Ryu Sushi Bar

My favorite sushi place in memphis. Located on summer ave where all the great ethnic food places are (in my opinion). The place is small and homey, the staff is so polite, and the food is ALWAYS good! Great for sushi or hibachi, but it’s not like a Benihana where they cook in front of you. Must try the tuna tataki and the spicy crab soup!

Consistently delicious food, both hibachi and sushi. Great, quick service. Good prices.

Met a friend for lunch the other day and his sushi roll was pretty gross. Fire roll maybe. Udon noodle soup was ok but nothing great.
Nothing special but the staff is nice and the food is usually decent. I came in looking for a spicy crab soup that I saw on a 100 things to eat in Memphis. The soup was a spicy coconut/​curry broth that was good but it did not even have real crab in it. Don’t know that it is a must eat. No wait. It’s not. The steak hibachi lunch was pretty good and the steak was well cooked. The fried rice was probably my favorite. I’ve only been here five or six times but it’s never busy. Probably won’t rush back.

Nothing really compares to this place. Prices, service and food. Inside is so nice and i really feel like I’m in a Japanese house or of the sort.
Must try for sure. Better yet must keep coming back!!!

For my sushi selection, I relied on the smartphone app Swarm (Foursquare’s successor) for advice. The overwhelming favotites were the «Fire» and «Rock ‘n Roll» (previous named «Kalisu») rolls, so I got them along with Ryu’s «Memphis» roll. All three choices were quite good, with the Fire roll being the best among them. Despite its name, the Fire roll was mildly spicy, for the chili sauce gave it enough heat to make it tasty without suppressing everything else in it. Speaking of that, the shrimp and cucumber added a crunchy dimension to the Fire roll that made it a delight to eat. There was also crunchy shrimp in the Rock ‘n Roll, topped with a creamy crab topping and a lot of soy sauce that combined for a very good sushi roll that I hope to have again. The Memphis roll, with its raw salmon and cream cheese, was decent although it didn’t scream «Bluff City» when I ate it. If it were left to me, I would have gone with smoked salmon to honor Memphis’ barbecue heritage. Nonetheless, I liked it and along with the other sushi rolls and fried rice (good enough to hold its own with Asian Palace), which made for a very nice dinner.
Along with my sushi, I drank two bottles of Kirin Ichiban, the malty Japanese pale lager at $ 3.50 apiece. Ryu is trying to stay competitive with nearby restaurants with beer prices that are very agreeable.
Overall, I liked everything I had at Ryu Sushi Bar and will likely become a frequent patron. The staff at Ryu are very friendly and will appreciate your business, so give it try whenever you’re in the Berclair neighborhood. You won’t regret it.
To read my complete review, including thoughts about competitive beer pricing, go to

I don’t know why we don’t go here more often. Every time we do go it is pretty good.
The sushi is not the best in town, but better than other places. The fried rice is REALLY good.

Ok im gonna start off saying im in memphis they are not exactly known for their sushi! Ive eaten at quite a bit of sushi places all over the us. Sooooo with that being said this place is horrible!!! They had only one beer in bottles and that was kirin ichiban i like sapparro with my sushi! And they were all out of sake! How does that happpen at a sushi place!!! The food was made my hispanics now im not trying to sound racist being a hispanic myself knowing that we can anything. But call me old fashioned i think it should be made by the Asian descent! The napkins were cheap square ones.
The beer i drank 2 bottles was past due nov 6^th of 2014!
The «sushi» rolls were not wrapped tight they kept falling apart. After i waited for them for over 45 mins for 2 rolls! Service here was non-​existent!
The rolls which were the spider roll and memphis roll were not very good at all.
I guess i should thank this place ive been wanting to lose weight and i have this feeling i sure will tonight!

I feel like I am not qualified to review this place, but for those of you who do not like sushi, like me, but are going with a friend… I’m here to help! So for dinner you have about three options, if I remember right. Chicken teriyaki and two other plates that have some sort of seafood in them. I wasn’t given a lunch menu so I’m not sure what there is to offer there. The chicken teriyaki was pretty good, but honestly I don’t think I would go back to pay $ 16 for it again. Their onion soup was very good, but it had French’s crispy onions in it and that was just a little strange. Overall, I think you’ll be able to find something there other than sushi but your options are limited and the prices are a little high.

I’ve come with a group to play games and with just one other friend to get quick sushi. Both times were excellent.
Sadly they open at 5 and close at 9 on the weekdays and we didn’t get there until 6 so we only got to play a few games. However, it was a fun experience. I will admit the tables aren’t exactly designed with games in mind, but the fact that they encourage people to play is still neat to me.
We got a variety of things and desserts. Three of us got sushi, one friend got a bento box, and hubby got hibachi chicken.
My vegetarian friend liked her tofu sushi but wished they had offered a kind with some sort of sauce, spicy or just flavorful. I’ve noticed this at most sushi places: if there’s no fish there’s no pizzazz. So maybe next time we can ask them to add something to it.
I did not like their ginger salad because the dressing was pretty watered down. But their onion soup was fantastic.
Summary:
I don’t know if I would want to bring a larger group here for game night, but I would bring any size group here for food.
Sushi in order of Awesomeness:
— Deep Fried Tornado Roll
— Spicy Nola Roll
— Eel Roll
— Cowboy Roll (tastes better with soy sauce)
— Crunchy Crab Roll
— Fire Roll (with soy sauce)
— Onion Soup
Didn’t like:
— Ginger Salad
— Fried Tofu Roll

We tried Elena’s Taco and Elwood’s Shack but both were closed on Sunday. After a quick Unilocal check we decided on Ryu.
Located in a small strip center across from Bargain Hunt the outside looked third world… or maybe fourth.
The interior had animé playing, a sushi bar and several tables with Oriental design chairs and geisha patterned upholstery. The art was large modern prints.
Service was great and both our sushi and teriyaki were excellent. Prices and serving size were reasonable.
Seems to be popular with groups. There were only two other couples.

This is our go to sushi spot! The only reason I don’t give it 5 stars is because the waitress we usually get is awful.
The food is so good an reasonably priced. My boyfriend gets the nigiri combo and the fish is always fresh.
I always get the cooked rolls and the yabi ebi is awesome!
The gyoza, egg rolls, and combo fried rice are go to items.

Beautiful restaurant, the sushi was really fresh and the service was great. The only bad thing was they couldn’t serve any saki because of their liquor license was being renewed but the food was great.

I love me some sushi! It’s not really something I think of as an affordable date option, I’ve been known to run up $ 80 sushi tabs. But, with a little research in finding the right location, a partner with agreeable taste and a little strategy it can be done.
The largest expenses for a business are typically payroll and rent, but since servers make so little in the restaurant industry you can be sure rent is the biggest expense. So, if you go to the part of town where the rents are lower you can find that there’s better pricing on the menu. My favorite sushi spot in Memphis just happens to be next to a strip club. It’s actually nice inside, and the neighborhood is not scary. This place is usually pretty quiet, when we arrived there were five other tables but they had all cleared out by the time we finished. I really don’t understand why.
The sushi prices are very reasonable: When the bf and I go here we always split a pot of tea and get waters. The pot gives us each two cups We then share four rolls of sushi. For most people this is probably plenty but we like to eat. So, my advice to like minded people is to get a soup or salad, it will help fill you up and give substance to the meal. Two of our rolls are fried. It’s a southern thing y’all! This particular visit we gto the dragon roll, yellow tail, and two fried tornado rolls — so good!
Don’t get me wrong, I love sushi at fancy places where they have you take off your shoes, sit on the floor and give you private paper wall rooms so I’m not saying don’t go there but a little less authentic sushi experience can make it more accessible. Besides, sharing food is kinda fun.

Upon moving here from Southern California, I felt as if Sushi would be a culinary dish I would miss greatly. In my first week I went to a meetup event at a different sushi establishment and was immensely disappointed in the quality of the sushi. I had felt that my viewpoint was reinforced. But then a girl there had told me that she would introduce me to a better sushi establishment in town. When that girl and I started dating, she had brought me here to Ryu Sushi.
We drove up and initially I was concerned; the area seemed a bit sketchy, the little strip mall run down, and next to a strip joint. However, once we walked in, much of my reservations went away. The ambiance was very nice; the restaurant is very clean with light wooden floors and bright colorful Asian artwork. To my surprise, the establishment was rather empty; a pattern that still blows me away to this day.
We were greeted by a friendly server and we had ordered a pot of tea, an assortment of sushi, and combo fried rice. The pot the tea came in was an elegant blue and white designed pot which served to add to the ambiance. We then got our fried rice and sushi and my eyes lit up, as it had appeared that my previously held belief of quality sushi being a thing of the past was erroneous. Once I had tasted the first piece of the Dragon roll, I knew I had found my new Sushi home.
After a great meal, we decided to try the fried cheesecake. I am already a huge fan of cheesecake and figured this would be pretty good; it was far more than that. After a great dinner we got the check, and it was very well-​priced for the quality and quantity of food.
After an amazing experience, the lady and I continue to have equally amazing date nights here time and time again. There is no reason for this sushi establishment to be slow at any time; this is probably the best value sushi place in town. Next time you’re craving sushi, give Ryu Sushi a try; you’ll be glad you did!

This is a good place to eat, good pricing. Although we have found other Sushi bars in a better area.

We went last night (⁸⁄₂₀₁₃) and apparently the air was out. We were sweating before the waitress took our drink order. We both ordered two rolls. I got the Memphis roll and the Fried Tofu and I got an order of egg fried rice. It took a while for our food to come, but that’s expected with a sushi place. The thing is, we only got our sushi. The waitress said that my rice was on it’s way. No big deal. We start eating, and we have both finished our rolls (I’m a slow eater), and my rice still hasn’t arrived. I finish my beer and finally she brings my rice. It’s still hot, but I’m not the most adept at using chopsticks so I had to go after the waitress for a fork.
The food overall was decent, but not the best sushi I’ve had ever. I don’t think we’ll go back, but this is mostly because we have a regular place and we were just trying this.

We came here to Ryu to an empty restaurant on a Sunday afternoon after the urge for good sushi and sashimi took over my body. We decided to come here since we were still on the quest for our go to Japanese spot in Memphis.
We ordered 2 orders of red snapper, salmon, and yellowtail a la carte, since each order came with 3 pieces and each order is right around 3.75. Price was definitely superb. We also got 3 rolls; 2 spicy rolls and a cooked crunchy crab roll.
The sashimi wasn’t really cut properly, but it was good fish. The pieces were just a tiny bit undersized, but the price of the fish was cheap anyways. The presentation of the rolls was definitely a D, but the taste of the rolls a B+. They looked bad, but tasted good. Good, not great.
All things considered, this place really should be a 3.5−4 stars for Memphis Japanese restaurants, but really should be 3 – 3.5 stars when compared everywhere else. Ryu Sushi Bar will satisfy those cravings for sushi and sashimi, but just don’t expect your taste buds to be massaged!

So I’m a weeeeee bit torn on this one. Here’s why:
STARVING and TIRED after driving and being in the car for 17 hrs, all I wanted was something to eat. I didn’t want a heavy meal knowing that it was 8 at night. Ah Ha! Sushi! Lets get sushi…
Found Ryu and looked at the first few reviews and decided I’d give it a whirl. Walked in and the place was rather empty. Rut-ro…hmmmm. We proceeded to order our take out and while I waited, I started looking at all the pictures and reading the signs on the wall. And then I saw it. The health score rating. I gulped loudly and slowly/​calmly got my Hubs’ attention. I pointed to it and with my eyes wide. 85 health score as of ¹⁰⁄₂₀₁₂. Have you seen that commercial with the two guys eating the messy BBQ and his friend sees the health rating go from an A to a C and that said friend smacks the BBQ out of his friends hands? That’s what I wanted to do but I didn’t want to make a scene. Clearly they had to be sanitary enough or this place would have been shut down a long time ago.
I walked away with food in hand and prayers in the sky. The sushi wasn’t the best, but it was suprisingly decent. With no health issues.
So I dunno… I don’t live in this area so not sure if I’d come back even if I were just passing through.

Ryu used to be our go-​to quiet sushi spot. We’re on the prowl for another after our last visit.
It seems like the servings have gotten smaller while the prices have stayed the same. The Sashimi is supposed to come with three pieces, but only two arrived on all but one. We waited to tell the waitress, but she was the only server there, waiting on six tables. So we ate. I told her at the end of the meal, and she said she’d tell the chefs for next time. No other offers of any kind.
This all sounds a little petty, but we’re the easiest customers of all time, it really doesn’t take much to make us happy.
It’s ok, I showed her, I only left her 18%. =P
Three stars because it really is well prepared sashimi and nigiri, but the rolls are tiny,
Ask how many pieces of each come with the rolls, sashimi and nigiri, so you’re not left with a $ 60 tab and a half-​full belly.
The atmosphere/​décor are nice and inviting. Usually quiet, younger couples.

Sometimes marriage is hard. You have to keep making compromises to make it work, so here is our deal at Ryu: I gave up my fling with eel rolls and he broke off his long affair with spicy tuna rolls.
We ordered the Memphis Rolls for an obvious reason. Maybe I am actually a traditionalist, so the small slice of cream cheese in each roll kind of threw me off. I read the description but was expecting it to be more subtle. After all this is Memphis not Philadelphia (no pun intended). We also tried the Crispy David Rolls for a less obvious reason. They filled us up pretty quickly, and then it hit me: they were kind of like deconstructed spicy tuna rolls! That’s so unfair and needless to say: we will be trying other rolls next time.
Since I can’t live without my daily servings of vegetables, we ordered the tempura vegetables. Zucchini, mushroom and sweet potato were all good. Though the tempura batter was not as crunchy as I am used to, it was not that big a deal. The dipping sauce has tons of grated daikon radish in it which you probably won’t find in a chain restaurant.
The interior was quaint and clean. I think we really could work out our differences just by coming here more often. And who knows, shopping together at the Asian market next door might just be the ultimate bonding experience.