Sakura

We eat here every two weeks. The menu is broad and the sushi selection is extensive. We generally have teriyaki chicken and tempura dinner with sushi sides or sashimi. The more daring will choose from the sushi sashimi menu. Service is quick the restaurant is clean and a bottle of hot sake is reasonable.

I really loved our server and sushi! The hostess needs to be trained on how to smile and greet guests, for she had a very sour attitude. Everyone else was friendly, and the sushi was amazing. I love the friendly little fishes in the restaurant. I wish that they had naruto options on the menu, if you gain that I can fully give 5 stars!

My boyfriend and I meet here for dinner on Mondays occasionally. He loves there sushi and select $ 4 rolls on Monday’s make it worth the drive. We have never had an issue until today. My boyfriend overheard the owner say something to the effect of, the only people that come in on Monday’s are cheap or poor. WHAT? Your business is packed and I see lots of items coming out of the kitchen besides $ 4 sushi. Every time we have come in we order more then just sushi as well. If you don’t like the clientele take the special off your menu and raise your prices. You won’t have to worry about my boyfriend and I, we’ll save you some trouble. We don’t feel the need to come back.

Overall: Convenient location, good sushi rice, lots of fish for the price. Fish isn’t the best quality and can sometimes taste old, but somehow they make it work.
Food: I’ve been going here about once a month for the past year to get my Chirashi on. Sakura’s sushi rice is what sets it apart from the other sushi joints in the area: (1) it’s very well-​seasoned with rice vinegar, and (2) they serve enough so that I can have a spoonful of sushi rice with each piece of fish without running out. The sushi rice easily trumps my other 2 favorite local sushi joints, Bigeye and Sushi Asia Gourmet.
As for the fish, you get a LOT compared to other sushi joints for the same price (especially with the lunch portion). The downside is that the fish often tastes old; I’ve been unable to eat my tuna sashimi the past couple times without covering it in ginger and dunking it in soy sauce. I think Bigeye and Sushi Asia Gourmet still win out on freshness of fish.
The sushi rolls themselves are good, but sometimes can be a bit heavy-​handed with the frying and sauce. Overall, I think Sushi Asia Gourmet has the most put-​together sushi rolls. Hence, why I only come here for the Chirashi.
I’ve tried some of their non-​sushi items (Tofu Teriyaki) but they are not worth mentioning. Their menu clearly revolves around their sushi.
Atmosphere: Intimate, clean restaurant with passable service.

Sakura is still one of my favorite sushi bars anywhere, even after traveling to many states and recently throwing down big $$& in Tokyo itself.
Love this place! Actually I’m in my way to pick up an order now. :)
Jay

Amazing! Always get the deep fried sushi. The California roll and Philadelphia roll. Also one of the best spice mayonnaise options around. Fast and friendly service! Small place so the wait can be long.

A few bites and you know why this place is different from the rest. Really great food. I try something new every time, and I’m never disappointed.

I was dining alone (on business) and was craving sushi. Sakura was located nearby in a strip mall, so I gave it a try. The Chirashi (sushi on a bed of rice) was outstanding, plentiful and a good price. The Unagi was awesome. The sushi chefs were friendly and entertaining. The wait staff seemed a little disinterested, but overall, I strongly recommend this place.

So my friend told me that on their website it says the regular maki rolls are $ 4 on Mondays. Score! Wait, not so fast! SOME of the regular maki rolls are $ 4. Not all of them. Well, we didn’t know this until I went to pick up the sushi. Also, the price given over the phone when ordering was totally different from the price charged at pick up. The price quoted was $ 23 but I was charged $ 37. I tried to argue the point with the lady at the register that it was very confusing to know which rolls are the $ 4 rolls and which aren’t since they’re mixed together on the menu. I decided I was too hungry to argue further but this price confusion situation and her attitude will keep me from coming back. There’s perfectly good sushi elsewhere in our area.
The sushi was actually really good! We ordered an Alaska roll, Tempura asparagus roll, Philadelphia roll, Orange roll, Yellowtail roll (smaller than the other rolls), Spicy tuna roll, and a Spicy crab roll. All were good except for the asparagus roll.
Overall, yummy sushi, bad service. Also, not their fault, but there was a guy in the parking lot following people around begging for money. Hate that! Ask for money, sure, but don’t follow me around. I’m going to kick you in the gonads as hard as I can!

I had been totally in the dark when it came to good sushi before my friends took me here. The small town in Northern Michigan where I grew up had no good options for sushi; your choice was either gas station sushi or no sushi. What a sad existence I used to live!
My absolute favorite was the Island Delight. It is salmon, avocado, and spicy crab with kiwi and cream cheese and mango sauce on top! Woah. I was super skeptical when my friend recommended it to me. Fruit and raw fish? But I quickly saw the light when it arrived and I started eating. I even ordered a second roll to go for when I got home and wanted to relive once more the deliciousness.
We also got the Tuna Carnival which said it came with «Crispy Chips,» and it was kinda hilarious that it just had some Nacho Doritos on top! Haha! And it was great.

Dear Chris, I think deep down that it was your fault I couldn’t see DragonBall Z today at 7. It was sold out. I could have gotten there sooner if it weren’t from dying of dehydration after you took my glass as a pre-​bus and not a refill.
I’m giving 3 stars because the delicious sushi and great prices (besides the 3 dollar salad that came in a thimble) saved the score.
But Chris needs to pick up the pace.
Sincerely,
The guy in the fall out shirt.

This place represents two words I rarely put together, cheap and good. They have a weird way of using substandard ingredients in a way that still tastes well… Pretty damn good.
Normally I’d spit out a whiskey sour made with sour mix but somehow it still tasted good. Their sushi is not the best in the world but it’s worth a trip.

Would give ZERO stars if I could!
Did not even order, got up and left.
The hostess proceeded to tell me that there was a «problem» with the kitchen, and that sushi would take over an hour if ordered. Then once I foolishly sat down, the waiter tried to convince me to order chicken or beef or other items. NO I came here because I wanted sushi. How unprofessional. I came at an off time, 8:30 at night, and was told multiple times from the restaurant staff — don’t order sushi it will take too long and come out wrong. I mean WTF?!
Embarrassing. This is a SUSHI restaurant for gods sake!!!

Sushi and sashimi options were pretty good– sashimi was a generous size for the price. I cannot recommend the udon noodle however– ingredients were poor quality and the broth was pitiful… I’ve had better broth in instant noodles. For a higher end restaurant charging almost $ 15 for a bowl of noodles, I certainly expected better. I might come here for sushi again, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend to others.

Great service, great atmosphere, reasonable prices… Although these three points are very important considerations when choosing a place to dine these are somewhat expected and I came here expecting a little more especially when the main course is going to be sushi. While enjoying a cold imported beer while looking over the menu I was having difficulty deciding on one particular item because nothing here really stood out and that was a little disappointing. Since the weather out was a little chilly and rainy I decided to start off with a hot cup of wonton soup I figured this was a great way to shake off the chill. My server Kelsey was very friendly and attentive I informed her upfront that I was going to try a few dishes and I wanted to keep the menu and order one or two items at a time so most of my choices were either starters or from the appetizer selections and she was fine with that, she provided excellent service throughout my entire visit allowing plenty of time between courses.
Now to me wonton soup is a pretty simple dish usually consist of pre-​prepared wontons in a broth with a few scallions thrown in served hot. Although the broth was flavorful it was served barely luke warm and the wontons were just okay I ate about half and decided to move on to something more appealing and was hoping this wasn’t going to be an example of how the evening was going to be, at this point I was somewhat disappointed.
My second choice was the spicy tuna roll the portion was small the quality was poor in my opinion it was a blend of tuna and jalapeño stuffed in rice I was expecting so much more the description wasn’t close to what I was served. It wasn’t a fresh piece of tuna but rather a mush, after my first taste I think I actually said yuck out loud.
My next course was the shrimp asparagus which consisted of four very small shrimp speared with a thin stalk of asparagus nothing I would order again, still hungry I decided on a soft shell crab it was underwhelming to say the least and very small I guess I was expecting a large spider like Crustacean fried in tempura batter nope it was sautéed I think and four small bites it didn’t seem to be fresh and was very chewy.
If you’re not looking for great this place may be okay but it’s just not my thing or what I was expecting from this place after reading the reviews. I wish I had found a much more expensive place to eat what I want which was sushi. I don’t see myself returning.

Great quality sashimi. Excellent service. Nice drink options.
I liked the albacore and white tuna, as well as the cavalier roll.

I LOVE LOVE them… But I think they are pricing themselves out of the market. A Crazy Roll (California w/​Imitation crab— essentially cheap whitefish —- on top) is $ 9.75!!!
$ 9.75!!! Wha??? Sushi is not that much to make. I mean white rice is $ 10 for 50lbs… But I know it’s a skill.
Sadly I don’t think I will be visiting here anymore unless I’m treated to it.
Ahhhhhh then struggle of loving sushi.

Omg sushi was so good.
We got edamame and yokaturi to start with some hot sake and everything was great.
Then we got 3 special rolls and 2 orders of nigiri. Amazing food. Service was superb also.

I will try to keep emotion out of my review and stick to facts as much as possible. I’m new to the Akron area so I looked Sakura up by searching for Akron Sushi. Their website seemed nice and the menu online stated this entrée (love boat for 4) was $ 100. $ 25 per person for sushi seemed more than fair.
I called this restaurant to place an order for a love boat for 4 for my family and I. What I recall of the conversation is that I placed my order, provided my name and phone number and received an estimated time for pickup. I received a quoted time of 25 minutes and I informed the associate that I would be picking up in 1 hour to which I received a reply of «awesome». I do not recall the price I was quoted over the phone but I do remember being quoted a price and said thank you.
When I arrived for pickup I was greeted by two younger women-​I believe between 17 – 21 years old. I provided my name and they asked if I was there to pickup the love boat to which I replied yes. They provided me a total of $ 109.95 to which I asked was there a surcharge. I was told that is the price. I stated that I saw the menu online an hour ago and it stated $ 100. The associate stated «it’s only $ 10». I asked if there was anything they could do to assist with the pricing and the associate that made the $ 10 comment stormed off frustrated and stated she was getting a manager.
The manager came out and introduced herself. She stated that she was sorry about the confusion but the price was $ 109.95 and she quoted me that over the phone. Again-​I don’t recall the amount I was quoted. I repeated that the price that was advertised on the website was $ 100 and that is the price that I wanted to pay. The manager drew a line in the sand and stated that she knew she quoted me the correct price and she couldn’t do anything for me. To that I replied that I would be forced to leave the order if I didn’t receive the price advertised.
The manager then began to go into a tailspin and stated that I couldn’t just leave a $ 100 order and walk out on it. I told her that she should honor the advertised price and that I felt she was being very rude-​as did her staff. She the. Told me that the website was not updated and then began blaming things on the previous manager. She told me again that she was new and this wasn’t her fault.
I told her that I would still pay for the order of she could adjust it to $ 100. The manager stated that it was only a $ 10 difference to which I replied that there were many associates in her restaurant that would love an extra $ 10. She then began sobbing. I apologized to her and stated that I felt it was a business’ obligation to honor their advertised price.
She went back to get the food and came back. Something happened in the back because when she came back she went over all of the selections with me. She apologized for her behavior and the behavior of her staff and them took $ 20 off of the price.
She then asked if I was going to write a review on Unilocal that I give an honest review of the food and not let the service effect the food quality.
After writing all of the above I’m positive that all of the service industry workers hate my guts. I have to say that the sushi was EXCELLENT. I’ve been eating at Sakura Lakewood, Shinto Strongsville and Mizu Parma and this sushi is the best I’ve had out of the 3 and it was take out.
Even at $ 110 I still feel this would have been a good value but I believe if there is an advertised price a business should honor that price and not argue with their customer. I’m very happy that this restaurant not only honored their website pricing but beat it.
We will be returning to this restaurant in the future.

My husband loves this place! So much that the hostess and our server recognize him yet this was my first time visiting. I really enjoyed the clean & cozy atmosphere, including the amazing koi fish tank. However, this is seriously not the place for any picky eater.
I was a tiny bit disappointed by their hot tea, instead of the expected traditional green or even jasmine whatever I was served was very floral and overpowering. And being the jerk that I am, the only thing on the menu slightly appealing was their won ton soup. I actually don’t eat the meat in won ton soup (long story) but while I was dissecting my noodles, I couldn’t help but appreciate how fresh the meat looked and clear the broth was. It had an okay taste but I’ve had better.
My husbands sushi was absolutely beautiful! Since I don’t eat sushi I can’t really say more other than to suggest you read his review (Christopher C.) since he goes there ALL the time, lol. But they do have this fried green tea ice cream I wouldn’t mind exploring ;)