Avila-Tei Japanese Restaurant

I remember yokos being awesome and used to go there all the time. I decided to give this place a try. The menu is very overpriced and noone that works there is Japanese anymore. Being Japanese myself I was kind of weary of walking in. My husband and I ordered food and since I am a vegetarian I ordered the vegetable roll that said on the menu it comes with wakame salad on top with avocado cucumber and pickled burdock root called yamagobo. I got a plain roll with avocado and lettuce. I asked for the menu to make sure I didn’t misread it. I told our server that my roll was suppose to have 2 ingredients it didn’t come with and he just told me he was out if it and I can cancel it if I wanted to. You would think that you would mention that before ordering? I was short on time so I didn’t get to order anything else but they still charged me 18% gratuity. I’m not coming back here so I didn’t bother saying anything. But not authentic Japanese and I would rather goto Matsuri in south Miami or Moshi Moshi on sobe.

Great sushi and great service. Love the lunch special.

Great sushi and also a decent menu of Japanese dishes. Authentic sushi lovers will like their «real» sushi/​sashimi and quality fish. «American-​style» sushi people will enjoy their speciality rolls that are baked or tempura-​fried.
Friendly/​attentive/​cute staff. Sushi made by a real-​live Japanese person from Japan.
Clean, Asian-​style interior. There’s table seating and a sushi bar. Quiet atmosphere. More of a local spot than a loud tourist place.

This is where the old Yoko’s used to be. The place looks just the same… which is «jut ok».
Avila-​Tei has Venezuelan roots… the restaurant over in Caracas is «the sushi place to go to», I guess they are trying to replicate the concept here, but not sure they will manage to do that… its just not a luxury spot/​place. Also there is little to no «feeling», it feels like it has no soul.
Anyway… on to what really matters… the food.
The sushi is great, if not the best in Miami Beach.
Their lunch special is truly the best in the beach when it comes to the quality and its very generous. Soup + Appetizer + Roll + Entrée for $ 12-​$ 14? 2 words = Hell yeah.
Service is pretty good, although they change personnel quite a lot, but I guess his is normal in a new restaurant.
Did I mention how great the sushi is? They use quality ingredients and the sushi chef is gifted.
Im a fan of the lunch special. not sure I would pay their prices for dinner, its just not a unique place.

I come here at least 3 times a month for the lunch special. High quiality food and excellent price. Service is decent but it no atmosphere at ALL, it’s freezen inside, bright amd no decoration at all. If they improve that… I would give them a 4^th star

Dining at Avila-​Tei was definitely a delicious experience. The food was incredible. The truth is, it’s discrete appearance can’t begin to describe the quality of the best japanese food in miami. Not only was the food incredible but the prices were right on! The servers are very cordial, willing to accommodate our party with specific requests and an example of good customer service. A must is the Avila-​Tei roll! Also the freshness and taste of the caterpillar roll was impeccable.
They have lunch specials to die for starting at only $ 9 and the $ 14 special’s portions are enough to share!

Gave it a try after the remodeling and name change… The menu and food is the same (or very similar) as when it was Yokos.
Sat at the sushi bar and ordered a kani-​su which was good, except the pieces were too big for my mouth (yeah, go ahead…) Had the salmon tartar, which was delicious but was so adorned with sauces it didn’t need. Also had a miso soup, tea, and a negi hamachi maki which was good, but didn’t blow my mind.
The bill was expensive for the little we ate. I don’t think I will be going to this place again :(

My husband and I found Avila-​Tei where it was formerly Yoko’s Japanese restaurant. Because most of Japanese restaurants we tried in South Beach served Americanized /​Thailandised /​Asian-​fusion food (so was Yoko’s), we didn’t expect much of authentic Japanese taste at the beginning. We ordered Crab Cream Croquitte and Spinach Ohitashi for appetizers… and what a surprise! Those were so authentic, delicate and delicious. And then the Nigiri came. VERY GOOD. Very delicately made, and tuna was very fresh.
I put 4 stars because Yasai Itame (sort of a vegetable wok) didn’t impress me. It wasn’t much tasty and was overcooked. Also because the noodle of Ramen was overcooked.
Anyway we are happy to find this place in South Beach, now we don’t have to drive all way for Matsuri Japanese Restaurant in Coral Gables. Next time we must try lunch menu too — they have quite a lot of options and the price is modest.

I’m not a snooty person when it comes to dining. I can eat at a 5 star, $ 80 a person restaurant just as well as I can hang at a $ 2 taco stand. However, I absolutely draw a line when it comes to sushi. I will admit to turning my nose up at all you can eat sushi buffets. I’m not a fan of food poisoning Russian roulette so I choose wisely.
This restaurant used to be Yoko’s, which I drove by almost every day. I heard decent things about it but refused to try because it was at the corner of an unpopulated shopping mall. Then one fine day, Yoko’s became Avila-​Tei and I received a take-​out menu in the mail. I glanced it over, and tossed it in the takeout drawer, as one does.
My go-​to sushi place is Moshi Moshi but for some reason I grabbed that menu and decided to take a gamble. I was in the mood for a walk and Avila-​Tei was the perfect distance from my place. The menu has a few grammatical errors which to a non-​Miamian would indicate authentic Japanese. Given that I know the deal with this fine city of ours, I assumed they were Hispanic. I placed my order and moseyed (mosied?)on over to pick up.
I was pleasantly greeted by one of the cleanest restaurants I’ve ever seen, and legit Japanese-​speaking employees. I arrived early and got to watch the chef prepare my sushi which he augmented with welcome additions. The staff was incredibly nice!
I’ve been going to Moshi Moshi for years so I hesitate in saying that Avila-Tei’s sushi beats it. (Are they reading this? It’s not what it looks like. It meant nothing, I swear!) Let’s just say they’re equal!
The food is extremely fresh and the flavors are perfect. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars (What kind of girl would I be if I gave it up that easily?!) is because one of my dishes was missing avocado and when it comes to me, that’s sacrilege. I specifically seek-​out dishes that contain avocado. It was the Nuta, and although the fish was unbelievable I can’t get over the missing avocado and the green onions cut so large that I ended up leaving most of them. The other issue is the miso soup. Although it is easily one of the best miso soups ever, they only fill the plastic container half way! How could you guys do that to me?! (I love miso so yes, this is personal!) Since these guys seem to know what they’re doing I assume that’s the correct portion size and given that it’s only $ 3 I do understand. However the customer feels completely gypped when the container is only half full (I’m an optimist).
Everything else was perfection. We went back for a second visit a few days later. Tuna Tataki was one of the best I’ve ever had and I’ve had it at pretty much every restaurant that makes it. Hamachi roll with scallions, rainbow roll, salmon avocado roll, and udon soup are a must.
Although I can’t bring myself to ask Moshi Moshi for a divorce, it’s looking like I’ll be having a serious love affair with Avila-​Tei.