Kaizen Tavern

I don’t normally give 5 stars but upon aggregating my 3 – 4 experiences at Kaizen, I have to say they deserve it. That 5^th star is for the food’s consistency and friendly service. For not being one of the big names in sushi (Taro or Sushi Capitol), Kaizen’s sashimi does not disappoint. Perhaps by keeping the selections fairly small, they are able to focus on highest quality. The salmon, yellowtail and tuna are fresh and great. I love love love the squid salad (staff favorite). The tacos are always devoured quickly. I even love the hot sake and edamame (never overcooked). With Reserve 2216 being temporarily closed, Kaizen is the number 1 restaurant in Del Ray, offering a variety of menu items for if you’re looking to eat light and healthy or indulge a little.

Fun atmosphere, nice bar, great sushi! Had the California and spicy tuna tempura… Yum!

The drinks here are amazing — I highly recommend the winter sangria that almost everyone in the bar was drinking!

Great food and drinks. Alan and staff really friendly and provide great service. Great stop for sushi and tacos. Try Jo Hamachi roll.

I finally got to try Kaizen! Bottom line up front: Good food but pricey for the portion
Miso Soup: A fair amount of miso paste in the broth making it flavorful, but only trace amounts of tofu for $ 3.5. Pass
Tuna Tartar: One of my favorite dishes. The soft tuna paired with the crunchy apple, roe and wonton and the spicy saltiness of the sauce paired with the sweetness of the apple made this a stand out. Still pricey for portion IMO at $ 12
Grilled Scallops: Well cooked (yay) and served with pork belly and mushroom, which I liked as a flavor booster, and spinach which I didn’t, as it over powered the scallop
Steak Skewers: Also well cooked, the meat is thin so could have been easy to burn, but it was too plain for me. Needs sauce or seasoning.
Specialty roll of Yellow Fish, avocado, jalapeño, crunch, eel sauce whose name I don’t remember. This roll was so disappointing. There was SO LITTLE fish and at $ 14 is a rip off.
Grilled fish tacos: Meh. Pretty bland
HH Wine: yay! HH Margarita: NO. Should have known better than to order a marg at a sushi place, it tasted like one of my home failed attempt at a marg.
We’ll probably be back and will try to navigate around to figure out which dishes are worth the cost!

I ordered miso soup, seaweed salad, vegetable tempura and the cucumber avocado roll to share with a friend and everything was fresh and delicious. I would definitely come back to try the tacos!

One word, WOW! I love this place. It’s so rare that you can go out and have a dinner that everything is perfect, Kaizen is that place. From the pork tacos to the yellow tail and salmon sushi, Yum !!! Thanks to the wonderful staff, we had a great experience. Madison, you were awesome!

I can’t see how everyone else seems to think so highly of this place. I came here with my girlfriend and neither of us was very thrilled by what we ordered. I had one of the tacos, which was honestly pretty good. The sushi was tasty, but nothing extraordinary.
Each of us ordered one of their house cocktails, which were okay. As far as price goes, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for NoVa sushi pricing. However in terms of overall quality for the money spent, there are better options.

Best gem on Mt. Vernon Avenue! Mouth watering sushi and tacos, not to mention Allen’s other menu items. The staff and regular bartenders, Lauren and Ed will welcome you as family! What are you waiting for?! It’s a local best for dinners and drinks!

One of the downsides to moving is having to find new places to like in new neighborhoods. Tacos and sushi should sound like a painful attempt at being trendy, but Kaizen is definitely a keeper. We walked in at just the right time and got the last two bar seats just past the sushi prep area. We had a friendly bartender and sushi chef to chat with us during our stay.
The beer selection was decent, and decently priced for the area and they had a reasonably sized backbar for cocktails. Our bartender put together something with Grey Goose, sake and juices for my girl and she liked it (not overwhelmed, but I thought it was a good drink).
We had a few tacos (pork, steak and crispy beef) and ordered the hamachi and maguro. The fish was very fresh and flavorful and very well cut. We loved the pork and steak tacos, but the crispy beef left a little to be desired. While the first two were on soft shells, the beef was on a crispy fried shell (think taco salad bowl) that shattered when you took your first bite. Taste was good, but it was the first time I’ve used chopsticks to eat a taco. As I type this, I realize that should be a defining fusion moment. I wouldn’t likely order that one again… but I absolutely would order a fish taco or three if they did it with ceviche rather than grilled or fried fish.
Timing seems to be key, as they had at least 10 people walk in right after we sat down. If you have a group larger than four, call ahead. Due to the narrow building design, most of the seating consists of tables of two, with a few larger tables at the ends.
This was a testing stop on our way to visit a couple of places. The attractiveness of the rolls being laid out by the sushi team, above average food, and the friendly service assure that we will be back on a regular basis.

Great neighborhood restaurant with an unbeatable happy hour. Sit at the bar and you’ll be taken care of, whether you’re by yourself or one of 500 online first dates. Maybe I’m just the odd one out! Recommend any sushi, especially the veggie roll (watch out for the jalapeño).

Had a great Happy Hour dinner date here with a friend of mine. The staff was all very friendly and I think their Happy Hour specials are a really good deal. Lauren took good care of us. I will definitely come back here again. We only tried the sushi so I can’t comment on the taco quality. I’m new to the area and this place struck me as somewhere that keeps its regulars; as a former bartender, I think that speaks volumes.

I’m always surprised brunch isn’t packed here. They have the best Bloody Mary on the Avenue hands down, service is always great and I’ve tried prettying every brunch dish and they are all great. The cheesesteak is probably my favorite followed by the breakfast tacos. We love the sushi at night too, fun to have sushi and a couple of tacos. The server/​bartender is always accommodating and is great about suggesting the perfect wine or cocktail. A gem on the Avenue.

If you love tacos & sushi and having them both in one sitting, but not mixed together like some try-​hard fusion places do, this is your place. Kaizen Tavern is awesome! It’s a local neighborhood haunt with a very local feel to it. It seems like regulars frequent it often and know each other, which is refreshing to see in the DC area, which can often seem quite transient.
I naturally ordered a taco and a sushi roll to try both of their specialties. I ordered the Kaizen fish taco (fried haddock with napapico slaw and avocado) and the Jo Hamachi roll (seared yellowtail with avocado, cilantro, jalapeño, tobiko, spicy Wasabi mayo, and eel sauce). The Hamachi roll was very tasty and was quite a filling portion, but I have to say that the fish taco was a little on the small side. I got a chicken taco to go for my fiancé and he also felt the taco was a bit small. But very tasty and reasonable in price!
I visited with a good friend who lives in the area and we just missed their happy hour, but she’s a regular and the bartender came over and chatted with us and made us both a specialty fruity spicy cocktail. Very delicious!
I don’t live in the Del Rey area, but I would certainly visit Kaizen Tavern again in the future and recommend it to locals and visitors alike!

Food was ok. Service was terrible. Waitress:
–Brought me the wrong app
–forgot to bring my wine
–seared my sushi roll when I stated in 3 different ways to leave it raw
–we were never apologized to or comped. Waitress made it clear she didn’t give a shit!
–the host greeted my husband with «hey bro» and «yeah man»
-$ 55 for portions so small my chihuahua would still be hungry
My husbands house salad sucked. They majorly skimp on the fish in the sushi roll. So appalled by the service will never be back. Was just so hungry to keep sending the food back. We are now going to get a second dinner at thai pepper.

Some downright awesome prices on sushi during happy hour — $ 3 for a California or Mt. Fuji roll and just $ 1.50 a piece for nigiri? Fantastic! I try to get here every chance I get when I’m around at that time. They also (somewhat expectedly) seem to know their sake pretty well here. Overall, I definitely recommend coming by. The food is good and the staff are very friendly. The menu is pretty stripped down compared to some other sushi places you’ve probably been to, but what they have on the menu is good.
Overall, a great sushi place at any time — happy hour or not. Definitely check it out.

Food is meh and the portions are TINY compared to the prices. I spent about $ 23 for two tacos and a sushi roll this evening, and after eating them all I felt like I’d just finished an appetizer. The fish in my fried fish taco was cold, and the chicken taco was reallllly bland. Then I got my rainbow roll, and I could NOT believe how small it was for $ 12. Tiniest portions of fish I’ve ever seen on a roll, and unlike many rainbow rolls it had no fish or crab on the inside – just cucumber and avocado. The taste of the roll was fine, but I expected literally twice as much fish for the price since I often order the rainbow roll at other sushi restaurants and they have always been much more substantial than this one. Such a let-​down!
From now on, I’ll stick to the other sushi place up the street and the other taco place up the street. I was excited to be able to get both sushi and tacos from the same place, but I’d have to spend at least $ 30-​$ 35 to get a real meal here (and I’m NOT a big person). Plus I can easily make better tacos at home.

Love this local spot! My girlfriend and I are patrons of the Tavern and go usually like twice a week at least ! The staff is welcoming and fabulous. The sushi and tacos are amazing and the happy hour specials are the best around.
We’ve tried to branch out a few times but always find ourselves comparing the food to the Tavern (which wins hands down every time).
We highly recommend the Tavern :)

The waiters were great. They allowed my dog into the pátio área, and gave him treats and water. It’s small and cozy. The food was delicious. The happy prices are good but tur choices are very limited. It was a pleasant experience. Its perfect for a hot summer day because there’s a tree that provides awesome shade. Try the strawberry mochi ice cream. It was amazing!!!

Recently discovered this Del Ray sushi/​fusion restaurant towards the end of 2014. Have now been a number of times for drinks and/​or dinner. I have found that the fish is always fresh (most important thing for a sushi place, right?), service goes above and beyond, and knowledgeable bartenders.
ATMOSPHERE
Casual, not pretentious. Can be quiet, but can also be loud depending on time of day and number of diners.
FOOD
As stated above the fish is fresh. Nigiri, sashimi, and rolls available. No omakase (but then again, you knew you weren’t stepping into nor did you expect Masa or Sushi Nakazawa).
Some of the highlights are: Jo Hamachi Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, and Tuna + Avocado + Jalapeño hand roll (hand rolls are not on the menu, but they are happy to make, if you ask). My one suggestion for sushi and rolls is regarding the rice, which could use more vinegar (vinegar helps bring out the freshness of fish).
Tacos are also enjoyable, my personal favorite is the fish taco with a side of their spicy sauce, which I found similar to Korean red pepper paste. Chicken Tatsutage is a go to appetizer.
SERVICE
Attentive and cordial. Will go the distance to accommodate guests. Ken (waiter/​bartender) has great drink suggestions/​concoctions. I have noticed the owner there when I’ve been dining and he is friendly and truly concerned with the diners’ experience.
HOW I DO IT WHEN I’M THERE
Sapporo, Bushmills, Hand Rolls
TIP:
For carry-​out, call your order in ahead of time or park up at the bar and enjoy a drink while your sushi order is made right in front of you.