Hana Tsubaki Restaurant

DAMN good Sesame Chicken… one of the best here in town.

Horrible food! Not the same anymore. Ordered 50 $ worth of food and the tempura was hard like rock. And the chicken karage was so huge, I needed a knife for it. Needless to say, my stomach felt like it was punched so hard, aching for days.

I’ve seen the other reviews regarding the speed of service, etc. To be perfectly honest, my review is based entirely on take out. It’s my go-​to place for take out sesame chicken and teriyaki chicken. Ample portions and a great value. Again, being honest, once or twice I’ve had to wait a few minutes beyond the promised time but not excessive. It’s worth waiting for, in my opinion.

Lovely ambiance and reasonable service but the food was below average and the portions very small. Smallest nigiri I’ve seen! Salty miso.

We are SO disappointed with tonight’s service. We specifically chose this restaurant to celebrate a special occasion because we had been last year and we loved it. However, it took 90 minutes to get a plate of sashimi. We literally never saw our waiter, it was a different person who brought it. Yet another person gave us our chopsticks and threw them down so fast as they ran back to the kitchen it hit the table and flew up at me… how romantic.
I really felt bad for the bus-​girl, it was sad to watch. One of the male waiters actually threw the dirty rag at her (I mean not at her face but it was definitely rude). And she was doing the work of 3 people, I just felt bad for her that she was working so hard and even the waiters were rude to her.
To top it off there was a group of 15 drunk mid-​aged has-​beens who were so drunk that «Chuck» hit the lights off on the whole restaurant on his way to the bathroom… twice. Of course his friends cheered for him which is how we were introduced to «Chuck». Asshole move.
The ambiance was rushed and frantic but yet service was incredibly slow. Not what we had hoped for a romantic dinner night at a restaurant that is not cheap.
Won’t be back and I will no longer be recommending this place to my clients.

The old fashion style Japanese house drew my attention and I instantly knew they would be a traditional sushi restaurant.
Upon entering their parking lot, I was surprised to see a Security Guard there who kindly assisted us to park in the last spot available. The restaurant was busy for dinner but there was enough space for everyone and we didn’t feel like sardines.
The employees felt genuinely friendly. If you’re expecting fast service, this place isn’t for you. It took us awhile to receive our tea. Thankfully Miso soup was included in the meal and it was delivered shortly after ordering.
There was so much selection that we wanted to try everything but our darn stomachs does not hold enough space! We decided on Saba (Mackerel) — Charcoal broiled fish Shioyaki and Sushi Deluxe Nigiri.
The sushi was noticeably fresh but I tasted wasabi in one of my rolls even though it wasn’t close to the wasabi. I don’t like wasabi.
The Saba was crispy and salty. Just the way I like it. The plate had two large pieces and I was happy to receive my money’s worth. Unfortunately, I did have to take out many — many bones from my mouth regardless of my careful pickings prior to the Saba chunky landing in my eager mouth. This led to more chews to assure there were no bones missed rather than enjoying the taste of the food. This left me full but not satisfied. I might be back to give them another chance when I’m in the area next.

Came for lunch with some coworkers. It was a quaint little place with Japanese décor. I ordered the bento box lunch special with sesame chicken and teriyaki beef for $ 10. It was good. It came with Miso soup which I didn’t care for for the taste but that is based on personal preference as I have no frame of reference to say it was good or bad. A cucumber salad with some shrimp. The dressing on it was flavorful but again I dont care for cucmber either so I did not eat much of it. The sesame chicken was deep fried in breading. While I usually love fried food, it was a bit much and ended up peeling a lot of it off. You got very little beef and it seemed a bit dry. The best part was the Mochi! Never had that before either and they were delicious! Tasted very fresh and light. Not a heavy dessert. Service was nice and friendly. It is run by a Japanese family and felt that everything seemed authentic. Some complained about price/​value. I admit you dont get a ton but this is no «I love Teriyaki» place. It is a little more upscale so the ingredients are more fresh and little nicer ambience. I would come back again.

Mediocre at best. Tried the dinner plate with tempura, grilled beef, and various fish. Not good by any stretch, but not horrible either. I may give them another shot, and request a special or fresh «catch» of the day, but a nicely appointed Japanese restaurant that serves meals with the cheapest, disposable wooden hashi (chopsticks) is already walking on thin ice. If your food is worth getting splinters in your mouth, your food isn’t worth the cost.

I think all of us are more forgiving of the food we order when the price matches the quantity and/​or quality but Hana Tsubaki overcharges and under delivers.
Overpriced and overrated quite frankly.
I got good service service which helps a neighborhood restaurant go farther, BUT you’re going to be paying for it and I for one didn’t go for service.
The tempura was pretty awful. The batter was thick and not light like its suppose to be. Portions are small vs the price they charge you. Disappointing overall

We just moved to this area and this is our first visit. Very decent place and nice people. Will definitely come next time!

The sushi is OK, but stay away on weekends, when the service is sloooowww. If you don’t mind waiting an hour for your order, it will be a decent, though certainly not exceptional dining experience.

BF and I went here before our NYE celebration. Honestly, we were disappointed. The place wasn’t even busy and we received horrible service. We order apps and 4 sushi rolls. And our rolls were delivered to us in 15 minute increments. My rolls were delivered and THEN more than 30 minutes later, the waiter brought my boyfriend’s rolls. My BF didn’t eat until after we slowly finished my rolls together. I would rather wait for everything at once… This was just horrible service and hindered our dining enjoyment. W will probably not return. Also the rolls were small and unappetizing. If the food was mind blowing, the service discrepancy would be more acceptable.

Just another overrated East Sac joint, nothing to see here folks.
I ordered the sukiyaki with chicken not knowing that «with chicken» meant about 15 nickel size pieces. The dish was 30% bean sprout 30% onion 20% broth. Not bad but uh not too filling. We told the waiter and the owner came by and cooked some more chicken for me free of charge which was nice. If not for that I think I’d give two stars. Not to say it’s expensive but it sure isn’t cheap. It is Japanese after all. And the service is slower than that one kid in math class.
The interior is quite small so you can eavesdrop on people across the room. Always fun when the conversation dies. Parking situation could be better, it’s always packed here for whatever odd reason. Just one of those joints people latch onto in spite of how mediocre the food is.
Back to Miso it is.

4 stars for food, 2 stars for service, which is why I’m rating it a 3.
The wait staff was friendly when they came around, but was hardly ever. I never even got my water refilled.
We ordered 2 appetizers, some nigiri, and one sushi roll. The food TOOK FOREVER TO COME OUT, and I was quite underwhelmed by the portions, although the flavor was good.
Really small pieces of nigiri, and don’t count on sharing a roll as it was good but quite small.
The food was decent but I won’t be going there again ;)

My new Sushi hangout. Can’t say enough, except, of course, how awful it was. Don’t come here.
Seriously, A-​mazing!

Great ambience and plentiful parking are the two main positives.
The service is very friendly but the kitchen and sushi chefs are obviously backed up and unable to keep up with the pace of a busy service. Took about 45 minutes for us to get our entrees.
The main reason for the 2 stars is the quality of the food. If you like authentic Japanese food, don’t come here. Go elsewhere.
Here the chicken karage tastes like orange chicken from Panda Express. My dads udon tastes like Campbell’s chicken noodle soup with soy sauce. My spicy salmon was covered in spicy mayo and fried tempera stuff. The food is as «Americanized» as you can get, where everything is more deep fried than it should and the broths are way too sweet. almost all the dinner combination boxes include fried tempera vegetables, shrimp, etc. your other options with the dinner combos are fried chicken, fried pork, you get what I’m saying?
I would drive further to midtown or south sac for more authentic eating experiences.
The prices are also above average for the quality of the food you get. I will not come back here again and will goto akebono or kru sushi instead.

One of the best sushi restaurant in Northern California. Family owned and operated-​phenomenal service-​owners always greet us as well as staff-​we always sit at the sushi bar and let the legendary sushi chef surprise our pallets with his masterpiece-​great prices-​very fresh fish-​never had a bad meal. What’s great is they have a huge variety for every level of sushi fan-​from cooked food to strictly raw sashimi– the chef and staff are incredible. Highly recommend Hana for sushi. Will continue to come back. Thank you Hana for great service and food.

Oh Hana Tsubaki… I so want to love you since you are a block away from home, but it’s come to this. It’s not me, it’s you.
Let’s start with the positives… I have zero complaints about the service here. The staff is always friendly and attentive. The food is reliable. I don’t generally like chicken but their sesame chicken is as good as everyone says it is. The sushi is simple but fresh. I’ll take their fresh over mediocre fish covered in ten types of sauce any day.
My biggest issue, and what will keep me from going back any more, is the prices. They are outrageous. My sesame chicken dinner (in photo) was $ 14, not unreasonable. I also ordered a tempura yam and avocado roll (read: NO FISH). My total bill ended up being $ 28 (including tax). A basic vegetable roll should not be more than $ 8 (I think even that is a stretch), but this was at least $ 12. Furthermore, the tempura yam tasted like it had been sitting around (it wasn’t warm, which is my favorite part of said roll).
The last few times I’ve been to Hana Tsubaki I found myself thinking «hmmm well that seemed like an awful lot of dough for what I ordered, but whatever.» That feeling ruins the whole experience for me.

I’ve been here twice now, and the food has always proved to be worth the wait. Hana Tsubaki, unlike many of the Japanese restaurants in Sacramento is actually Japanese owned! So if you’re looking for some authentic Japanese food, this is your spot! Prices are comparable to most other restaurants but the quality here is quite superb.
The sashimi is exceedingly fresh and the nigiri has just the perfect amount of rice with it! Not interested in fish? Their Karaage (Sesame Chicken) is out of this world! Considering it was the first Friday night after they were featured in the Sacramento Bee, the food took a pretty extensive time to arrive. The Kaarage sat out for quite some time while we waited for our other food to arrive. To be honest, I was thinking the chicken may become a little soggy due to the sauce but to my surprise, it was still extremely crispy and delicious. To compensate for the delay of some of our food, we were treated to a free spider roll while waiting and even dessert at the end! Also, the service is impeccable!
I highly recommend this place but perhaps try coming at a less busy time.

Hooray they are back open for lunch!