Mainichi is a small sushi and Japanese food restaurant. It is friendly and sort of intimate. It is not a scene. The fish is fresh and all the food is tasty and carefully prepared. It is down to earth good food. Mainichi opened during the pandemic and like many restaurants it has a lively to-go business along with serving food to sit down customers. There are times when service is slightly delayed, but it is always worth the wait. If you like sushi you will not be disappointed! read more

I came to eat with my girlfriend and we got the worst service in the Bay Area. They almost didn't sit us down even though it was 30 min before closing. I've worked in the industry for long enough to know 30 minutes before closing time is still appropriate. Never coming back here and I recommend that if you know good food and good service, you don't either! Sushi from Safeway deli taste better read more

Really delicious food and great moci deal. Our first waitress was great. The food took a long time. One item came out first then we had to wait for the rest. 3 stars instead of 4 and here is why: the cleanser used on the tables had a leftover scented smell. Lysol? Floral something? Please use fragrance free table sprays. Our second waitress was soaked in perfume. or scented lotion, or whatever. Please know that 33 percent of the population have allergies to fragrance chemicals and mostly.... Smelling fragrance chemicals in a fine dining restaurant interferes with taste. Please do not spray tables and selves before serving the public. read more

This place is fantastic. The sushi was some of the best we've had and beautifully presented. Everything tasted incredibly fresh. Service was also excellent. Can't wait to go back read more

First rate sushi! What a wonderful surprise to find in an area packed with sushi restaurants. Everything was fresh and innovative - no need for any soy or wasabi! A little bite of paper thin ginger between pieces sufficed. We also enjoyed complimentary tea , miso and orange pieces. We (2) had a Solano roll and baked scallop roll with real crab (a little extra, but so worth it!), plus a seaweed salad. We were stuffed! I can't wait to return! read more

This place is stunning! So unassuming but the best sushi is the area. Generous portions and the freshest. Oysters are our favorite!!! Owner is a delight. read more

We got rolls here and they tasted a little like frozen rice thawed into sushi rice. Overall taste wasnt bad but it's not something you'll take extra mile to get em. If i do try this place out again, ill try some sushi and handrolls. read more

Walked in during lunchtime. Was quiet but we decided to try a new place. Was worth every penny. Had a hamachi hand roll - some nigiri - miso soup- cucumber salad -and more. Truly was so delicious and fresh. The sushi chef was super friendly and so was his new host. Walk in - try it out. I'm for sure coming back! Would have take. Pictures but we ate it up so fast. read more

Went for Saturday lunch and we're seated very quickly, even got to choose where we'd like to sit. The environment is clean and stylish. Customer service was great. We ordered 8 items off the menu. All the food was very delicious and beautifully presented. I believe pricing is very fair for the food you are getting. You also get complimentary green tea, miso soup, and an orange at the end of your meal! Would recommend and come back again. read more

Mainichi Sushi - California roll, calamari, shrimp tempura roll, edamame, Broadway roll (some items half eaten). - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Sorry no pictures cause we ate it all ! And it was great ! Shrimp lollipops OMG Perfect Maguro Tender chicken teriyaki Blessed salmon skin roll ITS ALL GONE FOLKS Prices are fair and staff was more than Great ! Its now our New Best Friend read more

Amazing service! Tony especially gives great customer service and is so kind! Food is soo tasty. 10/10.

Old fish, old vegetables too, extremely slow service, highly misleading reviews. I wish them well, but regret my visit.

We come here because they have a few vegan options. Specifically they have a vegan kids meal that my kid loves. The rest of the options are great but we always get the same thing because of the limited vegan options. Wish they would expand the menu. read more

So good! Great prices, great serving sizes, always fresh. The staff of always so friendly and nice, too! One of my favorites for casual sushi read more

If you're looking for authentic Japanese Cuisine don't eat at Mainichi. The food is okay, maybe 2.5-3 stars. Some people may like the food but as a Japanese American I think I have developed a fairly good palate for Japanese food. You know, when you walk into a new restaurant for the first time, especially an ethnic restaurant, you can kind of sense the quality of your experience based on the ambience. I could tell right away this wasn't an "authentic Japanese restaurant" but I stayed anyway because I'm always open to trying new places. First clue, the green tea was served in a stainless steel cup. Second clue, the menu highlighted their sushi rolls. I had to dig through the menu to find the typical menu items like tempura. I ordered a shrimp tempura, chicken teriyaki and sashimi bento. The order took almost an hour to prepare in a half full restaurant of patrons that were already eating when we arrived ‍ apparently someone didn't show up for work impacting the kitchen staff. The tempura batter was too thick and overcooked. The chicken was rubbery and lacked sauce. The sashimi was still thawing when I bit into it. I think we would all agree that visual presentation is always an important part of Japanese dining. However, my was hastily prepared. The various items were facing in different directions. ‍ To their credit they had a nice selection of Japanese sake. However, they don't have a printed menu of their selections nor do they have a list of the many beers they sell. Hopefully they improve service and their food preparation for everyone else because I'm one and done. read more

The first three times we went to Mainichi, it was great!! We were so excited to find a new japanese restaurant with creative and delicious vegan sushi. Then the fourth time, our food was terrible. We had to throw away an Oshinko roll because the oshinko tasted like it had spoiled (it was kind of chewy and tasted really off). We called to let them know and the person on the phone didn't offer to refund it, so we asked and she grudgingly said she would, but then never did! We tried a fifth time and it was just ok, no huge complaints but not as good as the earlier times. We gave it another shot the other day and it was really bad again. Everything tasted like it had been prepared on the same surface as fish and just didn't taste fresh. Our gobo roll was disgusting - we had to throw it away and couldn't eat it. We didn't bother to call about it since the last time we did that, it was not handled well. So sadly, I don't think we'll be back. They had such a great start though! read more

Relatively a new place. They have complimentary miso soup and hot tea. A great way of welcoming the guests while they are looking at the menu. I ate salmon kama, great portion, super delicious. My friend tried a bento box with salmon teriyaki. Bento boxes include a much bigger and thicker salmon piece than you would see at any other restaurant. I tried veggie udon, the broth is so delicious and nourishing. And the final, a complimentary peeled orange served in a cute artistic way. You should absolutely try this place. read more

We've been looking for a delicious and affordable sushi spot for a long time and we finally found this gem! We went for lunch on a Sunday and brought our 13 month old, which is always a gamble but it went great!. They were super quick bringing the food out and everything was so fresh and tasty. We had the real crab Cali roll, dragon roll, rainbow roll, and a wakame salad. The wakame salad and Cali roll were my favorite- simple but done 100% right. We got our son the kids meal and it was such a great deal! Like $8 for a protein, salad, rice and gyoza. They even brought him his own miso soup. They serve an orange after your meal which seemed random but it was so refreshing and totally hit the spot. It had also been their 1 year anniversary earlier in the week so they were giving all tables a free slice of (bomb) cheesecake. The staff were super friendly and the ambiance was perfect for a lunch date. We will be back! read more

I'm amazed at the rating and good reviews this place has had. My experience was awful. I ordered shrimp tempura and a "Real Crab Roll" for lunch. Both items were sub par. There were only two tables (including mine) that were occupied for lunch. Later on a third table arrived. A total of seven people. I was the first to order and my order took twenty five minutes to arrive. I was served a small, barely hot bowl of miso soup which featured large slabs of seaweed and a few tiny cubes of tofu. The tempura was five pieces of over-breaded shrimp which were perfectly straight and lined up on the plate like a pile of Lincoln logs. The exterior of the breading was a sharp crunchy material very harsh on the mouth. The interior of the breading was thick and doughy. I resorted to pulling the breading off the limp pieces of shrimp in order to eat them. The "Real Crab" roll was equally disappointing. It did indeed have a small piece of crab, but the majority of the filling was something called "crab salad", which seemed to be shredded dried crab in mayonnaise. The shredded material was dry and hard, like eating string. It may have been crab, but was actually tasteless. I asked for a substitute, the waitress was very accommodating and offered to get me a roll with only crab. Not trusting their crab, I ordered a California roll. It took another 20 minutes to produce a very good small roll. There are so many good sushi restaurants between Berkeley and El Cerrito, my suggestion is to try another. read more

This is a great place to go if you're a fan of really, really bad service. I can't share an opinion on their sushi because despite an hour wait, it never arrived. Instead of a sincere apology, the wait person laid blame on the chef. Who, from what I saw, was cranking out plate after plate for every other table in the room but mine. read more

Truly excellent sushi and sashimi. Staff was lovely - responsive, knowledgeable and friendly.

We love Tony! He is a super talented sushi chef. We came to this place in his early days of opening, during Covid times, and we fell in love with him and the place! The fish is always fresh, and artfully prepared. He has terrific rolls, which we always enjoy, but my favourite is fresh slabs of fish on a bed of rice. Mainichi offers all the standards, and often has belly, monkfish liver, and other more exotic offerings. The Uni is to die for! There is a nice selection of Sake, both cold and hot. This is our go to, date night spot! Sometimes we even take the kids, but that could require more sake! read more

Went here for lunch on a Sunday. Seated immediately and our server was great. We ordered several sushi rolls and a bento box with teriyaki chicken. Everything was absolutely terrific. The prices are very reasonable as well. We're looking forward to coming back soon. read more

The wait time is unreasonably long, and after 1.5 hr wait, the restaurant hadn't started preparing my food yet, so I probably won't come back anymore. The service could be improved too, if short of hands, please at least greet the customers and let us know we will be served later, some waitress just ignored me and that's kinda rude. read more

We go here pretty often and have their bento box. The food is good, the price is reasonable, and you can vary what you order. Service is usually good too. read more

A wonderful addition to Solano Ave dining options. The freshest fish possible in many inventive combinations all beautifully presented. Excellent, friendly service read more

Disappointed. They have a huge menu, so I won't judge the place entirely on a single dish, especially when my dining partner was very happy with theirs (sushi combo). I made a point of getting the ramen, hoping to find a ramen place nearby that I could visit regularly. Well, if it's for ramen, it won't be here. I do think this was the blandest bowl of ramen I've ever had. I got the vegetable ramen, so I wasn't looking for richness, but really, there was very little flavor at all. They vegetables were scant (did I spot some lettuce in the bowl?) and the tofu tasted like gelatin. The noodles were cooked just right, though. The broth -- surely the point at which good ramen proves itself -- was anemic. Akemi just a few doors away has much much better ramen. Service was polite but inattentive. Had to resort to arm waving, and this with only a few tables occupied. If I ever go again, I'll update the review. Maybe the sushi place should stick to sushi. read more

I feel like Goldilocks just who just found the right porridge. Definitely the best sushi I've had in Berkeley. Everything was incredibly fresh and delicious. The nigiri sampler was a flavor adventure and the rolls we had were perfectly balanced from rice/filling ratio to flavor composition. Kudos to the chef! I can't wait to go back! read more

Went for dinner on Sunday July 4th around 5:30. We were the first table, interior is modern and fresh, casual. We ordered hamachi nigiri, golden gate roll, in n out roll, lion king roll and salmon kids plate. Everything was great, service, food, general feel and experience. My 2 year old son loved the oranges after dinner when the check was dropped. Looking forward to more meals here, our new neighborhood sushi spot! read more

Although Solano Ave has a TON of Asian restaurants, Mainichi actually fills a gap as it's a semi-casual place with nice ambience and a good number of tables nicely spaced from each other that serves delicious food and sushi at reasonable prices. Tonight we had two things: the sushi platter for $20 that included five pieces of nigiri (salmon, tuna, shrimp, eel, hamachi) and either an 8-piece California or spicy tuna roll, and a 2-item bento for $16 (we had chicken teriyaki and tempura) that included miso soup and salad. All of the food was perfectly prepared and presented. The service was excellent and attentive and they appreciated our being there as I'm sure they've been affected by the pandemic. This is actually the third time I've eaten at Mainichi and it was excellent all three times. read more

I ate inside the restaurant once and liked a few of their special rolls. Nice that they bring you soup and salad as well. Unfortunately last night got sashimi for takeout and it was horrible... The quality of the fish was awful, not fresh, and the cuts of fish were so thick that we couldn't eat it. Ended up giving it to someone on the street. With so much competition in the area, this place will hopefully step it up. read more

When we entered the restaurant, we were sat down and given menus. We got miso soup on the house and they took our order shortly after. We then sat there for the next HOUR watching online orders walk past us left and right. We also witness the chef publicly shame the employees for continuing to take rice orders since they were running low, but heard nothing about our food. After an hour we received seaweed salad on the house for our patience. Soon after we were given our three rolls of sushi whilst the chef continued to scream at the two boys. We would give this place 0 stars but the food was quite literally SO. FUCKING. GOOD. It was then decided places with rude chefs means incredible food, as seen with Gordon Ramsey. Could the flavor have been so good because we had been starving for hours prior? Who knows. All we know is that it would be blasphemous to give this place 0 stars after eating that food no matter the experience. 3.5/5 would go back lol read more