Ariyoshi Sushi Cafe Izakaya

The stories of Ariyoshi’s understaffed and poor service are true, therefore making the dining experience underwhelming. Called to make a Saturday night dinner reservation for 6 people on Tuesday, called to change it in Thursday but the workers couldn’t find it, and when we arrived on Saturday, there still were no reservations for our party. So the waitress pushed two different-​size tables together, making our group seating situation VERY awkward.
At about 6:45 pm, the restaurant was about ¹⁄₃ full and there were two waitresses, one seasoned and one new. We waited about 5 – 10 minutes after being sat, and no one came by so we just walked up to the bar and got our own menus. We ordered a pitcher of Stella but the newb kept verifying if we wanted Sapporo. We also ordered appetizers from her and 5 minutes later, the more seasoned waitress came by to verify our appetizers.
Based on the first few impressions of Ariyoshi, we had a feeling it was easiest to order rolls #1−8 off the happy hour menu (the selection of rolls was extensive and we didn’t want to confuse/​overload the waitress). So obviously when the rolls were brought to the table, we had no idea what we were eating and the server didn’t care to tell us what she was placing before us.
The place doesn’t feel like true Japanese izakaya cuisine. If you enjoy a variety of sushi rolls that are deep fried and saucy, you will surely enjoy Ariyoshi. If you enjoy fresh sashimi, this may not be worth visiting.

Absolutely horrible service, extremely understaffed, mediocre food, cheap quality, expensive prices. People who give this place good reviews clearly have not had good Japanese food.

Worst service of my life. It took 50 mins and 4 requests to get a water or happy hour menu.

I ordered delivery last night around 10:30. I ordered a dynamite roll, shrimp tempura roll, california roll, fried eel roll, and spider roll using the Postmates app. I was going to be eating with a friend who doesnt really like raw fish and there are only a few places I’d trust to deliver it quickly enough anyway, especially if I’m ordering baked rolls too. One restaurant had placed the baked rolls and raw fish in the same bag, the heat affected the taste of the sashimi, so I wasn’t going to risk it this time.
The food was ready for pickup within 15 – 20 mins. The baked rolls came with a few pieces of edamame and Wasabi and ginger and almost all the rolls came with a thick sauce. Everything tasted pretty good for American sushi. California roll was pretty standard as was the shrimp tempura roll. I really like the unagi roll.
If everything was ok why only 2 stars? I found bits of plastic wrap in one of the rolls. I understand the plastic wrap is used to cover the bamboo rolling mats that the cut rolls are shaped on, but imagine if I hadn’t seen it. I would have just popped the piece in my mouth and maybe either choked or tried to chew it and fish it out of my mouth in front of my friend who probably would have been like «wtf, what kind of place did you order from?»

Can’t really tell when happy hour ends because some signs say 9pm, while others say 10pm. Regardless, there’s plenty of time to make it for the happy hour specials. The drink specials are definitely better than the food specials. We got a huge pitcher of Sapporo for like $ 12 and struggled to finish it. During happy hour, they have a list of rolls that range from $ 10 – 13, which is only a dollar or two off the original price. This place has sooo many types of special rolls that it was a little overwhelming. It took forever for my roommate and I to find the photos/​descriptions of the rolls on the happy hour menu. I tried the superman burrito roll ($ 12) and caterpillar roll ($ 10). I thought the superman burrito was pretty good. The soy paper rolls were oversized and filled with crab meat, tuna, salmon, and avocado. The caterpillar roll was pretty standard with eel, cucumber and avocado.
In terms of service, this place is ridiculously understaffed, so we had to wait foreverrr for anything that we asked for. The waiter forgot when we first asked for extra wasabi, so we asked the other waiter, and then eventually ended up with two huge blobs of wasabi. We also probably ended up staying an extra 20 minutes just waiting for the check because we couldn’t get the waiter’s attention at all.
This is a good place for cheap beer, but the service can definitely use some work and the sushi happy hour isn’t that great of a deal.

Bought certificate/​coupon from
to try out this restaurant for the first time with my husband. Service was not fast because there is only one server who also acts as the host, busser and bartender. A Korean owns this Japanese restaurant. Overall, the food was fine because I had a coupon. However, for the quality of the food, the price is not worth it. Also, alcoholic beverages that we ordered came after the food while we were half way done eating with no water refills.
The bill came and I gave the server my phone to show the coupon from the
and when she came back, she said it was not valid. She said it was already used and I couldn’t get the discount. I told her this was my first time here. She still kept saying it’s marked redeemed. I looked at my phone and went back on the app. It was still listed as «unused» and it gave me the option to «redeem/​validate». The waiter apologized. Then she came back again and said that the happy hour we ordered needs to be charged as regular price now… Saying we can’t use the certificate even though we have ordered regular priced meals and met the minimum $ 30. She said the chef is making her change the prices.
When I came in, I specifically asked if we can order happy hour. The worker said as long as we meet the $ 30 requirement and have a separate tab for happy hour was fine.
I asked for the manager but instead the non-​fluent English speaking chef named Jay (who made the server change the happy hour prices) came out. I explained the situation, he kept saying that he can show me the rules on
that we can’t use it on happy hour items. Technically, we didn’t because happy hour was on separate tab and the worker said there would be no problem. Then he started to say how people sitting at one table can not order happy hour items if they plan to use the coupon. This went on for five minutes until I realized he didn’t understand the main point of my concern about this bill.
But here’s the thing about Korean chefs… You don’t need a degree or education to be a chef in a Korean owned establishment. There’s no point of even trying to make a mid 50 year old uneducated man wearing a funny hat understand the basic concept of how to run a business and about customer service.
If someone within the establishment misled a customer and now the customer have to pay regular price for the smaller portion happy hour items… They are definitely not running an honest business here. Take responsibility for your mistakes and own up to it.
Dishonesty and lack of customer service equals no returning customers. Sooner or later you’ll run out of people willing to spend their money at such a shady place.

Dude. This place is so sad. Came here after a movie screening with my partner. Unilocaled this place and seemed legit. Went past another sushi joint thinking it was that one since it was packed with people. Arrived to this place. The saddest sushi place ever! It was just us and loud shitty music. The wait staff was sad as well. The food was sad. Just a sad experience. We refer this place as «sad sushi place in LA». I thought I was going to get food poisoning because the tuna texture just didn’t feel right. They have way too many sushi roll options that it was making our head hurt. Poor things.

Ok I basically am here every week! They have fresh sushi & great happy hour drinks. Batman roll, homeless roll, spicy tuna, all is good here. Very attentive waitress at first they seem pushy but they aim to please. As many times as I’ve been here bout damn time I leave a review. Cool kick back sushi place good music big tvs for sports with a variety of sushi!

Went there for lunch one day. I got lunch combo that includes Japanese fried chicken and some rolls. It was so dry, I could not finish it. Rolls are not bad but I am not going back.
They charge you $ 2 for green tea. This is so new to me. Not a repeat.

This is the place that is close to work. Decided to give it a try– the rice is undercooked, the wine is warm, the sushi is not the freshest and the service is not the fastest. The waitress was fast however when it was time to pay.
Yes I am aware that the freshest sushi is on Tuesdays but she could ask me if I want some water at least to make up for the lamest service ever.
Not sure I’ll be back — maybe only when I’m drunk enough.

Stopped by for a late lunch after doing several showings in the area. it was definitely a late lunch for me around 3pm during the week. So as you can imagine the restaurant was not really busy. i was greeted and seated immediately at the bar. The sushi is priced reasonably especialy during the happy hour times. the waitress was very attentive and made sure my hot green tea was always full. enjoyed the sushi rolls and the spicy tuna on crunchy rice. I would eat here more often. The the only down side of this restaurant would be the parking situation which can be challenging.

My best friend used to live across the street from this restaurant, so we would come here every time I visited. He was treated really well here and they even knew him as a regular. Their service is great, they are quick in delivering the dishes, and the quality is just as great. I’m a sushi lover, and I can definitely say this is a great place to come!

Good sushi, relaxed environment.
The sushi here is usually pretty good, one of the better and cheaper places in LA.
I suggest to start with garlic edamame and the shishito peppers.
I also love the poke ball. And the eel rolls.
Most of their roles are spicy tuna and they are all fairly good. I am not a fan of thick sauces and a lot of the rolls come with a thick sauce on top.
The environment is very bar like and I like that

Nice little patio while waiting, and waiting lol ordered Godzilla Roll so baked roll of course takes longer.
Service is not great here so the roll better be.
Miss authentic Japanese (atmosphere & service) in Tokyo.
P. S. The roll was great wish it were bigger lol lol

Red rocket– spicy tuna, sticky rice, with jalapeño. Never had a roll like this before. Was pretty good
Garlic edamame– oh my god. Game changer with these edamame covered in garlic. Ridiculously good, even after dipping them in soy sauce!
Hot roll– messy to eat some pieces. Delicious. Fried. Spicy tuna with jalapeño, avocado and Cream cheese.
Establishment is clean. Good service too. Semi okay happy hour prices. Offered me free cheese cake after i was done. It sooooo tiny but free. Weird texture so maybe not a normal cheese cake. Definitelt not the American type. But still that was nice!

Food = pretty good. Service = not so good.
Came here on a Saturday night, and the menu was a bit overwhelming; lots of options. We had a couple questions to ask about their rolls but the server kept giving dirty looks every time we asked. My friend got very offended by the poor service and the lack of politeness and I don’t blame her. I asked for a lot of ginger, but when they brought it over, it was literally just too pieces. Not sure if it was just a bad night but it almost felt like they were intentionally giving us bad service. It’s a shame that the tastiness of their food is followed by bad service. Also, parking is very good… It’s located right in the back. So parking and location-​wise, it was good! Overall, the food was pretty good. Not the greatest quality, but the prices reflected fairly on them.

The Happy Hour prices are going to be bad for my liver!
Ordered jalepeno poppers and oysters on a half shell to enjoy along with our large sake bombs. By the time we left we were half in the bag and very happy. Looking forward to returning for the all you can drink sake after 9.

Good quality and prices. Came here for the A rating since the other nearby sushi restaurant, Slow Fish, had a B rating.
ENVIRONMENT
This little gem has a dive vibe and is hidden away on Wilshire.
SUSHI
Green Poke Ball — this is perfect for me, a large server of spicy tuna and avocado.
Scallop Roll — Incredibly Fresh and well priced. Excellent for a basic roll.
Batman Roll — this is an awesome and meaty roll that’s thicker than normal — like a burrito.
Las Vegas Roll — Excellent. Done very well, which isn’t always common in LA.
Spicy Tuna — also prepared perfectly. Seasoned spicer than normal and with extra sesame
Spicy Crab Crunch Roll — heavy onion flavor. Tasty
APPS
Shrimp Shimai — Three shrimp dumpling morsels.
Garlic Edemame — My favorite app.

Good spot if you’re in he mood for sushi. They have good options for happy hour and it finishes until 7pm.
Service is always good, sushi plates are reasonable in price and taste. I like getting the soy paper salmon roll. It’s very fresh, simple yet very tasty.
I also enjoy the restaurant’s vibe. Their lights are dimmed, have a couple of tv’s showing sports and have some light music in the background. Parking is hard to find here so try to look for metered street parking.

Ariyoshi… This place is A-​OK. Located on Wilshire, next to Busby’s. There is parking free in the back which is a huge plus! Came with my friend for a light and quick lunch. We chose to sit outside, the weather was perfect and sunny! Anyway, the service was mediocre… good in the beginning and went down hill. Maybe we should have eaten inside? Nah.
Ordered:
— Batman Burrito. $ 13.00
Spicy tuna, crab, shrimp tempura, jalapeño inside; wrapped with soy paper. I like the concept! Sushi burrito, yummm… I need me one. This was good. I didn’t taste any jalapeño though…
— Lobster special roll. $ 14.00
Lobster, avocado, masago, cream sauce. Baked. Pretty good, this one is wrapped with soy paper. These were on the small side and cut super thin.
— Draft Sapporo, small. $ 6.00
The rolls here are pretty small and the price is not cheap! Seriously… mediocre service, good sushi BUT small portions for a higher price… «B» restaurant health grading… this is L.A. there are plenty of clean, fair priced sushi joints with yummy food. I probably won’t be back here…