Date night! Hajime in Elk River is a solid local spot if you're craving Japanese food. I ordered the filet mignon hibachi and my husband went with the spicy crab roll and the Anchor's Tattoo roll. Everything we had was flavorful and fresh - the hibachi was especially delicious, even if it wasn't the full show-style experience you might expect from a traditional hibachi place. The rolls were well-prepared, with good texture and balance. Service was friendly and quick, and our food came out without much wait, which is always a plus. That said, the interior could definitely use some updates. The decor and furniture feel worn and outdated, which stands out more when you consider the price point. It's not enough to ruin the experience, but a little refresh could go a long way. A few small things: the spinach salad served with the hibachi wasn't my favorite - the dressing was a bit off for my taste - and I missed the usual mushroom soup that typically comes with hibachi meals. Also, a heads-up to fellow diners: the fried rice came with chicken by default, which wasn't listed, and I would've preferred the plain white rice instead. All in all, Hajime delivers on food quality and service. With some minor adjustments and a facelift inside, it could easily be a standout. We'll be back! read more

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Very nice and delicious sushi spot in Elk River. Hands down best chicken fried rice in MN! Sauce is 10/10 too!

Crunchy rice is a no go for sushi. Staff said well everyone else seems to like it but no this was undercooked rice and they have a chef issue read more

Hajime has been a favorite of mine for years now. Its a great spot if you live north of the Twin Cities and don't want to drive far for good sushi. The happy hour deals are great, and I think that the pricing is fair for what you get. There are many different rolls to choose from, including many vegetarian options. They also have a hibachi menu for those who might not like sushi. The wait staff is friendly and attentive. The only reason I give 4 stars is because the tables/chairs are in rough shape and need to be replaced. read more

Great food and service The taste is fresh and always a pleasant place, my go to close to home read more

Delicious! Fast service. Perfect sized rolls and generous with roe. Will definitely return. read more

Hajime - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

Still the best sushi in the far NW burbs - 4 stars. Wow, it's been 9 years since I ate at Hajime! I've been on a sushi binge lately so I stopped in again...and then again a second day in a row...to satisfy my sushi cravings. The food is great, the service is great, and the prices are reasonable. (The photos really say it all.) I'd go back again any time. Thanks, Hajime! -Maxx read more

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5 different types of caviar.... WHAT!!?? Un heard of!! I have never been so impressed with a sushi restaurant since Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Absolutely top notch and anyone and I mean anyone that goes here better appreciate the amount of flavors, work, and quality put into this amazing food. Emily our server was so amazing. She was fun and joyful and made our experience even better! Do not look over the chefs choice sushi! My goodness !!! Top notch! We will be coming here again and again! So delightful and delicious! read more

Hajime - Chefs choice selection sushi with 5 types of caviar! - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

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This is our regular local sushi place. Always fresh, delicious and great happy hour specials. They really need to upgrade the chairs and tables. The service is great and very friendly. read more

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I love this place. The sushi is excellent and fresh. The staff is so friendly. Parking is hard to find sometimes but it's worth finding a place for this sushi! Bring a friend and order several rolls and enjoy! read more

Hajime - Angel roll, Crunch roll, and Philly roll - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

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Tried a little bit of everything on our stop in... the best item on the menu was the fried rice with yum yum sauce. While that was actually a surprise, it's also not a good thing. The potstickers were alright, but hard to mess up anywhere. When it came to sushi though, it was extremely mediocre. I'd say the best roll we tried was the Hawaiian and it was probably a 3-out-of-5. If you're dying for sushi; it's better than nothing. But there are much better options out there! read more

Hajime - Sushi Rolls (Hawaiian, Anchor's Tattoo, Devil) - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

The food was good when we FINALLY got it. Had small children and ordered their food right away which came after 15 minutes. The adult's food took almost an HOUR!! Others around us got their food (there was only 5 total in our party). Not sure if I would go back due to the service!! read more

Good food .,good service. I would like sushi colder. Especially crunchy cooked shrimp.,star rating 4 stars4p Star rating liked location 4 Star ra read more

The fact that I live so close to this restaurant is both exciting and scary (for my wallet). I've both dined and out of this restaurant many times. I've always had an impeccable experience at Hajime! They have great happy hour deals, especially for sushi! The ambiance feels like you're in a cool club, with strobe lights and music bumping. My Top Three Choices Are: *Sweet Potato Roll: I ordered this and had no idea what to expect. I love the crunch, the sweet potato, and the sauce. Just a delicious combo in a roll! *Tuna Avocado Roll: Just how it sounds, but always so good! The tuna is always fresh *Avocado Roll: Again, just how it sounds, but never fails to disappoint! read more

Hajime - Note how beautifully packed the sushi is in a to-go container! - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

This is the best Asian restaurant in Elk River. It is clean and well managed. I've only been here once so it is really difficult for me to give the food a fair review. Japanese food can be quite flavorful but midwesterners seem to like their food much blander than I do. I think that most of my taste buds have been burned away so it takes much more flavor to impress me. read more

Great service great sushi excellent quality. the avocado salad was fabulous and they catered to my shellfish allergies.

I ended up here from. Recommendation & am super glad we went! It was late night Happy Hour & they had a ton of deals on rolls & drinks! I had a saketini & hot sake which I enjoyed both. The Saketini was in the sweeter side. We went big & got a bunch of rolls, edamame, & a few sashimi's. The sushi was really solid! We definitely want to go back! I was told that the Blaine location is also great! -- Rolls: Devil Roll - Deep fried freshest fish, cream cheese roll, topped with special chili sauce and chopped jalapeno. North Shore Roll - Tuna, avocado, fresh salmon, caviar, seaweed salad, crunchy, spicy mayo, and eel sauce. Superior Roll - Pepper tuna, avocado, wrapped around spicy tuna, kari, crunch with honey wasabi sauce on top. Crazy Tuna Roll - Deep fried spicy tuna avocado, tobiko & topped with special sauce. No 9 Roll - Fresh Salmon, avocado wrapped around shrimp tempura, cucumber with tobiko & spicy mayo Sashimi: 2 - octopus 2- White Tuna 2 Salmon The sushi was really solid! We definitely want to go back! I was told that the Blaine location is also great read more

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We just moved here and I was really excited to see a sushi restaurant nearby. I ordered a basic spicy tuna roll and a fried roll made with ingredients I know what should taste like together. The spicy tuna was a bit bland, but not bad. However, I couldn't get past the taste of bad fish in the fried roll to get past the 2nd piece. I wasn't going to say anything, because I hate causing a fuss over food, but when the waitress asked me if I wanted a box and I said no, she asked why I didn't finish the roll, so I told her. She cleared my plate and I overheard her telling the chefs what I said. A different woman came out to ask me if I'd eaten there before. When I said no, she told me not every roll named what I got is going to taste the same at every location, which I know, and wasn't even the point of my complaint? Despite me trying to defend myself saying I didn't order it for the name they gave it, but the ingredients used, she still basically said I was wrong. I wasn't trying to be confrontational, or cause a scene, but she drew everyone's attention to me and left me feeling obviously unwelcome. I've lived by various beaches the majority of my life, to include living in Guam, Hawaii and Japan--I've unfortunately had bad fish here and there over the years to know the taste. I appreciated that she took it off my bill (I didn't ask her to), but I was pretty taken aback at the offense taken over the matter and accosting me rather than just double checking their ingredients in the back and leaving it at that. If it had gone like that, I'd gladly go back to give it a retry, but to quote my husband "I guess we aren't allowed there anymore". Wild. read more

This is our favorite restaurant in Elk River. We love the quality and variety of options. We're always seated promptly and the prices are reasonable. read more

Elk River is fortunate to have this unique ethnic food restaurant in town. The lunch specials are exceptional with a good selection of Japanese dishes that all include fresh sushi and a good price. I have had lunch five times at Hajime. Many have stated that the sushi rolls are the best. I have to agree because my wife and I took home a selection of sushi and our family loved it. read more

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I went to dine in for Happy Hour on 06/05/2023. The waiter and staff was very nice overall. We order sushi and ramen. When the waiter brought our sushi to us, my girlfriend notice a piece of hair on top of the sushi. We notified the waiter and they took it back. We finished all our sushi and while waiting for our ramen, we asked the waiter and she said she forgot to put it in. She said that she couldn't read her writing and that was why she forgot to put it in. We told her it's okay. We asked for our tab to pay and leave. This lead to another issue. The waiter gave us the wrong tab and we notice because we didn't order the items while looking over the tab. We notified the waiter and she was confused. Also, while we were still eating, they were sweeping and cleaning up around us and that wasn't good. Red Flags: -Piece of Hair in Sushi -Sweeping while eating -Messed up our Tab -Forgot our Ramen Order Overall, this was a bad experience and we would not be going back. Thank you for the experience. read more

One of the best sushi place in the northwest suburbs. Love the service staff and the restaurant is so com

I had sushi here and it was pretty tasty! We came for happy hour and they have some pretty good deals. Overall very good, not the best sushi I've ever had but I would definitely come back when in the area. They have some very interesting rolls! read more

The sushi and the chicken teriyaki were very tasty and delicious! The servers were on top of business and always making sure we were satisfied !! The staff were friendly and attentive! read more

Terrible service. Would not recommend the waitress I think are half of our food was extremely rude. I definitely would not recommend

Every thing was great liked the lunch box very good food will go again soon loved it. Very good service and clean

I'd ordered the sushi and sashimi combo for take out. Upon returning to my place, the sushi were warm, I'm only less than 5 minutes away. I don't know why they had packaged a cooked roll with the raw sushi. Beside that, the shrimp tempura roll only consist of one shrimp (most place uses two shrimps), good thing I'd only paid $1 for upgrading the California roll. The nigiri and sashimi were good but the powdered wasabi was horrible, I've tried many powdered wasabi all over the country and this one rank dead last, can't have good sushi with bad wasabi. read more

Hajime - Sushi and sashimi combo with shrimp tempura roll - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

Delicious food and really nice inside the restaurant. I only ordered pickup, but the sushi was amazing!

One of the best sushi place in the northwest suburbs. Love the service staff and the restaurant is so comfortable

Always fresh and delicious. Ordered the lunch, they have 16 rolls to choose from. I got the 3 rolls for $13.99! read more

Hajime - eel & avocado, yellow tail jalapeño x2, and salmon spicy crab, and avocado sweet potato roll and Philadelphia roll - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

Not a bad first impression! The atmosphere took me by surprise and I was quite captivated by the more modern and cool toned environment. The theme is different from other sushi bars I have been to giving it a more unique aspect to this restaurant and I LOVE IT! I was a bit loud with other guests at times and it was hard for me to hear my friend across form me, but I still delighted in the time I ate there. Our waitress was attentive, cheerful and visited the table regularly to fill up our water or ask if we needed any thing else. We got the Kiss of Fire and the Dragon Roll for our first round! Both of the rolls were not overwhelmingly spicy but had a delectable, savory bite to them. Round two was a beautifully presented plate of Cook Octopus Sashimi (with a little cherry tomato bunny). Although it was plated gorgeously, the octopus was rather chewy and difficult to tear with our teeth but still flavorful. All in all, this is a wonderful place to enjoy some creatively plated sushi and maybe even bring a few more people together and have some fun! read more

Hajime - Kiss of Fire & Dragon Roll! - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

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A gem!! Our lovely check out associate at the Lululemon outlet (who volunteered that he was originally from Japan so knew good sushi) suggested this place. His co-worker (who volunteered he was not originally from Japan) also sang its praises. It's a hole in the wall, random location but YOU MUST TRY IT! Service is fantastic, they provide so much information about the food it's so helpful. I was there with some spice sensitive people and they were more than accommodating to that. Bottom line: delicious, well priced, delicious, great staff, delicious. What are you waiting for??? Try it immediately and may I suggest the North Shore Roll. Absolutely delightful. read more

Don't think I'll come here again. First time and last. Had a bad experience. Had 4 red flags. First a piece of hair on my sushi. The sushi chef was touching the piece of hair as if it was mines. Second the waiter forgot a dish we order she couldn't read her own writing. Third sweeping while we were still eating, which made dust rise in the air. Fourth when it was time to check out she charged us the wrong order receipt. ‍ read more

Good authentic food a bit pricey decent portion sizes with good menu selection Drive up window type service Leaves a little bit to be desired but we deal with it read more

Surprisingly solid sushi place in a northern metro strip mall. Reasonable prices and very good food. Ambiance lacks a bit but the food makes up for it. read more

Great sushi, slow service! Takeout orders are the way to go! The apple pie shots are a great happy hour choice!

Great spot for sushi, especially in Elk River. The service is always great and we love doing our date nights there.

With a sign that simply states "Hajime Restaurant and Lounge Bar", you wouldn't be able to tell from the outside that Hajime is a sushi restaurant. However, once inside, you will be greeted promptly by friendly staff and contemporary Asian décor. Multiple chefs will be meticulously creating beautiful sushi rolls behind the bar. I have ate here several times and was pleased each time. The sushi presentation is breathtaking and the taste is not far behind. There are excellent options for children including Asian inspired popcorn chicken coupled with a California roll and chocolate filled koala treats. All food I have tried was great, fried rice, ramen, appetizers, salads, etc. The staff was very friendly and have chosen "Americanized" names to wear on their uniform which is fun and quirky. The only reason Hajime does not get 5 stars in my opinion is because I have had better sushi for less. With no all-you-can-eat option or two-for-one roll deals which are fairly common among decent sushi places, you will be paying full price for every roll and although great, it won't be the best sushi you've ever had. That being said, you cannot find sushi less than a 20 minute drive from here so if you are an Elk River native, this is the place to go. read more

Hajime - Excellent presentation, LED Lightning - Japanese Near Me - Elk River, Minnesota

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Great food and Service! All the sushi we ordered the last time was very nice and fresh.

Great food and great hospitality! Those servings are very large, and will fill you up. The staff was very friendly. I sat at the bar, and they are very outgoing and friendly. read more