Uncommon Ground

My whole family has been going since 2006 when it was at the old location by Voertmans. The head chef treats us like family and the waiters are always friendly. I love sushi and this is the only place I go to in Denton.

I’ve never seen the name «uncommon ground» before, it just looks like it’s called «sushi café.» I wanted to like this place over the years, mostly because it’s close and convenient on campus. I always leave disappointed b/​c it’s too expensive, and the sushi mostly comes out caked in sweet syrups. Maybe this is to mask the fact that the ingredients aren’t that fresh. The miso soup was pretty bad, and overly salty. Never got tea or coffee from here but why bother? The only time sushi is relatively cheap is during 1 odd hour of the day. Don’t waste your time. Chopsticks and I love sushi are both better.

I love this place and I live right across the street now so it’s so convenient! BUT I went last week and when looking at my bank statement I realized yesterday that the server had added to the already 15% tip for a TO GO order. I went today to speak with a manager. First was told I couldn’t talk to him. When I explained why the person got him for me. He said sorry, but acted like he really didn’t care very much. I won’t ever go back. It’s not okay that they think it’s okay for their patrons to be stolen from.

A friend and I went to this sushi bar and ordered 2 rolls each. My friend is allergic to nuts and asked for no nuts to top the sushi. She brought out the sushi topped with something that looked like «bread crumbs». We asked the waiter what it was and she didnt know but insisted it was fine. We had to ask a different waitress for confirmation and in fact it was NUTS. The original waiter did not take full responsibilty and charged for having to make the sushi over again. Was that our fault or hers… exactly. Horrible service, and super expensive for a college student. Never coming back. Save your money.

I’ve only been here once but I was impressed. I had the spicy california roll and my boyfriend had the steak fried rice. The sushi was fresh and I enjoyed it a lot! My boyfriend liked his plate too but there are a lot of veggies in it which he wasn’t so happy about but once he picked around them he was okay. My total for my sushi came out to be $ 3 because it was happy hour. This made me a very happy customer and I will definitely be back!

Great place, really only worth it if you come during the 3−4pm happy hour when rolls are half priced during the week (on weekends I think it’s 5 – 7). Also get something other than the California roll! The others are much better. Also you can only get one half priced roll per person so it’s better to go when you’re not too hungry but just want some good food. I love this place and the sushi is good and worth it during the happy hour!

Please do NOT waste your time or money here. I went despite bad Google reviews because it’s right down the street. I went in and the waitresses were awful, the consistent criticism of the service is extremely accurate. The staff just does not seem to care about the restaurant. I ordered shrimp sushi, salmon sushi and miso soup. The miso soup was just okay. The shrimp and sushi on the other hand were AWFUL, «cheap» texture, if that makes any sense, and did not taste fresh. Licking the inside of an aquarium at Petsmart would have been more worth the $ 9.00 than this disappointment. Horrible quality food and the staff seem like depressed, resentful people. I will keep looking for a good sushi place in Denton.

Good sushi (not very traditional style), decent service (they do not have a large enough waitstaff), and a full bar (which is sort of unnecessary as they have much higher prices than the Fry Street bars). I go here about once every few months and it is the sushi alone that keeps me coming back. I wish they still had a coffee bar, even if it was an odd combination.

Service is always terrible, but the food is always delicious. The double shrimp roll is what I will eat on my deathbed.
Go Friday or Saturday from 5 – 7. Sushi is half-​priced.

Used to chill in this place all the time during college. It’s walking distance from campus. They have coffee AND sushi. Quite the uncommon combo, but they definately make it work.
Decent coffee, great place to sit and study between classes because they don’t crank the music and people are generally pretty quiet. And you can get a sake bomb! What’s not to like?

Delicious sushi, I especially recommend coming at lunch and getting the WOW roll combo (comes with miso soup, avocado salad, and a Wow roll.) I’ve never been unsatisfied with an order, though a friend got some ice cream and was muy disappointed at how tiny the portion was for ~$ 4.
All that being said, I’ve had the worst waitress experience of my life here. I’m ultra patient with servers, I don’t need you hovering but making eye contact and trying not to be a total bitch while you’re answering questions that customers have is pretty standard. Try not to hand a box for leftovers to our table while still talking about your drunk friend with the other (far more competent and friendly) server. I understand that your friends were seated at the bar, and you were dying for us to get the hell out of there… but it wasn’t even 8:00PM yet. C’mon.

Who ever does not like this sushi place should be called crazy!!! This sushi is going on! This place is Korean owned, so they know what they are doing! They’ve also got many happy hour and specials.
I’ll tell you a trick… order the california roll (I think $ 5) and add the mayonaise sauce and you pretty much got your self a whole new roll!
Taste delicious!!! And saves you money!!! I love the rolls here because I am always satisfied. My order is always made fresh. Plus the quality of the food tastes so much better than others I’ve tried. I know good sushi. And this is!

I’ve eaten here about 5 times, it is one of my «must-​eat» places every time I visit Denton. Every time, I’ve enjoyed fresh, delicious, humongous rolls at prices that are quite comparable to every other mid-​range sushi restaurant I’ve visited. They make accommodations (no cucumber for my dining partner) without complaint and service has always been great. I’m surprised that this has the rating it does, I have always left Uncommon Ground in an ecstatic food coma.
Faves: the cajun roll with the crawfish, the crunch roll, the dragon roll, and the bulgogi roll. Delicious.

I am totally holding out hope for this place to be PERFECT… I’ve tried it twice, both times at lunch and ordered a lunch special both times — they don’t seem to know what the specials actually include! So the order over all is messed up but dang those rolls are HUGE and sooooo tasty! Tasty enough to somewhat ignore the fact that I’m used to a sort-​of cool or chilled plate for my sushi and these have not been! The plates are warm, it is a concern of mine — getting sick from sushi but so far so good here, the thought will probably always be in my mind. There are a few rolls on the menu that don’t need to be — anything with cheese?! … something else to overlook, not sure where they were going with that but its best to ignore it and go for the W.O.W
I have had pretty awesome sushi so this place is pretty good all things considered, it honestly exceeded my expectations as a college-​town sushi place that looks kinda run down. («don’t judge a book by its cover» comes to mind).

I’ve been here a couple of times, and I have to say that overall, it’s pretty mediocre (I’m rounding up here, for sure).
First, they have sub-​par sushi at fancy sushi prices. You get quite a lot of it, but it isn’t rolled properly (has a layer of rice on the ends) and the ingredients aren’t great. I ordered a tuna roll with chives or something, expecting the chives to be a nice counterbalance for the natural sweetness of the tuna. I was wrong, since the tuna didn’t have that characteristic tuna flavor… not much taste at all, actually. So it’s not going to make you sick but it’s not great either. I also had their eel rolls, which are, for some reason, pieces of eel on top of california rolls. Maybe this is a standard at US sushi places that I didn’t know about, but it was not very good. The california roll lacked much flavor and the roll was too tall to eat in any natural manner. The eel was good because it’s eel, which was given to us by Prometheus in times of old (and lo, he was punished). They have a perfectly fine spicy tuna roll that a friend of mine likes, because it tastes like Sriracha sauce, which is delicious.
They have a sign saying «half price sushi 3−4». Apparently this is only two specific daily options that are half price. I should’ve asked earlier, I guess, but I was surprised at my bill. I guess I would’ve preferred an asterisk or something on the sign.
I have also tried one of the non-​sushi options, and I was happy with it. In fact if that’s all I’d had it would be a 4 star review or so. The item I tried was the one labeled as something like «Japanese Hot Stone Bowl», and it was interesting. Veggies and rice and some kind of meat (I think, it’s been a while), topped with a barely cooked egg, all in a hot bowl. The egg is meant to be cooked to your preference on the hot stone bowl and that’s fine, and after cooking it the yolk adds a nice richness to the rest of the dish. I’m not sure if this is actually a Japanese thing (I know of something similar in Korea) but it’s good anyhow. They also have Bulgogi-​type stuff that I haven’t tried (owners might be Korean).

Uncommon Grounds is one of the very restuarants that I’ve been to in the Lewisville/​Denton area that actually have great sushi. Aside from the first sushi I have ever been to, this is great because it’s in a great location (close to the bars), they offer great service and the college atmosphere are just a few thing that makes me keep wanting more Uncommon Grounds.
A few not so hot comments would be the waiting period between ordering and actually receiving my sushi is ridiculous (You are not cooking anything why is it taking so long) But my budding temper was replaced with delight once I popped a california in mouth.
Another not so hot comment would be: This may be personal prefrences but I tried the green tea ice cream and it wasn’t that great, it actually tasted like I sprayed some air freshner and got some caught in my mouth.
Aside from a few downsides this sushi places is essentially great college hangout for sushi fanatics like myself.

They have sushi with mayonnaise and melted cheese on top. If this sounds appealing to you, you will love it! Good coffee.