Sushi Bears

Chef Dan just catered my engagement party tonight and I couldn’t be happier. The food was amazing,)The clean up was a breeze and the atmosphere was super fun. Dan’s food was outstanding and everyone was complimenting the presentation. Thank you chef Dan!

My overall experience was cool.

Reading these other reviews, I’m really surprised to see that some didn’t enjoy their experience here.
Today, my boyfriend and I took a 2 hour sushi making class. It was delightful! Very hands-​on. We participated in every step, and it tasted amazing! Just like sushi you would get at a restaurant.
There were plenty of options for different ways to make your sushi. It was a friendly environment and they closed the whole place down for our class so it was incredibly private. I really felt like I learned how to learn sushi.
The only downfall was that the class was very hard to schedule. There weren’t very many available classes and I ended up having to schedule over a month out from the time that I first called. I suggest they create an online reservation process.
Other than that I would definitely go back as long as I had a groupon. Another tip — if you bought a groupon, be prepared to pay the $ 2.75 tax with cash or card when the class is finished.

Pretty disappointed – i called on Friday to schedule, and had a couple questions. I bought off of groupon. Left voicemail. Tomorrow will be a week and still have not heard anything back. Looks like some of the reviews were right…

My wife and i and another couple took the sushi making class on June 22, 2014. We had the best time. It really was great. Erin did a very nice job showing approximately 16 of us how to roll sushi. We had a lot of fun.
The only issue I had was how difficult it was to schedule a class. If they would just put the class schedule and number of open spots on the web, it would be fixed from my perspective.
Again, I would definitely recommend this fun and reasonably priced activity. It’s a great thing to do with friends. We took a bottle of wine and really enjoyed ourselves.

Unlike other reviews my experience was a blast. Everyone in our group (three groups of two) all had the groupon and had no problems using it. Chef Erin (??) was very informative about rolling sushi and how to make it at home. We all even discussed taking another cooking class from her.

I should have read the reviews as well — they were impossible to get ahold of and I bought the LivingSocial late November and when I called to schedule in early, early Dec they said they were booked/​closed until mid January but my LivingSocial voucher was supposed to expire mid February. I had to wait until January also to even book something since they weren’t sure of the schedule when I initially called, and was only offered three slots to choose from within the month that I had left on my voucher… I chose one that happened to work for my boyfriend and I but on the day of, there had been some snow the night before so I spent all morning calling them trying to see if they were actually going to be there if we showed up. Couldn’t get ahold of anyone so we went down to their location and no one was there! I didn’t hear back from anyone until LATE that night saying that someone had called everyone telling them that it would be canceled but no one ever called me and NO apology at all or attempt to reschedule. I will not be recommending them in the future — too bad, they could have a cool thing going. Thankfully I was able to get a credit back on LivingSocial at least…

I would like to rather pridefully think that I am a bubble tea connoisseur. It’s one of my absolute favorite drinks of all time, and I haven’t found one in Ohio yet that I am even mildly pleased with. I realize that I have pretty high standards given the fact that I moved here from California where the boba shops flowed freely and deliciously.
I knew I was taking a risk when I ordered a boba drink from here, especially after I asked the (manager/​owner?) employee if I could have taro flavor. He stated they didn’t have taro. But… but. there was a picture of a purple, taro drink on the advertisement in front of the store!!! I inquired about why this was there, and he stated that he found that by putting five instead of four drinks, people purchased bubble tea more, so it worked well for marketing. Right, well … if you are advertising something you don’t have, maybe put it toward the back so people don’t automatically think you have that specific item to sell, is what I was thinking.
I chose mango instead, and when he handed me my drink, I said «You should really consider putting taro on the menu!» To which he responded «A lot of people say that, but I don’t really like that taste so that’s why it’s not on there.»
Um, forreals?! I have a very on-​the-​side baking business that I run from my home, and that would be like if someone ordered a spice cake from me and I responded «Yeah, I get that you ordered this, but I don’t really like spice cake, so I decided not to make that recipe anymore.»
Not a great way to run your business, bro. If you have people suggesting to you that you should have a certain type of drink, might be a good idea to listen to the advice of your customers!!!
Oh yeah, and my actual drink? I took ONE SIP and threw it in the trash can. A $ 3 drink, wasted in the trash can. The boba was WAY too mushy and had NO flavor at all. And the mango was a mix, probably made from powder, with mostly milk.
Thanks, but no thanks. I can buy my own boba at the asian market for WAY CHEAPER, make it at home myself, and I know it will taste SO MUCH BETTER! Cincinnati really needs some decent boba, but until then I’ll satisfy my urges during yearly trips to CA or by just making it at home. I took the risk, and it was totally not worth it.

I respect pride in what you do but speaking to a potential customer as if they know nothing about food and beverage is rather insulting. Then delivering a terrible product after that is adding salt to the wound. Pass BOTH locations up.

I am really upset to see these guys get poor reviews.
I also had a grouping and attended with a girlfriend this pass Sundays on main street. I thought the small little venue in OTR had alot of charm. I personally would like to decorate and hang some pics up.hehe. The class was hands on and I Very much did learn and get schooled on the sushi rolls. I bragged about the class to a few of my friends and plan on going to Findley market next Sundays to buy the goods to make it myself. Use it or lose it, right? Jake the instructor was helpful, fun, and cute… I so would attend another class!
Also, I didn’t think the class was that hard to book. Once I called and left message… lady got back with me, told her I’d check my calender and would get make. Second call she answered on the spot and got me in no problems… plus a reminder call…
I truly hope these guys make it… oh, everyone was drinking wine and beer throughout the class and having a blast. Much fun!

I was so excited to take an Indian cooking class. Too bad I didn’t check the reviews first. First of all, it was extremely difficult to schedule the class. I got the Groupon, and I’m glad I did, because I would have felt gypped to pay $ 40 for the class I got.
Our instructors were not very experienced. One was training and it was his first class, and the other had only been teaching classes for one week. They were very nice, though. As somebody who does cook, I was not impressed with how they prepared the food. I was expecting to actually participate in the class, but this was more a demo where occasionally someone could stir or chop something. People given stuff to chop were not given gloves (initially) or hand sanitizer, nor did we wash our hands.
There were three dishes– one was Indian curry, one they added frozen spinach it it became saag, and the third they added some tomato paste and it was masala. It was also odd to eat them with short grain rice (leftover from the sushi class), which was cold and unappetizing.
If the instructors weren’t nice and I wasn’t with a group of friends, and we didn’t get a great deal on Groupon, it would have terrible. I definitely would not recommend this class, no matter how inexpensive it may be.

Took the sushi class yesterday with the Groupon my friend purchased. After it was done, even with the Groupon we thought it was a ripoff, but I had read some reviews beforehand and pretty much expected that. The Groupon advertises a 2-​hour class, they tell you an hour and a half when you call to reserve, but the class started at 1:30 and we were done well before 2:30. $ 20/​person for less than an hour with the deal… I can’t imagine paying the $ 40/​person normal charge for that amount of time!
The class itself was somewhere between meh and ok. A culinary student taught while Chef Dan taught another class next door. The room was warm and you sit in close quarters at the cooking table, so dress lightly. Beverages were allowed but it was kind of hard to drink once our gloves were on — I should’ve poured mine into a cup or left the top off the bottle.
We made 3 rolls total — a ‘regular’ roll with rice on the inside, an inside-​out roll with the rice on the outside, then the third one was your choice and the teacher judged who won the contest. I would have preferred a demo of how to make each roll before we actually made them, instead of her telling/​showing us at the same time. That could have helped stretch out the total class time as well. Plus I learn better if I see something done first, then afterwards have help while I’m doing it.
We got to eat our creations as soon as we finished each round. They did have soy sauce and wasabi but it would have been nice to have little bowls to mix them in. Also, it was kind of off-​putting that she told us to keep the gloves on the whole time because she didn’t have more, so we would dip our hands into the communal ingredient bowls, eat, then repeat. Clearly it didn’t worry me too much because I still ate everything, but my friend who works in the corporate food industry was a little squeamish about it. We got an instructional DVD at the end of the class but I haven’t watched it yet to know if it’s useful or not.
We salvaged the day by going to get Streetpops afterwards and then headed to Smale Park. I feel like the class would be better if they made some of the suggested improvements or made the regular price more like $ 10−15/person.

I simply cannot bear another trip to Sushi Bears!
Know what’s worse than that pun? The food and service we received today at Sushi Bears. This place is a joke.
As we approached, the dude behind the counter already looked as though he was becoming completely unglued but we had the Living Social deal (which expires April 5^th) so we were pretty much committed.
We sat down and perused the menu. While we were making up our minds, a guy stops by and orders something. He is told that it’ll be about ten to fifteen minutes. Dude behind the counter starts fumbling around with plastic and tin containers of stuff and informs us that we can place our order since he can «multi-​task» (doubtful). We give him our order (they were out of paneer, boo) and he lets us know that there will be a fifteen to twenty minute wait. Meanwhile two other women approach the counter. He immediately informs them that there will be a thirty to forty minute wait and proceeds to rattle off three reasons why this is so.
Okay.
Then he apologizes and asks us for our order again (so much for multi-​tasking). Somewhere in all of this he manages to totally unload on us. He has a cooking class in ten minutes, he needs more staff but the owners don’t care, everyone is coming in last minute to cash in the Living Social deals and they all want the house-​made paneer, yadda, yadda, yadda.
And then informs us that our food will be ready in thirty to forty-​five minutes.
Ookaaay.
We pay (note: dude does not take off gloves while handling our cash and the other lady’s credit card) and back away slowly. We, then, start off on an impromptu shopping trip through Findlay which, sadly, was the highlight of our Sushi Bears experience.
We return thirty minutes later to see a couple leave the counter saying, «hope your day gets better.» So apparently, this dude uses all of his customers for miniature therapy sessions. Classy!
Our food is pretty much ready. We ask if we can eat at the counter and are told that it’s fine to do so but when I open my dish and take a bite, it’s cold (and, no, I had not ordered the sushi).
Yum, cold curry. Hey, thanks, guy!
I let my husband know that it was cold and we should just cut our losses and go. While we’re packing up our food to go, I watch dude take a freshly wrapped sushi roll and place it on a refrigerator shelf, no plate, nothing. Yuck.
Okay, now had we known we were going to wind up driving back home to reheat our food, we never would have ordered the crappy drinks. I would’ve liked to try the grass lemonade but it would have taken about forty minutes to prepare the wheat grass. So, I ordered the cinnamon-​less cinnamon apple cider and my husband got the black chai bubble tea and they both sucked.
Pretty much like our dishes sucked. We essentially paid eight bucks (okay, four with the Living Social deal) for a pound of white rice lightly dressed with a curry sauce that lacked, both, chicken and flavor. The chicken masala (also $ 8) was super tomato-​y and not particularly tasty but at least there was actually some chicken and it was covered in sauce. The naan was probably store bought and I haven’t even bothered to try the sushi sitting in the fridge because everything else was so overwhelmingly underwhelming.
But, dear Unilocalers, do you want to know the stupidest thing that happened at Sushi Bears today? I actually tipped this guy! What?! Why?
Because I pitied him. He was overworked and completely in over his head. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed that I tipped him because the food he created turned out to be just as crappy as the inappropriate and unprofessional service he provided. But, what can I say, I’m a chump.
I guess the moral of this cautionary tale is don’t tip out of pity.
Oh, and stay away from Sushi Bears. It’s the worst.

I went to the Indian Cooking class here and found it to be ok, nothing special. The class was not hands on at all, but I did learn a few things about general Indian cooking that if I ever make the effort, will help make things run smoothly. The food we ate was certainly not healthy, even though it was vegetarian (2 sticks of butter, whipping cream), I would have enjoyed healthier alternatives if it was available. SB is located at one of the busy intersections near Taste of Belguim and all the people walking through the area is a little distracting and often loud.
The workers were friendly and kinda snarky, which made it a little fun. They deserve more than 2 stars. I think the biggest problem I had was the owner’s (Chef Dan) lack of communication when I called regarding questions I had about the class. Apparently his relaxed personality and inability to promptly return voicemails has not hurt his business.
I also had one of the bubble teas, wheatgrass shot, and a sample of the wheatgrass apple cider. The bubble tea was decent and the wheatgrass was better than I have had in the past. The apple cider was interesting and would be a good alternative for those that don’t enjoy the raw, earthy taste of basic wheatgrass.
If you take either the sushi or Indian cooking class, they are ok and might make for unique date ideas. Since I used a groupon for this, the class was priced nicely and I did walk away with a decent number of leftovers. I wish I could rate this a little higher, but the experience was just so-​so.

The smoothie that we got was basically tasteless and we had to wait quite a long time for it. There are other smoothie places in Findlay, so please shop around. It was also strange to me that they also offer Indian and Chinese food. While I’m all-​for interracial marriages, I object to this one!

This is an odd place, but it has a lot of charm. It’s a great unique place in the market. I love all the vegetarian options.
They have a weird, odd, cool? fusion of random things like some Indian, bubble tea and mango sushi.
The sushi itself is in my opinion not the best ever. But then, that’s to be expected, and they aren’t claiming to be some 40 year veterans from the top Japanese sushi house. This is fresh, new fusion food. For that, it’s light, healthy and has good flavor.
I would perhaps say they should get a 3 star review for food, but I like the bold underdog in them and think that earns them the extra star.

With a name like Sushi Bears, I thought the sushi would be at least decent. My expectations were low to start with, but I thought I’d give it a try. However the sushi is terrible — it was very dry and had very little flavor. Additionally, it kept falling apart, and the presentation was poor. I know it was in a to go box, but there was pieces sticking out of the ends, and it was kind of all thrown together. The wheat grass lemonade was alright — I’d never tried anything like that before — I think it just isn’t for me.

It’s rare that I find a «fusion» restaurant whose menu «fuses» everything I like: sushi, bubble tea, stir fry and saag paneer.
Located in Findlay Market, right across the aisle from Taste of Belgium, Sushi Bears serves up four varieties of vegan rolls. I had the Philadelphia Roll, which included tofu, cucumber and avocado. There were ten medium sized pieces surrounded in fluffy rice and served with a side of soy sauce. The sushi was okay: a bit dry and bland, leaving something to be desired. It was served in a pie tin without chopsticks.
Unfortunately, it was all down hill from there. Later, I returned to try the Saag Paneer, and Bubble Tea. The Saag was pre-​made and pulled out of the refrigerator and microwaved. Made with frozen spinach, the meal was served over luke warm rice.
The Bubble Tea was disgusting; I threw mine away. The tea was watered down and flavorless; not creamy at all. The tapioca bubbles were not soft and gummy-​like, but were instead small, hard, and inedible. Bubble Tea is my all-​time favorite drink; I was shocked to find out that this beverage can actually taste poorly. Even more shocked that I actually threw away a Bubble Tea.
I heard this place being called a variety of names: Sushi Bears, Bolly Bears, Basil Bears… it’s all the same poor quality cuisine, the brand just changes based on what’s being cooked.
Best advice: if you’re at Findlay Market and hear the word «Bears,» it’s best to run far, far away.
Price per person: $ 6.00

Love the Wheatgrass Lemonade! Great stuff. I also like the sushi and the pricing. Overall, a place I definately visit everytime I go to Findlay Market.

Truly a jack of all trades, master of none. The menu is all over the place — pick a cohesive theme, people!
I decided to try some of their unorthodox sushi, and was very underwhelmed. There was the motherlode of rice surrounding a mayo-​drowned imitation crabmeat — it’s a lot like how I imagine sushi would be if it were made by an old caucasian woman living on a farm in Kentucky. It’s pretty bad when the chipotle of sushi (fusian) makes a better and less expensive roll.
I also decided to try a grass lemonade drink which consisted of lemonade with wheatgrass. I have no clue why I expected this to taste like anything other than lemonade that had grass accidentally dropped into it. I suppose I was hoping to balance out all the harm the mayo and chemically-​enhanced faux-​seafood did, but it really did taste like i was drinking lemonade far too close to the mulcher of a moving lawnmower.
In summation — I’m not that hard up for vegetarian food. While the person at the counter was very nice, it just wasn’t worth the cost.