Atami Japanese Sushi Buffet

Appears to be going out of business, I came in for lunch about 2 days ago, the doors were shut closed and saw a notice for payment on back rent of nearly $ 10,000 under the door. Not a Good sign. Nevertheless in terms of having eaten here I would rate this establishment a solid OK.
There is room for improvement in terms of food selection; maybe if they did that they would attract more customers and hence not be behind on the rent.

Went to Atami for lunch on Monday. I was there at 2pm and only another party was there. Free parking in the rear. Very few selections but an abudant of fresh clams, few sushi on display but you can order it from the order-​to-​made paper, and nicely just grilled habachi steak. I ate 20 clams since I was not distracted from too many selections. 15.95 for lunch. I showed them a 10% coupon from
. So total bill was 17.4 with soda.

This is a nice place for a buffet sushi. In would have given a high score but when I was here for lunch on a Sunday, none of the hot food had a name over each item. Most were missing.
I was fun picking from a paper what sushi to get. When It arrived it was a beautiful presentation.
The sushi was good. The rolls were great. I just though if the supermarket give thicker peace why can’t you.
The BBQ grill was also nice and different. You can get salmon, beef, chicken or shrimp, cooked hibachi or teriyaki style fresh on the spot.
In would come back again. I would like to try dinner but lunch is good enough. They did not charge me for my 3.5 year old. That was nice. It still only $ 4 for him, but was nice anyway

My family has been coming here on and off for the past year. Not only do they have good pricing, they have quality food that matches up to it.
Though it’s a mainly a sushi buffet, ¹⁄₃ of it is hot foods. There’s a BBQ place where you place raw food into your plate and bring it to the grill an someone will grill it for you. The rest is sushi and my favorite; ice cream and cakes. And it’s not just your usual flavors. They have around 6 but I always go for the green tea cause you know, how can I say no to a tank of green tea ice cream?
The staff itself is very friendly. They clean up used places and refill your drinks when they can. I usually start off with the same thing every time I go and they always remember what I want even if I haven’t been there in a while. This might be a biased statement since every time I go we interact with the waiters so they know us.
My only issue with this establishment is that it’s so far away from the city so getting here by mass transit is a pain. But to make it better they have a parking lot in the back if you come by car. Saves the hassle of finding a spot.
Oh and I got my free glass of red wine for checking in. And I assure you I am quite sober as I write this.
ProTip:
Though the food at the buffet is good, if you want really good food, order from the menu. It’s obviously going to cost extra, but it’s worth it. If you don’t see sushi on the menu, ask. It’s better to have it freshly made then eat the ones that have already been out.

If you’re looking for good sushi on the cheap, come to Atami!
The establishment is always clean. The assortment of sushi is subsantial and respectful quality. The ladies are attentive and always provide you with a smile.
And the fact that it is within walking distance from my home, makes me a lucky Sushiman!

yeah so why did i enjoy my time here? The food is not bad. It’s pretty good — sushi is decent but then again i’m not a sushi connisour.
What I did like though — was the ordering system. Yes you can bring food up to the bbq guy and have him bbq it up. That’s pretty awesome. It’s piping hot and you can literally tell the guy MORE SPICY or something. The Raw Bar was ok — it was a little weird to me, but whatever i guess you could also give it to the guy to cook as well.
The sushi you pick from the side is the same sushi if you order from their pencil in menu — so it depends on the rush and how many people are making sushi. All in all — not bad!

I came here to celebrate one of my good friend’s daughter’s 3^rd birthday. They were very accommodating.
Let me just say… it’s really nice inside. It’s very modern and doesn’t look tacky… and it’s CLEAN!!! I LOVED IT.
I really enjoyed the food that we’ve ordered. We got a few plates + the buffet. It was so good.
I wish i lived closer… coz i’d be here a lot more often.

Business seems to have picked up which is good to see because I hope Atami stays around for a long time. Usually see at least one large group of 12 or more people celebrating a birthday or anniversary. Level of food is still as good as when we first started coming here. We’ve been here often enough that they gave me a VIP card for 10% every meal!

Their announcement is preposterous…“only one serving authentic Asian buffet in NY area,” are they on crack? The menu is purely in English, despite Chinese owners there’s neither Chinese or Japanese on the menu.
The hot buffet is cold, the sushi buffet is old and dried. The desserts are rubbery. The staff basically ignores your order and brings what they want. Example: order 20pc of salmon sashimi, Eel avocado roll, and Philly roll… to them this = Salmon skin hand rolls, Shrimp Tempura roll, Philly roll. The rest will never arrive, and if you ask them they will tell you «if you ordered it the chefs will make it.» Yeah, sure.
Drinks not included. Forced gratuity *is* included.
Atami, please close down soon. Thanks.

It’s definitely a couple notches down compared to Minado, but it is also half the price. The food is decent, but there isn’t too much to choose from. The ambiance/​atmosphere is very good.
Overall, it is far from being the best… but it’s a nice place to eat.

This place is a NO NO for me!
When I 1^st went there, the food was good and the service was ok as well. I had no complains. The 2^nd time the food was not that great, but the service was ok, so I was fine.
Even not amazed by the place on my second visit, we chose them to through my nephew’s baptism because it is just a block away from my sister in law’s house and close to the church, so the location was super convenient! Also, the owner offered a good price and they allowed us to bring our own beer.
BUTTTTT… 2 days before the baptism my sister in law gave them a call to see when she could drop off the beer and the cake. Guess what? They said that the owner gave us the wrong price! At 1^st they wanted to charge $ 5.00 more per person, Of course we did not accepted that and we negociate the price to pay a $ 2.00 more per person, When the deal was «done», they dropped on us another thing: «Oh, and you can not bring your own beer anymore!»
Can you believe that? 2 days before the baptism they decided to change everything (and we just find out what happen because we gave them a call!!!)
They certainly dont know how to do business and it was very stressfull for us… If I had the chance to give them a 0 star I would…
By the way, last night I went to Sushi Village, a japanese restaurant few blocks away from this one, on Francis Lewis Blvd as well, and it was an amazing experience! Great food, great service… It is per person as well, but instead of a buffet they offer hot plates on your table, everything very fresh!

Came here last night and we practically had the restaurant to ourselves because of the snow. Having been to Sushi Village and now Atami, I can see why people compare them or prefer one over the other. Both are very good buffets but different.
Atami:
More Americanized hot food (chicken & broccoli, sesame chicken, chicken nuggets)
Bigger dining area
Really sweet ice cream with strong flavors
Grill station
Bigger parking lot
Sushi Village:
Smaller restaurant
Items on menu not everyone might know
Everything is served to you based on what you order
When it comes to sushi, I think Sushi Village wins, because we both agreed that there is a lot of rice in the sushi at Atami. They both get the same rating though because it really just depends on your taste.

My family and I came here one Sunday afternoon to take advantage of their buffet. My mom had read about this place in the paper and she was eager to try it.
When we arrived, we were seated promptly. We were given a pencil and a sheet of paper containing all of the sushi they had available. You can order as much as you want. Also, you can order more at any time during the meal. We ordered a large amount for our party of 5. They have regular sushi rolls and specialty rolls as well, so it was difficult deciding what we wanted. They also asked if we wanted some udon soup. My mom asked if they were small and the waitress said yes, so we ordered one for each of us. This was a big mistake because the udon soup wasn’t as small as we were expecting and none of us could finish it given all the other food we had.
There’s also a hot buffet section with an assortment of different foods. They also had another sushi and sashimi section to choose from as well. There is also a grill station where they make everything from yakitori to stir fry upon request (make sure to tip, though).
The food was pretty decent here, and really good for the price ($ 16 for lunch, but we also got a 10% discount with the coupon, which you can also find on their website).
I’d definitely recommend coming here if you’re in the mood for large amounts of sushi without breaking your wallet. But be warned, it’s not sushi restaurant quality, but that’s obvious at buffets. Nothing is as good as food tailor-​made for you on the spot.

Everyone is giving low ratings because they are comparing this to sushi village. Don’t get me wrong. I love Sushi Village! but sometimes you need to try other places. Atami might just be my backup spot.
First off, They can definitely fit more people than Sushi village! In terms of appetizers and other foods, Sushi village has better presentation because it’s made to order. But Atami is just as good with some hot foods in the back. There are some things I would stay away from such as the dried out dumplings and shuimais. BUT! they have lobster. LOBSTER Included into your buffet.
I really enjoyed their sushi to order. but I would probably stay away from the front stuff and order your own if the restaurant isn’t packed.
Did I mention the Online 10% off Coupon? Show that to them and BAM 10% off. My softball teammates enjoyed the food, the server we had Cong was really helpful with Roll/​hibachi recommendations and very attentive.
Overall If you have a large group and Sushi village is packed on Francis Lewis and 33^rd … Keep driving until 19^th ave and Franny Lew. Hit up this spot. It’s worth a try and you can be your own judge

I think I am doing Atami a service by not giving them one star, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope for their sake that it was just a bad day.
I came here with a friend on a friday for lunch because we wanted to try something other than Sushi Village.
THE GOOD: The décor is very nice and there is plenty of seating. (though we were the only people eating there, which should have been our first hint.)
THE BAD: The hot buffet was incredibly disappointing. The dumplings were cold and soggy and the fish and meat dishes did not seem fresh at all. We ordered some rolls and my friend immediately said the seaweed tasted off. I drench my sushi in soysauce, so I didn’t taste anything, but about ten minutes into our meal we both started feeling sick.
THE UGLY: We stopped eating to avoid getting any more sick, leaving 10 pieces of maki on the plate. When we asked for the check, the waiter told us in a very rude tone that we should order less next time. We told him that we stopped eating because we had begun to feel sick, and he said nothing. We paid and got up to leave and enjoyed a walk of shame to the door while the waiters silently glared at us.
Now I’m sitting at home with an upset stomach. Next time I’ll just stick to Sushi Village.

It was hard for me to give this place only 2 stars because I liked the fact that they had made to order special rolls and sushi. I was disappointed with their selection of hot foods and their layout of already made rolls, sushi and sashimi. They also didn’t have a wide variety of dessert which only consisted of 2 different types of cheesecake, fresh fruit (which were sweet) and 4 different types of icecream.
The place wasn’t too big but it seemed cozy enough. The bathrooms were clean and so was the establishment.
They definitely still need to improve their buffet selection and their overall presentation.

This place is comparable to sushi village. It has a much better ambiance, fo sho. The only difference is you can go to the hot foods and get food yourself, rather than checking it off from a piece of paper. The sushi comes in a big platter also. I also liked their green tea ice cream even though my friends didn’t. It was very intensely… green tea.
We also got the discount for mentioning Unilocal!Woohoo!

Dropped by Atami for lunch and despite it’s smaller than typical buffet size, I think I found a new one to add to my list. It was $ 15.95 for lunch, which is a pretty decent price. The sushi selection at the buffet table was good but not exhaustive with maybe only a dozen types of rolls on display. They have a few more you can special order from a paper menu they give you, which are also included in the base price. The sushi was good and on-​par to typical sushi you’d find at a comprehensive buffet. It’s not spectacular but this isn’t Minado or Ichi Umi we’re talking about here.
Aside from the sushi, they had a small selection of hot buffet food, which are pretty close to the choices you’d find in a regular Chinese buffet. There’s also mushroom and miso soup for you to pick from, udon soup that can be special ordered, and teriyaki/​yakitori that can be ordered from the grill. The yakitori was pretty good since it was freshly grilled right in front of you but resembled a regular American shish kebob with two pieces of meat sandwiched in between a bunch of vegetables. Further down the line, there’s a small cold bar, a small selection of desserts from a refrigerator, and self-​scoop ice cream. The ice cream was particularly good because it featured actual green tea and red bean ice cream. Someone else complained that it tasted terrible but I think they’re just used to American ice creams that are loaded down with sugar to temper the taste.
Décor was very good and gave a somewhat upscale aura to it. Only gripe is that they should’ve used real chinaware rather than the tacky faux plastic china. Service was also nice and friendly. Atami may not have a largest selection of food but it was satisfying enough for me. I was able to comfortably sample everything without feeling like a stuffed turkey afterwards. I’ll definitely be returning here in the future.
Protip for those wanting you use the Unilocal coupon… apparently they prefer for you to print out the Unilocal page rather than simply mention it. A little odd but you can try to pull up the Unilocal page on your smartphone and say you’re trying to save paper.

I was soooo excited to see that there was another All you can eat sushi buffet in my neighborhood. As soon as I saw it was open I told my bf «I want to try it!». So we went here on a Thursday night. It costs $ 21.95 per person a little more than the other sushi buffet down the block. My bf say «Hey let’s try it». So away we went inside. I was surprised to be greeted by the hostess who is American. In my head I was like «Oh no am I in one of those Asian Fusion places?». When we sat down the waitress came over to is quickly and yes she was Asian. She has what we wanted to drink. So I just asked for tea and water. Let me tell you the tea was not FREE! They charged us $ 1.00 a cup! Seriously!
The food was just ehhh. I wish there was a much more diverse selection on the rolls. The buffet food was just ok nothing I would express about. I will probably not come back.

I went here for lunch on a Sunday with my girlfriend and we both had wanted to try this place out since it recently opened. The place looked great but the food was horrible!
The place breaks it down into two different categories. You can pick what you want much like how they do it at Sushi Village (for those that are familiar) and they also lay it out for you to grab like Sushi Park.
The place overstuffs the rolls with rice which is a sign of a restaurant buffet skimping out on their customers. They also charge you $ 1 for green tea! I even saw one of the sushi chiefs drop a piece of food on the ground and promptly scooping it up and giving it to another sushi chief to use! I’m sorry, the 3 second rule does not apply for you dammit!
Please stay away, i paid $ 64 with tip and tax included for the worst sushi ever. Correction, for the most expensive rice ever because that’s the only thing they give you. This was for a Sunday lunch! The only reason this place will get any customers will be first timers because once you go there, you will never want to go back.
I’ve uploaded some REAL pictures just to let you see how they do it.