Yolo Sushi Bar & Karaoke

This establishment is a breath of fresh air to an aging neighborhood with a bad reputation. The food and drinks were excellent. The east side of fresno is in need of new ideas, and quality food.

Nice!!! I mean nice big chicken wings! The portion of the food was just right… I would love to come back! Nice environment and seem like a good place to hangout and karaōke with your friends or family! Definitely will come back in a group!

Not my first time here I’ve really tried to like this place but honestly they have the worst sushi ever. Worst than I Love Sushi. Service is friendly but slow both carry-​out and dine-​in. Honestly I’m just very disappointed on portion and taste. I’ve heard the sushi burrito was good and gave it try and it was just not what I expected compared to SF and LA bound. I’d like my money’s worth but it’s really not worth $ 12.

I’m used to Wassabi… But Yolo blew them out the water price and taste wise everything was affordable and good idea went on a wing it night I wanted sushi and they stay open until 2am every night which was the icing on the cake for me…

Being a fan of great sushi we were excited about a place closer to home in SE Fresno. Service was poor but attentive. We asked for suggestions on appetizers and the gizzards were quoted as a fan favorite.
Being adventurous and realizing this was not a typical Japanese place, we jokingly said yolo and took the suggestions. Definitely don’t get this thing, it was indescribably tasteless and bad.
Sushi was of ok quality but not cut properly. Rice was not of high quality either, too much vinegar, too loosely packed, too much rice in the nigiri.
Drinks took forever to arrive. Miso was weirdly different, but passable. Atmosphere was ok for a Friday night with Karaōke and a fun crowd.
Would be a cool place to hang out with friends if they figured out how to run a bar. Sushi is mediocre but fish is of decent quality. Service has ways to go but we give them a pass since they were recently opened.

Idk bout other people but I had a great time here. Service was OK. It was pretty packed when I went with my group so that could’ve been a problem why service wasn’t that good. But still had a great time for the first experience

Sushi is great, especially for the Eastside of Fresno. The chef is very nice and the service was great!

Sushi rolls was all very good. I even tried frog legs for the first time and it was not bad at all. Pricing is amazing, not expensive. Waitress was very slow and she didn’t know the menu. It wasn’t busy when I went for lunch but I will definitely go back.

The Boston Roll was very good. Very lightly fried with spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, and cream cheese. I need to remember that spicy tuna is the ground up meat that has the texture I like. Unfortunately, they were out of oysters. They were also out of edamame, which is pretty ridiculous for a sushi restaurant. It was also a very small menu. Not even a nigiri selection.

It’s a nice place is southeast Fresno but the service is really bad. We waited an hour to get our meals and they all came about ten minutes after one another. the simplest meal was last to be served, which was consists only of nigiri. after about forty minutes my sister and I cancelled our drinks due to the waitress telling us that the bartender was backed up multiple times. it was frustrating to watch others who came after us served their orders and drinks as we waited.
This place needs to work on their services, it is really bad here.

We had a great experience with chef Chango! We sat at the sushi bar and we were very impressed-​not very impressed with the waitresses or their service, but Chango’s «Chango Roll» and the Green Jacket Rolls were delicious! We will be back to try the sushirito and the «Chango Roll» again!

This was a real interesting experience for a Friday night. We sat at the sushi bar tonight on the later side of 9 pm. The manager was trying to get the crowd going doubling up singing karaōke and managing the front of the house
The sushi chefs were very friendly and were a real plus. Our sever on the other hand was terrible, untrained and inattentive. The rest of the night we were watching the local crowd mostly speaking and shouting over each other in Hmong as they settled in for Friday night which was interesting and nice to watch
The sushi was fresh and well prepared. However if you know sushi, it is equally if not even more important to have great rice and their rice was pretty bad. Mostly a low grade long grain rice, not anywhere sushi grade. Overall a nice place to party with a few folks and I’m happy to do that but not the place to splash on a nice sushi dinning experience

I have been here a couple of times as this being one of the few sushi place in southeast Fresno. I love their Kaoyee’s roll. It’s not on the menu but its the female Sushi Chef’s special roll. I don’t believe the roll is available anymore as she isn’t there anymore. I’m giving them a 3 star because their dish are not consistent and theiir slow services. Their sticky rice taste and feel like it was put in a sandwich bag and microwave before serving. Which I’m sure it is as the sticky rice comes in a sandwich bag and you can tell the bag has been heated.
My first experience was horrible because my group waited over an hour for our food. After waiting over an hour half of the group got their food while the other waited another 15 – 30 minutes. My friend couldn’t wait anymore for her meal (it has been over 1 hr and 30 mins) everyone had already finish their food, decided to cancel her entrée. Somehow she still got charge. The owner came and fix ther tab, with no apologies.
I had decided to give it another try, my experience was much better, maybe because I sat at the sushi bar and the sushi chef Kaoyee was really nice and attentive.
The last time I went it was just horrible. My family we were the only table there. The resturant was completely empty. My bro waited 15 minutes for his beer on tap. The bartender had no one there. We reminded the server who then told the «busy» bartender who finally had one customer sitting at his bar for his beer. Still had to wait a couple of minutes because he had to serve his new and only customer. The service still sucks, which put me in aww because we were the only table.

My boyfriend and I were trying to find a place to eat and I felt like sushi, but wanted to try a new place so looked on Unilocal and came across this place. Checked the menu online and thought it looked pretty decent, so we went.
When we first pulled up I noticed the grand opening sign still up even though it seems to have been opened for quite some time. Then walking in, I was surprised to see how empty it was. We were the only people there for the entire time besides the staff. This was around 7 on a Thursday, btw. Anyways, walked in and the waitresses were singing karaōke, but one hopped down right away to get us a table. The staff was very friendly (and entertaining)!
I glanced over the menu again and noticed the Sushi Burrito. Now after being jealous of other cities having Sushiritto for quite some time now and not having one yet, I was pretty excited to see it here. Better yet, it had everything I love in a sushi roll in it. Anything with avocado, cream cheese, and crab, I love: P There was some kick to it too, but that just made it better. On the menu it says that the burrito could be eaten by two people (but you won’t share) — it really does say that last part — and you won’t. I finished it and still had some rice from my boyfriend’s plate.
For the chicken teriyaki meal and the sushi burrito, it came out to about $ 28 so I’d say it’s almost reasonable. I’m definitely going back for another one of those burritos!
Maybe karaōke too… we’ll see.

Pretty good variety, esp love their sushi. Nice service and fun place to hang out and watch patrons karaōke. A little bit hole in the wall. Good drinks too.

First off, nice concept and had a good first impression but very quickly learned my lesson and was disappointed.
We ordered some beer and shortly ordered our dinner. Started off with a great cold beer then that was pretty much it. Got our salads and interesting enough the lettuce was transparent and soggy that usually happens when it’s pre made or for some reason kept way below normal temperature.
Next miso was pretty decent, not to salty packed with tofu and seaweed.
Baked Mussels, great topping nice spicy sauce but it was under cooked and cold also. Into biting the first one that was in nice edible pieces a shell was stuck to it and I bite down on it.
Ordered three dinner sets: Sashimi, nigiri and sashimi and vegetable tempura.
The sashimi came our quickly and looks ok. But normally we like to dip our sashimi in ponzu compared to soy sauce and have never had an issue before at other places. The «chef» apparently would not give any, first time this has ever happened. He is not a real trained sushi chef by any means, and until he has a product that he can be snobby about maybe he should be a little nicer to the customer.
Next up Vegetable tempura; soggy, cold and three types of veggies. The one thing that any tempura has to be is just crispy and light. Not sure how it was cooked but I can assume, no ice and cold oil. The batter was soft and the vegetable was cold. We live in the Central Valley with some of the best fresh ingredients but still we got bad veggies.
And finally Nigiri with sashimi. The menu says choice of sashimi I picked tuna and I still receive 5 different kinds of fish. The nigiri was some of the oddest I have ever received, fat balls of rice and thin wide slices of fish that tasted old.
I wouldn’t recommend this place for sushi. If your looking for a cold beer and some great singers tho it’s nice.

My gf and I came here on a Saturday night and I must say that I wasn’t expecting too much, but it was actually fun. I haven’t tried any of the food so i can’t comment on it, but i did drink! … and i would say to just stick with beer or shots. The mixed drinks, in my opinion, were pretty weak. I ordered the Tokyo Tea and it was nothing compared to Edo-ya’s. The place isn’t that big. but there are quite a few tables. The bar is pretty tiny as well, but they do offer bar seating.
They are well known for their karaōke, both Hmong and English songs are available. Drinks and karaōke always calls for an intereresting night. lol. I wouldn’t mind coming back here to just hang out when i’m back in town. Will update once I try the food. :)

I’ve been to YOLO twice now, both times with a group of people. The first visit had us hooked with the food! (the service was spotty, but it was a new, young waitress so we took it in stride)
The sushi is fresh and great tasting. The phở and mango salads are delish, and we all LOVE the fried chicken gizzards!
At both visits, the chef/​owner came out to see how we were enjoying the food and chat with us. Talk about great customer appreciation!
We will definitely keep going back.
Oh, and Karaōke is a blast!

In a nutshell I was impressed with the delicious sushi taste, the freshness of its fish, finally its artfully presented food. Yolo sushi bar and karaōke is definitely a great sushi place for the Fresno and Clovis metro, especially for those looking to eat late, because their kitchen opens till 12.30am everyday (Im a sushi connoisseur, having tasted some of the best and freshest sushi from Tokyo, London, New York, Malaysia and Singapore, and I am very finicky when it comes to Fresh taste and presentation, because that is the basic of a good sushi)
Yolo Sushi is simply outstanding as a sushi venue– because their sushi chef knows what they are doing, at the same time its a great place to unwind and entertain oneself after a busy stressful day with its open style karaōke stage and nicely done bar area. The menu is also fairly priced for the quality and generous portion of their food, you could expect a fresh quality bowl of Chirashi for only $ 13.95.
To be honest I was expecting yet another mediocre sushi place in the central valley that would disappoint, but Yolo proved me wrong– it was actually the opposite. Despite the non-​aunthentic look of its décor with its karaōke area and bar area, their sushi is actually quite authentic, but most importantly it was fresh and done by owners and chef that care about their food and how they present it.
The Chirashi bowl $ 13.95 was the highlight of my delicious meal and was so artfully presented in a bowl, there was 5 variety of fish: yellow tail, tuna, salmon, hamachi, butterfish. All of their sashimi fish tasted fresh and was perfectly sliced in an artful way. The presentation in this bowl was just impressive because it was arranged in such care, the chirashi bowl was also dressed with slices of fresh avocado, salmon roe, and shrimp (ebi) and sliced vegetables. The rice texture was also delightful, soft and was perfectly seasoned with rice vinegar. The chef also presented me with fresh grated wasabi, which was the very first time, that any sushi restaurant in Fresno served me that– I was impressed that they even have a fresh wasabi root.
Their Rainbow roll was $ 11.95 and just like the chirashi, their unagi (grilled Japanese eel) wrapped around the sushi tasted great, slight hints of sweetness with the fresh taste of unagi. The rice again was perfectly done, while the avocado was perfectly silky and delicious. The light unagi sauce drizzeled around the roll complimented the overall taste with its slight sweetness. Really one of the best rainbow roll I’ve tasted.
Lunch would be best if you would like to avoid loud noise from the karaōke stage filled with out of tune singers, but if your looking for a hip place to chill and have fun, dinner is best, because the crowd although pitchy can be a fun atmosphere to be in. In a heartbeat I would be back for more good food from here.
On a final note, if you do not like sushi, this place also offers Laotian and Thai favorites, such as pad thai and larb. Its an interesting twist when south east asians owns a sushi place. Despite offering those dishes, their sushi taste and freshest is still the star.

I stopped in for lunch on a whim and I can say that I am a fan. I ordered hamachi, rainbow roll and the volcano roll. Way to much food but it was all very good.
The hamachi tasted fresh and not fishy. The rainbow was also excellent. The volcano roll was huge and it was not over sauced like rolls at many other places.
I sat at the sushi bar so I can’t comment about the service but the chef «Chang-​O» was a really personable guy and prepared my food quickly.
I order hot tea and it was extremely hot (just like I like it).
The miso soup was also excellent.
The price is very reasonable for the quality of food.
They have a full bar and karaōke at night.
A very good experience, I will be back.