This is hands down the BEST food in Franklin! We always make sure to stop here on our trip to Franklin. The sushi is prepared perfectly and the other dishes are always great as well. The wait staff is very helpful and kind. Support this great local business! read more

We were interested in the Hibachi experience and tried this restaurant. The two hostesses were indeed the most cordial young women I have ever met in a restaurant. Putting this remark in context, I am 70 years eat old and eat in a restaurant two - three times a day. My boyfriend eats out even more. There was a wait of 45 minutes for the Hibachi Room and we were able to sit at the bar. Again, the young female bartender was very cordial and attentive. Plus the margarita was delicious and had the adequate amount of premim tequila. One of the hostesses came to get us when it was time to be seated. The waiter was very helpful, but I think we confused him with our order. We share our food with one another and really were requesting extra plates, but he put in only one order. He corrected with additional shrimp and salmon, but no additional vegetables for the hibachi chef. Most people would not even know the difference, but we like a lot of vegetables, and our meals were incomplete. Also sitting at our table were five teens who only ordered modestly. Unfortunately, this impacted the Chef's performance and finesse with the food and grill. We had observed the three other chefs and had something to compare. Food was tasty and will return. Loved the experience. read more

The positive side is, the food tastes pretty good. The downsides is we set in one of the side rooms off the dining room, which was so cold. It was warm in the main dining room, but for some reason there was no heat in our room. We were there with a large party, we all had our coats on. Also, each time that I have been to this restaurant it's taken extremely long time to get our food. As it did tonight. What do I mean by a long time? A little bit more than an hour. I ordered an appetizer which was only basil rolls, and that took 45 minutes to get. The restaurant did have a few customers, but it wasn't packed. Not sure if I would ever return to this restaurant, I know I would never go in the winter time again. read more

We LOVE Sakura. The owner is amazing and to find such fresh sushi in a small mountain town is awesome.

Got take out from here last week- tuna sashimi and spring rolls. Tuna was good, not great, and spring rolls were good. Price reasonable and fresh tea. Will likely return. read more

Best sushi and most friendly place around. In fact one of the best places I've ever been, and I've had a lot all over the country. They treat you like your part of their family! Can't say enough good things about them. read more

Sakura Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Franklin, North Carolina

I'm new to the area, but have always had a love for Japanese restaurants. Now, while I am used to seeing the gather around the hibachii style meal, this experience was a bit different. There were no big hibachi grills, not a ton of people all over your personal space... there were all individual tables and the prep and cooking was done in the back of the house. This little change seemed a bit off putting to begin with. Again, my family was used To a particular style At a restaurant like this. The change was a welcome break in pace, we actually got to sit and enjoy each other's company rather than watch a show and all the fun stuff that comes with that. The setting inside was nice, homely feeling, warm and cozy really... the floor was quite busy as it was new years eve, but all of our food came out hot and fresh, and special interests were even catered to. The Thai chicken I ordered was fantastic and the portions were perfect! Not too much, not too little. Flavor was on point for everything I tried sushi, spring rolls, curry, it was all great! If you get here and aren't sure if you want to walk in because there's no hibachi or a long wait.... treat yourself and your party, give this place a shot! read more

We could not find anything open on Monday night in Franklin so we went to Sakura as a last resort. So glad we did. We were greeted by the most delightful young lady at the door and were promptly seated. We ordered basil chicken and spider rolls. All was great. Our server was peasant and helpful. They even gave us extra spider rolls because we ordered them with the sauce on the side and they forgot. We highly recommend this restaurant. read more

The sushi is hit or miss even when it hits it's just mediocre .... There's just something wrong with their fish idk what it is one time it made me horribly sick tasted like sour almost .... No it was not the rice vinegar .... This was something different the clear soup is tasteless put some more msg in it or make the broth better just tastes like hot shitty water with a mushroom in it ..... gross read more

I ate here 2 years ago and have avoided it ever since. Got talked into trying it again. Mistake. Terribly under staffed. Fine, I get it, but communicate that up front. Order was incorrect. Had to drown my food in soy and siracha just to give it a flavor of some kind. Andddd over priced. You can get a better version of the same food for 1/4 the price on the south end of town. read more

We were craving some sushi and happened to be passing thru Franklin so I googled nearby sushi places. So happy we went here! The service was super fast and the food was amazing!! Got the Philadelphia roll and the volcano roll. Everything was delicious. read more

Sakura Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Franklin, North Carolina

Zero customer service. Manager and hostess were horribly rude to my family and the food is awful.

We went for the first time this evening. The ginger dressing on salad was very good. The vegetable gyoza were good. My Teriyaki Chucken was ok. Had hoped for some vegetables in it. My husband had the Tempura Shrimp. They were in Panko crumbs and tasted frozen. If go again, will ask them to please use tempura batter on Tempura Shrimp. We will give them another try. They need to hire a cleaning crew to clean the restaurant! The bottles in wine rack are covered in thick dust. Other evidence of cleaning needed! Had heard this from a local, but thought we'd try it. I just have a hard time eating surrounded by dust etc and not wonder about the lack of cleanliness behind the kitchen wall! Come on Sakura. Do a deep cleaning and we'll be back and bring friends! read more

I love this place! I go frequently! I've never had a bad experience, the sushi is to die for! I would recommend this place to anyone! The atmosphere is great and the service is too! Overall awesome place to go for sushi! read more

Sakura Restaurant - Philadelphia Roll and Spicy Lover Roll! - Japanese Near Me - Franklin, North Carolina

Service is very poor and slow. Slow on getting food to you. Food is good. read more

We get food from here all the time, and it has never disappointed! Our most recent waitress was Deanna, who was extremely attentive and friendly. She was able to joke around with us and made it an amazing experience. read more

Love It! Great prices, great sushi selection, great service. Elizabeth our server made it an awesome experience. We will be coming back! read more

Sakura Restaurant - Great Sushi! - Japanese Near Me - Franklin, North Carolina

IMO sushi is about fresh fish. I do like the steak hibachi, as it has been tender and nicely medium rare at least three times. read more

My husband and I were passing through and saw this sushi bar. We were floored with how good everything was, from the salad, sushi to the hibachi food! We have been to MANY places like this and this is by far one of the absolute best we have ever had! Amazing service and food!!!!! read more

Friendly staff. Excellent red curry and gen tso chicken. Sakura hot tea is outstanding... green tea and cherry blossoms, yum. We will be back. read more

As a Sylva resident I have often wanted Japanese with little to go to to satisfy the craving. Finding this place in franklin was the best thing to happen. The sushi was fresh and very good. The habachi meal was tasty and the lunch size was perfect to fill up. The service was fantastic. This place will be a weekly fill up! read more

Extensive menu with excellent food. Great service. Nice decor with a fish tank.

Environmentally I rate it 4 stars. I used to visit this location way before when it was a Mexican restaurant. It also was Italian after that, but I hadn't been there. So the perception I have is the decor went from really basic to quite nice. They put good thought and attention into the interior design details. The booths down the middle section seem a little close to your neighbor, so ask for the side wall. For cleanliness and food handling I rate it 2 stars. I went there twice and both times my booth table had a gross film on it, like they weren't wiping it with clean cloths and giving it a good polish. I wiped it with my napkin and there was a shiny table surface under the film. I also ordered the delicious Sakura hot tea twice, and both times the wait staff brought me the mug and palmed it like a basketball over the rim. I was totally grossed out by this. That's what the mug handle is for! I never want to see any drinking utensil handled where I'm going to drink from. Also my first visit had almost a full house, and they were busy. My waiter was obviously moving fast, which is a good thing, but he was sweating all over his forehead and sideburns. He should have and could have patted his brow with a napkin once and a while to have a cleaner appearance. I gave them both a 20%+ tip, but my best tip is to be more considerate when food handling. The appearance of what you did should have cost you your tips, but I know what you go thru just to make a living. I dated an multi award winning waitress and I got to hear all about the horrors of the business! For the food I ordered I rate it 4 stars. I pretty much had the same vegetarian order both times. Miso soup, House salad with ginger dressing, cucumber/avocado rolls, mango/avocado rolls and Sakura house tea. All the food was delicious and fresh. No complaints whatsoever. I would love to go back and see the minor corrections for the cleanliness and food handling. That would move my overall rating up to 4.5 stars. And it would make me want to recommend it to all my family and friends that actually live in Franklin! But I'm happy to see ethnic variety in such a small town. read more

For the location, this is one of the best restaurants you can go to!!! We went on New Year's Eve and it was one of those nights where a restaurant can prove itself as dynamic--can definitely go classy or casual. I live in NYC now and I would put this right up there with any of the Japanese/Asian fusion restaurants you can find, except 1/2 the price! Hip decor, great lighting (I'm picky about that), and incredible, unique menu.....get the lobster appetizer! I also had a couple different kinds of sushi (both amazing) and the salmon teriyaki dish (which I got the biggest portion of salmon I've ever been served! Enough to save....). The cocktails look amazing too; although I didn't try it, 'Birthday Cake' with sprinkles on rim is a really fun idea I've never seen! The waiters and hostesses were very kind and smily, and the portions are wonderful...Go here if you're down to try something new and enjoy a great atmosphere and amazing quality :) read more

The service was good and the sushi rolls were good. The clear soup was flavorless, the dressing on the salad was straight ginger. The chicken was dry and the rice was gummy. You also don't even get to watch a chef cook. For the price, I'll be going somewhere else next time. read more

Dinner prices are ridiculous, triple the lunch prices. Soup is fish based, eww. Main entrees were good although portions were small. The restaurant was clean and cute but smelled like musty old folks. Service was great...almost like they didn't even know the food was gross! read more

This was the most awful place. We arrived at 6:05 pm, left at 8:05 without any food. We had tea and spring rolls and continued to wait ...... saw other tables getting their food and continued to make excuses for why we did not have ours. So sad.... we won't return. read more

Love love love this place !!! Honestly I've only gone there for sushi , but I go frequently ... The food is fresh and bursting with flavor and the service and atmosphere match beautifully ! I've never had a bad experience here - try the volcano roll! read more

This was mediocre at best and WAY overpriced! Was told on the phone that the chef would cook our food in front of us. When we got there, it turned out you had to have a reservation and a party of four for that service. My plate had about 3 ounces of steak and 4 scallops, some very overlooked veg and a LOT of rice for $20. We ended spending $59 for 2 adults and 1 child. Reminded me of the fast food Japanese places for 3 times the price. What a waste.... read more

I have eaten Sushi in several countries and many states. Benny and his crew at Sakura rate well in the top five restaurants I have experienced, and at significantly less cost. The raw Sushi is always fresh and the service cannot be beaten anywhere in the area. There could, perhaps, be a few more Sushi choices, but now I am nitpicking. My wife and I consider it basically the only place to eat in Franklin. We have also tried several dishes from the kitchen and, without exception, they were wonderful. Dave H Franklin, NC read more

Food was OK, Kobe express was better for me. Had hibachi chicken

The sushi was good and had a friendly atmosphere. They also have a full bar. Prices where very reasonable.

It is refreshing to have an authentic Japanese restaurant in town rather than having to drive 2 hours. The ingredients are always fresh and the staff is very friendly. Ive had a lot of Japanese food but this is definitely one of the better ones. You are not going to get cheap, pretentious dishes here. People have to understand that good quality ingredients and fresh fish cost more. This isnt asian fast food like pf chang or panda express, this is great food and it is well worth the money and the wait. read more

love this place, best place to get sushi in Western Carolina. The only thing that I can say they need more verity for their sushi dishes besides spicy tuna. Also very disappointing that they don't have ikura. (Salmon Roe) all they have is Flying fish roe. If you are in the mood for sushi this is the place to go! read more

When I saw the surprisingly low prices on the menu I expected the worst, however, the sushi here was really, really good. My only complaint about anything is that the tempura was a bit like Long John Silvers. read more

Super cozy and clean atmosphere - and delicious tea. The service was friendly, average pricing, and the sushi was yummy. Ignore the negative reviews on Yelp and consider/review the high ratings on Google. I recommend this place and would go back if in the area again. read more

Don't let the shopping center exterior fool you. Sakura is definitely worth a stop if you are in the mood for good food. My husband and I ended up going twice in one week. Partially because of the lack of choices in Franklin but also because we enjoyed the food so much the first time. Between the visits we tried a variety of sushi, including the sweet potato (my favorite), the Philadelphia (a close second), the spicy Krab (yum!), and the chicken tempera (wasn't thrilled with this one). Our waitress the first time seemed a little distracted and even forgot to bring the sake we ordered then charged us for it. This was taken care of by the manager. The waiter the second time was very friendly and quick. We would not hesitate to return if we came back to town and highly recommend it. read more

We were so happy to find a sushi restaurant in the area! The food was very good! More importantly, the service was FANTASTIC! We were celebrating our 25th anniversary and... what a nice evening!! Thank you!! read more

STAY AWAY FROM THIS GOD-AWFUL RESTAURANT. We were a party of 4, came in for dinner and ordered well over $100 in food and alcohol. Although the restaueant was not at all busy, we had not received our food after waiting ONE HOUR and after inquiring with the waitress learned they had not yet even started making the sushi! When we canceled the order and left the sushi chefs just laughed rudely and dismissively. The appetizer we did get was mediocre at best and obviously not made in-house. If this is how they treat customers you have to wonder how they handle the raw fish etc. they're serving. And on top of that the published sanitation score was low. read more

Overpriced is not the word . This is stealing . Sushi was great though :-). Teriyaki chicken not so much :-(.