Octopus Japanese Restaurant

Look, the food is fine. It’s not bad, but it’s also not that great. My issue here is with the service. I’ve been on several occasions because I work a few blocks away, and every single lunch hour that I’ve come, the service sucks. Don’t get me wrong, everyone here is friendly. But they just don’t seem to care beyond taking an order and slapping food down on the table. They refuse to customize anything at all, and the few substitutions they will allow are charged up the wahzoo for no reason at all. Want tofu in your soup instead of beef? $ 6 EXTRA! How ridiculous! That means my stupid little bowl of noodles, tofu, and shitty broth would have cost nearly $ 18! Are you kidding me?! Another example– they refuse to take crab meat out of their rolls! Not everyone likes or can eat it, so why on earth would you charge me more money to leave something off my order and serve me LESS food? Even worse, you can tell that management and the chefs have made the waiters frightened to even ask the kitchen about substitutions. I asked on my last few visits, and each time the waiters hesitate and stutter to explain that they can’t substitute or that it will cost a lot more. So it seems that the waiters just avoid quality service altogether for fear of having to say no to customers.
Just so so disappointed in the lack of customer service. I wish this could be my regular lunch sushi joint, but I just can’t go here anymore.

This place is really annoying. I used to order the dinner combo and would get two california rolls, not complex, you get a lot of average food, so it’s fair for the price. Then, they started charging an extra dollar if you order two of the same thing. Not sure why, but fine, was willing to pay the extra dollar to get two of the same thing in the dinner combo. Went about 1 – 2 weeks ago and ordered two of the same thing with no problem at all. Tonight I tried calling in an order and they said you can’t get two of the same thing because that’s their «new policy».
Stop being overly pretentious because your food is not that good (even when I get things other than the dinner combo — your food is mediocre at best), stop preventing people from making any slight substitution (friend that was pescatarian went with once and we ended up having to go somewhere else because none of the other meat items could be substituted for anything), and stop making up «rules» that make absolutely no business sense. Definitely won’t be getting my business anymore.

Love coming to Octopus Sushi for happy hour. Sumo roll and the crunch roll are my favorite. My server Katie was awesome. She made sure I was well taken care of. Great spot!

Really really like this place. It’s a good lunch spot where you can get a ton of food for not that much money. The quality of the food is what you’d expect at this price point, but tasty. Service has always been good, I really have no complaints here.
If you are looking for reasonably priced Japanese for lunch, this is the spot for you.

I love this place and I hate this place. The food is great and they have a lot of really awesome specialty rolls. I’ve never had anything here I wouldn’t order again. The price is fair and the portions are pretty big for what you’re paying.
They have pretty much anything you could want except for Kani Salads, which I’ve had a really hard time finding in LA. I’m starting to think maybe it’s an American adaptation. If anyone knows more about that please let me know!
It’s a great location too, right by the subway and my office.
The service is either really good or impressively awful. Sometimes we just get a person who is either overwhelmed or new, or whatever. One example, my friend ordered a roll, asked about it like 3 times and it just never came out. We all were done eating for about half an hour and he’s like well I guess I’m just not eating today. It really just never came and the server was like, oh I’m sorry oh well.
That’s not every server though, usually it’s like every 4^th time I go I get someone that’s a worse server than I was, and that’s a problem because I was just awful.
What inspired my review today was my miso «soup.» I order takeout from here a lot, usually so I can enjoy some tasty sushi while I eat sadly at my desk. Today I just wanted a little miso to settle my stomach.
Aside from it being very small and having no options for a larger size, they gave me only broth! Not one piece of seaweed, tofu or green onion. He probably just scooped it off the top of the pot and all the good stuff had settled. I drank it anyway, and hey the broth is good too, but I kinda need the other stuff in there. If I asked for chicken noodle soup and got chicken broth, I’d probably eat that too, but I couldn’t honestly say I just ate soup.
So thats why I love and hate this place. The food and drinks are great, price is fair, restaurant ambiance is good, and then they pull some stuff like this and I’m like, dammit Octopus, you’re better than that!

Good place to eat with your friends for lunch but not best place for date night. Their fish not not very fresh. Service is pretty fast. Perfect spot. Easy excess. Good price. But Okay sushi.

Celebrated my 24^th birthday here. service was great. happy hour is awesome, great price. They have happy hour Monday-​Friday from 3 – 7 and reverse happy hour 9:30-close and Saturday happy hour 9:30– close
so if your in downtown l. a make sure to stop by

Went with a party 8+ for happy hour on a Saturday night. Waited 20 minutes for waiter to take our order. Only 1 of our 3 items were brought out. Horrible service. Will definitely not be coming back or recommending this place to friends. I’d like to add that we did make reservations beforehand and the restaurant was dead and there were also 3 waiters.

My coworkers and I have been coming here frequently for lunch and happy hour because their prices are more reasonable than other restaurants in DTLA.
I hate to write this review but I need to complain.
Today, 01÷14÷16, an hour after happy hour started, we come here and they ran out of vodka which means no Octopus Party Cocktail and no martini. We felt bad for leaving so we ended up ordering whatever we can order for happy hour which was sake, beer, or wine.
After our first round, we saw that they had more alcoholic beverage choices in the regular menu which is only $ 1 difference. So we asked our oh-​so-​kind server, Immanuel (bless his heart), if we can get happy hour prices for the drinks in the regular menu. He asked a girl in the front (I have no idea who the f she is– the Asian, not the Latina) but was denied. She just shook her head bluntly like we were asking for something special.
This is a huge chain establishment, they should accommodate their patrons some how. WTF, if they knew they ran out, couldn’t they have gotten someone to go to Costco real quick!!! Totally killed my buzz yo.
Just because of this, we’ll think about coming back.

This breaks my heart… I love sushi like I love my family, so it hurts when I have a horrible sushi experience. I have been eating sashimi and sushi since I was a kid… My taste has evolved over the years, I think for the better. When I was a kid, I thought Uni was purely disgusting. Now, it is my favorite sushi. I always have it very last as dessert.
My sushi experience at the restaurant was horrid… I mean it wasn’t like a roach crawled out of a sushi. Everything was salty, extremely salty. I first thought there was something wrong with my taste bud, then I realized it wasn’t me. I love sushi so much that I rather think that I need medical treatment than to think that I am eating poorly seasoned sushi. So, a big sigh! The service is somewhat okay… Not stellar, just okay.
Nearest Metro Station: Red/​Purple/​Blue/​Expo Lines at the 7^th Street Metro Center

I absolutely could not be higher on the service here, I just wish that I could say the same for the food. We came here with a group of 12 on a Saturday night. No plans to come here, no reservations, just an impromptu bar crawl that was in need of some food before we trucked on with our evening. The place was covering a couple of tables and they had the room for us, and they could not have been more gracious.
The sushi was a mixed-​bag. It was one of those places with pictures of every roll and heavy prevalence of KRAB on the menu, but nonetheless, my friend and I felt very happy with our choice of the sensual pleasure roll. The Bento Box, from what it looked like, seemed like an excellent deal.
If I end up in similar circumstances again, I wouldn’t shrug off stopping by here again. But it’s not the sort of sushi that I think I’d need to go out of my way for.

Although the food is probably a 6.5÷10 I give this place props for a few key reasons.
The Price is Right
Although some items on the menu are a bit pricey, they offer many very affordable options for those who know what to order. Their lunch special is pretty reasonable and you get nice variety (2 dishes plus california roll, miso soup, gyoza, and salad). They also offer a very generous happy hour. Last time I was here for happy hour with a coworker the rolls were huge (one would have satisfied a person). To put the price in perspective we ordered 2 rolls, garlic edamame (highly recommend, it’s addictive), agedashi tofu, spicy tuna salad (also huge), gyoza, and a large sake and the bill came out to about $ 15 bucks each! Super reasonable IMO.
The Service
I came here most recently for lunch with a coworker. I noticed that there was a deal for $ 1 for a hot sake if we checked in. I mentioned it to the waiter who informed me that it used to be free, and offered us one on the house for the holidays (he didn’t even check that I checked in or not). I thought that was above and beyond and appreciated it.
Despite not having the most authentic food around, I think this place is still a good lunch or happy hour spot. The food is tasty and give you plenty of bang for your buck. Definitely will be returning soon.

Louis is the kindest soul in the entire world. If he’s ever your server, tell him he is a beautiful Soul. Great vibes. Love the reverse happy hour. Come here if you’re looking for good food, good music, good times.
Karaage is hype af

I thought the food quality was a bit low. The steak teriyaki was dry and didn’t have a very good taste because it was not fresh. It was also a crappy cut of meat.
The hot green tea we ordered was lukewarm; we asked them to heat it up and it still wasn’t hot.
I didn’t feel so great, physically, after eating here.

BB is an amazing waitress. We didn’t wait for a thing. Water refill, sake refills, making sure we were all set.
Food is amazing
The daily happy hour is 5−7pm, 9:30– close…
You must come here for the best sushi in downtown.
Parking isn’t that difficult. Close to public parking, or if you lucky enough to street parking.

Octopus is good… If you get everything but the sushi. Their fish is average in freshness although I liked their bento combination; it had some pretty good sesame chicken. Octopus is definitely americanized, serving nontraditional Japanese food along with Japanese food.
Service is average at best, when I went, it was a fairly quiet night and even then the waiters rarely came by our table unless we called for them. Water refills were a luxury. More often than not, they seemed kind of bored, which is a little concerning given that this restaurant is pretty roomy, plays not so subtle music, and has football on their giant TVs.
Mixed feelings about this place, some things are great, other things not so great, so why not compromise and take the mean of everything?

:LOCATION:
Directly across the street from the Macys Compound. As I was driving I didn’t actually see the sign (it’s not very attention grabbing) but I decided to park in the Macys parking.
:PARKING:
DO NOT park at Macys. First off, it was $ 25. Second, once Macys closes you have to walk around the corner and thru the construction to get to your car. Irritating, but this is not the fault of Octopus.
:VIBE:
2 levels to this place. I wasn’t expecting it to be this big honestly. The lower level is nice and modernly traditional. Upstairs is like a club. Dim lighting and space-​age décor. It was the perfect setting for a date. Really nice.
:FOOD/​DRINKS:
— We started with a large Hot House Saki. As with all hot sake it’s delicious until it gets cold. So, drink up… quickly.
— Carpacci, seems to be their signature take on sashimi. They take thin pieces of fish and flavor it with herbs, oils and seasonings. I prefer plain Sashimi, but this was good too. We had the Albacore and Mackerel. Make sure you at least try the albacore.
— Rolls, rolls were really good. The Kevin Special Roll was my favorite, followed by the Salmon Crunchy Roll.
:SERVICE:
Service was great. Attentive, but not overwhelming.
I’d come here again. The food was good, not the best I’ve ever had. But combined with the scenery it’s a nice sushi spot in dtla.
Prices are good also.

Fun hangout place for large groups! Came with 10 – 15 people for my friend’s birthday. Ordered sooo much beer and sake, the pitchers just kept coming out nonstop!
It was reverse happy hour, and I ordered the Sumo Roll and Ultimate Salmon Roll. The Sumo Roll was kind of like a Rainbow Roll, except instead of the raw fish on top of a California Roll, all the ingredients were stuffed inside the rice and seaweed in one giant roll. Impossible to eat in one bite, but it was really good and filling!
My roommate said he comes here just for the Ultimate Salmon Roll, so I had to try it. I love any sushi with salmon, so this was a winner. The asparagus was an interesting surprise and added a nice crunch. The sauce though, was the best part. I think it was a tangy ponzu sauce?
Maybe because we were all getting our drinks on, so everything tasted 10x better when you’re buzzed. The servers were all very accommodating and dealt with our constant requests for more food and drinks. It wasn’t very packed on a Friday night though. And when the bill came, it came out less than we expected! Yay for happy hour prices!

Came here on a triple date ! It was awesome I’m bummed I won’t be able to come her until I visit LA again (which will be soon)
Our half of the bill wasn’t bad a little over 50 for
5 rolls 3 of which were on happy hour. $ 1 house sake from the check — in & sweet potato fries
The rose roll was yummy & the unagi roll with eel & avocado was delicious. Alaskan roll was tasty, o didn’t have room for the salmon crunch roll but I wish I did !
The lychee alcohol carafe was serious & delicious, they were shy with the alcohol !
We had two Sapporo beers (big ones) for. $ 5 each.
The sushi fast fresh not fishy.
Our waiter Benson was chill & cool.
Only con was they sushi didn’t come with ginger and wasabi we had to ask (big deal, right ?).
Wish they stayed open later!
We took an über but if we hadn’t parking would have been a pain in the ass. So I’m glad we did.
LOVED THEIR HH! Bring it to Seattle !!! WE NEED YOU. lol
The décor was modern & fresh. Pretty dim in there but it looked clean lol
Definitely will be back.

I like it here! Came here yesterday for lunch. Got seated within 5 minutes which we were really lucky cuz I heard the wait is usually long for lunch hour. I love the décor in this place. I could see it being a really great after work happy hour lounge!
I got the 2 item lunch combo. Chose the marinated pork with rice and sashimi for an additional $ 2. The combo came with
2 piece salmon
2 piece albacore
2 piece tuna
Marinated pork with rice
Edamame
2 piece California roll
1 piece gyoza
Side salad
Miso soup
What a deal!!! All this for $ 9.50 + $ 2.00 for sashimi upgrade item! I was happpy!
We had an awesome waitress. I really like her! I hope she’s there again when I return for happy hour! Definitely going to return for happy hour to check it out!
I don’t know why this place has such low ratings and reviews but I actually really like it and don’t mind coming back again and again!

Excelente opción japonesa en LA. Ademas de sushi hay unas bandejas muy contundentes por 1e o 15 dolares. Recomendable

Este NO es un japonés clásico. Un restaurante donde destacan los rolls pero no a la antigua usanza. Esto es todo a lo grande. Los rolls tienen sobrecarga de ingredientes y sabores, llegando a tamaños que no entran en la boca y casi tienes que comértelos de dos bocados.
Fuimos dos veces y probamos 8 rolls diferentes, y salvo uno que no nos gusto, el resto estaban buenísimos. Muy interesante salirse del típico rollito clásico. Recomendable sin duda alguna.
Menos mal que no vivo allí, porque le pagaríà la universidad a los hijos del dueño.
Por cierto, aprovechar la Happy Hour, a partir de las 21:30h todo el menú es más barato.