SanSai Japanese Grill

I have been here a few times and haven’t been disappointed. The price is right when it comes to their rolls and having an all day happy hour is prime. I am a seaweed salad addict and love to pair it with their spicy salmon roll or rainbow. I am not saying this is the best sushi I have had… but its not bad!
I have also never seen this place empty so that’s a great sign. service at times can but slow but that is mostly due to them not having enough staff to patrons.

I stopped by today with a few people for a first time visit. The three others and myself really enjoyed it a great deal. My friend and I had a spicy pork & spicy chicken bowl, the others tried various sushi and soup. Everyone enjoyed their meals and even commented on how well tasting everything was.
I also thought the presentation was pretty good as well. Not only did it taste good, it also looked very good! Normally not a thing I notice, but it stood out here.
Service wasn’t bad, but I felt it could have been a little better. But in all fairness the place was busy. My first time visiting and I left full, happy and content and you really can’t ask for more.

My favorite Sushi Place. I know a lot of other people have issues with service, but I sit at the bar. If you make small talk with the chef at the bar, everything goes like aces. And sushi is one of those things where fresh is best, so asking the chef is almost mandatory.
The prices are damn near unbeatable. The salmon nigiri is one of my favorites. I also like the Spicy Sashimi Salad and the Ahi Poke Salad. The Marina Roll is another nice one to go for. Overall you can’t really go wrong here. As with any sushi place they need to have a good a miso to start your meal and this place has a good miso, so no complaints from me.
If I had to complain about anything, it’s that the bar leans down and could use some work to get it level again.

My buddy convince me to check this place out since he comes here regularly. The staff is nice and quite attentive for a semi-​busy Thursday night. Service was as expected. The have some really good roll combinations and we ordered the jalapeño, tiger, mudslide, redbull, and one more I can’t think of. I like all except the jalapeño… nothing wrong with it, just not my type. Some of the rolls are continuously half off and is a really good deal. The fish quality was decent but two things warranted a three star rating:
— the spicy tuna on top of some of the rolls is the mixed to a pulp variety; I prefer chopped up since it provides more texture and I can get a better sense of quality and flavor
— the shrimp tempura we had in a couple of the rolls were precooked so I got this soft battered shrimp in the roll that was lukewarm; it didn’t even have a panko-​like crust to it
If I’m in the area craving sushi, I’d still come back because of the value and variety.

Great sushi stop on 21^st. Walking in it’s hard to tell that this is a converted garage, it’s a cozy and quaint little place to stop to watch the game with friends (tv directly to the right as you come in) or if you’re lookin to grub down on some good sushi or chicken/​rice combo bowls. The real surprise was that there were full rolls on the menu that were listed «always ½ off.» I had to confirm with a waiter that my eyes weren’t deceiving me! We ordered 4 full size rolls (8 pieces each) and a regular chicken, rice, green salad, and fried veggie plate. MORE than enough food for $ 27! The only thing they didn’t have was sweet chili sauce that some other sushi places have (and which I’m obsessed with)

Went back again at the behest of friends, this time for dinner. The only redeeming thing this time around was the wild salmon sashimi. Otherwise, bleh. Not to mention that I ordered vegetable tempura that came out after we had all finished eating. No offer to take it off the bill nor any apology for the food taking over 30 minutes to come out. Won’t be wasting my money here again.

Always my go-​to for sushi. Awesome prices, delicious, and the staff is consistently on top of things. Plus, the food comes out super fast. Highly recommend.

This place always has a «happy hour.» However the sushi is great at a reasonable price. This is my favorite place to get sushi in Portland downtown area. Parking can be somewhat difficult to find around this neighborhood. Overall a great experience, every time!

SanSai — sighhhh. I want to love you. Great selection on the menu and all day happy hour on Sunday, how can you go wrong?
However, the last couple times I’ve come here, I’ve gotten sick. I’m blaming the sushi, because my boyfriend had the chicken and had no problem.
I’m hoping it was a fluke, but it might be a while before I try again.

A great place to come for lunch or dinner. Great selection from sushi to bento and more. Prices are more than reasonable and portions are very generous. Great place to sit outside and people watch too.

Doesn’t get better than 24 hour happy hour. A lot of the best sushi is always half off. Eat it with a sakitini and you’ve got a meal

Happy hours all day!
This is my absolutely favorite sushi place in Portland. I’ve been about a dozen times and it have not been disappointed. You can actually walk out full and not broke.
Things to get: salmon/​hamachi kama, salmon skin salad, calamari bomb… Essential dishes for most of my visits.
I’ve never had to wait to get a table and they’re open fairly late. It’s not a hot and rising sushi joint filled with all the tastes to challenge your palette, but they’re perfect for that sushi craving that occurs at least once a month.
There are places like boxer (sorry now closed) or hokusei when you’re feeling super fancy, but when it comes to satisfying your insatiable and constant sushi hunger, Sansai is the place to go.

Decided to try it out the other day since we had a larger crowd and wanted to be able to sit down. I was surprised on the sushi, we tried a couple different rolls. Out of all, I would recommended the baked spicy snapper roll and the calamari bomb… They were. Would I visit again? Yes. + great all day happy hour.

Horrible service
Waiter left us outside for an hour then the manager yelled at us for requesting more food. Worst experience I’ve ever had.

Great sushi in Portland. Being as I don’t live here I haven’t explored too much — but either way, the sushi rolls were interesting and new. The flavors were good. Fresh.
I’d definitely come back. Plus I love the little area it was in!

I really enjoyed my Sushi at this sushi place, Especially the dynamite roll with wonderful sauce with variety of seafood, scallop, squid, mussels.
I really liked the sushi here because the sushi rice is served hot, it’s really one of a kind and special. All the sushi served with warm rice. Once you eat sushi with warm rice, you would not want to go with cold sushi anymore. Their sushi order is a bit expensive than the traditional sushi because it’s much bigger portion. They have a few selection of sushi menu at half price during happy hour.

I love this place! It’s one of my favorite sushi places in the country and it rarely disappoints. The menu is a little confusing because of the half price indicaters that are printed on it.
The sushi here is very cheap and ultra tasty. They have a lot of variety and it doesn’t have that Americanized feel to it, like a lot of sushi places do by having most of the rolls including cream cheese and being deep fried. Most of the rolls are fresh and have that perfect sushi to rice ratio.
I come here whenever I’m in Portland

It’s not the best quality sushi but it’s exceptional for their happy hour prices. I don’t come here to be wowed by quality fish but more to gorge and eat away my stress. Hence, «sushi dinner nights.» The service isn’t super attentive but I get my food when it comes out (average to fast wait) and it’s very rare for them or the kitchen to forget something I ordered.
The place is big enough. There’s always a seat, even on busy weekend nights. Most of the tables seat 4 and if you’re lucky, you can sit in a booth on the sides of the restaurant. I’ve always wanted a booth seat but at the same time, I fear they will forget about my existence, making it hard to order.
The rolls are large and tasty. The happy hour menu is substantial (rolls, some nigiri, cheap cheap sake) but I usually add a regular priced roll to the HH order. They give you a laminated menu with a marker, you write in your order and they pick it up. It’s great.
One time a picky dude ate most of his dish and then complained to to the chef. You come here to eat comfort sushi/​Japanese food in a fun social atmosphere, not to have your taste buds blown. jerk.
I love coming here for cheap sushi.

Not the best sushi I’ve ever had but also not the worst. And you can’t beat those strange half-​off-​all-​day-​every-​day «happy hour» prices.
Some of the regular rolls come with 6 or 8 pieces so they can really fill up a platter fast. Pay close attention to how much you order or order in waves so you dont get sushi swamped. I know from experience.
This place fulfills a niche– and that niche is a good place to load up on cheap sushi with friends. The quality is hit or miss, depending on what time of day and day of the week you go. I got takeout on a Saturday night and the salmon skin roll I ordered tasted a bit stale. But the shrimp tempura roll and spicy salmon roll hit the spot.
And did I mention they’re fast? To go orders are usually ready in just under ten minutes!
If you find yourself craving sushi while strolling down 21^st on some rainy evening, stop in for a roll or two. But don’t go out of your way.

I love sushi so I was excited to try San Sai’s happy hour, which is all day btw.
I’ve been here a few times and for some reason the first time the sushi just tasted fresher, even though it’s all made to order.
I’ve had better quality sushi at other places, but for the price this place can’t be beat.
Stuffing my friend and I for around $ 25 is a win. Most definitely will be back.