When a friend mentioned us going to an "All-You-Can-Eat" Sushi restaurant, I was excited, and nervous all at the same time! I mean who doesn't love sushi and wants to eat it ALL?!?! But then I'm like "dude, can I even eat that much?" "is it fresh?" "is this really a good idea"?!?! Well I will help you out with all those questions by saying: 1) They make it fresh as you order, so no this is not a sushi buffet 2) And YES it's a good idea! So it's a very small space, so if you're going to go, you probably want to get there earlier than you actually want to eat. Luckily, I just saw on Yelp, that they have a live waitlist so you can gauge the time frame for your wait. So it is a bit pricey for the All you can eat deal, $40 for dinner and I think $32 or so for lunch. Definitely would come for lunch if possible just to save. However, it's great if you get even just 2-3 rolls, you'll get your money's worth. Most of the sushi comes in pieces of 8 so keep that in mind. I literally had to starve myself for the day to prep for this....haha! It worked though, I like that they offer literally everything on the menu as part of the deal, so you can get an appetizer, sushi, and dessert even as part of the deal. So I did just that. Started with a seaweed salad Rolls: Baked Roll: Mountain (wasn't really a fan, it was okay, but not my fav) Sushi Rolls: Ex Girlfriend and Final Desination Roll (both were delicious, definitely would get them again)! Dessert: The Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream I definitely enjoyed my rolls, and did leave just a few on the table, they do charge you regardless of whether or not you finish your rolls, so come with your appetite ready. Luckily for me, I had a bunch of hungry men in the group, who took advantage of my smaller appetite and finished them for me. LoL! I also got to try a few of the other rolls that they ordered, but couldn't remember them all. The only things ordered between our group that we had complaints on and weren't fans of were: 1) Die Hard Roll (it was literally just doused in Sriracha sauce, so it was spicy sure, but had NO taste outside of the sauce) and 2) The Avocado salad...was good, but had alot of avocado on it. Now normally wouldn't be a complaint, but it will fill you up quickly if you're trying to do the all you cant eat, so just keep that in mind. Heard it was a good salad though, just couldn't finish it if you wanted to eat other things. I don't know if all you can eat is the ONLY option, or if you can order a-la-carte as well. Honestly though, for the price of sushi, I think going with the all you can eat is your best option. I'll definitely be back, when I'm really craving sushi and have dieted for the day to be able to eat it all ! read more

This place is very great! I didn't think it would be as good as it was. Waiters are also very accommodating. read more

Sushi Junai - Salmon avocado roll and Ex Girlfriend Special Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

I am not sure what is good AYCE sushi in Austin, and this is coming from the Dallas area, i had high hopes seeing the amount of 5 stars that this sushi place had, however, the sushi here was not impressive. THE NIGIRI: There is too much rice and too thin fish on the nigiri. It's currently priced at $37 for AYCE so you might have expected some pieces that actually were big enough. THE GINGER AND WASABI: The ginger had dark edges around it, i believe it is old. The sweet shrimp had a slimy texture which unfortunately is not what raw shrimp should be like. You can't taste the wasabi at all. It seems no matter how much wasabi i put on my nigiri i cant seem to taste anything. THE KARAAGE: We ordered the karaage, first of all they give out so many pieces it's as if they are trying to stuff you with cheap chicken so that you cant order more of the other stuff, secondly the chicken has a promising crunch at first only to be followed with a seasonless batter, dry meat, and it feels like its been microwaved due to its sort of flattening like texture. THE EYEBROW RAISER: The blackboard on the wall was written in what is known as "wonton font" which has been controversial through the years. I wont bring piunts down as i am giving the benefit of the doubt, but this comment is meant to be constructive criticism so that you may avoid any unnecessary controversy moving forward. THE SERVICE: Although there were many negatives about the food, the service was good except the fact that they seated a 6 person party right next to us in an empty restaurant. Overall this place needs work, I can't see myself walking in here ever again but I hope my review will help this business improve. read more

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Maki rolls were a joke. Completely overloaded on rice. Messy and brittle. Spider roll was really tough and massive. Crab mix filler was not good. Cucumber was just one thin strip of the skin. They put the part that gets peeled off and dumped into the bin into the roll. California roll was crab mix and didn't have any avocado in it. Rainbow roll was ok. Tekka maki was weird - very flat, wide discs with way too much rice. Looked like they were twice the diameter you'd expect and double wrapped around. Way too much rice. Udon noodles were overcooked and mushy. Broth was okay. Fish quality seemed fairly low-grade but not spoiling or going bad. Sushi piece cuts/sizes were not uniform. Very awkward to eat. Just don't bother with this place. read more

I ordered a spicy Ramen, I swear they used the Korean Shim Ramen package you can find in any market. No taste of salt because they added it too much water and made it into a big bowl. The noodle is still hard, because it is freaking dry instant noodle.... It is cheap, but I didn't walk in here for the price. Where is the chef's conscious when he is literally serving a pack of Shim Ramen.... And charge like 10 bucks. read more

Sushi Junai - Literally Shim Ramen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

We enjoyed our time at Sushi Junai and will return. I'd consider them a middle of the road sushi establishment with a price commensurate with quality. With how wacky the economy is nowadays, places like this provide high value for your money and for that, we will be back. The restaurant is UT campus adjacent and parking tooking a bit of time so keep in mind if you are on a schedule. We ordered their chicken karaage (tasty but the meat was a little tough), pork tonkatsu, tuna poke, tuna roll, salmon roll, and the Junai special. Nothing was blow your mind amazing however it was all very delicious and fresh and worth every penny. The service was friendly and prompt and they timed the dishes well. It did seem like a millenial and campus aged crowd and that added to the fun diversity of me being a curmudgeonly Gen Xer there. They do have an all you can eat option (with what seems like a ton of rules) and I think I'll try that out next time. Recommend! read more

I've tried this place twice and had mixed feelings. I would highly recommend going here for the sushi only -- the ex girlfriend roll is incredible and I should have gotten it the second time around. When the place is busy, good luck getting drink refills. I highly recommend their beef bulgogi if you're not a sushi person. The chicken katsu was crispy but flavorless and dry. read more

Sushi Junai - Chicken Katsu bento box - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

While this place is still super good, I've consistently run into a few issues that I think need to be included in my review. The rice is often a bit warm with a weird sweet aftertaste. Also, while the AYCE deal is amazing no matter which way you look at it, I often find that I'm not given everything I order when it comes to nigiri. Every single time I've been, some nigiri never arrives and I'm either told "oh it's coming" and then it never does, or I'm eventually told they're out. Also, the servers don't often know what kind of nigiri they're putting in front of you, and they don't really seem to care, so it can get confusing when you're attempting to try new items or make sure you're getting everything you ordered. No harm no foul financially since it's all the same price, but it's a frustrating. Also, it can be tough to flag down your server when trying to order more sushi. They seldom come by to check on you. That being said, these issues haven't deterred me from coming here again and again. If you are hungry and can eat a LOT of sushi, it's worth the trip. Their rolls are top notch and it's a great opportunity to try different fish if you're not sure what kinds you like. It's a fun and tasty experience! read more

The single most confounding experience I've had at a restaurant. Came in to eat with a friend who lived in Austin previously, and spoke highly of this establishment. Ordered the Nabeyaki Udon. Most places serve it with a slice or two of tempura. It even says distinctly on the menu it includes tempura. They bring it out, and I dig around asking where the tempura is. The waiter shrugs then says "that's just the way they made it." I object, show him their own menu, and the waiter says "well, that's just the way they made it." We push back a bit and say "well, you need to make this right somehow, it's distinctly on the menu." He says "ok, I'll see" I honestly thought they'd just bring me the tempura on the side, so I continued to eat. He never came back until he brought the bill, at which point I asked about the tempura. "They said that's just the way they made it." "Look, I ordered something on the menu that distinctly lists something I wanted, and it wasn't provided. Can you understand why that would be frustrating? Can we speak to the manager?" "The manager isn't available." Not wanting to bicker with the waiter, who was working hard to give off an edgy "I don't give a f" vibe, I relented. Multiple pieces of tuna they served were still frozen, near solid. Food was marginal, and the service was breathtakingly bad. The scary part is - a waiter that responds that way to an issue that is clearly an error by the restaurant is just projecting the energy of the business and ownership. read more

Sushi Junai - Menu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Lovely small place downtown. Was a delight. Highly recommend! Very good food and the servers were very prompt and friendly. Will go again next time in Austin! read more

We have been a handful of times. It was always awesome. This past visit was lack luster. The food- usually great, but it was sloppy. The rolls were assembled half-assed and the presentation was poor. Atmosphere- everything was dirty, which was funny because all of the staff were sitting at a table or laying on a booth playing on their phones. The walls had funk on them, the floor was so dirty it was sticky. You could visibly see the layers of film. The service- was alright, the server really didn't seem to be interested in being there or being helpful. It felt like he was rushing us even though we had not even come close to reaching the time limit on AYCE. I'm not sure what the issue is. I'd go back, but I'd be hoping the clean up their act. Literally. read more

This isn't my first time here and it won't be my last. Even though getting the sushi rolls out to customers is a little slow, IT'S WELL WORTH THE WAIT! My favorite part is they have an all you can eat option. I know, I know. When I think all you can eat and sushi, my first thought is, "How good is it?" Let me tell you, it's good! This place also has one of the biggest choices of rolls I've seen at a sushi restaurant. Below, I've included a few pics of some of their read more

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Great bang for your buck and the rolls are delicious and fun to choose from. Absolute favorite rolls are the Starbuck and Final Destination.

The only other times I've had AYCE sushi was in Sacramento and somewhere near Tahoe. Sushi Junai unfortunately doesn't beat the quality and selections that I had there, but it is a formidable establishment in Atx for affordable AYCE sushi. We came with a large group for lunch, which we were told was the best deal from reviews and word of mouth. I mainly focused on ordering from the starter/appetizers and specialty rolls. The noodles and rice looked good, but when you're doing AYCE, you have to get the best bang for your buck. My favorite items were the salmon collar (SO tender, and a "must"), calamari, starter raw sashimi plates, and the specialty roll that had no rice (haha, gotta get all the raw fish). If you do AYCE for lunch, everything is fair game except for nigiri. Darn! I also loved the green tea mochi ice cream at the end. I got it without whipped cream, so it's great that they still make modifications to orders. Where do y'all get the mochi from...Bubbies? Some improvements could have included LESS rice in the hand rolls--or better presentation so that it's not just literally a slab of rice wrapped up in nori and topped with the fish and a few cucumber slices. I remember some of the best hand rolls I've had had some extra love to it with sesame flakes or furikake. Mm! Also, there were some flies inside the restaurant when we ate, which was annoying because we kept on having to fan our goods every so often. A lot of the specialty rolls were also overdressed with sauces, which ruins the best part about sushi--the sashimi. Maybe go easy on the sauces, sushi chefs! But as the diner, I should have requested that beforehand. The service was wonderful, and our server was a young gal who was so quick and efficient. She was very patient with us as we ordered round after round. The refill the waters without you asking, and have a TV as well. Kid-friendly and group-friendly. Parking can be kind of rough, but we paid for street parking during the day. I'm not sure how people park and wait during rush hour and peak dinner times. I wouldn't necessarily say that the specialty rolls were the freshest or best wrapped/presented (the rice to fish ratio isn't always consistent), but for AYCE sushi under $30 it'll do! read more

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Service A+ Food C Ambiance D All you can eat specials for lunch, and dinner are worth of value. However, the amount of sushi for what you get and sashimi à la carte is not worth the value. They obviously go through a ton of rice so much that the rolls, rice is never cold enough. Sushi that I received today had warm rice. Yuck. If you want to tie on your feed bag, this is the place to go and it's certainly worth the value and you'll get a decent meal. This is my fourth visit. The rolls are very large and overloaded. You will get full really quick. Lots of crab mix options. read more

This is a great little restaurant! Service is good and the food is a 10/10. If you like spicy like me I highly recommend the Diablo and the ex-girlfriend roll. read more

Typically I would have given this place five stars. I love their sushi selection and especially their all you can eat prices. We waited an hour to be seated which is understandable because they were busy. Upon being seated they squeezed a chair next to us for a large party next to us, giving us absolutely no space to move. The back of the chair they placed was literally touching my husbands knees. We asked if the chair could be placed on the other end of the table or if we could be relocated and Andrew refused despite there being open tables to move us to. We have been coming here for years but were incredibly disappointed at how this situation was handled. We opted to leave after driving 45 minutes to eat and paying for parking. Incredibly disappointing experience. read more

Sheeeesh I've tried this place twice. Wanted to like it but i just can't. The sushi doesn't seem fresh. There's lots of filler in the rolls. They only let us order four rolls at a time. The service was also not good. I had to flag the host down several times to even order, and then i could tell she just started to ignore me. Both times it wasn't great food, wasn't great service. And the tables are sooo sticky bc they use bleach on them. There's other all you can eat places that are much better. read more

This hole in the wall has an amazing menu! The service was fast and accurate and the prices were really reasonable! Unlike most restaurants, their sushi rolls are not overloaded with rice. The shrimp tempura was delicate and the gyoza (which I make as I've lived in China) was better than mine! This is my new go-to place whenever I'm in Austin! read more

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Trash, left with a stomach ache. This is LOW quality fish made by people who have no business making sushi. Would NEVER return read more

My wife and I walked in here. The sign said open. The hours read open. The door was unlocked. We walked in and every single employee was either leaning, sitting or laying down. Not one even stood up and as this caused what I believe to be understandable confusion. We asked "are you guys open?" To which we were met with confused looks and not a single verbal response. Only one of the employees even bothered to look up from their phone. We left. I'm only leaving this review in hopes the owner sees this and saves themselves the heart break of losing their business to awful employees. read more

If you are not picky about sushi. This place might not even be as good as the sushi bars at airports. Non-Japanese chef, rap music, nothing worth mentioning. read more

Excellent value, the sushi was so fresh and tasty. very cool vibe. Would definitely recommend.

One of my favorite places for sushi, the all you can eat option is great for its value. The service is quick, but the food doesn't lack quality for it. Wide variety of options and every time we've tried something new it has been great. The restaurant is small, but doesn't feel cramped. Overall great option! read more

I would give zero stars if I could.. truly we should have stopped the meal once the dead spoiled salads and bland miso soup came out to start our all you can eat sushi deal.. the fish was chewy and slimy.. the food simply was old and covered in any nasty flavor to hide the horrible taste of their sushi and other menu items,, my gf left throwing up and I left hungry.. needless to say trust me!! - do not go there. I can leave a novel for how disgusting the food at this place was... Anybody who says their sushi is good clearly has never tried sushi anywhere else not even at a China buffet. Absolutely waste of money but at least My girlfriend and I were able to laugh later in the night for how disgusting and terrible it was read more

Sushi Junai is located in downtown Austin, down the street from Hampton Inn. On Christmas day when both my husband and I arrived in Austin, we didn't have too many options for dinner. Sushi Junai was one of the few places open and also was convenient that it was down the street from where we were staying. So we ended up walking to this restaurant for dinner (please note that street parking is available but believe it is not free and not sure if there is a parking lot in the back or not). We arrived a little before 7:30 pm and were seated. It took some time for the server (female) to bring us menus. Being that the all you can eat option seemed to be the only option (although you can order items from the all you can eat menu individually and be charged for that item instead), we ended up doing that. Please note that the price for dinner is $29.95, prior to tax, per person. This came out to $64.84 after tax for 2 people. With several different things that we ordered, I will not discuss my opinion on everything. But some things to mention: Salmon Collar- Was good but did take quite some time to be brought out after ordering (since they make when you order it). Probably one of favorite items we consumed that night. Sushi rolls- In general, poorly executed, I am going to echo what another Yelp member wrote that for some cut rolls, the ones with sauce are sitting in some kind of sauce. This unfortunately starts to make the rolls come apart when you try to pick up a cut roll with your chopstick. Usually other restaurants drizzle sauce on top of a roll and not have it sit in a sauce, most likely for this reason. The rice used to make sushi itself is still hard and should have been cooked longer. Nigiri- Just as I had mentioned regarding the rice, still was hard for all the nigiri we ordered. The pieces of fish on a ball of rice was very, very thin and had a large amount of rice for it. Some of the fish used didn't taste as fresh and felt like it had sat out since it was a little rubbery. Salmon Skin Salad- This was just absolutely horrible. The salmon skin was burnt and had this horrible bitter charred taste. Some of the iceberg lettuce used in the salad was red, indicating that it was old. Also some of the lettuce was also wilted, again indicating that it was old. I would not recommend this salad at all. Service- Really could have been better because the place wasn't packed when we arrived and all throughout our dinner service. The male sever was better at taking our orders down when he was around. The female sever just ignored us after the 1st order. She seemed rather absent minded at times and had to remind her to get us water and so forth. Overall, a pretty disappointing experience for the both of us. The food was average and the server left much to be desired. I wouldn't come back here again. read more

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All you can eat Sushi, extremely high quality, for $25 - enough said. Service is also extremely prompt. Location is downtown but not too close to 6th St so parking isn't a hassle (public parking is just 3 blocks away). read more

This is a hole in the wall, literally. I kept hearing about this spot from coworkers so gave it a shot with my husband. Sashimi sampler - liked everything except white fish garlic tuna was fabulous. JJ Roll - yummy Salmon lover - hubby liked fish but not the sauce - maybe ask for it on the side Candy cane - great Not so good - the Dynamite. Don't do it, it is basically a dish with a mixture of stuff but presented in a foil made bowl. I have had this elsewhere and it has rice to help with consistency. They definitely needed this. Our server was pretty good. My rating is because the sushi chef only had his mouth covered and not his nose. I wish I had seen before eating. I was distracted by that since observing. Don't go if looking for ambiance, they also get pretty busy as it gets later. We disnt get all you can eat but it was probably a better deal. read more

Sushi Junai - Salmon lover - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Food: We ordered three starters and three mains. The highlight for me was the Black Cod Misoyuan-Yaki plate - when the menu said it's baked to perfection it really is! The seasoning on it is excellent. The other highlight was the Agedashi tofu, which was perfectly fried with a light crisp exterior and a soft interior that just melted in our mouthes. The food was all expertly seasoned and tasted fresh. A lot of downtown Japanese food features ghastly over-seasoning and dousing in super-sweet / salty sauce - Junai was the opposite and just perfect! We loved all the dishes except the Gyoza, which we would've skipped next time since it was dry. Starters: Gyoza (5pc) (Pan fried Japanese style dumplings) 7 Agedashi Tofu (Silken firm tofu, is lightly dusted with potato starch and deep fried until golden brown) 8 Chicken Karaage (Japanese cooking technique in which chicken are deep fried in oil) 9 Mains: SASHIMI DINNER - Sashimi (10pc) + Classic Roll + Seaweed salad 32 Black Cod Misoyuan-Yaki Plate (Marinated in Saikyo Miso and baked to perfection, Black Cod with Miso & Soy and asparagus, mushroom, onion, carrot) 25 Seafood Yaki Udon (Assorted seafood and vegetable, stir fried udon noodle) 12 Service was excellent. We were graciously seated by the hostess and had our orders taken. The kitchen was flexible and offered to accommodate some our party, who wanted cooked fish instead of raw sashimi. Ambience felt like a Japanese oasis in the middle of downtown Austin. Junai is tucked above a bar but the entryway opens to a faux Sakura tree, which breaks down the booth segment of the restaurant from the omakase bar segment. Value: Our total (food, tax, and tip) came out to just under $120, which was mid-range to pricy ($40/person for starter and non-pricy main) but we felt it was worth it given we were exceedingly stuffed with delicious food paired with great service. Overall, I loved Junai and can't wait to return and taste their perfectly cooked Black Cod Misoyuan-Yaki plate again. read more

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Excellent food, and excellent service. Our family has stopped in on several occasions while visiting the University of Texas. Highly recommend this restaurant! read more

Best sushi by UT campus imo. Lunch special is great, you get a roll of your choice, nigiri, miso soup, and a drink. Super friendly staff and aesthetic atmosphere! Easily one of my favorite lunch spots after classes! read more

I love sushi, especially when it's unlimited! The sushi here isn't bad considering that it's AYCE. You do have to order whole rolls at the same time though, so make sure to bring lots of friends so you can try more things on the menu! I love their speciality rolls, especially the Crazy Crab. I would caution against ordering the Die Hard Roll unless you REALLY like spicy food as it is really spicy and they will charge you extra if you leave left overs! After a while, all of the sushi starts tasting the same IMO but I also love the other things you can order from their menu like calamari and ice cream mochi! Honestly there's no way you can leave here not having all your sushi/Japanese cravings satisfied. read more

Best sushi place in Austin. The spicy tuna poke never disappoints, and the all you can eat is legit.

Sushi Junai is convenient and popular amongst students for its unlimited sushi special. I have tried their unlimited sushi a few times, and I thought it was really fun and extremely filling. I recently went and ate a la carte (the blackjack roll) and it was slightly disappointing. The portion size was a bit small and the sushi wasn't particularly impressive compared to comparable sushi restaurants in Austin. read more

Amazing! Super fast service and everything I got was delicious. I ordered for pick up and it was easy and everyone was so nice. I opted for 2 baked rolls and they were perfect. The golden Cali was my favorite! read more

It is funny how shitty of an experience I had here. The worst sushi I had in my life. I went to Junai 2 multiple times and had no problem with them so I thought this place would be the same. Oh boy was I wrong All the nigiri looked like nike air max shoes. They put so much rice in each of them and the fish was so tiny and thin. The tuna wasn't in tact since they tried to cut it so thin. And the rice itself was terrible. They were all mushed together. I thought i was eating shitty mochi. I took off the rice because they had like at least three times the normal amount and they wanted me to pay extra if I didnt eat the rice. Noone expects to pay 40 bucks to eat crappy underseasoned sushi rice with a microscopic fish on top Would never go again read more

Sushi Junai - You thought I was kidding when I said small fish big rice? How can you even give this to a customer? - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Mistaken identity. We planned to grab sushi for a last-minute dinner date and thought we were headed to another sushi place with the same/similar name on Congress with great reviews--however, our GPS had other plans and somehow we ended up here. The staff was distracted and the sushi chef didn't seem to care about anything other than himself. What was completely unacceptable was at one point he was NOT wearing a mask! I actually had to ask the manager to tell him to put his mask on since he was making our food. He made two sushi orders wrong (two hand rolls came out as a roll & another roll was completely missing the main ingredient). Things only got worse when he had pizza (dominos) delivered at 6 PM (an hour after opening) during dinner service. How completely unprofessional. If you don't care about sanitation or health precautions during a pandemic then you shouldn't have a job! How careless! The waiter also refused to box up the leftovers THAT WE PAID FOR and said "you cannot take leftovers when doing the all you can eat" option. We were in shock -- WE DIDN'T order all you can eat and frankly had no idea there was even an all you can eat option. We ultimately left everything there including sushi that we didn't finish due to the overall negative experience. This place is in dire need of some help. We should have left before wasting $125 on dinner but we were starving an honestly the sushi wasn't terrible (why I gave two stars). However, customer service is the reason we will never return. read more

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Is this the best sushi I've ever had? No. Is this the best bang for my buck? Absolutely! All you can eat sushi didn't sound very appealing, but I'm glad someone talked me into it because I don't ever want sushi any other way. We ordered 7 rolls, one miso and 2 large hot sakes. Before tip, the total was $70!! They even threw in a large sake on the house, and sent us a salmon sashimi for free! Everything tasted fresh, service was quick and very pleasant. We sat at the sushi bar so we were able to watch everything being made right in front of us. I will definitely be returning and I'll make sure to recommend this place to my friends. read more

Sushi Junai - 5 of the 7 rolls. The red fantasy, White House, OMG roll, tiger roll and salmon lovers roll. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

My son and I are in town and stopped by here for a quick sushi lunch. It was excellent! Very fresh and the staff were very accommodating as we had to change our order. It's a quiet place, not fancy and also not expensive. We were glad we stopped by! read more

We were on the wait list at 8, was heading over hit traffic and was 15 mins away when our table got called. Was trying to contact the business to let them know and didn't answer. Called 25 times to only get an employee tell us that their kitchen closes at 9:20. read more

Sushi Junai - How many times we called and the time they finally answered. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas