Dozo Sushi Grill & Lounge

I’ve heard a lot of people compliment this place since living in Lincoln, so I figured I better give it a try. I ate here with a friend for an early dinner and overall was pretty pleased.
It’s down in the haymarket and quite convenient if you’re already downtown checking things out. The restaurant inside has nice seating and a pretty casual atmosphere. The service was good when we were here, and we had no trouble getting seated and getting our orders quickly taken.
They have some pretty fun mixed drinks with cute names and overall a good sushi selection. They were gluten free aware and had gf soy sauce. I ordered a couple of rolls and was very pleased. Fish was fresh and prepared well. Avocado roll was delicious and everything was presented beautifully. My friend gobbled his sushi up and we both left quite happy.
Price is affordable and I was pleased with both service and quality on my visit. I’ll need to stop by again sometime soon.

Came on a Friday night but didn’t seem busy at all. I saw maybe 4 other groups of people. We were sat at our table and looked over the menu.
Couple minutes go by… A couple next to us received help even though they came after. I had to ask if we could be served and the waitress was very apologetic, but the host, who was the person to blame being that she forget to tell the waitress that we were her table, didn’t say anything to us.
Later on, I overhear another waitress and the host talking bad about some customers. I understand some people aren’t the greatest to serve, but at least talk bad about them in the back.
Anyway, I ordered a roll that had asparagus and the asparagus was so bad and felt like I was chewing plastic string.
I only went because of Pocket points, back to Hiro I go.

Dozo’s interior is nice. Unfortunately every sushi place I visit is «nice». They all have the sushi spot aesthetic, ensuring you never mistake it for anything other than what it is. I do like their bar more than some places I’ve been to but at the end of the day, it’s just another place to get sushi and Asian dishes.
For a starter I ordered the Firecracker Shrimp as I am obsessed with this option at most sushi spots. What I got was interesting. Tail on shrimp, which I got over eventually, without much batter to speak of. They were good sized so I really wanted to enjoy them however between the sauce being a bit blah and lack of batter fried-​ness I ended up sending it back. The waitress was a good sport about it, taking the charge off my final bill and inquiring in the kitchen about it (turns out the batter they used was «off» that day) so I let the issue rest.
I tried their shrimp tempura roll will was another disappointment. I have a feeling half the ingredients weren’t included, or I was just so over Dozo by this point I didn’t notice. These rolls were huge, not something I’d normally complain about but in this instance it was just too much. You almost wanted to cut it in half to enjoy comfortably. Other than the size, these rolls didn’t stand out. I realize I’m a sushi snob but these were nothing to write home about.
My Beam & Ginger only being $ 5 was a small victory, albeit the only one of the night.

The sushi isn’t bad but it’s not the greatest either. It also seems overpriced compared to Blue (which I also think has better sushi). I think it’s probably the least liked sushi place in the haymarket too because whenever I go here it is never crowded, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Without a doubt the best sushi in Lincoln and I tried all others. It’s amazing and reasonably priced. Don’t skip this place

Food: The fish wasn’t fresh. Ordered the ceviche for which the white fish was super tough and tasted along with the remainder of fish, as if it was purchased from a store yet stored in a freezer for a long period of time prior. The calamari was lukewarm, not tender and very greasy! Last, because the fish wasn’t the best, I ordered the Mongolian beef but did chicken instead per the recommendation of the waitress. The chicken also had an old taste to it.
All around I was disgusted to be honest.
Yet, the staff was very energetic, made awesome drinks and the ambience was very nice.

We loved the sushi! The miso soup is awesome, the avocado egg rolls are phenomenal, and the summer roll was also a great addition. Our server, Zachary, was personable, efficient, and we all really likes him.

06/​12/​2015
This is not good sushi.
We tried a few of the happy hour rolls and they are affordable but lack in content and fish for my liking, most are very similar and have either spicy mayor mixed with the fish or some other type of sauce, nothing resembling my opinion of a sushi roll.
After happy hour ended we tried two of the rolls off the regular menu both at the high end of the price range from 12 – 14 dollars, the sexy city and the burning love, neither of which I would have again, very small Amounts of actual fish and heavy on rice, veggies and imitation crab, overall not a place a would ever try again. I would however like to say the service was exceptional and our waitress was very friendly and nice. I did note that almost every plate that was placed in front of us with food had at least one chip on and should have been thrown away.
Sincerely
Mr. Picky

I thought the sushi was really, really good. There was no one in there so service was fast, our waiter explained a ton, and the Happy Hour prices were solid. I’d go back

Sat on the patio because there was no wait with a party of three while there was a short one for an inside table, waited 45 minutes and did not receive any service. Went into the hostess stand to make sure we didn’t get forgotten about about 30 minutes into the wait, and stood at the hostess stand for 15 minutes with no one at the stand or approaching me asking me what I needed. We then proceeded to walk out and will never return. Absolutely horrendous.

Disappointing. The food is okay, the service is not.
I’ve been here three times over the last two years and gotten the same poor service every time.
My latest (and last) visit was on March 13^th, 2015. I walked in the door a little after noon to a largely empty restaurant, although there was a pretty substantial group at a table outside on the patio. So I stood there. And stood there. And stood there. No hostess asked to seat me. I had two waiters walk right past me on their way to their own tables. Finally, I saw a waiter over on one side of the place serving customers and I grabbed a couple of menus from the hostess station and asked if he had the table next to them. He said he did so I sat down to wait for my friend.
She walked in the door a few minutes later. We ordered Philadelphia rolls and Dozo Crunch plus salads. Both the sushi rolls were delicious with the smoked salmon in the Philadelphia rolls a perfect complement to the cream cheese. The Dozo Crunch rolls have cream cheese and avocado that are smooth and creamy with just a hint of pop from the sweet chili sauce. It was all served up (fairly) quickly and we enjoyed our lunch.
Once again, service. We couldn’t seem to get refills on our drinks nor could we get our checks in a timely manner. We usually go to Blue for sushi, but my friend wanted to try Dozo. At Blue, if you’re not there by noon you’ll be waiting for a table. We couldn’t understand how Dozo could be empty at 12:15 on a Friday. Now we do. We won’t be back.
Two stars for the decent sushi.

I had one meal here, arriving about 5:30. The staff were lounging around and seemed a bit irritated at my arrival with the exception of the hostess. Taking this in, I chose a seat at the bar and received friendly, prompt, but not hovering, attention from my waiter.
I ordered from the sushi menu, which is a bit limited, and the meal was promptly prepared and served. The fish was fresh and well-​prepared. The greatest detraction was the rice, which was obviously a bit old and lacked the stickiness required of sushi rice. As a result, the sushi rolls fell apart and I could not lift the sushi from the plate… I had to resort to a fork, using the chopsticks to usher the crumbling rolls onboard.
Everything tasted good, however, and the service was a pleasant surprise after my initial impression. The price was astoundingly high for the quantity and quality. too high to warrant a return.

You could go to Blue,
And you would wait an hour
For ‘okay’ sushi.
Or go to Dozo,
Which is nearer to my car.
No wait. Good sushi.
Haiku review.

Dozo is good, but not great. I will start by saying I love sushi and Sashimi. I have eaten it all over America and at some of the best of the best like Koi, Nobu, and Roku in various cities like Vegas and NYC. Ok, that said this IS Lincoln Nebraska people and we are not going to get one of those. Ever. So, let’s compare the 3 downtown Sushi places. I give this place ³⁄₅ because it is good, but not great. The selection is good, and the drink and menu is diverse so that’s a plus. The sashimi is usually good but I did have one order of tuna that clearly was cut across the grain not with the lines which results in a tough piece to chew. A no-​no in sushi preperation. The service is also a little lacking. When I asked my server a series of questions I quickly could tell either they are new, didn’t care or didn’t like sushi/​sashimi. It’s the finer points like how fresh is the fish, where was it caught, and which rolls have the right balance of salt, sweet, and/​or heat that elevates you to 5 stars. Downtown also has Hiro88 and Blue, both of which are a solid 4 – 4.5 star sushi place for Lincoln. I do like the happy hour prices at Dozo and the drinks seem imaginative and quirky which is a plus. Overall I would say if you are serious about Sushi try all 3 downtown Sushi places a few times with friends, order a diverse selection of Sashimi and Sushi and judge for yourself. And be brave if you are a little scared of raw fish Sashimi. Sushi grade fish like Sashimi Tuna is just as safe as any other protien and tastes better then Filet Minion that’s cooked to a perfect Medium Rare. Trust me, you might have found one of the greatest food your mouth will ever eat.

I’ll make this short/​sweet: After trying the other main sushi joints in the Haymarket: THIS is the BEST SUSHI in downtown Lincoln!
I’ve tried Hiro (widly overpriced) and Blue Sushi (what ARE they thinking with some of their ingredients? …oh, and widly overpriced) and they can’t hold a candle to Dozo!
The elderly asian gentlemen making the sushi is the real deal. I had 3 rolls each of the 2 nights I came and I left fat and happy each time. Service was quick… music was awesome and the food was AMAZING.
I noticed that the other sushi places I’ve mentioned try to be something more than just good, solid sushi. In doing so, they charge more than they should and produce a far inferior product. Dozo does it right with big tasty rolls, great fish and some equally great sauces.
Save your time and money and go to Dozo!!!

After reading the reviews, I was expecting to walk in to a horribly smelling dive and get sick off sushi. How could I actually go here! But upon walking in I was very surprised.
Great atmosphere and it smelled like… sushi! They were friendly and seated us right away. We got drinks quickly and ordered a bunch of different roles and main entrees
The Big ginger drink (ginger and whiskey) I got was great and smooth. The rolls were impressive and exceeded my (low) expectations and then some. The lava roll was my favorite. We also got the Orange chicken and beef, both where awesome.
When we went, it wasn’t very busy and services was great. But the reason hesitate on the five stars was because the service was weird and would probably be slow if they were busy. Tables weren’t bused (the entire time we were there) and the staff was all over something’s and then completely missing on other (brought food but took a couple minutes before we got plates). Weird things like that make it entertaining if you aren’t in a hurry.

Yum! I had never tried sushi until now and it was the best! I had sushi somewhere else afterward and it was not so great. Doze is sooooooo good!

I went to Dozo’s for my mother’s birthday this year. Let me disclaim that I am not a fan of sushi, and I never have been.
That being said, Dozo has the best sushi I’ve ever had. The Lady Fire roll was my particular favorite, made with crab, avocado, cucumbers, salmon, and sriracha. As expensive as it is, it’s worth the price for the quality ingredients, as well as the beautiful presentation. The service was excellent, despite them forgetting my pad thai, which working in food service myself, is something that I can understand. Our server was incredibly polite and helpful, even in the face of dealing with my mother’s…charm ;)
I will definitely be back!

Salman teriyaki was cooked to extinction. Just about ready to accept it and eat disappointed. Deb said to send back. I don’t think Australians like to make a fuss. I don’t anyway.
Well worth it. Went from disgusting to melt in the mouth. Well, melt in the mouth compared to the previous dish. Still overcooked but closer to delicious.
Deb had the seaweed salad. Fresh ingredients and delightful.
The waitress said they used to serve it the correct way and customers would send it back. They accept raw sashimi but then go straight to well cooked with nothing in between. We are in the Midwest but at least they know how to eat an Omaha steak medium rare. The manager did say they will start asking customers how they’d like their fish cooked.

My husband I had lunch here today for the first time. We ordered spring rolls for an appetizer and a large sushi platter for our entrée. It was enough for both of us. We both also had a glass of white peach sake (loved it)! Everything was amazing and we will definitely be going again.