BAD Sushi

Tasty, and dishes quite original, but helpings are small, entrees the size of appetisers, which makes the place expensive. Service comically bad: entrees arrive before appetisers, wrong orders whipped away unceremoniously, no eye contact…

You see the name of this place and you think, hmmm, I don’t want «bad» sushi, but the name of the place entices you, and when you, or at least when I saw it stood for Best and Delicious, I laughed. Their marketing team had done their job and they hooked me. The place is small and it is in a semi-​busy area so it took a few laps around the block to find a parking space. Inside, it’s your basic small table sushi joint, and large menu with very enticing, mouth-​watering sushi roll pictures. I was not starving per-​say when we went here, so I wasn’t in that I need food now, delirious state or anything when you think whatever it is you’re eating is seriously the best thing ever, but I am pretty positive this is some of the best sushi I have ever had! They lived up to their name.
If you can focus and make a decision of what to order, unless you are lucky enough to say I’ll try one of everything, I don’t see how you would be disappointed. I finally went with the Say Fish, the Pork Chop, the Playboy, and some sashami. So the say fish, while it sounds like a semi-​standard combination roll that you can get most places, something about seemed revamped. Tuna, cucumber, avocado, and salmon with sesame seeds– maybe it was just that everything was super fresh and they didn’t overdo it on the rice. Things got more impressive with a bite of the Playboy roll, which was salmon, tuna, wrapped in soy, topped with the most delicately thin sliced lemon and jalapeño on top. This was hot and refreshing– excellent combination. Now for the pork chop– I have not had or really seen anything like this on the sushi menus before. Ready for it? Baked scallop with avocado, topped with seared tuna, green onions, and chili powder. This was tastebud tantalizing.
I just wish I lived closer to this place, of course then I would be in trouble, so even though there seems to be about 3 other sushi/​Japanese places within a few blocks, this is the place you need to dine at.

Had their lunch special, which I think is a bad idea. Food is not bad, but I think sushi rolls is more of why this restaurant is popular and may worth the money more. I am giving three because I am sad that I ordered wrong item. But, I am looking forward to come back and try again.

Such a great local spot– it has an awesome selection of rolls and healthy options for those who don’t want to feel guilty. The service is really good and the servers are very quick to attend, always aware of the customers. I like that the menu has images of the rolls along with descriptions. The only down side is that they’re closed on Mondays.

They live up to their name. Bad Sushi. Daughter came home from eating there, throwing up. About 2 hours after leaving their restaurant. You need to brush up on food handling. Especially with fish, as bacteria grows fast on fish.
Out of her system in a little over 24 hours. Typical of food poisoning.
I would suggest a course in how to properly handle food. Bring in a 3^rd party company and train or retrain.

Great HH. Everything we tried was really good, especially all the specialty sashimi dishes. Also, the servers are so nice.

Sushi isn’t cheap so don’t expect this place to maintain that quality and lower their price. Spicy tuna is 95 percentile here so do get that. Chefs are efficient and the wait staff is cheery.

In a few words: just OK sushi that ain’t cheap. My wife and I were hanging out in Santa Monica and wanted to eat some really good sushi, so we selected BAD Sushi due to their high Unilocal rating – neither of us were really impressed.
The other thing that really sucked about our visit was that they were out of noodles. I don’t know how you run out of noodles at a Japanese restaurant…

BAD SUSHI IS THE JAM!!!
Best sushi place ever! This has become my comfort spot for over a year now. My boyfriend and I are regulars forsure.
The service is always great. Best spicy garlic edamame I’ve ever had. Great miso soup, really fresh sushi pieces and great rolls! Love at first bite is phenomenal! Get it!!! Eat it!!! Now!
Definitely good prices, especially if it’s happy hour, wowza! I will forever love this place and keep coming back!

Very mediocre…
I wouldn’t come back. Service was fine but honestly the sushi was ok, the yaki udon was small portioned and just ok. Just everything was ok.
Especially for the price, this is not worth coming for. The fish on the sushi was thin and brown on the tips, they put REGULAR MAYO on the rolls!!!

Had the Spicy edamame & Roses Garden today for lunch, my only complaint… Not enough heat & no wasabi provided but aside from that it was great.

Any place with $ 3 large beers during happy hour (on a weekend) is my kind of restaurant.
The quality of the fish is not the most premium but it isn’t bad either. They have a good selection of rolls and everything came out super quick. The prices are fair and service is great.
One thing that bothered me was the bill, it was not itemized so we had no idea how much certain items are. Please fix this…

BAD Sushi is so damn good! High quality fish and pretty awesome happy hour. We ordered 2 large beers for $ 2.95 each! Appetizers are $ 3.95. The rolls on the happy hour menu are $ 1 off. We ordered some rolls and realized it was cooked salmon and not raw. Oops! I also got a Dragon roll and it was probably one of the best I’ve ever had. My boyfriend got the chirashi bowl and it looked so yummy. He loved it. I can’t wait to go back!

This is my third time here, first time for happy hour which is 430−7pm on weekdays. Their sushi is on the cheaper side during non happy hour, but hey who doesn’t like to save some extra cash and get more.
We ordered the the dragon roll, love at first sight roll, salmon sushi, albacore sushi, and eel sushi. The rolls are about $ 1-​$ 3 off on happy hour and the sushi pieces are about $ 0.50-$ 1 off each order.
The albacore was flavorful and melt in your mouth, topped with the usual green onion and ponzu sauce. The salmon was good, nothing special, I usually prefer fatty cuts like salmon belly, but it was still good. The dragon roll was delicious but when is unagi and eel sauce bad? The love at first sight roll was good as well, it is pretty much a shrimp tempura roll with some extra sauce and crispy flakes.
Service is always good here, but I’ve always been here during off hours. Overall I love close, it’s walking distance, it’s pretty good and a great bang for your buck. I’ll be returning!
They have really good beer and sake specials too! Beers and sake for $ 3-​$ 4. Quality has gone up since the first time I’ve been here, I like it a lot better than my first visit.

This place lives up to its name BAD! Ugh what a waste of time and money for cold, soggy sushi rolls and poor service! Way overpriced for mediocrity. Sushi stop is wayyyy better and you get filled up with yummy sushi and spend way less money. Don’t waste your time or money here BLAH.

Small space, friendly service good food. A bit on the slower side with the service but it was nice Bc it spaced out our meals.
Three of us ordered way too much food. The spicy edamame is a must to start. Here are a few of the rolls we ordered… volcano roll, spicy 911 roll. Additionally my friends ordered their regulars. The only item I wasn’t wowed by was the dynamite. A bit too heavy on the oil and a creamy sauce.
But overall good place and I’d be back.

When can something be bad be so good… only here at Bad sushi :)
Their sushi are very tasty, i always get the garlic eel roll, it is so garlicky good. They have happy hours from 4 – 7. They also have combo bento boxes. Service is fast. There is a metered parking at the back and lots of street parking.

Don’t let the name fool you! BAD sushi isn’t bad… it’s best and delicious! (Actually, it’s probably not the best sushi, but it’s certainly delicious and inventive.)
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a restaurant that marketed itself as BAD, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality/​presentation of food, nice ambiance, friendly service. The restaurant has a happy hour special from 4:30−7PM, and I would highly recommend ordering from that menu since most items are $ 1 – 3 off their regular price! The extensive regular menu had an array of traditional sushi (sashimi, nigiri, etc.), new creations (tuna tower, tuna on earth, etc.) and standard Japanese fare (teriyaki, tempura, etc.). Here is what we ordered:
AMAZON ROLL
This was so refreshing and light! The roll still seemed substantive even though there was no rice to fill you up. The cucumbers were lightly bathed in vinegar, which gave the cucumber a slightly sweet, pickled flavor. And, the tuna was fresh and meaty. The small piece of avocado in the middle of each piece was a welcome addition! Presentation was beautiful and I could totally envision this as being part of a tropical, Amazonian landscape.
TUNA ON EARTH
This was hands down the best dish I had at BAD Sushi! Although you only receive two pieces, each piece is loaded with spicy tuna. What differentiates the spicy tuna here from other restaurants is the smooth texture and the extra amount of spice! I’ve never had spicy tuna that was this spicy! The light crunch of the tempura eggplant added the perfect amount of fried.
VEGETABLE TEMPURA
This tempura was surprisingly filling in spite of there being only a few pieces. The vegetables included were sweet potato /​yam, green bean, broccoli, onion, and squash. The batter was heavier than some places, but still more crispy and flavorful than soggy and bland.
DRAGON ROLL
This was fairly standard, but still satisfying. The roll consisted of eel and avocado on top of a conventional California roll. The roll was covered in a sweet sauce that you’d typically find with barbecued eel.
AGEDASHI TOFU
It’s lightly fried tofu. It’s covered in bonito flakes. And, it’s swimming in a sweet soy sauce. The tofu itself didn’t have much flavor, but I could appreciate the mixture of textures.
Because the restaurant is located off of Santa Monica Blvd, I would recommend parking on one of the residential cross-​streets where parking is free. There are metered spaces in front of the restaurant, but these are difficult to snag since several other restaurants are adjacent to BAD Sushi.
Given it’s proximity to Sawtelle Japantown and the multitude of Japanese restaurants there, it’s difficult to justify why BAD Sushi merits a visit. Does it really do anything different than other restaurants in the area? Probably not; I wouldn’t say that the restaurant has the freshest tasting fish with the smoothest texture in the world. BUT, I would argue that the uniqueness of their menu and their great happy hour specials are probably their primary distinguishing features. I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience at BAD Sushi, and would definitely like to come back and try more items on their menu!

I LOVE BAD SUSHI! I just wish they werent closed on Tuesdays! Its almost as though I have a craving for their sushi every Tuesday and am surprised they are closed everytime. The spicy tuna on crispy rice is my favorite. They also have a good crispy tempura. The salad dressing for their garden salad is on point. They have a great happy hour and the take-​out situation is perfect for a night in. Parking on the street is easy if its open otherwise the side parking lot is in need of TLC, watch for pot holes!

Ok, I still hate the name of this joint, but I do hafta say that the albacore here is pretty darn good. The unagi sushi is good, too, but tiny.
And they have a bomb Angry Hour.
And the waitresses are way nicer than the sushi dudes.
What else…
…don’t order the pretty blue bottle of sake decorated with hanami: It’s kra-​kra expensive (and WAY cheaper at Marukai). The good news is that the house sake is perfectly fine.