Why Is Sugarfish So Popular? Inside LA’s Most Famous Sushi Chain
Why Is Sugarfish So Popular? Inside LA’s Most Famous Sushi Chain
by xbufco
21 Comments
SinoSoul
I truly appreciate “Mariana” for still pumping out those good ol fashioned “food blog” posts in 2023; but:
>if you’re looking to have an LA sushi experience, you have to try Sugarfish at least once
fuck that sentence, and fuck sugarfish’s machine formed rice. Sugarfish is “so popular” because Jerry Greenberg is a master business operator with deep ties to the LA music/entertainment scne, not any of the other reasons written in her post.
BigArmenianD
Sugarfish is the definition of Overhyped MID
liljuniortoro
I like ordering from Sugarfish to go/with a food delivery app when I want sushi but I’m not sure what I want exactly – their trust me boxes are nice and filling for dinner, albeit a pricier one. But I wouldn’t say it’s the best sushi I’ve ever had
rowmean77
I like their food. To each their own.
But the ‘no tip required policy’ really makes me eat there too. It’s so refreshing to know that there are restaurants that don’t make you feel guilty, and most likely they pay their employees better than most places.
Aragatz
Mediocre food
incominghottake
My go to on postmates
JABBYAU
Sugarfish is great for consistency, honesty, and value. It is not the best sushi in LA and it is not trying to be. It has a great supply chain. But it is much better value than so much sushi at that price point. So is Kazu Nori. My kids *Love* both restaurants. I know more parents fall into the splurge for great sushi and leave the kids with the nuggets camp but we fall into the party of five and it works well.
muldervinscully
we need more sugarfish locations. Yes I love ‘real’ sushi places too, but god damn sugarfish is consistent
SlowSwords
For the price-point, it’s an excellent value. It’s like $40 or $50 for a full omakase meal (also, they include a gratuity, which makes things really easy). The downside is that they get super packed–but we’ve sort of figured out which locations work best for us.
mybabyandme
It isn’t even that good lol
slpstrym
Their rice is on point, and the service is great
YoimAtlas
A little anecdote of mine about sugar fish… had the opportunity to chat with a heath inspector about sugar fish as he was inspecting my place and he said it was the most pristine kitchen he had ever seen… they didn’t even have freezers because they received fresh fish daily. Amazing.
Edit: for clarification
AppSlave
Because they pipe in that ocean/fish smell
OneIdentity
I’ve had sushi at dozens of restaurants in Japan and dozens of restaurants around all parts of LA. Sugarfish is certainly not the best of those, but it is well above average in LA and has exceptional consistency at a solid price point.
I believe they do delivery sushi better than anyone else in the US. Also, very few US restaurants serve the sushi at the temperature that Sugarfish does. It’s common practice in Japan, but infrequent in the US. I appreciate it.
For all the haters, please tell us your spots with higher quality sushi for comparable pricing. I would love to try out your suggestions!
thatbarkid
I will die on the hill that Sugarfish isn’t good and a huge waste of money
mel_on_knee
What was that abomination of an article ( blog post ?) Lol
There’s nowhere else with the combination of high quality sushi , consistency, ambiance , service , and price point as sugarfish .
Is there better sushi? Of course but not for under $50 including tip.
IAmPandaRock
It’s a great value and not very expensive, which is hard to find with sushi.
SnooPies5622
Fun story, I was on a call with Bobby Flay about a show years back (before Sugarfish had so many locations), and the executives on the call mentioned needing Bobby to fly out from NY to LA. Bobby said that’d be great, they could go to Sugarfish. The execs were annoyed that of all the restaurants in LA, the one Bobby wanted to go to was one they’d been to a million times, and Bobby just thought it was a great place to get a great meal (and loved stories about chef Nozawa).
I always think of guys like Flay and Anthony Bourdain, who traveled the world eating anything they wanted, and love places line In n’ Out and Sugarfish. I trust them more than the haters.
BigPicture365
I tried Sugarfish one time, and found bunch of fish bones on mackerel and tuna.
So it’s no from me dawg
death_wishbone3
I go because I used to patronize the chef when he was known as the “sushi nazi”. At that time it was hands down my favorite sushi in LA and by the time he retired I appreciated him coming down on bad customers. Here’s a short video about the guy.
Oh man… y’all in for a good one. Former long term manager for this company. Kazu-san has been forced out from the company a loooooong time ago. It’s been ruined by a group of narcissistic rich fucks who gives no fucks about their employees. All they talk about is their homes in Brentwood.. lol
Everyone appreciates the “no-tip” policy but don’t really understand how it works. The company runs on skeletons and pays hourly employees “above average” which is barely 5$ more an hour. I did the math for multiple locations per my role and they really do pocket A LOT.
The food is consistent yes, it’s above average sushi.. but the backend of things, they are fucking shady. Sugarfish, kazunori, UOVO, HiHo all in the same umbrella.
21 Comments
I truly appreciate “Mariana” for still pumping out those good ol fashioned “food blog” posts in 2023; but:
>if you’re looking to have an LA sushi experience, you have to try Sugarfish at least once
fuck that sentence, and fuck sugarfish’s machine formed rice. Sugarfish is “so popular” because Jerry Greenberg is a master business operator with deep ties to the LA music/entertainment scne, not any of the other reasons written in her post.
Sugarfish is the definition of Overhyped MID
I like ordering from Sugarfish to go/with a food delivery app when I want sushi but I’m not sure what I want exactly – their trust me boxes are nice and filling for dinner, albeit a pricier one. But I wouldn’t say it’s the best sushi I’ve ever had
I like their food. To each their own.
But the ‘no tip required policy’ really makes me eat there too. It’s so refreshing to know that there are restaurants that don’t make you feel guilty, and most likely they pay their employees better than most places.
Mediocre food
My go to on postmates
Sugarfish is great for consistency, honesty, and value. It is not the best sushi in LA and it is not trying to be. It has a great supply chain. But it is much better value than so much sushi at that price point. So is Kazu Nori. My kids *Love* both restaurants. I know more parents fall into the splurge for great sushi and leave the kids with the nuggets camp but we fall into the party of five and it works well.
we need more sugarfish locations. Yes I love ‘real’ sushi places too, but god damn sugarfish is consistent
For the price-point, it’s an excellent value. It’s like $40 or $50 for a full omakase meal (also, they include a gratuity, which makes things really easy). The downside is that they get super packed–but we’ve sort of figured out which locations work best for us.
It isn’t even that good lol
Their rice is on point, and the service is great
A little anecdote of mine about sugar fish… had the opportunity to chat with a heath inspector about sugar fish as he was inspecting my place and he said it was the most pristine kitchen he had ever seen… they didn’t even have freezers because they received fresh fish daily. Amazing.
Edit: for clarification
Because they pipe in that ocean/fish smell
I’ve had sushi at dozens of restaurants in Japan and dozens of restaurants around all parts of LA. Sugarfish is certainly not the best of those, but it is well above average in LA and has exceptional consistency at a solid price point.
I believe they do delivery sushi better than anyone else in the US. Also, very few US restaurants serve the sushi at the temperature that Sugarfish does. It’s common practice in Japan, but infrequent in the US. I appreciate it.
For all the haters, please tell us your spots with higher quality sushi for comparable pricing. I would love to try out your suggestions!
I will die on the hill that Sugarfish isn’t good and a huge waste of money
What was that abomination of an article ( blog post ?) Lol
There’s nowhere else with the combination of high quality sushi , consistency, ambiance , service , and price point as sugarfish .
Is there better sushi? Of course but not for under $50 including tip.
It’s a great value and not very expensive, which is hard to find with sushi.
Fun story, I was on a call with Bobby Flay about a show years back (before Sugarfish had so many locations), and the executives on the call mentioned needing Bobby to fly out from NY to LA. Bobby said that’d be great, they could go to Sugarfish. The execs were annoyed that of all the restaurants in LA, the one Bobby wanted to go to was one they’d been to a million times, and Bobby just thought it was a great place to get a great meal (and loved stories about chef Nozawa).
I always think of guys like Flay and Anthony Bourdain, who traveled the world eating anything they wanted, and love places line In n’ Out and Sugarfish. I trust them more than the haters.
I tried Sugarfish one time, and found bunch of fish bones on mackerel and tuna.
So it’s no from me dawg
I go because I used to patronize the chef when he was known as the “sushi nazi”. At that time it was hands down my favorite sushi in LA and by the time he retired I appreciated him coming down on bad customers. Here’s a short video about the guy.
https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/pop-culture/article/watch-retiring-sushi-legend-kazunori-nozawa-in-action
Oh man… y’all in for a good one. Former long term manager for this company. Kazu-san has been forced out from the company a loooooong time ago. It’s been ruined by a group of narcissistic rich fucks who gives no fucks about their employees. All they talk about is their homes in Brentwood.. lol
Everyone appreciates the “no-tip” policy but don’t really understand how it works. The company runs on skeletons and pays hourly employees “above average” which is barely 5$ more an hour. I did the math for multiple locations per my role and they really do pocket A LOT.
The food is consistent yes, it’s above average sushi.. but the backend of things, they are fucking shady. Sugarfish, kazunori, UOVO, HiHo all in the same umbrella.