Z Sushi

I came here for lunch with a friend of mine. We were in the mood for sushi, and we spotted this place nearby. We drove into the parking lot as they were opening for the day.
We sat at the sushi bar. Since we had a long day of school/​work each, we passed on the alcohol and just had water. I got two different orders of sushi: the red dragon (or something like that) with a spicy kick, and the rainbow with various pieces of seafood on top of a spicy roll. The sushi chefs gave us two pieces of breaded salmon on the house. It was as tasty as the main dishes we had.
The staff here is super nice and attentive. The place is clean, and run efficiently. I would recommend them for your sushi fix in the Alhambra/​Pasadena area.

1−2−16
This place is great! Its quiet and has soft music playing in the back round. The parking is usually empty. But sometimes trying to get in can be some trouble because of the amazing business of In-​and-​out.
When walked in you get immediately severed. The service is really nice. But the food is expansive. They check up on you fairly often to see if you doing ok. But waiting for the food takes quiet a while. The food taste fresh. The platter is designed nice as well. Would come back next time. Family really enjoyed the food. Luke how there’s another option if you don’t like seafood but mojoriety is seafood. Great for lunch and dinner, both have great food. Overall they have great service and we’re generally nice. But the price is high but have good quality food.

It is an awful place ever. I was asking about the sushi, and it took for a long time.

Should be zero stars. The sushi was garbage. Poor quality ingredients and horrible flavors. I asked for Coke and they brought me a «cola», too much corner cutting, take your $$$ and stomach elsewhere.

Just had another great dinner here! The food is excellent and they have a variety of seafood specialties that change weekly according to availability. The atmosphere is quiet and dimly lit — no loud music or loud clientele or bright lights. The service is very friendly and competent. There’s a bar and a tv screen if you need it, but the great sushi is the real draw…
Nothing too trendy here — suitable for families and couples alike. A real jewel on the San Marino, North Alhambra, South Pasadena border!

I absolutely love everything that is being served. It’s delicious, authentic, and simply beautiful. If you’re looking for a real Japanese bite, look no further. So happy to have discovered this place. Definitely will be back, and will bring more people with me.

I’ve been here a few times and the food is good. Service is good. I bumped it up to a 4 star rating bc I ordered take out in the restaurant and the hostess was kind enough to serve me water and free edamame while I waited

I have been coming here for a while, recently i had stopped because the fish stench was so strong when you walk in the door and that only means something is not fresh in there. We havent been back since. Last night we decided to give it another try since its one of the closest japanese place near our home. I was so surprise that the smell was totally gone! As usual we enjoyed the food there which was pretty decent size and fresh and service was always great as always! Will be back very soon for more!!!

Wow! Talk about specialized service!!! We took our order to go but they have us water & Edamame free!

Lunch on Monday, 6÷29÷15
I pass by this restaurant a lot since I usually go to In-​N-​Out right next door. They have their own private parking lot which is usually empty.
We walked into an almost empty restaurant and was seated right away. The servers came by our table very often to ask if we needed anything.
I ordered from their lunch special menu which included two items, a soup, and a salad. The server recommended the Korean BBQ beef over the teriyaki beef and I chose the California rolls for the second item. I didn’t get a chance to try their sushi selection.
The food was average. The prices for lunch special items are affordable but it’s pricey for the sushi selection. I won’t be able to comment on it since I didn’t order any.
I’d have to come back again to try their sushi. I would say the restaurant is not too busy because the food doesn’t seem spectacular and it’s expensive. However, their service is attentive.

Z sushi is definitely my most favorite sushi place around the area. Since I live close-​by, I come here a lot. It’s really fast and their food is great. I’ve been here over a dozen times, and not once have I been disappointed.
For the appetizer, the yam fries are amazing. I also recommend the dragon roll, which in my opinion is the best out of several other places that serve the rolls. For the main dish, I usually get the udon noodle soup with shrimp tempura – you can never go wrong with that. It’s simply satisfying when I’m in the Japanese mood.
The workers are extremely friendly and easily approachable. In my experiences, at least, the food comes pretty quickly. There aren’t usually a lot of people there since it’s pretty hard to get into the parking lot since cars always block the opening. But hey, the less people there are, the less you’ll have to wait, right?
Overall, I definitely would recommend this place to everyone.

Sometimes people tell me I’m «not Asian enough» because I don’t particularly like sushi.
To those people, I say, «Well, I’m good at math and got all the way to brown belt in karate before dropping out to join stripper school.»
Anyway, I’m not really someone to ask for advice when it comes to what’s good sushi, and what’s bad sushi (I’m more of an expert on drinking and where to get cheap Plan B), but I do know what I like, and I like Z Sushi so much that I’d marry it if I weren’t already taken and would SO get caught if I tried to sneak around.
Z Sushi doesn’t look like it will be as awesome as it is when you look at the restaurant from outside; it just sort of looks like it might be an Ihop or faceless diner you’d run into in a flyover state.
Think: girl with a really hot body, but she’s wearing a huge sweatsuit and a beekeeper’s mask.
Book covers, folks! The novel inside is pretty.
And wow, Z Sushi really is attractive! It’s really Japanese, from the way everyone enthusiastically greets you when you walk in, to the waterfalls, zen wall motifs, and room divider décor, all the way to the manner in which the employees commit seppuku if you don’t like their service, and the maitre d’ challenges you to a samurai duel to the death if you show fealty to a rival lord.
Or maybe not the last two things. But the rest still stands.
How’s the menu?
The tapas and appetizers are extensive and an amazing bargain; many to be had for $ 3.95, and many others for only $ 5.95. Large enough to share, too! You could definitely fill up just on appetizers and have a complete meal for two – with money left over for a generous tip – for only $ 30-​$ 40. All the usual suspects are lined up against the perp-​wall/​menu: edamame, gyoza, shrimp umai, tempura, etc.
It’s amazing how many places can screw up tempura. Z Sushi does not screw up the tempura. So, yay!
But if you’re not looking for cheap eats or even cooked eats, Z Sushi is a great place to go for actual sushi: the roll and sashimi variety.
Of particular interest are their complete dinner sushi plates, ranging from $ 20 to $ 35; easily big enough to be an entire meal of raw fish instead of just a little taste. Z sushi doesn’t f*ck around, either, with the one-​plate-​at-​a-​time thing that most places do. Nope! They give you a giant party platter of sushi and only one pair of chopsticks.
They know you’re hungry, honey.
What’s the quality like? Well, on a scale from the sh*t at 7 – 11 to the thousand dollar fare at Urasawa, Z Sushi is a very respectable, delicious middle ground; no faking, just lovemaking.
It’s like a really long porn video; you’re fast forwarding and hitting the eject button before it’s over, and most of that stuff is just filler, anyway.
I don’t even know WHAT I’m trying to say, here.
Oh yes.
Z Sushi is 100% money shot.
There’s a lot of sake and other liquor on the menu, too ($ 8.95 French Kiss martini, anyone?), so if you’re like me and enjoy a drink or three on your noon to four lunch hour, you can get drunk before coming back to the office.
The scene is casual.
So casual, in fact, that my Hello Kitty snapback wasn’t at ALL out of place.
That’s pretty Asian!
Or… yeah.

Won is the best server! Best service. He makes delicious drinks :) even if not on their drink menu.
I don’t understand why some leave low ratings, maybe depends on the day, right? I don’t know but my experiences have been great… so far.

This place quickly rose to one of my favorite sushi places in the area. Maybe it is because I have been to the other ones a lot and decided to give this place a try finally. I am a huge fan of fried calamari so I make it a point to try it at different locations. My girlfriend and I like to rank places based on some of their dishes.
The setting is nice and it is never that busy when we decide to go. The staff here are nice and greet you as soon as you walk in. They are also very quick with getting the drinks out. Their fried calamari is good but a little too chewy for my liking. But I always get it when I come. The Firecracker is probably the best spicy tuna on crispy rice that I have ever had. It comes with a salad in the middle of the plate with some kind of dressing that I cannot figure out but it is good. The spicy langostino roll was not good so stay away haha unless you’re a fan of mayonnaise. They also have one of the better tasting spider rolls. A lot of sushi places spider rolls have no taste.
Overall, this is a sushi place that is in heavy rotation of my favorite places to eat. If I change my mind and don’t want sushi on the way here, there is always In-​N-​Out haha.

I’m pretty surprised by all the negative reviews. I’ve been here a few times and haven’t experienced anything horrible. It was actually due to spontaneity that I decided to try Z Sushi, and I’m glad I did. My boyfriend and I often pass by on our way to In-​N-​Out, so we knew it was there when one of our favorite sushi joints was closed.
I judge sushi restaurants by their Salmon Sashimi and/​or Salmon Belly Sashimi, but unfortunately they don’t serve the latter here. My boyfriend likes to judge sushi restaurants by their Fried Calamari and Spider Roll, so needless to say we ordered all of the aforementioned.
MY TAKE:
— Salmon Sashimi (pretty fresh, but a bit overpriced compared to other places)
— Fried Calamari (the batter is tasty but the squid seems pre-​cooked because of its chewy consistency)
— Spider Roll (the soft shell crab is deeeeelicious, and that’s really what brings the roll together)
— Firecracker (some of the best spicy tuna on crispy rice I’ve had)
— Salmon Carpaccio (love the salsa-​like ingredients, but the fish was a bit thin)
— Spicy Langostino Roll (average and all the mayonnaise eventually tasted heavy)
Overall beautiful presentation, great flavor combinations and they’re very generous with their avocados. Some items take a while to arrive, but other than that the service is friendly and attentive.

If you read the Unilocal reviews on Z Sushi, you’ll see there’s a few common themes. Extremely slow food prep and atrocious service are among the assessments, and sadly I encountered both during my first meal at Z Sushi.
I arrived with my family around 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night. They had a few empty tables, so we were seated almost immediately. That would prove to be on the only aspect of our meal handled with any sense of urgency. Spent the next hour staring at the ceiling while the chef (s) prepared the most tasteless Japanese meal I’ve had all year.
Regarding the sushi, I ordered the red snapper and halibut. Both pieces were exactly the same, and I reckon neither were what I actually ordered, but a swap with tilefish — a common tactic at cheaper sushi restaurants. If that wasn’t bad enough, the tempura was soggy, while several of our «steamed» edamame were still frozen solid.
Ultimately, dining at Z Sushi proved to be a major disappointment. If you’re looking for quality sushi in Los Angeles, stick to Little Tokyo, the West side or the Valley.

Everything is really freshly made here, especially perfect for me since I have a considerably weak stomach.
I usually get a dinner combo, but my favorite one is the sea bass. The chicken teriyaki is just alright, it’s the cheapest dinner combo they have. I love the dinner combo because of the AMAZING salad it comes with… you’ll understand once you have it.
This time I tried the nabeyaki udon and it’s probably my new favorite item on their menu! The yaki udon is a pretty close second but the only thing I don’t like about the nabeyaki udon is that the pot it’s served it in hot all around, so you can’t really move or adjust it at all or you’ll burn yourself. I wouldn’t recommend this dish to kids because they might accidentally burn themselves. I wish they put something on the handles so it’s adjustable.
The chawan mushi is the best one I’ve ever tried! Even though it’s pricey ($ 5.50 I believe), it’s completely worth trying out :) Also the eel roll is a great addition to the meal and the fries — I forgot what kind of fries they were but I think they’re sweet potato.
The food here is a little pricier compared to other places but definitely worth it!

Not my first time at Z Sushi and I have mix feelings every time. My cousin used to work here and I went to eat with her here for my first here. I pretty much let her ordered everything because she should know what’s good. It was so long ago so I don’t remember what she ordered, but most of the stuff she ordered were basically appetizers and dishes that weren’t sushi. I’ve been back several times and I got different dishes every time:
— Sashimi Dinner Combo — Really good deal at around $ 25 I think. The sashimi I got that time was pretty big, but the cut was inconsistent. In my opinion, it’s kind of hard to judge sushi because it’s made differently every time by certain chef. Some chefs are better than others and if you’re not sitting at the bar, you don’t know which chef made which.
— Salmon Carpaccio — It was pretty good. Mine had a lot of capers on it, which I don’t mind too much. Like I said though, the dish can varies depending on the chef and their style. I saw this same dish in the photo album and there’s no capers on her picture so I’m assuming it was made by a different sushi chef.
— Chicken Teriyaki — It was okay. Nothing to rave about. Please note for those who’s been here before, I took leftovers home and my cousin did said they changed their chicken teriyaki.
— Yellowtail Belly Sushi — I was satisfied with this. I’ve had better but no complaints here!
— Salmon Skin Handroll — I really like the salmon skin here because it was crispy but not oily. They were a little cheap on adding the salmon skin though. I don’t like gobo so I tried to tell the waiter to omit it, but he doesn’t know what I was talking about. Maybe he’s new but waiting staff needs to learn more about the ingredients in their food! (I used to work for a sushi restaurant and we were always required to learn the ingredients in every dishes/​rolls).
I have to note that they were really nice to us when we were there. They closed at 10PM and we came in around 9:15PM. My boyfriend and I tried to be considerate and tried to leave as soon as possible because we hate making them wait on us to close, so we left around 9:50PM. But we did not feel rushed at all the whole time, so props to them! I only gave them 3 stars because I’ve had better sushi and even though I was satisfied with my last visit, the couple of visits before wasn’t up to par.

I miss Z Sushi so much since I moved from the South Pasadena area. We sat at incredibly long bar and ordered
The price was incredible! We ordered the Omakase and the price was incredibly. I believe the bill total came to somewhere around $ 80 which is unheard of for Omakase and I received about 7 pieces of sushi until I was full and my boyfriend had 9 or 10. On top of that we ordered udon and I ordered the Chawan Mushi.
The chef mixed it up, I hate it when Omakase is just a bunch of sushi, it gets old after awhile. He threw in some hot dishes including some Yakitori.
Its worth the drive that I will now have to make from West Hollywood!

Although my boyfriend and I were planning to head to Old Town Pasadena to get sushi last night, we somehow ended up at Z Sushi. It was an OK restaurant to me. We ordered 1 Crunch (y?) Roll, a Sushi Combination Dinner and a large Sapporo to share.
The combination meal came with a tiny plate of salad, Miso soup, rice, 4 California Rolls, 1 shrimp sushi, 1 salmon sushi, 1 tuna sushi, and 1 yellow tail (?) sushi. As the «choice», we picked Fried tempura. This wasn’t a bad order, but nothing in this order stood out to me. The fish was fresh as it should be, the miso soup was… well, miso soup, and the fried tempura came with a good amount of vegetable tempura and tasted as expected. The Crunch Roll was alright. Pretty presentation, and pretty tasty as well. Again, I’ve had marvelous Crunch Rolls as other places, and while the one at Z Sushi was good, it wasn’t marvelous.
The price for everything came out to about $ 24/person…which I would’ve been a little more thrilled about if the food tasted amazing. Also, the service was a little on and off. The waiters and waitresses were mostly inattentive until we were paying the bill, then they were on us like white on rice! We had just closed the check folder with their signed copy, and the tip we gave, and we were just about to find our dessert stop (through Unilocal), when they swooped in and took it. Hahaha! Nice!
Anyway, I probably won’t jump at the chance to come back, but it’s not a place I’d avoid either.