This side of the bridge has been overdue for a solid AYCE sushi spot and Sake definitely delivers! They have a ton of options to offer on their dinner AYCE menu, but they also have an a la carte menu if you or someone in your party may not have the appetite for an all you can eat meal. The food exceeded our expectations and was definitely way better quality than we were anticipating. All of the items on the AYCE were prepared to order; it wasn't a buffet where the food is just sitting out for people to grab. Service was friendly and prompt with requests. Overall, a great first experience. Sake is located off of Fitzgerald Drive in the same parking area as In and Out and Roundtable Pizza. (It occupies the space of the former Outback Steakhouse.) There is plenty of free parking right in front of the restaurant. There is also ample seating inside the restaurant for diners wanting to eat in. We came in on a weekday for dinner and they definitely got busy quickly. As I mentioned, service was friendly and they were very quick with requests. Of course as they got busier through the night, the servers' attention was spread across the multiple tables, however, their focus on good service did not waver. Placing the AYCE orders was dependent on the server as they inputted requests into their tablet. The process seemed efficient as we did not have any missing items and all special requests were met. The only issue we had was keeping track of what we had already ordered and were waiting for. Some of my favorite items from our dinner included the: - Seared Salmon Nigiri - Pacific Roll - Lion King - Coconut Shrimp I was also thrilled to see they offered ice cream as part of the menu. They are pre packaged in small cups. Customers can choose from chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. We coupled this with their fried buns, and they were delicious! A great palette cleanser to end the meal! Sake made a strong first impression. We are definitely looking forward to returning again in the future to try more off of their menu. read more

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What a find for this part of the East Bay! Compared to other AYCE sushi restaurants, this place is very good. The fish on the Nigiri was good. The fish on some of the rolls was hard to discern because the sauce can be over-powering, but still they were good. The Avatar roll was tasty, and the Rainbow roll did not disappoint so we got two of them. This is a casual place with pretty fast service, but the wait staff could use a little more finesse. A staff member came to take away our empty tray. We also had two trays with one piece of sushi on each of them. He gestured to them and encouraged us to eat them so that he then could remove the trays. In another instance, a server brought out a roll and the end piece fell onto the table. Usually, a server will take it away, but she told us to pick it up and put it onto a plate. We went on a weekday around 6:00pm and it was not crowded at all, but by 7:00pm, tables were filling up fast. Parking is easy as there's a large lot. read more

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Sake is an AYCE sushi restaurant located in the Pinole Vista Crossing shopping center. It occupies the space left vacant by Outback Steakhouse. I came here for dinner with my brother, our friend Alex, and his daughter on 09/13/2025. We got here at 5pm and it was already pretty busy. One of the servers greeted us, and we were seated immediately. The booth we were in was a bit small. The interior looked newly remodeled and clean. The AYCE option was $39.99 per person, even for the 11-year-old in our group. The menu featured a wide array of appetizers, rolls, nigiris, sashimi, cooked items, etc. There was a 90-minute time limit, but no restrictions on how many items you can order per round. Drinks were not included. About the food, we were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Everything was presented nicely, and the quality for excellent. Another thing we liked was the size of the nigiri's and rolls. They were not gigantic in size, and the rice ratio was perfect. This allowed us to try more items. We honestly liked everything we ordered. Service was very good. Servers we encountered were friendly and attentive. There were a couple missing items, but it wasn't a big deal since we were ordering so much each round. We had a very nice experience here and have plans to return in the near future. Hopefully, they can keep up with the good work. 4.5 stars rounding up to 5. read more

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TBH I think this is more of a 3.5 star rating, but I rounded up to 4 because I really appreciate how attentive and fast the service is. I heard there used to be long waits but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I love that they have both sashimi and nigiri. Keep in mind some items are nigiri only, no sashimi options, for example the scallops. Some of the sashimi is served carpaccio style, in a ponzu sauce, but I feel like the only one I truly liked was the yellowtail with jalapeno. The others tasted sooooo peppery, and not in the best way. The sashimi and nigiri presentation is actually pretty nice for an AYCE spot, but I didn't love that the fish on the nigiri weren't really cold. The sashimi comes on ice though and for the most part, fresh, so I would probably stick to that in the future. I love that they have a long list of appetizers. Were they amazing? No lol But i like the variety to switch things up for the palate. We only tried the BBQ short ribs (meh, not that tender), cream cheese wontons (good but mostly cream cheese, no crab), vegetable tempura (decent), and soft shell crab (too bready). We had to ask several times for our order of soft shell crab and though we ordered it in our first round, we didn't get it until the very end of our meal. We followed up 3x about it.. and then they ended up giving us 2 orders of it, which we just took cause they're cut in half and there were 4 of us. But I would skip that for future. Their rolls do not come in half sizes so whatever you order is going to be a full size roll. This is best if you have a group so you can try a few pieces only, otherwise a whole roll is a commitment. The Bay roll was good, and I liked the Lion king baked roll as well. This has cream cheese though, which I don't mind but I feel like this was heavy on the cream cheese and not so much the salmon. We actually ordered the Tara Hills roll but they gave us the LK. We were hungry so we accepted. They don't give you any limits when you order, which is a good and bad thing. Our table was soooo overloaded! They're super fast with bringing everything out so my suggestion to you is to not order the whole menu on round 1 otherwise youll end up with a packed table like us. One of the servers had like 5 sashimi plates in his hand and he ended up spilling a couple of them right next to me. The servers were on it though and got it all cleaned up within a minute. They were super apologetic but it wasn't a big deal since it didn't actually fall on me, just right next to my foot. I feel like the service is really good here because its not just 1 server per table. Literally anybody walking around will come up and help you, take your order, fill your water, etc. This keeps this moving really quickly and the service is top notch. They all spoke English but some better than others, so just be patient with them. They'll try their best to help you. Dessert is just ice cream cups, and mini fried buns with condensed milk! Pro tip - split the buns open and put the condensed milk and ice cream inside. The parking lot is huge. Not sure if they take Apple Pay since they took our cards to process somewhere else. At no point did we feel rushed, which is nice. We actually had to ask for our check.. twice! lol I can't say this is my favorite AYCE sushi spot but for the price, it's a decent selection and the customer service an added bonus! read more

Sake - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pinole, California

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My partner and I were so shocked to find ayce sweet shrimp!! That alone is enough to bring us back. Everything was super fresh and came out quickly. Parking is super convenient! This might just be our new favorite ayce restaurant! read more

Sake - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pinole, California

I've been hearing about this place since they opened in the old Outback location. I love quality sushi and never really been into the AYCE model so that's why I've been wary. Friends and family have been recommending this spot so I decided to try it! Me and some girlfriends ordered rounds of sushi rolls, nigiris and sashimis. They exceeded my expectations, I was surprised with how good everything was. The sashimi cuts and the seared nigiris were my favorite! In particular, I loved the jalapeño yellowtail sashimi (it kind of gave Nobu lol) and the tuna sashimi. Secondly, the seared salmon and seared tuna nigiris were delicious. The interior is also really beautiful and clean. The service was excellent, the waiters make their rounds frequently and food comes out timely. This isn't particularly "traditional", upscale Japanese cuisine of course but I'd argue this a step up from a lot of the local sushi spots in the area. I'd even say a great value for what you can order. This is a good spot to come to with a large group and share. read more

Sake - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pinole, California

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The ambiance and the service is good. Some of appetizers taste okay. Our favorite was the Tayoki and the fries. Maybe we went on a bad day but the chicken wings were gross. The crunch was good but the flavor and quality of the meat tasted off. The sushi is just okay. The quality isn't good. The use imitation crab in their rolls. If you're used to high quality sushi I wouldn't recommend this place. Not high quality sashimi. Some skin was left on my salmon Sashimi. read more

Sake - Tuna was good - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pinole, California

We were party of six at 5pm Saturday night. And it's a good thing we ate early as there was a steady stream of people. We did the AYCE dinner. Given laminated two sided menus, you order verbally to an order taker who enters the items on a smart tablet. Pro tip: to keep track of what you ordered; especially the special rolls, just order one special roll that you want to eat with your other items like sashimi , nigiri, etc on the first go around. Then on the second round the same, third round, etc. Otherwise you'll forget what special rolls you ordered or be waiting while you could be devouring something else. You never know whats going to come to the table first. One person's special roll might come before your special roll. Or your sashimi might come before someone else's nigiri. Or an appetizer. The six of us started with miso soup. Good size soup bowl with lots of tofu. The special rolls are smaller than ones you'd find at other ACYE. Thin layers of rice. That's fine as it'll allow you to eat other items without feeling the need to loosen up your belt. The hand roll isn't shaped like a cone. More like a taco shell. Everything was fresh. The sashimi was sushi grade. The only thing I'd skip next time is the inari. Basically a tofu pouch with a finger of rice. Service was great. Dirty plates cleared off. Automatic 18% gratuity for 6 or more in your party. Fine by us. Located in the strip mall next to In N Out. If Sake exterior looks familiar it's because it used to be Outback. read more

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$40 is well worth the money when you eat here! AYCE for dinner. Unlimited nigiri, sashimi, rolls. The rolls aren't regular sized rolls, they're about the size of a california roll sold at a grocery store. Good regardless! I have no complaints about this place. Maybe one minor adjustment, I don't remember which tuna this was but it was drowning in the sauce and black peppercorn flakes and it was just way too peppery. Even after I scraped off the sauce, it was still very peppery. Everything else was great. Slices of fish were THICK. Fish to rice ratio on nigiri was like 3:1 which is ideal and very rare because most places skimp on the fish and overdo it on the rice. I am surprised this place isn't always busy! Usually $40 for AYCE is questionable but the generous food portions more than make up for it. You try to buy sashimi elsewhere for 12 thin slices of fish and it'll cost you $20 or maybe more. Will definitely be back! read more

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Love that they open another ACYE Japanese style spot! The selections are crazy! There might be a small wait after you order, but once the food start coming, all of them will come. Their sashimi was pretty fresh which was a plus. They have all sorts of rolls but I think the rice was a bit too soggy or wet texture. I'm not a huge fan of them but I will still eat it. We also ordered a lot of appetizers to try. The BBQ short ribs: too chewy for me Lemon Wings: too salty but flavor is good Everything else was good! *tip: you might want to start ordering some dishes before you're almost done with your food especially when it gets pack in there read more

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We went on a Friday night, got there around 6 and there was no wait. In the middle of our meal we noticed there were a couple people waiting. For dinner it was $39.99 per person. We ordered a lot in the beginning. We gave a big order of about 8 items to start. We probably got 5 of them accurately. 1 came with wrong quantity. 1 came after we putting other multiple orders. And 1 never came At first the service was really fast and everything from the sushi bar came out pretty fast (no more than 5mins)and the fried food took a while (15-45mins) We had multiple servers come up to us during the dinner but didn't seem like they communicated or knew that the other servers even took our order The sashimi and fresh fish didn't come out consistently. Our first order of sashimi came out was pretty good. But the more we ordered the worse it got. One of the plates the fish tasted too frozen. For the apps majority of everything was deep fried and too oily. The soft shell crab felt like it was all breading. Felt like the service slowed down a lot near the end of the meal. When I ordered 4 Pieces sashimis near the end of the meal. We waited 20 mins and it never came even though during that time we were asked by multiple servers if we wanted to order more or if we wanted our ice cream for dessert. I kept telling them we ordered and was waiting for it to come in. Since the food was usually quick it felt like they forgot our order. We waited a bit longer but It never came I just asked for the check. My favorite things were the unagi and salmon sashimi. Everything else felt too fried and oily. I would give it a 2.5 bc the staff was pretty good. But I don't think I would come back read more

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We were really excited to try Sake as there really aren't many AYCE sushi places in East Bay. I've driven past this area hundreds of times on the freeway and never knew a restaurant existed in this location tucked in behind an Applebee's. First thing we noticed was the golden elephants out front with Tygon tubing on their tusks to prevent any unwanted poking. We guessed this must have been a Thai restaurant at some point. Second thing we noticed was sticky floors. Just a warning since I find that type of thing disconcerting, but it won't actually affect me once I start smashing food into my mouth. Service was pretty good. Multiple servers patrol the restaurant taking people's orders in their handheld and sending it to the back of the house. Other servers bring food over so you never need to leave the table. I was pretty impressed by the fish quality given the pricing (under $30 for weekday lunch buffet). I think the restaurant is able to do this by only offering nigiri and rolls, with no sashimi. I was pretty happy with everything we ordered except for the yakitori (ok, but a little tough) Shout out to lemon pepper chicken wings. Excellently prepared sauceless wings. Caution - The side dishes were enormous. Specifically, the edamame and fried bun read more

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Since the BF couldn't decide on where to take me for V-Day, I looked on Yelp and found this place. So typically when you think all you can eat sushi, you think, ew old fish. Well, not this spot. They all you can eat on the weekend is all day and it's $40 per person. On the weekday it starts at 3 PM. You can choose to do the à la cart but be sure to tell your server. We got there around 3:30 on Valentine's Day and were seated promptly. We chose to sit at a booth, but they do have a bar. So the servers will come check on you to see if you want to order anything else. I chose to order it a little bit at a time. You can't leave any waste behind. It's written on the menu. You have to eat everything. The rolls are nice sized, not too big not too small. If you choose all you eat, everything on the menu is available to choose from. Everything is made fresh to order. I was very pleased with this place and will be back. read more

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My friend told me about an AYCE sushi place that is by his residence. Always down to try new things and hanging out with him, I drove up to his place and gave it a try. The parking lot is pretty big, and I heard it used to be an Outback Steakhouse before. Though the area looks a bit dark with barely any lighting. Inside was pretty spacious and we sat right away. Ordering is AYCE and you can order as much as you want from the start. We ordered a variety of rolls, appetizers, sashimi, and even dessert. Normally, I would review individual items I ordered, but because this is AYCE, my review is on the experience and food as a whole. Food: The rolls came out lightning fast. By the time our waiter walked away, the food was brought out to our table. The various rolls we tried were delicious and tasted fresh. I think my personal favorite is the Pinole Roll. The appetizers were good, and the inari Nigiri is something I always order. However, the sashimi was the best. We ordered so much of the Salmon Belly, which is 4 pieces of salmon sashimi bathed in a ponzu sauce. For dessert, it was going back to grade school with an ice cream cup. Overall, the service was fast and the food was delicious. Looking forward to coming back here again. read more

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Great! Amazing selection. Just the right amount of rice aka no rice so you can eat more haha.

This was the first time my husband and I tried this restaurant after a friend recommended it, and we were genuinely impressed. It seems to be a newly opened spot within the last few months, and the place is surprisingly spacious with plenty of seating. The restaurant is very clean, and the staff were incredibly attentive -- they frequently checked in to see if we needed anything else. Excellent service overall. The buffet menu is extensive, and at $39.99 per adult, it's truly worth the price. We ordered a lot, but a few dishes really stood out for me: * Sashimi Yellowtail Jalapeño (4 pcs) -- Yellowtail with jalapeño, kimchi, ponzu sauce, and scallion. So fresh and flavorful. * Salmon Belly (4 pcs) -- Topped with spicy ponzu, togarashi, and scallions. Rich and delicious. * Takoyaki -- One of my favorites from this restaurant. Perfect texture and taste. For rolls, I loved all of these: * Pinole Roll (8 pcs) -- Tempura shrimp and crabmeat inside, topped with salmon, lemon, unagi sauce, spicy mayo, masago, and scallion. * Appian Way Roll (8 pcs) -- Unagi and avocado on top with sesame seeds, plus shrimp tempura and spicy tuna inside. * Sake Roll (8 pcs) -- Tempura shrimp and spicy tuna inside, topped with seared tuna, jalapeño, red tobiko, spicy mayo, sriracha, scallion, and chili powder. Honestly, everything we ordered tasted amazing. To finish off, I had ice cream with fried buns -- the perfect sweet ending. read more

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This used to be an Outback Steakhouse. Unfortunately business wasn't going so well that Sake is here and have replaced this location. My girlfriend and I never been here so we wanted to try it out. We enjoyed that menu had such a variety. AYCE (all you can eat) is best to use weekends only. You can do a la carte but it will be per plate per person so you will be looking it at the pricey side. Although I paid $97.61 for the both of us. That is the weekend AYCE price. The best part is no limit. Order as much as you want and enjoy sushi! We definitely enjoyed the salmon nigiri and all the other rolls. It was good. We'd come back and we hope we are not met with the same attitude we had Sunday night. Service was going well not until we were met with the snobby male crew. All the females were soft spoken and were very friendly. Front desk counting up tips and taking his time while I was ready to pay. No hello or how was your dinner? Man was too focus counting tips lol. My advice: Go buy a counting machine. And another male waiter. We just sat down after the young lady showed us to our table. We understand you close 9pm and we wouldn't enjoy our AYCE but we actually did so try doing sales pitch elsewhere cause you suck. None of the workers had name tags so I assume you wouldn't get blasted but hey keep doing you. Other than that, not overhyped. Weekend AYCE is worth it. Best to go in groups. 18% gratitude of 5 groups of more! read more

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Came here on a friday afternoon with friends for lunch. Came right about when they opened and it was already slightly busy, though it was no problem getting a table. The service was slow, but I guess that's to be expected at an AYCE sushi restaurant. For an AYCE option, it's not a bad price. They have a good selection of rolls and appetizers to choose from. My group stuck with several nigiri options and the Pinole Roll, Mexico Roll & Dragon roll. Those are probably their standouts and tasted good. read more

Sake - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pinole, California

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Pleasantly surprised! I say this only cause you never know with AYCE spots. This used to be the old Outback Steakhouse and now it's an AYCE sushi spot. Restaurant is pretty big. We came for dinner and the spot filled up pretty fast. Menu has so many things to choose from. We started off with the yellow tail jalapeño and salmon belly sashimi (comes with 4 pieces each) as well as 2 pieces of nigiri of the seared salmon, tuna, and hamachi. The fish was fresh and the rice to fish ratio was perfect. My favorites were the yellow tail sashimi and the seared salmon. So good we ordered more of this. We also ordered some sake bombs. Nothing special but still good. Second orders were scallop nigiri and, stuffed jalapeños, and salmon lover sashimi. All really good as well but the scallop and stuffed jalapeños were my favorites of this round. We ordered one regular roll (Pinole roll), some spicy garlic edamame and I got the miso soup. All really delicious. Service was good. Servers made sure we were taken care of. I'd come back for quality of fish and the options/price. Parking lot is big so it was easy to find parking. Close to the freeway also. read more

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I love that west county now has their own AYCE sushi restaurant! I love getting a good bang for my buck. Lets start with the good, they did a lot of things right... The food was good quality and overall pretty tasty. I love that they offer sashimi and they also offer a la carte if you do not want the AYCE option. The space is roomy and they did a great job with renovating it from the old Outback. The servers are nice and they are in plenty, where we run into an issue and this is my segue into the not so good, is when you order, meaning the table, the fish will all come together on plate and the servers were not knowledgeable on what was what, which is not good when you are serving something. You may have to flag down the servers at times but they always come quickly. The appetizers leave more to be desired but that's not what we are there for right? the sushi is the star and I appreciate that they are not huge rolls and they are not rice heavy on the nigiri. They could definitely work on their knife cuts because my pieces of sashimi were all different shapes and sizes, but they quality was good, so no real complaint. I went two times in 10 days so it's safe to say, I like it enough to go back, and I will. read more

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We are very excited to finally try Sake AYCE Sushi in Pinole. What a blessing that it is near where we lived. It replaced the former Outback restaurant, and the interior was tastefully revamped. On the day of our visit, it was a weekday, and we were the first customers, so service was very attentive and the foods came quickly. It was good that I asked if they offered birthday discounts, as we were celebrating our son's 17th birthday. To our delight, we were told since we are a party of four, our son's lunch would be comped. The lunch menu is cheaper but is not as comprehensive as the dinner and weekend menu. There is less choices of appetizers and there are no sashimi, just nigiri sushi's. However, the selection of sushi rolls and hand rolls were very good. We started with a slew of appetizers like spicy garlic edamame, stuffed jalapeños, miso soup, squid salad, tempuras and takoyakis. They were all good, so that was a good sign. We then proceeded to the main sushi menu and ordered a wide assortment of sushi rolls, hand rolls, and nigiri sushi's. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. Throughout our meal the service staff tended to our needs. They were always cordial and delighted to take our requests. We didn't felt at all like they wanted to limit our consumption. When we felt like we had our fill, we ordered a few ice creams to finished it off. We really enjoyed our meals and thought the price was a great deal, considering the amount of foods we had. We had a great dining experience and have made recommendations to our friends, and for sure will return. read more

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Sake is a new AYCE sushi spot situated in Pinole!! I was quite surprised to see this open, but a nice addition to the area for sure. On a Saturday midafternoon, my party of 2 was seated right away. Our server took our order almost immediately. There is no limit when ordering which was cool to hear. My party ordered a good variety of sashimi, 2 rolls, and some appetizers to start. I'm gonna be honest, the food service was slow. Our food took a while to come despite it not being super busy. And we had about 3 items we ordered throughout our time that never came. It was nice how we could easily call any waiters with a tablet and order anytime though! But the food timing and ensuring all orders made it to us definitely could use some improvement. For food taste and quality, we left satisfied with everything we got! For an AYCE, fish quality was better than expected. The rice to filling ratio for rolls was great! We thought everything was pretty good! I think our least favorite item was the Lion King roll, but we enjoyed everything else! Sashimi pieces were THICK but again fish quality wasn't bad at all. The menu is quite extensive and considering the price, it's not too bad. $39.99 per person for Weekday dinners and all day Weekends. Overall, Sake was great experience! Definitely wouldn't mind coming back when I wanna fulfill that sushi craving. read more

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Second time visiting this place. I wanted to check the hype of a new location and the die down. Which didn't fail to disappoint. The food tasted fresh, ordering was a breeze. We went during the evening. It was busy and consistency in the food and the service is something I truly appreciated. There was definitely not much of a wait time and the space is definitely busy. With great friendly staff, accessible parking, good price and good food is not a miss. I Truly recommend it. read more

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I was so happy when Sake opened! Every visit so far has been fantastic, and the staff is very attentive. I make it here at least once a month. I initially wanted to try them out for their all-you-can-eat deal, but then realized it wouldn't be much of a deal for me since I'm not a heavy eater. I highly recommend asking for their a la carte menu before being seated. This is something that I do every time, and they have a LOT of options. Check out the 4-Roll (#1) or the 3-Roll (#2) specials; you won't be disappointed! Their sushi is always fresh, they have great service, and lots of seating. If you visit on a Friday night, definitely make sure to get there on the early side. The wait is likely to be quite long if you don't. read more

Been here a few times and just wanted to update my previous review... their spicy salmon handroll is really really good!! I dont know why I didn't tried it in the past, but I am glad I did now. Another reason to keep on coming back. read more

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Updated, 2026: I gave this place some time to get things together and get out of their "new" phase. And I'm glad I did. I had a much better experience this time around than the first time I went. I chose this time to go on a random Tuesday evening, so it wasn't slammed but it was still decently busy. With that said. We were seated right away and served immediately. The attentiveness was a complete 180 from the first time. I will say -- and this may seem like me being nit-picky -- but they're almost TOO attentive. You can't even glance at the menu without someone running over to ask what to get you. I think after a few times of us telling them we needed more than just a minute to look at the menu, they got the hint and slowed their roll just a little bit. Once we placed our orders, the pace evened out nicely. Rolls came quickly, and they checked in on us consistently. The rolls themselves are pretty good, but some of the appetizers are a bit of a hit or a miss. The fried rice was bland and the seaweed salad tasted a bit... old? But the appetizers aren't really the point. The yellowtail jalapeño and salmon belly sashimi are delicious. The ponzu sauce they add is so good and adds a nice brightness. The spicy tuna roll is actually spicy, which I love. I also like the "local" rolls they have, like the Richmond Roll, the Hilltop Roll, etc etc. The rolls are a bit on the smaller side, but I think that's actually a good thing. It allowed us to order more and actually be able to eat it instead of order it and then feel like we couldn't finish it all. Overall, the experience was far more positive than our first one. read more

Went to Sake for my birthday and had a really good experience. You actually eat for free on your birthday, which is a big plus for me . What I liked most was the rolls -- they're the perfect size, not too big and not too small, so you can keep ordering and try different ones. Everything was soo so good. I was literally raving about it to my cousins and they ended up taking me back like 2 days later lol that's how good it was. Definitely a spot I'd come back to again! read more

If you are a big fan of sushi, sashimi you are in for a treat at Sake. This AYCE restaurant will satisfy you. Fresh sashimi, great rolls and wonderful service will delight you at Sake. Service was fast at 6pm but my guess is, as patrons trickle in, you might have to wait for the sushi to be served. Nonetheless, we had a great time and enjoyed the food. I didn't care much for the tempura shrimp and chicken fried rice... I was there to enjoy all the sashimi! Yum! read more

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Sake is the newest all-you-can-eat sushi spot to hit Pinole. I basically grew up here, and let's be honest -- we didn't have a lot of great restaurant options back then. Slim pickings for sure. This place took over the old Outback Steakhouse, and while the décor still has a hint of its steakhouse past, it's now sprinkled with an Asian flair. There's a sushi bar area, though it's mainly for the chefs to work their magic. The menu? Plenty to choose from. And honestly, I was pleasantly surprised -- the food was actually good! Definitely worth coming back. Cheers to a new spot in town worth getting excited about. read more

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Love how Pinole FINALLY has an AYCE sushi spot! It's been a long time coming with the slim pickings in the area so naturally it's a must try for me! The new spot took over the previous Outback Steakhouse space and they did a great job with the remodel. Ample modern comfy booths and brownie points for the awesome high chairs with a tray. The service was also very attentive with several new staff aiming to please. There are some kinks to work out but for our lunch experience, it was great. Lunch is $27.99 from 11a-3:30p with a moderate selection that satisfied us. You order with the servers so everything comes out fresh vs everything sitting out. Once they get busy, I anticipate long waits and compromised service with this method but hope it works out with adequate staffing and efficient processes. We got a ton of things including seaweed salad, miso soup, chicken fried rice , chicken chow mein, lemon pepper wings, chicken teriyaki, and hella rolls and nigiri. Appreciate the fish to rice ratio (don't like a ton of rice) and the portions were small enough so you don't get too full off one thing. Quality was pretty good- my faves were the seared salmon, hamachi nigiri, table mountain, Pinole rolls. Dessert is simply vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry ice cream in mini cartons. Dinner is $39.99 with more options like bbq short ribs, teriyaki shrimp/salmon, shrimp tempura, sashimi, more rolls, etc. One suggestion I made was to add more protein-heavy vegan options like tofu and more special rolls, and to clearly label items with dietary restrictions (vegan, vegetarian, gluten free). read more

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This was my first experience with AYCE sushi, at least to my recollection. Pros: I was impressed by the size of the menu! Many many options. Lots of waitstaff and lots of sushi chefs. It doesn't appear that a single server is assigned to a table, rather you can order from any server. I THINK you can also order as a la carte if you don't want to do AYCE. What we ordered: Pinole roll, Hilltop roll, Hot Mama roll, Lion King, Golden California, salmon sashimi, salmon lover, and popcorn chicken. Of these, I liked the Pinole roll the best, and the popcorn chicken. My husband loved the salmon lover. The Lion King has a bit of cream cheese in it, so it's different than at other places. Cons: One thing I wish they would add would be sunomono to the salads section! There are a few other salad options, but sunomono is not one of them :-( Due to the popularity of the restaurant, service was a tad on the slow side--there were two or three times when we had to ask our waitress to check on one of our orders. I had a full view of the sushi bar, and the ticket machines were spitting out orders like CRAZY, so I am sure it just got lost in the shuffle. I imagine during slower hours, it's not like that. But also, there's 90 minutes to eat, so it didn't cut into our time really. read more

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Food excellent Service amazing Ambiance nice First time here, it's been open for 3 weeks now. The amount you pay is well worth the amount of rolls, appetizers and anything on the menu. We had a wide variety of rolls and starters and everything was great. We definitely will be back.. read more

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I was shocked to find a AYCE sushi spot in Pinole, so I had to go check it out. On a Friday night, our wait was 30 minutes which is not bad, luckily it seems like a majority of people waiting were in large parties. We ordered nigiri, sashimi, and a variety of rolls. The rolls were what you expect in AYCE, simple and tasty; nothing was over the top and mind blowing. For the nigiri, the seared salmon in a spicy ponzu sauce was delicious, it was probably our favorite item of the evening. We also had the eel, sweet shrimp, salmon, and tuna. All were yummy, but you could tell the tuna's quality wasn't as high. Sashimi was tasty, we ordered their speciality dishes that came with sauces. To top off our meal, we also had their chow menu and veggie tempura. Both were also delicious, which was unexpected! The space of the restaurant is large and offers plenty of seating. Supposedly, they took over from an Outback Steakhouse. The service was also kind, however, it seems like the servers are still getting adjusted to the iPad. Our dinner did take almost two hours with our dishes coming out in 30 min increments which is tough from a customer's POV but hoping they will work out the kinks soon! read more

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Pppplease don't let Instagram find this place yet! LOL. This is such a hidden gem that I almost want to gatekeep it. AYCE quality fish for only $40?! You'd think that with all-you-can-eat, the quality would drop because of the volume, but not here. Every special roll we tried was delicious and well put together. The sashimi, especially the salmon and tuna, blew us away. They literally melted in our mouths. We came in on a Sunday around 3:30 pm after reading that the line gets crazy during peak hours. Perfect timing. No wait, quick service, and the place wasn't too busy. The restaurant itself is spacious and clean, and I loved that the sushi kitchen is right in the middle so you can actually watch the chefs work. The frying kitchen is tucked in the back for the hot appetizers. They had plenty of staff, and I can see how even on busy hours, they'd still keep up. Everyone was actually very attentive. The sushi and sashimi were plated beautifully and tasted fresh. Honestly, no complaints on that front at all, and I think that's exactly why people come here. Some of the appetizers were hit or miss though. The miso soup was bland and stale, shrimp tempura was a 2/10, and the beef yakitori was just okay flavor-wise (though the meat was tender). On the other hand, I really enjoyed the stuffed jalapeños and the takoyaki. Still, the real stars were the rolls and sashimi, and they absolutely nailed it. Cuts were thick, fresh, and satisfying. We're definitely coming back, especially once they get their alcohol license!! Fingers crossed they can keep this level of quality at such a good price. We were already planning our next visit on the drive home lolol read more

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I had no idea we had an AYCE place in the area! It's the old Outback Steak house. The interior got a remodel. It's not bad The food was great! There's a pretty good selection of appetizers, salads, rolls and nigiri. No sashimi, at least at lunch. Rice was on the light side! I was really surprised at how little there was (yay!). Service was very good with multiple people coming over at the same time. (Sometimes it was confusing because another attendant just literally left!) I enjoyed my lunch and will be back again! read more

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Very good! People are friendly here, lots of seating. The price is pretty good for the quality of fish you get here. The rice to fish ratio is also nice, not an overwhelming amount of rice. I will say, I ordered the tamago many times and it never arrived so that was strange, if they were sold out they should have just told me... but other than that, great experience! read more

I want to keep this place a secret forever!! A super good AYCE sushi place especially in the Pinole area and dare I say one of the best in the bay! It is one of the few AYCE sushi places that offer sashimi with no order restrictions! The fish is very fresh I would say everything is actually really good. Appetizers, sashimi, nigiri, cooked food, and rolls all were very well prepared, flavorful, and top tier especially since it is an AYCE restaurant. Some notable dishes: - deep fried soft-shell crab - garlic edamame - Pinole roll - unagi - seared salmon nigiri - hamachi, salmon, and tuna sashimi - short ribs and so much more! Honestly everything we ordered was really good. Service is really fast and no judgement on how much you order. They are also good about following up with you and asking if you want to order more. Sake is definitely worth a stop but if you don't, no worries - more for me! :) read more

Upgrading it to five stars! Both times I've come everything has been very solid. The staff was very efficient and the food came out quickly. The yellowtail sashimi wasn't as good this time and the pieces were thinner but still tasty. Our favorites are still the seared salmon, scallop, unagi, and sweet shrimp nigiri along with the mackerel and yellowtail sashimi. I don't recommend the white tuna sashimi (texture was strange and it looked like tofu). The spicy garlic edamame is better than the regular one which is too salty. The soft shell crab tempura was very crispy, pretty meaty, and not too crispy. read more

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We came for lunch on a weekend. We were warmly greeted and seated right away. The servers were attentive. The quality of sashimi was better than what we anticipated for AYCE. We didn't get to try their rolls as we were stuffed. We are looking forward to dining there again. Great value for your money. read more

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For an all you can eat Sushi restaurant the quality of food and service was A1! Everything we got was good, 8 different rolls, 8 different appetizers, and the bill wasn't bad compared to what all of that would've costed at a regular sushi restaurant. We will definitely be back! read more