How Do You Roll?

It’s the McDonald’s of sushi the quality is awful, the staff haven’t been trained properly, and it’s not even that fast. I’ve given it a couple of tries because I originally liked the concept, but the poor quality of food is just too much to get over and there’s so many sushi options in Austin.
Better options in this area: 1. Leaf (across the street from How Do You Roll) 2. Trace at the W 3. Lambert’s BBQ
Do yourself a favor and PASS on How Do You Roll!

Is this location closed for good or just for renovation? I stopped by last night to find everything gone! There are too few affordable sushi spots in downtown!

I miss the old HDYR. I miss the old employees, Subway order system, custom orders, and nice vibe.

Did the AC break? Cause it was so hot in there…
Although expected, parking was still bad.
The four of us got the dumplings, slammin’ salmon, three alarm, and reeeeally good.
All of them tasted like something I could make at home if I had the sauces which is also something I can make at home.
Slammin’ salmon tasted like they were trying to fill it up with cream cheese.
And most importantly, none of us were full…

I saw this on Shark Tank a few years ago and thought «what a great idea! I need to visit Texas!»
I came to my senses when I finally got to Austin and tried this place out. How could I expect great, fresh sushi in Austin? Still a cool concept of building your own sushi and/​or bowl, but the execution was lacking. A few flies buzzing around what felt like a non-​air conditioned space. Food was meh and tasted like it was sitting at room temp for a while. And I don’t think the staff knew what Southern Hospitality is.
Last thing, WHY did I have to wait nearly 30 minutes when I was the only one there???
Go to a real sushi place and avoid this place until they make some changes.

Stopped here for a quick meal before class one evening. The staff was friendly and the food came out quickly. This certainly isn’t the place to go if you’re looking for a high-​quality sushi establishment, but if you’re looking for good-​tasting sushi that is reasonably priced and do not have a ton of time, this is a great stop. Great people watching from this location as well. (:

I’ve come here about a dozen times. Sundays are fun days meaning like $ 2, $ 3 and &4 (almost half off) fast food like sushi. Inexpensive. This place now has games on the tables and a TV. Outdoor eating. The reason I have it 4 stars is because I have come here several times and the services is slow, slow, slow. They are always hiring too. Other than that it’s good cheap food.

OK, so they have redeemed themselves a bit. Went in today, I always give places chances again. Was the first customer in the door. They now have games which let you pass the time better. Food was done in 12 minutes, the roll was huge this time and the shrimp was not overcooked. Sunday Funday has changed quite a bit, I won’t elaborate, spent $ 17 for 4 rolls.

Something is wrong with this place today. Hour long waits, no one knows the difference between a bowl and a roll, and the whole place is messy/​dirty. There are literally 5 people behind the counter. Everything is basically automated here, so it shouldn’t take this long to serve 7 – 8 patrons. This is the first time I’ve felt strange here. Maybe next time will be normal.

I have to agree with the review Ben just wrote, I had a baaaaad experience today.
I walked in at 1:21 and ordered a rice bowl not even complicated sushi.
I got my food at 1:52 after asking about it twice. Turns out it was sitting on the counter for who knows how long.
Employees seemed frazzled, orders were coming out wrong. There were a lot of staff and hardly anyone in the store. Seemed really odd.
If they did in fact have a catering order, then they should have planned accordingly so as not to throw off all their walk-​in customers. And they shouldn’t take large catering orders if they can’t produce them efficiently.
The lady was apologetic and sincere, and got me a free drink, but I won’t come back here for lunch. My time is too valuable to me.

Based on the dish I had at this location, I was pretty happy. Doesn’t hurt that they take paypal and offer $ 5 coupons, too.
I had the Slammin’ Salmon bowl with brown rice and it was pretty tasty all around. Not a ton of fish, unfortunately, but enough to suffice along with the avocado and the rest of the fillings. Lots of rice, and plenty of sauce to keep it flavorful and moist. The food comes out pretty quickly and with pleasant service. Decent option for a quick roll or fast sushi when you don’t want to sit down and really unwind.

Is this the best sushi in the world? no. Is it the best sushi you will get for $ 4. Yes! I love coming here and getting an avocado roll with jalapeño and wasabi mayo. I mean it is great. For $ 4 I feel full and satisfied. Staff is always polite and because I order from the comfort of my work computer, the food is always waiting for me!

We sat outside and enjoyed the ramen and an eel hand roll. I wasn’t a fan of the ramen broth, but the noodles were surprisingly good. They tasted fresh. The eel maki was a little skimpy on the eel. Service was quick and friendly. Plenty of seating.

Pros– there is always an offer going on, so it’s really cheap.
Customer service is great
Great concept
Free parking
It was on shark tank!
Cons– it’s okay tasting
It takes a long timeeeeeee. Seriously, it takes more than 30 minutes.
Not filling
All in all, I would go to whole foods. It’s more fresh and fast if you are looking for decently priced sushi.

I’ve only been her once and then ate it for take away another time. I can’t speak to the fish because I’m a vegetarian BUT they have awesome veggie and vegan options.
Their vegetables are fresh. Their vegan roll is so yum — tofu, avocado, cucumbers, sprouts. SO GOOD. And their veggie dumplings are really yummy too.
It’s just all quick, easy, relatively cheap and an all around great vegetarian option for something a little different! I’ll be back :)

I went here with a Groupon, but I didn’t even need to use it. I happened to be «Sunday Funday» when all sushi rolls are $ 3 each! We had a Miso Soup, a Cucumber Salad, a Seaweed Salad, a Like a Vegan roll, and a Rootin Tootin Gluten Free roll, and we still spent way less than $ 15 (the amount of my Groupon). No worries — I’ll be back! The selection of sauces was nice, and we both really liked our rolls. Next time I’ll probably customize my own gluten free vegan roll, and definitely get some sake!

My girlfriend and I have jokingly renamed this joint How Do You Fuck Up? After several bad service experiences, it had become comical to see just how badly they could eff up an order. Granted, they would fix it every time, and the food itself was fine… but our last experience had me pull out my Unilocal password from 2009 and log in. The deets follow…
Strolling into HDYFU, we ordered a few rolls. My GF (girlfriend) is GF (gluten free)… so there are only certain combinations that the G²F² can order, and needless to say, it’s a bit important that the order is done correctly. After about 15 minutes of waiting outside… the food arrived, and hilarity began.
First of all, we ordered 3 custom rolls… of various fish, fillers, toppers, sauces, etc. However, apparently somewhere in those 40 feet between the kitchen and rickety outside tables, our server managed to come across some banana peels, knock out a few backflips, but quite incredibly catch ALL the flying food back onto the serving platter in perfect placement. In fact, this would have gone without notice, except for the small problem, that our 3 custom rolls arrived completely wrong, in terms of which topping with which fish, with which sauce, etc.
Now, upon asking the server why the salmon roll had the fried bits (NOT gluten-​free), the reply was «Can she pick them off?». After my answer of «She’s gluten-​free»… and the responding blank stare in response, it became apparent that this fine young soul likely had limited future in the food service industry… the lights were on, but nobody was home.
After further clarifying that the order needed to be fixed, we realized that roll #3 wasn’t even ours. And through the magic of eavesdropping, it became apparent that the table next to us had that roll. At this point, the server agrees to replace the order and takes the offending food away.
Fast forward 15 minutes. No really… 15 minutes…
No food has arrived, so I decide to quite fashionably segue up to the counter and inquire about the food. The server was at the register, taking orders on this fine Sunday afternoon… with a line of about 7 people. And I shit you not, this is how the conversation went:
ME: Hey, I just wanted to check on those rolls
HDYFU: Yeah, I was just about to pull the ticket
ME: What do you mean «pull the ticket»
HDYFU: Well, I need to pull the ticket to see what was in the order
ME: Wait, you mean you haven’t even STARTED the new order?
HDYFU: No, there’s people in line that need their order taken
ME: Well, there’s people out side that have ALREADY PAID that need their food
HDYFU: Sorry, I just haven’t had time to even look up the order
At this point, with that all-​too-​familiar blank stare looking back at time… I realized it would be impossible to even try to explain the basic «money exchanged/​services rendered» principles of Business 101, and walked out… avoiding any possible banana peels along the way.
So why 2 stars? Look, the food is decent and it is what it is… but I can’t recall ever seeing such a regularly inept organization in the food industry.

you want authentic beautiful sushi? go to uchi.
you want shitty sushi? go to heb.
you want a quick lunch that’s customizable and cheap and tasty? fucking try How Do You Roll.
this place is cute and friendly for all the diets. I had a soy paper wrapped roll, with tofu, jalapeño, and avocado. topped that shit with cilantro and sweet chili sauce.
and it was tasty all up in my fucking mouth.

How Do You Roll? is a great lunch spot!
My husband enjoys ramen with crawfish – an interesting twist – and I dig the slammin’ salmon bowl – a mango-​y, spicy, healthy filler-​upper. On days we stop in, I’m good to go all the way until dinnertime with no mid-​afternoon snack cravings.
We often branch out at restaurants, but after a couple of stops in, we’ve found our choice eats at this great downtown eatery!
The staff are always friendly and quick, too!

GREAT for vegans/​vegetarians! You customize your roll all the way from seaweed vs soy wrap, type of rice, fillings, sauces, and toppings. My roll of choice: seaweed wrap with brown rice filled with avocado, cucumber, cream cheese +/​-​mango, topped with spicy mayo and sweet chili. Happy hour on Sundays does $ 3 rolls, which is a steal! Enjoy, and make sure to get a High Roller card if you’re a frequent customer.
They changed the set-​up a little. Before it was Chipotle style, where you watch the making of your roll. Now you just order at the register. I liked the previous method better. You also have to specially request the ponzu sauce at this location. For vegans/​vegetarians – if you previously felt you had a limited number of options when it came to sushi, you will have more than enough options here.