Takara Sushi & Sake Lounge

Great sushi and service. Popped in off a Unilocal review and it delivered. Big sushi guy and only like good stuff. Thurs great date ngt menu that is cheap form sushi. You should go! Cheers!

Hands down my favorite sushi place in Tampa. Their specials are honestly incredible for the quality of their food. I visit Tampa often from Miami and this sushi matches most of the high quality fish we pay premium price for down there. The ponzu sauce is also extremely good here, much better than most restaurants.

This is my favorite sushi place around USF! They do student discounts if you bring your USF ID too.

I love this place. It has a great ambience, nice décor and an awesome happy hour.
Happy hour is 5 – 7 and they have about 20 or more rolls for only $ 5 each. $ 2 beers and $ 5 apps. Score!

This place is clean has good service and selection. My husband ordered sushi and he liked it. I ordered pork belly ramen bc pork belly and ramen both are my favorite food. Nothing could go wrong right? It was rather bland and lukewarm actually. Another miss of my search for good ramen.
They have many deals and a check in deal for Unilocal (free sake) but you cannot combine them.

I am an avid fan of the sushi. Truly a sushi head and any time I’m in the USF area I have to stop by and visit Hunter and the crew at Takara. Always fresh and perfectly rolled. Super laid back kind of place with something for everyone. From the first time sushi sampler to the I want to live in Japan and each sushi daily dude. The staff is always attentive and very helpful when asked about the menu. If your in the area, definitely worth a try. Just be warned, you’ll be hooked.

Today was my first taste of Takara. I ordered takeout for lunch, and all I had was the sashimi appetizer which consisted of three pieces each of tuna, salmon, and a white fish (I ordered almost the same takeout from a Thai place in another city on Friday night, and it was so delicious I’d been craving it ever since).
When I picked up my order, the dining area wasn’t very busy… it looked clean and intimate/​comfortable. The hostess was probably one of the most pleasant young ladies I’ve encountered in quite some time; she retrieved my order and I paid left. I had to turn around after looking at my order half way down the road to request Ponzu or soy sauce and extra wasabi (she apologized and brought some right out, explaining that soy is not typically included in the appetizer).
My sashimi was in a small container with a small dab of wasabi and some ginger. I’m talking about raw fish here… there’s excellent, okay, bad, and downright ugly; I usually consider the variety of fish and it’s color, texture and flavor, along with freshness, temperature, slicing, and presentation (I’m sure there’s probably more to it than that). While it appeared fresh, I wasn’t blown away by the (takeout, mind you) presentation or the flavor, and I did not care for the white fish, whatever it was. The salmon and tuna were just okay. And, I thought the (extra container of) wasabi was extremely mild and a little too pasty.
I haven’t tried the sushi or other menu items yet, and haven’t ruled them out completely. I may return and dine in soon… stay tuned.

Went for dinner tonight… and to hit the happy hour! I ate four sushi rolls all by myself (the tempura sweet potato roll was really good, as was the firecracker roll. My girlfriend had the Ginger Salmon (said it was awesome)… and we really enjoyed ourselves. Virginia (waitperson) recognized us from the last visit, and once again provided excellent service with a smile!
I didn’t have hardly any sake :(since I was driving… but what I had was good! Maybe next time! :)

Five stars for excellent service, beautiful plate presentation, delicious fresh sushi, and great atmosphere. The price is affordable as well. The sushi chef accommodated my gluten allergy and whipped up a substitute sauce for my appetizer. All of this is very much appreciated! Highly recommend!!!

I officially go here basically every Friday for lunch now and this place never disappoints. There are other places that have the $ 10 sushi lunch special deal but I gotta say this place has the best quality sushi of all for that price. Ive yet to try the dinner so I can’t really comment on that. My new favorite roll is the Mexican Roll – I could easily eat this as my only meal for the rest of my life and I would die a happy person. It has tempura shrimp, avocado & cucumber, rolled in seaweed & rice, topped with krab, smelt roe, tempura chips, spicy mayo & eel sauce. The firecracker and the spicy crunchy tuna is also still very good. The service is consistently awesome. I believe our usual waiters name is Christopher – he is great! I HIGHLY doubt you’ll get disappointed if you come here for lunch. :D

I’m shocked this place was rated nearly 5 stars (the reason why I came in the first place) because for me «meh», «middle of the road», and «average» are more of an accurate description to my experience. Neither the sushi, nor the raw fish appetizers wowed me. The ceviche is a definite no for me — it almost tasted like they used sugar plus citric juices, making it almost sweet? Ceviche should not be sweet!
They do offer a lot of frills though — free sake with check in (get the lychee! it’s yums), rolls without rice (great for those watching their waistline), discounts for USF students, happy hour deals, etc. All good and wonderful if you live in the area, must have sushi, and cannot go anywhere else. but the sushi itself isn’t the draw for this restaurant.

Awesome sushi and drinks! My friend and I came for sushi dinner on Halloween prior to going to Howl-​o-​scream. We had the place to ourselves besides the hulk, medusa, and a sorcerer due to the holiday.
I started off with a kirin light and hot house sake which was yummy. Since I checked in on Unilocal I got one free sake shot as well.
Since I am doing low carb I chose options without rice… and let me tell you there was no shortage of options! I had the naruto roll, red dragon roll, and the sashimi roll– which was my favorite! So fresh and tasty.
My friend had the Mexican roll, custom made shrimp and asparagus, and a roll similar to the dynamite roll and she said they were great.
Overall the place was clean, the staff was friendly, and it was in an easy to find location near Busch Gardens.

Meh. This is my 2^nd attempt at this particular sushi joint. My first left me unimpressed. This just reaffirmed my misgivings. Very middle of the road sushi that leaves me wanting.
I do have to say their plate presentation is great, but they don’t have the best ingredients. They have a small variety of fresh fish in specialty rolls. Menu is filled with imitation crab, tempura. A lot of the menu also involves spiciness, which I have nothing against, but it’s just another cheap way to get flavor. The selection seems to be geared towards the younger, not so much sushi aficionados. Even the staff was very young and not especially skilled or knowledgeable. Waitress gave very generic neutral answers. Hostess didn’t even say goodnight. That’s like a thing right? Not to nitpick, but that’s the experience. I wasnt upset, not sure anyone cared.
The food was there. They called it sushi. And I ate it. Unremarkable.

I gotta tell ya’, I don’t know what the hype is all about. I think it is actually very busy due the all the USF students.
My buddy and I ate here and were not blown away at all. We found the presentation on point; while the flavor was bland and identical to all mediocre sushi joints. The service was good. The sake was pretty good also, oh, and the prices are good.
Stop by if you are in the area for sure. It is a decent sushi place, but don’t go there if you are looking for the next level.

You have to check in at this place cause the free apple flavored saki is like liquid jolly rancher. I had the white fish sashimi, spider roll, dynamite mussels, spicy conch sashimi (definitely go spicy on the conch, don’t be a wimp), crunchy Florida, Tiger eye roll, and the banana bomb for dessert.
The spicy conch had me wanting more because of the spicy sweet combo and the tiger eye was my least favorite cause it just didn’t measure up taste wise compared to the other things we got. If I go again while I am in town I will definitely get the dynamite mussels again for an app and lots of that spicy conch!

THIS PLACE HAS A SECRET VEGETARIAN MENU! First all of, they lose a star because I came here three times for their avocado tofu salad without being informed that they have a COMPLETELY VEGETARIAN MENU. Why keep this a secret? How cruel. Vegetarians would go crazy for this place if they only knew about the offerings.
The vegetarian menu includes about six unique vegetarian sushi options. I tried the Mango Tango without cream cheese and it was DELICIOUS! I will be heading back to try them all.
Takara has a few really delicious vegetarian offerings on their regular menu as well, including vegetable tempura, which I love. My meat-​eating partner has no complaints about the meat & fish sushi offerings, he always wants to come here, especially since they offer a USF discount and some happy hour DEALS.
The only other negative besides allowing me to visit without handing me their amazing vegetarian menu is that their drink menu isn’t spectacular. I assumed they were beer/​wine only and I do love a cocktail with my sushi. But THEN, as I was leaving this restaurant, I saw people with what looked like martinis on their table. MARTINIS? Am I out of the loop again? I will find out and report back.
When I taste all the crazy awesome veggie sushis and sample whatever drinks they’re hiding from me, perhaps it will earn a five star review, but right now, I’m feeling like I have to sit at the little kids table while everyone else is getting the all star treatment.

After I found sushi, many of my reviews were 5-​stars. It’s wasn’t that the place where 5-​stars, it was because I like sushi a lot. A LOT.
Now that I’ve got some sushi places under my belt, I would have to say this place gets the coveted 5-​stars. It’s the best sushi place I’ve been to. Every roll we got was amazing: shrimp tempura, grouper tempura (aka Tampa roll), and a Crunch Florida (which is salmon and tuna with cream cheese with crispy wonton on top.)
We also got the sake infused shots (via checking in) I got Fuji Apple, and coming from someone who doesn’t like sake I can really get behind this drink. It tasted really good.
Also they had the best tasting ginger salad. I am glad I don’t go to USF, because I would be here way too much spending all my financial aid.

After my first visit to Takara I compared their sushi to the random musings of two bit, cut rate, out-​of-​work actor Jean-​Claude Van Damme. My main problem with it was that it had great vegetarian appetizers but the meat free sushi was pretty lackluster. After that visit, Takara responded and said they would be creating a new menu completely made up of vegetarian sushi.
I’ve now been back to Takara three or four times to try out that vegetarian menu and, I must say, this place is a two bit actor no more. The vegetarian sushi Takara rolled out (pun intended) features many unique and creative flavor combinations. They’re the kind of combinations I haven’t seen at any other sushi restaurant. Pairings such as asparagus, cucumber, avocado, red pepper & carrot or sprouts, mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, and red pepper or mango, tempura sweet potato, asparagus, cucumber, seaweed salad and cream cheese or inari, avocado, cucumber, daikon, and tempura banana or… well, you probably get the point. These rolls are clearly ready for full on Hollywood super star treatment.
I’ve sampled the mango tango roll, Buddha delight and garden. I still have the Funky Monkey (tempura banana, what!) on my list. But my favorite roll from their vegetarian menu (aside from the Tempura Sweet Potato which is always my favorite wherever I go) is the Tempura Vegetable Roll. I know, I know. Boring you say. Everyone does tempura vegetable sushi. But Takara does it different. They don’t just tempura the veggies. They make the sushi and then tempura the entire thing. Rice and all. This roll is the kind of thing that inspires people to dream and become more than what they’ve ever been previously. This is the type of roll that warrants its own menu that you have to specifically ask for. This roll is king.
Takara listened to my complaints to veggie up the vegetarian menu (beef up just doesn’t seem to fit). They went big with it. The new menu doesn’t just meet expectations, it exceeds them. That’s what it means to be a five star business.

Takara Thursday Sushi Night with a dozen Unilocal buds can be quite interesting to say the least. Could it possibly be the free sake that we all got for checking in through our Unilocal app? Nah, it for a shot glass size of it. It was so good & definitely worth it. There are three flavors — Fuji Apple, Lychee, and Peach. If we drank that all night, that truly would have been craziness.
Thursday & Saturday night are date night specials. $ 6 & $ 8 rolls, specials on bento boxes and ramen soup.
Here are some of the favorites:
Volcano Roll
Torched Salmon Roll
Crunchy Florida Roll
Crunchy Rainbow Roll
XXX Roll
Bulgogi
Jap Chae
Chicken Katsu
Bento Boxes
Some of the not so favorites were:
Ceviche
Ramen
The not so faves were not bad whatsoever, just not the faves.
Make sure you end your meal with the banana bomb. It is truly da BOMB!!!
There’s a special menu that they give you to mark what you would like to order. Make sure to look at Unilocal pictures. There are so many of them to assist you with what looks good to order.
The service was great especially because yet again my server had to answer my million questions, and did a great job. We also met the owner of Takara and she was so nice and welcoming too. We got pretty loud and silly, and good thing they were fine with that.
Check out the Good Luck cat on the table when you walk in or you leave. It’s called a maneki-​neko or beckoning cat, happy cat, or money cat. We had it in our group picture and it truly did what it was suppose to do. It gave us luck and made us happy, laughing out of our face Takara sushi lovers.
Come here and experience it for yourself. Great service, great food, and great environment. Pet friendly too with two outside tables if you would like that which I definitely do.
Note: Parking can be a pain in the butt. Just be patient, and you will find it.

I like the mixture of this restaurant. I have been here several time and they have not disappoint me. The service is great and the owner of the restaurant paid attention to the customer. She get in sushi wrap if they are behind. She gets to the front serving the table if they need help in this area. I like mom and pop shop like this and the Unilocaler need to support them to stay alive.
This is a restaurant that is great for vegan or regular eater customer. Most of of the people don’t know there is a vegetarian menu. You have to ask for the vege menu that not shown often. In the vege menu they have a roll call the funky monkey roll. It is a bit sweet and go well spicy tuna roll. It neutralizes the spiciness. What is actually the Funky Monkey Roll? This is a vegan dish and they are pretty good. It is Inari (sweet tofu skin), avocado, cucumber, daikon, and tempura banana, rolled in seaweed and rice, topped with mango and avocado. These are complicated combination and they are working well with each material.
I always use the spicy tuna roll as a judgment for the sushi chef skill. Some sushi chef likes to add chop of cucumber in the roll. This is incorrect and it is occupied the actual tuna space and reduce the amount of tuna provided. The correct way is to dice the tuna not ground and then add quail egg. Then add sesame oil, spicy chili, a bit salt and roll with the sushi rice. This roll not requires and soy sauce or wasabi and it is good enough to eat as it is. This restaurant did it A+.
I have order the Japanese Ramen with pork belly. They did not make me jump out the seat but is good enough to enjoy. Today I have order the Chashu Pork Belly Ramen — Served with chashu pork belly, pork pot stickers, boiled eggs, corn, scallions, naruto (pink spiral fish cake) and menma (pickled bamboo shoots)
We have close our lunch with a desert is big enough to share for 4 people. It is the Banana Bomb — Tempura fried banana & dark chocolate wrapped in spring roll skin served with vanilla ice cream & assorted sauces. The display is a wow factor and it also taste like a wow factor. Love it.
Thursday and Saturday night have dates night special. Please check their web site. If you check in with Unilocal,you get a free shot of sake. The best is the sake came with flavor. I like the Fuji Apple flavor.