Banzai Sushi & Grill

Banzai looks super ugly now and their sushi is disgusting compared to before. The waitress seemed super into pointedly disapproving of me based on nothing. Whatever. It’s just a reflection of your hat you are putting out there tool. That painting is still there by some miracle, but yeah. Ugggg. Sad times for what used to be such a cute place.

Bonzai has the best Sushi I have ever had. Their food is always cooked and fried to perfection, and take my word for it, I have been eating there for three years now! Although the service is not great, the people are nice. For a sushi restaurant, Bonzai is not all that expensive. Bonzai is definitely the place to enjoy high quality sushi.

This place is not gourmet. It’s a little Japanese «diner», and it’s really reasonably priced. People who come here looking for high-​grade sashimi at these prices need a serious reality check. Everything I’ve had, or any of my dining companions have had, have been tasty and fresh. That’s all I’m looking for, and that’s exactly what I get.

Banzai is A-​Ok for a quick lunch spot. I work right down the road from this place and while there are a lot of yummy places to eat, quick is not always their forte. Banzai is quick with a decent lunch special, sushi rolls or a hot lunch plate for a little over $ 10. The lunch special comes with a tea and a cup of Miso soup to start, fair warning: the soup is nothing to get excited about, but hey its kinda free. The red curry with noodles is really good, flavorful and not that greasy. The sushi is decent, its fresh and made quickly. Overall the price and the ease of getting in and out adds Banzai in my lunch rotation.

I gave this place 3 tries because it’s across the street from where I currently work but my conclusion is that this place is ok… the food is good but nothing to rave about. The entrees are hit or miss. The red Cury I got I was disappointed with. The portions are not very big either if you are a hungry guy like me.
The service is good though and the atmosphere is also nice. A simple wooden interior design and it’s usually fairly quiet inside. This creates a peaceful enviornment to pick up a quick lunch special for cheap.

I really enjoy this little place! The environment is unusual for Austin… peaceful. There is never loud music playing or loud servers screaming in the kitchen. I usually eat here at least every week and get the beef teriyaki special, It comes with miso soup and iced tea. I love how consistent the food is and that no matter how busy they are the wait is never too long. If I am ever feeling like I need a good meal at a reasonable price this is my go to. Lastly if you love Thai tea they have a frozen version (I get it with almond milk) that is to die for.

My daughter and I have made Banzai our go-​to for bubble tea but they also have great dishes such as a fish sandwich and the veggie tempura sushi roll. (We are pescetarians.) The staff is always really helpful in explaining what’s what.

Everything was delicious. Started with the fried oysters, an order of Katsudon, some Hamachi and Unagi. Finished with the crème puffs. Don’t sleep on the crème puffs! Tons of food. Two people well fed for under $ 50. Service was great. I live within walking distance and will definitely be back. Kudos to inexpensive delicious sushi!

I’ve come here weekly for the last couple months, but today was an incredibly disappointing experience.
After ordering the Combo C, I waited for 30 minutes for my order (five times the usual wait). There was no apology or reparations made to me by the server, who had accidentally given my order to a different table. An understandable and commonplace mistake. Nevertheless, I felt I should take a stand and ask for some sort of remuneration. So, after eating my salmon roll and tako tempura (whose texture was rubbery enough to add insult to injury) and watching the other table consume both their original order and my mistaken order, I went to the cashier and asked for a free roll or something to make up my wait. I explained that I come here often and understand the dilemma, but I did feel I deserved to be compensated for my wait.
The cashier went and spoke to the manager, who neglected to actually come and speak to me. Instead I was told by the cashier that «We’re really busy, so we can’t make you a roll, but you can have a $ 2 dessert for free.» Really? I come to this restaurant every week, tip my servers well, and never complain, and now that I ask for a simple remuneration, you patronizingly tell me that you’re just «too busy» to make things right? And you’re «too busy» as well to simply come out and apologize?
I felt insulted today, and this restaurant wasted too much of my time. I hate to say it, but I’ll likely never come back.

This place is a treat. I was excited to hear a place in town sells katsu chicken. I wasn’t disappointed… their serving size, price, and quality is perfect for me.

I pretty much always get the veggie tempura udon here. I think it’s good for a good price. My BF ordered a chicken curry special, and it seemed pretty bare-​bones to us. Basically chicken and peas swimming in a curry broth. Can you add some potatoes maybe? Just really minimal.
I find it a little confusing that you order at the front, yet they bring you your food, come check on you for drink refills, clear your dishes, etc. (Have a waiter, or don’t have a waiter. Do I tip?)

The lunch and dinner specials alone are worth 5 stars. It’s a nice place to grab a quick, cheap meal with friends. Will definitely be coming back!

Maybe I’m spoiled, maybe I’m elitist, maybe I shouldn’t expect quality sushi so far inland without spending an arm and a leg. Either way, I did not enjoy this restaurant.
Whenever I go to a new Sushi place I always get a Sashimi combo or Chirashi bowl, because it allows me to judge a variety of fish and the quality of a restaurant. The Chirashi bowl was sub-​par, their rice lacks flavor. Rice makes sushi, sub par rice = sub par sushi. To add onto that the maguro was in pretty bad shape, it was sad looking and falling apart, it was definitely handled to warm before serving. The salmon, squid and octopus was average of what I would expect from an economically priced sushi joint, nothing special. The yellow tail had a bone in it, and there was one piece that I couldn’t identify, but it was fishy, very fishy… no idea what it was so I don’t know if that was an acceptable flavor for it.
The piece size was good, but you only got one piece for each which for me was about half of what I would expect from a Chirashi bowl.
I cannot vouch for their other dishes, but based off this one experience I would not suggest going there for Sashimi or Nigiri.

Agree with all the other low reviews here. We live close by and used to take advantage of their lunch and dinner specials when we were in the mood for pretty decent veggie sushi. We had lived with the little annoyances ($.50 for tiny side of extra gari, mayonaise, etc.) and generally not had any major problems until my wife decided she felt like a bubble tea one night. We ordered our meals (plus the tea) at the register, waited for 5 minutes, and then the woman who had taken our order came over to tell us that they were actually out of the bubbles, but would make the tea with tapioca beads instead, which she insisted were «just as good, if not better.» Having already paid, and giving them the benefit of the doubt, we agreed.
Suffice to say, they were not just as good, or even close to good. The whole drink was pretty awful and almost undrinkable. When we brought this to their attention, the server seemed apologetic in an «oh no, I’m sorry you don’t like it» way, but didn’t offer to do anything to fix it. Since we didn’t want to create a stink, and we enoy their miso soup, we inquired about the possibility of getting an additional soup in lieu of the undrinkable tea-​drink. The woman just timidly said that all orders are final and that they have zero-​exceptions for fixing or swapping foods. Even when we explained that what we were given was not what we ordered (since they told us about the lack-​of-​bubbles after we had paid) and had offered an alternative, she said that her hands were tied. When we asked if we could speak to a manager about it, she nervously looked like she knew what was about to happen.
Five minutes later the manager/​owner came out to our table. We politely explained what had happened and she basically told us that all ingredients are subject to change at any time, and if they have to substitute ingredients, that’s their right, with zero rights to refunds or advance explanation. I asked her if this was true for everything, and if I had paid for tuna and they ran out, would they give me my rolls with Imitation Krab instead? She basically said yes, that was her right (and I believe she probably would). She then rudely reiterated that if we wanted another soup we could stand in line again and pay for one.
We finished our meal in disbelief of their (lack of) customer service skills, and left. Needless to say, we don’t plan on wasting more of our money here, and would suggest that you don’t either.

Oh, sure, Banzai’s no Uchiko. Nor is it even Kome, really. Honestly, it’s a far cry short of Ramen Tatsuya as well. But it’s vastly cheaper than the former two and has a line an hour shorter than the latter. And if you’re looking for a neighborhood place in Rosedale to fill up on some decent Japanese food for a very reasonable price, you could certainly do a whole lot worse.
The missus and I had been threatening to go to Banzai for a while, in the same tone that we threaten to take each other to the Chili’s on Lamar and 45^th for birthdays. Given Bonzai’s 1950’s drive-​up exterior and very low advertised prices, we were Chili’s-sure that it couldn’t be any good.
Turns out we were wrong. It’s clean and comfy inside with the usual Japanese-​light wood furniture, and the staff are friendly and attentive (it’s counter service only, though). They’re sensitive to vegetarian concerns and will ask you if certain things (like eggs) are okay if you order a veg option.
So, we did the vegetarian croquette, chicken karage, and two veggie ramens ($ 6.99!), ordered spicy. The croquette was crunchy and tasty. The karage (served in a bowl of brown rice) really had no reason to exist in a world in which Uchiko’s recipe also exists, but did its best and went well with some sriracha. The ramen noodles were most assuredly not hand-​spun in house, but the broth was tasty (if not actually spicy) and we left filled up and satisfied with what we paid for the meal.
None of this may sound like a ringing endorsement, but my main fear going in was that you can’t make decent Japanese food at a price this low, that Banzai was a disaster waiting to happen. But you can, and it’s not. In fact, we’re often looking for a non-​event meal that won’t break the bank, and, given a lot of other things on the menu that looked appealing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us back here another time or two.

Very casual sushi restaurant with a lot of veggie options!
Vegetarians, try: fried spring rolls, croquettes, gyoza, seaweed salad, vegetable tempura, vegetable and tofu teriyaki bowls, a vegetarian bento box, and a section of veggie rolls!

I’ve been here several times. The prices, parking are good. The sushi is ok. I would highly recommend the rice plates (over the sushi). I do like that they serve bubble tea drinks.
Some things they could work on– moving the ordering process at the counter. It can get a little backed up sometimes. Or can there be a to-​go pick up line? I’d also like the option of bubble tea drinks that aren’t blended icee/​frap style.
Overall, I’m very satisfied with Banzai!

Staff is A+++++. Sometimes you just want cheap sushi while among nice company. Easy to order. Got the combo C for dinner. 2 rolls, miso soup and tea for around $ 11. Apparently the fryer went down while they’re were doing my shrimp tempura roll and they apologized for the wait. I wasn’t even waiting that long, not a big deal at all. After my meal, they brought my friend and I cream puffs, on the house! Wonderful experience, no complaints. Did I mention how CLEAN this place is? Spotless!

I gave Bonzai 5 stars, not because it’s the best sushi I’ve ever had, but it is such a great deal! I just had the two roll combo, which costs $ 10.99. It included a miso soup, an iced tea and two rolls (as you may have gathered from the name, actually I think it might’ve actually been called «Combo C»). And we’re talking rolls with fresh, raw fish. (There is a vegetarian option which is cheaper.)
If you’re going to grab something quick and inexpensive somewhere, why not get some delicious sushi instead? The service here has always been good: the employees here have always been friendly and polite.
I sat outside, which was quite pleasant. A little local bee even got into the act of using chopsticks (see photo).

I love this little place! I came here all the time during college. Great for a quick easy Japanese meal. The chicken teriyaki is surprisingly good quality. Real white meat chicken and small, but perfect proportion for me. I love their chicken curry too with white rice. It’s nostalgic and homey for me.
Also, LOVE their vegetarian croquette for $ 2!!! Hits the spot every time. For a 1 dollar sign Japanese joint, it’s a great place!