Niya Restaurant

So we went back last night 1÷30÷16− thought we’d give a last shot since the food had been so good and we’d loved it our first few visits. They definitely have taken comments to heart. Service was excellent. Food was delicious which was never their problem. Nothing seemed out of stock on the menu. Hope they keep this up!
Old review– Dec 2015– Was loving this place, but this & last visit a few weeks back were disappointing. Poor service & out of edamame both times. Even messaged on Facebook about the prior poor service last time and got no response. No longer a favorite spot. Bummer.

Fantasy food, excellent service, Ramen noodles Thursday, and Phở Friday’s…love the food here

Big thanks to Rodney, Eric and David.
You guys are doing a great job.
Food, service and sake-​soju list are great.
Definitely we will be back.

I moved out of LA about 2 years ago and with that I moved away from mouth watering sushi. There are places that pass the «ok» in Santa Barbara — but nothing mind blowing. That is until some friends suggest Niya. Holy moly I was seriously blown away.
The portions are amazing and the food is MIND BLOWING. I got the spicy sashimi salad– mind you this sounds simple, but the fish and the presentation were anything but simple. It was out of this world. Other members of my party had various sushi rolls, and the shishito pepper appetizer, everyone was raving. Orcutt can be a drive for some of us, but this place will not let you down.
On top of the food is the friendly and attentive staff paired with gorgeous décor. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

First and last visit. Went a few weeks ago. Turns out the sushi chef wasn’t there and they would only serve ramen and a few other items. Ramen was mediocre. Service was so-​so. Dissapointing because I had high hopes for this place. Might try again in the future.

The owners are super nice and interactive with customers. There’s two sides to the restaurant, dining area and a bar area so it can be family friendly or a good place to hang out at with friends. The food is always good, can’t tell you what my favorite is because I like it all.

Quality of seafood is stellar. I never knew you could get this quality here on the central coast. But I’ve been proven wrong.
Definitely a must try for lunch or dinner. I can’t wait to try the Ramen and Phở!

If your a local, you might be skeptical about trying new Japanese cuisine here in town — believe me, I feel the same way. But, DON’T underestimate this place. My overall experience was superb! I came here for lunch to celebrate a coworkers birthday. Here is my review.
Décor — Very modern. You get a feel of the new age sushi restaurant wave with this place. Even though the food served here at Niya is very traditional, the décor does make you feel welcome. There is also a really cool fish tank with some all sort of color swimming around in there. Seats are very comfortable as well.
Service — As soon as you walk you are greeted and directed to your table. There is also a bar area if you are alone (or prefer the bar). Our server was very attentive to our needs, and was very polite. I believe the person making our sushi might have been the owner, who was very welcoming as well. The dining area was not very full when I went, just a few people during the lunch rush, but we were very well taken care of.
Food — For starters, I ordered the seaweed salad — this is my usual go-​to at every sushi place I try. The salad was very crispy, and didn’t lack any flavor — it was also marinated perfectly. We also had the «monkey balls» which were delicious as well (don’t let the funny titles on dishes fool you, be a rebel and explore the menu!
I came here during lunch so I went with the Salmon Bento Box. For around $ 9 bucks you get a large amount of food. The box comes with the usual salad, tempura, salmon (with a tangy dipping sauce that goes great with it), and a miso soup. A few of my coworkers ordered different style rolls, and they were very satisfied with how big the portions were.
Niya is the perfect fusion of a bistro/​sushi joint; this is Japanese food done right.

Hands down the best sushi/​sashimi/​tapas in the central coast, shootz in California! I come from Hawai’i where seafood is the freshest and i got to say that Niya offers some of the freshest cuts. Ive been all over California eating from san diego to the bay area and nothing comes close to the quality of food offered here. I had the blue fin tuna with fresh cut wasabi and it was like butter. Also tried the pork belly, grilled octopus, gai-​lan, and chicken yakitori that were all delicious!

This place is hands down the official go-​to sushi place in the area! The décor is amazing with lovely art pieces, beautiful waterfall as you enter the restaurant, and the cool aquarium with salt water fishes. It has that romantic-​to-​casual ambience vibe. Perfect for any occasion! It use to be formerly known as omakase, but same owner .the team of men running it from the chefs Eric, Alex, Rodney, down to Alan and the manager David, who also multi tasks as a server are OVER exceedingly amazing on EVERY and all levels!
With that being said, the food is the best you can get for QUALITY sushi/​seafood. You won’t know good sushi if you haven’t been here. Your eyes will definitely eat before you do with its breathtaking presentation and its delectable food to your palate will Never disappoint you. Every dish is a different experience. The menu is perfect. It’s not too much where you’re lost in the selections, but enough to let them stand out on its own. I’ve had most of the stuff on the menu and there’s nothing like it in this area. I often leave town and frequent sushi restaurants as its my favorite. However, lovely Niya set the standards HIGH!!! I may be biased, but other places are crap cause they aren’t to par to what I have ate at this restaurant.
Overall, This place makes you feel like home after working a long day with a meal that will satisfy even the fullest person. I would come back here over and over again!!! Great job Niya!!!

Hype confirmed with this place!
Santa Maria isn’t really in the sushi game, with my usual go-​to place being Mikado’s and their incredibly affordable prices menu.
Came here with my girls for a celebratory night and had an amazing time!
First off, the atmosphere is incredible. Classy, romantic, and sensual is how I would describe it. Candles everywhere, a sick waterfall in the front, and low lights. It was actually kind of awkward with three girls being surrounded by couples LOL.
But the food, let’s get to the food. The menu may be small but the quality is AMAZING. I had the chirashi bowl while my friends ordered two rolls off the menu. The quality of the fish was insane — seriously. I think I’m spoiled by how great the quality is. It wasn’t too «fishy» and had a very smooth, rich flavor. I appreciated how the rice was seasoned and not just left plain.
Also, using the the Unilocal check-​in, we were able to score some ice cream! Green tea, red bean, and black sesame. All super good with red bean being the star.
Overall, this place is terrible because of how high the bar it set. How can I eat at Mikado’s when I know this exists in Santa Maria?!? Will definitely be back!

My husband and I just ate here for the first time and… we loved it. The server David was really friendly and welcoming! The décor is really beautiful. The restaurant décor has a modern organic vibe which really created a relaxing atmosphere.
Now for the food… the food was excellent! For our appetizer we had the monkey balls which is a cream cheese and tuna stuffed mushroom smothered in tangy sauces. We also had hush puppies dipped in a spicy maple syrup which was a great balance of sweet by not too sweet. For our entrée we got the Super Mario roll as well as the tempura fried California roll. The food tasted fresh and

A very interesting restaurant. I would give it a 4.5. It is a sushi bar, but not your stereotypical one. It has a limited sushi menu with respect to the number of «special rolls» compared to many places, but it has a Asian fusion dishes as well. Ex: Phở (Vietnamese noodles), dishes with grilled Pork belly which seems Korean and Duck which seemed Chinese.
You are not going to find a «cheap» or half off menu here, but for the price… You get quality sushi… very artfully presented… with some extra flourishes. Ex: real/​fresh finely diced wasabi instead of the powdered/​reconstituted kind. It gave the sashimi an extra dimension with a little crunch and freshness. Not too hot. Just right.
They have been open for more than six months and are still working on their liquor license… so no beer or sake with your Sushi. If I would have had nice cold Sapporo to go with my meal… it would have been a 5 star rating. The service was good… it was not very busy at the time so, I do not know what the service is like when it is busy. The chef and manager were very nice and solicitous of our dinning needs.
We will go back.

If the food was average, we would come back. The people here, Eric, Alex, David, Rodney and Alan make you feel you belong after a busy day.
The food being remarkable, we make a point to come here whenever we can.
Sushi– can only start to be good because of the fish. Eric is a perfectionist. You order, he delights.
Kitchen– Alex has this crazy fusion menu that is nothing short of fun and delish.
I would write more, but my guy will finish the ramen.