ever in Tustin again. Wait...where's Tustin? :P
(3)Holly B.
Never have written a review but had to say something. Worked in the restaurant business for over 10 years and brought friends (six of us in total) from out of town who have owned their own restaurant and my husband and I were so embarrassed. We live close to the restaurant and boasted about how cool it was to be able to walk to a sushi restaurant; however, they were very busy and we were put in a corner. We had to ask over and over again for certain items and at the end of the meal, I asked for a complimentary dessert and was told that they couldn't do it. Whoa, this is unbelievable! I still tipped over 15% (because I know what it's like to be busy) but I will not go back. Whoever owns this restaurant should be ashamed. Trust me, I will spread the word about this review.
(2)Sandra O.
I had dinner here with a friend and we ordered the boat for two. For our meats we selected the spicy Teriyaki and pork cutlet. I really liked the spicy Teriyaki. For our sushi rolls we had spicy Tuna and the crunchy roll. Both were terrific and tasted very fresh. I would definitely eat here again.
(4)Bara T.
One of the things that Yoshi-san does that I don't see other places doing when they make the sushi .... If you are ordering from the blackboard menu, those are the daily current price specials. Yoshi-san will take the whole fish, say needle fish, and then fillet the fish ON THE SPOT, then make sashimi or nigiri out of it, then hand it to you. THAT'S what you are paying for when you sit in front of him. THAT'S why it takes so long to get your food, because it is made from scratch. Just about everything we order from that blackboard, Yoshi has to spend time filleting and cutting to order. (Super large fish like tuna, hamachi, is the exception. We've seen Yoshi-san take out a large chunk of tuna and cut chuutoro and ohtoro for us.) There's another sushi chef there who's either Chinese or Korean or something, We've never sat in front of him. When we go there, they automatically sit us in front of Yoshi-san. A lot of sushi places, the chef already pre-cut the fish, and put it in the cooler trays and only use that. When you pay for the expensive blackboard specials, it's expensive because of the specialty fish and where it came from, and you are paying for Yoshi-san's expertise in fish and on-the-spot filleting skills. Sushi is expensive. And because you are eating raw fish, any sushi-ya has to be scrupulously clean, and have to be very very careful with the fish. Many sushi places, especially "all you can eat sushi" places, all serve not fresh fish, or worse, resuscitated fish. After getting sick one time too many, I restrict the places where I eat real sushi. Maki-zushi is still our favorite. Honeybuns can talk about the varieties of fish, where to fish, how to fish etc with Yoshi-san.
(5)Karen C.
I think I could have been more excited about this place if I had ordered sushi rolls instead of chirashi. I mean in my own opinion, besides freshness, how good can fish from one restaurant be compared to another? My boyfriend was ecstatic about this place and I could see why. He's almost always the one to pick up the check when we go out to eat and I know he felt like he got his money's worth on this one. He paid $12.95 for a combination box that included two different kinds of chicken, vegetable/shrimp tempura, miso soup, salad, rice and california rolls. Sidenote: My chirashi came with miso soup and a salad too. I don't have much to comment on my actual food(Fish was very fresh but based on all these reviews, that's to be expected. I think it's a little redundant to point that out again) but the sushi rice was very good. It was flavorful enough to eat on its own. And the wasabi was also very fresh. It was almost like I was spreading room temperature butter on bread. Second, this was the cheapest japanese dinner bill we've ever had. $33 for the entire meal and we were both stuffed. Usually we have to order an extra sushi roll but we did not have to do that this time. Third, he thought and I agreed that the california rolls were the best california rolls we've had. In his words, they were fresh and very flavorful. There were things he disliked that I agreed with. The chicken was pretty dry and he compared it to great steak teriyaki chicken. Service was pretty bad. It took them long enough to get our drink orders that we were ready to give them our food orders too when they came by (despite the fact we had never seen the menu previously to being in the restaurant). Funnily enough, the drinks came 5 minutes after the food came. We were also told we would get a second menu but that menu never came. I think the service would have been more upsetting if it weren't for the incredibly nice and genuine manager that we dealt with. We will definitely be back but I"ll opt for sushi rolls next time to see if I can up the review to 4 stars.
(3)L W.
Overpriced. Didn't try the live stuff, as they were out of it that evening, but did have the "fresh" uni. Not "fresh" at all. Overpriced. Overpriced. Overpriced. $16.50 for two small pieces of old, refrigerated uni. Won't be back.
(2)P. H.
I have only tried the Omakase service at the sushi bar. They have an abundance of live selections as mentioned by previous reviewers. Prices are high for these delicacies, but you can't beat the taste. The chef creates beautiful presentations! Food: Come for the live goods and fresh fish! Drinks: Half off beer/sake during happy hour! Service: Friendly. Efficient.
(4)Iam H.
awesome sushi!! check it out
(5)Camilla S.
This place rocks best sushi in town and friendly service also. Great. Prices
(5)Randy W.
Whenever I am in the OC, I make it a point to visit. The sushi is great, and the people are friendly. The only negative is the sushi portions are small.
(4)Jerry M.
Best for fresh sashimi. The chef is a master of toro. He seems to be able to get toro from just about any fish. Try the yellow tail or salmon toro if it's on the board. High quality fish excellently prepared. Inventive rolls too. Try the atlantic treasure roll. Well worth a visit.
(5)Alice L.
Came here for dinner with a couple friends and it was a full restaurant. Got seated in the back and was left to our menus.... for a very long time. Apparently there was only 1 waitress and 1 busgirl. With a restaurant full of people? Yea..... ok. When we finally got her attention, which meant one of my friends got up to tap her on the shoulder and point in our general direction, she came to take our order. We got Love Boat for 2- $29 Atlantic Treasure Roll- $9 Cilantro and Tuna Roll- $12 House Special Roll- $11 Even though we were warned that the Boat takes 20 minutes, we decided to go ahead with it and figured that the rolls would come first anyway. Well. It took 25 minutes for ROLLS to come and then 10 minutes later the Boat came. Wth? By then we were starving and was wolfing down everything. I joked that it was their tactic, to make us starve to make the food taste better. Or was it really their intention... I donno. The quality of the fish was OK, nothing too special. The Boat had several fried items like Tempura, Banana, some meat items like Chicken Teriyaki and Korean Bulgogi, salmon sashimi, and 2 mini portions of rolls of Eel Cucumber and Crunch Roll. For 5 people it was about $66 which isn't bad for the amount of food we got. However the service was horrible, no apologies whatsover even when we audibly let her know our displeasure in waiting. Well guess what? Tip IS optional.
(2)Andrew P.
although the overall quality of the fish and ingredients were good, however the service wasn't great for the prices you pay. i waited over 15 minutes for my first order and the place wasn't that busy. not recommend for lunch if you are on limited on time. since there are too many choice in the area i don't think i would go back after my first time. sorry.
(2)Whitney Y.
The 7th Year Special is awesome! 30% off non-specialty rolls?! Yup. $2.50 sushi?! Yup. Best deal ever.
(5)Juan M.
I should of known this place sucked as soon as I walked in. The smell of old fish hit my nose like a baseball bat. Way overpriced for the quality, worst of all my plate had dry crud on it. Gross.
(1)Michael C.
Sushi is good .. Biggest problem is that if your work only allows an hour for lunch you will be late guaranteed .. You get your food in around 45 mins .. This happened to me twice and it's sushi it's not like their cooking anything ... Great relaxing place with fresh sushi
(3)Puddy Tat C.
Hello All, This is the sushi place to visit due to the freshest fish in town to the fun loving nature of the chief's and staff. I brought my father here for fathers day and he truly enjoyed the soft-shell crab and the cilantro tuna lovers roll! The staff is helpful and fun and always make our time here memorable a few things I would recommend: 1. Salmon Sushimi / Yellow Tail. 2. Cilantro Tuna Lovers Roll. 3. Spicy Kenny hand-roll. 4. Fresh Mackerel or Aji Also don't be scared to have the cheif make you something off the menu, further they have a great selection of quality sake. Enjoy, Tat
(5)Isabel M.
Love this spot!!!
(5)Denise A.
This place was not bad, but not the best. The fish is fresh, but overpriced. I have been to A LOT of sushi spots and prefer sushi and sashimi to rolls. I have to say my typical favorites is the chirashi bowl. Last night at Maki Zushi we decided to try a couple of rolls and got the Yoshi roll which had no rice, was huge, and wrapped in cucumber. This roll was ridiculous and huge and hard to manage with chopsticks, let me add that for a white girl I am pretty damn good with chopsticks. The other roll we ordered was the garlic albacore roll which was easier to manage and tastier as well. We also ordered sushi: halibut, salmon toro, white tuna, big-eyed tuna, albacore, & yellowtail. My favorites were the halibut, white tuna, & albacore; alas I have still had better. They have all day happy hour from like 5pm-10pm and buy the first drink and the second drink is $1 specials which are good, but expect to fork out some dough for the food itself. The sushi chefs were very nice and attentive; however the waitresses were slow and nearly non-existent. For something local to my house this is not bad, but I still prefer Kaori ( yelp.com/biz/kaori-fulle… ) in Fullerton.
(3)Anha N.
This place is amazing! Fresh fish, great rolls and REAL WASABI!!! The service was awesome also! We went here during happy hour and all the rolls were 20% off. The sushi platter was great also! 14 pieces for just under $20. I will definitely come here again and again!
(5)Tom D.
The restrooms at Maki-Zushi are top-notch! Clean, Sanitized, and in good repair. You can tell that these guys take good care of their entire restaurant & kitchen.
(5)Tina D.
THE best, freshest fish you can find. I've been coming here for years and it just gets better and better. I love this place so much that I'm always disappointed anytime I stray. Trust Yoshi to take good care of you behind the sushi bar. He knows what he's doing!
(5)Esther P.
my go-to sushi joint when i'm in the mood for sushi or sashimi... Most sushi places do not get a repeat visit from me... so that says much for Maki-Sushi.
(5)Stacey K.
My first trip to this place was alright... my second trip there recently was worse. Bad service, waited 45 minutes for a piece of salmon to come out, had to wait 20 minutes for my water to be refilled, and another 15 for the check. Free edimame wasn't worth it and I lost my appetite by the time the food came out. The waiter was nowhere to be found. Overall, very boring experience with mediocre food. Go elsewhere if you're wanting the full Japanese cuisine experience. Man, what a bitter sounding review... and im not even pms-ing haha.
(2)Sum S.
recently renew the menu and decor a little, price went way up but food is the same as b4, dont see any difference. will not come again, pricy food with average quality. .
(2)Janna L.
Love Love this place. We love everything about this place. The food is AWESOME and the staff is always so friendly. Even our four year son loves the hand rolls, chicken teriyaki and the salad. I think he loves the dressing more. LoL. I personally love the tuna and cilantro.
(5)Ashley M.
Lets get to the goods... The Good: - Happy Hour is 4-7 which is 20% off all the rolls. - Large beers for only 3 bucks. - Sushi is pretty good and seemed fresh. - Miso soup is complimentary. yummm - It's never too crowded so you should be able to grab a seat. Not so Good: - The service is terrible, if you ask for something don't expect get it for awhile, if at all. - The prices are a little expensive if you're not ordering during happy hour. Overall, this place isn't bad. if I'm in the mood for sushi and the time is right, this is where I'll be! P.S. My fave roll is one that has jalapenos and cilantro, soooo good.
(4)Alli F.
First time at Maki-Zushi and it was great. From the food to the customer service. The 7th year anniversary prices were fantastic! We'll definitely be back.;)
(4)David F.
Very good for the price. Lunch bento boxes are good and then the sushi for dinner is way above average.
(4)Brett R.
This is a great place for sushi! Most people don't know it's there so it is a hidden treasure. Easy to get in on Friday and Saturday nights. The resturaunt is very clean which is unusual for sushi, usually you feel like your in a bad 80's tv show with Crocket and Tubbs, but this place has a modern feel. The food is good, exactly what you expect in a sushi place, many dishes you recognize with a few originals. This one of mine and my daughters(she's 18) favorite places. I totally recomend it!
(5)Cindy C.
Went here recently after a long time. Being 8 months pregnant, I couldn't eat the "real" stuff so I had to stick to the rolls and stuff. Definitely not as good. My husband had the omakase but it appears the quality is not as we remembered it. Prices also went up. his omakase was $110 alone! I don't think we'll be coming back here soon.
(3)Patrick V.
Maki-Zushi serves up some of the most authentic Japanese sushi this side of the Pacific, and I've been to Japan so I don't often say this so generously. From traditional tuna sushi to modern American-fusion rolls, Maki-Zushi serves up some of the most tasty Japanese seafood that I've found in Orange County. Its salmon sashimi is fresh with just the perfect texture and the sukiyaki beef was spot-on genuine. The prices are decent -- not cheap, but not an arm-and-leg rip-off. And the service is excellent. It's a smaller restaurant, so it's more ideal for dinners for couples or a small group of friends.
(4)Smart G.
You know, if you're a big sushi eater, I guess the place is probably pretty good for its food. I am not a big sushi eater so it was just OK for me. However, the service sucked!!! I am not very demanding, but I do expect that the Waiter will come by at least once during the meal, to see if you need something or what ever. This guy came to drop off the check, and that's pretty much it. In his defense, the place was pretty busy, considering the lunch rush was over. Still, not my fault. I did mention it to him, and he was very cordial and apologetic, now consider the fact that he's young, and probably doing this as a job to put himself thru college. Anyway, the food was OK, I would normally order the tempura plate and only sample the sushi. this time it was all sushi. I suppose that this might also be a trendy evening spot. Big sushi eaters (colleagues) tell me this place is pretty good.
(2)Victor C.
Came here with the coworkers because we all heard it was really good. For the price you pay, you would expect more, however the rolls are tinier than a 50 cent piece and are mediocre at best. We ordered 6 rolls and only got 5, so while we were waiting on our jalapeno albacore roll, we decided to order two more orders of salmon tuna sushi. Another twenty five minutes comes by and we don't get anything, so we decided to ask about the albacore roll. The waitress comes back and replies "The chef said you already got the roll." We deny this as we were still hungry and waiting. Another ten minutes goes by and we still didn't get any of our remaining orders. We end up cancelling the order as it's been too long the rolls are small anyways. This has got to be one of the slowest, overpriced, most disappointing sushi joints ever. And no way are you supposed to argue against the customers, we had a party of 5, and all of us were certain that we did NOT get our sixth roll. Total wait time for the last two was over 30 minutes.
(1)Mike B.
The best Sushi I have had in some time....
(5)Kathleen H.
Except for the high prices, this place has the best variety of fish and shellfish I have had in the area. In the last couple of months I have come here to get my sushi fix about once a week or once every other week. If I could afford it, I would eat here every night! I discovered half moon scallop recently. It has the texture of mirugai but softer, like the fresh scallop. Its flavor is sweet. The cost is far less than the mirugai. We ordered a whole aji sashimi. I loved the garnish on top and the ponzu on the side which accentuates the flavor and the fattiness of the fish. After We enjoyed the beautifully prepared aji sashimi, the chef deep fried the bones of the small-size fish which is always fabulous and matches well with the Japanese beer. We then ordered our prennial favorites - hamachi belly sashimi, live scallop (HUGE) served on the half shell, live ama ebi, and kumamoto oysters topped with "eggs" (ikura, masago, quail egg, etc.) as well as items that we don't have often - Ika from Japan, grilled anago lightly sprinkled with sea salt, fried soft shell crab, akagai (orange clam, similar in texture to mirugai but not as expensive). Finally, we wrapped up our sushi feast with uni. OMG that was a ton of excellent food. I felt like I was floading on a cloud so fulfilled with delicious fresh sushi and of course, the price tag was equally high. I enjoy this place so much. But, I really need to learn to control myself and keep to a budget!
(4)Catherine W.
Another average Korean owned Japanese restaurant. We arrived at 11:30am on Friday just to beat the lunch crowd. The service was good at the beginning but soon got worsen as people started to arrive. We've ordered: ~Chirashi($17.99): came with 2 pieces of Salmon, Red Snapper, tamago, tuna and a tiny piece of cooked shrimp, comparing to the picture on the menu it was lacking in substance and quality, because on the picture it also showed Uni, Sweet Shrimp, Octopus etc. ~ I think for $17.99, it's such a rip off! ~ Spicy Tuna Salad ($9.65): a scoop of mixed spicy tuna on top of bite sized pieces of lettuce with sesame dressing. I didn't like the dish at all because they added alot of chopped cilantro into the spicy tuna mixture. ~ Sukiyaki (14.95): an averaged sized iron pot, filled with cubes of tofu, beef slices, mushroom, egg, carrots, cabbage, and noodle, all cooked in the sweet sukiyaki sauce. Although very average, but was my favorite dish of the meal. Will probably come back here for lunch again if I crave for Japanese food, since it's right down the street from my work. But as far as authenticity goes, my all time favorite is still Ikko.
(3)Andy C.
This place is better than most Irvine/Tustin sushi joints and the roll prices are good. They have been running their dollar Kirin draft deal for a while now which is an added incentive to go. The bento boxes are very well executed which tells me there's a well-trained cook staff. I've never tried their nigri or sashimi but its a tad pricey so I might hold out of a more a place with better ambiance if I'm going to shell out that kind of dough. Orders are slow during lunch time, but go there from 2-6 and they have happy hr roll prices :)
(4)Victoria Y.
While the fish was fresh I felt the rolls were missing something. I really enjoyed the soba and the baked scallop roll.. but the spicy tuna and their house special roll just wasn't my thing. The spicy tuna's taste was drowned out by the too creamy sauce and the house special roll just tasted funny to me. Something about that particular combo of fish and vegetables I didn't like. Also, the prices are really high! Too high I think for the food. The portions are large though. I might come back for soba or during happy hour where prices are more decent.
(3)Carrie h.
This place is very close to my work and the sushi is pretty darn good. The sushi is good, but nothing crazy to write home about. I usually get the veggie roll and miso soup. Their miso soup definitely lacks tofu, which kinda sucks, but it still tastes really good. Their rolls are always made with really fresh ingredients, which in my opinion is key to good sushi. The only real fault with this place is that it is soooo small and gets really crowded at lunch, which sucks because then you can hardly chat at your table and actually hear what people are saying. This also makes it really hard for groups; however whenever we go, we usually have about 8 people and they are more than happy to do what they can to accomodate you. The staff here are some of the nicest people ever and are great at customizing orders and which I'm kinda notorious for :) Maki Zushi is great food and a great location for me; nothing more, nothing less.
(3)Black C.
4 stars since they are not really that fast with drinks, soup or getting your order ready. Food is fresh and prices are good. Been here a few times for lunch and is very nice.
(4)Tiffany D.
It is hard to tell when they are open, the tint on the windows is super dark. I'm not sure if they are under new ownership- but last I was here was pretty decent. Beers were I think BOGO (Free) - Sushi specials were cheap ($1.00-2.00) I ordered Liver/Gizzard(?) Yakitori (No on liver first time around) The meat was tender, not over cooked to where it was like eating leather. Not bad. Would have been happier had it been more than one little stick. (2-3 would have been super) Have not been back for a good couple of months- I'm a glutton and prefer to have buffets vs. one shot rolls. :) Call me Hefty - S'all gravy! Would have been back a few nights ago, but they were closed at 10 - WTF? They should be open until at least 11- there are hungry people willing to spend moolah on tiny fish and tiny grilled insides. :P
(3)Christa A.
Not veggie friendly at all. Most everyone I know who goes here enjoys this place. I go and enjoy the happy hour. Good prices, no joke. Damn crowded at lunch.
(3)Jill B.
The roads to my place were closed so I found myself here during happy hour to pass the time. Turned out to be a pleasant predicament. Half off rolls? Yes please. Got my usual California and Crunch roll (I'm still a sushi newb and the texture of raw fish grosses me out), and for kicks, tried the Baked Lobster roll. Yum, yum, and yum! The fam joined me so we also split a Teryiaki Chicken plate, which I don't recommend actually. I have definitely had better chicken elsewhere. Stick to the rolls, for sure. The restaurant itself is small, but clean and modern in decor. Our server was super sweet and attentive. I'd probably only go here during happy hour though because good sushi can get pretty costly!
(4)Amanda B.
I like going here for lunch, it's not packed, good quality sushi. I go for the bento box with sushi as it is the best deal. Staff is pretty good, parking is not always great though.
(3)Jon O.
Sushi was about average I'd say, nothing too special, not bad either. The salmon and regular hamachi was flavorless, tho I will admit the hamachi belly was nice, but the main reason I came here was because of jerrold's review of live uni for $12---just an fyi--the price has gone WAY up from when he had it 3 months ago,--had to try it once but it wasn't phenomenal or out of this world good, by any means, not that I eat uni all that much...I If yer gonna spend that much $$, just go with the high end Toro, which was cheaper than the uni and should be a lot better. Service was pretty inattentive, barely coming around to clear plates and didn't even offer a refill on tea or water, if the place was busy, that would be one thing, but there were 5 people eating in the restaurant and 2 servers-maybe I'm being harsh, eh?
(2)Ayami H.
i was going to give this place a 3 star (i'm usually very generous about my stars...) but after seeing the other reviews, i dont feel as guilty about being honest and giving them a 2.5. i'm rarely in santa ana but was here to visit the office in this location. my coworker suggested this place and told me it was pretty good... she said it was japanese owend so i had high hopes. she was actually pretty sure about it... appearance was cute. kinda modern/japanesey? but from the style i kind of doubted it was japanese owned. the sushi chefs did not look japanese at all... hmm... i knew alot of time and money was spent on the appearance of this place. good marketing on their part. anyway... they had the usual lunch and dinner special, sushi specials blah blah but they were pretty expensive for what they were serving. i ordered the cihcken katsu bento box. about $9 and it included a weird tasting miso soup, lots of salad, a scoop of rice, shrimp/potato/pumpkin tempura, 4 pieces of a tiny tiny california roll (i knew for sure after seeing this that it wasnt japanese owned... or at least owned by someone who opened this place to serve good sushi...), and about 8 strips of the katsu. overall the food was ok. maybe a B-, but for the price, maybe a C. i've had better and cheaper ones with better quality in whittier! :) and they are korean owned :) our waitress came by once. we had to flag her down about 4 times and she still didnt notice us. another girl was helping and she kept forgetting to bring us stuff that we requested... service was really a 2 star. they weren't rude but they were not helpful. i'm sure i'd come here again if i had a craving for japanese food during lunch time near the santa ana office, but i'd probably never go there just because i wanted japanese food.
(2)Mrs S.
It must be a good place to eat if my husband goes there on his lunch break and spends close to $20.
(3)Kay D.
Another change to the happy hour: The $1 Happy Mugs are back! Woohoo! (translation: 5-10pm you get on tap Kirin mugs for $1 a pop!) I am officially addicted to their albacore toro. They prepare it with their house special ponzu sauce (i.e. garlic-y heaven sauce). YUM! Anything with the ponzu sauce makes me drool. I LOVE the garlic albacore roll (one step away from being the albacore toro...). I am also a fan of the heart attack on rice: baked scallop roll. YUM! My fiance got the sukiyaki and hated it. I think he thought it was going to be like the yakisoba dishes. Oh well. Meanwhile I feasted on my albacore toro and various sushi rolls. YUM! I can't get enough of this place!!
(5)Rich L.
Service was awesome. Price was quite pricey. There's outdoor seating in their "back yard." It's quite pretty from the inside. The food was good. They had a "nacho" sushi dish. Yes, you heard me right, nachos. They claim it's their most popular dish, and though it wasn't so pretty it was quite good. So try that out.
(4)Simone C.
My favorite Japanese restaurant!!! Love love love the udon!!!! And rock-n-roll sushi's!!! Price: Great prices!
(5)Frankie D.
If you are in search of a traditional japanese sushi place in orange county maki zushi is IT! If you're into California rolls or rolls in general gtfo. Go to chef yoshii and do it omakase and you'll be wowed! The fresh market price sushi is out of this world. Try the big toro, king salmon, live amaebi, live scallop, and the baby yellowtail. Trust. The best authentic sushi bar in socal.
(5)Alice L.
Came here a few weeks ago to treat a co-worker to lunch. The place seems pretty authentic and the prices are pretty good. I really like that htey offer a lot of food for lunch time prices. The lunch special we got was hot udon + spicy tuna rolls. It came with miso soup, salad, and fried tempura. It came up to be about $12 for the lunch set. My only issue with them is that the rolls were a bit sloppy looking. Traditional japanese sushi is neat and doesnt quite fall apart in your hands. these kind of looked like ones i could make on my way.. I'd come again for a quick sushi fix for lunch but thats about it.
(3)Rob R.
this place was recommended by someone we met at another sushi bar. my wife and I are always up for trying new (to us) sushi-yas as we've been to our fair share. we discoverd this place is more fusion and not an authentic japanese restaurant in even the loosest sense - the owners are not Nihon-jin but Korean and our "chef" evidently was the owner. To be fair the fish sellection and quality were above average but the shari was oversalted and fell apart from the neta - too much vinegar? our chef had a poor sense of pace and rushed all the orders - a big no-no. its not like we were in a hurry or they had people waiting for the bar. we spent $150 for two including 3 large beers, mostly nigri-sushi and a few maki-sushi. i wouldnt recommend this place for an authentic experience, based on other comments it looks like happy hour i.e cheap drinks and fusion type rolls is the way to go, its just not our preference.
(2)Jeffrey Y.
Best fish in OC. Salmon, spanish mackarel are my favorite. They've got a great variety of sushi, beyond the standard salmon, yellowtail, and tuna. They don't mess around. The fish is so good, I rarely even mess around with the rolls as there is so much good sushi to be had. Try it out.
(5)Travis B.
I went to Maki Zushi on New Years day after realizing that our usual sushi places were not open due to the new year. All I can say is WOW the atmosphere was comfortable and the sushi was extremely fresh although it comes as cost. Great service, great food! Give it a shot! I give this place an A.
(5)Gabriela M.
Had another amazing sushi dinner at Maki-Zushi. Ordered multiple live items including: live surf clam, sweet shrimp, Octopus, and live soft shell crab. The live Uni is a must have and never disappoints. If you know sushi, you will love their Toro and Kinmadai (golden eye snapper). Sit at the bar, Omakase not required. Beers are buy one get one for one cent! New yummy deserts include an ice cream sandwich with a sesame cookie and coconut ice cream... Amazing! It's a must try spot of you're in the OC.
(5)Nancy L.
My hubby and I have been coming her for over 5 years. Maki Zushi is where our sushi venture all began.. So I've decided to make this sushi joint my first food review. We always request the sushi bar in front of Chef Yoshi where he'll serve you only the best. This is where I discovered my love for live uni, live abalone, fresh kinmedai, o toro, bluefin from Japan, live amaebi, kumamoto oysters, conch, live scallops, mirugai...the list goes on and on. They have a large selection of fish and it's always fresh and served perfectly! I'm not a big fan of rolls but my friends say it's tasty, looks good but I prefer my fish in it's pure form. Happy Eating!!
(5)Dustin J.
Went here for a friends birthday. We had a reservation for 6 but only 3 of us arrived on time. They sat us without our full party and took drink orders. The rest of our party was going to be 30-45 min late. We informed them about this and they were very understanding. We ordered and began to eat. I had the spicy tuna roll, live clam, and salmon toro and halibut. I must say they all went beyond my expectations. The presentation was beautiful and everything was served fresh. The taste was just amazing. The service was by far the best service I have ever had. I would recommend the spicy tuna roll and salmon toro to anyone that goes. Will definitely be returning here for another spectacular time.
(4)S L.
My girlfriend and I dined at Maki-Zushi after seeing its ratings on "10 best Sushi in OC." We had early dinner on Monday. Service is very cordial and the sushi was fresh and the service was excellent. They had a "buy one bottle of wine and the next one is for a $1" that we took advantage of and took the second bottle home. Love their lightly seared garlic ahi tuna sushi. Outdoor seating is available, but it's summer and the hot/humid day...we took advantage of the AC environment. The ambiance is wonderful!
(5)Steve K.
Sushi Quality in a Tail-Spin I don't like having to reverse great reviews, but I like this place much less and have to keep it honest. Greed has killed another great restaurant. Here's an example of a great place with great potential to be a leader, instead, it's free-falling to the depths of quality and value you find in commercial grade sushi. The quality has reached a new low, and to add insult to injury - they pieces, formerly nice size, now almost transparently thin, and smaller than a domino. And add to that - the prices are 2x what they used to be. Sorry Yoshi - you've broken the sacred rule of the restauranteur: Never kill the quality or value in your menu, or you'll die a slow death. RIP.
(1)Ivan L.
Ordered a few items to go. 20 minutes they said, came back in 20 then they said 10 more minutes. Came back in 10 minutes and waited 10 minutes and nothing. Worse service ever. Can't comment on the food because I never effing got any!!!!
(1)Pai Hao A.
Very sad indeed. Good food. Terrible service. Needs new management. With so many options out there, I'm shocked this place hadn't gone out of business yet. Arrived at 9:20pm. They close at 10. Was told I couldn't order. What kind of restaurant does that? So fail.
(1)Melly K.
Absolutely delish! One of my favorite sushi places!!! Everywhere else seems to just put a piece of fish on top of a cali roll, but this place is unique and every roll is different. Can't wait to go back!
(5)Flying Squirrel S.
The best sushi around. Garlic albacore sushi roll, seafood nachos, yellow fish lovers roll and Yoshi Roll!!
(5)Stephen B.
I used to love this place. I honestly dont know what happened. I ordered 2 black cod miso sake and they were literally less than 1oz each my wife thought it was a piece of sashimi. So sad i even told our server and all she had to say was sorry. I also ordered a hamachi kama and it was pretty tiny also. Maybe i just had a bad day but for less than 1oz of meat thats pretty bad. She could of gave me a discount but she didnt. this place was one of my favorite places to go for sushi but not after how tiny everything was.
(1)Rafiq A.
The food here was AMAZINGLY FRESH as well as GOOD!!! Came here for lunch, then found myself BACK the next day for dinner After work lol The only thing i would say the place needs help with is SERVICE. Had to wait for simple things like my Sake for my large Asahi beer amongst a few other instances i wont go into because Over all. I WILL be back for more Great food.
(4)Lin L.
Not sure if it was due to Monday but the sushi I had were not fresh at all. Their "live uni" was not live or even fresh either, served in a very small portion, and way overpriced by charging $19 a piece! Customer service was not bad though that's why I'm putting in an extra star.
(2)Benj N.
Quite the amazing lunch. Their spicy tuna is addicting. I have a passion for it. The portion is good and the prices are good for the size and quality. Take into consideration I have not had any other sushi except their spicy tuna and lunch specials. However this comes from multiple lunch experiences. The missing star comes from the service. It lacks a little bit. They are a little bit slow as well. But he food is great and the location is convenient.
(4)Rudy T.
When a friend wanted to come here for a birthday, I was honestly skeptical, the least to say. Growing up in LA meant having J-Town and all that it had to offer. Looking on yelp didn't help ease my worries with only 3 stars. However, throughout the night, I my skepticism was thoroughly removed. We were greeted by Yoshi, and right from the get-go, had a great interaction with him. Throughout the night, he proved to be genuine in his passion for sushi and sake, and his food was delightful and fresh. His portions, for our party, were rather generous and priced very fair, with solid quality fishes. What made his sushi unique for me was his little extra touches to bring out the flavor of the fish. His garnishings on the white tuna was excellent and at $4.25 for 2 pcs, I couldn't resist ordering more. I don't look at sushi as needing garnish. I don't use soy sauce/wasabi, I don't eat the ginger, and try to keep a pure mind about raw fish, but honestly, I loved the little tid-bits he adds to some. Some of our sashimi was kept in pure form without additions on it, such as the toro. I believe Yoshi has an ability to channel exactly what he wants you to taste out of his sushi, and that is a skill. To be fair, perhaps my great experience here was due to sitting at the bar with someone Yoshi is familiar with, but I have to write it as I experienced it, and I would definitely come back and recommend it.
(4)Gerald T.
if it was rated on food alone it would be much higher but we felt cheated on our yelp coupon. there was a 20% coupon on yelp & we presented it to waiter before we ordered. he looked confused & asked the manager who gave us the green light. after we ate & asked for the bill there was no discount given. when asked, the waiter said that the manager changed his mind saying the coupon shouldnt still be up on yelp. now we feel cheated. dont say one thing & do another.
(2)Myke D.
Everything a REAL sushi connoisseur would appreciate. The live menu is worth the trip alone. Go, just go. You'll be back again, and again.
(5)Logan E.
Driven by for years thinking it was another MakiYaki chain that only serves rolls. No, this place is better. As a died in the wool Tommy Sushi guy, Maki Zushi is well above average. I'll b we back.
(4)Jennifer L.
This place has undergone a bit of a makeover. I'm hoping it's because of new management. My latest experience did a complete 180. I met my friend for, what had to be, a super quick lunch because I had so much work to get back to. I should've read the board outside because then I would've known about the great happy hour deals they had going on. They had some great deals on cheap rolls. I got the chicken donburi and udon combo. It was the perfect combination to satisfy my rice and noodle craving all in one sitting. Since it's lunch, the portions are obviously smaller but nonetheless filling. The service was top notch that day. Our waters were constantly filled, our food came in a quick and efficient manner, and all our requests were instantly met. It's still not the best but it will do whenever I'm craving for Japanese while at work.
(3)Jimmy L.
I had better, thats all I can say about this place. On a short notice, this is the only place we can booked for dinner. Even with reservation, we had to seat outside in the patio. Besides it was a bit hot, this is not too bad, when we open the menu I was shocked by the price. This is jot your typical cheap restaurant. My wife ordered the chief special. The fish again is okay but Wiith the price, I was expecting a lot more. With so many choices out there, I would probably go other places instead of returning. Unless I have to again.
(3)Thomas C.
This place looks very westernized on the outside, but serves authentic and hardcore Japanese dishes -- they even have live uni ($20) and amaebi ($15)!
(4)Brent L.
Went there for lunch. When I got there with my coworker it wasn't even busy. He order a sashimi and I got a bento. He got his sashimi first and even that took kind of long for what it was. 15 minutes later I got my food, but he was already done. I had to get it to go. So I didn't get to eat. At least I got my water with lemon. New Year's resolution kept .... eat less lol. I will give them 2 stars because the food wasn't bad.
(2)Ben P.
I really like Maki-Zushi. It is definitely my favorite local sushi restaurant. The staff is very friendly. The food is delicious and fresh. The plates of food are of good proportion and are always beautifully arranged. If you're not into sushi, they have several japanese inspired dishes that will tickle your taste buds as well. My favorite thing to order is the classic Salmon Sushi or the Amberjack Sushi (which has real wasabi on top).
(5)Eric H.
Phone: "Ring-Ring!" Me: "Order for pick-up. I'd like an Osaka Bento Box" Hostess/Waitress: "Okay, one Osaka Bento Box. Anything else?" Me: "......ummmmm, don't you have to ask me if I want a California Roll or a Spicy Tuna Roll?" Hostess/Waitress: "You have to pick the meat!" Me: "Ummm, okay, no thanks." *click* It's been over a year, and I thought to myself," Maybe I've been unfair to this place. Maybe things are different. Maybe its me and not them?" Well, no, it's them. They remain as clueless as ever, and you should not go to this restaurant.
(1)Vern G.
I like this sushi place. A little pricey but you can always get in, and they have some creative sushi dishes. Their rolls are typically the best value.
(4)John O.
This is our go to sushi joint in the OC. The fish is always fresh and the live uni is to die for. If your willing to splurge, try omakse with Yoshi. It's an experience. Wife and I tried it got halfway through it before we called it quits.
(5)Reema H.
Love the albacore tuna roll! MJ (a.k.a the manager) was actually serving us this sat afternoon, and was so accommodating and polite. He was super helpful especially with the bf's unusual requests: ponzu sauce, thin-ly sliced lemon. Honestly the nicest guy and super quick with our orders. We barely had time to finish things before our next order came out. Dishes were cleared just as quickly. Love it. It was a Sat afternoon around 2ish...and it was empty! Hence the excellent service but still think he went above and beyond. He told us to try the spicy tuna hand roll II. Super fresh! He said they literally get fresh fish every day from an LA fish market. I believe him. So good! 2nd time going there, and loved it even more than the first time! Everything was so fresh and light. Here's what we ordered: -albacore tuna roll -spicy tuna hand roll regular and II (II is much better and has chunks of fresh cut tuna!) -yellowtail nigiri -salmon nigiri -sunomono salad (zesty and tangy just the way I like it!) And it comes with complimentary miso soup! Definitely recommend if your in the area. And even if your not.
(5)Helen P.
Good lunch menu :)
(5)Wilson T.
I happened on this sushi place today and I gave it a whirl. I ordered the bluefin special $6.95, yellowtail $4.25, salmon toro $4.75 and the lobster tail roll (11) The cut on the sushi are a little small, considering the price. All of the fish is pretty good quality and the rice is minimal which lets you taste the quality of the cut. The thing is though that the quality of the rice definitely needs improvement. The wasabi is great though as it is freshly made. None of that powdery stuff that other places use. I paid $33 after tax/tip for myself which is too much considering I wasn't much full.
(3)Nicole W.
Loved their rendition of spicy tuna (cilantro red jalapeño & tons if avocado); they import most of the seafood used. Have cost effective items as well as a premium section; $600 for premium sashimi plate. Next time I'm in Tustin I will drop by for lunch.
(4)Victor L.
Fish is incredibly fresh and the food is delicious!. They specialize in the unique and rare. This not a newbie sushi joint, so if you're expecting ayce or rock bottom sushi prices, this is not the place for. If you're looking for different and quality, this will be your new hidden gem.
(5)Michelle T.
This place is only a few blocks from our new house and we always pass it by, despite the not so great reviews we decided to check it out Friday night. Honestly, I actually enjoyed it. The service wasn't the best, we had to wave over the waiters/waitresses a few times for refills eventhough there were only two other tables besides us. They were friendly though. It was after 7 so the Happy Hour was on until close, 20% off beer and drinks, not the best happy hour but it's still something. We tried several rolls and the seaweed salad. You also get a complimentary miso soup which was a nice bonus. The seaweed salad was delicious, tastes the same pretty much anywhere you go. My favorite bite was the unagi, seriously it was amazing, I love that there was a little char to it and the sauce was amazing, it was still warm too. I could have filled up on these alone. Spicy tuna was nice big chunks of tuna which was a nice change, it was good but I'm not a big fan of sauce all over my sushi, I prefer it plain so you can taste the fish. The only exception to that was the Cilantro & Tuna Lovers Roll. I REALLY loved this. If you like cilantro it's a must. The roll is topped with big chunks of tuna, avocado, and cilantro, w/spicy mayo. My bf didn't love it as much but I think next time I might just go with this and eat it all myself! I'm really craving it now just thinking about it. We had some other rolls but I forgot what ones they were. Overall it's not a bad place and I can't wait to go back and try some things off the "live" menu, especially the Uni :-)
(4)Judi S.
Maki-Zushi was our second choice for dinner since Sushilicious had at least an hour wait and a dozen people in line at 8PM. I actually drove right past Maki-Zushi on the way to Irvine and ended up coming here instead on the way back to Tustin. The sushi chef, Yoshi, was familiar but I can't remember where I've seen him before. Once our order was in, the food came to us quick and steady while we sat and talked at the sushi bar. Dinner included: salmon toro sashimi salmon sushi shrimp sushi flying fish egg lion roll california roll The presentation was ordinary. The quality and quantity were good, but not great. They did not make an effort to clean away any used plates so each of us ended up with a pile in front of us when we were through eating. That was annoying. To me, there seemed to be a general lack of that highly sanitary cleanliness I've come to expect from a good Japanese restaurant. That fact kind of bothered me. You could see the visible layer of dust upon the black sushi bar and bits of fish along the outside upon the glass of the refrigerator case. It made me wonder how sanitary the prep area really was. After Yoshi yelled "check", we were forced to flag down a waitress whom was nonexistent throughout our meal to get the bill. Again, annoying. Call me a sushi snob- I don't care, but Maki-Zushi doesn't compare to Taiko in service, presentation and quality.
(3)natasha f.
I went to this place on a sunday thats the best part they are open on SUNDAYS! There was happy hour all day and the rolls were pretty good! This wasnt the BEST but not the worst. Our waitress was sweet but the sushi chef was kind of stand offish but supplies us with everything we needed and had our orders in a timely manner. Ill definitely be returning but maybe only on sundays
(3)Jeff C.
Always great service. Sushi is really good for a reasonable price. Especially when you hit happy hour.
(5)J P.
The food is excellent! This is my new sushi spot.. I ordered the garlic albacore roll, baked scallops roll.. It was so tasty, hit the spot. The waitress was nice even though I mistakenly walked in around 2.55pm. they close at 3 and they open back up at 5pm for dinner. The music here was at the perfect volume and the flat screen was a plus. I really enjoyed my visit here.. :) Second visit, we tried the spare rib bento and the salmon teriyaki..very disappointed. The spare rib was almost raw and it had too much fat on it. They had some chicken katsu looking thing on my bento box that was so dry and just looked like it was sitting out for awhile. The california roll was good and some tempura was ok. but I was very disappointed with the meat. The salmon came out and it looked great but my kid said it didn't taste like anything until she put soy sauce on it.. I give this restaurant 5 stars for their rolls, and 3 stars for their teriyaki and bento combo. I will definitely go back, there is always room for improvement.
(3)Karen W.
Maki-Zushi is sooo delicious. The restaurant is a bit commercial-looking for my taste, but the fish ( media4.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ) is incredible and beautifully presented. I wasn't a huge fan of the mussels ( media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ) or the oyster shooters ( media1.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ), but I wouldn't be a fan at any other place either, so that doesn't count. The soft shell crab roll ( media3.px.yelpcdn.com/bp… ) we ordered was huge and flavorful, with the perfect amount of crunch. We also had tender bulgogi over rice. There's not much to say about Maki, but that everything I had was really fresh and delicious. I am a big fan.
(5)Marian B.
15 Courses Omakase Sushi Dinner. OMG! I was in SUSHI HEAVEN! Extremely fresh and delicious sushi! Quality was EXCELLENT and Yoshi-san was great! He really took care of us! I'm pretty much a sushi snob. I don't go to AYCE sushi places (my stomach dies) and I sit at the bar most of the times (unless it's a big group or the person I'm with isn't a snob like me). I don't like using soy sauce for good sushi because that will mask the true taste of it. Oh and they use REAL grated wasabi! Awesome I'm not going to list every single dish (detailed review will be on my blog) but every course just reiterated what an amazing culinary experience I was having. The freshness, the textures, everything from our live sweet shrimp to the oysters, the uni, the toro, EVERYTHING was superb. MMM I'm imagining it again and I think I just drooled on my shirt. Oh and total damage for 2 people for this amazing omakase meal with no alcohol was over $200 with tax & tip. Pricey but well worth it. Maki Zushi, you have made a fan out of me and I grant thee one of my rare 5 stars! =D I can't wait to go back.
(5)Cortney P.
Recently our favorite Japanese restaurant closed down so we were looking for a new spot. We have passed Maki-Zushi many times but never stopped. Finally tonight we did and wow we couldn't complain about a thing. The food was amazing from the sushi, roll, & appitizers to the entrée's and bento boxes. It will now be our " new" place as Connie and the all the servers were impeccable . We highly recommend Maki-Zushi!
(5)janie j.
Eat this: Sweet Shrimp - so fresh the heads are still moving, really! Then they take away shrimp heads and fry into a delicious crispy treat. Really must try! Uni Shooters - Only place I've ever had Uni Shooters. Perhaps I'm bias since I love love LOVE uni, but it's delicious. If you like oyster shooters, then uni shooters are it's upscale poshy cousin that you'd much rather be seen with. Albacore Salad - pretty large portion with lots of albacore. Quite tasty, not the BEST I've ever had but worth a taste. I deduct 1 point for using iceberg lettuce. Really, good salad does not start with iceburg lettuce at least throw some seaweed in there. Rolls - they had tons of rolls, I don't recall the names but I had one with jalepenos on it and it was really good.
(4)Young L.
Love this place! Deluxe Sashimi Set is the best! The sashimi is very fresh and cuts are pretty generous. Only negative thing I can think of is the service. The restaurant is run by the servers only and there seems to be no structure. That causes customers to be impatient. I go there knowing it's going to be like that and I'm ok but I can't speak for others who demand top notch service from a sushi joint.
(4)Stephanie Y.
I was sent down to Tustin for field work with a couple coworkers and we were really craving sushi. I yelped and this place had pretty good reviews and was close to the client's office, so we decided to try it. However, I had a bad feeling as soon as I walked in. Everyone had rolls, and there was one Asian customer in there. My coworkers ordered the bento boxes, which looked pretty standard, and I ordered the negi toro roll and an order of sushi (I forget which). The fish was fine, nothing special, but I really didn't like that they put wasabi in both without warning me. I have no tolerance for wasabi and ended up taking both apart to remove it. It wasn't disgusting, but I wouldn't return and I would only recommend it to people that only like rolls aka people one step above those who say they love sushi but only eat California rolls and won't touch raw fish.
(2)Susan K.
can i give this place negative stars? horrible customer service. extremely rude chefs (to their own workers). ridiculously overpriced food for the tiny portions. goodbye forever
(1)Lisa T.
Came for happy hour (4pm-7pm) today and received 30% off my meal! Awesome! We didn't leave until 7:20ish, but we still got the happy hour price. We come here often and were happily greeted by our wonderful server. Young Korean guy... he's the best! Always smiling. The place was super busy for a Thursday night. Service was fast. Food was delicious.
(4)Sara B.
Seafood nachos are my favorite!! I would go there for those alone! The staff is always very kind and helpful with suggestions. With those suggestions we tried the mackerel special which we likened to fish bacon! It was tasty! We also had Spanish mackerel sushi which was good but with a bit too much flavor added. We had a sashimi that was delicious and tender but once again too much added by the chef. I was overwhelmed by lemon! Usually my favorite sushi is spicy tuna rolls but they're not my favorite here.
(4)Toshi B.
I had this place for lunch the other day with two co-workers. I had the Kansai Lunch which came with either 8 cali or 8 spicy tuna roles, choice of meat and rice, miso soup, tempura, and a salad. If that sounded like a lot of food...it definitly was and the price was pretty reasonable too! (11$ish) There was a nice wide selection of meats, I chose the yellowtail collar which was somewhat small but all the other food definetly made me full. My coworker got the pork tonkatsu instead and it looked like he got a good amount...(jealous...) Being a former Sushi Roll chef, I was kinda disappointed with the not so very pleasant-to-the-eye spicy tuna roll, and my non-former Sushi Roll chef co-workers agreed, but it tasted fine. Also there seemed to be a wide selection of bentos but they were all just a small variation of the same bentos(less/more rolls, sashimi or meat, udon or no udon) with fancy Japanese names(which had nothing to do with anything really). All in all the place was pretty good and I can definetly find myself going back there again!
(4)Vivian M.
I had my doubts about this place, but that's only because of the location. First, the actual restaurant is very nice and typical looking of most sushi places. My boyfriend and I stopped in around 5:45 pm in hopes of the happy hour before hitting up a movie... there were only two other table being used and one waiter. The waiter was very attentive and nice, which I've got to say is absolutely rare for a sushi restaurant. Second, the happy hour is from 4-7 and consists of $2.99 large beers and 20% off all rolls. Um YES. Third, after ordering we got free salads and miso soup. The salad had only one piece of iceberg lettuce [total bonus] and the dressing wasn't the fatty thousand island but a nice light Italian. Fourth, our roll, the Jalapeno Albacore role was fantastic and spicy. So good.! We also got the sashimi rice bowl which was pretty pricy [$18] but extremely tasty with the fish tasting very fresh and the rice tasting fantastic. Fifth, OUR FOOD CAME QUICK. Maybe it was a fluke but our food came so quickly I was blown away. Our waiter got a 25% tip, which rarely happens. So I highly suggest coming here.
(5)Kudos Y.
I am a big sushi lover. This place isn't real Japanese place. I cant recommend this place to my friends. The place is clean. thats the only one good thing. Way expensive compared to the food quality . And the server is not that nice. No, the worst service! Never again.
(1)Jennie N.
Maki zushi, hardcore sushi. That deserves a big badda boom at the end. I like this place a lot! Lots of parking outside, a cute corner japanese garden at the front entrance, and a neat and spacey interior. Inside, there are window booths, plenty of seating in the center, and a bar in the back. We were greeted and seated as soon as we stepped in. Everything on the menu sounded delicious and the pictures looked great too. My bf and I came for dinner (not hh) and we ordered: Tea: It was hot Japanese barley tea with grains of rice. I love the taste of slightly burnt rice. Perfect with the sushi we ordered. Water: Hehe I have to comment on this bc I appreciate restaurants that give you a nice big glass of ice water with a slice of lemon in a clean cup. Which they did :) Miso Soup: Hot, Soupie, and its freeee. Not a lot of restaurants give their miso soup for free you know Side Salad: Lettuce and greens with sesame dressing I think? Salads that are complimentary are usually not that great and I rarely touch it but this one was good. Finished every bite. Seaweed Salad: This was simply delicious. Only $3.95! Cilantro Tuna Lovers Roll: A+! This had tuna, avocado, cilantro, jalapeno, kaiware and cucumber with some spicy creamy mayo sauce. I've never had sushi with kaiware in it before and I love these sprouts. $12.95 Super Scallop Volcano Roll: This was baked and hella yummy! I think its like a california roll with lots of scallops on top and creamy sauce topped with fish eggies. $10.95 Jalapeno Albacore Roll: The jalapenos on this was actually spicy. Albacore on the outside, tuna and cucumber inside with cilantro with some amazing sauce. The pieces were huge too. $8.95 We obviously over ordered and had to take some to go but everything was really good! The guy that helped us was very friendly. Our drinks, food, and bill came quickly and he evened checked up on us in between. It came out to $47 with tip which I think is great for the portion, taste, quality, service, atmosphere and everything. I shall pencil maki zushi in for happy hour next week yayy
(5)Marianne G.
So when I first went here I complained about the table-cloth prices for a non-table cloth place. Hubs and I did a date night and decided to go here and we sat down to a table with a tablecloth. BAM. The food was excellent. They had a blue crab roll on special which I didn't order but I heard someone else order it and then shortly thereafter I smelled blue crab bowling. (I know this smell, my parents' house cooks it for special occasions.) The service was friendly and fast. It was a Monday night so it wasn't that busy but it was also during happy hour. Speaking of which the happy hour thing confused me a little bit. The first beer is $7 and then the 2nd beer would be half off. They didn't mention the 3rd beer...or the 4th. Haha. So that was the only thing that confused me of the evening.
(4)Tasha H.
Love it here! I bring new friends weekly and they are hooked. They have one of the largest selections of fresh seafood. Usually at a sushi restaurant you cannot find this many live seafood to pick from. Live sweet shrimp, live octopus, live scallops,live clams , live sea urchin and much more. My favorite is garlic albacore, Yoshi roll, live sweet shrimp, spicy shrimp lovers roll. Sit at the bar and you can run into some fun locals to dine and chat with.
(5)Sap S.
Maki Zushi is a great place. I've been to it many times and it's definitely one of my fav restaurants. The food is great, Yoshi san is awesome and Abbai was probably one of the best servers around. I honestly don't think these people giving bad reviews know much about sushi or rolls to hate on this place like this. The location is awesome, the prices are awesome, the location is awesome, this place IS awesome! I'll definitely be coming over during weekdays to watch me some NBA Playoffs! LA Lakers all the way son! *Oh and I must recommend the Baked Scallop and Lobster roll, simply mouthwatering!!!!! *Also this place is NOT under new management. I've been there for a couple of years and the people are the same! *Parking might be a little troublesome but there is plenty of space in the back, some people are just not so smart! lol, and what do you expect? The place is so good, parking lot is ought to get full!
(5)Michelle T.
Couple of reasons i never order omakase. First of all, do u know how many desserts i can turn those dollars into that i hand over to the Chef's whim to give me whatever he wants? Secondly- i am not a hardcore sushi eater-i'm one of those japanese people who loves California rolls. i know- for shame... So this may make you not trust me on sushi reviews, but for MY experience here, i had a delicious meal. For about 40 bucks, i shared a rainbow roll, salmon sushi (so delicious!) and a bento box that came with chicken katsu, tempura (i love the potato stick tempura- like fries), ALBACORE salad, 4 piece nigiri (chefs choice came with 2 albacore, egg and shrimp), seaweed salad, rice and miso soup. Chef Yoshi used to work at a sushi bar in west LA, and a few of my friends now drive all the way to Tustin to see him. Mainly for the Toro. We noticed the pieces are a bit smaller at the new establishment according to my friend, but it's still yummy fresh. With a "hardcore sushi" sign, they have a lot of LIVE sushi (see menu). For non hardcore peeps like me, Bento Boxes are a good deal and they have a good selection of sushi rolls. Get the salmon!!!Melts in your mouth- seriously!
(4)Tina K.
Decent food, okay prices but don't bother coming during lunch time. Staff cannot handle the rush...especially on a Friday. DO NOT expect to get your food at the same time if you come with a group of people. We waited for over an hour and twenty minutes after ordering to receive our food. The staff seemed to acknowledge the problems with orders getting backed up, but did little to remedy the situation other than continually apologize. Think twice about coming here.
(2)Hack S.
If I could give this place five negatives I would. The menu is not descriptive wot so ever. Most of the items make no sense. The food tastes fine the service is fine. Why hav a menu at all? The menu is everything. Make the menu concise or don't make one at all.
(1)Brian K.
This place is amazeballs!!! I've bee here on several occasions for birthdays, including my own, and I can honestly say this is by far my absolute favorite sushi place. You cannot beat the freshness and quality because Yoshi-san orders his fish daily. I took one of my friends here for her birthday and she said this place is on par with some of the best sushi she's ever had, including Japan. Need I say more???
(5)Sopa S.
An OK place that serves decent sushi at a pretty high price for what you get. There's other places better around Irvine, quite frankly. Heck, even the all you can eat sushi tastes better.
(3)Minhee K.
I love this place. The rolls are so good. And I love sushi set. It's coming with salad and soup as well.
(5)alicia h.
I have been here many times and service has always been perfect. The food is good. This time i went the service was very slow and took for ever to get the items., usually they are pretty fast. Other than that the food was good.
(3)Ami S.
Tried to eat here for lunch, got there at 2:30, that's HALF AN HOUR before lunch closes, they refused to seat us, saying they already closed. Well then we refuse to ever give them our business again.
(1)D H.
I eat sushi at different restaurants several times per month. I was truly not impressed. I had a reservation and no one greeted us. We went and sat at the sushi bar on our own. The restaurant had been open for 20 mins. No one offered us a menu. I had to go get my own soy sauce from a different table. After 10 mins I had to ask for someone to take our order. Sashimi was good-average. Rolls were very small and over priced. Toro toro roll didn't look or taste that great. The worst part of it was I got food poisoning 1 hour after I got home. Sorry, but I'll never go back.
(1)Courtney H.
Used to go to this place on a weekly basis. seriously, we were GOOD customers. One instance I placed an order, they said 20 min. I gave them some extra time and got there in 30 min. when I got there the order wasn't ready. ok...how much longer? as I wait in the restaurant 15 min goes by. I walk up to the owner and ask what's taking so long and when do they anticipate it will be ready? the owner says NOTHING to me, but walks back to the kitchen. seconds later the receptionist runs out and apologizes. I wait yet another 10 min and my food is finally ready. so now it's been nearly an hour. the owner never once apologized or said anything to me. how rude to treat a recurring customer like that! never go here!!!!!
(1)Janna N.
The sushi here is amazing, very authentic. I had the best halibut here I've ever had;)
(5)Christina K.
Came here on weekday in recommendation of a friend who said it had relatively good and affordable sushi. The restaurant is located in a strip mall so there there really is nothing to say more in regards to the ambiance. Not exactly a place to go for a romantic date, but perfect casual dining when one is craving sushi! I was impressed with the menu which boasted a decent selection of fresh market fish and live uni!
(3)John L.
One of my top spots for sushi. I'm not talking about rolls and beginner sushi. I'm talking about fresh, raw sushi. If you are a true sushi connoisseur, do yourself a favor and sit at the sushi bar in front of head chef, Yoshi. Ask him what is good that day and sit back and enjoy. They have such a wide selection. Here are a few: blue fin tuna, otoro, kin midai, shi maji, aji, uni, tai, halibut, yellowtail, baby yellowtail. They also have a great live selection such as surf clams, scallops, mirugai, amaebi, uni, abalone, and razor clams. Sometimes they have live lobster and hairy crabs. I was recommended to this place about 4 years ago and I must say it is still one of my all-time favorite places. I've been to practically every good sushi place in Orange County, but I still come back to Maki Zushi! If you like drinking with the chef, Yoshi loves sake. He's not much of a beer guy, but he loves his premium sake. Just like any other good sushi place, it's not cheap. So expect to spend some money for the full experience. It is well worth it though. Just don't get hooked, because it can become an expensive habit!
(5)Mary R.
It's alright. Not very authentic, but it gets the job done. Definitely too pricey. One roll (good sized) is around $10-$16. That's nuts. One roll isn't enough for any sushi lover. In OC, you constantly get ripped off for boring "meh" sushi. It's kinda sad.
(3)Mel M.
I'll admit, me and the hubby only came here because the place we were going to originally was closing as we drove up. But.. I'm so glad that happened cus I think we found a little gem! The hostess/ sushi chef's were very nice. It was pretty late so there were only two other couples left there other than us, but we didn't feel rushed at all to order, eat, or pay. We ended up ordering the Maki Zushi Love Boat for Two (corny name, I know.. not to mention it literally came in a wooden boat! haha!) It came with Miso Soup, House Salad, Rice, Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura, Chicken Karaage Choice of Sashimi or Edamame Choice of 2 Meat Choice of 2 Rolls We didn't expect it to be SO HUGE! but it was really delicious. We got the chicken teriyaki chicken was cooked perfectly and they used all breast meat which was amazing! The short ribs were also very good and the rolls that it came with were yummy as well. The tempura came with sauce that was sooo good that we used it all up! The place itself was very open and clean, I honestly didn't expect much from a place who's slogan is "hardcore sushi"... but I guess you can't judge a restaurant by its catch phrase! :)
(4)Jennifer Dawn O.
This was the first time I tasted the Miso soup and didn't push the bowl away. Actually, their soup was delicious and I finished most of it. However, my Dad and I were too satiated from the Salmon skin roll and and an Albacore dish to need the soup and salad. I think in future I will straight off ask they not bring those two items and save my self for sushi and rolls. I am not a sushi aficionado by any stretch but do know fresh food artfully and thoughtfully prepared when I see and taste it. Such was this refreshing little sushi spot. I will be back soon!
(5)Celeste G.
This place was recommended to my sister and I by a friend so we decided to check it out and LOVED what we found. So much, in fact, that it might be our new favorite sushi spot. The food was amazing! Between the two of us we tried several rolls, but I think our decided favorite was the Tokyo Dragon Roll (it's in the baked section of the menu). Everything was very fresh, delicious, and was ready really quickly! Our rolls also included miso soup and salad which was an added plus. For those who like indulging on a little vino with their meal, they have a generally good selection of alcohol for a sushi place, and when we were there (on a Sunday), they even had a "buy one, get the next for $1" special going on that was pretty great. It is a little bit on the pricey side (rolls seemed to be anywhere from $8-$18), but honestly, it was worth it. And no worries, if you want to go here with friends who aren't the biggest sushi fansi, they do have alternative options! Overall, it was an awesome experience! I'm so glad we found out about this place because I don't think we would have ever come across it by chance! I'd say, if you're a sushi enthusiast like myself, definitely give it a try if you're in the area!
(5)Carmela A.
Fresh and yummy sushi. I ordered their Cilantro and tuna lovers( spicy how I like it) and their vegas roll, also their baked scallops.My children ordered kids terriyaki chicken also delish. Their prices are reasonable.Service is great, we will be back for more...
(5)Ally T.
last night we had omakase with yoshi. it was pretty amazing. he presented us with a wide selection of sashimi including: live octopus, live uni, live clam...toro, tai, aji, amberjack, hamachi, needlefish, sardine, bluefin, scallop. the amaebi was a standout as was the aji. when the sashimi was presented to us, he would explain where it was from and instruct us on how much real grated wasabi or soy to use... i would say its a really nice place to have dinner. service was really good, our matcha tea cups were never empty nor cold. i have to admit, when my date mentioned we were coming here for dinner, i winced at the name...as their tagline is "hardcore sushi" i expected the worst. an important reminder to not judge a book by its cover! i would put it in my top 5 places...be sure to sit at the bar with yoshi...(iposted some pics so you can see oue entire omakase)
(4)Sara L.
Fresh fish, good flavor. Rice wasn't perfectly done. But my in-laws took me here. Hm, I have to knock off stars for the fact that they serve Bluefin. I mean COME ON, it's almost extinct already! Get your ass in gear and STOP serving bluefin. I feel like if maybe I shame the sushi places I go that serve it, they'll stop serving it. I should be so lucky. When in the area I prefer to eat Chinese, Vietnamese, or Persian, but Maki-Zushi is certainly a decent spot and much more fresh and higher quality than most strip mall sushi joints.
(3)Fernando G.
The best sushi restaurant in Orange County... way better than the over rated "RA". Need to try the Cilantro & Tuna Lovers Roll, that is one of my favorites. Great place over all...
(5)MathTutor O.
My favorite sushi restaurant! Their hamburger steak, Maki Zushi nachos, and jalapeno albacore rolls are my favorite!
(5)Maggie C.
I've been coming to this place for a few years. I used to go to another sushi place near South Coast Plaza off Bristol and Sunflower (the location should give it away), but I switched over to Maki and have not gone back. First, the freshness of the meat whether its fish or chicken is guaranteed. Everything tastes so clean and does not taste fatty or oily. Second, the prices are not too bad considering the quality and cleanliness of the place. Third, I'm not a "hardcore" sushi person, but I can see when other customers order "hardcore sushi" that they are delighted at the taste and quality. Fourth, there's enough variety for the non-hardcore fans to try something a bit more adventurous without getting too hardcore. I recommend the Maki Sushi Roll II, Shrimp Crunch with cream cheese (yum!), cilantro and tuna lovers roll, popcorn lobster roll, spicy crunch roll, and the baked scallop crucnch roll. Also the miso soup is amazing!
(5)Mercy C.
I'll give this place a LOW 3 stars. The waitress and servers were attentive enough. The rolls are good... and decent priced. But the sushi that I've had was bad. The Ankimo was not very flavorful. The Oyster shooters had not oyster flavor. If the oyster is going to be so small... put in less ponzu or less sake so that SOME oyster flavor will stand out please. I asked the chef to make me a CHOPPED spider roll... he said he knew exactly what I wanted... and handed me a normal spider roll. @_@ Seems like a good place for a lunch combo though. Just don't go off the menu.
(3)Yasu R.
Our favorite sushi place in OC. The sushi and sashimi here is always fresh... the price is very reasonable and love the staff there. Everyone we've encountered is super friendly. Diner here regularly with our 2 little ones and they always go out of the way to accommodate us. If you want good sushi, look no further.
(5)Melissa C.
The Love Boat is still only $28. It includes two sushi rolls, two kinds of meat, sashimi, chicken karaage, tempura shrimp and veggies, miso soup, salad, and some little tempura fried bananas. Such a score. And they have tablecloths, so it's fancy. If you're looking to get a lot for a little, this is the place to be. And whoever comes here looking for true, quality sushi? I mean, come on, the place is Korean-owned. There's so many great sushi places with excellent Japanese sushi chefs within 10 miles of this place that it's silly to judge it in that way. Sushi Murasaki, Ikko, Angotei, and Sushi Shibucho? Why would you go to Maki Zushi when what you want is those other places? They make a mean Philadelphia Roll, and the Chicken Karaage is yum yum delicious.
(5)Danny H.
Somewhere in her smile she knows, That I don't need no other lover. Something in her style that shows me. I don't want to leave her now, You know I believe and how...at MAKI-ZUSHI! - Beatles (something) Came here for lunch and first thing i noticed was that its got a clean/nice feel to it. There's good spacing between tables and the bar is available as well. The sushi menu has many options - actually more than i would've liked lol - but the sushi chef was very helpful and i ended up ordering the lobster tail roll. It's cool because this place uses real lobster tails as opposed to some other stuff that you see on lobster rolls and it was tasty. the unagi was fresh too so overall, no complaints. Food: 4 stars --- Service: 3 stars --- Atmosphere: 4.5 stars --- Price(value): 3.5 stars
(4)J G.
We used to love this place - but my ...how things have changed. First of we used to frequent this place A LOT. Then I am not really sure what happened - change of management maybe? but we went there earlier this week for dinner and we were surprised with the changes. First of, our server was freaking MISERABLE! She looked like she didn't want anything to do with that place. SHE WAS NOT FRIENDLY AT ALL nor did she pay attention to us. She was an older Asian lady - she never checked on us, never filled our drinks and was rude. We were trying to order and were asking about the new menu and while I was talking to her, some people came in and she immediately focused on the people walking in blatantly ignoring me. The new dinner menu SUCKS! Aside from the HUGE price jump, they limit the choices. They offered a bento box, but you can't make any selections. The dinner menu is VERY limited and VERY disappointing. As we were eating our meal, the entire time, we were thinking about how disappointed we were and how it might be the last time we go there for dinner. We loved this place when MJ worked there. There were a few servers in the past that were fantastic, but I guess the dinner server we got that night - SUCKED. The sushi grade is good - but if you're expected to pay for a pricey meal, shouldn't it match great service? Overall, food is good, prices has jumped, older asian lady server SUCKED. The best time to go there is for lunch since it's cheaper and dinner menu is way overpriced for the amount of food they serve.
(1)