How Do You Roll?

Not sure if this place closed since I no longer live in LA, but while I was there, I was a frequent visitor. The owner asked me for my name every time because he never remembered me. Such a turn off.
Being in California, the ingredients did not seem fresh at all, especially compared to other locations. The service at this location is also poor. Just not a fan…
This portion of the review is for all HDYRs:
Overall, I’m disappointed in the new rendition of HDYR. It’s not meant to be a restaurant, so why go that route? It stuck out because it was like Subway for sushi. You get to see and pick what goes into your sushi. No fun in ordering it off a menu at the register. Also, the portions got way smaller and price stayed the same. I can go on and on about HDYR is just not the same as it was when it first opened. Very sad.
Even if this place did not close, I do not plan on going back to it when I visit Cali. It’s very true when people say there is plenty of good sushi nearby and for LA, this concept just does not make sense.

I HATE to have to update this review. However, this place has really gone downhill. I’m not sure why they made such dramatic changes but it definitely wasn’t for the better.
Here are the issues:
1.) Layout — they changed the layout so now you have to awkwardly walk to the far end to order and then wait an excessively long amount of time for the order to come out.
2.) Price — Sure the rolls are now $ 1 cheaper but they are SIGNIFICANTLY smaller and the quality has really gone downhill.
3.) Employees — They used to have at least 3 employees working at all times. Now it’s usually just 2 employees and it really shows. Dirty plates are laying everywhere, the hallway to the bathroom is cluttered with junk, and the restaurant is just really dirty. Plus the employees all seem to be stressed and confused. They really need someone there full-​time who knows how to run a restaurant.
Please, revert back to how the restaurant was when it first opened and I’ll return!

Pablo’s ratings:
Taste: 4
Value: 5
Décor: 3
Service: 4
We first decided to drop in because we saw How Do You Roll on Shark Tank and were in Santa Monica on vacation. The concept is great, but we found some things to be improved upon.
First, the awkward setup (that we expected to be more like a subway/​qudoba) made fore a slow, complicated ordering process. This would be an ideal place for a quick roll during lunch hours, but unfortunately there is too much brain power and socialization for that.
The taste was overall very good (much better than we were expecting for quick fast-​food style sushi), but the tofu was fried and coated in a sweet sugary sauce. speaking of which, sauces weren’t up to par. The only spicy sauce tasted like ketchup. However, the many choices and fresh ingredients make for a great roll or bowl, and the service is fantastic.

I was excited to try this place, I love sushi of all kinds (even Americanized, fast food sushi, though I prefer «the best», my wallet does not always agree) so stopped in for lunch. Upon entering I was turned off. Isn’t this place fairly new? Shouldn’t it be bright and clean and gleaming with… «new-​ness»?
It was none of the above. It seemed like a place that had been open forever and just gave up. Boxes everywhere, litter on the floor, a huge cart piled with dirty dishes chillin in the hall on the way to the bathroom. Um… Gross. Not where I want to eat anything, much less RAW FISH!
I was starving and still gave it a shot. I ordered a avo roll and a spicy tuna roll. I took it to go since the place was creeping me out.
Not worth it. I couldn’t even eat my spicy tuna after thinking about the gross conditions of the restaurant and the un-​caring teenagers that rolled my sushi in between darting into the back to do god knows what.
Sorry, but get it together. Pick up the boxes, hide dirty dishes from customers view, install some cabinets that close to at least give the illusion of cleanliness and order.
I’m headed to Sugarfish.

I went to this place after watching one of the sharks in Shark Tank invest in this chain store. I can see why this would be such a great restaurant in Texas. But in California, you can get much better quality sushi nearby for the same price or less! For example, Kaya, Iori, Sugarfish, Sweetfish are all within miles and are way tastier AND are authentic. Granted, there is nothing especially bad about the food in How Do You Roll and admittedly there is some novelty in picking out your own stuff for your sushi, but in general, I like mine made authentic, the Japanese way.
The people behind the counter seem like they’re quite stressed out, overwhelmed, and kept messing up everyone’s orders even though there were only 4 other tables that were occupied. I’m guessing they’re new at running restaurants.
In summary, this chain store has overpriced sushi that is uncompetitive with other authentic sushi restaurants [run by real Japanese] around the area. For that reason, I’m out.

I’ll tell you how I «roll», I «roll» to anywhere else to get sushi.
Cool idea for informal healthy dining! TERRIBLE EXECUTION.
I tried your 2 for 1 special yesterday evening at your Marina Del Rey Location, because you make rolls with brown rice. Wow. Shockingly small and poorly assembled sushi rolls!
They were salmon and avocado rolls. I should have taken a picture. There were literally bites with no salmon and half a lentil bean size amount of avocado. They were TINY. I eat a lot of sushi at the various restaurants in Marina Del Rey area, these were the smallest, most pathetic rolls I have ever seen.
The brown rice and salmon rolls at Ralph’s across the street are WAY better for the same price.
I think the roll was 7 bucks, maybe you ran the promotion because you are hurting for business, but you are trying to save on ingredients on the 2 for 1… if that is your motivation, making substandard rolls defeats the whole purpose of trying to gain new customers right?
The thing is, I would pay 9 dollars for a roll, with a reasonable amount of salmon and avocado in it. I saw the option for «double» protein. Such a joke, don’t you think you should just make a reasonable roll for a reasonable price?
Great way to go out of business fast,
No wonder the place was empty.

I have to say, I was taken in by the concept of this place. It’s certainly gimmicky and unique. But unfortunately the quality just doesn’t match up to the inventiveness.
First of all, ordering sushi at the counter just didn’t feel right to me, especially since I felt the need to construct my own roll (since that’s part of the gimmick), and there are quite a few unique options/​ingredients. It was a little nerve-​wracking, to be honest. So I ended up ordering from the pre-​established rolls. Which were fine. Passable.
The flavor combinations are intriguing, and I thoroughly appreciate an establish like this playing around so freely with an otherwise pretty traditional cuisine like sushi. It just didn’t do it for me. There was nothing BAD, necessarily, about the rolls, they just weren’t great.
Some good things: The brown rice option, the management, and the price.
Some not so good things: The décor, the quality, and the execution.
Let’s just say it’s the equivalent of fast food sushi — cheap, fast, and filling. The only thing missing was the drive-​through.

This place is kind of set up like Subway, where you get to customize your sushi, only you don’t get to see them make your sushi: you just order what you want at the cash register, and sit down and wait for them to bring you your order.
Okay, that takes away some of the fun :(
This place is cool in the fact that you do get to customize your sushi, so if you want to put something nontraditional like mandarin oranges, asparagus, and chicken in your roll, you can! I know… they have chicken and beef as «protein» options. It’s strange for a sushi place, but hey… you can roll however you want and nobody will judge you here.
The sushi itself though, isn’t very impressive. Even with the customization, everything tasted really basic and the fish was just average. In sum, you’re paying for the experience to customize your roll and have something unique. If you don’t care for that and just want some fast sushi, just got to your local grocery store and pick up a roll there.
Ps: They tend to overdo it on the sauces. You can see pictures. If you don’t like that much sauce you might want to tell them to go light or have it on the side.

As others have said this is like The Subway of sushi. I love the assembly line process and the staff is super friendly. The sushi is good too, but the prices are a little steep seeing how it’s suppose to be more like Subway than a real Japanese restaurant.
They recently changed their hours (they close at 8pm not 9pm), so don’t be fooled like I was by the Unilocal info.

3.5 stars.
I heard about this place from the TV show The Shark Tank, and I was heading down to the area so I decided to try this place out.
First it’s an interesting concept, basically like a Subway Sandwich, or Chipotle but for sushi, you build your own roll, though they do have set rolls if you don’t want to go that route. You pick out your protein (some weird ones like beef or chicken, but hey that’s the whole concept, build what you like), next your veggies, your type of rice, and your sauces. I got a spicy salmon, with brown rice, strawberry, avocado and a few other things. We also tried one of the set menu items.
So I had a couple problems with this place. First on the TV show they pitched this as the people would make your rolls for you while you waited. This location however tells you to go straight to the register and make your order then they have you sit down while they make it. I was a little disappointed with this, I wanted to see them make it.
The next was the pricing, on the show they pitched this as quality rolls for fast food like prices. The prices were close to a normal restaurant, a bit cheaper but not a lot. The quality was decent, definitely not as good as a good restaurant but better then what you would get at the supermarket.
I would say you should give this place a shot, if for nothing else as to make your own rolls, I found it interesting to be able to get strawberries in my roll. But I would not go in and expect to be wowed by this place.

I had tried the sushi here a few months back and thought it was a neat idea — you got to choose each element of your sushi roll and watch it being made as you order. Back then I thought it was over-​priced, and was only there because I had a 2-​for-​1 coupon.
After seeing the owners of the store concept featured on Shark Tank, I decided to try them again, figuring it would be even better.
Big disappointment!
Now when you order, they give you a number, and you sit & wait for your order. They’ve lost the whole value of watching the roll being made as you choose the ingredients!
Also, the quality was not as good as the first time I went, and the roll seemed smaller. I can get better rolls for less money at Kabuki.
It was nice to see the sushi «chefs» wearing plastic gloves as they made the rolls, but they need to learn how to remove their gloves, or at least get new ones, if they touch anything besides food while they are working.
Finally, the restaurant was not well cleaned, and the staff looked somewhat confused and disorganized. I hope «Mr Wonderful» from Shark Tank gets his one million dollar’s worth, or at least helps them to improve their operations.

Just like the previous reviewers have stated, this is a «you-​choose-​as-​you go Subway/​Chipotle style sushi place. The rice (white or brown) is pre-​flattened on a sheet, placed on top of nori or soy paper, you pick 3 veggies, a protein, outside topping, and sauce.
The Angels roll sounded good to me, and sometimes it’s overwhelming to try to come up with something creative and tasty. I also added the wasabi mayo sauce on top and made it a combo with miso soup and a drink. It was about $ 12, filling and quick. The rolls are a good size, a bit larger than the packaged sushi at the grocery store.
The staff is really friendly and welcoming, happy to give you suggestions. They have a frequent card «high rollers» that offers discounts and special offers.
Overall I liked it, a good place for an easy weeknight dinner.

This is the subway of sushi!
Fastfood sushi that was actually done right. The awesome guy who helped me (sorry didn’t catch your name) recommended the California roll, and they had a $ 5 special or a CA roll and miso soup. Anything that is that cheap can’t be good right-​wrong. It was delicious, for $ 5 bucks and some change i got a large roll (10 pieces) and a small cup of miso which was perfect. The bar is set subway style with all your ingredients in front of you, you start off with your choice of white rice, brown rice, or soy. Then you get to the master of your sushi canvas. I got an awesome card for buy 10 get 1 free and I will be stopping by anytime I am in the area :)

I think I said it in my tip/​comment on my check in, but this place is like a chipotle for sushi.
We Unilocaled this place after paddle boarding and walked over. We were a little wary (only because we didn’t see any Asian people manning the sushi joint… it felt odd), but decided to try it out! We got four rolls: director’s cut roll, 3 alarm roll, dodger’s roll, and a custom one. The best ones were the director’s cut roll and the 3 alarm roll. The director’s cut roll has little crunchy bits on it that are delicious, and the 3 alarm roll has a little heat.
It’s really interesting watching them make the rolls, especially cut them because they put the rolls into a machine, then they crank and lever and BOOOM! Perfect pieces. The wasabi, ginger, and lemon (I think). There were get your own soy sauce and ponzu things. I guess you could fill up a cup full of soy sauce if you wanted.
I would definitely go back here and check out the other rolls. Also go next door to the gelato place and try their straccitella gelato. You won’t regret it.

I am not happy about the fact that I did not like How do you Roll as much as I thought I would. I came in here this weekend to try the place out. The salmon did not look very fresh so I decided not to order anything. The person I was with however ordered a roll, so I got to split their roll with them.
There were two types of meat in the roll, crawfish and spicy tuna. I liked both meats, and it was my first time trying crawfish! We also added cream cheese, tofu, and something else in the roll and we topped it with tempura flakes and miso mayo. I liked the roll! So okay, the rolls were not as bad as I thought it would be… but they are still pricey. The roll we ordered came out to $ 9 we also ordered a side of seaweed for $ 3 more. I liked the seaweed too.
I would probably come back here… if you do, don’t forget to sign up for their roll club card thingy. If you buy ten rolls, you get one free!

I’ve been here twice and both times, the sushi has just been A-​OK.
This is nothing to write home about. THe idea is great, and the food is of a relatively good quality.
If you’re in the mood for sushi at lunch, but can’t make the time for an actual sushi joint, or don’t feel like spending $ 13 at Bristol Farms for a small roll, I’d recommend coming here.
I’ve tried two of their specialty rolls and they’re gigantic and I’ve gotten full for less than $ 10. So I’d recommend it if you’re looking for sushi above «grocery store» level, but below Kaya level.

Chipotle style sushi? Sounds like a good idea! If the fish and rice are good, that would be true. But unfortunately, the food in How Do You Roll? was disappointing. I am not comparing their sushi to authentic amazing Japanese sushi. Pavilions and Bistol Farms have much better sushi and better prices.
My husband ordered the unagi roll (eel, cucumber, avocado). I got the Dodgers roll (salmon, cucumber, green onion). The portion was great. The sushi were big. That was only because they put tons of rice. The fish was tiny. The ratio between the rice and fish was way off. The flavor of the fish was drown in the over-​acidic rice. And the rice was too sticky. It was pretty hard to chew. I was not happy. Other than that, we also had a side of edamame. They were ok.
Overall, the sushi was just not great. I wouldn’t pay $ 9 for it. I will not come back.

When I first heard about, How do you Roll? and the concept behind their sushi making, I was excited.
First thoughts, «Woot woot, new sushi spot… yum yum, loves me some Sush!»
The entirety of it sounds fresh and unique, like something I could totally get down with on a weekly basis.
I must say though, I was gravely disappointed.
The seaweed was flavorless, not a hint of saltiness to be found.
The brown rice was hard (I even bit into a few pieces that weren’t cooked fully).
The veggies were crunchy, which I really enjoyed but still, it was just flavorless.
The wasabi miso sauce was lacking in taste too and after a while it started to look like someone had Bukkake’d all over my food.
***(Gross thought, I know… forgive me)***
The people who work there were really friendly, patient and accommodating, especially if you have never patronized their business before.
However, I didn’t come here to spend close to $ 9 to hang out with some friendly and patient people. I really wanted this concept and quality of their sushi to hit a home run with me and it’s truly a bummer that it didn’t.
I will likely stick to Ralph’s sushi bar across the street as my quick go-​to and will keep my fingers crossed that this place improves.
The bones are there people.

Chipotle style sushi?! Umm count me in!
I absolutely love this concept because I can get exactly what I want quickly and for $ 5
1. You pick your wrap (seaweed or soy paper)
2. Choose your rice (brown or white)
3. Pick 3 veggies
4. If desired, pick your protein, which is an additional $ 2 (on avg)
5. Choose your free sauces!
Voila! You have a 10 piece sushi roll
Sure, I’ve had better sushi rolls that were better constructed than this, but dang, it sure hit the spot and was really easy (and fun!). I might not rate as highly if I opted for a roll with protein, but since the veggie option is a mere $ 5, I’m stoked.

Nifty Name. Cool Concept. Subdued Sushi Rolls.
How Do You Roll? creates custom-​made, assembly-​line, Subway-​esque Sushi Rolls. Instead of «Eat Fresh» the slogan could be «Eat Fish» although it definitely isn’t «Five Dollar Tuna Rolls» because each roll (10-​pieces) is between $ 8-​$ 10.
Step 1: Choose a Wrap and Rice
— Seaweed (Traditional) for $ 4.95
— Soy (Modern) for $ 5.95
— White or Brown Rice included
Step 2: Pick 3 Veggies (4+ $ 0.50 each)
— Asparagus, Jalapenos, Avocado, Sprouts, Spinach, Egg, Cream Cheese, Tofu, Cucumber, Onions, or seasonal fruits/​veggies
Step 3: Add Fish or Meat
— Fish (mostly $ 2.95): Salmon, Tuna, Yellowtail (seasonal), Shrimp, Unagi, or Crawfish
— Meat (mostly $ 1.95): Beef, Chicken, Kani
Step 4: Choose Toppings and Sauces
— Sauces (included): Miso, Mayo, Ponzu, Sesame Chili Oil, Spicy Mayo, Sweet Chili, Wasabi Mayo, and Teriyaki
— Toppings: Chili Powder or Sesame Seeds (free), Tempura or Egg ($ 0.99)
Olivia Z. and I split 2 Rolls + 1 Edamame Cup for just over $ 19. Both were remarkable for their very special unique blandness.
Roll #1:
Seaweed Wrap, Avocado, Jalapeño, Cream Cheese, and Yellowtail Roll with Sesame Chili Oil & Sweet Chili
Roll #2:
Seaweed Wrap, Asparagus, Cream Cheese, Avocado, and Salmon Roll with Spicy Mayo
The final grades aren’t banzai-​worthy even though How Do You Roll? is graded on serving fast food sushi and not Japanese restaurant sushi.
+ Atmosphere (⁴⁄₅) — Fast food bright Orange/​Green décor to wake any appetite.
+ Cleanliness (⁵⁄₅) — Nearly spotless and customer-​less
— Food (²⁄₅) — Skimpy with the Fish … and the Flavor; Dull
— Value (²⁄₅) — Just under $ 20 for 2 rolls just above supermarket quality
— Service (³⁄₅) — Any new place has some kinks to work out; Can’t be harsh, yet.
+ Parking (⁴⁄₅) — Plenty of free parking for the large strip mall
Overall, How Do You Roll? was over-​priced for sushi rolls too tame & lame to be considered great sushi or worthy fast food.