Jia’s Sushi Bistro

Great place to eat. Quiet. Polite staff.

The sushi was not good at all. It was pretty dry — maybe because we went there at night time. I wouldn’t recommend this place for sushi.

We came here minutes before closing (without realizing it… most restaurants stay open until 10, this one shut down at 9) and we were accommodated. The atmosphere is a mix between a restaurant and a store front (as it is in a mini-​mall) but overall I thought they did well with décor. The music had to go, though — 90’s soft rock tunes.
Our server was pleasant, friendly, and accommodating. She was knowledgeable about the menu. We ordered one roll each, an edamame appetizer to share, a miso for me, and boyfriend ordered some app roll with meat on it (so I didn’t pay too much attention). The order of arrival was strange. First, boyfriend got his app. He finished. Then, I got the miso. Then the edamame, moments before our rolls. I had a play on a California roll which included some tempura crab. The texture was strange (almost like shells) but overall the taste was decent.
We were satisfied, not blown away, but fine with the taste of the food. The price was much higher than anticipated, for both sushi and sushi in this location. Thus, 3 stars. The food itself might have earned 3.5, but at $ 12 a roll, I wasn’t feeling it. I can get cheaper stuff in Milwaukee.

This place is great for what it is — reasonably priced sushi.
Stopped in here for lunch and I was rather impressed. There were only 2 people working there but our waitress handled the lunch crowd (7 – 8 tables?) with ease. I ordered the philly roll, spicy tuna, and avocado. I loved the spicy tuna — it had a good kick without being overpowering. My only critique is that I didn’t really like the smoked salmon in the philly — it was a bit drier than I’m used to.
The lunch specials are great here. The rolls are $ 4 each with the option to get a special roll for $ 6. They also have a variety of bento boxes and teriyaki bowls. We were also in and out in under an hour. I’ll be back

Overall, the 2 appetizers we had were great. The main courses were very average.
For apps, we had the blue crab cake which was delicious. Filled with tasty crab and very little filler. The Blushing Geisha roll was great also as our other app.
For entrees we split the Bulgogi and the Shrimp Teriyaki Bento Box. The Shrimp in the box were very small and overall the sauce was just ok. The dish was nothing special. The tempura was very average as well and the tempura sauce was terrible. Not the type of tempura sauce you get usually at all. The Bulgogi was ok… good amount of meat but it was a little too sweet.
Also, for a Thursday night dinner there was NOT A SOUL in the whole place. They must do a good lunch business.
Overall, I’d stick to the sushi if I came here.

I was pretty stoked to see another sushi place open in the area! I couldn’t wait to give this place a whirl. I will kick it off by saying that the server failed to show up for work that day; thus, there was one server for the entire restaurant. I even think the guy making sushi was multi-​tasking and cooking, too. Either way, I expected a longer wait and a not so attentive dining experience. I was, afterall, there for the food.
The place was packed with no tables to spare. It took roughly a half hour to get my food once I placed my order. Not good for those business diners that need a quick in-​and-​out food spot. Granted the situation was unique. There was a lady that came in to pick-​up a take-​out order and she even waited for a good twenty minutes at the sushi counter. I will say that the owner was passing out 20% off coupons for our next visit because of service. Good move on her part.
So enough about the service– the food was good, not fantastic or make you scream out loud, but good. I’ve had better. I had the chicken teriyaki bento box with a side of california roll. Miso soup was very good, but lukewarm– annoying. Bento box is what you would expect. I didn’t like the rice. They used sushi rice instead of regular rice. It was really sticky. California roll was right on target and could take on any other cali roll out there.
Would I come back? Certainly wouldn’t be my first choice. The prices were high and not sure if I want to wait again for sushi I could get from the sushi bar at Fresh Market. Maybe time will help them work out the kinks, but they’ve got to get more staff to meet even an average diner’s expectations. I wish them all the best!

I wish I had taken a photo of the Samurai Roll and the Jalepeno Poppers, prepared to look like a sushi roll with two sauces. People these were AWESOME in every way!
Textures, uniqueness, freshness. Highly recommending these!
Samurai roll is spicy salmon (not at all spicy but added my own wasabi), cr cheese, cucumber, avocado, and something else crunchy on top? But there is fresh salmon on top. A very unique and flavorful roll…
The menu explains the size of the rolls and they seem fairly priced accordingly.
The server was very friendly and knowledgeable.
We will go back just for these items and try other nigiri and maki.
My hubs Bento Box with Beef Niko was a beautiful site and my Beef Short Rib Udon also nice looking although extremely lacking in said beef.
I will get a Bento Box next time or try a shrimp dish. Their Miso soup is basically like everyone else’s in the Milwaukee area but the Salad Dressing is more refined and very good — the salad is composed of mixed baby greens, carrots and tomatoes. Very tasty.
The tempura portion was plentiful and crunchy and the Fried Rice my hubs thought was good.
Just a note that both beef dishes skewed sweet but were not some much that it was inedible, we just hadn’t anticipated this.
I did my Groupon review and mentioned this as well for the owners to see. Jia has a few other non-​Japanese dishes trying to be «Pan Asian». Not sure they need to do that…
All hot food was very well heated and cold was «luke cool», which I prefer for my maki and nigiri.
I have 2 photos to post, how do I add with phone app?!

I’ve been in the Milwaukee Area for about 16 years. I go out to eat about once a week. I’m generally pretty easy to please. In my 16 years, I’ve only been to about 4 restaurants which were so dreadful, I’d never consider returning.
This place is one of them.
I’m no food snob. I don’t need perfection and if a few areas of a restaurant are weak, I’ll usually forgive if they are strong in at least one area (atmosphere, price, portions, service, food quality etc.)
This place fails in every area.
If I had a cookout at my house, I’d be embarrassed to serve my guests what this place considers a meal. Can the cooked food at least be warm and not 5 days old?
Either step it up, or you guys will be out of business very soon.
It’s a shame too because I love Japanese cuisine and it’s only 15 minutes from my house and 5 minutes from my work.

I’m giving Jia’s the benefit of the doubt here. It’s clear there’s a lot of room for improvement, but I am still cautiously hopeful that this will be a nice sushi place since it’s so close to both my home and work.
I just tried three of the most basic of rolls – California, Philadelphia, and spider. The Philadelphia was good, and the spider was quite good with a nice kick to it. The California wasn’t quite so good, but I can’t pinpoint exactly why. It’s such an easy and standard roll but it just seemed lacking.
The staff was very nice, friendly, and quick to make my order, so no complaints there. The dining room is very sparsely decorated, but I think there’s some potential for making it a little more inviting and appealing, and since I got take-​out anyway, that didn’t really matter.
To comment on something the previous reviewer stated, they have a full page of their menu for lunch specials, which is what I got. $ 4 maki rolls, plus reduced price bento boxes, teriyaki bowls, and appetizers. Their menu does seem a little overpriced, so I think I would definitely stick to the lunch menu.