Hiro’s Japanese Restaurant

I’m not a fan of writing negative reviews. But, I have to say when I first discovered Hiro’s years
ago. It was one of my favorites. The past few times I’ve been I’ve been less than impressed. Including this most recent. Several factors attributed to this latest experience. There were particle’s floating in our water glasses. Rather than send them back we just asked them to be cleared. Ironically enough, I observed another family seated across from us and they had the same experience. I noticed they asked for a new water to replace the one that had particles in their glass too. Yuck! Second strike «No Sapporo» on a Saturday night?! It wouldn’t arrive for another hour. The third strike was when we received our Sushi & Sashimi dinner prior to the chicken teriyaki wings we ordered as an appetizer. Poorly timed. Although, both of those dishes were good the timing was a disappointment. As far as the rolls we ordered. The Spicy Tuna had a very strange flavor to it. I’ve never had a spicy tuna roll I didn’t care for the flavor was off and I couldn’t get beyond the bite I had. Then the Nebraska roll we had which included Hamachi one of my all time favorites was so fishy tasting. I was concerned that the fish was spoiled I couldn’t get beyond eating that either. We had one other roll with Unagi which fared well. But, due to all the other disappointments. We won’t be back any time soon. There are plenty of incredibly good and seemingly more affordable Sushi restaurants in Petaluma to patronage. Unfortunately, this place has lost their footing.

We were here just wanna a quick meal, turned out it was very slow… Slow for sushi slow for the bills to come

Went there last night, had reservations for 8. We had early reservations and the restaurant was not to busy. Service was poor, servers did not know which rolls went where. The rolls were all poorly rolled. We live in Petaluma and usually prefer Hana or Gohan. Usually we only go here if we are going for drinks after. I wish we had a higher quality sushi place downtown. I don’t think the owners have a passion for what they do anymore or don’t care.

Honestly, I wish no stars was an option. I am writing this while my husband and I are still waiting for our server to take our check. We are both in the food and beverage industry, so we understand when a bad server is having a bad day. This simply is not the case. The music was at dive bar volume and techno was blaring through the speakers. I ordered a mojito and it took the server 5 minutes to come back and inform me they were out of mint despite us being the only customers in the restaurant. I ordered a different cocktail which I never received. We ordered a salad and appetizer to start which were not worth the price. Thankfully we didn’t order anymore food. Once the appetizer came, my husband poured soy sauce into his dish and a fly came out. It took the server 10+ minutes to come check on us at which point we were ready to leave. I would not recommend this place.

So I’m new here and being from Las Vegas I have had amazing sushi. This place compares to what you get in the mark down section at the grocery store. Absolutely no flavor. But that would of atleast gave them 2 – 3 stars. The 1 star comes from much more. So I was walking in downtown with a date and seen this place. Looked nice, white table cloths, maybe romantic was my thoughts. So I go inside. Now I did give one star because our server was very nice. But not only was the food no where worth the price. The to young adults behind the sushi bar spent all night playing grab ass like a couple of 12 year olds. The all of a sudden a little blonde girl come running out from the back at her friend who comes walking threw the door. Then to top it all off. Here friend sits at the sushi bar and every other word out of her mouth was the F word. And I was sitting all the way in the back, yeah, so much for a romantic dinner. I tried to call. Left a message because they never returned my credit card. Guess I was in a hurry to leave. Never received a call back. Ok so my point is, the prices should reflect the food and the atmosphere not just the location. I urge you to stay away. Hope this helps.

So this used to be my Petaluma Sushi «go-​to.» Until tonight :-/​Maybe it was the perfect storm, but man oh man it was a real nightmare. And we talked our friends out of where they wanted to get Sushi in Rohnert Park so we could show then our Petaluma place. Oops. Bad call. Here is what happened: I called a week in advance to make reservations. We had reservations for 515pm. We arrived and we were literally the first people in there. Sat down. Ordered waters. They came. We waited a while, then ordered our rolls. There was 4 of us and we ordered 7 rolls total, in an empty restaurant. Server came back and said they were out of two of the rolls. We politely let him know we were in a huge rush as we were on our way to the city to catch a musical. Hence making reservations so long before and so early before dinner rush. We got our first 3 rolls 40 minutes later. I specifically asked for no tobiko and they put it on my roll. But based on how long it took to get, I didn’t wanna complain. Instead of bringing them out on separate plates, they put them all three on 1 plate. But they were actually for 3 different people. No biggy though. Sharing is caring. Lol. 20 minutes later I asked where outer final 3 rolls were and they said they would be ready in 15 minutes. Hello? There was now only 2 other couples in the restaurant. What the heck? I asked why it was taking so long and they said «we had a to go order.» Lol. Red oculus. Finally 2 of the three rolls show up. But not my second roll. Then… Finally… It shows up. And with tons of tobiko on it. I told them I needed another roll and right away. We were now 20 minutes past an hour and 10 minutes past when we had to leave. They said it would take 10 minutes. I said not acceptable, scrape the crap off the top and bring it back. I’m hungry and this is my last chance for food for the night. 1 roll wasn’t gonna cut it! They brought it back 5 minutes later and the unagi was cold. Manager said «sorry, I tried to seat it to get it out fast.» How about you come back out and tell me that’s what you’re going to do so I can say no thanks. She offered to comp the roll and I said thanks. Then we go to pay and even though all of their bill sleeves (the plastic folder thing they deliver the check in) say American Express on them, apparently they don’t except them. But they tried to swipe it anyway several times. Huh? Then after I see the paid bill, I noticed she still charged me for the crappy roll. Seriously! Don’t think I’ll ever be back! So sad. Sushi was good. Service was the worst ever!

This place is pricey for what you get. I ordered a Chirashi which was a plate with a 4 inch diameter rice cake with 8 one cm thick pieces of sashimi. And that’s $ 21. Nothing else. Not to mention this place is severely understaffed so the order took at least 40 minutes.
The Chirashi didn’t taste like anything special so I don’t understand the price.
I also came with 4 other friends and as of this review, two orders still aren’t here.
At least the bathrooms are nice.

Positives: fresh seafood, delicious food, beautiful presentation of the sushi & entrees, gorgeous interior, friendly staff, great location in downtown next to a few concert halls, bars and movie theater.
Negatives: ZERO parking, pricier then most sushi places, the sushi rolls have about a inch thick of rice. Really weird to eat that much rice on a roll. My biggest gripe is this place continues to be incredibly understaffed for years. I went in last Saturday night. There was just 1 sushi chef available that night who was making all the sushi for the people inside the restaurant AND the to-​go orders AND being the host. 1 person doing it all on a very busy Saturday night. You can not be overly hungry or in a rush to go to this place. You will be waiting a while!

I am not sure how have lived in Petaluma for 9 years and had not visited yet but we were missing something! The food was delicious, well prepared and presented. The sushi was obviously good quality and my chicken katsu was delicious and lightly breaded. We had quite a bit of food but it was light and pleasant so it didn’t feel overwhelming.
I must also mention that the drinks were great. My husband had a sake he felt was really good but we also both really enjoyed my sake bellini. That was absolutely delicious and paired well with the food.
It was a busy Saturday night yet the service was efficient and pleasant. We had a rather full dinner but i noticed several tables were sharing a large sushi platter and drinks i am guessing before going out and that sounded like a wonderful option as well.
We will definitely return.

My sister and I took my Mom to Hiro’s Japanese Restaurant one weekend while staying up in Petaluma. It was right downtown and pretty nice, not to mention we had a
gift certificate to use against the bill.
We had a good time, enjoyed a little sake and beer with our sushi, in a little corner table off to ourselves. The sushi was of good quality and service was fast and attentive. We got lucky with trying out a new restaurant out of town and saved some money with our certificate.

Compared to all the other sushi places in Petaluma, Hiro’s is Just OK.
Nothing special. The sushi was good, the prices are OK, but I didn’t come away from this restaurant thinking how fantastic it is. I had a single roll, which proved to be not enough for dinner. I didn’t want to spend a lot of more money for multiple rolls. I think next time I will go to paradise sushi which dollar for dollar gives you the opportunity to eat all the sushi you want until you burst. Paradise is more expensive, but then again you get a very satisfying meal and you don’t have to worry about the final bill as it is fixed price.
Hiro’s is a clean and nicely decorated place and in the historic part of downtown Petaluma. That counts for something. I love eating downtown and it is a consistent menu.

I went back and was treated terribly. Had to wait 45 mins for our last roll and we were the only ones in the place. They were so busy talking at the sushi bar (waitress and sushi chefs) I guess they couldnt be bothered.
Never going back ever! The food was poor last time as well. I really think they dont care about customers or the business or anything. Why is this place still in business?

Simply a great sushi spot, fish was very fresh and tasty. Staff is very friendly as well.

Not bad and only reason I didn’t rate a 5 is because of price. Supper nice people that work there. They sat us and came out with house salad and miso soup on the house. My wife and I got the spider roll, crunchy eel, red dragon, and one with octopus but I can’t remember the name. We also spilt a bento box. To much food for us but we were there for lunch so now we have dinner.
Food was great good quality fish. I guess you pay for what you get but I think it’s more of a $ 12 range not $ 15. I would recommend because they are so nice.

Awesome rolls and nigiri! Friendly service and nice atmosphere. Seriously fresh fish that melts in your mouth!

Ate here again last night. For how good this place is and how fresh everything tastes we were surprised to find it so empty. Oh well, more food for us ;) all 3 of us got the same thing. My fiancé’ Rachael always knows what to get that’s delicious. We got the California Storm x3, and Damn it I forgot the other one. One is a deep fried California roll, which f*cking rocks, and the other has dried tempura flakes on top, yummmmmy!!! I wana go again!
Hiro is always nice, he always smiles and greets us and bids us farewell. One time they treated us to a Sake on the house :) good people there :) and friendly staff.
If you like good food, and a nice quiet place to eat some awesome sushi. Hiro’s !

My first trip to Hiro’s a little over a year ago was good but not great. That being said I wasn’t sure what to expect when showing up there on a Saturday night with a few of the boys.
Was really impressed with the speed and quality of the service. Greeted upon entry, seated quickly, and offered drinks right away. We started off with a couple of rounds of sake bombs and then moved on to lemon drops. We ordered a number of appetizers and not really knowing what sushi to pick the cute Asian guy who waited on us helped us with our order. He was very knowledgeable and the food turned out to be amazing. Will definitely be returning as this was a memorable experience.

I have been to Hiro’s in the past and have always been impressed. However, that has definitely changed for the worse.
Our experience tonight started poorly and thankfully ended prematurely before the train wreck could inevitably occur. It does not appear that anyone in the place has ever worked in a restaurant, aside from maybe he chefs. The hostess was chewing her nails and playing with the hair or a young girl in the restaurant, maybe her daughter? There was ONE waitress for the whole restaurant. The other employees were texting on their phones. We had 3 different people come to our table to finally greet us and take an order, and none of them seemed competent to do so. Other patrons had that «waiting for something» look in their eyes.
We had ordered two sake for a party of four. But they apparently have an unusual policy of only serving one sake at a time? Huh? I wil give them credit for at least delivering one sake.
As we watched the clock tick and realized there was no chance that we would get served sushi and make it to our show, my wife thankfully threw in the towel and said «we are out of here» and we bailed. They did not charge us for the sake which was nice.
We ended up going down the road to Kabuki Japanese & sushi, being served promptly, excellent service, excellent sushi, and made it to our show on time.
Hiro sushi needs to change management now.

We went here because the reviews were good. The food was average though.
The waitress was friendly and really the food wasn’t terrible, it just was eh. (I hate that word but it describes it well.)
First they were out of the pinot that they talked up to be the best with Japanese food. No biggie, it happens. They had Lagunita’s IPA (I noticed an ad on the back of the dinner menu even though it wasn’t on the sake, wine and beer list.) So we were happy.
Then the miso was luke, um, cold. We had had such a lovely day and I was going to be happy no matter what so that didn’t get me down.
We ordered the Lion King Roll and the Spider Roll to start.
The Lion King was a roll with tempura prawn inside with crab on the top – said to be very spicy – so when they came with a small amount of wasabi, I figured that would probably be ok. It wasn’t that spicy so we needed more wasabi. The waitress was in the kitchen so we looked around. I saw the hostess leaning on the wall between the sushi bar and the rest of the dining room. My husband said she has been holding up that wall since she seated us. She didn’t look happy and she wasn’t open to responding to our pleading eyes… (I checked in with her throughout our meal and she never once let that wall fall down or lost her grumpy face.)
The lion king was heavy on the rice but otherwise good. I ordered a side of Tobiko (flying fish roe) to go on both rolls but it didn’t pop like Tobiko usually does. It didn’t taste or smell fishy like it was old; it just didn’t seem Tobiko-​like (?)
The Spider roll had just a tiny bit of soft shelled crab and a bunch of crab mixture. The crab mixture had so much mayo that it looked like it was a roll with cream cheese – and it was a little mushy.
We didn’t order any other rolls though we ate what we ordered.
There was another odd thing that I only mention because I thought about it a lot and wished I had been brave enough to pretend I was looking for the restroom and had opened the doors… At the back there was a room with a small curtain where the the miso came from. Then there was a room behind the sushi bar, past the waiter station that had buckets and junk just inside the door – like possibly it was the dish washing station or storage, but the waitress brought bento boxes and non sushi dishes from that room. It looks weird… Just odd – I hope someone will be braver than I and go back there to let us know if it looks ok, lol.

We’ve been looking for a good Japanese restaurant since we moved to Petaluma a few months ago. I was honestly weary that we’d find one out in the country since we’ve moved from Hawaii, then Seattle, where there are some amazing restaurants. Hiro’s did not disappoint!
The food is a little pricey but not overly priced. I was excited to try their miso soup as there’s been so many people raving about it. I thought it was okay. The miso was very strong for my taste and I would have preferred it slightly more watered down (Hana’s has the best miso in town, in my opinion).
I posted some pictures of our food.
Their agedashi tofu is delicious, as is their sushi. My husband had a fried eel sushi (not sure what it was called) but it was good. I had the dragon roll. Amazing! I love unagi. I don’t remember what else he had but we liked everything else we tried.
We also had the crème brûlée for dessert. Yum!
I like the ambiance here. Very simple and chic. The tall ceilings give it a nice spacey feel for being such a narrow layout. There’s a decent amount of seating as well.
I just wish they had tempura ice cream. That would have just been the icing on the cake.
Regardless, I will return!