Sushi Guru

Sushi Guru is pretty solid hideout restaurant for top-​notch sushi.
From the outside, you feel like you’re walking into a deliberately cheesy shopping plaza /​strip mall. Then, you open the door and you enter a classy gothic village, reinforced by the exquisite flooring, furniture, and fountain (the 3 F’s of success).
There are creative rolls here, which I went for since the regular rolls /​hand rolls were pretty pricey. I went with and would STRONGLY recommend the Signature Combo; this consists of the famous ‘Guru Roll’ and 6 pieces of nigiri: tuna, salmon, yellowtail, white fish, eel, and shrimp. The fish was generous on the nigiri; unfortunately so much on the Guru Roll.
Granted the fish was very fresh and delicious, I will say that the rolls (Guru roll + Salmon Lover’s) were a bit disappointing in terms of quantity. However, the service is fantastic, and adhered to my friend’s request for spicy mayo as well as my request for fresh jalapeño slices (I’m Indian, can’t help it). The freshness of the fish and the quality of service makes this place a solid 4-​stars. I would recommend going here, but get ready to seriously spend for a filling meal!

I never knew this place existed until tonight. It is AMAZING! Best sushi I have ever had and one of the best ginger dressings also… A lot of restaurants use too much mayo. The fish was really fresh… The spicy tuna roll wasn’t diced tuna which I like a lot better. Overall best sushi!

Sushi Guru — Or, what I like to refer to as, «Underground Sashimi Palace.» Whether it’s a fitting moniker or not, I don’t care. On the outside, you feel like you’re walking into some corny shopping plaza. Then, upon entering, it feels like some mid-​century gothic village — et al designs and flooring.
Then, in the corner, you notice Sushi Guru. Just minding its own business and waiting for you to crave sushi and sashimi. I’ve only ever been for lunch, but every time has been better than the last.
From the requisite house salad with ginger dressing to the simple maki, it’s a home run every time. Service is great and the prices are always rather fare. Upon my most recent visit, a colleague and I opted for one of the lunch platters, as well as a few additional maki rolls. Of worthy note were the spicy tuna (good amount of heat) and the softshell crab roll. Goodness gracious that was one flavorful roll of sushi. The presentation couldn’t have been more spectacular with all of the crunchy crab posed as if it were crawling out of the rice and nori. I loved it.
Definitely one of my favorite options for sushi and sashimi in Crown Town. Looking forward to many more visits.

Very clean eating and consistent with their quality of fish and service. We come here every now and then and always our first choice in Charlotte. Will return!

Favorite place for sushi in Charlotte! We first came here for a sushi making class that was taught by the owner. Great class and lots of samples of their top rolls which made us come back for dinner. The potsticker appetizer is really good and you can’t go wrong with any of their rolls.

Hidden gem! This place is so good. I’ve never been disappointed. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. The sushi is creative and fresh. The service is attentive and wonderful. I have liked everything I have tried here. Will come back for sure.

New favorite sushi spot!
Just moved to the Southpark area, and had to try this place out. My husband and I were not disappointed. We’ve been several times within the past few months, and have had great service, and amazing quality sushi! Great date night spot.

So I think I have found a close contender to my beloved Pisces. Sushi Guru provides fresh, in-​house made, and creative sushi rolls. I had to contain myself from ordering one of everything!
It’s a small little place tucked away in the shopping center across the street from Southpark mall and located alongside Rooster’s. When you enter, you step into this open courtyard area with the restaurant entrance to the right. It’s pretty small on the inside. When my friend and I went early on a Saturday evening, we were able to choose our on seating.
I went with the orange crush (which was one of the drink specials that night) for my cocktail, edamame for an app, and went with the guru roll based on the raves found here on Unilocal.The cocktail and edamame were all right but the guru roll was the true star. Heaps of flavor and deliciousness.
I know, if you’re in the area and craving sushi, Cowfish is the spot du jour for the area but I STRONGLY SUGGEST stopping into Sushi Guru because most likely Cowfish will have a ridiculous wait time. At Sushi Guru you’ll be met with inventive and delicious sushi rolls.

A-​M-​A-​Z-​I-​N-​G!!! This was our first time there we were anxious to try it! We started with the shrimp spring rolls which were good, but nothing to write home about.
But the sushi… Oh the sushi! We had the Wasabi rolls after reading a friend’s review & they were amazing! Some bites gave you the kick of wasabi more than others! The fiery rolls were delicious with a thick cut of tuna and avocado. We also enjoyed the Guru rolls which was a unique combination & topped with fried shallots & garlic! We also got hamachi jalapeño roll that was fresh, citrusy & delicious!
We have definitely found our favorite sushi restaurant in Charlotte! Can’t wait to go back!

Great fresh fish. In in a toss up between here and rusans right now. Amazing flavor on all of my rolls. Decent price 14 dollars for 2 rolls. Will have to give it a few more tries but after just one try I’m hooked. Could take the cake for favorite sushi spot in town

I’m going to admit it… The only reason I came here was the Living Social deal I scored last week. Who am I kidding? The only reason I even know this place exists is because of Living Social. And, I’m here to tell you that is a damn shame! Where has Sushi Guru been hiding my whole life? Oh, that’s right… Inside the weird shopping mall/​foyer/​breezeway thingy behind Roosters. I mean, seriously. Could they find a more random location?
Anyhow, I am SO excited to have discovered this sushi gem. (Thanks, Living Social!) We had the avocado tuna salad to start. Presented in a fun martini glass, the tuna was super fresh and plentiful. The sesame ginger dressing it was all tossed in was very tasty. I’d buy bottles of the stuff to take home if they’d sell it to me. After that, we shared the Bonsai and Guru roll. Both were delicious and beautifully presented but the Guru was the clear favorite. When we go back — oh, we will be back and often at that — I think the Guru will be the stand-​by order and the 2^nd roll will rotate until we can try them all and discover another favorite.
My only caution is that the rolls are a little on the pricey side (@$ 12 – 16 per roll for the speciality ones) for sushi. This is no Ru-​Sans or Sushi 101, price wise, but the flavor, freshness and quality are well worth the few extra dollars per roll.

Sometime last year we went to the sushi making class for date night and had a blast. We added this place to our list of restaurants to try but did not get around to it until I saw a coupon on LivingSocial which gave us the perfect excuse to go for dinner.
We arrived a little after 6:00pm and we were promptly seated. We shared the shrimp spring rolls (you get three rolls) which were hot and delicious. We decided on the Guru Roll, The Queen City Roll and the Wasabi Roll. The Guru Roll was good but a little too much garlic for a sushi roll in my opinion. The Queen City Roll was absolute perfection with a beautiful presentation and delicious combination. I don’t think I have tried lobster on sushi before but I am totally sold after eating this roll! The Wasabi Roll was good too but the other two rolls were eclipsed by the scrumptious Queen City.
We decided to splurge on dessert and ordered the donut roll. This is where our experience went down a bit, over half an hour after we ordered the roll we decided we had waited long enough and cancelled our order to get the check. The waitress was very kind about it and offered to bring it out to go free of charge which was great but it took her another 15 minutes to get the check together and bring it out. We left over 45 minutes after ordering the dessert but I will say it was almost worth it when I sampled it when we got home. It has fruit inside but tastes like it was fried with donut dough and was still warm. I was very impressed with the ability to not just make sushi taste like a donut, but a yummy on at that!
I would give this restaurant a 4.5 if I could but I am always impressed when a restaurant holds itself to a high standard. We had asked to cancel the order but since it had been such a long wait the waitress took it off of the bill and I believe pushed it through to make sure we were able to bring it home and try it. I am glad she did so I will round up to a 5. We will definitely return!

This place is my and the hubby’s favorite sushi place in Charlotte. The service is always great and they are willing to accommodate any special requests you may have. The fish is fresh and the rolls are consistent. We don’t see a huge need to try different sushi places since we’ve found this spot.

Went to a move in South Park and was starving after and only had so many choices still open and luckly Sushi Guru was open and available right away! Love the service there, have never had a bad server and the sushi is always on point. I got the specialty salmon roll and tuna tataki — fresh and yummy and fast! I think Sushi Guru is my official go-​to spot whenever I have that sushi craving.

I have been to Sushi Guru several times for dinner, but for this trip, my best friend and I attended the Sushi making class given by the Sushi Guru himself, Cy Santos. He was both delightful and informative throughout the class. The class included the ingredients needed and instruction on how to make two different kinds of sushi rolls, samples of the Guru specialty roll, edamame, and hot sake. It was such a fun way to spend an evening and a great idea for a date night.

I don’t know what people are talking about. I had such high expectations of this place, it being rated comparably to RuSan.
The décor was lacking, the service was VERY slow (15 min wait for a miso soup, around 40 min wait for 2 rolls — the place was busy but not overrun by people), and the prices are pretty appalling for what I got -$ 13 for a roll that had a sliver of jalapeño and a thin of a sliver of hamachi on top, while being like a less-​than-​California roll on the inside was the nail in the coffin. I will post a picture of what my roll looked like (too bad I cannot attach it to the review).
Perhaps there is inconsistency in how rolls are made, and we just ended up with sub-​par ones, but that would be a problem in and of itself. Consistency is key, so expectations are met.
I am Back to RuSan. Sushi Guru, you made a very bad first impression.

We went to one of their «How to make Sushi» classes, and it was great! The Owner/​Executive Chef teaches the class, so you are getting taught the real thing. Here is how our class went.
— Learned the tools needed for sushi making
— Got some edamame to share with fellow classmates
— Continued learning some basics and where to get items
— Got their signature roll to share with the table (16 pieces for 10 people)
— Learn how to make the Tuna Roll
— Make the first roll (Most if not all of the chefs are now out helping you learn)
— Get your complimentary sake (Hot sake)
— Learn how to make the California Roll
— Make the California Roll
— Teacher shows off a few tricks
All in all, the class takes about 2 – 2.5 hours, so be prepared for a late night. The instructions were great, and the environment was a lot of fun. You also get to take the bamboo sheet that you use to roll up the sushi. We will definitely be coming back to eat at this restaurant.

Came on a Thursday evening with a big group (aka my family, 7 people) and it wasn’t crowded at all. The server was enthusiastic and to make things easier we just got the All Star Combo where we got to choose 4 specialty rolls and chef’s choice: 16 pcs of nigiri and 9 pcs of sashimi. We had one person allergic to shellfish, so we were able to sway the chef’s choices and we weren’t disappointed. The only critical thing for me was the red snapper nigiri was chewy, but red snapper isn’t my favorite choice anyways. We got to try the best of the basics — salmon, tuna, escolar.
We enjoyed the meal and the specialty rolls were pretty good, but not something you can’t get anywhere else. Good place for moderate priced sushi and good service!

I’ve been back to Sushi Guru now about 8 times. Each and EVERY time I get their Signature Sushi Guru roll, just tempting them to have an off night. Well, they haven’t! That roll STILL IS UBER AWESOME! I’ve tried now for months to find a BETTER sushi shop. Please IF you know of one BETTER than Sushi Guru, PLEASE let me know! I’ve tried Pisces, Enzo, Ru San, Room 112… all really good, but none better than Sushi Guru. Maybe because that Guru Roll is so DAMNED GOOD? It floats my boat.
Before you tell me your Sushi place is «better,» please make sure you’ve tried the Sushi Guru Roll so we can compare apples to apples, OK? I really am looking for competition to this place… just to see IF it can be beat. So far Sushi Guru is the UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF CHARLOTTE! WOO HOO! :-)

Yumm Yumm Yumm — delicious sushi!
At first you think its just in a shopping center outlet, but then you walk in and the atmosphere is quite sophisticated. Even inside they have some artworks and paintings on the wall, that you could even buy — like an art gallery.
Best Tip about this place: They don’t offer non-​alcholic beer and some other drink options, however you are allowed to go across the way to the other restaurant (Rooster’s) and bring back any drinks that Sushi Guru does not offer — pretty sweet and accommodating of them!