Maki Fresh

The sushi was horribly put together. Good sushi should have every ingredient in every piece. Most piece were just rice. The tuna is not the freshest nor the presentation. I’m afraid if this is the first place one tries sushi her or she would not eat it again. More training preparing the dishes would be a first step to getting better.

We come here for the food but every time are underwhelmed and/​or disappointed by the service. Acting like your customers don’t exist until you ring them up is rude enough, but checking your phone while at the register is ridiculous. Just thought the owner of this place would like to know your employees act like your restaurant is a joke.

I come here probably 3 times a week and the food is always excellent. Today, however, it took 20 minutes for my rice bowl which was then cooked with the wrong kind of rice and when I asked the manager for another one, she brought back one with half the amount of food in it and no Brussel sprouts. Because I am a regular, I politely asked if I could have more Brussel sprouts (it is a $ 13 bowl after all) and when I did that the manager proceeded to roll her eyes and turn around without a word. Maki fresh is usually great about customer service and it pained me to write this review, but as it is one of my favorite places for dinner, I hope this will soon be corrected!

I’ve had Maki Fresh in Birmingham, so I had some of the same expectations for this Maki Fresh location. The service and the cleanliness of the restaurant was wonderful. The service was so nice and sweet, even after I had accidentally knocked over a handful of menus all over the floor.
I can’t say the same about the sushi. It was really, really terrible. I ordered the Tiger Roll which was basically a stale, skinny, and chewy tempura that was loosely wrapped up in a roll that made it all look very unappetizing. No wonder they dumped a pile of crab salad on top of it to try and hide the catastrophe below. This is probably the worst sushi I’ve ever had in my life, and it was nearly $ 11 for 8 bite-​sized pieces. They were almost as small as Chick-​Fil-​A chicken nuggets. I was starving afterwards and had to scavenge for a second meal around my home afterwards.

I was hoping this franchise would meet my expectations as the one in Bham. No… way. My husband had the seaweed salad which made him Very Sick. There were not many people in there which should have been a red flag it was not that clean, cooking area stainless steel looked dirty. Girl taking orders was dressed inappropiatedly. Will never go back to this location. So disappointing.

I really hate going to a place that I’ve been looking forward to and being let down. I was really hoping to leave a good review, but that wasn’t the case.
For the price, I expected a lot more food than I got. The taste of the food was good, but it wasn’t spectacular by any stretch. I had the salmon bowl which was okay. The fish was nothing to rave about, but I did like the brussel sprouts. Mostly the bowl was full of bean sprouts.
The wait was also absolutely unacceptable. We watched other tables get their food as we waited 30 minutes with a half empty restaurant. Then some of our own table got food 10 minutes before the rest of us. There seemed to be no logical reason for this delay.
If service had been even a little more impressive I may have given 3 stars. But considering no one even mentioned the wait, I’m staying with 2.
So all in all, I was thoroughly unimpressed.

Very tasty and healthy options. Fast and friendly service. My favorite is the salmon rice bowl. Love how they grill the Brussel sprouts. Doesn’t have the greatest ambiance so I prefer having lunch over dinner there. Overall one of the few tasty and healthy restaurants in Tuscaloosa.

I’m not going to act like Maki Fresh has the best sushi ever, at the best prices, with the best atmosphere… but I will say that I have never had a bad experience here. It’s convenient to where I (and many other Northporters) live. On most occasions, it takes ten minutes or less to get your food here, and you can call ahead. They have a decent selection of unique rolls. Some of them are very un-​authentic (grilled chicken?), but that could be a good thing if you’re visiting with someone who isn’t a sushi fan. There’s no particular roll that I’m a huge fan of… of all of them, Samauri is probably my favorite.
I’ve also had their salmon bowl, and it was very good. Since I come here fairly frequently, I would like to see them expand their menu options or offer special rolls, since I have gotten a bit bored with the rolls they offer. I have also called in orders a couple of times but still had to wait for quite a while when I arrived, even though I got there when they said it would be ready.
Overall, I’m glad we have Maki Fresh since it’s the only sushi spot that I’m aware of on our side of town. I might not have given it five stars, but I love sushi and Maki Fresh is super convenient, so I’m sure I’ll continue to be a customer.

Nothing special here. Just seems to cut a lot
corners. Sushi is average at best and rice bowls just seem very bland. Only thing I really like is the Brussels sprouts add chicken.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting much as this was my first experience with a fast casual sushi restaurant. I was expecting generic roll combinations with average freshness. And I’m real picky about sushi, since I’m from South Florida where fish is super fresh always.
I was pleasantly surprised by Maki Fresh! Sure, I wouldn’t go here for the atmosphere, and it’s a little disappointing that a fast casual sushi restaurant is rather out of the way from the university because it would be a perfect lunch spot. That being said, the roll combinations were actually pretty creative! I settled on the Blossom Roll, which comes with salmon, Fuji apple, arugula, goat cheese, and lemon thyme vinaigrette. A great choice because not only was the fish very fresh, but it tasted quite like a salad and was one of the more unique rolls I’ve ever tried. All of the flavors tied together perfectly, and the goat cheese and apple combination was heavenly. I also tried some of my boyfriend’s Samurai Roll, which has ahi tuna, asparagus, avocado, and cucumber. I’m always a fan of asparagus, and paired with a bit of sriracha, this roll is also quite heavenly. I’m really looking forward to going back to Maki Fresh next time I visit my alma mater!

Great spot! My sis and I tried it out last night for dinner. We enjoyed the tempura green beans as our app – light & crispy. I ordered the salmon rice bowl for dinner – really liked the brussels in the bowl! I would love to come back and enjoy a fall day out on the patio. They aren’t serving alcohol yet, but said they expect to by next week {for those of you who like a sip of wine with dinner}.