herald h.

Solid Sushi Buffet! Glad this opened up in Pinole since the only other sushi buffets I know of are in concord. Everything is made to order and they are full size rolls, like 6-8 pieces. The ratio of filling to rice is quite good, u don't feel like they're just giving you hella rice. The only reason this is 4/5 instead of 5/5 is because the service is not consistent. Some servers are quick and place orders correctly. Others come around slow and make mistakes when placing orders (salmon nigiri vs seared salmon sashimi) But if you ask me would u come back? Hell yea I would

Kimberly D.

A new AYCE sushi spot that took over Outback. I wish I could give it a better rating but it's decent/average, but don't mistake that for me saying it's mid. It's a good spot for sushi, just not my favorite and I'm comparing it to others I've been to before. The fish tasted pretty fresh, they have a lot of appetizer options (so filling). The miso soup tasted so watered down and it came out warm. The spicy garlic edamame is good, but not spicy but a little overcooked bc it was mushy. The rolls are a good size! Not too much rice, small enough to taste and try more! What I didn't really like is their special rolls more than half the rolls on the menu were spicy, a lot of the rolls were baked/cooked, and it lacked rolls with salmon. Dinner price is $39.99 per person for adults, $20.00 for kids 7-9, $12.99 for kids 4-6. Overall, it was good. :)

Chira E.

Wow! I have visited a couple of AYCE sushi spots but none of them compared to Sake. The service is great and the food is fresh. I appreciate that they bring the food to the table instead of having to get it yourself. They don't skimp on the presentation either. The menu is mostly Japanese cuisine with a few non traditional items like French fries and fried mozzarella sticks thrown in. I left happily in a food coma with plans of returning for more sushi bliss.

Abigail Joy Y.

Went here on a Friday night, an hour before they close, and we were seated immediately, thankfully. The interior was nice, clean, and well-maintained. The waitresses were nice and very attentive, and the service was impeccable. Our orders were out promptly, and the food was phenomenal. Everything was fresh, good quality, and we loved everything from appetizers, sashimi, nigiri, hand roll sushi and to desserts! This is my go-to sushi fix from now on! Can't wait to go back!

Gia O.

Upon walking in, the vibe is very casual and chill. We were seated fairly fast even if we were still waiting on guests. Service was ok, the waitress we had was a little standoffish at first, but we didn't mind. We did the AYCE menu and the food came by fairly quickly after ordering. The quality of the fish was good and they were not heavy with the rice, which is a plus. We had a party of 6, so tip was included in the total cost. When my partner had received his card and the receipt, there was a $9 charge that was not communicated to us. This did leave us a little confused and off put by that, but we are just assuming it was a leftover fee. That would be my only complaint besides the demeanor of the waitress we had, but overall the food and timely manner in which the dishes were brought out made up for it.

Harvey K.

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.

Ronna I.

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.

Stephanie L.

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!

Jacque R.

My family and I love Sake. The sushi there is so delicious and the service is always welcoming. The ambiance depends on the time you go but it's always busy in the evenings.

Liria S.

Overall, I'd give this place 3 stars. The sushi was good, and the fish-to-rice ratio was perfect, which I really appreciated. However, the service could definitely be improved. When we walked in, no one greeted or acknowledged us, and we felt lost while staff just looked at us instead of seating us. Once we were seated, my drink order came out wrong, and one of the soy sauce containers was cracked and leaking. The restaurant could also be a bit cleaner. Despite those issues, the food was enjoyable, and I'd still come back hoping for a better experience next time.

Joanne H.

Finally got the chance to check out Sake for a family member's birthday this past Monday. Ive heard great things from friends and Ive been awaiting for their opening, but said family member was pregnant and couldnt have raw fish. This was her first time having sashimi after giving birth! We brought baby with us and the place was pretty spacious and clean. The staff (esp our server, Nina) were really nice and understanding. The quality of the fish was amazing and delicious & the rolls/portion sizes were fair and decent for an AYCE spot. We cant wait to come back! So happy they opened near home!

Andy G.

Let me start by saying that I miss Outback in Pinole! That was my spot for consistently good prime rib in my hood. So when I found out it left and that Sake was taking over the location, I was skeptical. But now that I've had the Sake AYCE experience, I am ecstatic that it's here! Me and my buddy went on a Thursday night. It was crowded but not jam packed and the parking lot still had plenty of spaces. The AYCE menu has so many choices (130 items in all) and it's all fresh and made to order. We definitely ate our fill and got our money's worth. Stand outs include the beef short ribs, the salmon belly sashimi, soft shell crab and so many assorted rolls and sashimi!! You really gotta pace yourself because the food comes out in waves! I'm looking forward to going again and leaving in a well deserved food coma.

Anne H.

I love this place! You can't go wrong here. I'm very particular when I see an all-you-can-eat sushi place because sometimes I can tell when the quality of the seafood is not great. But this place does not disappoint. The staff is friendly and efficient.