Zilla Sake House

Went here last night with a friend that used to frequent this place back in the day. We were seating promptly at the sushi bar, which I love! The waitress, with whom I did not get her name, was amazingly helpful and patient. I do not drink a lot of sake or other alcohol for that matter, and she was kind enough to help figure out what kind would suit me and my taste buds. The sushi chefs were fun to watch and helpful when asked questions. I had the pickled veggies and miso soup. Both were quite enjoyable. My friend had the spicy tuna roll and the fancier miso soup. He said they were both delicious. One thing I do recommend, call ahead and make reservations, the place isnt huge, but its popular!

My favorite place to eat in Portland, sit at the bar and watch the ninja like skills of the owners as they craft works of art for your consumption. I love eating food that is prepared with passion and expertise, at Zilla you can expect nothing less.

I love this sushi place and am so grateful that it is stumbling distance from where I live. It’s the best food, service and general experience I’ve had at a sushi place in Portland. Everyone seems distracted by a certain place up the street but they’re shiny marketing flash and less substance. If you want authenticity Zilla is the place. In addition to super fresh, extremely high quality fish — they only serve what’s in season and good — they have some things they do exceptionally well that seem simple but are brilliant. Here are a few of those things: Their miso deluxe soup. When I first moved to the hood, my neighbors mentioned this soup with a starry look in their eyes. It’s miso soup, but it’s so much more. They add rice and supersize the typically tiny miso bowl you get and it becomes a meal in its own right that is the most soothing thing for a chilly night. The seaweed salad. Every time I’ve gotten it elsewhere it seems like something almost artificial that is mass produced and comes out of cryo-​sealed packages. Not here, the seaweed salad is fresh and also almost a meal of it’s own. Finally, of course, there’s the sake service. They have the city’s best selection of sake — cold, hot, unfiltered — take your pick. They’re helpful about picking your bottle since there are so many choices and then they let you pick your sake glass also, which is fun. When I sat at the bar they even gave me the option of keeping my bottle of hot sake in the hot water bath on the middle of the bar and grabbing it whenever I’d like. I think people overlook this gem of a restaurant. It kinda looks closed from the outside or, at a minimum, secretive. Don’t be shy… you should go in.

We recently moved to Vancouver from out of state and have been looking for a good sushi place. After many failed attempts, we decided to try this place out.
Quality of fish here is amazing. Salmon sake was out of season when we went, can’t wait to try it during the summer. The customer service is great. Friendly waiters, staff. They had one guy making sushi tonight for four different parties — was a little slower than I was used to.
Atmosphere is OK. It’s dark, dimly lit and has ancient asian designs to make it look authentic.
I didn’t think it was as upbeat and lively as most sushi bars in a busy downtown. But at the end of the day, good sushi is good sushi. Will be back.
**Parking can be a nuisance if you come when its busy**

The whole staff is amazing! They keep me coming back. The sushi is pretty good too :)

Best sushi in Portland hands down. I’ve read some of the negative reviews on here and those people obviously like Americanized sushi and not authentic delicious fresh sushi. Americanized sushi meaning huge poorly rolled rolls with a ton of sauce on the top. You won’t get that here. You’ll get delicious fresh fish with rolls that are bite sized with quality ingredients like sushi is supposed to be! Every dish always comes out beautiful so you know these sushi chefs are super talented. The nigiri & sashimi is the freshest and best I’ve had in Portland. I’m going for the Omakase tonight and I’m sure it will be delicious!

I love the ambiance and the charm of the place. It’s a cute little bar with some booths, dark wood, and a nice cozy feel. Great service, sushi was OK, sake selection was also good. I wouldn’t say the sushi was amazing, but it was good. Service was really good, and our food came out very quickly, everyone was really friendly.

Nice cozy place on Alberta.
We had the jasmine pearl tea and it was exactly as we expected it, soothing and prepared us for the meal well.
On the sushi front we had asked for suggestions for some spicy rolls and the waitress had suggested spicy tuna and the tsunami roll. The spicy tuna roll was very flavorful and my favorite of the two. Tsunami roll was also good but in my opinion it tasted better with the ginger and soy sauce, than just soy sauce.
Did not try the sake’s this time around. Will have to stop by again.

Don’t come here for the sushi. We ordered 5 rolls for 50 dollars and all the rolls were tiny! For the price they charge you would expect a lot more. Not a lot of creativity and not a lot of favor. Each roll seemed bland and underwhelming.
Good service but don’t waste your money, Samurai Blue on Mississippi has much better sushi and portions for the same amount of money!

Zilla great local fish and an awesome sake menu. I like that they have more bottled beers than the usual suspects (Sapporo, asahi…). If you come at the right time you might be lucky enough to try fresh wasabi! It’s way better than the horseradish stuff you usually get at sushi joints.

So, Zilla is a great little place that I have gone to at least 10 times — the owner Aloe is amazing and so is her staff — I go frequently to other highly regarded sushi/​sake establishments and I keep coming back to Zilla for the BEST selection of sake in Portland. The freshest fish, too — when you walk into a sushi place it should not smell like fish — and I can assure you, they have the great raw stuff. Try it, and splurge on a bottle you can’t find elsewhere. Oh, and my dog loves anything I can’t finish — yes, its safe for spoiled dogs, too!

Probably my second favorite sushi bar in Portland. The ambiance is definitely going for the authentic Japanese sushi bar feel. Smaller quarters, a bit more homey, and it works so well to set the mood for the meal.
I’ve done both an omakase and ordering from the menu, and both were pretty grand experiences. The fish is very fresh and cut well, and the flavors for most of the rolls work very well. A high note included fresh sea eel, which they import from Japan and treat in-​house. A low point would be some of the dessert maki as part of the omakase, but I’m not going to knock them down for making me try something new.
A hidden gem on Alberta St. Definitely try it out!

Love this place! Great saki flights, great sushi menu, and really the best miso I’ve had in Portland! Small and intimate dining setting, truly like being in an izakya in Japan!

Sushi was delish! Love the ambiance.

I had been anxiously waiting to give Zilla a try and I have to say I am EXTREMELY disappointed.
We waited forever for our rolls to appear and when they did they were micro. $ 50 for micro sushi? No mam. We were still hungry so we trekked down to bamboo for our monies worth.
I’m giving two stars because they played good music and kept our water full.

This is one of my favorite places to go for sushi/​sashimi in Portland. Always excellent quality and the sake menu and cocktails are great too!
Sure, it’s not your classic Japanese restaurant/​bar, but that’s the point. They’re doing a unique, more edgy thing… And it’s nice to be in the atmosphere of a family owned and operated business as Portland grows and becomes more homogenized.
Definitely a landmark on Alberta Street and my choice to go if I’m having a sushi craving that needs to be met with high quality!

I have been so curious about this place for months, very glad I finally ventured in today! I was wandering down Alberta with a friend looking for a place that sounded good for a snack and was pleasantly surprised to see Zilla opens by noon ( Unilocal says they open at 5). My uni special was incredibly fresh and generously portioned, the squid jerky was fun and different, and my friend’s roll had real crab in it. The sake I tried was right on point with the menu description. Service was very attentive and friendly. Oh, and the wasabi was fresh-​grated, not reconstituted powder!
The prices may seem high if you’re used to sushi-​go-​round mystery fish and lots of fillers & sugary sauces on your rolls, but Zilla is obviously curating a selection of very fresh and well made items that can stand on authentic, minimalist feet and for that I thought the fees were very fair. Done right, sushi SHOULD feel like an expensive treat, not convenience food.
I could see coming here often. The atmosphere was perfect for the random weekday escape we were craving and there’s definitely plenty of sake here to explore!

I’ve read quite some good reviews about Zilla sake house on Unilocal.But after my visit there, I have to say that I’m not a fan.
Here are my reasons.
First, when we sit down, they didn’t offer hot tea. Which Japanese restaurant does not offer hot tea these days? Instead they gave me a menu with tea, sake and miso soup. I understand that they allow customer to select hot tea by brand/​type, but isn’t it the courtesy to provide free hot tea?
Then, the sushi. From my standard, it’s just OK. Not too bad, but definitely not worth the price. The spicy tuna does not give you the kick that it should be, and from the picture you can see that the chef’s cut is kind of sluggish. For California roll and cucumber roll, it’s OK but they’re hard to mess up with.
Sake is OK. They have good selection of sakes and I ordered a organic kind. Flavor is good. But again over priced.
I have mixed feeling about the decoration and atmosphere. They definitely have some cool decoration there. Meanwhile, the light is way too dark. I understand low lights fits the atmosphere better but for Japanese food, a brighter light is definitely a better choice. I’m ordering sushi here shouldn’t the light be bright enough for me to see the color and texture if my sushi and sashimi?
So, here is my conclusion. Overpriced, over rated with average sushi. I sure won’t be there again.

Great, quaint little joint. The sushi is darn good (maybe not the best or most authentic, but really, really good ‘American’ sushi). The best part is the atmosphere, lack of pretentiousness, and the drinks.
You can get out of here after a couple of hours with 2 drinks a piece, edamame, miso, and multiple tasty, fresh rolls. You’ll leave here full (but not too full) and happy.

Wow, surprisingly delicious sushi. I had been here once before many years ago when it first opened and was not impressed, but now impressed! The sushi was fresh with clean sublime flavors. The scallop and hamachi were outstanding. Limited choices of sushi rolls, but that did not matter because its all so good! The service was great and we did not want for a thing. This place is a bit spendy, but good.
It is a (sake) bar so it’s dark and little dingy. I did not find it charming or cool like others mentioned. The music is a little loud, but not too bad.