Avenue A Japanese Restaurant

When I went I had to ask for a fork to eat because they had chopsticks the saki was not good the food was overpriced and bland nothing that stood out the décor needs an overhaul it needs improvement in style for those prices nothing great.

This sushi bar has black lights and a dj spinning music for you and glad to see it was still there. This was the first place I went to when I had moved to the village many years ago when I had transferred there while I was a flight attendant. It left me feeling like this is what nyc was all about. Unfortunately, its too bad the city doesnt have more cool places like this!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Ave A Sushi, what happened? I remember when this place opened, and we took it as a sign of the apocalypse — a SUSHI place, on Avenue A? That’s yuppie food! Back when people could be called yuppies and it was still an acronym.
Over the years, I was enticed or tricked into going there, and I had to admit that the food was good and not expensive. As my taste for sushi matured, I learned that it was a very good and reliable place, good enough for both a spontaneous decision and to give out-​of-​town visitors a New York Dining Experience.
This Winter it was closed for ‘vacations’. Damn. A few months later I eagerly went in with a friend, happy to return to a hard-​earned favorite. We were informed upon being seated that the ownership and management had changed, and the new owners were «very happy to add Ave A Sushi to their roster of dining establishments». We were told that they also own an Italian and a Mexican place, and that to create a new/​improved fancy Fusion Creation, had brought the flavors of their other restaurants to Ave A Sushi.
Eh? I like fusion, but it’s really only good as a two-​parter. Add a third flavor and it’s not really Fusion anymore, it’s a Carnival Cruise Buffet. But the waiter (manager? Some tall skinny Kid Coconut looking dude) assured us that the Sushi menu was unchanged and the Sushi Chef was the same. The menu was confusing and disappointing, to say the least. There was very little of the original menu left, and hardly any specialty rolls. We ordered, I got one Mex dish to dip my toe in. I avoided the oddball Italian choices.
The taco appetizer was actually quite good, but the white tuna tataki… it was served as if it were halfway to being a ceviche, the tuna was sliced all wrong, making it hard to chew. There’s an art to cutting fish for sushi, it’s not just buying high-​quality fish and serving it on a plate! The roll was… fine. Not the flavor explosion that I was used to here.
All in all, incredibly disappointing, and a huge nertz to the new owners. The only aspect of Ave A Sushi that they saw fit to preserve was to allow underage drinking. Pathetic. The ubiquitous group of loud teenagers in the corner wasn’t enough to make up for the changes to the menu.
I’ll never go back, and I’ll spread the word amongst my Sushi-​fan friends to avoid it from now on. It’s a shame.

Came here with a large party for a Friday night 10pm sake bombing dinner — we were one of the only groups in the entire restaurant. The server, who was decent, said there were new owners. This place is great for NYU students who want to get hammered on sake and not get ID’d, but the sushi roll I had tasted exactly like Nacho Cheese Doritos. The magnum bottle of sake was enough to get 5 of us pretty drunk, but at $ 90 for the bottle it better have.
Save this one for the 19 year olds — go to one of the 100 other sake sushi places in the E village.

Came here on a Saturday night with some friends. It was pretty dark and played loud dance music, very club-​ish for a sushi joint. Sushi itself was decent, nothing to write home about. Price was alright, very standard for the East Village. Service was friendly.
In all, I probably wouldn’t come here given the wicked selection of sushi places around the area. Yoshi is better.

The basics were nice… Cute atmosphere, spacious booths, friendly waitress, half-​price drinks on a Sunday evening.
We tried several of the Special sushi rolls, which were 3 for price of 2. Very creative combinations and well-​executed. Presentation was appetizing, and the flavor combinations worked well. Everything seemed fresh and portions were average for sushi rolls. I highly recommend the Phoenix and Avenue A Special Roll — yum!
Why only 3 stars?
(1) Completely empty at 7:30 on a Sunday night… not super festive.
(2) Very slow service. We were the only ones there and it took about 30 minutes for them to fill our order of 6 rolls and one appetizer.
(3) They were out of tempura ice cream.
(4) Price isn’t great considering the slow service and empty tables… about $ 12 – 14 for the special rolls, so with drinks and a couple extra pieces of sushi to make sure everyone was full, we ended up paying around $ 20 per person. Not bad, but I think they could offer a better deal and get more people in the door.

EWWWWWWWWW. bad sushi.
i am japanese. i know good sushi.
Avenue A is horrible food.
a gf chose this restaurant for a networking dinner.
sammy, the waitress was SO sweet, but the food was not good.
spent $ 40 on bad food. booooo
i am still mad i spent money on a terrible dinner.
i rarely one give out ‘1 star’, but it’s reserved for reviews such as these!

AVOID THE NEW AVENUE A!
First of all I entered and it was all redone and it appears to have changed owners. All of the familiar old staff were replaced by new staff. I asked the bartender (this blond chick) what might have happened to the old staff and she asked me if they were Asian. I told her that no… one girl was Russian and one of the waiters was black. She proceeds to say that people tend to hire all Asian staff for places like that but when she gets to be the bar manager she’s only going to hire white people… hot white people… so that the place becomes a hot night spot. I asked her «Do you dislike Asian people?» She says «No, but no one wants to come to a bar with a bunch of Asian people running the bar.» (I am actually surprised she said Asian and not Oriental considering how many pennies I thought were rattling around in her head)
Really? Seriously? All but one of the other staff was Asian too… I can’t justify spending money at a place that hires their bartenders from the Nazi Youth. Also, the new décor is boring and stifling… they took all the fun out of the place.
AVOID this place unless you don’t like too many Asian people hanging out… then this is the place for you.

I used to go to this place all the time for years and always had a great time. Good food and an original eclectic atmosphere.
Since early April they have changed owners and went through a major renovation. They redid the whole place and I fear it very much not the same.
Cold, uninviting, and posh where posh doesn’t belong. They changed the menu and it was disappointing. Normally they had this fantastic boat for a group with these amazing oysters. No longer on the menu. The staff was good and helpful, even offered free apps and dessert but it didn’t make up for the change and the downgraded menu.
I guess if you have nothing to compare this place to then it could be a good time. However if you’ve been before it’s just not the same and ya kinda feel let down.
Sorry to see you go Avenue A

Good for:
group birthdays
sake bombs
drunken debauchery
students on a budget
Bad for:
date spots
sushi snobs
good service
I came here for a friend’s birthday — we were a rowdy group of 18+ (number continued to grow as the dinner went on) — and it was fabulously fun. The gothic weirdness draping the walls and neon light assortments hanging from the ceilings offered a wickedly trippy escape for a night.
The service was tolerable of our large group and outrageous demands, so can’t judge too fairly on it being sub-​par relative to circumstances.
As for the food, it served it’s purpose in being edible sushi that satiated our hungry bellies. I surely wouldn’t come here if I wanted a (high) quality sushi, grade a fish. I’d grade it a C at best.
Most trek here for the sake bombing. Not too lenghty of a sake list, but enough to keep NYU students happy to pound, drop, then chug their way to a drunken, happy stupor. Isn’t that the point of dive sushi places anyway?
I must say that the bill was priced pretty high, mainly due to the copious amounts of sake and sapporo consumed. Guess we had a great time after all!

sushi was decent and fresh, but the service was so/​so. I had to wait about 20 minutes to get my sake then they brought out the wrong bottle.
a little overpriced but the décor is cool. loved the paintings on the wall.

Here is the dilemma with this place:
Their sushi is actually pretty good, but.
— if you are looking to just have good sushi for dinner, you would not come here. This place is a dark bar with black lights and loud music.
— if you come here after bar hopping on the LES, half-​drunk — you really shouldn’t have high standards for sushi, other than it being fresh so you don’t throw it up and so that it doesn’t stir up something violent in your stomach.
— so when you are here and you’re drunk — you end up dishing out a lot more $$$$ because some jackass of a friend thinks it’s a good idea to do Sake bombs and even though you don’t want one, the waiter will bring out the whole bottle of sake which you will have to pitch in for.

First… I am not a sushi fan. However there is something about this place. My bf’s daughter loves it here. It’s a hip place u would expect to find in the village. We love the staff and the saki. The sushi melts in ur mouth and they have a large selection. I love the veggie rolls. The prices are good too.
Between the music, the atmosphere and the food this makes for a fun night out. Unless u hate the village and fun… If that’s the case try going else where.

How can anyone eat under these conditions? The lights, The music = VOM
Go next door and get a cocktail and a burger at 7A — trust me.

Yuck!
I’ve been pulled into Avenue A sushi way too many times throughout the years & it’s never pleasurable. I think that I liked it way back in the day, when I was young, dumb & actually wanted «Disco Sushi.» Then I got a clue. I think of it as a tourist trap, or sushi 101 for people who need the distraction while they eat .
Nonetheless, I don’t think that it will get you sick, it’s been open at least since the early ‘90s, so feel free to bring traveling Midwesterners who might get a kick out of it. It’s just not for people who like to eat good sushi.

Is this a bar or a sushi restaurant? It’s half of each and double the price. If you’re going to get the regular rolls, then the prices are ok, and so is the quality. If you stray from that into something more interesting, the prices sky rockets.
Then we get to the drinks. That are far overpriced. Not only that, but they also ran out of hot sake. How does a sushi restaurant /​bar run out of hot sake, on a Friday night!

— overall rating: 2.5
— I’ve been with this restaurant through more than enough management changes; once upon a time my family’s «go to» spot for Japanese
— they used to provide a very unique and interesting atmosphere along with great service and fresh reasonably priced sushi.. . still an interesting atmosphere, nothing compared to what it used to be, decent service, creative presentation, sub par sushi quality
— they cut the tuna sashimi improperly, though it looks pretty on the plate, they cut WITH the fatty grain and not against it, making eating each slice an unfortunate experience
— the seaweed skin of the sushi was stale.. . if you’re an experienced sushi eater, you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say the texture was kind of soggy, something which would never occur if kept properly
— the tobiko roll came out well enough but the ikura roll sadly did not, the eggs were not fresh and after having about 2 bites, I determined had very recently expired, suffice it to say, I didn’t finish that roll

I feel bad talking smack about a venerated institution such as Avenue A Sushi. I know it’s being there for a long time and i know it is (was) quite a scene. But I also know that eating sushi there at 130 AM on a weekend was a TERRIBLE idea. It was probably the most expensive ($ 86 for 2 people) and stinky sushi I’ve ever had, and I left the restaurant weeping inside because across the street is my beloved Esashi (closed at 3 am).
I ordered the Tuna Tataki and it was lined with grey flecked skin that tasted worse (like rubber) than it looked (like dead dolphins) The ponzu sauce was the only thing that made it edible. I ordered a bunch of rolls from the Spicy Girl, spicy tuna, a baked oyster appetizer too, and anyway, they were ALL bad. One roll in particular was awful. It was topped with a tuna tartare concoction but tasted like corpse c*nt (at least what I imagine what it might taste like eeeeww…).

Avenue A Sushi makes me want to dance. And just for the record, I do NOT dance.
This place rocks. The food, décor and general vibe are all seriously kick-​ass and I will definitely become a regular.
update: they make brown rice sushi too. jackpot, bitchesssssss

Good sushi and fun place to gather the troupes for an evening out in the ‘hood. Whenever I have guest from out of town that like sushi, I make a point to start out here. Cranking DJ is a bonus.
Service is good and décor is delightfully dark. Staff is great about adding yet another chair and table to the group. If you’re a local, or even if you’re not, stop in early evening for their prix fixe special.