Five stars, no hesitation. I heard about Sono Sushi through Resy and finally made it in. It's located in downtown Raleigh on Fayetteville Street, right next to the ABC 11 studios, easy to find and a great spot if you're already downtown. The ambiance is great and fits the food well. There's a nice mix of seating, tables along the windows looking out onto the street, high top tables, traditional dining tables, and a sushi bar if you want to sit up close and watch everything being made. It feels lively without being loud, and works well whether you're there for a date night or a more casual meal. We started with the Aburi appetizer, torched salmon belly, ooba, salmon roe, Japanese seabream, yuzu kosho, and ponzu, and it was outstanding. Everything worked together perfectly, rich, bright, and balanced. I also ordered ikura and ebi, even though I meant to order ama ebi, but no regrets there. Still excellent. We shared the Poke Roll with wakame, avocado, cucumber, mango, tuna, salmon, hamachi, and Sono poke sauce, and it was very good, fresh, flavorful, and well composed without being overdone. My wife ordered the spicy miso ramen and loved it. The broth was the star, deep and comforting, and the pork chashu pieces were massive, in a good way. I went with the chicken katsu curry, panko fried chicken thigh with house curry and koshihikari rice, something I haven't had since Little Tokyo in LA a few years ago, and it tasted like home. Comforting, familiar, and exactly what I was hoping for. For drinks, I ordered the "SONO? SO-YES!" entirely because of the name, but also because I love blood orange. Casamigos Blanco tequila, Cointreau, lime juice, coconut cream, simple syrup, and blood orange juice, it was excellent. My only complaint is that I wanted more of it. My wife got the Okinawa Spritz, a play on an Aperol spritz with passionfruit, and it was even better than the original. We finished with the yuzu cheesecake. I debated between that and the ube cheesecake, but since this is a Japanese restaurant, yuzu felt right, and it absolutely delivered. Overall, everything from the food to the drinks hit. This is a place I would happily return to, and honestly, I'm already looking forward to the next visit. read more

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Secured a resy reservation on a Saturday night table for 2, and although seated immediately it was probably a solid 15-20 min in between each waiter interaction. I think it was just at the height of rush hour and they were doing their best- I would just pad your expected time here because it is quite popular. Loud environment, concrete floors with no rugs or anything. LOVED the Gyosa!!! Like table slapping good. Some of the best I've ever tried. Ordered the Grand Piano and Umi Kazan rolls, both good with shrimp tempura but the Grand Piano was far "denser" with the blue crab in the middle. The Umi Kazan was my favorite with the shredded crab on top. I liked the assortment of options and how you could customize if you wanted. Also ordered a Malbec wine- quite good. Our waiter was very accommodating, just slammed for the dinner rush. I'd definitely return! The neon koi fish and paper umbrellas were stunning. read more

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My group chose Sono for our dinner prior to attending a show at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. This hole-in-the-wall restaurant carries a distinctly Japanese vibe with umbrellas hung on the ceiling, sake bottles on display, samurai wall art, and an active sushi bar. The crowd was not bad for a Friday night, though I recommend reserving your table if bringing a large group. We came fifteen minutes after Sono opened. I tried the hot sake on offer tonight, and it was refreshing. It kept well in the jar provided. My sushi roll was presented well. The wasabi has a strong kick to it, and so does their spicy ginger. Others in my group ordered ramen. The bowls are generously sized, comparable to what you'd receive when ordering in a Japanese ramen joint. Sono's broth is rich, and their noodles are done the way they should be. I had the opportunity to visit Japan in 2023. I can say that my meal at Sono brought back memories from the trip, and the food was of the quality I saw in Japan. Well done. read more

Sono Sushi - Story of the Salmon Roll - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Good food. However, we were seated at 1:30pm and the very first thing our waitress told us was that the kitchen was closing soon and if we needed anything we have to get our order in. It set a bad vibe. If you're going to rush people to order, then don't seat people after 1:30pm read more

We picked this spot based on the reviews. The food was excellent. Ambiance was super cute. The service was even better. Clay was our server. He gave excellent recommendation along with a written list of places in the area to check out. Our first time in Raleigh was so fun and memorable. I would highly recommend to anyone. read more

Sono Sushi - Spicy Miso Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Came in for a quick lunch between conference sessions. Plus that it's so close to the convention center so it was quick one block walk. Got seated quickly. Service was good and they were friendly. Loved the umbrellas on the ceiling. Really cute aesthetic. Got the hot stone bbq beef as an app and though it was impressive, they def need a more textured stone surface cause the stone be so smooth that some of my beef pieces kept sliding off into the sauce or the table. I felt like a clumsy mess. The beef itself was nothing to rave about. Seasoned salt added a good flavor but the sesame oil and chimichurri sauce were lacking. Then again I dunno why I thought a chimichurri sauce at a sushi place would be good. Wanted to try the sweet shrimp so I got that, salmon and blue crab, all nigiri. Got a side of ponzu sauce which should just be standard with sweet shrimp in my opinion. The salmon was standard. The blue crab was super lack luster. The sweet shrimp was the best but still not as great as back home in la. Plus was I got a coke and waitress got me a refill at the restaurant AND offered me one to go. I definitely appreciate places that offer that. I'd come again if I was in the area but I'd probably pass on the beef and just stick to the standard sushi. read more

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10/10 restaurant experience! Everything was great from the miso soup to the sushi! My family came in from out of state and they both enjoyed their food. Service was prompt and by 5:30 it was a packed house read more

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The sushi was out of this world!!!! I loved the flavoring and everything tasted fresh. I would go back again for the food! The only negative thing was the wait time, we were sat immediately but it was about 10-15 minutes before the waitress came over and then it took 32 minutes for the food to come out after ordering and it wasn't a busy night. Even though it took a while, I would go back and wait for the food because it was so good! read more

I tried Sono Sushi for lunch and was seated right away. The ambiance is very inviting. I could see this as a great date spot. The service was quick and our server was attentive. When the fire went out on my little steak BBQ grill, he got me fixed right up. Every bit of food we tried was delicious. The sushi was so fresh and the appetizers was tasty too. I would love to come back in the evening and try more when I am back in Raleigh. read more

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From the Food to the Service. A family Vibe from Start to Stop. When in Raleigh, Sono. read more

Awesome lunch sitting at the bar... I really wanted some Saki, but gotta go back to work. Had one of the Lunch Specials (2 Special Rolls) and shared another special, an order of the Gyoza. The bartender gave great guidance through a beautiful selection of fresh sushi and then delivered swift and accurate service. Gyoza crunchy and the rolls fresh and delicious. First time for this "out of towner", but might come back just for lunch !! read more

Sono Sushi - Crunchy daikon wrapper was amazing. - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Great place. We sat at the bar and the atmosphere was very pleasant and chill and the bartender was really nice and helpful. We had had shrimp as an appetizer was was good and the two meals we ordered - Vegetarian Ramon and Sushi were fantastic Will definitely return read more

Sono Sushi - The bar at Sono Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Good experience here! Made a reservation on a Friday night. There is street parking and some paid lots around. Ordered a salmon avocado roll and a screaming O roll. Both were tasty, but a bit pricey. Good service! Not the best sushi I have had in Raleigh, but pretty good. read more

Sono Sushi - salmon avocado roll, Screaming O roll - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

So my realtor sends out a coupon once a month to different restaurants. And I can't resist a coupon! This one offered $20 off $60 or more in food. So I invited my daughter and met her in Raleigh. This restaurant was just beautiful. The decorations were very charming and welcoming. It was small and quaint. Very clean! I wish I had taken pictures. I'm so sorry that I'm bad at that. We got several things. The edamame was fresh. We got the Shishido peppers which were delicious. We got the Gyoza, which is one of my favorites. I really liked the spicy sauce that came with the Gyoza. Then I got a tempura shrimp roll with mango. I can't remember the name. Come to find out my daughter doesn't like shrimp lol. So I ate the whole stinking thing. It was fabulous! The ambience was very quiet and calm, which I really appreciated. I felt like it was a great date night place. Very relaxing. And the staff and the owner were also lovely. Highly recommend. read more

1. Plastic in Miso Soup 2. Chaotic environment and service 3. Over an HOUR wait for sushi Decided to come in here for a nice night of sushi to hit that sushi spot. Walked in, and was greeted by chaotic energy... hostess asked our name 3 times, and then we told her we had 2 people not showing up for our four person reservation so we could just make it a 2 person. She left for 10 minutes. Came back we finally got seated. Ordered our food right away, miso soup, Ichiban beer, and 4 sushi rolls. Miso soup came out and my friend took a spoon full and a big piece of plastic was in that bite. We shared it with the waiter and he brought out a new one. Beer came out after 20 minutes after I ordered. Yes. Waiting and waiting for the sushi.. 40 minutes passed, it's not very busy, but waiter is running around and all we see is just White bags leaving the sushi bar, one after another. This place was prioritizing DoorDash orders over diners and it was evident. Three chefs pumping out sushi for to go. We asked our waiter around 40 minutes in where the food was and he, I think said, 10 minutes? He was a bit frantic so hard to get what he said. Another 10 minutes, we're at about 55 minutes since ordering. I asked the hostess? To come over and she did and I said can we please just cancel our order? It's been an hour at this point and we would just like to go get food somewhere else. I said I'd pay for my beer and we could go. She didn't even know that there was plastic in our soup.. she said "they're plating it now". I said we're good, we'd really just like to leave. She said um, then left for 5 MINUTES -- came back and said they're plating it. I said it's a bit too late. So we left. What started as a chaotic evening ended in the same fashion. Wish I could just tell you about the sushi but never had it. SKIP! read more

Loved the ambience! The pretty paper umbrellas peppering the ceiling and the Samurai art were awesome. The service was great- maybe a little slow but we weren't in a hurry. They seemed to have a lot of takeout orders. We had Edamame app- it was perfect. Nice amount of sea salt and perfectly warm. We split - tuna w/cucumber, salmon w/ cucumber, and a spider roll- all were delicious- lovely presentation! The price was very reasonable for what we got. Will definitely return when we are in Raleigh again! read more

I always have an incredible experience at Sono. The first time I'd been, I only had sushi and a lychee martini (i believe), which was just phenomenal. One of the other times I'd gone, I got an actual entree which was the salmon, paired with kimchi and bok choy and it was equally just as incredible. And of course, indulged in sushi, which never fails. Had another specialty martini, which is a given. Now, I took it to go this time to not have to worry about the Friday night Raleigh traffic -- got the Spider roll, Sono roll (a classic), and the crunchy diablo which was something we hadn't tried. Sushi was packaged great, and tasted just as good even after driving home to consume. I have to take a second to say that the calamari is the best i've had. It comes with two sauces that are genuinely so mine-blowingly delicious I cannot explain. Maybe I'm just simple, but they are both incredible flavor, great spice, a balance between sweet and savory. I need them sold in a bottle to take home. Love this place, probably one of my favorite restaurants in all of Raleigh! read more

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It's been wayyyy too long since we've been to this gem in downtown Raleigh. Popped in on Saturday night without reservations, but had no problem getting our choice of bar seats or a high top in that area. We chose the bar and settled in for great service and fantastic food. I had a refreshing Battle Royale. This beer/whiskey drink went well with our food. Two of us shared a California Roll with Blue Crab along with one of their specialty rolls, the Umi Kazan. We loved them both and followed them up with a shared order of Pork Dumplings. Excellent dumplings. Even the dipping sauce was on another level. Loved our bartender as well. And for the quality, prices were very reasonable! read more

Sono Sushi - Battle Royale - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Made a reservation through the website. Easy and painless. The place is modern and very clean. Love the fact the the background music is that, background music. Food was good. read more

Sono Sushi - Poke Roll, Tamago Nigiri - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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The ambiance was so relaxing and the food was also very well made. There was a nice touch to everything we had. The service was amazing, our server Hanna was so helpful a especially with her serving and recommendations read more

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Decided to try this place with some friends on Friday despite this definitely not being my preferred type of food. I don't care for sushi but figured I would find something to try. That dish ended up being a chicken ramen bowl. It was flavorless and bland as it could be... until I bit into the bamboo. I nearly lost my lunch at the bar. GROSS. Tried a piece if my friends sushi which was actually decent, but it's still not something I would eat regularly. Bar tender was nice, albeit very busy and rather slow. I wouldnt suggest this place or go back. read more

Incredible spot downtown Raleigh. We typically go to a different spot downtown and decided to venture off to Sono and I am so happy we did! The vibe of the restaurant at night is romantic without the need to dress super fancy. We sat at the bar and had Andrea as our server, she was extremely knowledgeable about the sake, the fish, and all the other questions we had - we like the more authentic dishes. We had the hamachi traditio and it was fantastic. Best hamachi dish I've ever had, and we get that cold plate often. Enjoyed the edamame with chili garlic, eel & hamachi & salmon nigiri. Next time i will take pics for evidence! Phone did not eat first. read more

Andrew was our server and he was awesome. Had spot-on recommendations and we knew right away that he was going to be a great server. We came on 2/15 and it was decently quiet for 5:30 on a Sunday. Food was amazing, so so good, definitely try the fresh wasabi. Great restaurant and will be returning. Wonderful vibe. read more

I never raise my expectations when trying new sushi places but this definitely raised the bar on what I've had in the triangle. This is one of the best sushi places in this area, with their high quality seafood, innovative recipes and creative presentation. The place can be a bit loud but it does have a cozy ambiance to it. Service was a bit slow but it was super busy that night. All the fish were quality and very fresh. The Sono Choice Nigiri featured unique flavor combinations with more expensive cuts such as toro, ama ebi, ikura & uni. Honestly some of the flavor combos overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the fish but it was still excellent! This is also one of the few places that had fresh wasabi root! Everything we had was well made and high quality. This will be our new go-to sushi place for that special occasion! read more

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This was a good restaurant to visit in the downtown area of Raleigh. We didn't try the sushi, so we can't comment on it, but the ramen was very tasty and spicy. The drinks were also good. read more

Sono Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Good food, service and ambiance. I would recommend for families with young kids. And good prices.

4.5 This was my first stop hopping off a plane so I was pretty hungry. I got the Sono's choice which was 7 pieces of chef's choice nigiri and your choice of a roll. I got the Tuna on Tuna roll which had spicy Tuna, tuna, cucumber, jalapeño, mustard ponzu, garlic crisp and sriracha. I thought they could have been a little bit more generous with the fish on top of the roll but otherwise, it was pretty fresh. Didn't need too much soy sauce with it. The nigiri was definitely the star. It came with big, thick slices of fish with a pretty good ratio of rice on the bottom. Some of my favorite pieces were the scallop, fatty tuna, and mackerel. I thought the fish was actually really fresh except for a couple that were a tad stringy. Otherwise, every bite was really soft. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the fish quality and would recommend for nigiris. read more

Sono Sushi - Sono's Choice with Tuna on Tuna roll - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Best cheesecake I've ever had, made with a purple root vegetable for its coloring, the Ube Cheesecake was simply amazing. The sushi was good too, though it lacked a certain presentation for the specialty ones I ordered. The server was OK. She had a couple "glass half empty" that I didn't care for. read more

The rolls were Delicious and the waitress was so kind and attentive! Ambiance was nice and comfortable! read more

How gorgeous is this platter?! We ventured here for a celebratory lunch. It was empty which was a little surprising. The staff were attentive and friendly.They even let us sample a new sushi creation. The ambience was fine. They played a lot of top 100 pop songs. We got three different rolls: Sandwich, tuna on tuna and a rainbow. The Sandwich roll was very unique; I loved the creative direction. They were all really good! We enjoyed our time here and will definitely be coming back. read more

Sono Sushi - Tuna on Tuna Rainbow Story of the Salmon - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Made reservations for 6:30 pm. When we arrived, we were seated promptly. The server was kind although you could tell she had various tables, so was quite busy. We ordered the sono shrimp and edamame with Thai chili peppers as an appetizer. The sono shrimp was very similar to the bang bang shrimp. Edamame was very spicy, but good and a generous portion. For main courses we ordered Chicken Ramen and umi Kazan sushi. Definitely recommend for a date night or happy hour with friends! Parking can be a little bit tricky since it's a heart of downtown. read more

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It had been a while since I ordered from Sono and its always been good. I ordered the bento box lunch to go. When I sat down to eat, not one piece of the teriyaki chicken was anything other than fat. They also didn't put the salad in with the order. I'll be thinking twice about ordering from there again. I expect better for a $20 lunch. read more

We stopped in for a little snack during the Hopscotch festival. We ordered the pan fried Gyoza and a Tuna Roll. The gyoza were crispy, warm and very flavorful and the tuna was super fresh. A perfect little snack, while wandering DT Raleigh. read more

Sono Sushi - Pan Fried Gyoza - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I was craving sushi and city market wasn't open so I decided to try sono. The experience was the best average the Ramen was good but not overly flavorful. The sushi was good but not remarkable. This really is a 3.5 review the atmosphere and the service we're good servers are very friendly and the restaurant is beautiful. However, I probably won't visit again. read more

Sono Sushi - Ramen with pork belly. - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I was hungry and try ordered veggies ramen . The taste was good but the noddle too hard , soup was warm not hot enough for nodlde soup . I did not enjoy the soup at all ..feel disappointed .. read more

Sono Sushi - Veggie Ramen - Japanese Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Great sushi place in Downtown Raleigh! The grilled octopus, hamachi, and aburi appetizers were delicious. All sushi rolls were great too. Danny was an attentive server along with the rest of the Sono team. Highly recommend! read more

Very mediocre sushi and overpriced. On top of that, it's a rather unfriendly place. Nobody greets you or seems friendly at all. The guy working at the host desk seemed like he would've rather been anywhere else. I definitely won't return. read more

This place looks great inside. Red walls, art, full bar, nice lighting, and a cool ambience. However, the sushi and service fell short of my expectations. I've been looking for Raleigh's best sushi and trying spots all around so I was excited to come here but ended up pretty disappointed. Our service was slow. The restaurant was not busy at all but we still had to ask another waitress for a refill of water, getting our check, getting a box, etc. Had it been busy I would've understood but it wasn't even close. The firecracker shrimp surprised me being in an egg roll, which wasn't bad but I also wouldn't order it again. We got the screaming O, story of the salmon, and grand piano roll. None of the rolls were very flavorful or stood out like that. For the taste of the sushi it should have been BOGO. I also didn't like how they gave one long piece of ginger instead of cutting it into pieces you could eat with your sushi. I thought that was lazy of them. Overall this was a very mediocre sushi spot and pretty pricey for the quality. read more

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This place has great food - I've always enjoyed the sushi and the ramen. The tonkatsu was amazing, I could have drank all the broth. I wanted to comment on the kindness of the waitstaff and management. This is the second time I've come with my (very loud, very tired) toddler and preschooler. They've always treated us so well. Our server today was very kind (extra plates for the kids to split plates, helped me serve me the kids so we could all eat) and the manager added some extra special touches- she had our sushi cut into smaller pieces for them to eat and brought trainer chopsticks over. When I go to a restaurant, especially an upper scale one in a downtown , I'm just happy to be treated like my kids are ok to sit there. But sono sushi always makes me feel like my kids are guests too, and more than welcome. So thank you. read more

Genuinely one of the worst experiences I've had at a sit down restaurant. The food was just ok, but the service was absolutely atrocious. Our server never introduced himself, and we didn't get waters for almost 10 minutes. When we finally got waters, our server asked, "What do you want." It felt very rude and uninviting, and combined with mediocre food made the experience extremely disappointing. I don't usually feel compelled to leave reviews, but the service was so bad it felt like I got sushi at mcdonald's. read more