Waza Sushi & Robata Grill

Friendly staff, inviting atmosphere, excellent location, and superb prices.
By far one of the best happy hour pricing on FM 1960.
With their happy hour being 7 days a week, its hard to beat.
Also, even though I’m a traditionalist when it comes to Japanese cuisine, Waza has some pretty inventive rolls that displays their management’s and sushi chef’s creativity.
Give Waza a try and you certainly wont be disappointed.

This is a nice restaurant to visit if you’re looking for a modern and spacious place to dine at. The service is alright. Nothing spectacular, but also nothing to complain about.
GYOZA– pan fried pork dumplings
These gyozas were really simple and the taste was a bit bland. The dumpling wrap was a bit soggy and was only slightly fried. The filling didn’t have much flavor and needed more seasoning.
EDAMAME– garlic spicy
I could barely taste the spice, but it had a nice garlic-​y taste.
SUSHI– fatty tuna, tuna, salmon, and spicy chopped scallop
The sushi weren’t the freshest I’ve tasted, but it’s not entirely inedible. The FATTY TUNA was tender, but had a fishy taste, the regular TUNA was very fishy, the SALMON was buttery, smooth, and fresh, and the SPICY SCALLOP was a bit mushy and cold.
LAND AND SEA ROLL– chopped spicy scallop and asparagus topped with shrimp and raw certified Angus beef with garlic sauce and green onions
I didn’t like this roll too much. The meat was chewy and tough and the scallops were mushy and had a weird consistency. The asparagus was the only thing that gave the roll a different texture, but the flavor combination didn’t sit well with me and the taste was nothing spectacular.
FARENHEIT 212– pepper tuna and jalapeño topped with spicy tuna and snow crab served with creamy wasabi sauce
This was a very simple roll. The tuna was not fresh and tasted fishy, but not to the point where it was inedible, but definitely noticeable. The wasabi sauce didn’t give much spice and the roll itself was dry. It needed a more savory sauce. The taste was lackluster.
YAKI UDON– stir fried udon noodle with chicken and vegetables
The flavors are light, but not too bad. It’s savory and the noodles are cooked nicely. The chicken was dry, but had a nice sweet flavor to it and the vegetables gave the dish an extra crunch.
I definitely could see some improvements for this restaurant. The ambiance and vibe are nice, but the experience just didn’t live up to the expectation.

Great service by Chris … Excellent food and ambience. Great place all together and a must visit and forgot to mention it’s a very clean place

Not real Japanese. I ordered the Shrimp and vegetable tempura meal. Greasy and terrible presentation. Will never go there again.

Lunch fare is reasonable. Not super busy location. Our server was on point and attentive. Sushi served was liked by the group. My curry was not spicy at all although they promised extra spicy. Mango tea was a fav too. It is one of the best spots in the willowbrook area.

The sushi was soggy and the shrimp was over cooked. I love sushi and eat it all the time but this wasn’t edible. The owner was incredibly rude when we politely complained. We used to really like waza but we will never go back. I’d rather get sushi from Kroger.

I really like this place. Every time I come to WAZA is clean. The bar section is clean and roomy too. The bartenders are friendly and fast. The environment is real calm and chill, they play music in the background but it’s not the loud modern music that’s obnoxious.
I enjoy the crispy calamari as it is something quick to munch on while waiting for the actual sushi. I just don’t like that they don’t carry my favorite beer Blue Moon. But service is great!

First visit, i really enjoyed not big on sushi only cook. Geoff is the bomb very informant. And i will be returning

OMG! No Collin. They can’t keep a good bartender. The bar food is the only perk. But without good drinks, it all sucks!

I usually like to come here to eat their Dubin soup. The soup comes in a teapot. Today I read the description it consists of scallop, shrimp, and white fish. It is lent season and Friday with no meat, so I was happy to choose my usual dish. In fact, it did not have fish and it was replaced with chicken. I complained and the manager said it was an error on the menu. They still charged me the full price for the soup regardless of their mistake. I prefer not to come back here.

I have been coming here for about 9 years and I love it!
Even if your not a sushi eater there is so much option. The salads are wonderful I eat them with soy balsamic dressing, they have an awesome hot rock to cook your own steak strips!!! Sooo good!!!

So I realize that there aren’t a whole lot of amazing sushi places around the Veterans Memorial and Willowbrook area, but Waza is not the place to go. I’ve gone here on several occasions for parties and dinner dates, and I just can’t support an overhyped mediocre place.
The sushi grade is okay. The prices are too high for the quality and portions. Most importantly the staff’s service sucks. I’ve gotten salmon rolls, the shrimp tempura (I believe they call it a Rock n’ Roll), and a Hawaiian roll. The only decently portioned roll was the salmon roll. The ratio of salmon to rice was decent. My only complaint was that it seemed oddly warm. I understand that I shouldn’t expect a cold salmon roll, but it seemed like it had been sitting out waiting for it to be eaten for a long while. It’s concerning to think about when something like that is RAW. As far as the Rock n’ Roll and Hawaiian rolls went, they seemed skimpy and small; with little seafood and lots more of other fillings and rice. The Hawaiian roll didn’t taste much different from the Rock n’ Roll, and neither of them lived up to their names.
The worst part about Waza is the service. I sympathize with people working at restaurants and retail places because I understand the hassle of providing good service while managing to get food and products out to customers in a timely and efficient manner. It sucks. I know. But, the biggest issue is that this place doesn’t seem like they were trying to look after the customers, with waters always being empty all around our table and long wait times for everything. I’ve gone here with just a couple people and for a large party before. Both occasions had the same outcome. My friends have also been denied entrance to the restaurant for wearing «improper clothing» (shorts and a t-​shirt) because it made the restaurant look bad. In all honesty, this place isn’t as nice as they make themselves out to be. Everyone was wearing relatively casual clothing, If anything, my friend was dressed nicer than the customers already inside.
Definitely, would not go here again. Food is mediocre and over priced. The staff is not friendly or efficient. It’s looks pleasing on the exterior, but the cool lights and décor cannot mask the product this place comes out with. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Great spicy tuna roll, decent shrimp fried rice. I had a kiwi something martini that was a bit too sweet. My waitress was super nice and the bathrooms were very clean.

I came on Friday night and there was no wait. Which is good because I was hungry. The food here is decent, nothing like the sushi restaurants near the galleria or downtown but for the 1960/​champions forest area, this is the best you can get. The sashimi is a little too thick for my taste, I prefer thin slice sashimi. The waza tartare is pretty good. Few of the sushi rolls were pretty good. The mussels in curry was really good as well. I don’t recommend the grilled octopus or squid. It wasn’t that fresh. Fried rice was ok. Mixed drinks are really good. Over all not bad if u are looking for something around the area with no wait.

Dinner was fantastic! Our waiter was super attentive, good sense of humor, and did an awesome job. The Shaggy Dog was delicious as always and the bill was about what we expected. DEFINITELY coming back here!

My family and I always go here when we want real sushi and not the buffet stuff. We typically split an udon and get a few rolls but recently I took my mom and went to lunch where I got the chirashi and she got the hand roll lunch special and both were delicious. The chirashi is a good sized portion with fresh fish and the hand rolls were tasty and a great value. Paid $ 20 for the chirashi which is typically priced and $ 13 for the lunch special. The ambiance is nice and tasteful, I recommend.

LAME!
Socially graces anyone?! Not here!!!
Waitress was so-​so. Dismissive. Disinterested in any comment/​concern/​issue. She did share that Manager is blunt and difficult, which was ALL very accurate. (After encounter)
Didn’t like a $ 5 Robata (similar to tapas) item along with sister. Had one bite and said no no. Sister said the same. Curious to send back or exchange. We were open to a conversation but got nothing but trouble.
Less than interested to salvage a decent dining experience. Manager stated that I should think about what I order. (Paraphrase)
Overall, sub par nouveau Japanese. Customer service. Fed leftovers to dogs. Worst Managerial experience to date.
I grew up in a restaurant, I eat in restaurants, my part time job is in a restaurant.
Waza was nothing but a pain in my Wazu! Feh…

Waza is a good enough sushi bar in the 1960 corridor… but nothing spectacular. In fact, I stopped here today only because my favorite sushi bar in the area was unexpectedly closed (I hate restaurants that aren’t open on Mondays!!), so I was hoping that Waza would at least be as good.
I ordered the chango roll, which is soft shell crab tempura, cream cheese and jalapeño, topped with tuna, salmon, white fish and avocado and then drizzled with spicy mayo, sweet sriracha and a creamy wasabi sauce. The roll suffered from tuna that seemed a little less than fresh and I couldn’t really taste the sriracha sauce…
I also ordered a philly roll and had them add fresh jalepeno. This turned out to be a mistake as they stuffed it with giant pieces of jalepeno that added too much crunch and not enough heat. I maybe should have been more specific.
BOTTOM LINE: I still like the other place better… wish it would have been open.

I remember going here once upon time ago for a friend’s birthday and we had this private room for the occasion. Ever since then I thought this place was some fancy 4 star shit lol. The interior is gorgeous and I would not expect this place to only have 2 dollar signs. I decided to meet to up with a friend who was coming from Spring and this would have been the middle for us.
We came for happy hour and for HH you can either sit at the bar or patio. We chose the bar and our server (whom was also the bartender) was really attentive with the other 5 parties that were at the bar.
The HH menu consisted a lot of drink specials, sushi, nigiri, and grill (robata) options. This is probably one of the better HH menus in all the sushi places I’ve been in Houston! They offer a variety of foods, not just 3 simple rolls and drinks. I also like the fact that foods are written in English, none of that hamachi, tobiko shit where most people would not understand. I think this place really caters to a lot of sushi lovers and people who just want to try.
My friend and I ordered the spicy salmon, phoenix roll, shaggy dog, and spicy tuna roll along with fried squid balls from the robata section. The spicy salmon and spicy tuna were average. I don’t think you can go wrong with these rolls unless the fishes were rotten or overly smelly. Although I prefer salmon over tuna cause tuna is denser than the other. Phoenix roll had parts of it fried and I mostly tasted cream cheese in there. As a sushi lover, the less cream cheese the better. But for my friend who was rarely eats it loves the cream cheese lol. The shaggy dog is decent as well. The sauce however can be overbearing cause they add a lot onto it. The squid balls are what you would imagine in an Asian street food stand. They’re on skewers with sauce over it. Not bad, but also not amazing.
Now my review so far probably seems to give this place a mediocre rating, but their prices were just too damn good I had to bump another star. Also the staff were great and I love the overall ambiance here. Their regular menu seems to have a bunch of great stuff on there that I’d like to try another day. And most importantly, this place is only 10 minutes from house compared to 20 minutes for my other fav sushi place.

Waza is a good spot for a casual lunch or a simple romantic dinner. Although I never actually crave their food, I always enjoy my time here. The atmosphere is subtle & easy going. The service is always friendly & the food is actually quite good — aside from the sashimi.
For today’s lunch, we ordered:
— Ahi Tacos (³⁄₅): These little babies are fried wonton shells stuffed with raw spicy chopped tuna, scallions, & cilantro. It comes with a little mountain of radish as well. So the flavors were there. But unfortunately, the fish didn’t have that fresh taste nor texture.
— Crispy Grouper Filet (⁵⁄₅): Hands down, THE BEST crispy grouper filet I’ve ever had. It’s crispy, never ever dry & the sweet chili sauce with grilled onions is heavenly. My favorite dish here & it’s only $ 10 during lunch hours!
— Chango Roll (⁴⁄₅): This is actually the only sushi roll I like that contains raw fish. It’s stuffed with soft shell crab, cream cheese, & jalapeños topped with salmon, tuna, & white fish sashimi. Also, drizzled with spicy mayo, sriracha, & a sweet wasabi sauce. I like it saucy!
So once again, the food is good & fairly priced. It’s the sashimi that I am not a big fan of, sadly. When I do come here again, it’s only for that Crispy Grouper Filet :)