Sapporo Japanese Grill & Sushi

Awesome sushi! They have such a variety that there isn’t anything on their menu you couldn’t find appealing. The atmosphere is awesome however I will say the service we had was not very good. Our waitress seemed slightly disgruntled and kind of rude. She also seemed extremely annoyed that it was our first time there and we were unfamiliar with the menu. Truly sad, if the server was nicer I think we would’ve gone back more times. We have not been back since.

The place was very clean and «oriental» in atmosphere. The service was good and not too much or too little.
They had vegetarian sushi and I forgot to order the soy roll so my first course came with seaweed wrapper which I positively dislike. They changed it out even though I had not specified. I got the avocado roll. Very tasty. The sauce that come with the roll is slightly sweet and very good.
I for the tofu over rice as well. It is very thin tofu and pretty good.
The star for me was the tempura. Lots of Veges and very tasty. Very large serving.
Recommended for vegetarians.

Always come here for lunch! Sushi is really great. Service can be slow sometimes as they usually only have 2 servers, but sushi and hibachi has always been really great!

our shuttle driver for SpringHill suites recommended my colleagues this restaurant and before anything I had to call in and ask if they had yellow tail. that’s what sold me on convincing the girls to come and eat with me. as soon as we arrived we were greeted and sat. our server, he was kind of blonde and super handsome I wish he would’ve introduced himself was very diligent with all our orders. having to split checks is a pain in the butt, but he managed. we ordered the fried calamari as an appetizer… wow it was so good. I had the yellow tail sashimi (of course) & special fried rice. ALLLLL the food was delicious

I took the advice in some of comments since I was traveling alone and sat at the bar. It was happy hour and what a great deal! Had amazing shrimp dumplings (Shumai), spicy tuna roll and Sunday morning roll. All were fresh and very well made — yum!
Now, the service. I believe the bartender was Jeremy. He was so accommodating and prompt service. He also was very helpful in answering my questions about the wonderful tea they served. I wish I could go back again tonight, but will have to wait for me next trip to Louisville!

I’ve always been a fan of the Sapporo on Bardstown Rd, however, they don’t open for lunch, so this downtown location is perfect for when I have some daytime Japanese food craving! It was my first time, had lunch with a couple friends. The menu is straightforward with a decent amount of options for lunch, including maki rolls, a variety of bento box, and hibachi. Between the 4 of us, I got the salmon teriyaki bento box, while my friends got the shrimp and bulgogi (Korean BBQ beef) version. My friend’s niece got the Yumyum combo, which comes with 1 yumyum roll and 1 spicy tuna roll. Food was great, everything was $ 10 each, so it’s really decent, given that we had tons of leftover! I was quite surprised by how spacious it is inside, given the location of the restaurant. They filled up quickly for lunch, which is understandable, who can turn down $ 10 Asian goodness, am I right? Parking, though, could be a pain, if you don’t happen to work downtown and is able to walk there. Also, if you don’t enjoy some of the rolls offered, there’s no substitution… hence…4 stars!

We had arrived early for CirqueLouis and we decided to grab a couple of drinks and a bite to eat. I have visited the Bardstown Road location before they renovated it and the hibachi was decent so we stopped in and sat at the bar.
First off, this location is gorgeous! The inside has a very modern feel to it and it’s super clean as well. We head to the bar, which is right inside the building so we got a good view of downtown and the dining area, that is located further into the restaurant.
Seeing that it was happy hour really made the night. We ended up getting several bottles of (piping hot) sake and two Sapporo Premium beers. After sitting there for a couple of minutes Sherri decided to order up some pan-​fried potstickers as well. The sake was the perfect temperature and the beers were ice cold! I initially wasn’t hungry, but when the potstickers came out I had to try a couple of them. They were absolutely perfect. Tender, crispy dough, well done and well seasoned pork with a little bowl of soy sauce to dip them in. The plating was also phenomenally gorgeous as well. It had some red cabbage as a garnish and it was sooooo good. Had we not been crunched for time I probably would have ordered a couple of sushi rolls because the lady sitting next to us had ordered several of them, and boy did they look tasty!
The service we received at the bar was on-​point! I wish I would have gotten his name, but he was running up and down that bar like he was in a marathon. I don’t think there was a single customer while we were there that he hadn’t had at least a slight conversation with while making their drink and assisting others as well. He is the epitome of service and obviously I was highly impressed with his level of attention.
Since we were there during happy hour we only spent a total of $ 23 before tip and left the bartender a $ 10 tip because we were impressed.
I can’t point out a single thing that I didn’t enjoy and I’m super impressed with the service, layout, happy hour prices, location and how beautiful the building is! I can’t wait to visit again during the spring or summer with some friends to enjoy sushi & sake on the patio!

I love Sapporos food. The Hibachi is amazing, and the Candy Cane roll is my fav. However their service at this location leaves a lot to be desired. I would recommend calling your order in for lunch, assuming they actually answer the phone, which they tend not to. If you do go in expect it to be a long lunch because they are always understaffed. But you will not be disappointed by the food. I myself prefer the Bardstown Rd location, but it is currently under renovations.

Beautiful décor, professional staff and great presentation– but my stir fried pork was charred to a crisp. Threw an otherwise above average meal way off.

Sapporo is my fave Japanese restaurant that I have ever been too, hands down. Their dining areas, both inside and outside, are beautiful and well kept. Their staff is friendly and checks very frequently, but without being annoying. The food is to die for! Especially their chicken curry! The sushi is great too!
The only things that bug me are 1) the menus are literally just blue pieces of paper… It’s kinda tacky 2) every time I go and order sushi, they tend to forget that I ordered it.
I personally prefer the downtown sapporo compared to the one on Bardstown … That’s because their dining area is nicer AND they have a larger selection.
UPDATE: After a long time of unexplained closing, I was so excited when Sapporo opened back up. I couldn’t wait to go back and get their chicken curry, which I missed and craved so much… However, due to laziness, they didn’t even take it off the menu on their website… Which came as a nasty and disappointing surprise when I got there. Their menu had shrink significantly and what I ordered as my replacement meal was poorly pieced together sushi. Sadly, I will not be going back. I am only taking away one star due to find memories and a reminder of what they used to be. Obviously something had changed after that break they took…

Not that I was expecting great sushi from Louisville, but this was pretty disappointing after a long day of traveling. The fish inside the rolls were decent quality, however the amount of rice that each roll was wrapped in was almost disgusting. I had to take off more than half of the rice on the rolls for it to edible in my eyes. The edamame was good, but you cannot really mess that up.

My wife and I were in town for a conference and were craving sushi. We’ve been disappointed with our overall sushi experience since moving to KY in January. Lexington has been a letdown. We had better hopes for Louisville.
Our conference was at the Galt House and Sapporo was within walking distance so we decided to give it a shot. We ordered a Spider Roll, a Rainbow Roll, a Spicy Tuna, and Dragon Roll. Everything was fresh and tasty.
I was most impressed with the Spider Roll. Spot on delicious. Spicy tuna was fresh and spicy. Dragon roll was delicious too! Fresh, fresh, fresh avocado.
Definitely the spot to hit up in downtown Louisville.

I’m writing this review as I sit at the restaurant because I have come to realize that I have a lot of time on my hands. Took awhile for the server to take our order.
Will let you know how the food is when it comes in the next two hours or so.
Food is mediocre compared to sushi and nigiri in places like California. Perhaps in the Midwest this is considered good. The edamame was overcooked and the seaweed salad sauce was too sour.
The fish was not fresh but overall not the worst. The derby roll had too much cream/​mayo and the spice added to it made it very overwhelming.

Sapporo is delicious and always consistent. I have found that to be true about both of their locations (downtown and the highlands).
If you are a fan of fried rice, look no further. They have the best fried rice in town! The veggie fried rice is packed with large chunks of veggies (mushrooms, zucchini, onion, broccoli, carrots) and fried egg bits. The flavor is amazing!
Also, they have the usual sushi restaurant fare, but kicked up a notch because their rolls are so yummy.
If you are in the mood for hibachi, they have you covered as well.
I enjoy grabbing take out from Sapporo too. Never a long wait to pick it up and always just as good as eating it there.
I think Sapporo set the bar on sushi restaurants here in Louisville years ago and thankfully are still providing excellent food.

With a huge party of 16, we made a reservation a week ahead but had to wait an extra hour to be seated. Then we didn’t even get the table long enough to sit us all together.
The yakisoba was the worst I’ve ever tasted. Literally frozen or instant versions exist that are better. They doused it in a very sweet teriyaki type sauce. The meats were cooked right, but for that particular dish it was hard to get to taste it through everything done wrong.
The member of our party who was japanese asked for something in a particular order. Instead, they tried bringing out his entrée way to early then just left it by heaters until they again brought it back too early. As a former server of a Japanese restaurant myself, I know how easy it is to make special accomodations and put in part of an order with a time stamp or hold onto it for 20 minutes when everyone else puts their order in.
Two in our party ordered quail eggs. Those were doused in 2 – 3 times as much soy sauce as you’re supposed to. Needless to say it just killed their pallet not to taste anything but salt.
Their curry tasted like it came out of a packet. Though lots of places seem to do this. Maybe its not a popular enough dish to keep on hand or they don’t think the flavor is different enough to warrant making to order.
I was a little confused that hibachi styled cooking was a lot of their menu. Then they didn’t have the hibachi tables to do the ridiculous non traditional/​non japanese performance. Either do the hibachi show or serve more traditional dishes. I guess in Louisville maybe there isn’t enough of an asian population demanding the real thing? The meat though was perfectly prepared and I’m sure it saves everybody time and money to do it this way.
The sushi however is pretty good here. All the nigiri was a good cut of fish flown in flash frozen. You have to order them in twos like at a traditional Japanese place. About the only thing traditional they do. They did bizarrely ruin their squid by putting a mint leaf underneath. But by the second one, I knew to remove it and it was infinitely better. The VIP roll and Red Bull are highly recommended. They don’t really know how to do fried rolls. Except the sunday morning roll was expertly done. Almost none with fried shrimp or crab in the middle. one just had tons of tempura flakes in the middle and lots of rice. cheap (though not priced that way) and ewww. Or spider rolls and others with lettuce in the middle which is cheap and lacks the texture of better ingredients. I was also correct not to order the spicy tuna roll here. They just put a paste on both sides which isn’t traditional or even as good as spicy mayo. With such a big party, it was ridiculous to put each roll and set of nigiri sushi on its own plate. People who ordered the good stuff had 4 – 6 plates in front of them and squished everybody next to them.
Their strengths — generally sushi and cooking the meat.
Their weaknesses — i think i elaborated on our experience. if you know what you like at japanese places, hopefully i’ve steered you towards making the right choice on their menu. I wish I could tell you that everything is done well. But that is hardly ever the case.

I’ve dined here a few times and I’ve left satisfactorily full each time. I’ve conveniently come here during their happy hour from 5 – 6:30 after working in Downtown.
Everything I’ve had from their happy hour menu was delicious, which were gyoza, shrimp shumai, seaweed salad, California roll, salmon roll, spicy tuna roll, Sunday morning roll, tuna tataki, beef tataki, yum yum roll, big mouth roll, and coconut shrimp. My favorite was the big mouth roll.
I ordered a spicy salmon roll once. It came out as a regular salmon roll and the salmon wasn’t that fresh. Also it was very sweet, maybe due to the sesame seeds. I ordered yellowtail nigiri once and it wasn’t very fresh.
I’ve had the same waitress every time I’ve come here and have been seated in the same booth. She was very nice and attentive each time. Although I wouldn’t consider Sapporo within my top three choices for sushi in Louisville, I’d come back if I was in the area during happy hour.

The sushi here is outstanding. Fish is fresh and their presentation is always spot on. The Tuna Tataki is probably the best I’ve had anywhere and I highly recommend it. Their sushi rolls are all great as is their sashimi plates and Holy Poke ya gotta try their Hawaiian Tuna Poke! Definitely a Louisville favorite of mine!

I have now dined here numerous times and every time — consistently good. Lunch, late night, romantical dinners — whatever your little heart desires, Sapporo delivers. The food is amazing. Every time. Soup, sushi, sake, Yummmmm!
The last time I ate here, I thoroughly enjoyed the Derby roll. A must try!
The service was not super friendly, but prompt.
I will enjoy the derby roll again and again, every time I am in Louisville.

It always amazes me when you have multiple restuarants (in this case 2) and they can be drastically different.
We decided to do a date night at the Sappora downtown-​4^th street. We had not been to the area yet-​the area was neat. We enjoyed that aspect.
The inside of the restaurant is very modern-​creative. They have indoor and outdoor searing. It is important to note that the outdoor seating is covered.
We sit down-​the menu is NOTHING like the Sapporo on Bardstown. Limited options at this location-​I definately did not like that.
We ordered edamame to start-​we waited a good 10 – 15 minutes for the waiter to even bring that out.
When the 3 rolls finally came out they were made very poor-​sloppy and hard to eat with chopsticks because they weren’t rolled tightly enough.
The fish was still good, I think the bardstown one tastes fresher-​maybe its the fact that they just do a better quality job.
We will be sitcking to our Bardstown location.

The $ 10 sushi or bento box lunch special. Get it. Now.
My co-​worker and I get their yum yum sushi lunch combo every Wednesday. It comes with a spicy crab roll and spicy tuna roll and a soup or salad. And their salad with ginger dressing is almost as crave-​worthy as their rolls.
It doesn’t feel like Wednesday without this.