Happy Fish Sushi

We bought a Groupon and went with another couple. We made reservations. We arrived on time and stood waiting by the cold door for at least 30 minutes before we were given a table.
The food was pretty standard sushi, nothing special, but I can’t complain about it. However the waitress was not very helpful or friendly and wasn’t waiting around for any questions. We asked for separate checks and let them know that each couple had a Groupon. We said we would take the appetizer on our check, since we had a Groupon I thought — no problem! The waitress came back and said that only one Groupon was allowed per table and she had applied it to the other couples bill. So they ended up with like a $ 20 bill and ours was over $ 50, plus the $ 12 we had paid for the Groupon was out the window. When we asked about it the waitress never apologized or attempted to make any of it right.
Then I get home and look on my bank statement and they had charged both meals to my card! I called and they sorted it out, but it was was major downer and made us not want to ever go back there again. It was supposed to be a special evening out and ended up being frustrating and awkward.

Service and environment good. Bought a Groupon and was not worth it at all. Sushi was tasteless and seemed like I could have bought it from a gas station. 4 generic mediocre rolls for 54 dollars. Rolls are mostly rice and contain few ingredients. Don’t waste your time and money. Plus you have to pay for parking.

I always hope for a swanky, modern sushi place in downtown Boise. That is not Happy Fish. Unfortunately, some Boise folk just don’t know good sushi. I have had the luxury. Happy Fish should be call Sad Fish because the fish are treated like they have been sitting out to die for 5+ days. It is over the top Expensive — 2 Misos, 2 pieces of Nigiri, 3 drinks for almost $ 50. I won’t be taking anyone to Happy Fish Again.

This is good fish. The head chef was behind the sushi bar and man, he is awesome. Great fish, great pairing and well put together. Worth it.

Ate here before a concert one night. Decent sushi. Husband had a rice bowl. Not bad but nothing at all astounding about the experience… The location was great and the atmosphere nice.
Overall there’s nothing bad to say, but nothing great either.

I love this place.
Pros:
–delicious martinis
–chef specialty sushi rolls – you can tell them what you like/don’t like they will tailor make you a roll
–they let you mess with the ingredients in menu rolls as well. Like it spicy, no problem. Want to swap ingredients, okay. Interested in trying a new sauce, do it! Last time I was there the chef had made a custom sauce for the chef’s special. They gave me a side to try, it was amazing!
–The bartender: my boyfriend and I always sit at the bar and LOVE her. She is so personable and aware of her surroundings and always takes such good care of us.
Cons:
–it’s small so sometimes, especially in the winter when it’s too cold to sit on the patio space can get sparse.
–the benches along the walls – we always sit at the bar because the benches are too far from the table, I have to sit at the very edge to reach my plate and hear my boyfriend talk.

Downward spiral … So so sad. Kept giving them chances but this was the last. Get it together happy fish! Cut it out with the bottled sauces and bland fish. I don’t know what happened, this used to be the best sushi spot in Boise few years ago! Now I can’t even recommend it to people. When owners try to save money by cheapening the quality it just always back fires. Such is the case here!

The menu is great, the food good, and the prices reasonable. For the last 5 to 6 years I have continued to try to like them. After you get you food and drinks thugs are fine. However, consistently waiting ½ hour to get service is unbelievable. Their wait staff is sub-​par, not customer friendly, and frankly useless.
We stared at the cocktail girl to at least get drinks and she shunned the table.
Their partner restaurant, Ha Penny, never has this service problem. I simply don’t understand why the service is that awful on that side of the building.
Don’t go there if you have somewhere to be.

Loved the Fire, Rainbow and California rolls! Finally, sushi sliced thin enough to comfortably eat! Jalapeño Margarita and Sweetish Fish Martinis were an amazing start to a great experience. We’re traveling and will most certainly be back.

The sushi I received was the Chef’s special! It was absolutely delicious. We shared a few Chef Specials and Sushi for 2 amongst a group of about 15 people. It was great! The only thing I would recommend to the consumer is make sure you have time to really sit and enjoy. The food took about an hour and thirty minutes to hit the table. We all devoured the sushi as it came out. They came out at different times depending when it was done, so some waited even longer.

We found it! After a decade of searching we finally found really good, clean, and delicious sushi in Boise.
Seriously though, I haven’t eaten at happy fish in a very, very long time and we (my wife, and two of our friends) gave it a try tonight.
It was amazing.
EAT HERE!

*****five star café*****
1^st, I have to say the low star ratings are years old. The food has really become impressive! I won’t reiterate how charmingly decorated it is (yes it is) or retell about nice and clean (yes it is) as all this should be. Secondly, I love how unpretentious it is. You’re not nosed up or snorted at when you ask about flavors, ingredients, or advice (not that I need any– I just like to check attitudes way before I allow someone’s food inside me!) They have pretty usual sushi, nothing so wild and different it makes even Jiro Ono raise a brow. Thirdy, they made my friend, whose first sushi experience ever, very relaxed and confident to try sushi. Which, by the way– they enjoyed so much want to go back and have again! I mean– that’s big; this is a person who used to think sushi would be disgusting, but now has had his mind changed on ONE visit for the first time! Also want to add, music was nice– not loud at all, but could’ve been lowered a notch. I think I’ve found my happy place at happy fish! :-)

It was our pleasure to be welcomed by Crystal! The atmosphere was inviting and cozy, the food was so enticing, we had to have seconds! We got «rolled up» at Happy Fish!!!

I am surprised to see the low ratings, but then again it has been quite awhile since we have been there so maybe things have changed. We stopped in for lunch a couple of years ago and the sushi was awesome, among the best I have had. I have some Japanese friends that said Happy Fish is the best sushi they have ever had, here or in Japan. But again, it has been years since eating there.

i always really enjoy their sushi. it has taken the place of one of my fave sushi restaurants. the service can be slow and lacking at times, but i think the food makes up for it

WORST PLACE EVER!!! As a former manager for a top restaurant company, I’ve learned to deal with horrendous service. Never do I post on Unilocal.Tonight, I received the most disrespectful to-​go order in my life. George should lose his job. As an employee at a respectable Boise company, I will ensure cash no longer flows through here. My group of friends who regularly eat here will find a new establishment.
Advice: when you forget to place someone’s order and the customer is running late, do not blame them and then ask them to leave with no food but a credit card receipt. Rather, comp the whole bill.

No salmon? They ran out of salmon.
Boo!
We love sushi and simply because we bought a groupon we will be going back. Hope they don’t run out of salmon next time we make it over there.
I like the patio seating option!

Every once in a while life gets too predictable, so I do things, like get a coupon to a sushi restaurant in downtown Boise that has received a plethora of 2– and 1-​star reviews and is attached to an Irish pub. Because, as the doctors say, food poisoning is usually not fatal, and any psychological issues brought about by bad sushi experiences can be cured with lots of anti-​depressants and a good shrink (read: drink).
For a Monday night, Happy Sushi was pretty busy. When we arrived past 8pm there was a large table of 6 and several couples on the patio. (The large group was using a coupon, too, because we got their bill). The waitress/​busperson/​bartender also hadn’t gotten around to clearing any of the tables, and from the dirty dishes it seemed like there was quite a crowd earlier.
The biggest failure of Happy Fish is the number of staff they have. There was only ONE sushi chef making ALL of the rolls/​nigiri. There was only ONE wait person doubling as two other people. We waited quite a while for our two rolls — Fire Roll and Spider Roll… which were not bad. The chef did later apologize as did the waitress, since the large group had a few orders for rolls.
For $ 11.99 I didn’t expect the rolls to arrive with fish roe spilling onto my shoe and fireworks going off with every bite, but the portion was large enough. They didn’t skimp on the tuna for the Fire Roll, but the Spider Roll was a little disappointing — the outside was wrapped with seaweed, which I don’t usually expect for a $ 11.99 roll. But given that the sushi guy was making ALL the food, I should be grateful he didn’t use Saran wrap.
My Sidecar came out without any brandy taste and was a little on the sweet side. My boyfriend had a bottle of Kirin and was given what I call «Asian» glass — a glass that’s short and thin and looks like it holds 6 instead of the usual 8 ounces.
Overall, a pretty disappointing experience, which could be easily solved by adding just one other staff. The food was a little better than average, and our server was friendly and tried hard, but being short staffed showed.

Didn’t know where to go for lunch on Wednesday so I looked on Groupon and found this hidden gem.
We had a Philly Roll and Fire Roll. Both were EXCELLENT and the service was friendly.
We will definitely go back and might just buy another Groupon!

Best time to go at happy hr. half price sushi n drinks!