Sakura Bana Japanese Restaurant

I didn’t expect the much. But actually taste so good!! waitress was really nice n attentive. I went there at happy hours. you can get go deal with good quality food!

This place used to be my go-​to inexpensive sushi place but not anymore. Fish is not so fresh. I also got baked mussels-​super rubbery. House red win is cheap red wine. Horrible taste. Sadly, service is not so good either. Overall, not so much a great experience here and it was supposed to be happy hour sushi but for two people our bill came out to $ 70?! That’s not happy hour. We will not be coming back here. :(

As someone who doesn’t eat fish often, this was by far the best restaurant I’ve been too. The wait was long, but the food was well worth it! My boyfriend and I stopped in without knowing anything about it and were blown away. Even after 3 rolls and hand rolls each we wanted more! Anything you get, you will not be disappointed!

We have been going to this restaurant for years to meet up with friends nearby. They love this place and so we always end up there for dinner. Always friendly service and consistently good sushi. We usually get the salmon roll and crunchy roll, fried tofu appetizer, salad, and cold beers. Atmosphere is casual and comfortable, quiet enough for conversations. They have a patio area that is nice in the summer. Location is great in downtown Encinitas, walking distance from Moonlight Beach. Great place for visitors and locals. Good happy hour deal!

Super affordable, super yummy. Everything from classic rolls to specialty rolls… It’s all delicious. Come here after 5:30 for happy hour. We were served quickly, by nice staff. Atmosphere is nice. Music isn’t too loud– perfect for conversing. We’ll definitely be coming back!

This little sushi joint serves about average sushi but is in desperate need of a makeover… This place kinda lacks the ambiance and décor of the other restaurants in the area which puts it an automatic deficit. Have been here a couple of times and both times the staff was extremely friendly but the service was a bit slow, sushi was bland and the draft Sapporo was too warm. Overall, I love sushi but this joint just doesn’t do it for me… Fingers crossed for some improvement in food quality and modernization of the establishment.
Pros–
Friendly staff
Price
Plenty of parking
Location
Cons–
Very average food
Draft beer a bit too warm
In need of renovation
Food to table time a bit slow

I’m Unilocaling this as we are waiting for our food which has taken more than 30 minutes. I understand that we’re here for happy hour but now my beer is going to be warm when I finally get to enjoy my hand roll. What a bummer, I really liked this place :(

Took 20 minutes to be greeted and now 25 minutes later still haven’t received our sushi :/
Debating on leaving and just going to eat somewhere else

This is my favorite place when I get cravings for sushi but don’t want to spend $$$. Their happy hour deal with great. My favorite roll is jalapeño roll. Outside is soft thin seaweed, inside is tuna, pickled jalapeño and ginger. I know it is not an authentic sushi that is, but it tastes very authentic! I don’t know any other places make that roll. People here are very friendly and personable.
Thank you for serving good authentic Japanese food.

Go in for happy hour! Great sushi for really reasonable prices. The staff is really nice and the service is usually pretty fast as well. This is my favorite sushi spot in San Diego.

Sushi for people who like the idea of sushi but know very little of sushi.
Went here based on Encinitas magazines review, so boohoo to Encinitas magazine on your failed review.
I made the mistake of ordering a bunch of stuff at once when I could have ordered one thing… dropped less than $ 5 and moved on. Nope, stupid me ordered more than $ 70 worth of sushi, and some swill they attempt to pass as cold saki.
Strike the comment about getting out of there for less than $ 10… this actually could have been @ $ 0 with my first sign to move on. «Do you have any fresh wasabi?» «No» said chef Juan. Never again. This will be my hard rule from now on. Colored horseradish is NOT wasabi and is a sure sign of a kitchen willing to cut corners at all costs.
Second sign was the arrival of our Nigiri order. Two plates of Tuna and Salmon. You could see right away the obvious signs of machine cut frozen and pre colored fish slices. ICK! Nearly not enough green colored horseradish to go around. We found ourselves removing the fish from the rice that tasted like the rice machine either hadn’t been cleaned in a while or that plain sink water was used. Any water flavor comes through in rice… use filtered water please!
Our first couple sets of roles were nearly inedible to me. That drat rice again coupled with smelly iridescent seaweed and WARM!!! Please oh please please please… sushi should be as cold as possible your luke-​warm roles with inferior ingredients made me want to find a bucket fast.
Leaving the place we had to squeeze through a large crowed that had gathered waiting to get in. Living here for the last 30+ years I have come accustomed to the tourists and always attempt to make them feel welcomed in my town. Its tourist traps like this that have only survived by preying on the constant flow of non-​repeat visitors that drive me to want to start a hug-​a-​tourist campaign.
If you find yourself waiting in this place and reading this review… do yourself a favor and go piss on the toilet seat and make a quick exit.
*two tv’s at the sushi bar to distract you from noticing that the «chefs» have no knives

I got the rainbow roll and the fish on top was not fresh. I can’t eat gluten, so I can’t have gluten so the fried crab stick that they offer has gluten. I can’t have dairy so the imitation crab has dairy. The poor communication between the server and I. Nothing I asked for came out right. I won’t be going back. Poor quality.

My friend lives nearby this place, and he and his girlfriend (especially her) love this place. So as we were unfamiliar with Encinitas, we went with it.
It’s a really cute place. There’s a nice indoor area and faux-​patio area, where we sat. The menu has a corresponding picture-​menu to make it a little bit clearer what each special sushi roll has. The ordering system seems easy too. like a lot of Japanese places, you can tick off what nigiri’s or sushi’s you want on this sheet, but then the server will come along and write in other items if you picked from the regular menu. Food came out fairly fast. When (we) made an error in forgetting to check off one of the rolls we wanted, we brought it up and it was brought out fairly quickly thereafter. Otherwise the server seemed a little aloof and didn’t seem to like his job much. It «took a while» for him to get our orders, etc. but we actually didn’t really mind because we were socializing.
Prices are pretty good, but of course I am comparing it to Seattle prices. When I go and visit my buddy again, I’d gladly come back here. Yum!

i AM NOT SURE IF THE OLD OWNERS ARE BACK BUT THEY HAVE RE-​USED THE NAME. They have quite a large menu of specialty rolls, lunch bento boxes for reasonable prices. Only on chef at lunch which tends to slow things up. The staff is nice but not overly. Gets a few patrons in for lunch. Nothing to write home about but not bad either. The teriyaki sauce for the chix and salmon is fantastic. I love seaweed salad but the amount they give you is minute. I am not of fan of their sticky rice. I think this was the run off for me. A must get right. The rolls fall apart due to the loose roll and the rice being on the drier side. They do have some fantastic rolls. We loved ours.

my first experience here was amazing but this last Sunday, a friend and I decided to come here for dinner. we ordered from the happy hour menu and each got a speciality roll and a hand roll. our server took our orders but was nowhere in sight for the next 50 minutes… we waited over an hour for our food and there were 3 sushi chefs behind the bar. not to mention our rolls were very poorly made and falling apart once we FINALLY got them. not only did they look bad but they tasted terrible too. I was very disappointed especially because of how great my prior experiences were.

This place has been favorite for the past 25 years. Mako-​son is my favorite chef. He just knows how to make great sushi and makes the best spicy scallops I’ve ever had. It is dark in here but they have the largest sushi bar that wraps the whole restaurant. They also have private tatami rooms for parties that are special and private. Their teppan tables are so much fun and the chefs are cool and have been doing this for a long time. The food is incredible from steak, to shellfish and seafood. The vegetables that come off that grill are the best I’ve ever had! The sauces they serve are also a perfect match for the fishes or meats. The chef will tell you what sauce goes with what too. The servers are usually efficient. I like to sit at the sushi bar and pretty much only deal with my chef. Charlie has been the head of this establishment for a very long time and over the years have become less and less friendly. It would be nice to walk in and be welcomed by someone happy with a smile. That is my one complaint. The bar area is big and there are tv’s in there if you want to watch a sporting event. The bartenders are great and know their sakes. Very local place to eat.

Nice friendly service, good atmosphere but make sure you dip the fish into soy sauce, a lot. I mean a lot cause it just doesn’t taste good. Definitely avoid for your first sushi experience.

This place is hit or miss. I liked the sweet potato roll and veggie roll the best. Fish quality was alright but could be much better. Great drink specials as well.
They’re really busy Friday evening so plan ahead.
Service wasn’t the best. It took us a very long time to get what we needed.

For me, going out for «sushi» means one of two things — I’m going to a place where I definitely want to order sashimi & nigiri galore, or I’m going somewhere where… bento box it is. Sakura Bana definitely falls into category #2 for me. I haven’t had a bad experience with food here, it just doesn’t scream ocean fresh to me.
That said — a solid 3-​star experience. Came in on a Friday night around 7 and the house was nearly full. Service was on the slow side, and we didn’t see our waitress from the time we received food until she wanted our $. The salmon teriyaki dinner was good — I liked how the teriyaki came on the side. Salad was a little on the large side but extra veg never hurt anyone.
Definitely a good spot to cure any bento box craving.

God, what happened to this place?
When I was kid (oh, so very long ago), coming to Sakura Bana was a real treat saved for special days that I got to visit my dad. We would sit at the bar, no older brother around, and order our favorite rolls and try at least one new and strange thing each time. I’m pretty adventurous anyway when it comes to trying new things to eat, but I credit these trips out for sushi for my ease at taking culinary risks.
Well, except for Uni. That shit is, and always shall be, fuckin’ nasty.
Back then, with my limited experience and literary prose, I still would have given this place 5 stars with a glowing, page-​long recommendation. But even the best of things can not last. About a decade and a half ago, our favorite chef, Yama-​sama (I liked him that much), left to pursue opportunities at other restaurants and the quality at Sakura Bana suffered as a result. We stopped coming, finding other spots to dine at, and it quickly faded into memory.
About 10 years later, I was on a date and both of us wanted sushi; Sakura Bana was near the beach and perfect for a nice stroll through downtown after. I distinctly remember scrunching our faces in turn with every bite and joking with each other on the slowly declining look and taste of each roll. Jump forward another 5 years and when the love of my life excitedly pointed here on a leisurely drive-​by, I couldn’t help but wince.
Well, the Happy Hour wasn’t too horrible. If I had written this then, I would definitely have given them 3 stars, maybe even 4 if I had been feeling good that day. But, we’ve since been back a few times and the nostalgia has worn off. Sakura Bana just isn’t what it used to be.
Rolls aren’t packed as carefully as they should. Some dishes lack the simple flair they used to have as garnish ingredients seem to have been scaled back. The rice is served slightly warm, giving some rolls an odd flavor and making others messy as they fall apart without the needed chill. And the quality of fish is lackluster, the salmon is not cool and buttery and the tuna was kinda stringy. I think the Amaebi was the only thing I had the last time we went where I was impressed with the texture and taste.
Now, this all might be just because of happy hour prices; they might be just trying to get rid of stock that is close to the pull date from their fridge. The case might be drastically different after 8:00pm. But, with past experience, I really doubt it. As it is right now, Sakura Bana is a very fond memory that I seem to be tearing down with every successive visit.

Best happy hour in town!!! This is a regular happy hour spot for me, amazing rolls, dependable quality, and great, friendly service! Juan throws down some amazing sush! I have been coming here for years and it is a staple for me for sure, I can get my fill of sushi and have a beer and some sake and be out the door for about $ 30, you can’t beat it! I have found Wed-​Fri seem to be the best days as far as the level of freshness of the fish. I was there last night and the hamachi was like butter, some of the best I’ve ever had… for $ 1.75/piece. As for the person who complained that their wife ordered the wrong thing and being upset they charged them for the roll, what do you expect, it was YOUR MISTAKE, how rude!!! Lose good customers??? Don’t sound like good customers if you’re blaming them because you made a mistake.

This place had room tempature fish and old shrimp. Not worth your time especially when you would expect fresh fish since you ARE by the beach.

Not the best sushi I have ever had; but definitely the best priced. Atmosphere is comfortable and service is decent. Can’t say I’ll be rushing back. But I will always keep this place as an option when I want sushi and am tight on ca$h!

We got there at 7:05 PM last night during Happy Hour, which is between 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. My wife ordered the Spider Role by accident; she usually gets the Crunchy Role. They brought the Spider Role out and my wife tried it but didn’t like it, so we asked the waitress to please take it back and bring the Crunchy Role instead. By then it was 7:35 PM.
We get the bill, and they never took the Spider Role off, and charged us FULL price for the Crunchy Role; the Crunchy Role was suppose to replace the Spider Role at the Happy Hour price.
We called the waitress over and explained how my wife wanted to take the Spider Roll back and replace it for Crunchy Roll, and also asked if they could charge us the Happy Hour price for the Crunchy Roll and OH MY GOD how they treated us like crap!
Waitress: «um, so sorry, but it was your fault for ordering and not liking Spider Role, and you ordered the Crunchy Roll after Happy Hour, so we cannot adjust bill» — this waitress, in front of other customers kept faulting us and didn’t see the rationale in the customer is always right — we weren’t trying to get over on these guys, but it was a simple mistake…
I told her how we been coming there for 5 years, and how we told many friends about this place, and have spent a lot of money there, and was she willing to lose good customers like my wife and I over a $ 7 discrepancy? Then the other waitress came over, and in front of other customers backed up this waitress by saying it was our fault, etc… Really???
I said to her, again: «are you seriously gonna do this, and expect my wife to eat something she doesn’t like and accidentally ordered, and have us leave here never wanting to come back again over $ 7?»
Waitress: «it was your fault»
We paid the bill and left.
It’s very sad how these two waitresses were more concerned over $ 7 than considering the accident my wife made, plus charging us full price for the replacement — this $ 7 was more important to them than to make us feel appreciated, considering the thousands of dollars we spent in that place (literally, 5 years worth of continuos visitations plus bringing all our friends) — we hope the $ 7 was worth it to them, because we’ll never go there again!

I’m a local here and I tried this place out for the first time last week for dinner. Firstly we were made to wait a long time even though there seemed to be plenty of tables available for our party of 3. Our waitress was very nice and friendly but the food we ordered was just not very good, we ordered several rolls and some ‘cooked’ food like their chicken and beef. Nothing stood out and the décor is kinda sad and dated. I will not be going back.

During a spontaneous adventure driving through the coast, my partna and I decided to eat at this spot the day after V-​day. A busy night it was, we waited about 5 – 10 minutes to be seated. While waiting, a couple walked in after us and not too long after, another couple… That second couple that walked in, saw a clipboard and asked us if we had signed in on the waitlist. After responding «no», this couple takes the initiative to sign us in along with themselves, but leaves out the couple that walked in right after my partna and I, haha… Thanks whoever you are!
Soon after, we were finally seated at the bar since every table at the time was occupied. We started off with 2 orders of Gyoza and afterwards, filled up on their Dragon Roll and Soft Shell crab roll which we watched them creatively make from behind the counter. The Gyoza was ok. Nothing memorable. I didn’t really like that it was just filled with veggies and no meat. The sauce that came with it was bland and didn’t have that tangy kick that I’m used to at most places. We also ordered some sashimi which came out very well, I’ll give that to them.
The restaurant itself is a bit small and the waiting area is cramped. Let’s just say the whole place felt cramped! The tables were close to one another and I felt that if I backed my chair out from the bar, I’d hit the table behind me. Overall, their rolls and sashimi made up for their bland appetizer. Atmosphere wise, expect it to be cramped and loud during dinner time.

My boyfriend and I stumbled across this place and I’m glad we ate here. The service was fantastic — everyone was welcoming and friendly and the waiters were attentive.
I was pleased with the overall atmosphere of the restaurant. The seating was pleasant and the bathrooms were very clean.
We came for happy hour and the rainbow roll was delicious. The fish was fresh and was buttery smooth, very tasty. I ordered their chicken teriyaki combo plate and was very pleased with it. Plenty of chicken, good salad, and the California roll was great. Miso soup was delicious, more seaweed would have been nice. Prices on everything were good — next time I’m in the area, I’m definitely coming back!

What’s up with your flavors, Sakura Bana?!
Ordered the Rainbow Roll for takeout while I was at the Encinitas Fall Festival this weekend, and ate it right after it was made but it didn’t seem fresh or yummy. The fish was oddly tough/​chewy/​gummy.
I’ve dined in before, and I would say it was decent sushi — not terrible and not earth-​shattering incredible. I’ve honestly had tastier sushi from the Sprouts grocery store. Guess I’ll be sticking with Sprouts for now!

My husband and I really enjoy Happy hour here (well, maybe more me than him).
They do 5:30 — 7:30 everyday happy hour, which is great! (9÷4÷2013)
Menu sample:
Sapporo draft, draft cold sake, Large Hot Sake — $ 3
House Chardonnay, Merlot — $ 3.50
Agedashi Tofu — $ 3
Shumai/​Gyoza — $ 2.95
Spicy Tuna Roll — $ 4.75
Whole bunch of rolls — $ 3 — $ 16
Whole bunch of one piece sushi (including Salmon Roe) $ 1.50−1.60
I like eating a little bit of everything, so the fact that I can order from one piece nigiri is nice (norm for sushi bar is 2 pieces order).
Food isn’t exceptional, but good! It’s fun and yummy outing for us without spending big bucks. :-)

I’ve been going for years and one reason is the consistency and great service. The reviews on questionable service are perplexing, the service I’ve experienced over the years, over dozens of visits, has always been friendly and prompt.
The happy hour is unbeatable price, and the rolls are delicious, (I’m not a raw fish eater and can’t comment on that part). Only thing I’d change is I wish they’d serve the miso in ceramic or glass bowl, otherwise it’s all good.

So. Good. Go. Eat a lot of sushi. Do it now.
I have been coming here for years and I never ever leave disappointed. Their sushi chefs are top notch and their quality of fish is superb. SUPERB. I’ve had almost everything on the menu and I’ve loved every single thing they’ve ever served me.

$ 1.50 nigiri… You get what you pay for.
If you have a sushi craving, sure, $ 1.50 nigiri does the job.
It wouldn’t be a bad option meeting up with friends or co-​workers for drinks and some pre-​dinner sushi.
Warm-​up the belly at Sushi Do then walk over to Encinitas Ale House for more beer and food = FOR THE WIN.