Sushi Sho Japanese Restaurant

This place is our favorite sushi restaurant in OC! My hubby and enjoy the low carb rolls (try Red Dragon or White Snow)…but the Caterpillar roll is amazing! My favorite dish there is always the Eel Jalepeno Tempura… only $ 6.95 and always on their Specials board! Our kids love the chicken katsu, chicken teriyaki, miso soup and shrimp tempura. They always offer fresh oranges with plum wine (for the adults… kids get plain oranges)…it’s free and is the perfect end to a perfect meal. Service is also exceptional. We have been coming here for years, so this review is waaaaaaaay overdue.

Sushi Sho is our favorite sushi restuarant in Costa Mesa/​Newport Beach and we have been to a lot of sushi places around the area. My boyfriend and I are very picky about our sushi, and we go here at least once a week and are always impressed with the quality of fish and tasty rolls they have! The white dragon roll is by far our favorite, we order it every single time and are never disappointed. It is so flavorful and unlike any other roll we have had! This place has tons of regulars who come in because the sushi is very affordable and the guys at the sushi bar are super cool and friendly. They also have great rice-​less rolls for those who are low carb! And the sashimi salad is a great option for people who want more veggies, lots of fish, and a light yummy dressing. I love this place and can’t get enough! It is a must try and worth the wait!

Our favorite sushi spot! From the outside it doesn’t look like much but you won’t be disappointed! The food is mind blowing! Do try the soft shell crab appetizer, the dream roll with soy paper, and the refreshing roll. Don’t pass this spot up by its appearance the food is outstanding!

My husband and I absolutely love coming here for sushi. The atmosphere is inviting and they make the best sushi. We enjoy trying their specials or whatever the chef recommends.

Favorite sushi in Newport Beach. (WASA a close 2^nd). We call this place «Ghetto Sushi» as a loving term but don’t let the ambiance fool you. The sushi is AMAZING! Always fresh and delicious and not the place that covers its fish in heavy sauces to trick the customer. Tried numerous sushi joints on the road utilizing Unilocal and blown away how poor sushi can be. THIS PLACE ROCKS. We are there 1x a week for a reason. Go here and ignore the décor. It’s the sushi that’s the star.

LOVE this place! Great chill spot for date night. I love all their rolls and their Sushito Peppers are amazing. Somethings they are HOT so watch out! Great Sake as well. Definitely coming here more often.

Very delicious and some great rolls, but they are terribly understaffed, thus making the service really bad. Don’t get me wrong, everyone who works there was beyond kind and helpful and was running around like crazy, it was all just terribly slow because it was packed and only 2 servers and 2 guys making the rolls. So when I knock of a star it is not because of the quality of the servers, more the speed of the service itself, but they couldn’t help that!
Was recommended to come here by my sister in law, otherwise I would have never stopped in. She basically ordered everything for us which made it easy because she knew of rolls that were not on the menu.
My top picks:
Thumbs up — tempura and baby lobster with spicy tuna
Refreshing — mixed fish, lemon, jalapeño
Yummy — baby lobster with tuna
Sho special Hand roll — spicy tuna, tempura crunch, avocado

This is the best Sushi place that my husband and I have EVER found. The food is excellent and the staff is so friendly and welcoming. Highly recommend!

Five stars for the food for sure! The services is very slow but they only have two girls working all the tables and the phone so it’s understandable. The spicy garlic edamame is delicious and so is the red dragon roll love this hidden gem

So far, this is still my favorite sushi place in the area. It’s in a small strip mall/​kind of an odd location, and parking can be a pain, but it’s still worth it for me. The prices are decent, and I’ve never had a roll I was unhappy with. I recommend the 911 roll :)

Refreshing, Yummy, Dream and my Favorite the White Dragon… By far the best Sushi in the OC

Saw so many good reviews on Unilocal I had to stop in and try this place. It is tucked in a tiny shopping center. Parking can be a pain and there is technically no lobby hence very little space to wait so if it’s cold outside better be prepared.
I was very impressed by the sushi here. It was crowded, always a good sign, and the chef staff was very friendly and attentive despite the crowd. I found the sushi fresh and the rolls creative and delicious! We had the Refreshing Roll and the Glen Teal roll. Both were absolutely PHENOMENAL! You must try the spicy tuna on crispy rice. Just the right amount of crunch with a tad of sweetness. Some of the best I have ever had. The service staff was friendly and we enjoyed our time and can’t wait to go back. We found the fish to be very fresh as I had an up close and personal view of them working with it at the bar.
I read some Unilocaler who mentioned they were upset because there: «was not one Japanese customer in the place.» Really? As if that was any indicator of quality sushi?! What a laugh.
I highly recommend this joint. I’m looking forward to returning

I loved everything about this sushi spot. The christmas tree was a cute touch. I highly recommend the yummy roll and the spider roll. I tried the garlic edamame and loved it! Decent price for the amount of food. I will definitely be back here the next time I’m in Costa Mesa.

Oh man. So yummy! We decided to stop by after a recommendation from our friends a few months ago. We should have come sooner! Very efficient staff with the traditional sushi/​sashimi staples and some wonderful rolls.
We ordered the veggie tempura, double tuna roll, yellowtail sushi, albacore sashimi and costa mesa roll. Topped it off with a cold kirin and the NFL on the TV. NICE! Will definitely be coming back soon. So enjoyed it. Super satisfied.

Place is in strip mall– nice interior has tvs
Service was horrible
No wasabe or ginger had to ask
Not once did server Come by to take order
Only reason review getting four stars is the albacore salad and dressing it was pretty great
Yellowtail Hand roll was ok 5 out of 10
Double tuna roll 7 out of 10
And prices are decent
Wouldn’t go back but if you’re in area it’s good

I’d give this place 10 stars if I could! Brandy was our sever first off and she was incredibly friendly and although it was very busy she was quick and polite! I had the yummy roll and refresher roll !!! The yummy roll is phenomenal !! Next year when we come down here for the sand show we will be back!

This place is located in a non-​descript little strip mall. I like going to the laundry mat next to them and due to my sushi fantasisim popped in here about 7 years ago and did not stop coming back.
Pros: incredibly delicious rolls. Our faves are, double tuna (get this one EVERYTIME we go) red dragon roll, refresh and what we NEVER, EVER pass on it the scipy scallop hand roll
My husband eats sushi because I eat sushi and 99.99% of the time I decide what we are going to eat and he goes along with it.
The moment he had his first bit of the spicy scallop roll things changed. He will call me, text me or hand signal me to get him these rolls at least once a week. We have had the same hand rolls at other places and always seem to comment. «Not as good as sushi sho»
Cons: location. Unless someone tells you about this place, or happen across it by accident like I did. You would never know. You can’t see if from either street. Once your in the miniscule parking lot you have to hunt for a door.
Parking lot, it is frigging miniscule and a pain.
Bums/​homeless: this is a HUGE issue in Costa Mesa. There is an over abundance of bums/​homeless people due to so many half way homes and food banks that exist. I have never NOT been hit up by someone here for spare change.
Small & slow: if you are not starving, call in and order to go. Not only can save money by not over paying for beer here. (You need a beer when eating sushi) you won’t have a big delay between ordered dishes.
Slow service, even when it is empty. Not sure if this is supposed to be part of the experience but, it is definitely annoying. Place is small, enough said.
I would definitely recommend for the food.

Wow talk about bad service!!!
First my friend’s can of soda was old and when my friend told the server she didn’t even apologize and gave a strange face. Oh and when she gave us the drinks she gave me my friends order instead of mine. I switched our drinks in front of the server but guess she didn’t care she messed up. And when we put our cards for the bill she just grabbed it and walked away. Ummm don’t you usually ask if we want to split or pay separately? I had to say wait! Wait! Wait!
There are a lot of good sushi places around here. I will not come back because of the service.

I love sushi… And I eat a lot of sushi. So for me to come here so often it must be good! I’m going to keep it real about this place. The inside does not have a beautiful ocean view, a mesmerizing view of Palm trees and sunsets… Or any view at all. The restaurant is situated on the inner corner of a strip mall and therefore does not have any windows. Strange, yes, but please just accept that the food is good enough to sacrifice a lovely ambiance.
I see a lot of people complaining about the service, but to be honest I’ve never had an issue. The wait staff does their job and has never been unkind to me. The sushi chefs are also super friendly! One time we asked what kind of iced green tea they use and one of the chefs was nice enough to go into the kitchen and give us a packet of the tea for free. Sweet!
The nigiri is great here, huge fish to rice ratio. Sometimes I feel ghetto because I have to cut my fish in half with my chopsticks, it’s literally too much for one bite at times. But totally not complaining about that! My favorite nigiri sushi here are the salmon, yellowtail belly, and the tuna special which is tuna sushi with avocado and special sauce.
They also have many creative rolls and a lot of them have a unique sauce to compliment the roll. Some of my favorites are the white dragon roll, refreshing roll, and dream roll. There is also the sushi sho special hand roll which is a mixture of spicy tuna, crab and something crunchy. Get it with soy paper, it’s awesome, trust me.

Had an opportunity to have lunch in OC during the week. After having a tough meeting, I was craving good sushi. My colleague in OC suggested that this was a good restaurant. We decided to try the place.
The size of the restaurant was small, but it was packed. This is a good sign. We ordered sushi lunch, volcano, bento box, and dynamite. Food was in between ok and good, like B+ or A-​. If service was good, I would give them solid 4 stars. But we all agreed that we had never seen blunt waitresses like them before. The menu was dumped on the table and they were so slow. Yes, they brought the food we ordered, but I expect more than the minimum requirement.
Please put a smile on your face, girls. You will make the restaurant much more pleasant than the way it is now. Thank you for good sushi, but the service needs to be improved.