Kai Sushi and Sake Bar

Raleigh, United States

4.5

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 919-870-4923
Website:
kaisushisakebar.com
Address:
7713 Lead Mine Rd Ste 11, Raleigh, NC, 27615
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1 miSix Forks Road at Forum Drive
1.1 miStrickland Road at Six Forks Road
1.5 miBrennan Drive at Creedmoor Road
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Closed now
Local time (Raleigh) 7:38 AM Sunday, June 1, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Tuesday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Wednesday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Thursday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Saturday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Sunday 5:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Description

Specialties

We ensure customer’s experience to be new and revitalizing with great food

History

Established in 2013.

Senior Sushi Chef/​Owner started in California and made his way to North Carolina working for top sushi restaurants. Found a wonderful spot in Greystone Village and the «rest» is history.

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Vicinity

Near this location:
90
ft
Cabana Tans Tanning & Skin Care
7713 Lead Mine Rd
90
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Greystone Animal Hospital
7713 Lead Mine Rd Ste 7
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ft
Food Lion
7713 Lead Mine Rd
90
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Farmer Barbara C D V M
7713 Lead Mine Rd
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Mathnasium of Lead Mine
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Gymboree Play & Music of Raleigh
7713 Lead Mine Rd Ste 47

20 reviews of Kai Sushi and Sake Bar

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Raleigh, NC
Our first time. More delicious food than we could eat. My wife, the sushi expert, says, «better than Waraji». There you have it.
Our server, Lisa, gave superior service and was so happy doing her job. She was a big part of our experience.
Thank you!
We shall return
Place rating: 5
Columbia, SC
So yummy! I am in town for work and Peter, the chef, picked my sushi selections for me. It was fantastic!!! Everything was so fresh and they are so friendly!
They also have Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio on the menu, which pairs perfectly with sushi
I’m very happy!
Place rating: 5
Wake Forest, NC
My wife and I have a weakness for sushi so we have eaten our way through all of the spicy tuna and eel rolls in the greater Triangle area. Kai is, hands down, our favorite. The sushi is always fresh, the rice is always steamed well. The size of each piece is manageable and the flavor combinations are thoughtful and delicious.
Kai has a running special of 3 rolls for $ 23.99 and 5 rolls for $ 36.99 that applies to any roll on the menu. Given the quality of the sushi, that makes Kai a much better value than average flash fried BOGO sushi elsewhere.
The staff are always polite and attentive even during the mad rush of dinner service. If you have been to Hawaii recently, then my wife says that you will definitely appreciate Kai’s poke roll with beautiful chunks of ahi tuna and avocado dressed in spicy mayo. Personal favorite is the Kai special. It is very fresh and the cilantro is an awesome compliment to the tuna and salmon.
Kai is conveniently located so if you live anywhere in Raleigh then you don’t have to travel far for high quality sushi.
Place rating: 5
Raleigh, NC
HIDDEN GEM. Really good sushi, pleasant & fast service! I love that they also have Korean dishes, which is one of my fave cuisines! The outdoor section is great too.
Place rating: 5
Knightdale, NC
This is a awesome little place with great outdoor seating. They give complimentary edamame which is a nice little snack while perusing the menu. We normally get sushi here and we haven’t been disappointed yet they have some really delicious maki rolls. If your in mood for Saki they have really great options as well. If your in the area i highly recommend coming and giving them a try.
Place rating: 5
Belgium
Went again last night simply great. Very friendly and good service and the sushi was simply delicious. Fun and creative rolls that we enjoyed. Lots of people so we had to wait a bit to get a table but worth the wait
Place rating: 4
Ridgefield, NJ
The quality of their fish is really impressive. The special rolls are really filling and tasty. Their sashimi are very fresh and clean. Prices, especially the lunch specials, are affordable. Probably the best quality sushi in Raleigh.
Place rating: 4
Raleigh, NC
Kai has amazing sushi that is always flavorful and fresh tasting. The nigiri portions are perfect, and priced very reasonable even when compared with BOGO sushi restaurants.
The atmosphere has a traditional Asian feel, but is inviting and enjoyable appropriate for a family dinner or a date. The service staff are pleasant, and efficient, but can lack attentiveness at times even when they aren’t busy.
If you enjoy sushi you’ll love Kai.
Place rating: 4
Durham, NC
After such positive Unilocal reviews, my friend and I decided this North Raleigh sushi location was a must-​hit. We visited on a Tuesday night and opted to sit outside on the patio (ample outdoor seating!) We were greeted with complimentary edamame — what a nice touch.
We split a bottle of the house sake (based on our server’s recommendation) — nice and dry and very reasonably priced. I ordered the seaweed salad to start and she opted for the house salad with ginger dressing (a classic). The size of our salads were quite different: the house salad is huge while the seaweed was served in a larger bowl but not as much salad as I might have hoped (it was REALLY tasty!)
We each ordered a set of rolls: I opted for the Green Peace, which has avocado, frisse, kaiware, gobo, vegetable tempura & tempura dipping sauce (for this many ingredients, this roll held together nicely & was delicious). My friend ordered the Avalance — smoked salmon, cucumber, cream cheese topped with salmon and apple onion sauce. She really picked up the apple onion sauce and gave it two thumbs up.
Great service. Excellent sushi. Maybe a bit more for the seaweed salad? For all that we ordered, the price was less than $ 40. That’s a steal. I will gladly return to Kai Sushi and highly recommend other Triangle folks check it out.
Place rating: 5
North Dallas, Dallas, TX
I wanna say im really picky with mi sushi and this sushi is better than even Mura and the place in dt raleigh we had the dartj vader piano crazy kay and 6 more excellent sushi
Keep up the good work Kay
Thanks
Place rating: 4
Wake Forest, NC
Really great sushi place and really great deals on rolls. Everyone in group enjoyed the experience.
For those that follow me for the GF side of the dining experience the selection of rolls is limited if you order directly off menu and you will need to know how each roll is prepped as there is no GF menu. Many rolls are either fried, have flakes or breaking, have Kani (imitation crab) which is a not something you can have. The good news is the wait staff are reasonably knowledgeable about what you can remove from roll once you let them know what you can’t have or even sub to make the roll GF and GF soy is available on request. All in all great experience, a little more difficult then I’ve had in some other sushi spots in triangle regarding the GF options. For the price and deals best spot when on budget.
Place rating: 4
Raleigh, NC
Kai is tucked away in the strip beside Food Lion. It’s unassuming but the food packs a tasty punch! Everyone at the table enjoyed their dish. I really liked the vegetarian Green Peace roll, and the spicy mayo really hits the spot (I ordered it on the side). I also tried a yakisoba dish and the noodles were delicious and the sauce was just right. Overall, I would come back to try something different!
Place rating: 4
Chapel Hill, NC
I was enticed to visit Kai Sushi and Sake Bar after raving reviews by Ms. Heather Min (shoutout :D), so I promptly visited soon after, which I’m glad I did. The sushi rolls at Kai are absolutely amazing. Any sushi lover can immediately taste the difference in quality and delicacy of the fish, and the flavor combination that each Kai roll has to offer is brilliant. The complimentary edamame that they offer at the beginning of the meal is a great touch to start off a meal. As for the entrée, my S.O. and I got the Aloha, Screaming O, and Black Widow rolls (3 rolls for $ 24.99!), all having its individual uniqueness — from crunchy, sweet, and savory. We also ordered the Hibachi Chicken, which a lot of restaurants that I’ve been to tend to mess up (dry chicken, bland, too salty, etc.). However, Kai did a great job with the simple dish; chicken was cooked perfectly so that it was easily chewable, and the marinade was just right so that it wasn’t too salty or sweet (good amount of chicken too).
Let’s just say… we ate everything in like, 10 minutes. It was that good. The only reason I wasn’t able to give Kai a full five-​star rating was because of the somewhat indifferent waitress that we had (wasn’t rude by no means, but also wasn’t the most friendly. maybe just a bad day?). Sure, Kai doesn’t have the «value» aspect of other restaurants with a BOGO deal, but the flavor and quality of the sushi is well worth it! I’ll be back for sure to try the other sushi rolls and hopefully will be able to update the review to five-​stars then!
Place rating: 5
Raleigh, NC
It seems like my boyfriend and I come here at least once a week now!
I don’t know if the owners have changed in the past 1.5 years but I’m so glad we rediscovered this place.
First off, they make such delicious and unique sushi rolls.
I love all the various types of rolls they have to offer!
I’ve tried atleast 12 different rolls with my boyfriend and my top 4 are the Raleigh pop, screaming o, black widow, and aloha rolls!
Seriously, each roll has such a unique flavor.
I also love the fact that their sushi is really fresh!
Oh and bonus, they have a great special where 5 rolls cost $ 38 total and 3 rolls is $ 25?
Service seems to be significantly slower and pretty mediocre on Friday/​Saturday nights (which is somewhat expected).
Still, it’s not super slow or unbearable.
The place is pretty small so it can get crowded during those evenings!
If you want the 100% satisfaction guarantee, definitely try this place on a weeknight!
Place rating: 4
Atlanta, GA
Tucked away in a strip mall, underneath the guise of hibachi and 3 and 5 roll specials lies a sushi/​sashimi gem.
Started with the amberjack appetizer which is topped with jalepeno, sprouts, chopped wasabi, grated daikon?, and a ponzu sauce. This dish was a great blend of flavors and textures and would have been perfect if the sauce was not so overwhelming.
Also had my usual favorite nigiri squid, mackerel, and wasabi tobiko (wish there was more kick) along with yellowtail and scallop. All the items were great (the mackerel and yellowtail were not excessively fatty which is pretty common) but the squid was definitely a cut above the rest. The sushi rice here is served slightly warm which is my preference.
Would definitely return for the squid nigiri and to try additional items off of the sushi menu.
There was also complimentary edamame.
Place rating: 5
Raleigh, NC
I was craving sushi and getting to the point of hangry mode but Kai Sushi satisfied all my cravings. I was surprised how busy the place was and we decided to sit at the sushi bar instead of waiting for a table. Reservations are definitely recommended for a Saturday night. The service was somewhat slow to the point that the sushi chef noticed and was about to take our drink orders but the waiter came just in time. We got the $ 36 special for 5 rolls which came with free edamame. What really caught our eye was the sushi special roll — the Darth Vader which used black rice. I have never tried black rice before and I’m a Star Wars fan so we definitely got that. Our sushi came out fairly quickly and everything was fresh and tasty. Looks like we found a new sushi date spot in the Triangle area! Yum!
Place rating: 5
Raleigh, NC
What a wonderful first experience at Kai! I kept seeing it pop up on my Unilocal app, so New Year’s Eve, I finally decided to try them out.
Being that it was New Year’s Eve, I drove over & placed my «to go» order at the bar. At 7:30 PM, there were quite a few people there dining. The décor & ambiance is very nice. Lots of wood, dark tones. They aren’t very big, but table sizes vary.
Their staff are really nice & friendly. Menu is extensive, with plenty of sushi choices. I had a very hard time deciding! After about five minutes, I decided on the Crazy K roll & seaweed salad ($ 14 total).
When I got home & opened the carry out boxes, the nice presentation of the food was still intact.
The roll & the seaweed salad were delicious! My only regret is that I didn’t order another roll. (Rolls come in 8 pieces).
Prices are reasonable, so I’ll definitely be back!
Place rating: 4
Raleigh, NC
Great sushi for a reasonable price.
We started with the STUFFED JALAPEÑO a tempura battered jalapeño filled with crab and spicy tuna; covered with a sweet chili sauce. A top-​notch appetizer with a perfect level of spicy and sweet for $ 3.
For the main dishes, we ordered 6 rolls:
1) HUNGRY — spicy tuna and cucumber roll fried. I’m not a big fan of fried sushi, and this was definitely my least favorite. But if you like it fried, this may be for you.
2) SPIDER — soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado, and crab stick.
3) DARK KNIGHT — spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, albacore, avocado and black rice. My favorite, the black rice in combination with fried shrimp and fresh raw tuna and albacore… divine.
4) SNIPER– salmon, spicy crab, jalapeño, spicy tuna, and avocado. My second favorite of our list, loved the spice of this one.
5) KAI SPECIAL — tuna, salmon, white fish, kani crab, cucumber, cilantro, and masago wrapped in pickled daikon. This was a great roll if you like lots of fresh raw fish in a roll with wonderful flavor.
6) DARTH VADER — spicy tuna, spicy crab, avocado with black rice, topped «O» sauce and tobiko. Loved the black rice, but this roll had lots of avocado which made the roll a bit mushy for me.
I definitely recommend saving room for dessert. We had the tempura battered fried bananas and ice cream… AWESOME! Get it!
Place rating: 3
Raleigh, NC
When it’s good, it’s good. I’ve had mixed experiences here. One time I was held hostage over 30 minutes while they sorted out problems with their credit card processing. They had no backup method of accepting credit cards, which had me and some other diners chomping at the bit to leave.
Usually the food is very good, though. I really appreciate the mixture of Korean and Japanese fare. Be warned, for what it is, I think it’s on the expensive side. Tokyo House is going to be more reasonable as sushi goes. Seoul Garden has better Korean food for a better price. For that reason, I don’t end up eating here as often as I might like.
For some reason, service is better inside than out. Shame; I like their patio. But the servers seem reluctant to check on outdoor diners if they don’t have to.
I don’t think they’ve got any concept of lunch portions, either, which might be why it’s too expensive to eat lunch here.
Be warned that there is no WiFi here, and they seem to be in a Sprint dead zone.
Still… it’s very good food. Definitely check it out. The sushi seems pretty trustworthy. And I really like the bibimbap here.
Place rating: 4
Modesto, CA
The rundown:
5 stars for menu items, service and value
4 stars for quality of Food
This is without a doubt a crowd pleasing sushi shop and I plan to return again. There is something for everyone, a wine selection and awesome americanized service. The rainbow roll we ordered was well made and not drenched in sauce, which I throughly appreciated. Although there was absolutely nothing wrong with our nigeri and maki, it was not the best we have had in the area. I guess I feel strongly that a sushi shops rating should be based first and foremost on the product, so that is the reason I give Kai four stars instead of five.