Great service! My husband and I came for lunch. We sat at bar and was served by sushi chief. It was amazing. Food perfect. Service spectacular! We only came in because we had a meeting in Salinas. I will be back just because the food was on fleek. read more

Kokoro Sushi - Best sushi by far! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Salinas, California

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Kokoro is hands down my favorite sushi place here on the peninsula and the valley. After living in San Francisco for over a decade let's just say I am spoiled in the food department from there. But this place is as good as food found in a city. Never disappoints and we just love Max and the manager James they are the best. read more

I really liked their food its delicious but some of these waitresses (the girls) are so rude! They act like it's a burden to take your order plus the girl we got never checked to see if we needed anything we had to flag down another waitress to get a refill I will take mine to go next time!! read more

This was a good place service was good! Food was excellent ! Will be back to eat the dumplings!

Came here for a quick dinner on Saturday night. We ordered an appetizer, two rolls, and Udon. Food was great, they even accommodated​ my friend's preferences in her roll. However, what I was not a fan of is being overcharged by $40. I have called the manager and didn't receive a call back so now I have to dispute it with my bank. read more

Came her last minute for dinner with a couple of friends. Sushi was good for Salinas. I usually get sushi in Monterey but I was in town and was craving sushi hence us being there. Wait staff was amazing. We had Kyle as our server. He was very attentive and provided exceptional customer service. Not only did he top us off with water but he came by several times to see if we needed anything else. Ladies... If you're in the mood for some sushi this is a cool spot. Kyle is a great server as well as someone nice to look at. If you ever get a chance to read this Kyle..you should let me take you out for some toro. read more

Kokoro should be called "Fun With Sushi"! If you want typical sushi, this isn't it. Yes, they make normal sushi, but try the creative rolls; they're wonderful. We had a BJ's roll, a Kokoro #5, and a fire dragon roll. They were the most unusual and delicious sushi roils we've ever eaten. We will certainly return if we're in Salinas again. I just wish we could find such delicious sushi at home in Vermont. read more

Let me start off by saying, I usually like this place and the food is fairly decent, however, after tonight, my prescription of their customer service has drastically changed. Today, at 5:45 p.m., I placed a to go order. super simple, nothing complicated. They said, ordered will be done in 20 mins. I drive over, tell them I have a to go order and they say they have nothing in the system. I tell them can you check if my order was under a different name. Just misheard my name. They said, nope, no order. At this point it being 6:20 p.m., we are hungry, wasted 20 mins. I could have ate somewhere else. Oh well...day is finished. Right? Wrong! They call me back at 9:44 p.m. Saying my order has been their for hours, WTF? Hours and you just call? I tell them that I drove (wasted gas) told the host my name probably was wrong and they said, no, it wasn't. The customer service was horrible today. Seriously, I blame management for lack of accountability on his/her employees. Lack of order review and lack of oversight Like I said, earlier, the food is decent. The customer service, sucks!!! read more

I don't go to Salinas too often but since my folks live nearby I find myself there on occasion. It's good to know I can get top notch sushi when I'm away from home (S.F.). I was there just last Friday evening after the late dinner rush. We found a parking spot right out front. Kokoros has a huge menu and everything we tried was delicious. We didn't order a huge selection of things just things from the "special rolls" section and some wakame salads and miso soup. The rolls were huge and brought out very quickly. We loved sitting at the bar and watching the chefs do their thing. Some of the rolls required torching and that was really cool to observe while enjoying our meal. I love that Kokoros has a very organized and professional-looking website. I can look at the menu and plan what I will order the next time I'm in Salinas! The sushi chefs were super friendly and lively. Overall, it was a great experience and Kokoro gives me another reason to look forward to hanging out in Salinas. read more

I came here for a birthday this past Saturday and had a great time. My friend made reservations for a party of 10 and we were seated right away. I don't order the raw stuff so I decided on the salmon skin roll and beef teriyaki donburi. Salmon skin was crispy and cooked perfectly. My only gripe about the rolls was the fact that they're cut too thick. Too hard to bite and too much for a mouthful. The beef teriyaki was a little tough and overcooked. Flavors were ok though. The rolls itself was enough to fill me up. We also had the edamame which was fine except they served them in the smallest bowl possible. I think this is a decent sushi joint and the service puts this place at 3.5 stars. Our server gave us a full mug of beer with our sake bombs! She was extremely sweet and very attentive. Her service was exceptional especially with a large party like ours. I would come back if I was in the area. read more

Down in lovely Salinas on business and craving sushi. Would I be able to feed the fire in this town? They have some great Mexican places, but unfortunately I had Japan on my mind. Right near downtown, I saw a sign for Kokoro and decided to try it out despite the NEW sign. It was around 2pm, but there were a good amount of stragglers left. Nice spacious area, sky lights, Japanese screens.... They had a pretty glossy photo of their specialty rolls, looked great on paper. Turned out to be even better in the belly. A lovely "cherry blossom" in the shape of a flower, even each individual roll was tear drop in shape. A Mexican roll with spicy crab and avocado topped with shrimp- delicious and great spice. The chef even brought us out a special treat since he assumed we liked it hot- a tempura-fried jalapeno stuffed with something yummy. That was very unexpected and such a delight. They had rolls for every bridge in the bay area, the GG was yummy and beautiful (lots of tuna). The classic rolls were great as well and all of the prices were great. One in our party had a generous bento box for about $8, specialty rolls around $9.95, basic about $5. All of the staff were very kind and helpful. It is nice to have something different, but still appreciative of the local flavors and demographic. If you happen to be down that way...don't hesitate! read more

Not my fav Japanese restaurant in Salinas, but I do come here often since its near my workplace. Lunch pick up orders - check your food before you leave! There have been plenty of times when our order was wrong. Dinner in the restaurant - always feel rushed. Doesn't matter if the restaurant is busy or not, the servers here don't hesitate to drop off your check right after the food has arrived. Food takes a while to get to you. Parking - street parking in front of restaurant. SMALL parking lot in back of restaurant located right next to the bus station . . . you are taking your chances if you park there. read more

One of the better japanese restaurants in salinas...even though there are only a hand full to compare to. The upside to this place is the friendly staff and the cheap lunch menu doesn't hurt either. As for the food aside from the lunch menu, when going in for dinner we usually order nigiri and the occasional rolls. The nigiri comes pretty fresh, and if you cant decide what nigiri you want to order you can always order chirashi. Which consist of a little bit of raw fish (if you know you don't want a specific piece you may tell the sushi chef to add something different) under a mound of rice. When it comes to rolls i love the non traditional type with cream cheese or deep fried =p but its ok because they will accommodate your taste buds. But hands down if you were to go here, order the fresh scallop if its available. It's pretty pricey ($20.00) but it comes out so pretty with a shell that has various dipping sauces. We've ordered this roughly three times, and it has came to us prepared two different ways. Obviously one being nigiri but then sometimes they cut the leftovers up and mix it with some onions and put some white sauce and use a blow torch to sear it or they tempura batter it and fry it. I would suggest you request the blow torch along with the nigiri, its a must try. read more

Kokoro Sushi - wafu steak - Sushi Bars Near Me - Salinas, California

We love sushi. And this is by far, our favorite place in the area. The music transports you strait to a Japanese Rave & there is football playing on the TV's. The decor is also a little strange (it seems rather thrown together) but the rolls are delish. We have tried ever single roll they offer. Our most favorite is the BJ roll. Awesome every time. Also the Chad Roll (which is not on their picture menu) is a serious fav. The service generally sucks. There is one girl there who is really attentive. Her name is Madonna & we always request her if she is working. But other than that, the rest of the hired help are a bunch of space cadets but the food is worth it. Just don't expect a water refill. The previous owner & super nice guy, BJ went back to Japan and we were really worried that the joint would take a serious nose dive but he trained the new sushi chefs really well and they seem to be holding their own so far. read more

The waitress sold us on the special of the day: A jalapeno appetizer. After she brought our entries she said, "Is there anything else I can get for you?" We're like, "Yeah, how about giving us the appetizer we ordered 20 minutes ago?" She apologized and went back to the kitchen to have a small argument with the cook. The appetizer didn't arrive until we were finished with our entire meal. Whoops. We all had tempura and it was greasy. The vegetable pieces were huge. I thought the concept of sushi was that everything is supposed to be bite sized? They served us tempura broccoli that was as big as your fist. The food was decent, but too oily, and the service girl was nice, but ditzy. I don't understand the decor in this restaurant; they have three projection tv's all playing different things, and jet black walls like a dance club. The only thing Japanese about this restaurant is the cheesy J-Pop music playing on the stereo. Kokoro is supposed to be the Japanese word for "mind, heart, spirit." I get the feeling they are just going through the motions. Their heart's not really in it. read more

It's always a great thing to have sushi in Salinas, but I find this place to be mediocre and not so authentic. I mean, what kind of Japanese restaurant plays K-pop music?! That's quite insensitive and just a big insult to the Japanese people and culture. And the service was so slow, I never waited so long for sushi (about 40 minutes). Sorry Kokoro, but there really is much better out there. read more

I heard about this place from a friend, and he raved about how good the food was. I decided to have dinner with my Family here on a Saturday night. I guess that was a bad idea... The service took about 15-20min Just to get our drinks. And that's after we buzzed the service bell on our table and after we had to hail for a server to get our drinks and to order.They served our appetizers 20 min later. And another 30 min to finally be served our dinner. The only reason I give this restaurant 2 stars was because the food wasn't bad, but then again.. After waiting more than an hour to eat. I guess anything would've tasted good at that point. read more

I've been a big fan of Shogun for years now, so it was a hard sell to convince me to try a different sushi place in Salinas. I was very pleasantly surprised, however, as Kokoro was clean, friendly, incredibly efficient, and a hell of a lot easier to park on Gabilan Street than it is on S. Main!!! I had edamame, the Kokoro Special Roll, an unagi hand roll and some maguro sashimi- all VERY fresh and delicious. My pops enjoyed a large lunch box with all the typical fixings. We enjoyed every bite! All that food and two large bottles of sake, and we got out of there for $50 (including tip). Our very nice waiter put up with my father's shenanigans and surprising need for multiple napkins quite well- always an impressive feat (just kidding Pops... we all think you're hilarious, and I mean this!) I'll definitely be entering this place on my lunch hour dance card. read more

The chefs special roll and the chicken teriyaki are my favorite, they had good service and it's by far my favorite sushi spot in Salinas.

When I lived in Salinas I would eat here a few times a month. Sushi places out there are far and few between. The first thing I'll say is that is usually always busy and crowded. On occasion I remember waiting over 40 minutes for an order of one single roll. It didn't bother me because I like people watching, but they definitely didn't earn an extra stars from me for that. Quality of the sushi was fair and like most sushi places now, had a wide variety of rolls. The chefs were whimsical and boisterous while making sushi and definitely were entertaining to watch. Are you in Salinas and craving some sushi? I would give it a go. If I had the time and wanted something more I'd travel to Monterey or Seaside. read more

I love the udon and the rolls here! my favorite is the Mexican roll with extra spicy shrimp on the top. Everything about this place is great, but the customer service here. The only servers I go to is a lady with piercings and short brown boy cut hair and the tall dude with the awesome mustache! Every other cake face waitress need to at least ACT like they CARE at least. read more

This is place is probably my favorite spot for sushi in the city of Salinas. All I can say is get the Green Dragon Roll, very good, comes with this special sauce and macadamia nuts. Really good. And if you like the Green Dragon roll I would probably try the Red Dragon Roll. Also the BJ Special is pretty good and Noriko Special. They have all the Japanese beers in bottles and just recently I guess they have Sapporo on tap. I've been coming here since they open and they never fail me with the Green Dragon Roll even when they are on new management. It does get busy during lunch hours because of the location of the place. They are basically right across from the police station and also city hall. So most of the workers that are working in the courts and PD are taking their lunch break there. Your best bet to go in is a lil after 2pm. read more

Came in here for a quick lunch. Extremely friendly staff. I enjoyed the red dragon roll. The only weird thing to me was that the tempura shrimp seemed to be breaded with panko which gave it a hard crunchy texture. They also do not have complimentary edamame, which is kinda a bummer. Nice large restaurant. read more

Love the food in this place and the staff are nice enough (never intentionally rude) but I never fail to have a "weird" service related experience in this place. One time our hostess asked us "how many," took two menus and started to lead us to a table only to leave us standing awkwardly in the middle of the restaurant while quickly ran off to carry the menus all the way across the restaurant to two people that had already been seated. I wish the owners would read all of the similar reviews and take it to heart. Many friends have confirmed same strange experiences. Music too loud and silenced anime cartoons are so 1995. Again, great food but just totally weird vibe in this place. read more

I LOVE Kokoro's. My boyfriend and I are huge sushi fans. We are from the Sacramento area where there is an abundance of sushi places. When we first moved down here, we were having trouble finding a place that fit our style. Now, when and if we leave, we will miss Kokoro's. We normally get the SF Giant, Tekka Maki, California Rolls, and Sake Nigiri. First off, their prices are very reasonable, especially considering they have such large portions. I usually judge prices based on nigiri and the prices of the standard rolls (like tekka and cali). If those are on the pricier side, I don't tend to bother with a restaurant. Second, in addition to having great prices, they are very generous with their portions: nice big pieces of fish for their nigiri; the Cali Rolls are huge, with the crab just how I like it (not the sticks, but with the mayo); and all the other rolls tend to be large as well. The only downside is that I sometimes struggle fitting one piece into my mouth. The SF Giant is everything I love in a specialty roll--lots of flavor and delicious sauce to top it off. I have tried a lot of other rolls there as well as their tempura and teriyaki chicken. My boyfriend has tried their udon. We haven't found anything we don't like yet. If there was one recommendation I could make, I would say that their tempura sauce could do with a little more flavor. Even just a thin slice of lemon would add some complexity. The sauce is a typical tempura sauce (so it is good, just not special), but I expect more from a place that excels in so many other aspects. I'm slightly addicted, and find myself going almost once a week. I highly recommend trying it if you are ever passing through Salinas or live in the area. read more

Great food and great service! I'm not from the area any longer, but every time I come to visit I make sure to come eat here at least once during my visit! read more

Kokoro Sushi - Deep fried shrimp tampura roll and 49er roll in the background. Delicious! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Salinas, California

My honey & I enjoyed our bento boxes, jalapeno bombs, & our deep fried California roll!! Everything was delicious & they had fast service!! Will return! :) read more

Kokoro Sushi - Deep fried California roll! Simple but so flavorful! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Salinas, California

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It's so bomb!!!! Bomb ass seating, bomb sushi, our waiter looked like a straight David Martin!!! Good service and sushi price ranges from $10-$16. highly recommend. 8/10 hehe :) read more

Used to be really great, but lately the sauce factor on the rolls has become overwhelming. That said the Chad roll is awesome (and super sauced). It's a good place if your going for non traditional rolls, however super busy. read more

I have been here twice, I am new to sushi, but throughly enjoyed it. I am writing this review for my second time going, which was a phenomenal experience. I called an hour before to see if they would make a special request to serve sushi in the shape of a heart because I was planning on asking my girlfriend to prom. They said they would love to do it and I just had to say my name when I showed up. They went above and beyond just a little heart on the plate and decorated it perfectly, and continued to have great service throughout the night. To end the night they complimented us with a free dessert. Definitely recommend eating here read more

Kokoro Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Salinas, California

Another flawless victory. Every time we come here I swear I leave a little bit of my soul. They always sit us in our seats so we can watch the magic being made. So yummy if you have the hankering for a hunk of sushi then come on down here partner, your taste buds will thank you. read more

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This place just keeps getting better. Always busy when we go in, but lots of staff to keep things moving. They were profusely apologetic about the wait and even gifted us a surprise dessert for being so patient. All the waitstaff was very kind and professional. We really enjoyed the happy hour. M-Th 5-6:30. We got miso soup, two appetizers, 3 small rolls, and a drink for less than $25. All the sushi seemed really fresh. We had a great time and will definitely be taking advantage of the happy hour again soon!! read more

SOME DISHES ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS, SUSHI IS OUTSTANDING We had great service and the wait staff were very accommodating so not too sure what the fuss is about. So here's the food breakdown: Chicken Teriyaki: The chicken was dry and overcooked. Come 'on guys, this is a simple one to prepare. The beef teriyaki was tender and just a bit overcooked. The caterpilar roll and the sahimi was excellent and the servings are generous. So for the dinners, the meats were overcooked and the sushi and sashimi was excellent. It would be great if the quality and preparation of the meals can be consistant and outstanding like the sushi and sashimi. read more

Last night I was there for my 31st birthday dinner, party of 8. Liza was our sever she did a fabulous job on keeping our orders straight. She has excellent customer service skills and the food was to die for!! My favor is Salinas California Roll! Highly recommend this place! read more

Kokoro Sushi - Sushi please - Sushi Bars Near Me - Salinas, California

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WARNING: yet another imitation Japanese restaurant. Korean owned. The soup bowls were all scratched up and should be replaced. The food was not bad, compared to some other imitation Korean or Chinese run places, but the menu was clearly focused on those American-style rolls that everyone seems to like these days, but aren't remotely Japanese. The waitress have been trained to yell "irrashaimase" when you enter, but it's in various accents so it's a bit funny from what I experience living in Japan. The place is pretty good, and better than anything else I've tried in Salinas. That being said, it's worth the drive to head to Michi in Marina instead. read more

Ordered from door dash and the restaurant left off an entire ingredient. Now I have a $15 roll I don't want and they won't refund my money. Don't order from here if you want your food made correctly. read more

I never thought i'd find another sushi place that I'd enjoy so much! And never have I had sushi in Salinas, only Seaside/Monterey. Turns it was better than what i've had and thought!!! I tried the Kokoro Special roll and deep friend shrimp tempura roll, and they were amazing!! I definitely don't regret spending $24 on sushi, you guys. Usually i spend like $12 and think that's too much, and sometimes im not totally satisfied. The service there was also great. Very friendly and patient considering we had a table of 14-15 people. I highly recommend this place read more

When you have Shogun around the corner, why you would go here? Is it BAD sushi? No. Is it "ok"? Yes. Their menu is basically 30+ variations on the California Roll. Everything ends up tasting the same and the rolls are mostly filler. (I will never understand a "sushi" roll filled with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Or Krab (fish cake) mixed with mayo.) I have no complaints about the service or atmosphere. There is plenty of on-street parking and you seldom have to wait for a table. read more

I went to Kokoro for lunch last week. When I arrived, I sat in the waiting area for about ten minutes before I was seated. Our server was talkative and friendly. The food was yummy, but not above average in terms of taste (compared to samauri and ikebana). What got me, though, was the wait. My friend and I ordered relatively simple meals, yet we waited for almost 20 minutes. My entire lunch period was almost up before we even got our food. After speaking with my co-workers, I realized my experience was not unusual. Judging by some of the other reviews on here, I would say skip the dine in and carry out for lunch. The wait times are no joke. Otherwise, good atmosphere, clean, and nice staff. read more

Kokoro Sushi - Kokoro during lunch. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Salinas, California

Delicious & fresh... used to be my favorite sushi place but the rolls keep shrinking! Seriously disappointed with the quantity of rice and fish for the price...guess they gotta pay for their remodel! read more