Rice Thai & Sushi Bar

The place is CLOSED and good riddance!!! Too expensive for what you get. Bad service, mediocre food, and dirty restrooms. A fitting farewell.

Let’s recap what 2 stars means. «Meh, I’ve experienced better»
YEP! that sums it up. I think they are the same owners of Thai Spice in Lakeway? They have some of the same qualities though are very different in terms of service. Where in Lakeway I can at least get some high schooler that actually understands what earning tips is about.
Don’t you love it when the waitstaff makes you feel like you’re bothering them? Someone needs to remind them we pay them to be there not the other way around.
Lunch here was so/​so for the value it wasn’t shabby, if you don’t mind a side of ‘tude with your meal. Thai Spice does the exact same thing with lunch specials and a free for all buffet of a mish-​mash of sushi, mystery fried things, salad and soups.
Location:
In a newer cute strip-​mall. The interior was pretty plain, though I heard the rice bowl art work on the wall is really made of rice. Nifty.
On to the food:
I had the Pad Thai with a sprinkle of chicken. Generous on the noodle portion, not so much on the chicken portion. I must have had like 5 tiny pieces of chicken.
SOOOooo…Much like the servers and the food… I too am apathetic about this review and place.
Meh, indeed.

I first tried Rice when I moved here last year, and it was my first truly amazing sushi experience– I was hooked. Also the Pad Kee Mao is absolutely my favorite, spicy and flavorful, if I’m not feelin sushi I’d go for that. However this place doesn’t fall into my eating out budget range very often, and the last few times I ordered– the sushi rolls came to me with an ingredient missing, or different ingredients than described. Because of this, I order much less often, because if I’m going to splurge on sushi– I want it to be awesome. As other reviewers mentioned, this might have something to do with Andy no longer working as sushi chef. I’ve heard this place has a free sushi lunch buffet, but I don’t wake up early enough for lunch: P
So down to brass tacks, if you miss Andy-I’ve got in on good authority he works at Mizu now on 620 =D

Good Thai/​sushi restaurant with a big bonus at lunch: your $ 9 entrée includes a soup, salad, tempura and sushi appetizer bar that is very good.

I drive by Rice Thai & Sushi Bar nearly every day to work yet never stopped in until last night. It looks like a typical strip mall restaurant but is surprisingly is nice inside and much larger than it looks from the outside.
They have a happy hour every day from 5 – 7 (always fond of a happy hour). I sat at the sushi bar and was greated by sushi chef Trey (goes by Wolf) & ordered my fav roll, spicy tuna (during happy hour) and a $ 5 happy hour red wine (14 Hands Merlot). Despite some reviews I have read I did like my roll. The fish was fresh and spicy it was!
Wolf was super nice and was happy to describe some of Rice’s best rolls. I am intrigued by the 24 hour roll (I don’t think it is listed on the menu).
In all it was not the best sushi roll I have ever had but I did enjoy the spicy tuna roll, the atmosphere, service and the bill!

First, I have to say that if I was Unilocaling over a year ago when Andy was the Sushi Chef at Rice, I would have found a way to give Rice 6 stars. He was amazingly inventive with vegetarian sushi and would make us something different (and delicious) every single time. According to Andy, Sushi Chef’s too often under-​value their vegetarian customer’s. He most definitely did not. I’m with the other poster, if anyone knows where he went, please share!
This rating is for Rice 2010. While the serving staff has been very friendly, the sushi is lacking. After giving up on them for awhile (post-​Andy), I’ve been craving sushi constantly lately, so I gave them another try. A couple weeks ago I went over lunch, looked at the menu, and ordered a Heavenly roll to go. As described, it came out stuffed with apple, avocado, cream cheese and tofu. Tasty! Unfortunately, the next time I ordered it (a few days later), it came without the cream cheese and twice the tofu. I figured it was an honest mistake, and after our sushi frenzy at Nagoya last night, I decided to try it again for lunch today. I picked up my order and got back to my desk. This was the most tasteless sushi I’ve had in my life. This time they «forgot» (??) the cream cheese and the avocado. What I ended up with was seaweed and rice wrapped around a mammoth chunk of tofu with a tiny bit of apple. Blech. No more for me, thanks.

Stopped in on a Sunday night — it’s close to home and we didn’t feel like making the trek south to another Thai joint.
Overall, we were pleased — Pad Thai & Miso soup were both great; the only thing lacking was the ambiance — it was a bit slow when we stopped by. Try it!

Rice is ingrained in our lunch spot rotation. Yea I agree the décor is a bit strange it was also a bit off when it was the Mood & Food. Never had a seating wait at lunch noonish to 1PM.
The lunch buffet is mighty fine with a good selection of sushi, tempura, soup, and salad. We usually do the curry of the day dish with Friday Green Curry, with chicken, being my favorite. The Sautéed Spicy Seafood dish is a close second.
Service has been very good over the past couple of visits, it was lacking in the past.

So I am a curious one when it comes to resturants near where I live so I finally dragged the hubby to this place for lunch. It was pouring rain as we ran in there. We were seated immediately and then were totally lost as to how this lunch buffet works.
So there is an appetizer bar which has fruits, salad, rolls, sushi etc that you can eat while your entrée is being made. They do ask you do not abuse their app bar but there was some heavy abuse going on hehe.
Normally this place is super expensive and they do not have the quality of food that justifies such steep dinner
husband got the basil fried rice and I got pad see ewe. I am addicted to pad see ewe and barely ever order anything else.
The basil fried rice was spicy and yummy, and mine was really good but lacked spice. I asked for the spice rack and went to town as my husband stared in wonder to 4 rounds and kinds of pepper being put all over my plate.
The décor is not all too special but I did notice something unique. Its called thai «RICE» and sushi bar. On the walls they have build ins that show rice bowls with actual rice used in the bowls., Beautiful art :)
Service is good but definately a language barrier there. Still it is the closest thai place in this side of northwest austin so 4 stars it is. I will definately be going back BUT… only for lunch which has 9.00 entrees instead of 23.00.

Been twice… not likely to be back. Overpriced and just blah food. Everything tasted the same. Unimpressed. They offered lots but no way to reduce that. I don’t want all the items offered would rather have my entrée and an appropriate price.
This is the 3^rd place in that location. I don’t give it much hope. Heard it’s busy at lunch but i dont know any locals who use it for dinner.

Some of the the best thai food in austin… hands down. Excellent.
They offer a lunch buffet that includes salad, veggie tempura, eggrolls, miso and a soup of the day. You may choose an entrée item or just the salad bar. The curry’s of the day are amazing… monday is the best for the curry of the day it is panang.

My husband and I have been to Rice a few times. I prefer to get take out rather than eat-​in just because the chairs aren’t particularly comfortable and the lighting is strange.
Love the black beef and the pad see ewe. They are very helpful and will modify any dish to your liking. Its good, reasonably priced food in the ⁶²⁰⁄₂₂₂₂ area.

Ya know, I am a little pissed after my last visit. I don’t pay astronomical dinner prices (their prices have definitely increased since my last visit) to have food arrive that is different than what is described on the menu. Not to mention the rank old sushi that stunk up the place so bad we had to sit outside to breathe.
Then when it is pointed out that there are several things in the dish that were not described on the menu as well as things missing that were supposed to be in the dish and you just say «sorry uh maybe we can make you something else,» I automatically feel my panties creeping up my ass.
Try «sorry uh maybe you’d like us to take this off your bill since you had to wait for food that isn’t even what you really ordered and you weren’t able to eat any of it.»

Pleasant surprise.
We happened across this small place and decided to try it out. It’s a plane, nuvo style decorated place, with an open ceiling. Since this was our first visit, we decided to try some sushi, a couple rolls, and some Thai.
The rolls (sumo, samurai) were outstanding — large, well constructed and very flavorful.
The sushi was reasonably priced, substantial pieces, but ours lacked flavor (suzuki, toro, saki, unagi). The unagi lacked the typical eel sauce. I’d try the sushi again to see if it was more flavorful and this was a bad night since it was very nicely prepared sans the unagi.
The kung prik pao was also a very nice dish
The service was substandard to our tastes, but we are finding that most Austin restaurants have substandard service, so this was probably typical. The waitress never came around to check on things, the food took more time to prepare than I would suspect.
The prices are reasonable (all in with a bottle of saki $ 101), the food is good, and the ambiance is fine. I’d rate this restaurant a 3.5 if I could, but a 4 if the service was even a bit better.

I have only been to this place for lunch, and for that it is perfect.
The first time was with a small group, we were taking a co-​worker out for his birthday (he picked the place). We all looked at the menu online first and then headed over. A little tricky to find unless you know EXACTLY where it is, in a strip center and not really that visible from the road. When the waiter came to take our order we asked about the Bento boxes which were mysteriously absent from the menu. He tried to explain why it was removed but I think maybe his English wasn’t quite sufficient for that communication. So he calls the sushi chef over who explained that the timing of the sushi bar and the kitchen were too difficult to predict to serve everything together so they have removed the option. He was very cool though and explained that the «appetizer bar» was the solution instead.
So we all ordered our entrees and helped ourselves to sushi, tempura, soup and salad. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sushi on the «appetizer bar.» I HATE buffet sushi, ugh, always terrible, but this was so fresh and the flavor was perfect. The tempura was also fresh and crunchy, mmmm.
I can’t remember what everyone ordered, but I remember: Saigon Noodle ($ 9) Pad Kee Mao ($ 9) Ceviche ($ 8). I had the Pad Kee Mao and it was very good, a pretty spicy. The Saigon Noodle dish is the Vietnamese style Vermicelli dish with the layers of lettuce, noodles, cucumber, protein and sauce. Didn’t try it but the person that ordered it seemed satisfied, and the ceviche was very good.
Our service was excellent, food was great, and the atmosphere is awesome. It is a perfect lunch spot.
Service: 5
Food: 5
Ambiance: 4
Cost: 5
The second time I went by myself to have a relaxing lunch with my book (I somehow have gotten caught up in Twilight, don’t judge!). I was greeted and seated immediately and was brought water while I pondered over the menu. I believe this time I got the Pad Thai ($ 9).
After ordering I headed over to grab a salad and some sushi and grabbed a couple pieces of tempura after remembering how great it was last time (typically I HATE fried anything). The sushi this time wasn’t quite as fresh as before so while it was good it wasn’t great as before. The tempura was a disappointment as well. This time the light crunchy texture was replaced with a touch of soggy/​chewiness, so it had probably been sitting out for a bit. So I munched on the salad while waiting for the main event.
The Pad Thai arrives and was good and I ate as much as I could manage before asking for a box. The waitress wasn’t totally on the ball, I did have to wait a bit here and there at the end to grab her attention, but overall she did ok.
Service: 3
Food: 3
Ambiance: 4
Cost: 5
The Thai food isn’t amazing here, but it’s good. The sushi IS great, especially if you order it from the sushi bar. But what I really love is that you can have both here, and the value is incredible.
Like I said, it’s a perfect lunch spot.
Though from what I’ve heard from co-​workers who live around here, it’s also a great spot to go for Happy Hour. Sit at the bar and grab a beer and watch the sushi dude craft up some awesome creations…

The boy and I went for lunch on the weekend, and there was maybe one or two other tables.
The food was «eh,» especially the sushi. I got a lot of food, planning on eating a little of everything and having leftovers for lunch for my workday. I’m pretty sure the waiter forgot about my sushi. I was planning on eating more sushi than curry (have you ever had next day sushi?) and I had to remind my waiter that I ordered it. The curry was pretty good.
Overall, we’ll probably get take out from there again some time, but probably won’t dine in again. It left a really bad, not-​just-​metaphorical taste in my mouth.

Great place for lunch. Good for those trying to maintain a Gluten-​Free diet. They have a salad bar with a lot of veggies, sushi, and soup. The Chicken Pad Thai is very good and the portions are large. I have a hard time eating it all (but somehow I manage).
It’s not usually too crowded so you can get in and out fairly easily at lunchtime. The wait staff isn’t overly friendly or attentive but they do a fair job. I go there for the food, not the ambience (not much), or the staff (just there).

This place is from the same owners as Thai Spice in Beecaves and Lakeway (one of our favorites) and their food is up to the same quality as well. I had beef pad see ew and it was very good. My wife was very pleased with her soft vegetarian spring rolls with some outstanding peanut sauce for an appetizer and delicious vegetable curry for the main course. Plenty of vegetarian-​friendly dishes on the menu.
It was pretty quiet for a Friday night before Valentine’s. I hope they get more traffic and are able to stay open, cause we will definitely be back.

Rice is located in the old Mood and Food location on 2222 in a strip mall across from 3M. I pass this place several times a month when I travel from my far south casa to visit my Sister who lives in Steiner Ranch. The Sister recently told me why she did not like the «strange unfamiliar exotic» Thai dishes here and I actually laughed and new I would love this «exotic» cuisine.
So, today I met a friend here for lunch and we were both in the mood for sushi so we did not have any of that «exotic» Thai food; but, I am sure if my Sis did not like it I would probably love it:)
We arrived at 1PM sat at the bar and got excellent service. We started with edamame (3.50), 1 order each of the Unagi and Sea Bass (2 pieces each at 5.00), 1 order of Fresh Salmon Sashimi (3 thick slices for 7.00) and a Philadelphia Roll (6.00). Our bill was 26.50 before tip! I am still thinking about the huge amount of high quality sushi that we got for so little $$$!!!

I believe this is only their second weekend since opening, yet the service was excellent. The atmosphere is very nice and clean. Food presentation was beautiful, and tasted good.
For Thai food, I prefer Thamnak Thai or Titaya’s, but if you’re looking for a more upscale atmosphere, you’ll like this place.