Sushi Battle Tampa

Upon entering, we hit a wall of people and pure chaos. Just a wall of bodies and no sushi to be seen, many angry people, and a dancing guy in a Godzilla costume.
We handed back over the cups and bracelets we were given— to the oblivious door staff, and went to eat dinner at a restaurant down the street.
After eating dinner, we were walking back to our car and saw that the fire trucks and ambulances were out back. Hope no one died!
There were 400 VIP passes sold and comped. Therefore, there was really no VIP.
No thanks, Sushi Battle or whatever you call yourself. Hope you can get it together next year and do it right.

My first sushi battle was… a learning experience! I’m glad I attended though I wasn’t too impressed with the sushi or lack of crowd control. The Ritz was way too small to handle that crowd. What a clusterf— of «hangry» chowhounds forming lines in every direction while foaming at the mouth. We were so tightly packed in like sardines that I had no idea what I was in line for, and completely missed the table of soy sauce, wasabi, and ginger until it was too late. It was challenging to get my $ 45 worth. At least I left with an official battle glass & shot glass in hand.
I don’t think the best of the best were competing last night… Some of the restaurants have 3ish stars on Unilocal.Carmel was serving delicious Ahi tuna but they’re not even a sushi restaurant! A few contenders took the tempura roll route, which I thought was a bit cunning/​underhanded. Ciccio Water and Tsunami Sarasota were my top two for freshness and quality. Pisces presented the most creatively crafted sushi, I just didn’t love the vinaigrette dressing on top. I would really like to try the place out.
Would I do this again? Probably not this particular battle unless they get it together. I’ve definitely been inspired to attend food tastings, though. I think the REAL ultimate sushi battle would be between Unilocal’s highest ranked and most reviewed. I’d be armed and ready with chopsticks for that battle… Unilocal knows best!

The sushi I sampled was delicious, but it was pure chaos in the venue. It was overbooked and the lack of any crowd control made it impossible to navigate the area. Also, there were too few tables to set your drink down and eat. People were juggling a drink, sushi, and chop sticks while trying to eat.
The entertainment was decent, but people were more focused on figuring out if they were in line for sushi or the restroom. I went around 6:30 and left after an hour because it was too hectic. Great concept but subpar execution. Maybe next year will be better.
Edited: I remembered how much I paid for this and realized it was a total waste of money. Kept it at 2 stars because one of sushi rest was pretty good.

Pros: Ready… Set… Battle for Sushi! I thought it would be the sushi vendors battling for our favor but it ended up being us battling for the sushi lol. We still had an awesome time at Sushi Battle Tampa 2015 at the Ritz Ybor! With tons of Sake Tasting, Sake Bombs, Karaōke, Godzilla, Taiko Drums, & house DJ’s, this was a sushi battle to remember! Participating restaurants included: The Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club, Ciccio/​Water, YO! Sushi, Thai Basil Largo, Rain Japanese Restaurant And Sushi Bar, Tsunami Sushi, Jackson’s Bistro Bar & Sushi, Pisces Sushi and Global Bistro, Kona Grill, Urban Sushi Burrito, Hula Bay Club, and Carmel Kitchen & Wine. All the rolls we’re so good. The battling restaurants could have easily offered their lower end rolls to save on costs but all the rolls were Top notch with lobster, Ahi tuna, crab legs, etc. After sampling each sushi vendor, you have to drop off your gold chopsticks to your favorite vendor. The Audience awarded #1 to Rain, #2 to Urban Sushi Burrito, #3 to Tsunami while the official Sushi Battle judges awarded #1 to Pisces, #2 to Rain, #3 to Carmel Café. It’s worth noting that Creative Loafing 2015 Readers’ Favorite Sushi Bars we’re not in attendance #1 Soho Sushi, #2 Samurai Blue, #3 Hooks.
Cons: Sushi battle sold out well before the day of the event so organizers did show some restraint but maybe not enough lol. The organizers grossly over-​booked this event or needed a better organization for directing the lines efficiently. Sometimes there was a table full of sushi ready but only 3 people could get to it at a time and they weren’t moving to allow more people to get sushi because the next line wasn’t moving which kind of created a domino effect of lines with very little movement. There were long long lines everywhere for sake tasting stations, most of the sushi stations, sumo wrestling, and even the bathroom. When you first get in, they hand you all this stuff that you have to carry around with you throughout the entire event– big 16oz pint glass with Sushi Battle logo, shot glass with Sushi battle logo, red chop sticks for eating, and gold chop sticks to give to your favorite vendor. Juggling all this while trying to hold a plate of sushi was a bit of a challenge and a burden. If my buddy didn’t have cargo shorts to store the glasses in, I would have been in big trouble and probably would have Just left the big pint glass somewhere. Just to get in, there was a line around the block past the building, past the parking lot, all the way up to the train tracks just to get in but everything was delicious and we still had fun. VIP tickets for $ 80 included unlimited sake and sushi and best of all, they let you in an hour early to beat the crowd and let you skip the long general admission line to get in. General Admission for $ 50 included unlimited sushi tastings, group sake bomb, shot glass, pint glass, chop sticks. You could purchase sake tasting separately for $ 20, so if you combined the 2 you could save 10 off VIP but can’t skip the lines. For way less than $ 160, you could do your own sushi battle with all the sushi and sake you could handle at any Tampa sushi restaurant and you won’t have to fight people for food but you probably won’t be getting the same level of entertainment you got here plus shot glass, pint glass, chopsticks souvenirs. Probably not the best value for the money, but overall it was still a fun experience and I got some cool souvenirs! :)