“A place serving nigiri that seems like it was conjured by AI makes sense: Sushi Bar is owned by a venture capital firm with investments in multiple restaurant brands, including an Italian spot in Nashville, a New Jersey/Italian-style deli with three locations in LA, and then Sushi Bar, which has expanded from its original Austin location to Miami, Chicago, and Dallas. It’s an easily replicable omakase concept that’s optimized to separate diners from their money.”
misterdinosauresq
They must have brought over that guy making raw burgers at their nadc spot.
L0WERCASES
For the price point, their constant upsells are really tacky. Upsell at the beginning, upsell at the end, peer pressuring people into doing the upsell. Tacky all around. Just build that shit into the price point and be done with it. Don’t be tacky.
Hungry-Repeat-3758
My least favorite omakases in Austin, there are many other better options
BrockSamson101
Hit the nail on the head – that place is trash
jitoman
I ate there a year ago, it was ok. Was the sushi good? Yes. Was the staff pleasant? Yes. Was it pretentious to have such a high end sushi table at at non descript walk up restaurant? Yes. Would I go back? If my wife wanted to, maybe?
We did feel that the up selling was a bit tacky.
THeTruTH22622
Thankfully we are blessed to have a lot of Omakase options makes this easy to avoid. I went a year or so ago and had very similar thoughts around upselling and the over the top nigiris.
LivermoreP1
Maybe some of it is true, but this reads like a paid hit piece courtesy of one of the other trendy Omakase spots in town. Or, ironically, paid for by one of their venture capital owners…
Planterizer
Well that sounds downright unpleasant.
I nearly asked my wife to take us here for my birthday, glad we didn’t do this. Gonna hit up Tatsumi next time I do sushi.
mesopotato
Had it about a year back and was heavily disappointed. It was okay but not even top 3 omakase in Austin and the most expensive we’ve tried.
[deleted]
[deleted]
Parrotshake
Whoa how can the restaurant noted expert Joe Rogan called “the best sushi place in the world” be no good /s
qiqatqanat
IMO this read like the author had decided his opinion when he walked in. I think it’s perfectly fair if the bites aren’t your thing — they are for sure “gussied up” — and I will absolutely concede that the upselling is beyond tacky and the most annoying part of the experience.
I didn’t feel the criticism of the fish quality matched our group’s experience but YMMV. Certainly when you have rotating chefs there’s a potential for unevenness. But I thought the food quality was good here. The bites were… pompous, yes, but still tasty! The food was good!
I thought the commentary on the atmosphere was absurd. I don’t know what my experience felt like, but at no point did a chef explaining what he was doing feel like I was mid-lecture, nor did I feel like I lacked the time to inquire about the new puppies possessed by my friends. I don’t know what you expect walking in, but certainly an explanation of just what it is you’re eating has to be some kind of bare minimum expectation?
Anyway, this place was an experience I enjoyed, wouldn’t repeat at the price point, but don’t regret doing once. It wasn’t perfect, and it’s certainly fair not to like it, but this review was just… miserable. Yeesh.
13 Comments
“A place serving nigiri that seems like it was conjured by AI makes sense: Sushi Bar is owned by a venture capital firm with investments in multiple restaurant brands, including an Italian spot in Nashville, a New Jersey/Italian-style deli with three locations in LA, and then Sushi Bar, which has expanded from its original Austin location to Miami, Chicago, and Dallas. It’s an easily replicable omakase concept that’s optimized to separate diners from their money.”
They must have brought over that guy making raw burgers at their nadc spot.
For the price point, their constant upsells are really tacky. Upsell at the beginning, upsell at the end, peer pressuring people into doing the upsell. Tacky all around. Just build that shit into the price point and be done with it. Don’t be tacky.
My least favorite omakases in Austin, there are many other better options
Hit the nail on the head – that place is trash
I ate there a year ago, it was ok. Was the sushi good? Yes. Was the staff pleasant? Yes. Was it pretentious to have such a high end sushi table at at non descript walk up restaurant? Yes. Would I go back? If my wife wanted to, maybe?
We did feel that the up selling was a bit tacky.
Thankfully we are blessed to have a lot of Omakase options makes this easy to avoid. I went a year or so ago and had very similar thoughts around upselling and the over the top nigiris.
Maybe some of it is true, but this reads like a paid hit piece courtesy of one of the other trendy Omakase spots in town. Or, ironically, paid for by one of their venture capital owners…
Well that sounds downright unpleasant.
I nearly asked my wife to take us here for my birthday, glad we didn’t do this. Gonna hit up Tatsumi next time I do sushi.
Had it about a year back and was heavily disappointed. It was okay but not even top 3 omakase in Austin and the most expensive we’ve tried.
[deleted]
Whoa how can the restaurant noted expert Joe Rogan called “the best sushi place in the world” be no good /s
IMO this read like the author had decided his opinion when he walked in. I think it’s perfectly fair if the bites aren’t your thing — they are for sure “gussied up” — and I will absolutely concede that the upselling is beyond tacky and the most annoying part of the experience.
I didn’t feel the criticism of the fish quality matched our group’s experience but YMMV. Certainly when you have rotating chefs there’s a potential for unevenness. But I thought the food quality was good here. The bites were… pompous, yes, but still tasty! The food was good!
I thought the commentary on the atmosphere was absurd. I don’t know what my experience felt like, but at no point did a chef explaining what he was doing feel like I was mid-lecture, nor did I feel like I lacked the time to inquire about the new puppies possessed by my friends. I don’t know what you expect walking in, but certainly an explanation of just what it is you’re eating has to be some kind of bare minimum expectation?
Anyway, this place was an experience I enjoyed, wouldn’t repeat at the price point, but don’t regret doing once. It wasn’t perfect, and it’s certainly fair not to like it, but this review was just… miserable. Yeesh.