Sushiya Express

For it being what it is (a restaurant that caters towards college students, and a «fast-​food» sushi joint), it’s not bad. Their salmon is wonderful, they have Sushiya Combos that gives you the best bang for your buck (rice entrée, miso soup, + 6piece roll for 12.95), and their current deal with all their Classic Rolls for $ 4.99 is great! Definitely satisfies my sushi cravings while being an IV resident!

Surprisingly good, bit expensive though. California Roll was mediocre however the Spicy Tuna Roll, Crunch Roll, Shrimp and Hamachi were pretty good.

The rice is super hard in the rolls and the plates are expensive.

My personal favorite place to eat in iv. Foods really good and great service. I’ve ordered a bunch of different foods from here and they are always great. Would totally recommend.

Came in right when it opened. The place is nice and open. However, the food wasn’t that good. The fish didn’t seem fresh and the miso soup tasted like water. The rolls were also a bit too drenched in sauce so it kept falling apart. The service was fine, but probably wouldn’t come back if I was craving sushi.

My Rating of Sushiya Express is «A-​OK.».

Quick easy to go on campus dab.
A-​OK service, A-​OK quality, A-​OK price.
But with sushi you dont wanna go wrong.

sushi is very low quality, and very expensive. They’ll have something for $ 14 up on their wall and charge you $ 17 without a reasonable explanation. Definitely NOT worth the price. If you want sushi nearby id recommend pre packaged because it’s better than what they serve there.

Been coming here for a few years now. Service was always ridiculously slow, from totally uncaring student employees, but the food was pretty good and for a great price and large portion. Just came in after a couple month hiatus to find a (minimum) 20% price increase, but closer to 50% on nearly all «classic rolls».
Great miso soup. Love the crunch roll. Fresh food. Just don’t come if you’re in a rush to eat (sushi is made to order, which is nice).

This by far is the crappiest sushi place in Goleta period. The price is ridiculous for the quality and the servers are rude. Had to wait an hour for a pick up order because they were the only place open. They told me it wasnt their fault for waiting an HOUR to make my food. Had to get a refund. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

I have only been here twice but I like that they open late. Both times I went there, the cashiers were students. Since it was an order at the counter joint, I did not expect service. As long as they are smiling, I would consider it relatively good service. The two servers were friendly and helpful when we asked about items on the menu.
The most recent time we went, I ordered a teriyaki beef combo with a California roll and J ordered a teriyaki salmon combo with a tuna roll. The combos were relatively cheap, ranging from $ 9-​$ 11. I like that they had complimentary miso soup because none of the sushi place I have been to in the SB area give free miso soup. The teriyaki beef tasted like Korean bbq bulgogi, which was strange but tasty. The CA roll was really cold, like they took it right out of the refrigerator.
There are a lot of seatings inside and outside of the restaurant. I came around lunchtime and dinnertime and there are only about 3 groups there each time; so you don’t have to worry about not having seats. I don’t think I will ever get sushi from here and I took 1 star off their rating since their name is Sushiya Express and their sushi was subpar. I will definitely be back for the rice bowl because they were tasty though not authentically Japanese.

I’ve been here twice and I’ve found both experiences to be very pleasant. The food prices are roughly what you would expect in IV and the staff have been very friendly to me. The food itself was not amazing, but I wasn’t too disappointed. I also enjoyed the fact that they hired college students.
Overall, I didn’t share some of the negative sentiments of other reviews and I think it’s worth a try to decide for yourself.

EEEE SUSHIYA IS SLOW, FOOD IS MEH, EXPENSIVE, and just BADDDDD. Everytime I come here my food takes forever to come out. Also it’s like way too expensive for even sushi, like really? I get the katsu combo usually and that sitll costs be like 14 bucks like DAYUM. I just feel like anyone who works there hates life cause they definitely do not look enthusiastic. I say only eat here if youre desperate for japanese food but other than that you would probably have a happier meal if you fished for some fish yourself and made sushi. We do live near the ocean~.

This restaurant has really really bad service, and cooking very slowly, also very expensive, if you are not fking rich, I recommend you better not come.

I like the combos here, I think they are a good value. Sushiya is fairly average in every way but the combos are decent. The spicy chicken wasn’t spicy enough but I did enjoy it.
It’s always dead here and it’s a good place to go if you’re just chilling in IV.
Hair in the sushi roll, come on that’s a fail. I didn’t let that instance detract otherwise the rating would be lower. Just want people to know that they should check their roll.

The sushi is pretty good, not as good as something downtown but for being right here in IV it’s nice. A little pricey for how much food is given, a plate combo usually doesn’t fill me up. I almost always go with the monster roll which is just the right amount of spicy for me, do recommend. Overall if you’re craving sushi and don’t want to drive downtown to wait in lines, this is a nice quick spot to solve those cravings, or you can get it delivered straight to your door.

The food is OK. Not the best, but OK. But the staff people are not a happy bunch. And it shows in the service, or lack thereof.
Not just that it is slow (it is). But they show no interest in you. Even if no one else is around and the order is taking forever, they never check to see what is happening or give any assurance that anything is happening at all.
One more thing: I find the music so annoying that this alone is enough to make me dread staying for long. They use «Spotify» set to the tastes perhaps of a fifteen year old.
If they could improve the morale and the music I actually might enjoy coming in, even if it is not the very best Japanese food.
If they can’t do it, maybe someone else would like to open a better Japanese place in Isla Vista!

You probably didn’t come into this restaurant looking for a trove of information on just how radioactive their food supply is, but if you did, have a look around, if not, then leave immediately.
You should know right away that you have a problem when the sushi bar you walk into has chefs that look like their straight off the set of breaking bad. I have only eaten here a few times, but it has never been worth my whale. Yes, I know my puns may have you rolling on the floor, but I must maki-​it known that people should not eat at this horrible establishment.
These rolls are so Americanized that I might as well be eating fried mayonnaise balls with a side of shame. Not a single thing on their menu is actually healthy, as sushi is typically meant to be. The sheer amount of cream cheese they use in their roles could supply a New York bagel store for months, perhaps years. I am also truly concerned that almost every role has tempura-​something in it. Perhaps all of these roles are simply a ploy to distract from the incompetence and lack of finesse that their chefs embody; perhaps they are trying to display the façade of a healthy image, or perhaps they have absorbed too much seaborne radiation from the Fukushima disaster last year.
Either way, if you waste your money in this place, be it on their sticky fried rice balls where something hide in crunchy, or their slippery eel mayonnaise volcano eruption roll, you will be soy sorry.

Not really as bad as people say.
I come here a lot because it somewhat satisfies my constant cravings for Japanese food without having to commute all the way to state street or goleta.
While the place does seem a little sketchy, the rolls are pretty solid. The hungry roll is huge (and not to mention deep fried). It’s good, unique, and filling and comes with miso soup (so yummy) and salad!
The kiss dragon roll was pretty good as well.
I tried the sashimi dinner plate today and it was a little sketch. Only the salmon and tuna tasted legit while the other fish didn’t taste as fresh. I don’t think this is the best place to come for raw fish (or ramen for that matter; the ramen is basically ramen noodles placed in a generic udon broth).
Order the chicken katsu plate or sesame chicken but keep in mind that the portions aren’t exactly worth the price you pay in terms of the entrees and sashimi.
However, if you are looking for a decent Japanese place, come here for the specialty rolls! Their lunch happy hour is a pretty good deal too, so check that out. The only thing is that some of the dishes are way too expensive for the quantity they give. Other than that, I’d come back for the rolls!

I come here for the lunch special: small salad, miso soup, soda, choice of 6 rolls (crunchy, California or one other option) and choice of rice bowl with like chicken, beef, tempura, etc. (they have 10 different bowl options in total I think). The lunch special is only $ 11 after tax and it’s super reasonable (I usually split the meal with someone). The chicken katsu and the gyoza are my usually choices for the rice-​meat bowl that they serve with the lunch special.
Quality here wavers, some days its better than others and I wish I could rate Sushiya 3.5 overall. But you get what you pay for; most rolls cost between $ 9 and $ 13. They also offer mochi as dessert (at a dollar each; which is ridiculous).
But yea, lunch special great! Everything else, meh.