Miyake Restaurant

RIP Miyake. Many a good time were had here.

We are so bummed Miyakes is closed! I was sad to see such negative reviews as our family has always enjoyed it. It definitely Was what it Was. A Fun, Loud, Upbeat place with cheap sushi!
I’ve actually been going to Miyake’s since the late 80s when it was in a tiny little place further down University. I always looked forward to the Greeting Shout as you walked in and when you left. If you wanted a quiet little lunch, this was not the place, but if you wanted good, fast, reasonably priced sushi with some entertainment of the hustle and bustle, it was your spot.
Miyake’s definitely changed over the years but we still enjoyed it. We’ve brought our boys since they were 3 & 4 (now 10 & 11) and they had a blast seeing how many plates they could finish. We just made sure we went early as to beat the Ball, but the boys did enjoy seeing people line up and watch the place transform before their eyes. Sadly its been our tradition to have an early New Years dinner there and this year we had to go without.
Of course it may not have been for everyone, but again, it WAS what it WAS, a Fun, Loud, Upbeat place with Good, Cheap sushi!
We’ll miss you Miyake!

This place confuses me. We went on a weekend evening, and it felt like they were trying oh-​so-​desperately to combine a restaurant environment with a club environment… flashing lights and loud ass music and disco balls, but instead of dancing, you see people sitting at tables eating average sushi. Very confusing. Does not work. Too old for this shit.
But to be fair, I would probably enjoy this place if I were still 21… crap, is my age showing?

725 reviews as of 8÷18÷12 but only 2.5 stars? My curiosity sprung alive, I had to find out why !
The restaurant itself is kind of tacky. Service was ok. I came during the afternoon so it was pretty empty. I ordered a variety of things to have a better judgment. True to its location, miyake has named its rolls using different company names such as Stanford, HP, Cisco, Yahoo etc
My order:
Lion king $ 10.50 — it wasn’t crunchy, and didnt have a lot of flavor.
Edamame $ 1.95 — not salty, and really hard :(
Salmon nigiri: 2.95 — the salmon didnt taste fishy, in fact it didnt have a taste at all !
Total: $ 16.95
Well now i understand why it has only 2 stars. Its edible, that’s it.
Curiosity has led me to awesome places, not this time.

I just can’t get enough of screaming «BOMB» at the top of my lungs, and I guess my friends and I are becoming a bit too regularly since our favorite waiter, Tsuru, remembers us as the girls who get like 20 bottles at a time.
Definitely not the place to go for food, but who wants to be eating at a restaurant that is blasting club jams, flashing lights, and having people stand on top of their chairs screaming for sake bombs? Just take it for what it is and join the whole room in a sake bomb =)

It was out of hunger and desperation that my group wound up at Miyake. Our original destination — the much more appealing Pampas around the corner — was, as the hostess put it, «unusually crazy for a Tuesday night.» So instead our half-​hour venture to Palo Alto was rewarded by third-​rate sushi at this hole-​in-​the-​wall dispensary that kowtows to local corporate conglomerates (and apparently one or two you’ve scarcely heard of). Oddly enough, corporations have actually requested a roll be named after them, though personally I’d fine you for libel.
I knew when I took my first sip of water masquerading as green tea that we had erred. Couple that with stale sushi and a rowdy group of frat boys shouting «sake bomb» every fifteen minutes and you’ve got Miyake.
The sashimi was a joke. The cowboy poki roll tasted like tough beef wrapped around a stalk of celery and some tasteless crushed red blob. The dragon roll was passable, but it’s hard to mess up tempura. They could just as easily have served us the display sushi and we’d be hard pressed to finger the counterfeit. Miyake’s only saving grace is that they supply you with loads of Wasabi strong enough to mask the taste, or lack thereof.
Don’t make the mistake of going for sentimental reasons either — it’s just depressing. Part of the reason we settled for this place is that my boyfriend remembered it being decent, though he later confessed to not knowing much about sushi at the time. If it’s cheap sushi you’re aiming for, I recommend a trip to your grocery’s deli.
Next time I’ll stay local and hit up Olleh in Sunnyvale, where I have never been disappointed.

Waiting on quality of food but service was pretty fast. Took my order really quick and offered me hot tea on a cold day. I’m not sure why people give it such bad reviews. I got a salmon teriyaki bento box with salmon sashimi. The salmon filet was cooked nicely. Although there was a lot of teriyaki sauce on it, it had a good flavor. The salad wasn’t great. The tempura was delicious. The white rice was decent. The bento box was really filling and very cheap at $ 7.25. The complimentary miso soup was good.
The salmon hand roll had better quality salmon than all of the other sushi places on University of avenue in downtown Palo Alto. The salmon skin hand roll was really hard and crispy, which I didn’t like (and which is probably why it was offered at a special price of $ 1 per hand roll).

Cool sushi place at night. Came here with a group of friends for our friend KJ’s birthday. Our group consisted of 15+ people
The service at Miyakes was good from my experience. When arriving there is a security guard checking ID for people drinking which was a bit weird for a sushi place and the employees got a row of tables ready for us in a couple minutes. Getting our food took a while but it was expected with our large group and for the mean time we had Sake bombs.
There is thing called the Sake Tower for the birthday people can do. Practically standing on chair and taking back to back Sake shots.
The food was good but nothing great. My friends and I shared the sushi we had ordered. I tasted the loin king roll, spicy hamachi roll, dragon roll, Salmon teriyaki bento box from what I remembered. The only cool thing is that they have sushi rolls with silicon valley company name like IBM, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook rolls.
The price is reasonable in my opinion, for 15+ people which came up to $ 400+ including tip and gratuity.

First thought: «I’m getting carded for a restaurant?» You walk into Miyake and you get hit in the face by a wall of musty, fog-​filled air. Lights are off, the music is blaring, and 40+ yr old women are standing on their chairs taking sake bombs. Don’t get me wrong, sake bombs are always fun, but this place just struck me as the opposite of what you’d expect from a Japanese restaurant. It’s a good time for a group of college students, but seemed a bit over the top to me. I didn’t get to try the food, but it looked decent.
A thing I found strange was that a mother and son were walking around making balloon animals. When you’re drunk it seems like a good idea to put on a balloon hat, but once they start asking for payment, it’s kind of a buzz kill. Their service would probably be better off at a place where you don’t have to get carded upon entry, seeing as though there were probably no kids there.
If anything, I’d give Miyake another try for lunch, when it’s a little more tame.

I’ve come here a couple times for lunch but not by choice. For some reason this is my coworkers favorite sushi spot so we come here annually for his birthday.
If you don’t come here before the lunch hour rush, it can be hard to find street parking in downtown Palo Alto. We had a table for 10 and got there early to avoid that rush. It’s a corner spot on University avenue so there is a lot of foot traffic. The restaurant itself is pretty big and can accompany several large groups of people.
They have really good lunch special deals so I always usually end up getting a bento box when I come here for lunch. However, don’t come to Miyake for the sushi. Everytime I’m here I try a different roll and still have yet to find a roll that I really like. They dont have a picture menu but they have a lot of special rolls which are also advertised on the walls of the restaurant. I got up one time to look at some of these rolls and was not approached by any of the staff members to see if I had any questions.
+2 stars because of the lunch special deals, but definitely way below the bar when it comes to sushi.

The best sushi party joint for any birthday or celebration!
The food sucks. They are not known for their food though so it doesn’t matter. They are known for their wild party setup, where you can stand up on chairs and do sake bombs while loud music plays in the background.
The place looks like a club scene at night. It’s dark, a disco ball is up, and the waiters are telling everyone to stand up and drink their sake bombs. They will countdown for you and then the whole group will take a drink together.
For a birthday, they will make the birthday person down a whole thing of sake, basically three shots of sake back-​to-​back. You also get a polaroid picture as proof of your accomplishment.
You always have a good time here. Even though the food sucks, I love coming back here just for the atmosphere and the sake bombs. This place is pretty one-​of-​a-​kind in this area.

Let’s get one thing straight. You’re not going to come here because you’re in the mood for fine-​dining. You’re going to come here because you’re ready to have sake bombs while standing up on your chairs, and hearing the drunken hoots and hollaring of the nearby tables.
Food: I’ve ordered everything from the chicken teriyaki, to the Cisco Roll and the Microsoft role. For starters, the fact that they have sushi rolls named after tech giants. well that’s a hat’s off. The sushi itself unfortunately is mediocre. My inner Asian asked for siracha, and the waiter returned with a bowl that looked like it had been wiped off with a napkin. Literally, after one piece of sushi, I needed more siracha.
Ambiance: This is what you’re really coming here for. This place is awesome for a large, loud group, and birthdays. If it’s your birthday, you get to happily stand upon a chair while someone pours you 3 – 4 sake shots, and finishes with a sake bomb. Now you’re ready to get this party started. The waiters are ethusiastic, service is SUPER quick.
I’m giving this place 4 stars because the time’s I’ve been here have been a blast! But foodies, go elsewhere. My fellow party rock patrol — COME HERE!

I thought my handroll was surprisingly decent and the waiters were friendly (albeit probably drunk), so they get one star. But the ambiance and clientele make me never inclined to come back unless somehow I’m ridiculously plastered already by 11 pm.
If your idea of a good sushi eating experience is eating sushi at 11 pm in a restaurant with a smoke machine, strobe lights, surrounded by drunk, not so classy MBA students doing sake bombs… go for it.
If America had its own version of an izakaya would this be it? My heart cringes at the thought.

The sushi quality is bad.
The food quality is soso.
The waiters tend to be snarky and have some «swipe your driver license» device to make sure your legit.
But man, so many good memories here. I swear from all the Sake Bombs I’ve drank leaves this big black hole in my memory, yet somehow when I leave Palo Alto, I think, DAMN that was good.
I love this place. I’ve seriously been coming here since before I was 21, which was a long long long long time ago. I use to go to the Cupertino Miyake because the quality of food was better, but their something so bad about their Bento boxes that it turns out good. My guilty pleasure, I actually like their California rolls.
Anyhow, I really can’t explain why the food deserves 5 stars, nor tell you the Venue is amazing and that is why on Friday nights you will wait in line while obnoxious college kids stand on chairs chanting «SAKE BOMB!»
But bottom of my heart, I have a deep sweet spot for Miyake. Oh yah food is relatively cheap.

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Not all authentic or the best sushi to have, but the place is always super friendly, cheap rolls and special, where you can get loud and all OK! Quick fix, better than any fast food on the this strip! Good for big party!

No comment really on the food, its average but really it’s the lively, energetic feel of this place that really leers you in! Waiters are super friendly and everyone’s just having a good time in dt PA.
STAND ON YOUR CHAIR, the fog machine blows, the shutter lights start to flicker to Top 40’s and the host of the night shouts on the mic «WHEN I SAY SAKE.»
you say BOMB! Super fun, good for college celebrations.
+ Bring your ID; they have security right in front of the door

Some of you might think I’m crazy for saying this, but sushi is easily my favorite food, and Miyake is easily STILL my favorite restaurant (even after moving to LA). Its the only place I know of where I can get an order of avocado rolls for less than $ 2 and premium rolls for $ 5.25. Boo yah! Can you beat that?! No way!!! Nothing compares to it, and because of my love affair with Miyake, I’ve had a terrible time trying to find something that compares to it after leaving the bay area.
I LOVE Miyake, damnit. Yeah, beginning around 8pm on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night, theres going to be people drinking beer and sake, being obnoxious, and probably standing on their chairs and yelling. Miyake is notorious for that, which is just another reason why this place is the dope shit. If you’re not down with it, either come earlier or check out one of the other Japanese restaurants in PA. Its as simple as that.
Duh, if you’re out trying to have a quiet meal, it totally makes sense that people who are trying to party are going to be annoying. Unfortunately that just comes with the territory on weekend nights. I’m not saying that you’re in the wrong, just giving you a heads up before you go on the wrong night and get a poor impression.
To me, Miyake means home… It means good food and special dinners with my mom where we order far too much food, stuff ourselves, and never spend more than $ 20… Pretty damn amazing.
Oh, and the service pretty much sucks, but I try and look past that. Free green tea and inexpensive delicious amazing goodness makes up for it. Rarely am I willing to compromise my standards for food service, but for Miyake, that soft warm spot in my heart grows like the Grinch in Whoville, and I become patient and understanding.
Eat sushi. Drink sake. Be happy.
Oh yes, and don’t forget…
” When I say sake, you say bomb! Sake! Bomb! Sake! Bomb! ”

I left my heart in MIYAKE CUPERTINO!
How can people hate this place! Even my cousins from So CAL were so depressed when I told them the cupertino location shut down!
The California Rolls are THE BEST EVER!!!
and their salad is So good! with that special sauce they have.
Just writing this review makes me crave it and want to go back for more.
I will say however. If you’re looking for quality rolls and sashimi I will admit there are restaurants with higher quality and more richness.
The service was fair. Not bad. Not good.

Some UCSD buddies and I met up for dinner after a hackathon party and one of them chose the hip and happening Miyake to grab some grub at. Built almost entirely around the sake bomb, the strobes and smoke couldn’t hide the fact that just about everything else was pretty bunk.
I ordered the salmon teriyaki bento box, served with salad, miso soup, rice, edamame, some tuna sashimi, and mixed tempura. The salmon was so overcooked that it was almost inedible and the tempura was mostly potatoes. Even the sashimi seemed a bit off. Needless to say, I was not a big fan of the food.
The party environment was held together by the dimming of the lights, standing on your chair, and chanting «When I say sake, you say bomb! SAKE, BOMB!», and made me feel like I was in a Rosarito sushi bar. It was totally disorienting and while it was fun the first few times, I eventually got annoyed by people spilling drinks from above.
Honestly, Miyake is mostly hype and best in large, drunken groups. It’s pretty much terrible for everything else and you will never ever see any wait-​staff that give 2 shht’s about your needs. The company we had was awesome but as a restaurant, Miyake was a total disaster.
Food: ²⁄₁₀
Service: ²⁄₁₀
Price: $$
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀

I probably wouldn’t come here unless it was for a birthday…
I like Miyakes… it is so fun to go with a group of friends. It is a good place for large groups and for sake-​bombing all night. I always get their sukiyaki, and their tofu steak is delicious.

Tolles Sushi im Herzen von Palo Alto. Vorsicht am Wochenende wirds voll. Billig ist der Laden auch nicht grade aber macht Spaß