Ru San’s

I love this place! Always fresh (all the dishes are marked with the time they come out onto the sushi bar), delicious and varied. The service is friendly and attentive and the crowd is diverse and appreciative. Very much worth the price. And, they feature the sushi bar (plus soup, salad and hot foods) 6 times a week, lunch only, unfortunately.

I am hard pressed to decide between this place and New Zealand as the best Sushi place in Charlotte. This is much larger and has a larger menu. I only sit at the Sushi bar. Their specialty menu excellent. I’ve been there several times and it seems packed constantly, but never had to wait more than 15 minutes (even on a Saturday night). The waitstaff is attentive and responsive which is unusual for such a busy place. They have a traditional kitchen menu, but I’ve never bothered with that when such great sushi is available. The only detractor is that with the large crowd it gets kinda loud. Go. Enjoy. You won’t regret it.

They have decent price for sushi. But OMG workers there can be so rude! If you plan on calling for Togo orders or to speak to someone during dinner time, THINK AGAIN! They will literally pick up the phone and hang up on you! Thats just RUDE!

The service was good however, I think it wasn’t busy hour for them-​yet. Although I would understand if it was. The food was okay, not the best. My fiancé ordered chicken and pork yakatori, and my BIL ordered scallops and shrimp yakatori — those were also just okay. Not worth the price though for an appetizer. We all got the ginger salad I love salads so I can’t complain but the fiancé says it’s a bit too bitter. We got there around 5 and so it was dinner both my fiancé and BIL got the Pork Katsu Don, fried pork cutlet over rice with an egg and mixed vegetables. I got the chicken Katsu that came with rice on the side and mixed veggies also on the side. I thought the chicken Katsu was good a bit bland but it was crispy and good with the veggies. The pork Katsu don was not a good choice because the plating made everything too soggy. No sushi this time maybe next time, if there is a next time.

Very good sushi! I mean it was so fresh and good I can’t wait to go back! Downside you have to wait until your entire party is there to be seated but that’s fine because it’s not the biggest restaurant. Our waitress was friendly and knowledgeable. Huge menu with plenty of options even things for people who don’t care for sushi. The food was very nicely plated and a nice sociable atmosphere. I would recommend this spot to anyone who loves sushi!

Won’t seat party of 3 with 1 person not here with 20 tables open. I would have bought app and beers while waiting. Ridiculous rule when restaurant is practically empty

Saturday night n it’s buzzing. Recommend making reservations for weekends cuz we had to wait w/​o n it was rainy n cold n there was a waiting line. Of course there’s a covered area outside but brrrr. The loud atmosphere makes for an enjoyable w/​family n friends. But, u know, the sushi is fresh n delicious!!! My fav! Coming back for an all-​u-​can eat buffet lunch next week (maybe) just to try it cuz I hvnt yet but I won’t pig out hahaha

They have the BEST Chirashi Bowl in town, hands DOWN! Years ago, I would order this and it was only $ 15 bucks. No one knew about this and I thought it was such a bargain because it comes in a BIG bowl of full on sashimi with soup or salad. I thought it was my little secret so whenever I come here, I always ordered it since I loved it so much. They are very generous with the type of fish as well. Then after telling my friends about this or they would see my chirashi order comes out (who also has the SAME love for sashimi like I do), they now all ordered it too. I guess it gained popularity and attentions from the owners/​workers since we would have like a table of 4 orders of just chirashi bowls at least 2x or 3x times in a week. That’s A LOT of sashimi but it was so good! Maybe Rusan’s picked up that this was too much of a bargain and upped their prices to $ 17.95 (considering other sushi places around town at the time 2 – 3 yrs ago were overcharging chirashi bowl for $ 22-​$ 25 for a small dinky bowl of raw fish). What I thought was a steal now is no longer a steal. :(
I was a little upset they would do this but it’s still a good deal in Charlotte whenever I’m craving sashimi so much. Then last summer, they increased the prices up to $ 19.95, um what?! I came back last month and I found out they took the Chirashi bowl off their newly updated menu but I still ordered it. Finds out they charged it to around $ 22.95 or something like that now. What a bummer. I won’t be surprised if they kept increasing it to $ 25. Oh well, it doesn’t bothers me now since I don’t go there often but looks to me like they don’t want many people to order it anymore if they had taken it off the menu. Although I’m a little upset of the increasing prices, I have to say for the most part the chirashi bowls are always extremely abundant & impressive. This place always has the best sushi and apps as well. It’s also not that pricey at all and you can get pretty full without spending a lot.
Service however, sometimes sucks. They’re never known for their service so don’t even bother reviewing about it. It’s standard.
They have all you can eat sushi on the weekdays during lunch for $ 12 bucks (I think) so that’s a good deal. Except all the sushi are very basic (cheap to make) with tons of rice outside and very tiny sushi fillings. Yeah, they’re trying to fool you in thinking you’re eating for cheap, they know it! haha. Good way for them to make money by trying to get rid of their leftovers. (?)

It has been years since I have had such a poor experience dining out. Unfortunately I took my family to Ru San’s to celebrate by sister’s birthday Friday night and had a very pitiful experience. After a short wait we were seated in the back of the restaurant which suited us just fine because it was a little quieter than the rest of the restaurant. The ambiance was nice and the sushi we saw coming out of the kitchen definitely had our attention. We waited about five minutes before a nice busser came by and filled our water glasses. We then waited another five minutes before the server came by and took our drink order — 3 Cokes. We saw the timing going on and also took the opportunity to put an appetizer order in. We wouldn’t see the server again for 10 minutes, returning with 3 coke cans just as the appetizers hit the table. Still, with the majority of us having worked in the service industry we excused the tardiness and proceeded to order our sushi rolls without complaint — all together 11 rolls for the table. There was a food allergy at the table and the waiter’s uneasy responses prompted us to ask a manager if the food we had ordered was ok — turns out had we not done this my brother’s fiancé would have been in serious trouble. We thanked the manager for his help, and then proceeded to wait for our food. After 30 minutes we began to get a little concerned, especially as the tables on both sides of us who had ordered after our table received their sushi rolls — having worked in multiple sushi restaurants my sister and I knew that sushi is generally prepared FIFO style so after ten more minutes we began to wonder what was going on — we were also down to the last bit of ice in our glasses for some time. After another ten minutes, now 45 in total, the waiter came over to let us know our food would be out shortly and refill our waters. 10 minutes later the manager comes to the table to inform us that the server had only been there 2 weeks and that the food would be right out. I guess the fact that this restaurant cannot adequately train their staff justified the wait.
Then, an hour after we had ordered, our food arrived… well some of it. A total of 9 rolls came out — two of which were different than the ones we had ordered. We had ordered the special pork belly roll, firecracker, Godzilla, and the rich and famous roll, but instead we received some disaster of a roll with asparagus in it. We were skeptical when the rolls came out and asked the server to name the rolls but he didn’t have a clue, so we asked to send someone who did. Hungry as we were we decided to at least eat what we thought were the appropriate rolls and hope they brought out the remaining rolls. When the server put down two additional rolls in front of us we were relieved, only to have another server angrily remove them from our table informing us they belonged to the table next to ours. At least that group got some good looking rolls! Finally a manager came over and pointed out which rolls where which, and only a few switches needed to be made. At this point he asked if we wanted the rolls that didn’t come out and we informed him that we did not and just wanted to pay and leave. After another 10 minutes, two hours in total at this point, the server brings a check with every roll that we had ordered, even the ones we had NOT received — $ 30 more than it should have been if we paid full price for the meal. I took the bill to the manager, who seemed aggravated (probably with the server but really is that my fault?), who removed the items that did not come out with the meal. He then proceeded to insult me, a person who never tips less than 20%, and add automatic gratuity to our party of 5. Adding insult to injury, we missed the movie we wanted to go see — overall completely wrecking one of the few opportunities our family has to get together and enjoy a meal. I am not one to stomp my feet and make a scene, but I do expect decent service, accurate orders, and at the very least some accountability for the completely unacceptable service we received.

This place offered good sushi with friendly customer service. My only issue was witnessing one of the cooks sneeze behind the sushi bar and not wash his hands. One of our tables were a little dirty but we looked over it.
Lastly, they charged an 18% gratuity on a party of 6 and didn’t disclose this in the beginning.
Nevertheless, they made up for it by bringing a birthday dessert to our table and singing happy birthday.

This is by far my favorite place for inexpensive, quick sushi. I really enjoy their sushi buffet as well as their dinner selections at night. I would recommend their jalapeño tofu and the yellowtail sangria sushi roll.
I gave it four stars because sometimes the service could be better. They could be a bit better when it comes to customer service when something goes wrong. However if you ask for Allison she is by far the best server there.
Definitely recommend this place if you are looking for something not too fancy but good enough to satisfy your taste for sushi.

COOL spot if your looking for some great sushi after hours! I have spent plenty of nights here sobering up. Somewhere between the hours of 10 and 12 O’clock at night. I have also spent more money here than I have at the bars (haha).
Obviously, my favorite thing about Ru San’s is that they stay open pretty late on most nights. It is one thing to find a place open during these hours, but even more difficult to find SUSHI at this time! They have really saved me from settling for Harris Teeter’s two day old sushi.
In my opinion, their sushi is absolutely fantastic! It is probably some of the best sushi I have ever had. It is one of those sushi restaurants where you can enjoy the raw stuff, because you KNOW that the fish is fresh. Far too many times have I eaten at a lower quality joint, where I couldn’t order raw fish because it wasn’t fresh.
It is not just the food that is great, but the service is always on point. There has not been a time yet that I have had an empty cup. This is important to me, as I tend to go through at least a gallon of water when I go out to eat (especially after drinking). The creativity that is put into every dish is very unique. This brings me to the downside as it can get very pricey. Also, make sure if your ordering from the «special roll» menu, to ask if it is actually a sushi roll or an entrée. I have ordered a roll from this menu once, and when my food came out It was definitely not sushi. It was just a regular entrée with some rice. I was very confused.
I highly recommend this place If you are looking for sushi any time of the day/​night. I think you will enjoy your visit as I always do. Two thumbs up for high quality fish!

Ru San’s makes me happy.
While the wait sometimes is a pain, I live close enough and frequent often enough, that I know the perfect times to go so we can walk right in and get seated. At this point, we’ve memorized the menu and I like it. There is literally something for everyone and to satisfy every type of craving — Sushi, check. Bento boxes with a lot of food for next to nothing, check. Noodles, check. Chicken or meat, check. Fried ball of rice dipped in teriyaki sauce, double check.
I think the quality of the fish is no better or worse anywhere else in Charlotte so thats never been an issue for us and when people raise that concern, I always brush it off. The entire menu is extremely reasonably priced AND they have a cheap as heck lunch all you can eat buffet. Sure, you might not know what you’re eating but hey, you’re broadening your pallet.
It’s a loud, fun atmosphere and the wait staff is friendly and almost always on top of their game, they yell hello and goodbye every time someone walks in or leave — it still always startles me, but I enjoy it. The wait for food is usually pretty short and reasonable and my water is always filled. If it weren’t for the occasional crazy lines (though, I think thats a good sign in the restaurant world) and the occasional waiter that forgets we exist — I’d be closing in on 5 stars.

This is absolutely the spot to go for sushi in Charlotte!!! There is none better and let me tell you the saki bombs are the business! I would eat a fart to get to eat here just saying!!!

I’ve been eating Ru Sans since 95′ in Atlanta, solid and great food!
Either the lunch buffet or a delicious dinner, I am never disappointed.

When we need our sushi fix, this is our favorite spot. There are a lot of good sushi places across the city and most of them are either a bit pricey for what you get or reasonable but with limited options. Ru San’s satisfies both: reasonably priced and lots of choices.
It’s located in a strip mall with a couple other restaurants and a wine shop. It’s a bit tucked away back there but it makes for easier parking!
The service is a little hit or miss, particularly if it’s busy (as it usually is on the weekends, so plan accordingly). That said, I don’t mind waiting a little longer when it comes to sushi because of the work that goes into putting it together. Also, the water dude is on point! I swear to god, that guy is at the ready every time I take a gulp of my water to fill that thing right back up. Much appreciated given that I tend to go with the spicier options.
All in all, great spot for reasonably priced sushi and a good time!

I cannot get enough of this place! It’s probably a good thing that I don’t live in Charlotte because I would eat here multiple times a week. My friend, Samantha, and I tend to come here every time I’m in town. We love to start with a miso soup (me), a salad with ginger dressing (her) and the Hawaiian Ahi Poke… one word — YUM!!! They give a generous amount of tuna and the sauce blend is absolute perfection. On my most recent visit, I wasn’t overly hungry after the soup and sharing the poke, so I ordered the 5-​piece nigiri set of sake salmon. The salmon as very fresh and cut into healthy pieces. The service is consistently fast and friendly. I’d also love to try the lunch buffet one day soon!

Ok for sushi but not the best… I have definitely had better. The service is ok. They do have a wide variety of rolls, I wish it was just more fresh. They sushi pieces are big so they fall apart when you try to eat them. As far as food quality, it is edible. Also, they have a tendency to mess up your rolls and order, they did that to us twice. I would not go back after being there twice.

One of my friends introduced me to Ru San’s. The first time that I went it was lunchtime and we got the lunch buffet. The lunch buffet is delicious and lots of hot options, tons of great sushi rolls, and even dessert! All of the food was great. My only complaint is that they do not have a «permanent» buffet area. So they set it up and break it down each day. So when you go into the restaurant you can tell that it wasn’t necessarily designed to have the buffet. The spacing and set up is a little bit awkward.
The last time I went with my friend we got the soft shell crab appetizer! It was out of this world! I would highly recommend ordering it if you like tempura soft shell crab.
For our entrees my friend got a sashimi rice bowl that had tons of different items on it. It had a great variety. You definitely get your moneys worth when you order that dish. I got two rolls — one was from their specials menu and the other was on the regular menu. Both of them were good. One was a chipotle roll — I didn’t like how it had like a dry seasoning sprinkled on it that you could feel the gritty texture of in your mouth.
The service the night we went was HORRENDOUS. After being seating it was probably about 5 – 10 minutes until the waiter came up to us and go our drink orders. Then it was about 5 mins for our drinks to come. Then he delivered our drinks and walked away from us even though we were ready to order. He disappeared for another 5 – 10 minutes. We placed our order. My friends entrée came first. Then a few minutes later my rolls came. Then last to arrive was the APPETIZER! The guy was nice — but the service was a joke. I am basically giving them a higher rating because I love the food here. I also like the atmosphere of the restaurant — they play good music!

Wow, what flare! They definitely have the décor and fun atmosphere down! Plus soon many cooks — makes the orders come out pretty quick even on a busy busy night. Took a bit of time to get seated & there really is no where indoors to try to wait, other than the bar. The edamame is self-​seasoned, as in you dip them yourself, good but not quite my style. The sushi rolls though are tasty!
The best tip about this place: the bar wraps all the way around — as in an entire «U» shaped seating area to watch all the cooking!