Hanami Sushi

Quaintness, Quality and Quantity this little sushi place in the downtown Auburn has it all. It can get busy but absolutely worth it. I’ve never had a sushi roll so big that was also made with care and quality. Service was fast and friendly. Highly recommend this place.

Absolutely love!!! Wide variety of rolls, I have yet to try one I didn’t like! So fresh and full of flavor! We always sit at the bar and the chefs and staff are so friendly and fun! Never disappointed with our experience!

Auburn had a shining star but tonight service and care for the customer went out the window. To start we received our appetizers after our 3 of our dinners and a hair was served with my wife’s meal which came out 3 mins later than even the appetizers. At that point we decided it would be our last time coming. When the owner refused to take my wife’s meal off our bill because they remade it (mistakes happen right) but they magically remade it in less than 5 min (thus removed the hair and reserved) we decided Unilocal users need to know this is no longer the shining star it once was. Bummer…

I order the sushi delight combo. This included four pieces of a California roll, a spicy tuna roll, and 8 pieces of nigiri. I also ordered 2 pieces of the scallop nigiri. The two rolls tasted fresh and the rice was done perfectly. Most of the nigiri tasted alright as well, it wasn’t fantastic but not terrible. Of the eight pieces, one piece was Tamago (egg) that’s a bit of a rip off when you’re paying $ 20 a plate. The sweet shrimp piece tasted dirty and somewhat old. The eel and other fish tasted fine, no complaints there. However, the two scallops tasted like they were soaked in ammonia, it was so terrible I spit it back out and sent it back. I love raw scallops and order them from every sushi play I go. I don’t know what was wrong with these scallops, but I was very concerned I would get food poisoning. To the restaurants credit, they did take them off my bill. I will not be going back to this sushi place.

Impressive atmosphere. I really wanted to enjoy this place. However I was given a roll smothered in a mayo based sauce. Literally smelled like straight up miracle whip. This wouldn’t have been an issue if this was my own fault, I know that with my hatred of mayo I have to always confirm which sauces are used on whatever I order. I had confirmed when ordering that my roll came with the unagi sauce. The waitress didnt mention any white sauce. The waitress didnt admit to the miscommunication but was insisting it did come with both sauces completely ignoring the fact that 5 minutes ago I has asked about the sauce. She did try to pick up the plate to have it remade but was stopped by the manager who made a bit of a scene trying to figure out if the mistake was my fault. Pointing to the menu and the word «sauce». Again ignoring that I did ask about the sauce when i originally ordered. She offered to take the roll back and scrape off the sauce but did not want to remake it. It was swimming in this sauce no way would scraping it help. Eventually she agreed to completely remake it. At this point it was already super awkward and she came back with a different roll similar from what I ordered. I ordered the caterpillar which was supposed to be stuffed with eel but was replaced with a roll stuffed with shrimp and a very thin slice of eel on top. I didnt press it but asked to take it all to go since we did not feel welcome any longer. I really don’t usually complain but this was horrible service.

First let me say that I am quite particular when it comes to Japanese restaurants, having been to Japan twice. This authentic little Japanese restaurant offers all kinds of options, bento boxes, sushi, donburi, and udon.
We are addicted to the Ika Calamari and donburis. The calamari is tenderized, battered, and fried. The teriyaki sauce is sweeter and smoother with no lingering aftertaste. Many meals come with miso and salad to start. The salad is unique, with the usual Japanese mayo and lettuce, but added with black olives and corn. It’s quite good.
I like this place because it stays authentic. At the entrance you are welcomed with sake barrels, fish kites (fish are a symbol of the warrior class in Japan), and kabuki theatre masks.
Their teriyaki and tempura are unlike what I’m used to in this area and truly great in their own way. I am guessing the owners are from Kyoto region.
The place is a little expensive, but we plan on making this our regular hang out.

Not bad. Had the Crazy Salmon Roll based on other reviews. Something different from my usual Spicy Tuna or Dynamite Roll and others. My only comment might be the price. $ 15.00 out the door for the roll to me was a little high for what I ate. But consider we are in the middle of gold country. Will go back and try other stuff.

Everything was tasty and prepared flawlessly.
My wife and I were here for lunch on Monday and it was fairly empty until the high school got out for lunch and then it was suddenly mobbed, so beware of that. It’s nice they offer students a $ 5 «student» lunch — paper tray with teriyaki rice and some pieces of california roll — the line was out the door.
Starter is nice hot miso with tofu. I had a 3-​item bento with salmon teriyaki (fresh tasting), tempura (perfectly crisp), and spice tuna roll (tasty) — my only issue was the «blended» raw tuna mix in the roll, I’d prefer whole pieces. Wife had the 4×4 which is oddly two types nigiri (tuna and salmon), but 4 pieces each — but the tuna was «melt in your mouth». She also had the «tobiko» (fish egg) roll — she liked but not for me!
Total cost (with a drink) about $ 40 — not cheap for lunch but we ordered a lot.
As a rare occasional lunch (or dinner) treat — can’t go wrong here.

Great Sushi, but wish we could have had a better server. The young blonde girl obviously did not like her job. She never checked with us for drinks that sat empty, never removed empty bowls and plates. we had to set them over on the counter in order to have room on our small table. Other than that the food was good.

This is your old fashion Japanese restaurant that also sells Sushi. There is nothing trendy here. It’s packed with mostly locals looking for a good meal with friends and family. The are on the wall is authentic old school. Very pleasant to look at and doesn’t distract from your meal.
The menu is vast. There are many traditional items and some local favorites. The boat and bento box are must haves. The 3 piece bento box comes in a huge boat and is so cute. I wished I had ordered it. All dinners come with soup, salad, ect. The people behind us ordered the love boat. Amazing. You need to have 3 hungry friends to finish it. It looked incredible. The presentation is to die for.
I’m a big fan of Miso soup. I ordered 2 bowls. I liked that it wasn’t served too hot. This was the first time I have gotten it with a Chinese soup spoon. It’s a whole new experience as you can eat the tofu along with the soup instead of picking it out at the end with chopsticks.
We weren’t sure about parking so we parked in the lot around the corner.
I’d come back and order the bento boat.

Came here with a couple of friends. Sashimi was thick and fresh. The tempura roll was great. Enjoyed the service, waiters/​waitresses were courteous.

Great food and service! Servers are nice and food is fresh and generous amount. We got the nabeyaki udon, fried California roll, and sashimi combo

Worst hamachi Kama ever !!! Waitress forgot our seaweed salad and never checked if we needed more water or how our food was. Left a lot to be desired…

Dog friendly. We are a regular here. New sushi chef from So. Cal. The new wait staffers need to pay attention to customer orders and requests. Some times we have to remind them a couple of times. We try not to go during peak hours to avoid frustrations.

Pretty decent food. Can’t stand their salads. Corn? Service is lacking definitely not as good as it should or could be. I suppose Roseville may be the best bet for great sushi around these parts.

Best sushi around I’ve been here 5+ times and it’s always amazing I’ve had Reagan roll, crazy salmon roll, JJ roll and cali roll

Didn’t get what I ordered, although they replaced it, they still charged me for both even though I only ate two pieces before being certain it was not the right order. To be fair, this was a couple years ago but I won’t be back. Wasn’t impressed with the quality either.

I love Hanami. They know us there, and they’re super friendly. They have lots of good rolls to choose from, plus great non-​sushi options.
I’ve never had sashimi or nigiri there, so I don’t know how those are, but their rolls are great, and they have a lot of simple non-​mayonnaise-​y rolls, and plenty of rolls smothered in delicious sauces.
The baked scallop roll, old auburn roll, and new auburn roll are favorites with my group

Good quality sushi, acceptable waitress/​waiter attentiveness (although she seems confused 35% of the time if she wanted to take away used/​empty plates away or leave them), service a bit slow yet clean restaurant: pricey compared to other Sushi restaurants.
–our appetizer came after two main orders arrived. Our orders should have arrived faster because that evening, we were the only people in there for the first 20 minutes we were there.
–bento box salad had… corn?!? Tasted good but unexpected for Japanese cuisine
–rice was a bit too mushy/​sticky for two rolls. Didn’t taste like Sushi vinegar was used
–only complimentary thing you get is water. Some places offer free edamame, or miso soup with every order. Only thing you’re getting complimentary here is water! You’re paying extra for everything else.
–appeared to be no specials: no discounts on rolls on certain days or times, all rolls seemed to be $ 2-​$ 7 more than a similar roll ordered at a Sushi restaurant. Alcohol Drinks also seem to be the same price no matter when/​what.
–6 pieces of just Sashimi cost about $ 13! Only 6 pieces! Most places would give 10 pieces if they were charging $ 13.
I really enjoyed being treated to dinner here last night. I would not seek this place out again because the cost is way too disproportionate for the food/​value received.
PS: Want to note there is a Sushi restaurant in San Francisco that charges $ 10 for 6 pieces of very high quality, fatty Sashimi. I don’t know why this little place in Auburn charges more than Sushi restaurants in the most expensive city in California.

When my son came home with leftover nigiri from Hanami, I was quite blown away. He and co workers had dined there after work one evening, he ordered a regular nigiri plate, and co workers ordered several rolls and nigiri. He brought back nigiri with cuts of fish which are atypical in most Sacramento sushi joints (without having to pay extra $$). There was tako (large slices of octopus), tsubugai (large piece of clam), toro (fatty tuna), and hamachi. I was quite skeptical at first, I never heard of this place. After examining the nigiri, I noticed that the ball of rice under the fish was small (good sign), the rice was seasoned and cooked to perfection. The sushi was delicious!
I was so impressed with the sushi that I brought my mom along on my first visit. This small restaurant is on the corner of Lincoln Way in old town Auburn. There isn’t a parking lot available except for the street side parking.
The restaurant is two floors. The first floor has the sushi bar along with seating for maybe six? There are a few tables oddly placed in a rather crammed space by the window. Since the downstairs was packed, we were guided up along a straight staircase. This, was rather difficult for my mom, walking up, I was praying she wouldn’t fall. I suggest you call ahead, if you want to be seated downstairs. The second floor is dimly lit and it doesn’t feel as crowded as the first floor.
We ordered the regular sushi (comes with an order of the California roll), the Nine by Nine (nine pieces of nigiri with nine pieces of sashimi), tempura appetizer, and udon. Our food came out at a decent time, and the service was attentive.
Now for the food… it was just okay. There was no sign of that fresh nigiri with special slices of fish. We were rather disappointed. Tempura was average, udon was average, miso soup was average, and sushi was Average!
I have a high inclination that my son had received that great sushi because he went there with, «regulars.» Regardless, I don’t think we’ll be coming back to see if we get special cuts of fish.