Tabu Sushi Bar and Grill

This place is amazing! Every time I am delightfully surprised by the freshness of the food! I’m a happy camper! Thankfully this place is on my way home from work so I’m stopping more often now;) Yay!

We had a mixed experience at Tabu. We sat at the sushi bar and the chef was friendly and talented. The sushi tasted great! However, when it came time to pay, the waitress and the chef argued (across the bar) about what we had or hadn’t ordered. Once they had mostly sorted it out, it took about 10 minutes for us to get the check. When it came, the check was incorrect. We sent it back for adjustments. When we received the new version, it was still incorrect. At this point, about 20 minutes after we originally asked for the check, we just bit the bullet and paid. I’m not sure if I’ll be back as this was a very frustrating experience, sending the check back and trying to explain to our waitress what we’d ordered. She seemed flustered and not willing to listen. We paid for more than we ordered, which left some bitter thoughts in our minds.

Very good rolls! We got our rolls and fried octopi within 5 minutes of ordering it on a Friday evening! That’s really good service if you ask me! Waitresses and sushi chefs were all very pleasant and always made sure our drinks were full and kept checking to see if we needed anything. A little pricey but worth it.

Let me preach to you about Andy’s Roll. It is amazing! So delicious, with a hint of spice.
I am also an advocate of their bento boxes.

Love their sushi rolls, most of the menu for that matter!, since I moved to Jamul, I try a different item of the menu, have not missed yet!

I’ve eaten here with my wife before and everything is great every time. I don’t even like sushi but this place has great sushi. There tempura shrimp is also amazing. Food can make a restaurant good but the service is what makes it great and Nora killed it tonight. She was frequently at our table and every other table around checking on us. We never had to call her over because she was always checking to see if we were doing okay, if the food was good, if we needed refills. I highly recommend this place.

I called in an order to eat there so I wouldn’t have to wait long (my lunches are less then an hour) and they were very accommodating. The charishi bowl was beautiful.
Keeping it short– this place has great food and service. I’m coming back.

Best sushi spot in all of sandiego. Andy is always taking care of everything and everybody at all times. when you come to a sushi place it’s always a trust issue. Sushi here is always fresh and amazing. Tabu stands out every time to me and my family. keep it up guys you got a beautifull thing going on…

I walked into this restaurant wanting to love it, as it had been highly recommended from my cousin. While the service was fast, the food that followed was a bit of a letdown. I don’t typically eat raw fish, so I was beyond excited to see that they offered both chicken and steak sushi rolls. Both of these are rare to find and I couldn’t wait to try them. Unfortunately, they both let me down. First of all, my steak roll was $ 16, which I think is way too expensive for the amount of meat you’re actually getting. And secondly, it hardly had any taste to it. The chicken in the chicken teriyaki roll was good, but it was overly sauced, which made the roll soggy and textureless.

Being a fan of seafood I hadn’t really tried sushi and I didn’t want my first experience of sushi to be bad. My friend took me to Tabu and we had the crunchy roll… It really exceeded my expectation. It was delicious and the roll looked appealing even before I had it.
4 stars for the sushi. Minus 1 star for the service.

Terrible service. Visited the restaurant on a Friday night. Needed a table for a group of 6. As expected the place was busy on a Friday night which is understandable. We we’re quoted a time frame to have a table. 30 minutes into our wait the hostess tells us they’re cleaning a table for our group to sit. We patiently wait another 20 minutes. We walk in to see what’s taking so long to just clean the tables the hostess says they don’t have any tables available yet and she could not quote how much longer it would be. I know the restaurant can’t tell a table to get up and leave but don’t blatantly lie to us saying you’re cleaning a table and it won’t be much longer. Not pleased with the customer service. Will not be coming here again. I would rather travel further to find another sushi restaurant.

The 4 stars are for the hostes, server, and sushi chef (younger guy) & the yummy big ed roll, it had chopped habanero, eel sauce, salmon, it was pretty tasty.
We came in for a quick bite while our pup was at the groomers… and a quick bite it was.
The big minus was the tension in the atmosphere between the older chef and one of the servers, I overheard and saw him talk back to her in a rude manner, and it just made me feel awkward so i can imagine how she felt. Respect is a biggy and no one should ever respond or snap at a coworker like that. The server was really sweet and attentive despite the chefs remark.
Anywho, id recommend if in the area, the prices were a bit much for me but the quality is top knotch.
The atmosphere, not the most comfortable or welcoming (personally)
Everyone seemed to be having a rough time, its understandable.
I shall venture out to continue my sushi conoseur shenanigans… tutaalooooooo.

Tabu is the best, and most affordable sushi here in San Diego. We live in la Mesa next to a comparable sushi place but we make the drive to Tabu because it’s that much better.
There sushi chefs are top notch and ALL of their employees are professional and courteous. They really do take care of us always. You guys are the best!!!

Not too shabby for east county sushi. Met some locals who told us to try Tabu and how it’s a little pricey. It’s super convenient to call in the order of 2 rolls and get quoted 10 minutes. At other places I get quoted 20 minutes.
The parking wasn’t bad but during the day with the Starbucks line you could possibly get trapped in your spot for a while. It was small inside and looked busy.
The Kai roll and the Rancho roll sounded appealing. The Kai roll was wrapped in cucumber no rice and had fresh tuna salmon and yellowtail shrimp and crab. The Rancho roll is a very popular roll out here I’ve noticed a couple other sushi places have the title too. The Rancho roll had fresh salmon avocado not a lot of cream cheese and was fried in tempura batter with jalapeños and Sriracha.
They came in 10 pieces and they were displayed flat instead of standing up. Cut on the skinnier side opposed to standing up in a roll and thickly sliced.
It wasn’t bad at all and it wasn’t something to rave about it was simply in the middle. Told the guy working it was our first time and he said you’ll love it and we’ll be back Saturday. Guess we’ll have to go back sometime and dine in.

The food is good, that is the upside.
The downside is that they apparently hire every annoying chick from the local high school who would rather play on their phones then bring you a drink or anything work related.

Tabu what would I do without you? I know, I’d be saving a lot of money or eating subpar– sushi somewhere else. I cant even be mad that every time I come here the place is packed and I have to wait to get a seat. All the signs of good eats, right? The sushi always taste fresh, there is a huge selection and the staff, for the most part are good on service. Every now and then we end up with a waiter/​tress that could use a little more patience or finesse even on busy days. Think twice before asking for extra ginger — I literally got a plate full, like a pound of ginger to go with my one sushi roll order. My only real disappointment is that the music is really too loud to enjoy any conversation. Seating is tight, but you literally have to yell if you expect to talk to a date. Knowing this, we don’t plan on talking, nor do we go if there is a slight hint of a headache.

Came here on a recommendation and Tabu did not disappoint! Ordered the Garlic Teriyaki Sriracha Edamame, a Rancho Roll and a California Roll. All of them were were delicious. The best part is watching the Sushi Chefs at work. They seem to have a nice, friendly and fun work environment. Very welcoming and hospitable. They created a great atmosphere! So interesting to see all the different creations leaving the sushi bar on the way to their tables.
Tabu, we’ll be back!

Unfortunately, the service and quality of the food, isn’t what it used to be four years ago. A favorite of mine during the last couple of visits is their tuna roll. However, during my last two visits, the tuna was subpar. Almost questionable. The waitress we had also lagged. She didn’t bring my 6pc simple tuna roll until everyone else had finished their meal. She also forgot my dressing on my salad and the rice that came with Michael B.‘s bento box. For the price we pay, it was all very disappointing.

My husband and I are sushi connoisseurs. We thoroughly enjoyed the lemon cilantro role that was customize for us without any dairy or egg product. It was delicious! They added a spicy sauce.
Julio, the sushi Chef, was very nice and accommodating. You did a great job serving us.
I recommend this place.

I love coming here. Staff are very nice, specially chefs. Price are reasonable. Free parking. I love their showtime and after burner rolls. Their calamari is good too, oh and i love their miso soup. I’ve going to this restaurant for quite a while and i can say with confidence it’s a good place to go have sushi.