Ai Sushi

Closed. AI Sushi is no more.

Another spot I checked out en route from a friend’s house. I guess I’ve had worse. They had this All-​You-​Can-​Eat special. I don’t know what made me go for it, but I did! That special only pertains to the sushi rolls I’m more of the sashimi and nigiri type. The rolls weren’t that great. You can order two rolls at a time and they watch you like a hawk to make sure you don’t share anything with the folks at your table. Not that I was trying to get over on them, but I often eat with friends and we try things off each others’ plates. It’s what we do!

I heard they closed down! Just my luck =D.

I ordered here to go for my mom, who doesn’t eat raw fish but likes the idea of sushi. I got the rolls that only had cooked fish and an order of grilled salmon teriyaki. The guy who took my order was nice and friendly. The order came with soup and salad too! It was pretty cool!
I like the food here, it beats Kitaro anyday (in terms of food quality).
I didn’t even notice the all you can eat sign. I’ll keep that in mind for next time I walk by. I don’t like supporting shady businesses either, so if what Unilocalers say about the false advertisement is true, I won’t be coming back.
I hate false advertisements and shady business practices. Take pride in your business, people! Someone should report it to consumers’ affairs or something!

Pros: cheapest sushi for nice, big rolls, empty most of the time.
Cons: like many stated already, it’s totally false advertising, as it’s not «all you can eat,» I went there for lunch and she said I could only order two rolls. It is still a deal but I didn’t appreciate being lied to. It’ll get me in the door one time but not the second. the woman is totally pushy and tells you what to order and makes you feel bad for asking for water or anything extra. definitely not a good feeling when you feel like you have to please your waitress by ordering what she wants or she’ll get mad at you.
It’s too bad because if they could just tell the truth and work on their service (like hire a waitress who will just serve food and not tell ppl what to order), I think this could be a successful restaurant. The food is good.

For years I thought it was A1 sushi. Came here for all you can eat sushi over 3 years ago. It wasn’t all we could eat but we were there for over 2 hours and we ate and drank the whole time. Fast forward to today.
$ 13.95 Dinner special = 2 10 piece rolls. Good deal. We got the DD roll — Deep fried cali roll with spicy mayo and unagi sauce… whoah. Ocean Roll — spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, and avacado… good but a little bland. Now the babe roll (which of course was the only roll I ordered) — spicy tuna roll. Easy, nothin special right? No bueno. It wasn’t bad but it was bland. The tuna had no flavor and there was nothing to top it off. There was a 4^th roll and I’ll get to it.
We split a large sake and two beers. Sake was A-​OK though I’m no sake sommelier. It was nice and quiet. Old guy makin the rolls and an old gal serving. Good service as she periodically checked on us. The old guy was watching WWF on TV! WTF! Classic!
Small place with Karaōke upstairs which I still haven’t seen. And the walls are lined with photos of young folks having a blast.
What blew me away was the fourth roll. It is a must try.
The TNT roll, or as I like to call it, the JJ Walker Roll. Or for you younger less cultured folk the AC/​DC roll. Anyways, its like someone through a stick of dynamite in the ocean and when it blew everything landed on rice in an abalone shell. It’s DY-​NO-​MITE! Ahhh, I digress. TNT Roll — Oyster, scallop, squid, crab, and lobster, over rice baked with some ailoi served in an abalone shell — whoah

Huge sign out the front says «all you can eat sushi» you get in and sit down to be told no only two rolls! I asked what about the sign out the front and plastered all over the walls she says it old don’t worry customers like this!
False advertising!
The food was the worst sushi I have ever had we didn’t eat it all was worried if we would end up in hospital
Avoid this place not worth a dime!

I went there for what I thought was going to be a quick lunch, I was wrong. I was the only customer there, and yet, I had to wait well over 10 minutes to get my bill. I guess watching golf on tv is more important than serving customers. He did look over at me, and I was obviously finished, waiting to pay so I can leave. I seriously was about to just ditch, but I felt like that isn’t the moral thing to do.
So after I pretty much had to yell «excuse me!!» I paid. I told them I was very disappointed and they were not getting a tip for sure.
The sushi was ok, nothing special. I do think it was over priced considering the service and quality. There are a lot better places within walking distance from this crap hole.
Never again!

Dropped in here for a second on Friday at about 515 for an early, light dinner after grabbing a few things at Ross. We were the only people there, understandably. The service was very friendly and quick /​efficient. The menu was pretty good sized and prices were «below average» for a sushi place. The sashimi we had was very very fresh and yummmmmy. We had a spicy tuna /​tempura shrimp kind-​of roll and a snow crab something roll (sorry, long day at work = not really caring about the exact description of my food). Sushi was not the most inventive or best I’ve had but good service & good prices & the fact that I’m not exactly a sushi snob = 4 stars for me. Just dont go expecting a life-​changing experience.

Yikes. So I’ve heard various sources ripping on Korean-​run sushi joints in the Richmond, and never really got what the problem was.
Until I visited AI Sushi.
Let’s start with the first problem — the funk. This place really smells like a bong shop. You’d think it would have freshened up thanks to having no USF students the last month (summer vacation + liquor license suspension) but noooo… definitely not a good smell. The interior is kitschy, which is ok for a cheap sushi place. Sushi bar is small and low. Not very comfortable to sit at.
I came in around 8:15 on a Tuesday night, just as a couple guys were leaving. There were no hours posted but I get the impression they don’t want anyone around after 8. I say this because right after placing my order, a buddy of the owner showed up and they proceeded to shoot the shit for about 10 minutes standing about 5 feet away from me. Later, while I’m eating, two more guys come in and they proceed to have a rather animated conversion right next to me as well. So much for a zen-​like sushi experience.
One roll I ordered had spicy tuna, and it was really the worst spicy tuna I’ve ever had. Looked like it came out of a can and tasted like pasta sauce. The other roll was fried, and while a little heavy on the batter, was enjoyable. That was the saving grace of the meal, and why I’m not dropping the 1-​star here.
Thankfully it didn’t cost much, but if you’re looking for cheap sushi, please for goodness sakes head to 21^st and hit Kitaro or the Sushi Boat place. If both are full, pay a couple bucks more and hit Drunken Sushi, Minami, or Sakura on Clement. Doing some sake bombs here sounds fun, but that’s the only reason I’d ever come back.

Ai [Heart] Sushi = I Love Sushi.
Its a cute name for a restaurant and pretty clever. I knew someone that used to call this place «A.I. Sushi.» I told her «No, its I Love Sushi! In Japanese, AI would be pronounced like the letter „i“…the HEART is for „love“ and if your dumbass ass cant read the word SUSHI, then you’re a complete idiot!» Okay, okay I never said that to anyone but I’m sure alot of people don’t know and still call this place «Ai Sushi»…
I came here during lunch time and ordered their sashimi lunch special ($ 9.95). It came with 4 pieces of nigiri, 4 pieces of sashimi, soup, salad, and I think it was SUPPOSED to come with rice but they never gave it to me. I’m a sushi snob and I have to admit their nigiri was quite tasty and fresh. However, their tuna and hamachi sashimi wasn’t that great. The center was cold when I bit into it.
FYI, they have all you can eat sushi here. You get LARGE rolls (I saw it on the menu) and I believe you get 10 big ass pieces. If you’re into those «Jive Ass Rolls,» then you will probably like this place. Anything deep fried or drenched in sauce is pretty gross to me. Its $ 11.95 for lunch and its probably $ 13-​$ 15 for dinner.
Btw, ever since that sushi guy left
, I noticed all of his pictures were taken down. Last time I saw him was at Oyaji.

My stomach is still aching from last night. I’m not sure if I can blame them for it but it could be the sake bomb that went into my empty stomach prior to the sub par sushi. I woke up every two hours last night because my stomach was bothering me. Ai Sushi was the ONLY real food I had all day. Ugh.
I pride myself over being a Dynamite Roll connoisseur and let me tell ya, last night’s Dynamite Roll was weird. Dynamite Rolls are supposed to be DYNAMITE and spicy, right? Where was the Dynamite and where was the spicy? I thought maybe they misplaced it, so I looked under the plate, but nope, it wasn’t there. I know that each sushi place has different ways of making their sushi, but this was definitely not your typical Dynamite Roll. Okay, enough about the flavorless, spiceless, dynamiteless Dynamite Roll. I, also, had a Philly Roll, but how do you mess up fresh salmon and cream cheese? You don’t except for the fresh part. I, also, tried a TNT Roll, it was this baked California Roll with Scallops on top. And let’s just say, that was probably the only thing that had any taste. My friend didn’t even want to take his leftover sushi home, which means *pfft thumbs down, Ai Sushi.
The funniest thing happened: My friend bought a huge chocolate chip cookie from Mrs. Fields and she asked them to bring it out at the end of dinner because it was her boyfriend’s birthday. So, they bring it out and set it down, we do the birthday song and then proceed to cutting the huge cookie. The waitress comes up with HELLA plates and HELLA forks and I look at her with the most perplexed look… She proceeds to say, «I brought extra plates for people downstairs.» Uhh, what? Who said anything about sharing?
Overall, the service was good, but the sushi was blegh ANDDDDD parking was horrible, but we can’t blame the restaurant, just good ol’ Geary Street on a Saturday night.

I’ve passed by this particular restaurant many times and I went here with a few friends for a birthday dinner the other night based off of the fact that they had «all you can eat» sushi for 14 bucks. granted, you shouldn’t expect much from all you can eat sushi for 14 bucks, that is, unless you don’t get all the sushi you can eat.
We weren’t really sure what the lady said when she gave us the sushi menus except for the fact we were supposed to each order 2 rolls and then later, we would order another roll. I’ve been to many types of restaurants like this and I understand they don’t want people wasting food but damn dude, when they say you order one more roll of sushi, they mean exactly that. you basically end up paying 17 bucks for 3 rolls after tax and tip which isn’t too bad except…
The sushi sucks. Instead of having a bunch of rolls on the menu that don’t make sense they should just make it like a burger joint and say «California roll with your choice of toppings.» They use the same sauce on all the rolls (similar to Fuji’s in davis if you know what I’m talking about. I knew it was fishy when there was a Mexican guy making our rolls (no pun intended) and the waitress started speaking Korean to the other guys in the restaurant.
I read the other reviews but for some reason I decided to still give this restaurant a chance. The review that says that «something just doesn’t taste right» is right on the money and the other one that says «don’t eat here» should really be taken seriously. At the end of the menu the waitress began giving us a speech on why its only 3 rolls somehow jedi mind tricked us into thinking it meant all you can eat. I was going to give this place one star but I usually don’t read the reviews with one stars and perhaps you’re the same way.
In the end I’d rather go to Kitaro (which in itself should be saying something about how bad the sushi is). Avoid at all costs

When the «Lady K» came to get Ash and I from the Gallery Lounge the first thing she says to me is, «I’m hunnnngggggrrrryyyyyy…» Well you know what that means!!! Time to grab some sushi on the go and check out a new place.
As we drove down Geary passing many open restaurants, the glowing hanging lanterns at the front of Ai Sushi caught my eyes and in we went. Super great service! Very very friendly! We had grabbed a take out menu on the way in and when the owner (?) saw us looking at it he quickly, came over with a real menu and said, «look at this one, much better pictures!» He then offered us some hot tea while we sat to wait for our to go order.
We both had the miso soup — tasty, not too salty, could have had a bit more tofu in it for my taste. We split a California roll — not feeling at all adventurous tonight and the «Lady K» wanted to keep it simple and safe and then we split the agedashi tofu. This is one of my favorite dishes. I tend to get it at every sushi place we go to and Ai Sushi definitely puts their spin on it. I don’t think I have ever had it with grated FRESH ginger on top. Its typically mixed in with the batter and then fried. A nice touch!
We’ll be back for more. Enjoy!
PS: see my pictures and let me know what’s up with the leaves on the ceiling.

The first time I went here was for my friend’s get together to sake bomb. We were told to sit at the back «outdoor patio». Way to twist their words. We ended up walking through the sticky kitchen to 2 long plastic tables in a cold tent. What was up with the janky lights falling off the «ceiling»? 25 people smushed trying to fit in a tent for 10 – 12? But i was hopeful… there was supposedly a nice upstairs. Sorry, it doesn’t get much better. Looks like a run down karaōke brothel. The worn out pillows smelled of piss.
Overpriced. They charge you extra especially with sake flowing through the veins. Food was surprisingly pretty good though. I wouldn’t come back to this place that’s infamous for serving underage drinkers.

It’s a super cute somewhat dingy hole-​in-​the-​wall and I actually had a pretty good time there.
I was with a huge group so we reserved the room upstairs for sake-​bombing. It was the Karaōke room which in all honesty looked seriously sketchy, but after a a few drinks we didn’t mind all that much. The seating was so uncomfortable though. Tiny tables to sit on the floor in Japanese style, but the provided seat cushions were hardly functional and kind of grossly stained.
The people serving us were nice but seemed a little stressed out. I can understand it though, I’m sure serving over a dozen noisy college kids up until closing was not high on their wish list. Thank you for tolerating us!
As for the food, I had the Beef Teriyaki Bento Box and for $ 10.95 I got an amazing assortment and amount of food. The Beef Teriyaki was so delicious and tender I would actually go back for it. The Tempura Veggies were also tasty as was the salad and exceptional Miso Soup. The sushi, however, was no good. I had a couple California Rolls in the box and ended up giving them to other people. They seemed to enjoy it though and I will admit, I’m a bit of a sushi snob.
Overall, it’s a perfect hole in the wall for a noisy group party, but make sure to make a reservation so they are ready for you. It’s a little pricey for hit-​and-​miss food but if sake-​bombing is what you are looking for than this is the place for it.

I love me some sushi and I’ll tell you that I no love here. We ordered 3 rolls: spicy tuna roll, B52 roll, and the spiderman roll. I think I coulda made a better roll at my own house.
While we were eating there musta been 20 underage boppers walking in-​n-​out of the back of the restaurant… uh, didn’t you guys get fined for underage drinking like twice?
One star for the Asahi beer…

Another typical sushi restaurant on Geary. This time its not owned by chinese people, it’s owned by koreans! hahaha… Sushi is mediocre… the sake bombs are great though.
Can you believe during our dinner, we had cops come into the restaurant asking us for IDs, because we look underage, what kind of business ethics is that.

This place cracks me up. I’d like to think that I’m too sophisticated a sushi eater to dine here, but what the hey! I’m not.
It’s close to home. And it’s cheaper than dirt. Does that scare me? Cheaper than dirt, in an establishment where they serve raw fish? Yeah, it does. Totally. But I’m not rollin’ in dough. I’m known to occasionally run my checking account down to the bottom of the coffers, and ironically it’s usually around those times that I start cravin’ some soosh.
It’s just a silly, silly place: walls plastered with photos of college students posing with the sushi chef, making dumb kissy faces. It’s hard to take one’s meal seriously in there. But okay, I’m only paying $ 20 for sashimi, soup, salad — the whole deal. I’m not going there for a «serious» meal.
And since when does everything on a Japanese menu come with a side of kimchi? I have a feeling these guys are actually… hmm… Korean?
The quality of the sushi is totally sub-​par, but they’ve downgraded the atmosphere and the prices to reflect it. It’s all about not taking things too seriously at Ai, A1, whatever this place is actually called.
But the bathroom; the bathroom they really need to do something about. I DO take that pretty seriously. Luckily, I live close enough to run home. But the rest of you… Be warned.

If I were in high school and had a huge mirror over my bureau with tons of cutesy photos of my friends, and I was making minimum wage at Taco Bell and needed somewhere cheap to hang out with my pals that felt like «home» (home being my teeny bopper bedroom, with said bureau and mirror) then I would love this place!
I really could give a shit about looking at a bunch of photos of drunk kids while I wait a completely unreasonable amount of time for my food as everyone who came in after me gets served because they «lost» my order. All of this without any apology.
I should have run in the other direction when I saw kim chee on the menu…
In fact, I should have run in the other direction when I saw that the entire clientele looked like they stepped out of an after school special.
One star for the food not making me sick, and one star for providing a safe place for kids to find their prom date.