Sushi Diner

By way of a friend recommendation I went here and from the outside it doesn’t look like much. Once inside it is a very cozy environment, not some place I would take a large group of friends. The food was what I expected of a normal sushi joint but I tried to return a dish that just wasn’t sitting right with me. The waitress was polite in telling me that she wouldn’t take it off my bill even though I had only had one piece. Not wanting to cause a scene I accepted this but was a bit peeved. I would make sure to stay within your comfort zone with this place.

Amazing sushi! This place has a totally great vibe and their food is delicious. Loved, loved, loved the Philly Crunch Roll with fresh salmon and the Alaskan Salmon Roll. Everything was super fresh! We are from Irvine but we will be traveling back to Sushi Diner.

The reviews don’t lie. This place is amazing. The best sushi place in So Cal and we have eaten from Ventura to San Diego. The Philly Crunch Roll is divine. The fish is super fresh and the portions are generous. To top it off it is some of the lowest priced rolls out there. What? Don’t ask how they do it. Just eat here.

I tend to stay away from specialty rolls and opt for nigiri sushi instead when dining at Japanese restaurants… I don’t know if it’s the Bob Marley décor or the hint of cilantro, but something about this place makes me crave their specialty rolls. Most notable is the famous Bruce Lee roll… I’m so sad that I no longer live in SD, I really miss this place :(

Great customer service the staff treats everyone equally. The place its kind of small but very cozy and they are surrounded by Bob Marley’s paintings and photographs. They play his music and reggae music all day long. Prices are amazing in ordered two specially rolls; caterpila ($ 6.25), crunch roll ($ 6.25) and a miso soup ($ 1) all for $ 15 including taxes. Both rolls were amazingly good. The portions were great each roll had 8 pieces. I could not finish them but I took them home. The only issue about this place is that the parking Is limited. The restaurant over all its also small and can be crowded around lunch time. You can call over the phone to place orders.
5 Stars: Quality of food
5 stars: Price
4 stars: Parking and interior space

My wife and I have been frequenting this restaurant for almost 3 years and is tough to explain. Honestly, at first I was put off by the small venue and wait list. However, they are doing a lot of things right at their establishment. They are very friendly and when we do go there we always make sure to talk to all the staff because I have brought guests from NJ, NYC, Santa Barbara and other places in the country and they love this place as much as I do.
Best Advice:
1) If you are a rather large person lol (not me) but just in general order to go because the place is small buttt if you have a average size butt then you will be fine.
2) Even during the week there is a wait time sometimes but it is worth is so on the weekend be prepared and put your name in and take a little walk then come back
Cheers

Sushi Diner is a hidden little gem that doesn’t get the kind of recognition it deserves! My husband and I are very lucky to have this place in our neighborhood! Not only do they have an extensive sushi roll menu (that’s fun and creative) and I love how they let you make up your own if you want! The prices are incredibly reasonable… and they don’t make up for it by shorting you on the ingredients or size at all (the rolls are very filling!). My personal favorite is the Taro Roll Combo (California, Spicy Tuna, Shrimp Tempura and Crunch Roll) because I can never decide on just one roll… this combo gives you a little of everything!
My experience here has always been from Take-​Out, as this place is SUPER TINY and always packed (and I’m not good with small crowded places). However every time I call, the staff happily helps me with my order and are very quick… always ready sooner than they say.
Thank you for being one of our regular (take-​out) spots!

I always order pick up since the place is pretty small and it’s usually ready within 20 – 25 minutes so I recommend doing that. It’s just as good in the comfort of your own home! The Love, Peace, Bob, or Ziggy combos are usually my go-​tos since they’re a great deal and a good way to sample a variety of rolls that are all delicious. A variety roll I like is the baked UB-​40 roll-​it has scallops and crab and spicy tuna

One of my favorite sushi places in San Diego! Quality, fresh, creative, inexpensive sushi rolls along with reggae music & Jamaican vibes, yup, this is my type of restaurant. It is a smaller restaurant & the wait can be long but it is worth it! I recommend coming right before it opens for dinner at 5p to beat the wait, as well as the traffic nearby. Customer service is excellent!
Fried Panko Calamari = Served with tarter sauce — Good, thick pieces of calamari meat.
Fuji Apple Sake — Tastes just like a Jolly Rancher!
Dragon Bay Roll = Crab, avocado, cream cheese, eel with eel sauce, black pepper sauce, green onion — My go to eel roll! The mix of flavors is amazing!
Bruce Lee Roll (Come during happy hour from 5p-​7p for a discounted price!) = Spicy crab, cilantro, avocado, fresh salmon, wasabi oil, masago — My go to fresh salmon roll, & one of my favorites here! Just thinking about this roll is making my mouth salivate, that is how good it is! The wasabi oil gives it the kick it needs too!
Baked «UB 40» Roll = Spicy tuna, cream cheese, baked scallop, crab, spicy mayo, black pepper sauce, green onion — My go to baked roll & my go to scallop roll! This roll literally melts in your mouth!
I highly, highly recommend ordering these 3 rolls if it is your first time here, you will fall in love!

Bob Marley + Sushi = Sushi Diner & 2 of my favorites together!
This sushi restaurant is like no other. Its tiny, covered in pictures of Bob Marley, & they play great reggae/​Hawaiian music. I always find new pictures of Bob Marley when I come here. Lol. The prices are also affordable! They have the longest list of sushi rolls I’ve ever seen & their rolls are cleverly named. Sometimes the rolls have too much sauce & rice, but the rolls are huge, have a lot of fish & flavor. Whenever I eat their sushi I think Is this love, is this love, is this love that I’m feelin’? Their nigiris are also amazing!
If you come here for dinner, expect to wait for a little bit. They don’t take reservations, but you can pick up food.
Sushi Diner puts in me in a great mood because c’mon Bob Marley & sushi… life is good! Lol!

I can now safely say I’ve given this place 2 tries. The 1^st try, we ordered take out cause we heard that is the best way to go since this place is pretty tiny and can become very cramped.
We placed our order over the phone and the guy read it back to us. When we picked it up we paid from almost outside the door since the place was full. I had no time to look at the order or the bill, just signed and left. When we got home we saw they forgot the chicken yakatori. We called to let them know and had a very confusing conversation with quite possibly a random customer who picked up the phone. Finally someone else got on the phone and asked me to check the receipt since they did not charge me for it. I checked and sure enough, not there. Even though he read it back to me when I ordered, they never added it. Oh well.
2^nd visit, we decided to go in for happy hour. Most places have a very clear happy hour where things are just at a discounted price. We wiggled our way through the tiny dining area to get out to the patio. A server came immediately and got our drink order. Since our butts had barely hit the seat, I didn’t open the menu so I asked her what the beers were. I asked for a 16 oz Sapporo.
When I opened the menu I found that in order to get a happy hour price you have to order a large beer from a choice of 3… Not what I ordered. Anyway, we place our order and everything came out one after another over a 10 minute span. Great that they’re fast, bad that they don’t ever come back once you get the last plate!
I was so thirsty after having finished my beer and never had a chance to order another thing! The albacore roll I got was bad. Bad flavor, and smelled! Since no one ever came back and I could have done jumping jacks in the corner without any one noticing, I didn’t have a chance to tell the server until I asked for the check. When I did, she asked… is it bad? I said yes, I think the fish has gone bad! Did it get taken off the check since a bite was taken out of one piece only? NOPE!
So disappointing, the spicy tuna roll was awesome! Served super cold just the way I like it. The katsu bowl was so good with the spicy mayo. The chicken yakatori, which we actually received this time, terrible. Yakatori is supposed to be a peanut sauce with white meat chick, this was dark meat with a simple teriyaki sauce.
I had hoped it would be better eating in but what we found is that they’re are far better places!

Pros: delicious sushi
Cons: it’s a small joint and there’s no AC.
But overall, the rolls are good!

Lunch special: chicken Katsu + combo roll 9.95
Comes with edamame, salad, a small amount of chicken Katsu, 4 crunch roll, 4 Cali roll, 4 spicy tuna. The rolls were falling apart as I was trying to eat them. And they were packed with rice, making the rolls looks really big. I took off most of the rice. The whole plate is mediocre at best.
Their miso bowl and spoon was so dirty. I stopped using/​eating it. The place is really small and the customer service is meh.

This place is great if you’re craving comfort food. The portion sizes are very generous and the food, in general, is satisfying but definitely not light. I came here on a weeknight at around 6pm and the place was fairly crowded (and also pretty small) — I think we got the last available seat. It took some time to go through the menu since it’s pretty extensive, but we ended up ordering the Sushi Roll Boat with the Love Roll Combo.
The service was extremely fast, which is definitely a plus; the food practically came out within 10 minutes of ordering. Anyway, the Sushi Roll Boat was HUGE. It came with the Love Roll Combo (a variety of 4 half-​size rolls), tempura, chicken teriyaki, seaweed salad, fried calamari, edamame, and miso soup. Miso soup wasn’t my favorite — it wasn’t bad, but the taste just wasn’t to my liking for some reason. Seaweed salad was pretty good, along with the fried calamari. The edamame was not as «crisp» (if you know what I mean) as I would’ve liked, and the chicken teriyaki was standard. All 4 rolls were decent, though — my favorite was definitely the Bruce Lee roll, followed by the Caterpillar and then the Jamaican; my least favorite was the Diner’s California Roll because it was nothing special.
Overall, I thought the food was pretty good. However, I personally thought it was way too heavy (lots of fried stuff and the sushi rolls were very dense/​with lots of sauce — the Jamaican Roll was actually far too dense for me to have again). Oh I sure left feeling full, but I tend to like my meals lighter. I also usually just go for sashimi/​nigiri at Japanese restaurants for this reason — it doesn’t seem to be what this place is known for, but maybe I’ll make another visit to try it. Would I go back just for the sushi/​boat? It’s hard to say — maybe if I really wanted to pig out, but I’d say more likely not.

I’m really diggin’ the pseudo Hawaiian /​Bob Marley vibe that Sushi Diner has goin on here! Great date spot ;) ;)
Its a small, cozy joint tucked in the outskirts of convoy near Mesa College. Mosey over whenever you’re fiending for something different than just your typical sushi experience.
All of their rolls are delicious, and go along with the Bob Marley theme. Prices are reasonable. Fish is fresh. What’s there not to love ??
Happy Hour is M-​F 5−7pm AND Sat 4−7pm
If you purchase a large beer or house sake at regular price you can receive one of the following for 99 cents !
Edamame
Gyoza
Fried Calamari
Karage
California roll
Spicy Tuna Roll
Shrimp Tempura Roll
OR
30% off Bruce Lee Roll /​96 Degree roll /​Tempura California Roll
MUST TRY ROLLS:
Smokin Jamaican — literally melts in your mouth, if you aren’t sure what to get, get this
96 degree
The wait is a bit of a drag during peak hours but thats expected. WORTH ITTTTT

I’ve seen the large number of reviews from this place so I just had to give them a try. There are a few challenges but I would definitely come back to try again.
First challenge is parking. I got here just after they opened and the parking lot was full. The trouble is the only other parking available is several blocks away. There is a small strip mall adjacent with parking but they also have multiple signs warning people not to park if you aren’t visiting one of their businesses and Sushi Diner is not listed. I drove around and around and it seemed to take forever to find a «legal» place to park where I wasn’t worried about being towed.
Okay, that adventure over, I went inside and wow is this place small! There is indoor dining and outdoor dining. It was very cramped but there was room at the sushi bar and someone gestured for me to take a seat at the sushi bar. So far so good. Although it’s a small place, the menu is extensive and there are so many rolls. I decided on a couple rolls and some nigiri. But nobody to take my order? I looked up at the sushi chefs and although we made eye contact, they made no contact or indication they would take my order. I looked at every server in the eye but they all just walked on by me. I looked up at the person who seated me at the suhsi bar and even he just went out his way without checking back with me. It was about 10 minutes of this before someone finally asked if anyone had helped me. I would have thought that would be obvious given I didn’t even have a drink in front of me and still had the menus.
I placed my order for yellowtail and tuna nigiri. Out of all the rolls, I wanted to have a Philly Roll, something I was familiar with and used to eating. And on the specialty roll page, I went with #8 Funky Kingston Roll which is crab and shrimp tempura in and spicy tuna and jalapeño on the outside topped by a spicy mayo sauce. For starters I ordered the seaweed salad and an iced tea.
Unfortunately they serve instant iced tea instead of fresh brewed. They brought out the seaweed salad and it was untraditionally served on a bed of lettuce and covered with masago. I do like masago, but not atop my seaweed. I’m used to a more traditional serving which is not on a bed of lettuce and sometimes with spicy carrot slices but not masago. However, the taste was traditional and good.
After finishing the seaweed salad, they brought out the nigiri. The fish portion was quite generous but didn’t look like the freshest of quality. I had a piece of the tuna and while it was nice, it was just average. Almost a bit warm too which was quite disappointing. I ate both pieces of the tuna and one piece of the yellowtail. It wasn’t bad fish, but not the freshest I’ve had.
Surprising to me was also they just let the dishes stack up as I was finished instead of removing them. It got a bit crowded and at one point my glass of tea was knocked over. I didn’t get anything on me, but they seemed a bit peeved at the mess. But they nicely cleaned up the tea and refilled my glass with some more fabulous instant iced tea (that’s sarcasm by the way).
The rolls were delivered and they looked very appetizing. I started off with a few pieces of my Philly Roll. Again, somewhat disappointing because it was warm. Even the cream cheese was somewhat room temperature. Unless it’s a baked roll, I like my fish and roll to be chilled or cold. The taste was okay, but nothing spectacular. I moved onto the Funky Kingston Roll — the place has a Jamaica theme to it (odd for a sushi place) and they play a lot of Bob Marley; but this roll, they spell Kingstone which was odd to me since the city in Jamaica is spelled Kingston (no «e» at the end). I took a bite of this roll and it was fantastic! I love a roll that I don’t need to dip in soy sauce or anything else. It was very flavorful and just the right amount of spicy! I finished the entire roll, it really was great!
So, overall nice quaint place. I didn’t see the outdoor dining area but can’t imagine that it’s much larger than the indoor. Parking is difficult and initially service seemed to be lacking. They have an amazing list of rolls and I would like to come back and try some of the others. Take-​out seems to be most popular when dining here. I would say about half the orders were for people just for take-​out and it probably is the way to go given the parking (or lack thereof) and service. And I haven’t mentioned it, but they do have good prices, but on the other hand, its comparable to the quality of fish they are serving.
Lastly, they use Styrofoam! I can’t understand why a place is still using Styrofoam. I’ve done my own research and there are businesses in San Diego that sell recyclable containers and the cost is less than 10 cents more than compared to Styrofoam, something you can easily pass along to the consumer. Styrofoam cannot be recycled in San Diego.

BEST SUSHI PLACE EVER.
I have always gone here. And I’ve tried to find «better» places and I just can’t! This place is sooooo good. Honestly anything is delicious. And not to mention you can create your own sushi roll however you want for $ 8.95!!! If they are busy, which is always, make sure to order take out (-: it’s quick and the food is still amazing!!!

I love picking from the sushi boat combos which are $ 36 with appetizers. They have plenty of happy hour specials, which if u order also get u additional appetizers for $ 1.
Couple favorites are the smokin Jamaican roll, the joint, Bruce lee, rude boy, 96 and there’s too many to mention. It’s a small place, parking can be hard to find, but it’s one of my favorite sushi places in San Diego.

I dig the island vibe and Bob Marley theme here!
I can’t believe how cheap the lunch specials are. Food is decent. I ordered the Beef Teriyaki + Mixed Tempura lunch special for $ 6.95. Comes with miso soup, salad, rice and edamame. Tons of food for only $ 7.51 after tax!
The service is friendly and fast. I’ll be back for lunch again.
FYI: $ 10 minimum for credit cards or they’ll add $ 0.50 service charge.

«Open your eyes & look within, are you satisfied with the life you living?» — Bob Marley
Quite frankly… NO, HELL NO… not satisfied, at least not the damn food I have been eating in most high rated Unilocal eating establishments… not worth a damn near cent or the calories…
But this place… This f&*%$ing Sushi Diner has it dialed in… SUSHI DINER WINS FIVE LEGIT Unilocal STARS
Brought me back to the olé Sushi Deli One on Broadway between 8^th and 9^th… that closed down… from back in 2000.
Holding onto the past. you bet your a$$ I do… when it comes to my coveted Sushi… fool better get that shiznit right…
Look, this place is small… but they are doing it right… good food. good prices, good service… just go. don’t read a novel long review about it… just go. trust me, it’s a low key, quality food, mellow, like Mr. Marley himself, sushi experience…

Yaaaaasssss
1) miso soup
2) avocado tempura appetizer
3) garlic edamame
4) crispy avocado tempura roll
The best vegetarian sushi options ever. Customer service is great. It gets crowded, but they take call-​in to-​go orders. They take credit/​debit, but it’s a $ 10 minimum. They’re a small, family-​run operation so I always bring cash — it’s just easier. And I know I just said they’re a small, family-​run operation but I really wish they were open Sunday! I always crave Sushi Diner on Sunday!
Parking here is really tight, too. Carpool if you’re meeting a group.