SanSai Japanese Grill

This is not SAN SAI JAPANESE GRILL ANY LONGER I EMAILED THE CORPORATE OFFICE BELOW IS THE EMAIL AND RESPONSE…
Hi We visited Los Angeles in September and was certain that we we are at a San Sai in Glendale, Ca. However, I do not see it listed in the locations section of your website. Am I getting it confused with another japanese grill on Brand Avenue in Glendale, Ca?
Hi Fergus,
Unfortunately, the Glendale location is not a SanSai Japanese Grill any more. This just happened in the past weeks. We do have other locations in the surrounding areas like Burbank and Pasadena. Sorry for the confusion.
Best Regards.
Ben Ortega
Business Development Manager
SanSai JIC International, LLC
(T) 213– 675‑2785 (F) 213−622−3523

FOUND SOME SHIT IN THE SALAD! AFTER RECOMMENDING this place with friends and family to eat their that night I was embarrassed to find that their was SOME SORT OF WOOD IN THE SALAD AND NOT FROM THE CHOP STICKS I USED (IT WAS AT LEAST 2 ½ INCHES LONG AND LUCKILY I DIDN’T CHOKE ON IT). I felt afterwards as if the food wasn’t possibly fresh since THEIRS NOT MUCH TRAFFIC. I FELT PISSED AFTER SINCE THEY DIDN’T TRY TO COMPENSATE ME AFTERWORDS BUT I ASKED FOR A REFUND IN CASE I WOULD GET SICK. DESPICABLE!!!
PS THE FOODS PROBABLY ROTTING OR SOMETHING IN THE BACK… LIKE HELLS KITCHENS FIXER UPPERS SINCE THERE’S BARELY TRAFFIC
THIS SANSAI LOCATION IS DEF. NOT GOOD TO GO TO… MAYBE A DIFFERENT ONE!!!
AND I AGREE WITH THE UnilocalER THAT CASHIER LOOKS RAGGIDY WITH HIS DIRTY GOATEE LOOKIN LIKE HE DOING SOMETHING TO THE FOOD ALSO. PROLLY WHAT HE DID TO MY SALAD
AT THIS SANSAI DEF. DON’T GO!!!

OF COURSE this isn’t where you would go for a high end Japanese experience, unless you were in some rural small town location not the greater Los Angeles area. I don’t trust sushi in anything but high end places so I’ve only gotten cooked teriyaki or California roll here. However, for what it is, healthy fast food served cheap, San Sai is AMAZING. I’ve been to the Beverly Hills place and the Glendale location is much better, more spacious, clean, indirect lighting, more of a restaurant style atmosphere. I definitely forget we’re eating fast food when we’re in here, it’s become our cheap «date nite» eating spot. The $ 3.99 roll special and free drinks are a good value. Oh, and they even have unsweetened ice tea, not only the chemically-​sweetened versions.

Let’s get this out of the way first: this is basically fast food. But it is pretty good fast food, especially if you want something fresh and lighter than the usual greasy fare.
I wouldn’t order the sushi here since it’s probably not the best quality (and I’m not a big fan of sushi to begin with), but for teriyaki and such, it hits the spot.
Chicken bowls run about $ 6 and come with your choice of side salad. They have 3 available daily – sumi salad (basically, cabbage slaw), mandarin salad (mixed greens with mandarin oranges), and one that changes regularly.
I have a big appetite and the chicken bowl doesn’t fill me up, so I usually order the combination plates, which are bigger portions that come with your choice of 2 of the side salads and a grilled veggie skewer. Today I had the chicken and tempura plate, and it was tasty. I burned my tongue on the tempura though, so that tells you everything is made fresh to order.
You get a free drink with any meal purchase, so that’s a plus.
Perhaps I’d rate this 5 stars if they’d lower their prices a bit (combination plates come close to $ 10) and if they offered friendlier service. Not that they are rude or anything, but they never seem to smile.

If you love Japanese food, turn around and find another place. If a restaruant can’t make a decent spicy tuna roll, it’s a sign it’s not good. So, I ordered one «unknowingly» for a quick meal the other day and it was basically a roll full of rice with less than a toothpaste tube of spicy tuna. Should be called a rice roll. I ate it only cause I was hungry and it was raining…

I’ve eaten at the Westwood location several times and it is excellent. THE GLENDALE location is a whole different kind of a place.
First off, the guy taking our order at the register was filthy. His shirt –covered in a series of stains resembling a map of Ancient Rome. His hair — messy and accompanied by a crooked ball cap. I did not get thru the ordering process because in mid order, the Sushi chef (also filthy) was rubbing his hands over his mouth and face. Yummy! If the staff exhibits this kind of germ spreading behaior out in the «open» — imagine what they do behind the scenes. You have to wonder — do they wash their hands thoroughly after going to the potty? I’m willing to bet they do not; especially after going # 1.
This place needs to be bleached and then covered in Purel — over and over and over…

There are so many sushi options in this area I have to say don’t come here for the sushi. If you are looking for a salad, tempura or teriyaki something this place is just fine. Otherwise avoid!

Think McDonalds meets Sushi.
Cheap & filling. Lots of rice, hardly any fish/​meat/​stuff in rolls. Service? Well, it’s fast food… so don’t expect any.

I agree with another Unilocaler — my bf. It really is Japanese food meets McDonalds. We ordered a tuna roll along with a chicken with steak lunch box which included miso soup, a side of salad and some noodles with rice.
Compared to Happi House, I’d choose this place any day. Their food is decent. Obviously not the best sushi ever, but I felt like I got my money’s worth. The tuna roll had a lot of rice so I felt a bit jipped there, but it definitely didn’t taste bad. As for the lunch box, I actually enjoyed it — not too filling, but satisfying enough. Great, if you want to head out somewhere else for dessert.
All in all, a three. Not the best sushi, but not the worst.

Ok, ok, for what it is (meaning fake Japanese fast food) it’s pretty good. I can only talk about the vegetarian items on the menu and you should know better than to go to this place anyway if you’re looking for quality seafood. So with that in mind…
The prices cannot be beat. I don’t care how cheap you are, for $ 3 you can get a full 10 big pieces of sushi rolls with a little side salad and it’s fairly satisfying. It’s not only cheap but also healthier than the $ 3 you can spend anywhere else. There are vegetarian items on the menu that actually taste good and everything appears to be fresh. It’s not your standard hamburger $ 1 menu. So if you’re dieting or want something fast, this is the place to go.
Just be warned that they have a new special called the Sumo Happy Hour, which is a roll with side salad for $ 2.99, and it’s limited to one per customer. So if you need to order two rolls and there is only one of you, too bad. I found that out a couple of weeks ago and even so, I still support this place.

When I’m looking to watch the waistline without sacrificing flavor, Sansai is my go-​to grub spot. I pretty much always get the same thing [the steak and chicken plate], so I can’t vouch for their sushi or other menu items, but I always leave completely satisfied. Their salads, which rotate daily, are the cherry on top of an already delicious, healthy, FRESH meal. I prefer the oriental salad and the thai noodle, but the linguine and sumi salads are also nothing to sneeze at.
The prices are reasonable for the amount of high quality, fresh food you get. The service is friendly and quick, and although is this japanese fast food, it sure beats some of the «real» Japanese restaurants I’ve encountered.
Free 30-​minute parking in back, with an alleyway that leads directly to Sansai’s front door. Nice, bright place to have lunch and watch all the characters on Brand Blvd wander by as you eat.

i used to work down the street from here and when i was «Eating healthy» id come here almost everyday. im in LOVE with the «sumi salad». its just a salad that comes on the side of whatever you order. i think there are two other choices and you should always get this one!!! for some reason the ratio of lettuce to dressing to wonton strips is incredible. the sushi isnt great, i mean, its fast food, right? its allright. spicy tuna or anything with eel or crab is good.
if your on some sort of low carb diet i recommend the combo, but get salmon or chx breast on top of sumi salad, instead of rice. yummy and low fat!

shrimp handroll, spicytuna handroll and salmon handroll with house salad, miso soup and a free drink! for $ 7! right on sansai!
good food and service!
be back soon =)

this place needs to get in trouble for serving unripe hard avocados.
I got two words for you San Sai «GO HOME!»

I go here if I’m too lazy to walk far for Japanese food. I usually order the california rolls and tempura udon soup. Both are standard. not bad but not great either. But, it’ll do. The salads are just ok. It gets soggy from sitting under the hot lamps for a long amount of time. If you were to order salad, I suggest ordering the cabbage one. It’s still a bit crunchy after a couple hours.
The counter service is terrible. I told one lady twice that my meal was for dine in and guess what? After 10 minutes, I found my meal sitting on the counter with a take out bag. They didn’t even call my name or number. It was just sitting there.

if you can get over the terrible front counter service (three people are standing there, not looking at me) this is a pretty solid lunch spot. it’s cheap enough, and the food is good.
their california roll is at the top of the japanese fast food heap in my book. their salads are yummy and every meal comes with a salad and a drink!
the place is also clean and upscale looking for a fast food joint, and they validate parking in the marketplace structure.

I went to the sansai in sherman oaks and hated it, but decided to give the glendale one a shot and it worked out great. I got the spicy chicken bowl, came with a free drink, the portion was pretty big, and it came wth a side salad, all this food was only $ 6.15. The service was a lot better then the sherman oaks one also, if you want a quick and semi-​healthy meal, this is your spot… Im def. coming back

Fast and decent.

I know this is more of a fastfood than a restaurant as the service here is arranged like a fast food restaurant (where you order a dish, get a dish and serve & seat yourself), so perhaps i shouldn’t expect a real chef to prepare my food, BUT heck, their dishes are priced like a real restaurant, so can you fault me for getting so TURNED OFF seeing a faux chef aka CASHIER preparing my food!
Two stars, nonetheless, for the flavorful miso soup.

San Sai is functional evidence that there is absolutely no reason that fast food can’t be good, healthy food.
Sure, the prices are still a couple bucks higher than McWendy’s Jr; but the value to quality ratio is through the roof. The food is sort of a confusing mix of Asian styles and American tastes. Case in point– The Chicken Curry Bowl– the Japanese curry sauce is right, but the chicken is grilled; which is good albeit unusual. The curry could also stand to include more vegetables, and the price could be a buck lower, but for a short order place, San Sai is amazing. Also, the miso soup is not great, not gross, but not great.
Other pluses: Decent sushi, good teriyaki sauce, frequent visitor punch card (a la the old Sub Club), kick ass vegetable egg rolls.