Wow Sushi & Roll

Just walked by this place on 5÷7÷13 and they were changing the sign to Crazy Rock’n Grill Sushi & Roll. I checked inside and confirmed that the owners have changed. They’re still Korean and it looks basically the same. I assume it will be about the same, but I haven’t gone by to check it out yet. Planning on doing that soon.

I’ve been going here for over 6 months at least once a week for lunch or dinner, sometimes twice a week. The place’s motto is «fast casual» which is exactly what they deliver. I enjoy any of the combos or salads with the grilled chicken teriyaki. The california rolls, shrimp tempura rolls, and spicy tuna rolls are spot on every time. The salads are great and so is the tempura udon. Skip the caterpiller roll as it is more avocado than eel. The portions are good and I’m full with one of the combos or salads.
They don’t charge extra for ginger, so that other reviewer is lying. This place is typically busy during weekday lunch with dine-​in working lunch folks. Don’t be fooled thinking no one goes here at night when you see the place empty. They do a lot of evening to-​go orders.
The lady behind the counter is in general busy taking orders and/​or making the food herself. She has a lot of things going on, but she is not rude or mean as other reviewers have said. Seriously, folks get over your sense of entitlement.
This place is FAST, CASUAL, AFFORDABLE and FRESH Japanese which is what Pasadena needs.
Go in, place your order, and in 10 min come out with filling quick style Japanese food. What more could you ask for.

Yummy sushi spot. Whenever I’ve been there, the waitresses and staff have always pretty friendly and fairly helpful. I was in the mood for chicken teriyaki and got the bento box. The price was reasonable and it came with plenty of food.
It was a good stop and I left the restaurant satisfied and happy and definitely plan on coming back!

This place is pretty dead for lunch hour, and the reason is their customer service is lacking. I ordered my lunch to go, just in case i don’t finish it i can take it with me. So when our order was done, they signaled for us to pick it up from the counter, yet i see them bring the foods to customer’s who ate there. I thought that was weird. Then i went back to the counter to ask for a small plate and boss lady said to me, your food came in a to go box, and didn’t give me a plate… um ok… this is the last time i will eat here.
I dont understand how businesses like this still survive, if you don’t have good customer services, how do you expect to have customers. Plus they will charge you if you want ginger, isn’t that ridiculous for a Japanese restaurant?

average. nothing impressive.

I eat here all the time — it’s kind of hidden away, but worth navigating the one way traffic on Union to get there. You can see it from Lake but have to go north or south and around to Mentor and then Union westward to park.
$ 7.99 bento (lunch box) which comes out to $ 8.67 or something for a decent-​sized workday lunch. Shrimp tempura, california roll, rice, and it’s all pretty tasty. Not true true Japanese style, but decent Americanized Japanese and at least it’s not the Mako bowl where the food comes out tasting like carnitas chicken teriyaki.
I’d say I’ve eaten here about 9 times since they changed management and only once I had a small problem — the avocado in my calif roll was a little dark. Not going to kill me, but just looked unappetizing. After debating cause I’m not usually a complainer, I asked them to fix it, and in 2 minutes they produced a pristine and fresh new roll. Excellent.
The chairs are weird, like Dr Seuss, but it’s mostly quiet and not too crowded and they are always nice and serve you quickly. Two thumbs up!

From our office we order the party trays from here.
Roll Party Tray
Delux Sushi Tray and
Teriyaki Chicken Party Tray
These party trays are really good, everyone likes when we order from here. It is a little pricey so it is not too often and reserved as a real treat for everyone. But everyone is happy because there is two types of teriyaki chicken on the chicken plate for those who do nto like sushi.
I only removed one star because of the priciness… otherwise it is awesome. And delivered to our doorstep :)

WOW sushi serves mediocre food, but has great service. The woman who manned the cash register was sweet, and the food when ordered came quickly. However, the family and I went on a Thursday night and it was practically empty save for a few people coming in to pick up to go orders.
The portion was decent and prices are reasonable. However, it’s not the best Japanese food I’ve ever tasted. The combos are the best deals, although the portion is not large, so if you’re starving you’d have to order a few extra dishes to fill you up. The shrimp california rolls had more imitation crab, then shrimp.
The place looked a bit dirty, I couldn’t really pinpoint it, but I was definitely looking around for a restaurant grade. Surprisingly, it wasn’t posted. However, for a quick meal, this place with it’s friendly service, decent prices, and mediocre food is the place to go.

As far as fast-​food sushi goes, this place is pretty good. They have reasonable prices and have set combos that satisfy many appetites. Igo here for lunch sometimes and have always satisfied. I had a spicey bento box (consisting of Spicy salmon roll, teriyaki chicken, kimchi) and a temupra crunch roll. Price: $ 11 and some change. Not bad for a alot of food, huh? The staff is very nice but not too much room in the actual place so I usually take it to go.
I do have one complaint. I think they should serve a side of rice with their boxes. How do you expect me to teriyaki chicken without rice? I mean they will serve it to you for an additional charge, but really? Is it me or is that cruel? ;-) Anywayz, regardless of my complaints, this place is a good meal at a reasonable price.

I always order Combo Bento (california roll, chicken teriyaki, and potato salad). Their eel roll isnt’ bad too (california roll with eel on top).
Prices are decently cheap, and they don’t skimp out on avocado unlike some cheap-​azz sushi places. Afterall, avocado is my favorite thing about california roll. Owners are very nice and parking is easy.
Only thing I’m taking off a star for is how inconvenient it is to reach them. Pasadena has many one way roads, so gotta take Lake, then right on Walnut, right on Mentor, then right on Union. You pretty much have to make a tight one-​block circle cause of the stupid one way roads.

I really like this place. It’s cheap, close to my job, and the food’s not bad either. I love that I can plenty of food for under 5 bucks (the chicken & tempura bowl). The sushi’s not high class, nor are the rolls, but they are good enough.
I love that you can see your food being made, too.

Nothing against the owners or anything. Its a nice little place (reminds me a little of something out of a Dr. Seuss book) and the owners seem very nice. I just honestly wasn’t a fan of their sushi. The portions were kinda small, the fish did not taste fresh (not saying it wasn’t, but it certainly didn’t taste like the fish im used to), and overall i think it was a bit pricey. Try the place out for yourself, but as for me, I’ll stick to Matsuri when I can.

In short, let me start off by saying we loved the food; it was made fresh, was colorful, and tasted delicious. The price was very reasonable.
Now, for those of you with more time to read than just the above summary, here are the juicy details of our visit:
I live in the neighborhood and on several occasions have walked past this place. We finally decided to visit for a bite this evening. Not busy, about half full — we were going to order to go… it’s not the prettiest restaurant… but after our order, we decided to eat there.
They have a small to medium sized menu, most of which are listed in pictures on the wall (bento & sushi, special rolls, and salads). I hate bad Japanese food, so we ordered a couple of items — the udon combo with tempura and CA rolls ($ 7) and the veggie tempura roll ($ 5). It took about 10 minutes and I have to say, we liked it very much — it was made to order and it was fresh. Yes! For the price, and proximity to my place, this is an exciting addition to our casual restaurant list.
So if you work, go to school or live in the area, please try them out for lunch and see what you think. BTW it looks like they have a lot of take out customers, which is most likely the way to go if you have limited time, want fresh food, but can’t wait.
On a side note, our daughter is potty training and it scares me to take her to public restrooms, even at some restaurants (yuk), which I feel says a lot about an establishment. Here, you had to go outside and around the building, giving me time to expect what you’d get at your local gas station, so needless to say, I was happy to walk into a very clean, albeit small bathroom.
All in all, the place was clean, the workers were friendly, and I loved the food along with the price. I’m a fan and will return to try out more of their items soon.
Oh and this place opened recently (new management, at least) so it’s not the same as Wow Bento and Roll.

Good news, this pace is not closed but under new ownership!
Bad news, the prices seemed to have gone up. Granted, I’ve only been here since the new ownership took over, but my co-​workers let me know that it used to be a bit less expensive, and the staff was a lot friendlier.
There is a pretty decent selection of sushi, rolls, tempura and whatnot, and if you’re not expecting superb sushi you’ll be just fine.
Decent place for lunch in Pasadena and it’s walking distance from my office :)

Fast, convenient, but the spicy tuna tempura roll= not so great. My god, don’t just throw the whole roll in the fryer!
My family needed a fast dinner the night before Thanksgiving. We had tried the location in the Glendale Galleria, and this location is much more convenient, with it’s own parking, so we gave it a shot. The teriyaki and spicy chicken are each pretty good. My brother’s tempura udon was large and tasty. The tempura shrimp roll is also decent. But I think they messed up my spicy tuna tempura roll
pretty badly. I thought I would get a spicy tuna roll, rolled in crunchy tempura bits. Instead, they apparently threw the whole damn roll into
batter then into the fryer! The result was a fried, unhealthy roll, with partially cooked spicy tuna in the middle. Hmmm, me no likey. But if they can just fix that one roll, this isn’t a bad place for some fast and easy sushi.

Definitely as Austin S. said…“a not so ideal location”. it was quite literally… a bitch getting to. Pasadena and all their damn one way streets… especially because I live off Green… a one way heading East… whereas Union, which is north of me… heads West. Ridiculous. I had to reroute 3 blocks east of the restaurant because Mentor, it’s closest cross street is a one way street that runs south… ok anyways…
After a stint with a terrible, terrible cold. I was on the hunt for some delicious Americanized Japanese food. I don’t know why I’ve never noticed it before, it has a rather loud neon orange sign. I go in on a Tuesday night at 7 pm, typical dinner time, just 2 other tables. It is definitely more of a lunch time place, I take it. The sushi chef and waitress are both Japanese and extremely sweet and nice.
They have all your typical Americanized Japanese fare… teriyaki this, cutlet that, tempura, CA rolls… basically all my favorites!
I’ve been holed up at home like a prisoner due to my death inducing cough. so I was totally ready to let it alllll hang out. I decided it was neseccary to order 3 things for myself.
Chicken cutlet (tonkatsu) bento box: A hefty portion of chicken… I’m talking ALL white meat (I LOVE THAT) and had to come from at least 2 chickens and both their racks… it really was a lot of meat, definitely get your moneys worth. The bento box came with a really fresh, but needed more dressing, romaine salad and a small scoop of rice.
$ 6.87
CA roll: The hugest, freshest rolls I’ve had in Pasadena in a long time.
$ 3.23
Shrimp Tempura roll: HUGE, I’m talking the width of a balled fist. And it was delicious.
I can’t remember how much it was…
I spent a whopping $ 15.87 by my damn self at a really affordable place. I was straight heffer status with my ordering… and you know what? I finished it all, too!
I would be here all day, every day if it wasn’t such a nuisance getting to… seriously…it really puts a damper in the whole experience…

This place is kinda hidden on a One Way street (Union) east of Lake I really only noticed it because I often pump gas at the 76 station across the street.
I’m not knowledgeable at all on Sushi but I think I can make a fair statement that this is NO hi grade Sushi place, I would consider it more like the «Panda Express» of Japanese style food.
So I decided to check things out for Lunch and noticed on the counter they had a «Special» I chose the Spicy Chicken Teriyaki Bowl has steamed Rice w/​Veg Tempura $ 4 and change, the Chicken was good nice and moist and the Veg tempura was a nice touch for some crunchiness, never had sweet potato tempura before it was good!
Overall it’s a good simple hot lunch at a good price, I would go back!
3.5– Stars

3.5
I came here for dinner last week with a couple of my friends to hang out and catch up.
You would have no idea this place was here because it’s well off of Lake Ave. and you wouldn’t notice it unless you were heading South and just happened to be looking left when you passed Union St. This place has apparently been open for just a few short months, so with the not-​so-​ideal location, we’ll see if they can stay afloat.
The place is pretty simple. It’s the kind of place where you order your food, you sit down to wait, and they call your number. The lady working the register was sweet and the food is prepared fresh. Not fine dining fresh, but it’s not like this is one of those Asian express kind of places either.
I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki which came with rice and a small salad for pretty cheap… I think it was like 7 bucks? It was ready in a few minutes and there was a good amount of chicken and not too much sauce. I would say it was probably at least 2 thighs worth of meat. It was nicely sitting in a aluminum foil «boat». The salad wasn’t brown and the rice was just right.
I guess I wouldn’t mind coming back here if I was in the mood for a cheap and quick Japanese fix.

Initially my plan was to go to Ralph’s and get a Lean Cuisine, but I decided to swing by this place instead and vowed to save money next week.
I got the best of both worlds, the food is very well priced and its much better than a Lean Cuisine. The employees were very good, when someone had to answer the phone right as I was about to order, another guy swooped in and took my order. I got the Wow Bento and the tempura was really good. Very fresh and tasty! It also filled me up but I didn’t feel heavy.
Overall, a good place for lunch… not sure if I would go here for dinner as it is more a fast food place.

So I was curious to see what WOW was all about since I drive pass this daily to go to work. I was pleasantly surprised at a long lunch line when coming here today.
They offer the usual Japanese fast food items at a really cheap price. They also have sushi that was somewhat passable.
I had the combo bento with shrimp tempura roll, teriyaki chicken and korean style potato salad. The roll was the size of my fist, but it tasted like mush. The teriyaki chicken was pretty good, the sauce reminded me of Thai BBQ chicken sauce. The potato salad was not too bad either, korean style because it has apples and specks of nature’s candy throughout the salad.
Also for shit and giggles I tried their spicy tuna hand roll. Not too bad. Mostly tuna, not a lot of rice, the way I liked it.
The coworker got a spicy tuna salad that looked pretty good. Nice portion of spicy tuna.
Overall, the friendliness of the Korean owners, the price and the speed makes this a quick lunch joint that is passable. I wouldn’t come here for dinner or anything, but a quick fix for Japanese during lunch it’s pretty good. Sadly, I wasn’t «wow’d»… only with the prices.