Absolutely love love love this place! My whole family has been frequenting Buko for years and it's one of our all-time favorites. My fav things: tuna sashimi beef teriyaki tempura green beans tamago nigiri yum yum yum! Wonderful service... They always give me an origami flower with my dessert. :) read more

Love this restaurant. Good fresh food....good service. Not a euro-asian, modern place....just good old authentic Japanese food. If you don't like authentic, best bet is you won't like this place....go somewhere like kabuki that caters to the fancy of infused this and blended that. Simple food, simple surroundings....YUMMY!!!!!! read more

Good place for bento and simple sushi. Tempura batter is a little thick and sashimi could be fresher. Beef teriaki is decent. We made the mistake of asking for really, really spicy tuna rolls. Still edible but masked all tuna flavor. You're probably better off getting them as is. read more

New to area and came here for some rolls after a school function my kids had. Food was just ok. Service was just ok too. Our kids enjoyed the chicken katsu. The Philadelphia rolls had raw sushi. I guess I should have asked but every other place I've ever been the philly rolls were smoked salmon. Definitely not the best sushi I've ever had. I don't think we'll be back. read more

Really delicious sushi! We ordered the vegetable tempura roll, Philadelphia roll, and spicy tuna roll. We will be back!

I've been coming here for awhile now to give this place a well-deserved rating. I rated this place 4 out of a 5 when I came here for the first 3 times. I've been well over that now. They have been consistent throughout. read more

Our family loves Buko! It's a great neighborhood eatery with lots of local families popping in for dinner. The food is great, the staff is nice and the owners go out of their way to make your dining experience a great one. read more

It's in a "secret" location on an unassuming plaza surrounded by middle-eastern establishments but don't let this small spot fool you into thinking they're just your typical Japanese Sushi spot - no, this is one secret spot I'd like to keep secret yet share with my friends and family because they serve some of the freshest sushi in town. The sushi chefs and wait staff are all very friendly and cordial even on a busy evening. The head chef always finds time to greet his customers by walking up to their table and asking if everything's good... talk about customer service! read more

My measure of a Japanese restaurant is ordering an 'off menu' item that I acquired a taste for after a few years living in Japan: a shiso leaf and umeboshi hand roll. If they can do it - particularly without having to check w the kitchen first - then I know it's an authentic, traditional spot. This is such a place. It has the standard menu that you'd expect from an izakaya (gastropub) - but the quality makes up for originality. Everything is fresh and has distinct, subtle flavours. The sushi specials menu varies often, and they accommodate amends readily. I keep one star back just because the place could do with a little update. It's perfectly comfortable but I don't find it cozy or inviting. Love that this place is our neighbourhood spot. read more

Had the lunch special today. The spare ribs were no stop chew, everything else in the bento box was okay. I did enjoy the salmon skin cut roll. Return visit? No. To pricey, better sushi elsewhere. read more

This restaurant is as good as any restaurant you can find in Little Tokyo area in Los Angeles. I had Hamachi Kama and mixed Tempura plate both were very good. To top it off I tried there Oshinko Maki (Hand roll). That was ok. I am used to having it with a shiso leaf with for that extra kick. The young server was quite interesting being a local who could speak Japanese to the Head Sushi Chef. Being of 3rd generation Japanese Americana high school student speak Japanese was quite interesting. If you get a chance try it. read more

Our local tasty sushi joint. We've probably eaten here at least twice a month for the past several years. Sushi is reasonably priced and service is good. Some tasty rolls here include: Tataki, Cucumber Special, Baked Scallop, Green Dragon. Love their thinly-sliced cucumber salad. We prefer this place to Katsuya. read more

The Chicken terayaki Bowl and Steak terayaki bowl was fresh and deliciously cooked on the grill however the rest of the Sushi we ate didn't feel like a Sushi at all., we had the fatty tuna roll and the baked scallops rolls were both average tasting. I am not a fan but you should try you if for yourself. read more

Worst sushi place I've ever been to. The Manager was beyond rude. A roll that we ordered didn't taste so great. So we asked her is she can take it back and remove it from the check. She began to argue with us and telling us that it was good. She then stuck her finger in the roll, that was still on the plate, dug out the roll's fillings and stuffed it in her mouth and ate it. With rice falling off her bottom lip she was mumbling " its good!" and said she wasn't gonna take it off the check and tried to make us pay for it. She got pissed off and called the police to tell tell them that we didn't want to pay for our meal. We did want to pay our check, we just wanted the single roll taken off. We waited for the police to arrive. While we were waiting, I told her that I was gonna blast her on the Internet. When the officer arrived, she told us that we can leave and said she didn't want our money. Terrible Experience, Terrible Manners. AND WORST OF ALL THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY SRIRACHA !!! read more

buko japanese restaurant...large menu selection...variety offered from budget to high...teriyaki, katsu and tempura bento sets rounded to $ten...$twenty-one sushi or sashimi platters...roughly $twelve mega-rolls to fill...starting with large hot sake and large asahi both $seven each...order of a sushi platter and few rolls...standard sushi selection of average cuts...rolls nice, fat and well constructed...not overly pressed and good formation...finding surprise in a la carte sushi selection...much higher sushi quality compared to set sushi platter...pair of salmon sweet and melting wonderfully....sweet delicious mackerel fresh and perfection...must try omakase in future...complimentary jalapeno poppers type of dish an added bonus...$hundred total dinner for three...good sampling of strength and weaknesses...stay away from the sushi combination platters...order straight from a al carte sushi list for highest quality...rolls are good fillers to keep costs down...bento sets good for budget meals... read more

Buko Restaurant - check please for 3 people... - Sushi Bars Near Me - Glendale, California

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My quaint local Japanese restaurant changed ownership. My to-go salmon teriyaki and tempura was missing the tempura dipping sauce and the tempura was soggy. Not a good start. read more

i am not going back to this japanese restaurant ever again. This use to be my favorite place to eat a good japanese cuisine. My family and I went there to eat one Saturday for lunch. I ordered for my self a lunch combi of Tempura and rolls. As i was eating my lunch and sharing it with my wife the waiter came to my table saying they gave me one extra shrimp tempura. Although very apologetic the waiter took my plate back to the kitchen and took away the extra tempura.The owner came to the table to explain what happened. I ask the owner what they will do with the tempura as we already have started eating the dish. I was told they will reheat it and serve it again. I had a severe cold that day......I fill sorry for the next customer who ordered the shrimp tempura read more

I grew up going here over the years for many a lunches but on my last visit I found them to be remodeled with new owners. It used to be owned by the cutest sweetest old lady. She made the place have a real homey type feel. The new owners opted for a more sleek open design with a more modern menu to boot. They have sushi now, which they formerly kind of lacked. The sushi was just so-so, not too fresh or anything special about them. The sushi rice was a bit hard, no bueno. I had the sashimi salad and it was overall bland. The dressing could've been better. If the old place was 4 stars, this is now 3. I miss you old japanese lady, come back and give me more potato salad pls! read more

Buko's - Not What It Used To Be Last night we ate dinner at the "new" Buko's, which was recently sold to new owners. We had been eating at the former Buko's for more than 25 years and always enjoyed a good meal with a friendly family atmosphere. The mama san always greeted us with a welcoming smile. After reviewing many of the five star ratings we had great expectations for our dinner last night. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. After getting over the sticker shock displayed on the new menu (prices have increased at least 30%) we all ordered the teriyaki chicken dinner. In addition, I ordered a sushi roll. The miso soup lacked taste and I couldn't believe how small the tofu was. How far does one carry out cost reduction in a restaurant? The teriyaki chicken was ok, but the tempura was pretty sad. The shrimp were the circumference of a Ticonderoga No. 2 pencil and lacked any flavor whatsoever, the sure sign that they were farmed shrimp of the lowest quality. There was no longer the good cucumber salad and the lettuce salad had a new dressing that was not as good as the old. To top off our disappointment, there is now a $1 surcharge if you wish to have Green Tea ice cream. There is no charge for the vanilla ice cream. As for the sushi roll, I would rate it as mediocre and expensive for what you get. The restaurant now has a very extensive sushi menu, so there may be selections that are good as some of the other reviewers have mentioned. The long and short of our experience is that we probably won't be back. read more

Not sure why this place is rated so high. Tried sashimi sushi set lunch. Nothing was authentic. miso soup tasted like from a soup packet. Rice isn't even Japanese rice. Worse of all, fish quality is horrible. People who likes this restaurant really need to know what real Japanese food taste like. read more

Good sushi, not amazing but better than some other sushi places I've been to. It's a good local spot and the service is great.

Our go-to neighborhoods Japanese joint. Been coming here for over 20 years, including the former owner. Fish is siesta fresh, and their dinner combos are great value. Love their beef teriyaki although the last 2 visits, the beef has been a little tough. read more

We had the Tataki roll, tonkatsu ramen and the salmon/chicken teriyaki plate. Tatami roll was dericious, spicy tuna was fresh and nice and spicy with crispy onions on top, yum. The tonkatsu ramen was a little bland but with a little soy sauce, made it better, nothing compared to shin sen gumi. The terriyaki was basic, husband enjoyed the salmon, I thought the chicken was burnt a bit. They also had brown rice for a dollar extra( kind of nickel and dime u for everything).It had that charcoal flavor. Service was good, friendly, fast, efficient. They also had the game on. We will prolly be back just because it's so close. read more

Good local sushi at a great price. The service is fast and I'm pretty sure this place is family owned! The albacore is delicious and also the Glendale roll is very tasty. Fun place for me and my girl to go to if we're tryna get good sushi for a cheaper price read more

The new Buko 2.0 is great! food is delicious! Nicer decor! service is still great. Now they have a sushi bar and more selection of fresh sushi, I tried some today and it was up to par. My preferences is still the teriyaki and the yummy miso soup. Still a great place with better decor and more menu items all around a better improvement! read more

We just had the worst service at this place - ordered 2 bento boxes, (which even on a Friday night should have been fairly straight forward) and they neglected to serve the soups or salads...when we pointed this out to the wait-staff, they offered them as dessert! Not really - although they failed to bring any ginger or wasabi during the course of the meal, they did mention we could have vanilla ice cream or pay extra for green tea ice cream for our dessert! If you want sushi - look elsewhere. If you want surly you found the right place. read more

Took my girl friend out for lunch. She had never had a few rolls i was familiar with. We had a catapiler, california and lobster roll. Lobster roll tasted horrible we sent it back. When i got bill was billed for half because the cook tasted it and it was fine. Will never return very disappointed. Waitress never checked on us not a good experience. Sad because it looked like a highly rated place. read more

This is THE BEST sushi you will find in the greater Glendale and east side LA area. I've tried several places in the area that rate average and haven't reviewed them as a result. Buko offers a variety of Japanese comfort food and various salads, all excellent. Whether I order a hand roll, standard or specialty roll, the sushi is always fresh and the correct temperature. If you decide to go Omakase, be prepared to weep. Their inventions of flavor are collections of beautiful art for your tastebuds. read more

First time for lunch. Had the special with tempura and sashimi. Everything was well prepared and presented. The food was fresh the tempura was crunchy and tasty. They serve a healthy serving of miso soup and the lunch portions are moderate but together they make a nice size lunch. I will def come again. If tour in the neighborhood check the hours and stop in. read more

I came here randomly with a bunch of co-workers for lunch. We didn't have much time, but it was nice because they knew we were coming with a big crowded and they seated us right away. They have a few lunch special, I ordered the chicken teriyaki with CA roll and tempura and I think it was only $10 what a steal. Their service is fast and I liked their food. They gave you just enough food. I'm hoping to try this place out for dinner one day. I just wished that there were more vegetarian options for my gf. read more

I think the food is excellent after the change in ownership. We've been going regularly, and it's consistent. Salmon teriyaki was about perfect, could have been coooked a little less but not much, with perfect crunchy salmon skin. Miso soup was excellent, a good sign. And the menu is bigger than before. Salad but no veggies with the entree, and maybe a couple of dollars high for dinner (cheaper for lunch), but I'll be going back. I would stay away from the sushi - the sushi chef is I fear not really a sushi chef. read more

This place is probably one of the worst sushi joints I've been to. They're hard to locate because they don't have a clear sign saying "BUKO." Also, they close at 8:30 on Saturdays (whattt???). While being seated, we were told that they were closing soon so we were only able to order once. I don't mind being told that but the waitress was standing by our table and kept hassling us about ordering. This was in intervals of a minute...Not cool. The menu is very limited compared to other sushi joints. You ONLY have your basic rolls and sushi which in my opinion really does harm than good for this place. We ordered a salmon teriyaki bento, buko roll, and spicy tuna roll. At first, the rolls look like it's a HUGE portion. In reality, the pieces were cut very thick and rolled terribly sloppy and you're only given 3 pieces of it. I'd say equaling to about half of what you get in other sushi joints. Also, some parts of the roll/fish was partially discolored and frozen. The salmon teriyaki wasn't that bad. It wasn't overcooked and had crispy skin. However, it the taste was very fishy and left a bitter taste in my mouth. One thing that really ticked me off was that as they brought out the food, they brought out the check. We weren't the only table there and I think it's rude when a server brings out the check before a meal is finished or before it's being asked for. On top of that, the servers were just standing around the cash register and complaining about how much time has passed since closing (10minutes). read more

Odd restaurant. In an outdated little mall in Glendale, and strange smell when u walk in. Miso soup arrived with tiny side of pickled cabbage....we asked for a second side of cabbage and they said it was an extra .30 cents. I hate restaurants that do this. I mean, for a small side u r going to charge me that?? While we ate, staff kept watching us, so my daughter felt really uncomfortable the whole time. Maybe they were being attentive, but it was a little weird. Food very average, but tempura was tasty. Probably won't go back as we felt awkwardly "watched" and food not worth it! read more

I ordered a chicken katsu at this place and took the lunch package drove back to my office to eat....there is no chicken katsu when I opened the package at my office....so I drove back to the restaurant and showed the guy (the same guy who took my order)my lunch pakage. He replied in a very irritated tone(not a single word of apologie ): if you want chicken katsu, you have to order another one" I don't appreciate his attitude, so I told him that I don't want the food and like a refund for the untouched lunch. He replied fine. This unpleasant lunch was taken place about a few weeks ago....now I am looking at my credit card bill, I only see a $11.99 charge from this restaurant, and I don't see any refund....:( No, I will not go back because the rude stuff and dishonesty. read more

I typically abhor Japanese restaurants in Glendale, either the fish or the wait staff is sub par. Don't get me started on katsuya in the Americana. I guess it's all relative when it comes to sushi dive bars, I recently moved into a place that is 2 minutes away from Buko and I can't tell you how excited I am to find such a great sushi place that I can walk to. I plan on coming every week. I've been here a handful of times already and it's been consistently fresh, I've tried the udon and the ramen, I liked the ramen it was really good. The udon, for me personally, was okay but I'm not a udon person to begin with so don't let that hinder your decisions. I get yellowtail, salmon, and tuna, all of which tastes great. It's also not stingy or thinly sliced its a good portion in my opinion. I haven't tried many rolls because I'm not a roll person really, I don't really like Ca rolls and most sushi rolls are a variation of a Ca roll. They have a wasa toro roll which is really fantastic if you can take the heat, I'm a baby so I can't really finish it by myself haha the price is pretty normal not any lower and not really higher than others in the area. I say give this place a try, the people working there are really great. Do you like fresh sushi and quick service? I'm positive you'll enjoy your visit here. read more

Buko Restaurant - Salmon sushi, tuna roll, and ramen! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Glendale, California

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A small cozy restaurant near my house. Owners are super nice and it is family owned (Japanese chef, and his son and Korean lady) Very authentic and price us very decent. Everything is so delicious read more

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This is my go to ramen place! I can't emphasize enough how much I love their ramen. And the sushi is excellent! I always order the spicy tuna but it's all good. I mostly get take out, but from my experience the people are really friendly and enjoyed the couple of times I did eat in the dining room. read more

Don't let the unassuming strip mall in another non-descript area of Glendale dissuade you from trying Buko. We had salmon sushi, baby yellowtail sushi, Japanese red snapper sushi, spicy tuna roll and a new lemony roll recently created by the chef. All were excellent! read more

I.came in by myself a month ago, really just wanting fresh sushi. The uni was not fresh. The Ikura was so salty I only ate one piece and left the other one on my plate. The cucumber roll had an entire dollop of wasabi in each piece. I think the only decent thing I had was the yellowtail carpaccio. So I ordered enough food for my bill to come out to $60. I'm fine with paying a lot for good food, but the worst feeling is when you pay a lot for subpar food. read more

Friendly staff, comfortable and clean atmosphere, melt-in-your-mouth sushi, and to top it all off, green tea ice cream for dessert! I would definitely recommend Buko for those who enjoy a cozy and delicious sushi joint. read more