Lucky Robot

Ate here while visiting my son in college. Friendly staff, quick service, and good food.

Foolishly, we thought we could just waltz in for lunch at Magnolia Café or Hopdoddy on January 1. Magnolia was packed inside and Hopdoddy had a line around the building (OK, unless Jesus H. Christ has chosen Hopdoddy for Act 2, I am not standing in this line. Even then, I know I’d never get close to him, so I’d only see the proceedings on the Jumbotron. If that’s the case I’ll just buy the DVD.)
SO. We wandered further and came across Lucky Robot. We walked in. Friendly hostess seated us immediately. I am happy. I get to sit. I get to order a beer. AND… I am about to eat Japanese/​Japanese fusion food. I AM A LUCKY ROBOT.
And the food was excellent. Everything from the roasted brussels sprouts (a cliché at this point, I know. But these had a lovely soy marinade) to the Build Your Own Bowl (mine was topped with a ridiculously tasty Branzino fillet) to every sushi roll we ordered which I cannot recall at this moment… was fantastic. The service was wonderful as well. Everyone was warm and friendly, but not in that weird over the top Trader Joe’s way. The ambiance was perfect too. Nicely lit, fun interior details. I’m in.
I wish I lived here. In the apartment above Lucky Robot. If there was an apartment above Lucky Robot. I need to google this…

Jess, thank you for your kind service and for recommending the steamed buns.
There’s a bit of a wait at Lucky Robot, and it’s worth it. Fast, conscientious service. Knowledgeable, friendly staff. Reasonable prices.
It’s a trendy little stop with food experience that borders on religious. Try it, love it, tip well. This place is a gem.

— very cold in restaurant, please turn heat up
— everyone found rolls to be bland with tough rice
— sashimi meat slices were skinny. You will leave hungry
— poor service — slow to attend to
— the appetizers and sashimi were outstanding!
— great sake collection
— fantastic ceviche, hamachi, salmon

My first time here. Very good services and high quality food. Very tasty awesome !!! Love it

So delicious! And the staff is friendly and super helpful if you have questions about the menu. Today I had the sashimi salad and an eel sushi roll, both were so delicious! The salad had just the right taste, and the dressing was light and perfect! The sushi was perfect!!! Also the atmosphere is fun and chill. I will definitely be coming here again.

My sister and I were meeting some friends in Austin and wanted to find a place to eat that looked delicious and had things even picky eaters might like. We decided on Lucky Robot after seeing good reviews and delicious looking pictures of their food.
It is hard to find an open parking spot but once there we were impressed by it’s cool vibe inside and out that stood out even in this trendy part of ton. They even had a swing you could sit and eat your dinner in which was a nice touch.
We ordered fried calamari, nomnomiyaki, the schoolgirl bowl, and a build your own bowl of various veggies. The highlights of the dishes were definitely the schoolgirl bowl and the nomnomiyaki though the other dishes were satisfactory as well.
The nomnomiyaki had the perfect combination of everything and I would recommend everyone try if they are able to come during the lunch hour.
The schoolgirl bowl was also a smörgåsbord of Japanese flavors and was just as visually satisfying as it was tasty. I would suggest to get it with the rice instead of udon noodles. The noodles were good but were almost too much in combination with the rest of the bowl.
Our meals kept us full and happy all day! Their sushi looked delicious but was a little pricey for my wallet. Definitely will try a couple rolls on my next visit though!

We were wandering SoCo on empty stomachs and chose to try Lucky Robot on a whim. This rarely happens as I am a diligent Unilocal review reader and always chose specific restaurants based on reviews.
We ordered the Schoolgirl Bowl ($ 10.50), Udon Yakizakana ($ 17), and the Bender Bending Rodriguez roll ($ 14). Everything was good, but the flavors were not memorable. I would definitely call this place Asian fusion instead of authentic Japanese. The dishes were pricey, easily racking up to a $ 50 lunch for two.
Though the food didn’t leave a lasting impression, I do remember spacing out and looking at their fun decorations. The décor was quirky, like we stepped into a robot/​superhero/​comic book apartment in Japan with servers dressed in school uniforms.

This place is good for the sashimi and rolls only! Everything else on menu is doused in sauce and way overpowering. Oh and the pork buns, but even the spicy edamame was just way over sauced, I couldn’t eat it. SALTY. Bowls are meh, the entrees are meh, but the sashimi cuts are amazingly fresh and buttery like sashimi should be… Service at the sushi bar is fabulous. Service on the floor is trying way too hard. I really hate the unnatural I have my sales pitch spheal and I really hate being spoken to loudly… it seems like every server on the floor has that problem… maybe they’ve just all have partially lost their hearing from the constant buzz of loud banter, because this place is definitely always busy. I like it, but I will only eat here if there is room at the sushi bar.

We had an awesome first experience here at Lucky Robot. Such a unique name had gotten our attention and I am so glad we decided to stop by. Loved the environment and friendly employees. The appetizers that we started with were the Brussel sprouts as well as the spinach tofu dumplings (which were absolutely delicious). This place is definitely worth checking out if you’re ever here on south congress.

The waitstaff was super friendly and helpful and the interior is cheeky cute.
We walked in right before brunch ended so my squeeze and I snagged a couple of $ 2 mimosas, can’t beat that!
Our waitress recommended the brussel sprouts which were delicious, we paired that with some miso soups. The miso wasn’t the best I’ve had, the tofu was very hard.
We tried the tiger eye and electric eel roll. We loved the electric eel, but something about the tiger eye I wasn’t feeling. It’s like all the ingredients on their own sound awesome, but when they were combined the roll tasted strange, I can’t pinpoint why, I just didn’t love it.
Overall I’m a fan, I didn’t love everything but we’ll come back for a second try.

An unexpected delight — we wandered in here off SoCo without looking it up in advance and we’re delighted by the charming staff and the freshness of the sushi — even the edamame seemed more crisp than other places.
The Rising Sun Entrée was glorious — i’ll be back next week for the Tokyo brunch to try EVERYTHING else.

We started with tsukiji daily sashimi moriwase, 4 types of fish sashimi straight from the legendary tsukiji market from Tokyo, worth every bit of $ 28.
Wasn’t too impressed with the rolls — crunchy atomic salmon & mr. roboto (escolar roll).
The okonomiyaki, Japanese pan cake was delicious. followed by the mochi icecream.
Kind of pricey at $ 80 for 2 people with drinks without tips, and if you have an appetite, you will need more, but nobody said good sushi was cheap. I would come back.

I’m more of a traditional sushi fan, but lucky robot does modernized sushi right! Chef jay (I stalked the lucky robot Instagram account) and the other sushi chefs do a great job with adding some unique flavors while leaving the pure sushi fish taste in the rolls. I came for the third year anniversary specials and awesome happy hour. I also suggest sitting outside if it’s nice enough because the south congress view is breathtaking.
Brussel sprouts: super delicious and a perfect filling appetizer so you don’t have to spend a bunch on small sushi. The sauce was great and sweet– I liked how it didn’t drown out the crispness of the Brussel sprouts.
Complimentary sashimi appetizer: I forgot what the description of this was, but the fish (or sauce) was a little salty for my taste. The butternut squash in the dish didn’t have much flavor to it either. But hey it was free I guess.
Thai basil lemon drop sake punch: very refreshing and light– perfect to wash down my food! Great happy hour price of $ 5 as well.
Mr. Roboto roll: at such a great $ 5 happy hour price, this roll was excellent. Simple but with subtle flavors from the raw fish– how sushi should be!
I was very pleased with this restaurant– the location, knowledgeable and helpful servers, great atmosphere, and delicious food! I seriously want to come back to try all the items on the menu and watch chef jay do his work… not in a creepy way though!

We know Austin is known for BBQ & cool food trucks but we had to try this funky Japanese place because it was 5 min away from where we stayed at. It was late Sunday night and luckily this place was open til 10pm. Came in 30 min before closing but hostess was more than happy to accommodate. The swing chair immediately caught our attention so we opted for that table (see pics.) Here’s what we ordered:
1) Japanese Devil’s Tail Sake — habanero-​infused, lychee, pineapple, lime & chipotle sour. Let me give you heads up. This is not your typical sake. This was spicy hot but just the way we expected it. It was also served in frozen cucumber cups. By far the weirdest sake we ever had but definitely worth it trying if you are brave enough :)
2) Crispy Brussel Sprouts — Nice crunch from scorched skin. Delicious!
3) Voltron Maki — crab, shrimp, avocado, cucumber, carrot, topped with
tuna, salmon and yellowtail. This was a mouthful of yum.
4) Schoolgirl Bowl — chicken breast, shiitake, broccoli, red bell pepper, yellow onion,
chili garlic, serrano aioli & ginger scallion. I opted for noodle version and this dish was on point. Noodles were al dente, sauce was not too spicy w/​big bold flavor
This place also has a brunch and happy hour menu so check their website out. Loved the dishes offered at this place. Our server also took the time to explain the menu. Great experience and will definitely keep this one bookmarked.

II’ve been here for dinner, happy hour, and lunch many times. It’s good. The atmostphere is fun. The swings are cute. It’s hard to not feel like a teenage asain girl with the décor. Service has always been good and I’m a fan of their cold starters at happy hour. For lunch I get the katsu chicken bun and the wasabi mashed potatoes. Comfort food. The rolls are good and the friends I’ve brought have been pleased.

Very disappointed. Not sure if we ordered wrong items since all the reviews were high, but my friends and I were not happy with service or food.
The hostess was nice and we were promptly seated. It was not packed, maybe 4 tables. Our server took around 10 minutes to even come to us for the first time. Everyone that sat after were promptly greeted by the same server. Very annoying to see.
The food took forever to come. My friend ordered an appetizer. That took around 25 minutes for buns… 30 – 35 mins for our entrees… Why.
We all ordered dons. You get a choice for brown rice, white rice, and noodles for your order. It seems as though the rice items get no sauce btw.
I ordered the spicy chicken with noodles. It was extremely saucey… Way too much sauce that it felt soupy. I didn’t think it was that great either. No special flavor. Not spicy, just a small kick if anything. It’s just a few slices of chicken and noodles. (²⁄₅)
Another friend ordered the spicy chicken with white rice. He needed to add soy sauce cause it was very bland.
Two friends ordered the kaarage chicken with white rice. Again, very little sauce. Looked and tasted very bland. It’s all white rice, lightly fried chicken with maybe panko bread crumbs and they dump a whole bunch of mint leaves on top. Emphasis on a whole bunch… It was so weird. Bad combo… (¹⁄₅)
The appetizer was pork buns. My friend enjoyed that more than his bland entrée. You get two for your order. A thick piece of pork belly and some veggies. (⁴⁄₅)
One friend found a piece of hair in her food… They comped it and gave her another dish (hopefully).
Would I come back? No.

I have to give Lucky Robot props for a few things before I write the rest of my review: (1) they sat my incomplete party and (2) the waitress was a saint, considering we were there for 2 hours. And my friends seemed to like their food.
The happy hour menu is pretty good. My friend and I ordered spicy edamame ($ 3) and sake cocktails ($ 5). I liked the edamame but found it to be on the sweeter chili side of spicy. The peach blossom breeze is absolutely delicious.
For the main course, I ordered a side salad and the prawn star taco. The side salad was good except that I kept getting bites with fennel (?)… all I know is that I got surprised by intense licorice flavor more than a few times. The prawn star taco was terrible. You definitely got your money’s worth as it was full of shrimp, avocado, and bacon. However, the flavor balance was awful as it was covered in sauce. Too much salt and savory. Not enough freshness. The first thing that came to mind was too much umami. I gave up after two bites.
I want to try it again, because those who ate sushi seemed to like their food, but I didn’t have a good experience.

Any place with menu items named after robots must be good. I’ve been here a couple of times for happy hour. Most recently on Friday. If you park on Academy, it’s a really short walk.
I started off with one of their Sake Cocktails, the peach blossom breeze. It tasted great, but felt a little small. Afterwards I ordered a Snow Maiden sake carafe, which was only $ 7 on happy hour and you end up getting about 4 little cups worth out of it. Tasty. For $ 5 you can get one of their options for a beer and a shot of sake. Pretty good deal. The sushi options for happy hour are very limited. I’m not big on edamame, but Boyfriend insisted. Holy goodness it was the best edamame I’ve ever had. It was a little spicy and had delicious seasonings and sauce on it.
For entrees I ordered the mechazilla roll which is spinach, tofu, goat cheese, cashews, and some other stuff wrapped in soy paper with little dollops of yuzu miso on the plate. It was really good, however, you couldn’t really taste the goat cheese. My second roll was the crunchy atomic salmon roll which had salmon (obviously), cucumber, avocado, rolled in some panko crusties (that’s not the right term, but that’s what I’m calling it). It came with spicy mayo and sirracha dollops on the plate. I’m a sucker for spicy mayo, so I ended up dipping my other roll in it too. Also, their sushi rolls are smaller than most places, but for $ 10 for 2 rolls on happy hour, I’m totally ok with it. Boyfriend ordered the chicken teriyaki, which was also really good.
One last thing, our waitress was very attentive. Always a plus.

This place is great. Wanted to pick a place in South Congress area for lunch so I could just park once for lunch and shopping afterward. We had a large group of 9 people but were able to make reservations ahead of time. Walking in, it felt über Japanese modern with the artwork and I loved that some of the seats were swings.
The food was outstanding.
— Brussel Sprouts: total must have; I’m dying to know their recipe; I’d say on par with Uchi’s which I used to think was the best but these were amazing too!
— Steamed Pork Buns (comes with 2): I devoured them; good flavor and pretty filling as a meal
Everyone else got a variety of dishes and everyone turly seemed to love their dishes. From the bowls to the rolls, think you’ll be good with whatever you get. It took a while for the food to come out (I’m assuming for the size of our group) but totally worth it.