It Zushi

it zushi. hmm what can i say? this place has pretty subpar sushi. the reason why i come here is for sake bombs. it’s fun when you come with a bunch of friends because you just keep the sapporo and sake coming. and the servers leave you alone even though sake bombs leave a mess all over the table and my friends and i usually get pretty loud and boisterous after a few rounds.
they have sake specials certain nights of the week, but i forget which and it seems like they’re always changing their deals.

Oh, It Zushi… I like you but you disappoint me.
I like that you sell pitchers of sake for $ 15. (for sake bombs)
I like that your tall Sapporo does not cost an arm and a leg.
I like that your All You Can Eat has a ton of choices.
I like that your rolls are HUGE.
I like that you are good for groups.
I do not like that your food takes forever despite an empty restaurant.
I do not like that you watch me like a hawk during All You Can Eat.
I do not like that you time me for All You Can Eat.
I do not like that you close the restaurant on random nights.
I do not like that you close the restaurant for random weeks at a time.
At the moment — they are in one of their «closed» phases. Boo.

I came here during the week with a friend. Italian? American? We paused outside the nice looking sandwich shop, but then opted for this Japanese spot.
We had the sushi lunch special and sushi bento (has more sashimi). Both come with a choice or miso soup or salad. It was pretty standard fare. My sashimi bento came with 12-​pieces of sushi (two types) and some tuna sashimi… nothing special, but nothing to complain about either.
I don’t think I’d have the same again as I was a bit disappointed with this Korean-​run place. Could’ve been better.

I met up with a friend of mine around the corner and we decided to grab a bite to eat here…
I was surprised by how big the place was because from the street you wouldn’t think so. The place had nice furnishings and decorations… which is apart from the sparsely decorated places I’ve been recently frequently. There was a table of 20 that seemed to be regulars which was a good sign…
We sat at the bar. had the yellow tail. red snapper. uni. yellow tail collar and a roll that i don’t know the name of. All of it was really good so I’m kind of surprised by some of the negative reviews.
I would definitely venture out to this place again.

Me and 2 of my girlfriends arrived at 6:45 and happy hour was still going on… All you can eat sushi is usually 24.95 but for happy hour it was 21.95. When we got our bill, they charged us full price stating that we ordered our first roll at 7:02 so happy hour no longer applied.
On top of that, when our first roll came we had no plates and no side plates for our soy sauce and our waitress was so horrible that I had to go up to the sushi bar myself to go get it.
Our annoying and pushy waitress then told us last round of sushi when we still had 20 minutes left. She never went to our table to ask how everything was, she only went to give us bad news.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, she said we have to eat every single piece of sushi, no exceptions or we will get charged full price for each roll. Thinking we have time to finish the rolls, she says we have to finish everything in less than one hour (who knew that sushi eating became a fast competition?!). We had to throw sushi into our purses b/​c we couldn’t eat everything in an hour!
There is no way I’m ever going back to this place and I hope they go out of business!

It Zushi haiku:
Crab salad in a
California roll… what gives?
Small portion, high price.
Waiter was friendly
But food he served us was
Disagreeable.
After long, long wait
Sushi sat in condiments
Stomachs weren’t so glad.

me: i am starving! i haven’t eaten all day!
q: i know this sushi place and it’s happy hour right now.
me: awesome! i can eat anything right now.
*sees happy hour sign — $ 21.95 for all you can eat sushi*
…$ 21.95 is happy hour? wtf?
q: i guess…
*walks in… hears crickets*
me: wow. it’s really happy in here. :-/​
we were pretty much the only ones in there for the next hour or so. maybe they should change their marketing plan. we did the all-​you-​can-​eat thing and i was a little overwhelmed at first. but not to worry, ‘cuz on the menu they have directions on how to eat AYCE! funny.
it said something like start out slow…
you can order 3 sushi orders at a time.
you have one hour for AYCE and they time you from your first order.
some appetizers are included.
no sharing with non-​participating AYCEaters.
kids aren’t allowed to AYCE.
i guess it’s a good deal if you think about it.
we had chicken teriyaki, tempura, soft shell crab, unagi, yellow tail, salmon roe, smoked salmon, incredible (yummy specialty roll —
), scallop, two glasses of plum wine, and two glasses of pinot grigio.
two glasses of wine and jillie feels great.
oh…there are single bathrooms. in the women’s restroom, theres a table and chair across from the toilet. maybe they should invest in a real office?

Everytime I think of It Zushi, I think of barf in a cup… literally.
I have only been once and never will return. When my party of 6 came in for dinner, we were sat by a loud «sake bomb“ing group of kids who were well on their way to drunkedness. We knew one girl was looking particularly bad so we repeatedly gave what I believe were reasonable requests like, «please move us», «that girl is going to puke soon, maybe you should lead her to the sidewalk», «if she blows, were outta here»…
Of course, the waitress clearly didn’t care, and when the girl finally did puke in her cup, we bolted.
Please keep in mind that if you do go here, you may want to bring your own cup in case any remnants remain.

Cuisine: We’ve been here twice. We were not impressed, twice. The first time I had the udon. The noodles were firm and the broth clear, but a bit on the salty side. I’d rate that dish a 5 on a 1 (puke) to 10 (the one food I would need to eat for the rest of my life) scale. The second time I ordered the chef’s choice of sushi. The meat was beginning to separate on the fish, indicating it’s not very fresh. Also, the tempura was a bit soggy. I’d give the sushi a 3.5 and the tempura a 5. My partner’s unagi was uninspired, smothered by a brownish sauce that felt almost tasted like it came from a can. She was tired of it after half the bowl. She’d rate the unagi a 4 and the tempura a 6.
Atmosphere: The restaurant is a bit of a mix. Large brown booths seem both imposing and cozy at the same time. The first time we were there, it was terribly noisy, but that was no fault of the restaurant. The folks at the next table kept getting more hammered by the minute. We were given another booth with no questions asked.
Service: The waiter did a good job attending to our needs. He didn’t hover, but was quick to refill our glasses.
Summary: It Zushi isn’t «quite it.» It might be OK for a bowl of udon when you’re tired of making it yourself, but I’d be wary of the other dishes.

Everytime I think about It Zushi, the taste of their tuna comes to mind. Unfortunately, it’s not a good memory.
Food: The sushi quality here is probably some of the worst I’ve ever experienced. The tuna isn’t pink but a dull color and tastes metallic. There’s also something wrong with the way the rice is prepared, but I can’t put my finger on the exact reason. I also did not like the way their teriyaki was prepared. I think the sauce lacked depth in flavor. The sake is only a dollar which is its only redeeming quality.
Décor: I just think this place is ugly. It borders an ugly street and a smelly alleyway. The floor and ceiling do not match. Maybe I’m just being shallow, but sometimes a nice setting makes the meal that much more pleasant.
Service: The waitress was the definition of ditzy and took forever to get the check and give us boxes.

Hadn’t had this bad sushi for long time. Are they for real? It’s unbelievably bad.
I was on the way to school, and had to feed myself quickly. I order hand roll «Squid and Spicy scallop to go.
When I got to the class, I was so hungry — hungry enough my sugar level is so low that making me cranky. I open the box and reached squid hand roll.
Immediately I noticed both of my roll was extremely small. I couldn’t believe I spent $ 12 for that.
When I reached my squid roll. What the hell! The squid was boiled. What is that? I have never had cooked squid in my sushi in my entire life. Is chef from mars? I felt like I was eating a piece of alien flesh. So rubbery, and they even added squid guts. Yak! The seaweed quality was so bad. I couldn’t bite through.
My spicy scallop roll was just as terrible as my first roll. They used loots of spicy sauce that I only can taste the sauce that I couldn’t know what I was eating. Wait… maybe this was better. I think I would’ve upset more if I taste really bad scallop.
Honestly, this rolls made me absolutely crankier. I can’t believe they have some business.

You know those locations that seemed jinxed? Those locations where, no matter what business opens there, it’s doomed and there’s something new cropping up all the time.
This is one of them, and you can kind of see why. It’s way off in the boonies of the Village, next to an alley. Non-​descript as all get out.
And then there’s the cuisine. ANOTHER chicken teriyaki + sushi combo place. Run by Koreans. Kind of the same as the last place that was here, Sabiru, so I don’t know how the new owners think they are going to succeed where Sabiru didn’t. By *not* having soon doobu on the menu?
The people were nice enough — very very nice and I feel bad that they are located at a doomed location — and the space is fantastic, way larger than the exterior would lead you to guess, and they’ve done it up nicely. 3 stars for that.
But the food is pretty much indistiguishable from any of the dozen other «Dragonball Super UCLA Bruin Blazing Firestorm Roll!!» places in the Village. 2 stars for that.
I guess I’ll round up.

I actually went to It Zushi with user: Miguel F.
I have to agree with everything he said. We both have unreasonably high expectations when it comes to sushi, and frankly, It Zushi is the only place that I’ve ever tried that held a candle to Isshin in my book.
And that’s saying a lot, since It Zushi is Korean-​run.
This location in Westwood is well known for having a lot of restaurants that have failed miserably. I hope you give It Zushi a try, because I don’t want that to happen to them.
Edit ⁰³⁄₂₀₀₈: In the other It Zushi page, it got bashed pretty hard. Well I am pretty surprised about that. What I really look for in a sushi place is quality of fish… and It Zushi (at least when I have been there) had top quality fishstuffs. They have some absolutely delicious rolls that are not found anywhere else that I know of, and their nigiri sushi is consistently excellent.
I don’t know where all the bashing came from but it hasn’t fazed me one bit. I’m going back tonight! Hope it doesn’t disappoint, but Unilocal will be the first to know if they do.
Edit after going back:
They are probably starving for business. It is always dead in here! The all you can eat deal is pretty good, and lots of great options. Although, the deal is impossible to understand. It’s basically about $ 25 (unless happy hour) and you get all you can eat for 1 hour. It’s a good deal, and their rolls are amazing. Their nigiri sushi has declined in quality a little bit since opening. Their world class sushi chef is nowhere to be found these days, but even though the fish might not look the prettiest, it actually still tastes fresh as it gets.

Stunningly excellent sushi. Nigiri sushi is nearly unparalleled in California for its quality; rolls are excellent, though many may opt for cheaper locations to quench that craving. Atmosphere is quiet, refined, subtle. Moderately expensive, not unexpected price for sushi. Proprietors are a family from Sacramento, very friendly and helpfully recommend excellent choices (try the albacore). Currently, promotion for lunches and $ 0.99 sake, which is quality.