3.5/5 Overall (As of my most recent visit) Throughout my multiple trips to Sushi Bear, I've never felt the need to venture much into their lengthy list of rolls. Therefore, this review is mainly based on Nigiri and Sashimi experiences. In my last visit, a friend and I decided we had to fulfill our cravings and went about making the trip down to Sushi Bear. The interior of the restaurant is super cozy and honestly would be a great casual date spot. Despite the terrible parking, the dim lights and fun decor make up for the whole situation that's going on outside. Once seated, each table is given a complimentary bowl of fried wonton wrapper chips that are dusted in a layer of cinnamon sugar. Totally random at a Japanese restaurant but hey, if it's free I'll take it. We both ordered their lunch special which consisted of 5 pieces of various nigiri sushi and 1 classic roll of your choice. (Mine being the yellowtail roll). The special also came with a side salad and miso soup that's included in the price. Sounds good to us!! Each piece of nigiri was tasty and fresh. I think the only one I didn't enjoy as much was the Tuna. It was off in texture, but the others made up for it. The classic yellowtail roll was simple and delicious but I think I'd prefer to try another one next time. We ended up paying about $35 for both meals, which isn't too bad for the quality of fish you're getting. The reason I'm docking off some stars is because of the service. Every time our waitress came by our table, she'd drop off one plate without saying a thing and just walk away. One bowl of miso soup, leaves. One plate of sushi, she's gone. 5 minutes later and she brings out the second plate. Not a word. Was it just us or is that weird behavior?? Maybe she was having a rough day, but there's no need to take it out on customers. Either way, the food was good and the price is reasonable. We'll be coming back again. Just hope it's a different waitress. read more

Sushi Bear - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

Omakase is the way to go in this fresh hole in the wall sushi place. They let the fish do the talking straight from the ocean to the table. read more

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This place is legit! If you're looking for a good mix of different rolls to try and are hungry, this is the place. Large portions and everything tastes so good and fresh. The service is excellent also, they are attentive and nice. We had a party of six and it wasn't a problem at all, nice table in the back corner. Fun sushi roll names and great flavors! I am already looking forward to going back. read more

Perfect local sushi spot! I love their check in deal for a free hot sake and their cinnamon chip appetizer :) I usually split one of their specials & get an extra roll with my boyfriend and it fills us up! The wait goes by quickly so don't worry when you see people waiting outside. I also like that the workers always seem to recognize regulars, makes this seem like a real local spot. read more

Whoa! I can't believe I haven't written a review for Sushi Bear, yet! First off, the service here has always been superb. Especially, from Jenny! She is extremely attentive and remembers us every visit. Sushi Bear is lucky to have someone of her caliber. Next, the food! All of the rolls/nigiri we have had here has always been extremely fresh and made with attention to detail in presentation. I can never go to another AYCE sushi place after enjoying Sushi Bear. It's worth paying a little more for high quality a la carte items. Everything is awesome about this place in a really unassuming strip mall. I'm still trying to figure out how they chose the interesting names of their rolls. Visit and you'll find out what I'm talking about. ;) read more

Sushi bear seems to be a popular tustin spot for sushi. I've been here twice and the lady at the front of the house/host is really nice. They have quite a big menu of sushi rolls, and there's a general cozy vibe to the place. It isn't a michelin level or classy sushi joint, but it's a great place for a casual dinner if you're looking for a place with solid rolls and large portion sizes. read more

Sushi is a very competitive business in this area, and Sushi Bear is in it to win it! This is the first time ordering here (their dining room is still closed as of 6/11/21). The rolls and sushi were fresh and generously sized. The ingredients used were high quality, no "imitation" garbage fish or fillers. We also liked their Shishito peppers and their take on Jalepeno Poppers. Don't let the shopping center's condition scare you away, it's a divey strip center, with limited parking.... But worth it. read more

The place has really interesting names for sushi. When you order them it definitely will put a smile on your face, but it's a great way never to forgot what you ordered :) The place is cute with teddi bears in the front entrance and it has a chill vibe. We ordered the Natural Viagra and Final Fantasy...both rolls were SOOoo good and tasty!! read more

This place is so cute inside (the plaza area where it's located doesn't look so nice) and the rolls look and are amazing! I came in with my friend and she got the dragon crunch roll. For myself I got the Aloha roll and it was really good (a little spicy, because it has jalapeños). And for appetizers we got gyoza and popcorn shrimp. They have a very larger menu so you have so many options to chose from and our sever and everyone else was really nice and attentive :) read more

Sushi Bear - Aloha Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

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I have been here several times, the quantity of fish you get is huge but the quality is awful. If you like nigiri or sashimi I would not recommend this place. The quality of fish is at par or worse than an AYCE place. Service had always been nice here, but the food is just not good read more

This place is great. Been here a few times and its great everytime. Doesn't matter what you order, it's gonna be great!

The place is big and comfy for big groups. The couches were awfully high and the table is pretty low. The service is friendly. The menu is too big and messy. The menu is big because they name the dish with green onion or without green onion totally different and so on. -++ Wagyu beef tataki were way too small. The meat was 1' x 4' . It's tasty and fresh, but it was tiny. --+ Cajun Albacore tataki: There is nothing special on this dish. The fish meat was dry and tiny, together with the fried onion, it was just barely edible. --- Rock popcorn shrimp: The shrimp wasn't too bad, however the entire dish is covered under a thick layer of Spicy Mayonnaise. I don't understand the lemon slice as well, its it there as decoration or for me to squeeze? If it's there for me to squeeze, just save the energy and cut the lemon into half. It's easy to squeeze it, than lemon slices. ---Night in Italy: I wasn't thinking or the menu is just too big and messy to choose from. I would probably just choose the name that sounds nice. It tasted as nasty as it looks. Disgusting! ---Free house sake is very spicy So No and probably never. read more

Sushi Bear - SB - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

- Final Fantasy Roll: 3.5 stars. Decent flavor, not spectacular, but roll was HUGE -- too big to eat single cuts in one bite. - Natural Viagra Roll: 3.5 stars Literally same comment as above! Way to big to fit in mouth in a single bite. Made eating it really awkward. Didn't necessarily get the taste of every ingredient for this reason! - Baked Scallop Roll (I think it was called the OMG roll?): 5 stars Insanely good. - Wagyu beef tataki: 5 stars Served on a Himalayan salt block which made it a little (yup you guessed it) salty! However, it was absolutely delicious and good value for Wagyu. ** Staff was AWESOME. Super nice, patient, attentive etc. Great customer service. ** Drinks were also pretty good. The girls each had a Saketini and loved them ** Parking was a bit of a pain in the ass -- small strip mall parking. Several cars waiting for limited spots. read more

This a a classic case of " you can't judge a book by its cover". The restaurant is located in a shopping center that can struggle with parking and it can easily be missed or overlooked. But don't make that mistake. I met a friend here for lunch today and had a great lunch. As you enter, there is a sushi counter with plenty of seating on the right, a row of tables in the center and booths line the opposite wall. The sushi menu is huge, with plenty of choices as well as other options including tempera, udon, bowls and more. We each ordered the two item bento box lunch special, plenty to eat with leftovers to take home. Everything was good but I REALLY liked the shumai. What a bargain for only $11.95. I will return. read more

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My favorite sushi place in Orange County. Staff is nice, best sushi. Parking can be a bit difficult but it's worth it. read more

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The outside looks really... not aesthetically pleasing. So I was starting to doubt the 4 1/2 star review, but as soon as you walk in, the atmosphere changes. The interior looks really nice, and the lights compliment the wooden furniture! the music is good, and the servers are attentive but not overbearing. We ordered two sushi and sashimi lunch combos along with one sashimi lunch plate and three iced green teas. The iced green tea is refreshing and has a nice matcha flavor. The sushi and sashimi were also really good! They really exceeded my expectations. I eat a lot, and the portions for the sushi and sashimi combo were perfect for me. You get salad and miso soup which was light and refreshing. I really liked the salad dressing. The sushi was so yummy, and the sashimi, especially the salmon and yellowtail, melted in my mouth. You also get a maki roll on the side with the sushi and sashimi combo, so I enjoyed a salmon roll on the side. It's obviously not a fancy $$$ restaurant, but I would definitely come back here when I crave sushi around this area. read more

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#itslit - light up dinner? Sushi Bear offers a small hot sake with check in, and there are so many rolls to pick from (and they remind you to not be shy to pick - since their menu encourages you to try them all through multiple visits!) This place isn't the cheapest, but not the most expensive. Between me and my boyfriend, we ordered three entrees and a dessert and the bill came to about $25 after tax. To my surprise, not all of the rolls are aesthetically pleasing? Which is why I was super disappointed in the OMG roll, it looked like a mashed potato threw up mushrooms. [ Light Up Sashimi ] - $9.95 Taste was on point, if you can get past the fact that the sauce, which tastes like watery thousand island dressing. The focal point was the light-up shredded potatoes - you'll have to find out what they do for yourself! ;) Super innovative and unique! [ OMG Roll ] - $12.95 So smothered in their gravy sauce, almost too drenched. It tasted like creamy mushroom and was good I guess.. But it was just SO ugly to look at. Pass! [ Sunrise ] - $10.95 Salmon soaks up the lemon, do NOT eat it with the lemon if you're sensitive to sour things like me! The rind is edible but I totally thought it was meant to be eaten with the lemon... Probs not ;_; [ Green Tea Creme Brûlée ] - $6.50 YUM! So worth if you have room! Thick layer of sugar and very thin custard at the bottom. The green tea ice cream with matcha powder hit the spot :) The service was quick and the staff were all so friendly. Loved my first visit here! read more

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What can I say about Sushi Bear? Well, for starters, it has excellent customer service. If you live in Orange County and love sushi I highly recommend visiting Sushi Bear. read more

Sushi Bear - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

Loved it! Planning to make it my "go to" for sushi in the OC. My husband and I are not purest and really appreciate the abundance of creativity we found on their menu. The ambience of the restaurant is relaxing and chill, reminiscent of cute trendy tea houses that usually sells boba. All the waitstaff there greet you with smiles and are very attentive. Thuyvy waited on us and was very accommodating and helped us with are food picks when we asked for recs. We got the -Omega 3 - the salmon was fresh and soft -Snow Corn Baked Roll - interesting flavors and huge -tako yaki - yummy! We also enjoyed the free hot saki check in! You wont get a whole lot, but it is a nice surprise :). I am excited to try a sakitini next time! Btw, they do also have more traditional rolls and sashimi and what not that we have yet to try, but have high hopes for :). 'Til next time. Adios! read more

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I was craving sushi and wanted to try Sushi Bear since I had it bookmarked for a while. We were greeted right away and looked at their large menu. It was a bit overwhelming so we told our waitress what we were looking for and asked her what she recommended. She recommended the Dragon Ball Z and Kiss of Fire. We also ordered the spider roll, ika yaki (grilled squid), plain udon, mackerel sushi and escolar sushi. Usually we order more, but we both weren't too hungry and wanted to start off with these items...I'm so glad we didn't order more. The sushi rolls are HUGE. This is the first time we could not finish our food! We actually had to take 4 pieces of the roll home along with most of the squid home. The overall price was around $75 which seems a bit pricey but the size of those rolls are worth the price. I noticed that for the grilled squid it was$ 7.50 but the price was marked with sharpie. When we got the bill it was $12 and I didn't think it was worth $12. Next time I'll probably opt out of getting that and try the yellowtail collar. Overall great food, great service, and good prices. read more

Sushi bear is awesome!! This place is in a older shopping center but it is so cute inside! This is our go to place on Friday nights. We love the sunrise roll, firecracker albacore and garlic edamame! They play tropical house music and it has a fun vibe inside. There is usually a wait but we get seated very quickly. The main con is the parking area so we take a Lyft. read more

Sushi Bear - Fire Cracker Albacore - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

Um hello. Best sushi near Irvine FASHO! Crazy burritto... DROOLING! read more

LOVE this sushi place. Very good and high quality food. I'm obsessed with the shumai, wagyu beef tataki, aloha roll and candy cane roll. The sashimi is amazing too. I don't know where they source their fish from, but it is so fresh. The staff is very courteous as well, and they've been doing great with the limited number of people working there. I will miss this place when I move. Glad they've stayed open throughout the pandemic. read more

They didn't allow us to bring our service dog in. The employees (2 women) not even the boss came to speak to us. Then, the staff employees proceeded us to question in detail what the service dog is trained to do bypass the medical privacy of my partner. I hope they look into CA Law & make sure they don't make any customer uncomfortable and triggered from their medical condition. read more

THIS IS THE BEST SUSHI SPOT IN TOWN. The chef's here, Bruce Lee, Eddie, and Alex, are amazing, serve only the freshest, and make you feel right at home! I've been here multiple times and the quality/presentation is ALWAYS there. Check in on Yelp and you get a free sake! Can't go wrong with that! Don't forget to ask for Bruce Lee's Big Bear Mountain (secret menu item) and thank me later I love Sushi Bear! read more

Sushi Bear - Rainbow Roll by Chef Eddie - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

Very happily surprised by this place. Saw the reviews and that is really what drew is in but for some reason I had the feeling it was going to disappoint. I'm sure glad that I was wrong! Everything was prepared well with the right flavors. The sushi (salmon, eel, and yellowtail) were fresh and had just the right amount of sauce/wasabi on them. My only complaint was a little too much rice to fish ratio but not too bad. The bam bam roll was light and refreshing with a sourness from the lemon and spiciness the jalapeño. We each got a hand roll, salmon skin and spicy tuna. These both were good but not amazing. The whole grilled squid appetizer was cooked to perfection. To top it off, service was good and prices were reasonable. The yelp checkin for a free small hot sake was also a plus. Quite happy with this place and want to try more items. read more

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Came here for my first time on a Sunday night around 7 pm and waited about 20 minutes for a table of four. I was a bit skeptical when I arrived at this restaurant because it is located in a plaza that looks pretty run down. However, to my surprise, the interior of the restaurant was very clean, spacious, modern, and simple! The rolls here are a little pricier but they are really good! They range from about $10-$15 (most rolls being in between that price range). The "I Did Your Girlfriend" roll was absolutely delicious! It is a tempura roll with soft shell crab on the top. It comes with some type of ginger sauce on the side. If you're not a fan of ginger like me, I wouldn't recommend dipping it in that sauce. The "Natural Viagra" was also delicious. Being an eel and tempura lover, it was the perfect roll for me! If you enjoy raw fish and want something aesthetically pleasing, order the "Screaming Orgasm" appetizer. It lights up! :D The only downside to our first time experience here was that we had to wait 45 minutes for our food to come out. We were starving! We would have been really upset but the service here was great. They were really nice and accommodating and brought us out a plate of edamame and sake on the house. They kept apologizing and checking back on us instead of ignoring us. They even offered us free dessert at the end of our meal. Thank you Sushi Bear! We appreciate it. Hopefully if we come again they will have figured out their kitchen situation and the wait won't be as long. read more

Sushi Bear - I did your GF roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

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I don't rly like trashing places on Yelp. However, I ordered sushi Bear on postmates ln. I got Spivey tune, salmon and viagra roll. Neither me or my boyfriend thought any of it tastes fresh or good. I just want to let you guys know so you can do better. I was excited based off of the reviews, but just didn't taste fresh. read more

Came to sushi bear unexpectedly, we just happen to be in the plaza already. Right when you walk in theres a bunch of stuffed animals waiting for you lol In the beginning the service was pretty slow, they sat us fast and it wasnt too crowded for a saturday night but once we were sat we were forgotten lol. Took a good 10 min before anyone offered us to grab drinks. Once we did though the food was good, my favorite was the dragon crunch. read more

It wasn't the most amazing sushi I've ever had but it was still tasty and the staff was nice at pick up

We come here a lot for lunch. I believe this is a Korean owned Japanese restaurant. The portions are huge and sushi is fresh. I also like their bento box selection. But make sure you give yourself time when you come here. During the lunch time the parking lot in this complex gets really full, so you might have to park out on the street. They loose one star because their service can be really slow. They will have open tables, yet they take their time to seat people. Servers can be forgetful too and work with no urgency. If they improve in service alone than they get 5 stars. read more

Sushi Bear - Maui roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

Decent sushi place but for the price there are much better options not far away from this place. I tried the albacore sushi and was disappointed. It wasn't really fresh and they put way too much sauce and onions FGS it's sushi, not a roll! I also tried the spicy tuna. It was way too spicy, I couldn't even taste the sushi. The venue itself is on the dirtier side with flies, old sticky menus and uncomfortable seats. read more

Amazing place definitely going back soon! The service was great and they are open late during the week and we're not rushing us out the door when it got close to closing. The sushi was on point, we had the Norwegian Salmon and it was amazing and the tuna poki appetizer so great. read more

Sushi Bear - Tuna Poki Appetizer - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

Yes, it has nice ambience, great customer service, great decoration, and great music, BUT I'm here for the food. The rest is just a plus (to me). Came with my mom, both of us have HUGE sushi experience and expectations. We ordered the ama ebi (sweet raw shrimp), uni from Santa Barbara and one from Japan (forgot which part), fresh scallops, the different types of tuna, and salmon. We really enjoyed the Santa Barbara uni, not much for the one from Japan. Scallop was great, tuna, ama ebi, and salmon were so-so. We really enjoyed the service, got a super nice guy who was very friendly and wasn't afraid to suggest items. We just wish that for the price we were paying we could've gotten more. But overall an okay place, good for hangouts and a good time. read more

I normally don't really do this but wow this place was not what I expected unfortunately I won't be coming back due to the atmosphere, and service. read more

This is a place with quality sushi for a good price, but service needs to be improved. It's usually hard to get a hold of a waiter when we need them and communication seems to be confusing at times when we request things and no one brings it out because each worker thinks someone else already did During my last visit, I came in while there were still tables and no one waiting. I told the woman at the front that I had a party of 6, and she asked me to put my name on the list. I wrote my name (6) and sat down. She didn't say a word after that as I sat there. Then, a family of 4 walked in, put their name down, and got seated immediately. Only part of my group was present, so I understand not being seated right away, but she didn't even ask me if my group was present or tell me to wait as they set up a table. No communication. We ended up telling her we'll be back in 15 minutes, but we'll leave our name there. When we came back, we had our full group and there were still tables open, but we had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated. Once seated, we got menus and the waitress took our drink orders. She didn't seem to be paying attention since we had to repeat our orders before she actually wrote it down. Once we ordered, there were many errors made. My friend bit into the fried portobello mushroom, it broke apart, and fell on the plate. It was only then that he saw a piece of hair hanging out of the mushroom, which was inside the fried part. Had it not broken apart and fell, he would've eaten it without knowing. They offered a replacement plate, but still charged us for the original. Then, our 9-piece sashimi special came out as an 18-piece plate. We told them we ordered the 9-piece, so it was returned to the sushi bar. After that, 5 different workers/manager came by to check if we really did order the 9-piece (throughout our meal, we were served by different people, possibly causing communication problems). The last person that came to confirm our 9-piece order was the waitress. I had specifically pointed to the 9-piece order on the menu and stated 9 pieces, but maybe she saw the price, which was $18, so she accidentally wrote down 18-piece. But really, I said I ordered a 9-piece, do you really have to send that many people to confirm that I want 9 pieces, not 18? Then, my friend and I ordered the Japanese snapper & live halibut sushi, which never came out. When we asked about it, they said they had sent it out before already. We went back and forth with the manager trying to explain and understand what happened because we never got those 2 items, but the bar said they made the sushi already. Finally, we understood that our sushi supposedly came out on a plate that had all the sushi on it. My friend ordered about 7 different types of sushi for himself, and the manager said our 2 items were also on that plate. My friend said he did not eat the 2 fish that we ordered. Who knows, but that argument left a sour taste in my mouth. They were not clear in their explanation and the manager ended up walking away. We still paid for it. Understand that they tend to serve family style, condensing different items/orders onto one plate. That's understandable, but they don't explain that in the beginning or name the orders as they are coming out. They just set it down on the table and have us figure it out. Being asked multiple times about an order I placed that was brought out wrong and going back and forth about an order we did not receive made me feel like they didn't trust us. When I paid for the check, the woman (from the front who seated us) came to get it, but she was about to not take it, thinking we were not done paying for it. I was able to stop her to come back and take it. Otherwise, we'd be sitting there a while longer trying to get service and pay for the check. Overall, the food is good, but they need to step up in the service department. read more

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New favorite sushi place. Tons of options! High quality ingredients and beautiful presentation. The service was great. Hidden gem in Tustin read more

Sushi Bear - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

Delicious food, good service but the place is filthy & that was a humongous turn off! Tons of crap taped to the walls all crooked & splattered with sauces. Just hard to not see as it was at every table. And the dirty stuffed bears at the entrance. The place needs a deep cleaning & a makeover. read more

I have been ordering from many different restaurants to help out local businesses during this hard time. I ordered sushi&sashimi combo and sushi combo for dinner last night here. Tuna was completely flavorless and I was very disappointed by the content of the combo. Sushi are basically the cheapest ones on the menu and I didn't expect this quality when ordering $30 combo. I understand that business owners are going through a hard time but customers will know if your quality goes down for sure and will never return. Other AYCE sushi restaurant had a better quality sushi. read more

Sushi Bear - Sushi$sashimi combo - Sushi Bars Near Me - Tustin, California

A hidden gem! All the food was awesomeness planning to go back. If you are wondering about the bear? They just have a bunch of teddy bears by the entrance. The rest is pure surprise. read more

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