Rise Sushi Lounge

As far as the sushi goes… this place was:
Overpriced.
Low quality.
I have had better sushi from the grocery store.
The sushi rice was cold and mushy.
The sauce on the roll was not good. I couldn’t finish it.
Some of my items were not prepared as ordered.
This place has nothing on Maki Fresh or Wasabi Douglasville.
The scoutmob deal was not adequately explained. I did not get 50 percent off my lunch.
I would not return.

Mediocre at best, but priced like it’s fine dining.
I understand they’ve got a prime location that’s within easy walking distance to the Coke Museum, but I really hate when restaurants like this don’t even try and use their location as an excuse to raise the prices while meeting the bare minimum everywhere else.
The décor is fine, though the music is extremely loud and doesn’t fit with the restaurant. It’s also widely divergent, I heard everything from Michael Jackson to Dr. Dre while eating. But whatever, a restaurant can be anything if the food is good.
The food is decent. It’s not bad sushi, it’s just not great sushi. There’s no fresh wasabi, which surprised me a little — I expect that from discount sushi restaurants, but not from one that’s charging as much as Rise.
That’s the reason this restaurant gets two stars instead of three: the pricing. For three people at lunch, we easily went over $ 90, and that doesn’t include any alcohol and we still left hungry. Not uncommon for a sushi restaurant, but uncommon when one considers the lack of care in presentation and hospitality.

My husband and I tried to eat at Rise on a Saturday around 7:00 pm. Most of the tables were filled when we walked in, but there were no customers waiting in the entrance so we assumed we get a table pretty quickly. There were about 4 waitstaff on hand and they all seemed pretty busy so they may have been short-​staffed. Each of the wait staff walked by the entrance area at least once or twice but no one acknowledged us. Even after 10 minutes, no one stopped to smile, ask us to wait or get us to one of the several empty tables.
Needless to say, we left after 10 minutes of not being greeted. To add insult to injury, we had parked in the structure that had validated parking for Rise and, since we had waited to long, we were charged $ 20 for parking there.
My husband used to love this place but I don’t think either of us will ever attempt it again. If I could give this experience 0 stars, I would.

Note: Waitress Christina is EXTREMELY rude and unprofessional!
–Came in on a Saturday around late lunch time. Several tables were dirty (including ours, which we had to wait a while to get cleaned), and a friend of mine stated to our group «it’s usually so clean in here, but today it looks a little «ratchet.» I then replied «True, but they’re probably wrapping up lunch service.»
Christina, who (instead of working) was EAVESDROPPING on our convo, proceeded to come over & lecture us on how we’d personally insulted her by commenting on the messy restaurant, adding that we didn’t have to eat there, in addition to other drivel! Needless to say, we left. Told the manager, who didn’t seem to care. Will contact the owner. Will NOT return!

I love this area of Atlanta so I think it’s a great place for a sushi restaurant. The sushi was ok. Atmosphere was cool. Not the best place for sushi in Atlanta for sure (we used a Scoutmob at the time so I was ok with it).

Went there about 9:30 last night. Tables are dirty, our waitress didn’t give us utensils even after the first dish’s served. We had to ask for chopsticks and napkins. The sushi though are pretty good, might because we’re already hungry as hell when the food is served. Had to run to Micky D’s afterward for more food and dessert lol.

Came here about an hour before closing on a Tuesday night. The service was naturally attentive, mostly because after about 15 minutes we were the only table in the place. But the sushi was impeccable. And the sake was warm and strong.
I was told that New York City has the best sushi in the country, and since I’ve been back I haven’t found any in Atlanta that matched up. Until Rise.
The staff was goofing around, but not to our detriment. But because my friend noticed, they comped us the sake and gave us two coupons for 15% the next visit. You can’t complain after that!

I went to Rise Sushi for lunch today, and it is the best sushi I have had in a while.
I got the lunch combo for $ 14.50 with the spicy tuna roll, miso soup, shrimp veggie tempura, and fried rice. For that price it was an incredible amount of food. I couldn’t finish it all! Seems like the perfect plac to share a combo and some cocktails at night after work. I was very impressed. The atmosphere was calm and pleasant. However with tip a $ 18 lunch can seem a little pricey, but if you bring your lunch from home like I do and eat out once every two weeks definitely come here and enjoy the splurge.
I can’t give this place 5 stars because there are a couple of Caviats. One: We saw this place on scoutmob and didn’t read the fine print, it’s only one scoutmob per table, so not everyone in your party can get the discount. Two: the server though nice and not neglectful, was not as efficient as I would expect, and dripped things like the soup and the water (these things are forgivable, but don’t wear any clothing you can’t risk to get dirty). Three: No free parking, it really sucks when you go to lunch and have to pay $ 10 just to park the car, so carpool!
Other than that it was great.

I’ve had sushi all over the world including Japan. Clearly things are different from Japan and North America, but fish is still fish.
Here at Rise,
The Ceviche was mildly fishy, salmon but tasty other than that.
The rolls and sashimi were somewhat expensive considering the location.
Overall it was good but I’ll search for another location nearby next time.
If you happen to be in the Buckhead area, Twist, although not a «sushi» restaurant as it were, has a decent menu and great sashimi pieces.
The Edamame is massive for one but if you are REALLY hungry it’s a bargain.
Enjoy!!!
John

Quick, peaceful, spacious restaurant… the lunch sushi special was very small, with tiny tuna rolls and small thin slices of fish for nigiri. The sushi rice was overly vinegar’ed, so it was very sour sushi.
Free validated parking in the parking garage across the street… I never seem to be able to get a parking spot below the 7^th floor.

Do not eat here. #1 the girl that took my credit card stole the information. Within a few days of eating here my card number was being used around Atlanta and for some high $ purchases. This was the only location I had used this card at in the previous few months. The wait girl also took the card away and it took quite some time before she returned.
Second the food is «ok» but that is about it. The price for that ok food was very high. I live in mid town Atlanta and am use to the prices but this was not worth it.
The place was also dead at 7pm Friday night. That should have been my red flag. We will not be back and if you go your wasting time and your money.

Don’t do it. Just don’t. This is not the sushi you’re looking for…
I’ll give it one star for the salt and pepper calamari, which was actually delicious. But just skip on the sushi. The rice had the consistency of baby food, overcooked and mashed up. The rolls were incredibly bland, and the presentation just. meh. One of the rolls was covered in an especially awkward and not at all tasty white sauce, I ate two bites and couldn’t finish it.
Overall, there is better sushi in Atlanta. And there is better priced mediocre sushi in Atlanta. This was overpriced and terrible.

Err, we were not very satisfied upon leaving: 2 orders of beef teriyaki overcooked and served with red and green peppers, 1 order of nabeyaki udon served with one mighty raw egg, a wad of spinach and the red and green peppers, and 1 kani maki and the shrimp tempura pineapple roll which was over sauced with sweeet sauce. Also tried the salmon poke in mango cream sauce — over dressed and sweet.
No green tea — the hot tea is lipton. The place was sincere, but lacked the right ingredients to pull off «japanese» food.
Wine selection not too bad. I don’t prefer a chardonnay with sushi, so I’d suggest thery add a sauvignon blanc.

If you’re at the GA World Conference Center and need a quick sushi fix, then Rise may be just what you need, especially if you’re on expense account or someone else is buying. Prices are quite high for what you get — slightly above average sushi tailored to the American palate. But it’s a quick five minute walk and the food beats anything offered inside the GWCC.
Rise also offers a selection of hearty salads, and I can recommend the seared tuna. Served in a bowl with lettuce, peppers, mushrooms, and avocado, it was filling and nutritious, although the slivers of raw white onion threatened to overpower it. (They were easily moved aside.) The steamed bowl of edamame offered at the beginning of the meal is a nice touch, but nothing special.
Service is mostly efficient, but sometimes forgetful. I waited until the end of my meal before our server remembered to bring the hot tea I’d ordered with my entrée.
Note to those with allergies — Rise does not offer gluten free soy sauce. Either bring your own or do without.

Downtown has a replacement for MF sushi! Chef Tong knows how to whip up fabulous sushi topped with a distinct presentation. I had simple «crunchy roll» — «unagi roll» — sashimi variety… & tempura ice cream.
Went overboard with 3 martinis since I’m NOT a vodka girl…
…key lime & mango pie… coming soon!!!

Oh… this was a much regrettable lunch experience. My visit occurred Around April 20^th, 2012. I want to forget that I ate here but this taste of garlic won’t leave my mouth. Ok, it did about a day later…
Two of the pieces of sushi from my lunch special had chopped up garlic with some sort of sauce on top. It would be nice if they tell you that this is coming so you can opt out of it.
I want my sushi do just taste like fresh fish, I don’t want it tasting like sauce or garlic or anything that is not fish, otherwise I would had ordered some fancy roll.
The dressing for their salad was very sweet they also put raw onions on the salad which is another unnecessary addition…
The fried Rice was just disgusting. Really, an Asian restaurant with these prices should put more effort into their rice making. This crap was just yellowy rice with a few specs of egg and maybe bits of carrot… C’mon! you have a sea of delicious ingredients in the kitchen. WTF was that rice, Uncle Wen’s wice?
The place was quite empty and it is understandable. Don’t fuck up a good thing, let the flavors of the fish on the rice lump shine, the food can use some updating.
The parking situation: Park across in the garage, which you will probably have to circle around 8 times, validation available.

Rise Sushi is a trendy sushi joint located on «Restaurant Row» in Downtown’s Luckie Marietta District. It’s nestled between STATS, Max’s Coal Over Pizzeria, and Der Biergarten. I’ve driven by Rise a countless number of times over the past couple years, usually on my way to and from Philips Arena, and the restaurant always looks empty. I finally decided to give the place a shot for dinner before heading to Philips for a Georgia Tech men’s basketball game.
As expected, the place was dead. I don’t see how a lot of these Downtown restaurants manage to stay in business. My only guess is that they get enough weekday lunch and weekend patronage to stay afloat.
I really like the layout and presentation of Rise. It’s chic and stylish. The sleek bar stands alone in the middle of the floor space. Semi-​open kitchen in the back. Swanky ambient lighting and décor. Asian touches are notable throughout, from the hanging lanterns to the full-​sized and miniature sake barrels. Two big screen HDTVs playing ESPN is a plus.
Rise’s menu is catered to the American palate. There are over 30 rolls to choose from. Most of the «Signature» rolls will set you back between $ 13 to $ 21. Simpler rolls are priced from $ 7 to $ 15. One roll = eight pieces.
I’m more of a nigiri person. Rise has a respectable nigiri menu with about two dozen different types of fish, including saba (Japanese mackerel), hokigai (surf clam), hotate (sea scallop), aji (mackerel), toro (fatty tuna), and uni (sea urchin). Two pieces of nigiri are anywhere from $ 8 to $ 10.
It doesn’t take long to realize that this place is pricey. General Tso’s Chicken for $ 18. ‘Nuff said. Chef Tong does have a $ 55 omakase (chef’s tasting menu) which seems like a good deal. I will say, though, that the sushi I had was extremely fresh and delicious, so at least the money is going into quality fish.
I ordered the «Sushi Dinner» ($ 31) which comes with eight pieces of chef’s choice sushi and six-​piece tuna roll. It also comes with miso soup and a house salad. Both the miso soup and house salad were good (standard fare). The field greens in the salad were nicer than your typical house salad, so that was nice.
The eight pieces Chef Tong selected for me were:
Tuna
Salmon
Toro (fatty tuna)
White tuna
Wahoo
Saba (Japanese mackerel)
Blue marlin
Red snapper
Something I noticed at the outset were extra seasonings on the toro, white tuna, wahoo, and blue marlin. The toro and blue marlin had a pinch of what looked and tasted like finely minced ginger and scallion — the same kind Cantonese restaurants use as a sauce, usually for steamed chicken. The white tuna and wahoo had pinches of finely minced garlic. Very strong. I thought these additions were interesting as I’ve never had them on sushi before. They worked well, but I’m pretty straight-​laced when it comes to nigiri. Just give me fresh fish, rice, and a pinch of wasabi.
I was skeptical of the quality of the fish at first, given how lifeless the restaurant was. I was expecting limited selection and maybe even some frozen fish. What I received was the contrary. Each piece was soft, fresh, and delicious. Thanks to Chef Tong for sending some toro, white tuna, wahoo, saba, and blue marlin my way. These were high quality. The white tuna and saba had an expectedly more paste-​like consistency to them as opposed to the smoother (and slimier) textures of the other fish. All were great.
Unfortunately, the Sushi Dinner wasn’t enough to fill me up, so I had to order more food. I went with the Alaska Roll ($ 9), which is salmon and avocado. The outside of the roll is lightly sprinkled in mini sesame seeds. Like the nigiri, the roll was fresh and delicious.
Cameron B. was our server and he did a very good job.
Parking for Rise Sushi is located across the street in the parking deck. The restaurant will validate parking tickets for up to 3 hours if you purchase $ 20 or more. With Rise’s prices, that shouldn’t be a problem.

I’ve been here multiple times for lunch. And while it isn’t the best sushi or Japanese, it’s decent. Rolls are average, service has always been pretty decent (well except one time when we had a grouchy older Asian woman), and ambience decent.
The bento box lunch here is ok. However, if you want a good bento box, I would strongly recommend Silk in Midtown or Pacific Rim Bistro just a few blocks up. They have awesome $ 10-​$ 12 bento boxes with TONS of food and a wide selection of mains. Rise on the other hand just has one option which depends on the day you go.
Some other things I’ve gotten here: Masaman Curry. The curry sauce was decent but I felt they were lacking in vegetables and it also came pre-​poured on rice. That was not cool. I like being able to control my own rice to sauce ratio. The Basil Tofu dish is pretty decent. I would definitely get that again. Miso soup is good, ginger dressing salad just whatever.
All in all it’s a quick fix for Japanese if you’re in the area. But not worth coming out of your way for.

hmmm, I want to give you a 3.5.
I come here through a friend and I hate to be picky but the sushi is average, and the food is very Americanized.
Plus Rise claims they have the ONLY properly trained sushi master in all of Georgia, and I somehow doubt this very, very much.
For that, I will deduct points for being a dilettante.

I wasn’t expecting much after reading Unilocal reviews and much I didn’t get. The service was fine, the atmosphere was nice, but the food wasn’t good at all. I truly have had better rolls from my Publix or Whole Food sushi section.
I ordered the combination lunch. The miso soup wasn’t slightly above lukewarm, but not at all hot. The shumai was just… ehhh. And the shrimp tempura roll was… double ehh. I needed lots of soy sauce and wasabi to add flavor.
I don’t have much else to say except I would never eat here again.