TGI’s Sushi

I really try to like this place every time I’m here but I just can’t. I’ve been here quite a few times: by myself for to-​go orders or with my hubby and friends.
On my first time here, I wanted to try their sashimi. I scanned through the menu and noticed many korean items (like kimchee and bulgogi… or something rather…). BIG RED FLAG!!! I thought to myself «Oh great. It’s one of those Korean/​Chinese places again.» When my sashimi was brought to my table the rolls were disgustingly thick and didn’t taste fresh. A typical hira zukuri cut should be no more than ³⁄₈ of an inch to ½ of an inch thick. Since I like to savor the delicate flavor of the fish from a THINLY sliced fillet, I sent my food back.
I SWEAR THEY SUBSTITUTE CHEAP TILAPIA FILLETS AND SERVE THEM AS RED SNAPPER. Many people can’t tell the difference but there are sushi snobs (like myself) than can.
Tilapia also eat their own fecal matter. Ew. I gave up on their sashimi.
I came back a few weeks later with the hubby and friends. Our friends that dined with us were only used to «American» sushi so we ordered a whole bunch of rolls. They were subpar. Each piece was huge and hard to eat. As soon as my chopsticks touched the roll it would fall apart. They don’t know how to make sushi rice here.

I guess it’s no longer TGI’s Sushi like the one in Santa Cruz? Now it’s Iron Sushi? But I still came here hoping it would taste like the one in Santa Cruz, but I was wrong…
Their rolls are pricey, around $ 13-​$ 14 for their specialty rolls. It may look big and although there are fat pieces of sashimi on the rolls, the flavor of the fish was very bland. The tuna, hamachi, and salmon on one of our rolls tasted all the same. They also use A LOT of rice on the rolls which I don’t like cause it’s just used for filler space.
The waitress was really sweet and quick though so 3 stars for that. Plus their open during the lunch time when most sushi places are closed.

JAMES SPECIAL ROLL is my favorite!
Spicy crab, cucumber, avocado wrapped white tuna, green onion, tobiko, fish flake & honey mustard sauce. Yummy!!!

What ever you do, you have to order the daily special. On the days that these include sashimi and nagiri, the pieces of fish are the size of small salmon or tuna steaks!
Great location, the atmosphere is traditional sushi joint. Staff is great, an overall amazing sushi place.
Since finding it, I’ve been back at least once a week.
Why spend $ 8 on lunch at del taco, when this place is across the way, and the food is amazing!

I don’t quite remember what the occasion was but we felt like having sushi that night and planned to gorge ourselves with it. If you ever plan on having that huge platter that’s made for two. Decide against it… unless you have a third person in your party. That’s just an insane amount of rolls, nigiri, and sashmi. However fresh, it was a little bland overall. Service was pretty fast and you were pretty much left alone the entire meal.

Ate here because my friend said she thought it was good, but mainly due to the fact that they don’t close between 2:30−5pm, which is when I usually like to eat.
The menu is huge and I stared at the text list of sushi rolls before realizing there was a picture menu. That made things better for me. I snacked on their complimentary bean sprouts and miso soup, which I both though were good, during the wait for our food to come out. I had high hopes upon entering but was kind of disappointed.
To explain in a more articulate manner, I was expecting good sushi. Not great sushi, or mind blowing sushi. I was prepared for okay, sloppily made, everything-​tastes-​the-​same, sushi. What I got was, huge rolls of very unfresh fish cut sloppily.
The prices were on the high side until I saw how big the rolls were. To be honest, if they just kept the prices of the rolls the same and halved the size of everything but used fresh fish, I would have enjoyed my meal so much better. I’ve had fresher sashimi grade fish at Safeway, which is an abysmal comparison.
We ordered some cooked/​uncooked rolls, nigiri, and to-go’ed some steak teriyaki. The raw fish was greasy and sat in your mouth with this warm foul fishy odor. Very unpleasant. What surprised me was how the bad quality showed in the Lion King roll, which was cooked all the way through and had a bunch of sauce dumped on top. The cooked fish wasn’t even good to eat.
My bf enjoyed the steak teriyaki and he liked the generic salad that came with it. Granted he left more than half of the actual meat in the to-​go box and that went in the garbage.
Lesson learned: Wait to eat at a sushi restaurant at the appropriate time. =\

I do not know why this is a 4 star restaurant, because my experience there certainly only warranted 3 stars at best.
I am not a sushi connoisseur, but I have had my fair share of sushi, good and bad, and I have to stay my dinner here had to lean on the bad side.
We ordered a nigiri mix, the jeremy miso roll, and the spicy poki appetizer. The tuna for the poki appetizer did not taste fresh, it was mixed with little seaweed salad and onions, and it was pretty drenched with sriracha. I have to admit the roll was different, but the soft shell crab that was in the middle was obviously fried a while ago as opposed to fried when the order was made. The nigiri mix, while it gave a pretty good selection of fish, some of the fish provided was not fresh and I felt like I was eating a huge ball of rice.
This meal was certainly not the worst sushi experience ever, but it is certainly a forgettable experience.

Great service and sushi! I came here with my mom and dad on a Friday night and the place was fairly packed. They start you off with edamame, miso soup, and bean sprouts/​green onions in sesame oil.
My parents and I ordered 2 bento’s and a $ 30 sashimi combination. The sashimi here was the thickest sashimi I’ve ever had in my life. All of their meal portions were generous compared to other sushi restaurants. The salmon teriyaki from the bento was a bit dry and bland.
On a brighter note, the sushi chef’s made us unagi hand rolls, on the house! They also provide complimentary green tea or red bean ice cream at the end of the meal. It was an incredibly filling meal, check it out if you’re around Newark!

The more we come here, I become a little less impressed with the quality of the food.
Yes, services is great. Yes, portions are huge and yes, the presentation and atmosphere are nice. But during our last visit, I was a bit disappointed that my salmon was undercooked and that my tempura was excessively oily.
I really like their bean sprout salad and large portions, but I’m not sure if those are good enough reasons for me to come back. Satomi has my heart.

I won’t say I am the best judge of sushi but I have had my share of sushi. Maybe it was an off night but the sushi was just blah. I have to say the rolls are pretty big but the prices are more expensive as well. The tempura was not crispy so that was disappointing. Maybe I will give it a second try.

Decided to give this place a 2^nd try due to
. However, be warned, they no longer accept
certificates as of Aug 3^rd.
Food quality has is definitely not up to the same level as other Japanese sushi restaurants. Although many times I am a fan of quantity over quality, even I find that the quality here is way too lacking. The fish and rice were just straight up tasteless and stale.
The sushi prices are about $ 1-​$ 2 more expensive than comparable places, which I’m assuming they justify by serving large quantities.
Only good thing here is the service, cheerful and attentive.

The sushi was HUMUNGOOO like WTHay! I thought sushi was a delicacy where you eat small moderate bite sizes to appreciate the unique taste and work in it. But I don’t have anything to complain: P I’m a fatass who likes big tasty sushi in my tummy haha. If you want big portion sizes, this is what you should be coming in for. warning: you can’t eat it like normal sushi. It’s huge. meaning don’t use your chopsticks. use your hands because your sushi will just break into pieces before it gets into your mouth =0
Service was okay. Not the best, but not the worst. They always give edamame, soup and bland salad in the beginning. You’re better off saving your stomach and tastebuds for when the sushi comes. My friend and I got complimentary oysters once. Woohoo!
overall 3 words: quantity over quality. big portion= good. But friends have suffered from stomachaches from eating from here. So take caution and make sure your toilet is working fine once you get home.

I wanted to like TGI. I really did. Sadly it was not so.
The rolls were huge but it was mostly all rice. And not the soft fluffy kind either — this was heavy and dense. If you can stomach it, I guarantee you won’t leave hungry because it sits like a brick (literally)
We started with a philly roll. The salmon was there but sadly it was an afterthought as this was a prime example of mega rice syndrome. Next up was the country girl roll which was swimming in teriyaki (sweetness overload) followed by a lion king roll drowned in grease (the mayo completely came apart). Last we had a Mike’s roll (for me!!!) which fortunately wasn’t sauced to death. However the fish was far from fresh and it had that frozen tang to it. Not very appetizing.
It was quantity over quality, and I doubt I’ll be back. Sorry TGI, it just wasn’t meant to be.

In my quest to find the best local sushi joint, I turned to Unilocal for recommendations and stumbled upon TGI. Vaguely recalling a few fellow companions ranting about how scrumptious the rolls were, I dragged my brother along and finally gave them a try.
It was like walking into a ghost town the second we opened the door… Maybe that was a hint for us to take our foodie adventures elsewhere? Growling stomachs begged to differ. Oh, how I wish I followed my first instinct and gone to Satomi instead…
1) Philadelphia Roll (smoked salmon, avocado, & cream cheese) — Where’s the salmon? There’s so much rice, it’s burying the salmon and avocado! Truly one of the worst Phillys I’ve tasted in a while.
2) Country Girl Roll (crab, shrimp tempura, unagi, & avocado) — «Help! I’m drowning in sweet terryaki sauce and I can’t get up!» If they eased up on the sauce, this roll would’ve been a hit. Good size, just overly drenched in terryaki.
3) Lion King (salmon baked on top of CA roll) — Again, quite the hefty portion, and I was glad it came out piping hot. However, I didn’t care for the spicy mayo. I’m not exactly sure what kind of mayo they used, but when my sushi roll is floating on top of a pool of grease, that’s never a good thing.
4) Mike’s Roll (hamachi & avocado topped w/​salmon, shrimp, tuna, and unagi) — Ordered on behalf of my brother’s name. Of the 4 we had, this was the better one… only because it felt refreshing to take a break from the soaked saucy rolls. The fish wasn’t the freshest ever, but edible nonetheless.
Overall, I would’ve loved to have spent $ 50 elsewhere. Perhaps I’m just ordering the wrong things or I came out on a bad day, but TGI does not live up to its given reputation. Ease up on the sauce fellas. Sometimes, the essence of eating good sushi is enjoying it plain and simple.

Damage, B44, Az Yet, old school Whitney & Celine, Coco Lee… is this enticing you yet? As soon as I sat down and their ‘90s playlist was audible to my ears, I went back into the time capsule of slow dances, chasing immature boys, and crying all the time. I would come back just for the music.
As for the food, it was okay. I got the Agedashi tofu, Esther’s roll, and the Jeremy’s roll. The fish isn’t the freshest and you can tell by the way it breaks apart in your mouth. The rolls are gigantic though and have a lot of rice so order less than you normally would. The tofu’s dipping sauce came with all the trimmings (green onion, daikon, flakes, etc.) but the tofu itself kept prematurely separating from the batter. It was a rough version of what should’ve been a delicate dish. The plus side is that they don’t skimp on the portions so you’re getting your money’s worth.
I do have to commend the service. The food comes out really fast and they even offered us complimentary mussels and ice cream. It’s not a big place although it looks deceivingly large from the outside. It got packed around 8 p.m. so I guess people in this area like eating late.

Hrm, not sure how I feel about this place.
So my friend and I went here for lunch yesterday because he had heard that this place was pretty awesome… We walked in and it was pretty dead… this should’ve been a hint! But the servers were super cute saying «moshi moshi» as we walked in…
So I ordered the «sushi special lunch» and my friend got a bento box with chicken terriyaki and CA rolls. for a «lunch special» the prices seemed a bit high… i know we could’ve gotten that at another sushi restaurant for much less than we paid here… the miso was decent but the salad dressing was kinda nasty… my sushi special lunch came with 6 CA rolls and 6 pieces of nigiri… the fish was NOT fresh… i only ate the ebi, the tuna, and the yellow tail… but the tuna was enough to make me feel puke-​y.
i don’t know, maybe i just came on an off day, but forreal… yuck. maybe next time i’ll just try one of their rolls or something?

Ginormous rolls and speedy, very attentive service. Then again, we were there on a Sunday.
We ordered the Hailstorm Roll (spicy tuna topped with fresh salmon), the Eddie’s Special (deep fried roll w/​shrimp tempura, cream cheese and avocado), and the Tuna Lovers (tuna and cucumber topped with fresh maguro). The fresh rolls were great — reeeeeally huge, though. One piece was probably two bites worth. As for the deep fried roll, the description was better than it actually tasted. I’ll go with my instinct next time and order the Rachel Roll (also deep fried, with salmon, cream cheese, and unagi).
In addition to miso soup and bean sprout salad, we were also given an order of mussels with some kind of spicy salsa and grilled salmon collar on the house. However, even though it was delicious, I think it was just because they had some surplus to get rid of before the real fresh stuff comes in tomorrow. So that said I hope no one goes in there intending to just order a Coke and hope they’ll get hooked up with a shitton of food (yeah, certain Unilocalers — you know who you are).
It is pretty pricey, but you do get what you pay for. That said, I might just order a solitary roll in the future, or come with more people.

YAYAYAY! my most favorite sushi place in Campbell is now in Newark! I’ll definitely be going here *every time* i want sushi.
BF and I ordered:
* Mr Netscreen Roll — YUMMY, my fav!
* Johnny Luv Roll (baked california roll with scallops and special orange sauce — another favorite) — There was miscommunication on this order, and graciously remade our order without a face or sass, unlike some other restaurants in the area…
* Lion King Roll: (Baked California Roll with salmon and spicy orange sauce on top) also delish!
* Saki Maki Roll: demolished by bf, so i can’t say if it’s good or not.
* Futo maki roll: always a pleasure.
They also gave us:
* Endamame
* bean sprout salad
* miso soup
* 2 muscles, don’t know how it’s prepared, but yummy!
* green tea (hey, i’ve seen places charge us for this)
Even without the comps, it was great! The wait staff was attentive (especially when you go mid-​week, and you’re 1 of 3 tables for a staff of at least 10!). Don’t let the empty place fool you, it just opened, so no one knows yet. (the original Campbell one is ALWAYS packed). i was sooo stuffed, i wobbled out the door.

I went to dinner Sat 4÷4÷09 at TGI Sushi in Newark. It’s behind Del Taco, across from Raley’s. We went for their Grand Opening Party from 4−10pm.
Music was loud and the place was packed. We were asked to sit at the bar and when a table opened they preferred to save it for a larger party instead.
We only got a few things:
FREE soup w/​tiny side of sprouts — ok.
Albacore Lover $ 11.95 — white tuna, avocado, white tuna inside. 8 large pieces, though the rice wasn’t very good and the fish wasn’t creamy enough.
Esther Roll $ 12.95 — white tuna on top, fake crab meat, cream cheese, spicy tuna, cucumber. 8 large pieces — just ok.
Spicy poki cocktail $ 8.95 — comes in a cocktail glass. Small chunks of tuna, lots of onions, seaweed. Just ok.
B. got Ebisu beer 5.95 — he finished it.
Grand Opening Special: 25% off total.
Total: 29.85 + 2.91 tax = $ 32.76 before tip. Credit cards taken.
Bathroom: Unisex in the back on the Rt side.

So i tried it for the first time on monday and ended up coming and eating here again on thur AND fri. But with a few new people each time. I just needed to rate this 5 stars again because they are consistently making me happy and each new sushi i try is delicious! TGI’s sushi has EASILY made it to the top of my list. I’ll probably be back soon ;)