Makkara

I have to be brutally honest here. I must give them a negative star, unfortunately I can’t. The reason why I went there is because I brought the coupon. The food sucks very bad. They don’t have a kitchen in the restaurant, so they microwave eel and shrimp tempura. The ingredients are not very fresh. The service sucks as well. The waiter/​chief don’t know how to serve, he gave us a chopstick per dash. I have to tell him stop giving us chopsticks. This restaurant is absolutely horrible. I will not recommend anyone to go there, except you want to have some creepy sushi.

I understand the mixed reviews. The customer service was not the best, but the Dragon Roll was awesome.

I’m surprised Makkara only has three stars! I came here today with my cousin and was impressed by the fresh-​tasting, filling rolls.
The interior is really nothing impressive, but the prices are reasonable and the food is great. My cousin is a bit of a sushi newbie, so we stuck with safe, cooked fish and order the california roll and an eel california roll. Both were wonderful! The rice was perfect and the rolls were surprisingly big. Me, the woman with a bottomless pit as a stomach, was pleasantly full after only one roll! That is a difficult feat.
Will definitely be back!

What can I say? Once upon a time, this was my favorite sushi place in Ann Arbor. Unfortunately, the last 3 times I’ve gone, it was terrible. At one time, there spicy tuna rolls were phenomenal, now I can barely swallow the old tasting fish. Last week the sushi was poorly rolled and I literally had to douse it in wasabi and soy to mask the awful taste. The miso soup, which was once splendid has continued to decline. How is this possible when it has been the same two staff members for as long as I can remember?
If I go again, I will only get the safe pickled radish or cucumber roll.

Don’t be tricked by the Groupon. This place is just one step above grocery store sushi. Maybe it was that we came in right before they closed, but nothing was fresh. Big quantity for the price, but quality makes it not really worth it. Not sure what all these 5 star reviews are about! Also this is not really a dine-​in place– most business is takeout it seems. And I would describe the customer service as… confused at best.

Just when you think you’re getting $ 25 worth of sushi for $ 3, you read the fine print:
«…$ 3 gets you $ 25 worth of sushi… blah blah… Minimum order must be AT LEAST $ 35…yadda yadda…18% gratuity added to original total before redemption of $ 25 coupon…»
Let’s do a little Makkara Math:
If x = amount of sushi ordered in dollars
then y = the REAL price you paid for a $ 3
’voucher’
For the conservative spender, the MINIMUM cost of a Makkara meal (where x = $ 35) is:
y = $ 3 + ((0.18 * x)) * 1.06 + (x — $ 25) = $ 3 + ((0.18 * $ 35)) * 1.06 + ($ 35 — $ 25) = $ 3 + ((6.3)) * 1.06 + ($ 10) = $ 6.68 + $ 13 = $ 19.68
If you factor in lost wages due to kitchen inefficiencies, you just bought yourself $ 25 worth of sushi for twenty-​five dollars… or more precisely, you just bought yourself $ 25 worth of partially defrosted, questionably palatable, sloppily prepared, $hitty-​a$$ sushi for twenty-​five dollars!!!
There’s a reason even the GROCERY stores have begun to make their own sushi…
FUKKMAKKARA

Went here after buying a Groupon and we were not disappointed at all. In terms of ambiance and location, Makkara deserves 1 star. It’s in a strip mall and decorations are minimal. If you can get beyond this, you’re in for a very good sushi meal. The menu is standard for sushi and the rolls are huge! The rolls are ~$ 7 and come with 11 pieces! The fish was very fresh and filling.
I’d recommend Makkara to anyone looking for good sushi at a reasonable price. I wouldn’t recommend it for a date or someone looking for an upscale Japanese restaurant.

Well, I was going to rate this place 3 stars, but the description of «Meh, I’ve experienced better» fits much better. Being a sushi fiend, I purchased a
$ 25 certificate which required a $ 35 purchase. No prob, I thought. So the bf and I go off happily to squelch unbearable desires for fresh raw fish in what I hope will be a nice experience. Anyway, we get there, and it’s really much more of a take-​out place. The formica black tables were not wiped down, even though there was only one couple sitting and eating there. There was just a TV sitting on top of the soda cooler for ambiance, playing the evening news. Not really relaxing. The prices for the rolls were average, not especially cheap. We bought 6 rolls, and our bill came to be $ 41 dollars above and beyond the gift certificate, because that included a mandatory 18% tip. Well, the price really wasn’t the problem, I should have paid close attention to what we were ordering, but i did think… I could have certainly gotten a gift certificate to an actual NICE Japanese restaurant and I wouldn’t have felt bad about paying the overage… but here?
The sushi was very fresh, the fish portions were a bit thin, and the two staff there were very disorganized. We ordered 2 hot green teas and got two mugs of hot water with lipton green tea bags. Come ON, get some bulk green tea and have it made up… it wouldn’t even cost more, would it? Very cheesy. I ask for a refill of the empty soy sauce bottle, I ask for sweetener, we ask for ice water, and I hear from the back «what does she want now??» so… that really annoyed me. Put the sweetener on the table, keep your soy bottles filled, and get me some real green tea and I won’t send you back to the kitchen to get them, especially since you’re guaranteed an 18% tip whatever your table service is like.
So one guy seemed to have his stuff together; he was making sushi rolls, and right after us a large family came in and ordered a bunch of things… I was worried we’d never get served, but he asked us which two rolls we’d like first, so that was perfectly fine with me. We didn’t end up waiting long for the rolls, but there was a mix up where the second guy just couldn’t figure out (of the only TWO currently occupied tables) which rolls were supposed to go where. So one of our rolls went to the other table, and they had to make it again for us. Whatever… they were just disorganized. I had bought 2
certificates to this place, and believe me, I’m going to watch exactly what I order so I don’t end up giving them any more than the $ 10 overage required plus 18% tip. The sushi was also unevenly cut, as in, some of the roll pieces were thinner and others thicker… definitely not impressed with this place or their prices.

I went to Makkara today with high expectations due to their relatively cheap prices, as far as sushi is concerned. Needless to say, the cheap prices are there for a reason, its due to the cheap quality. Though I am always in search of cheap sushi, the discount on the sushi just is not worth it in this case. They sparingly give very small rolls with limited amounts of ingredients. The rice tasted old and stale and they have a menu that offers only about 15 sushi dishes without description.
Going to this restaurant will have you waste $ 20 something dollars on sushi that should be worth about $ 2. I would not recommend this place at all.

I used to stop by here fairly regularly for some take-​out. True, they are pretty cheap, and they have a good vegetarian roll menu. I’ve never dined in or gotten anything fancy. The owners are super nice and recognized me as a regular. I’ve always had good experiences here; I don’t know where the bad reviews come from.

The owners are really just the sweetest people ever, and you can’t beat the prices! The sushi tasted fine, but I was a little weirded out by the appearance – the rolls looked more like Korean kimbap than the sushi I am used to getting at other Japanese restaurants. I would like to go back and eat there again, but it is a little out of the way.

I think this place is great! I also don’t eat meat or fish so this review is just for the veggie sushi. They have such a wide selection and it’s so cheap. Very yummy! the soup comes in a giant bowl and I crave it when I am not there. The owners are nice and will remember preferences after a while. Not the best décor (definitely not a first date location) but great for sushi.

Makkara has become a very regular part of our routine since moving to the Packard/​Platt district of Ann Arbor. While I enjoy one or two other sushi restaurants in the area more, this is a reliable and tasty take out place in my neighborhood.
The wait time can be a bit long as this is obviously a family run business with only a few employees. At no point have I ever experienced a wait time that seemed unreasonable, and at least you can watch them prepare the sushi and see the kind of backlog of orders you might be competing with.
Makkara’s weekly specials are quite the deal, especially on Friday nights. Our favorites include the spicy whitefish roll, the caterpillar roll (it’s a nickname for unagi and avocado, not the insect!), and the crunchy shrimp tempura. I usually don’t stray from the rolls, but my occasional forays into seaweed salad, miso soup and nigiri has been fine. Most importantly, this is probably the least expensive (but good) sushi in town. Maybe Sushi Dot Com is cheaper, but c’mon, Sushi Dot Com?
Anyway, I’m not making any claims about Makkara being the best place in town. Makkara is consistent, tasty sushi for someone who isn’t looking to break the bank on a simple take out meal.

Solid, cheap, quick sushi. Great for busy days when you’re spelunking the sofa for eats monies.
Reliable and friendly counter-​type service, ‘twixt arb and ypsi. Great on the run and price is right.

Tried this on a whim as it’s close to work. Basically the exterior was a bit daunting, and the décor is reminiscent of a bare-​bones diner. However it didn’t smell like fish, and for Sushi aficionados, that’s a big plus!
The menu was heavy on vegetarian sushi, and the selection otherwise was somewhat limited, but nothing we couldn’t work around.
We started off with a small miso soup for my wife and a miso and rice for myself. The small miso soup was actually quite large, and the miso and rice was downright a meal in itself! The miso was unusual in that it had imitation crab, no green onion, and carrots in it. I rather liked it, but my wife wasn’t so sure about the crab.
We had a spicy tuna roll, a California roll ½ crab, ½ smoked salmon, tuna nigiri, white tuna nigiri, and shrimp nigiri. Basically, the best I can say is that it was O.K. Nothing special, but not «bad» either. Certainly no frills here, but you get what you pay for as things are reasonably priced. Die hard sushi «experts» probably should steer clear, but if you want to get something quick on a budget, you could certainly do worse! Truth be told, I’ll probably go back…

Ive been to Makkara at least five times so far. its def. some of the better sushi ive tried in the ann arbor area.
you can see where they prepare the food, and it looks very clean.
their prices are good, and service is great, the people who work their are really nice.

Ok, I really want to give this place 3.5 stars, but I can’t, so I’m going with 3 stars. An extensive sushi menu with a lot of really well priced rolls, ranging from the ubiquitous $ 1.50 cucumber roll to a $ 9 dragon roll. They had an awesome deal for a tuna roll+miso soup for $ 8, and their Sushi for 2 at $ 19 is also a great deal. The sushi itself was pretty good. Not 5 star, but definitely on par with what you can get in A2. And they do party trays at reasonable prices, so if you want sushi for your next party, this is the place to go.
I was disappointed in the soba noodles. They were sticky and overcooked, I think they should just stick with the sushi. But they do have a mini-​grocery section if you need say, sriracha sauce or sushi wraps in a pinch.

Makkara is quick, cheap, tasty, and close to my parents’ house. Score!
Don’t come here looking for fancier rolls, though they do have a good selection of veggie rolls from which to choose.
Ambiance is nil. The one time I ate in, Sponge Bob was on the tv, a random kid running around, and some guy was doing bookkeeping work at another table. It was a little uncomfortable, since we were the only customers in the restaurant. Definitely prefer take out.

I’m not extremely particular about sushi, which is to say I’m no aficionado. All the same, I do care about what I’m eating, and I love Makkara for more than just the good prices. The sushi is as good as any I’ve had elsewhere. I am a vegetarian, so I can’t speak to the dishes that include animals, but the various veggie friendly rolls are great, and the people who work there are great, too.

Makkara is great. Very simple, casual dining. Good for lunch more than dinner because they close early. Prices are about as good as it gets for sushi in the area.
Location isn’t the greatest, but the bang for your buck makes up for it!