I want to gate keep this place so bad but I'll be nice! I was looking for a new AYCE sushi spot and this is it! The sushi tastes fresh and flavorful. Fairly big menu and the AYCE has mostly everything on it. The decor in here is so fun. The servers are very nice and they don't smother you. You kinda have to call them over when you need something. Definitely need to mention Erin! She was so awesome and helpful! read more

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...great local spot for AYCE sushi, right in the heart of Poway. Very friendly service...the entire staff. I liked the high seat booths which provided a bit of privacy, even during busy hours. The nigiri, handrolls, and even the kitchen items came out quickly. Raw items were very fresh. Perfect for big eaters on a budget and families with small kids read more

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Cute little sushi bar, thay I realized was a place I use to come to before! I love the decor in the entire shop, with even the bathroom hallways lined with anime wall scrolls. Honestly some of the scrolls looks pretty cool too! Service was fantastic, I felt bad the servers were apologizing so much for how busy they were on a Friday night. I fully expect them to be busy with all the rave reviews they have been getting prior to me coming down here with friends. For $35/person for all you can eat is very reasonable considering other all you can eat place options in the surrounding area. All of the food was amazing, the variety was fantastic, service was still fast for how busy they were. Portion sizes were perfect, we were able to try so many different things. Everything our servers recommended were so yummy, I will definitely be returning in the near future. read more

$29 for all you can eat sushi....yes! First question is do you have time.....it is made to order with one server (a weekday) so make certain you have over an hour to make this worthwhile. This place is a must in the SD area. Ordered lots of rolls (baked hot sushi is a must), spicy rainbow, poke, dynamite, baked salmon, rainbow, spicy dragon, regular dragon cream cheese wontons; and calamari, spicy garlic edamame. The appetizers are included with the all you can eat deal. All were so good and fresh. Baked salmon and baked rolls are especially delish here (hard to find really good ones in SD area). Spicy garlic edamame is differently entertaining and a must order. Do not make me choose a favorite dish because it is impossible. Server is super hard working because she is the only one working all 10 tables. Parking is easy to find in a strip mall. Will visit you next time I am near. Thank you for a great experience. read more

Sushi Monster - 9/2025 - Sushi Bars Near Me - Poway, California

Located in the center of Poway, Sushi Monster is a great place to visit if you like sushi and are a fan of anime. The interior is tiny...so expect a bit of a wait depending on what time you go. When I went, I was told there would be a 30-minute wait, and I was fifth in line. It ended up being a 50-minute wait, sadly. There doesn't seem to be an assigned server to each table, so three different servers were helping me. I loved hearing all the anime songs and admiring their mural/decor while eating! They do have AYCE, which I'd be willing to try next time, but for this time, I just ordered some sushi plates. Some came out in a smaller portion than I thought, but most were tasty. One complaint is that the servers don't seem to clean very well, so our booth had rice spilled all over the floor. The other servers also didn't rush to clean up each table after guests left...so that may have contributed to the wait time. read more

What a fun sushi spot! Brought our daughter here who loves sushi and anime. The space is like eye candy...you don't know where to look. Even my son enjoyed the visit and he is no fan of sushi or anime. Once our order was placed we visually enjoyed the room surrounding us from swords to banners and wall art. Our food started to trickle out and were satisfied with our choices. I opted for the Jessica Alba which I enjoyed. Wish I can remember what my hubby selected since I enjoyed his roll just a tad bit more than mine. One of our orders were missing but they rectified it quickly by delivering it to us right away. We'll be back to try their all you can eat next time. read more

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You can never have too many AYCE sushi! The nigiri options here are limited compared to other bigger chains. Very happy that eel is not limited since it is my favorite. I was not a fan, however, of the torch taste that accompanied the eel nigiri. I understand the need for a visual char, but the aftertaste was very off putting. When doing AYCE, I actually recommend getting the rolls instead of nigiri. The rice portion is also monstrous when it comes to nigiri and fills you up very fast. Their dragon rolls are pretty good and rice portion is not as bad. They have the best garlic edamame of the sushi chains I have tried, we did not try other appetizers since they are carb fillers. I think it is worth a try if you are starving and craving sushi. Prices are reasonable in this economy and the quality is good for AYCE sushi. read more

Sushi Monster - All you can eat - Sushi Bars Near Me - Poway, California

Overly hyped in my opinion. Starting with the parking, it was really easy. Location is everything. This is a tiny hole in the wall spots. The anime murals in the walls and the interior design is a fun touch, but Im not paying be watching the walls. This spot is incredibly small with less than 20 tables including one long tables that can accommodate a group of about 10 people or a large family. Food was ok. Nothing special to speak on. It took a while for food to come out. Service was disappointing. There was 3 staffers including 1 busser. Took a little bit to place an order and that was reasonable considering that it was one server. It was impossible to ever get their attention again after that. When the food runner spilled and dropped our plates as they attempted to remove it, they also failed to clean off the food scraps off the table and off my clothes. Didnt offer paper towels or a new napkins... Food came out slower and is not worth coming back for. read more

Sushi Monster - Nigiri - Sushi Bars Near Me - Poway, California

We visited as a family to Sushi Monster and did the all you can eat option. The staff was so nice and friendly, and incredibly patient with my kids who needed a nap lol. The vibe was so cool and the food was sooooo delicious, there was not one roll that none of disliked, and we had quite a few rolls. Everything came out so quickly which was awesome because we were hingry. We will definitely be returning. read more

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I'm very pleased to report having an excellent experience here for lunch, especially considering what they charge. With sushi rolls pushing $20 $25 easily at competitors, you will find well made, well-crafted, and carefully put together rolls here and pretty good nigiri as well. I did the all you can eat for lunch since I have a large appetite and was looking to maximize value. The family was in the restaurant and apparently the father is the sushi chef. This is the type of local establishment that you hope for where they can make a living, offer. Their expertise, feed the locals, and as a customer, you don't feel like you are getting ripped off- quite the contrary! I have been to all of the good all you can eats in San Diego and most in Los Angeles and this compares quite favorably. Do be aware as many places do that are using medium grade fish that they do fairly highly sauce things. So hopefully you like ponzu because their house dressing appears to be ponzu and mustard and is on a lot of their rolls. They also saw some of the nigiri. They are not covering low quality fish or anything like that and it is a stylistic decision. I would recommend it anyone try this place considering it is 30 to 40% less than competitors and that it is high quality and they clearly make their food with pride. Well done. read more

Great ambiance with anime decor and waterfall feature on the wall for a relaxing, zen Japanese experience. We had a big group for AYCE and we decided to get two orders of the specialty rolls. They actually give you a full size roll for the AYCE, so 8 slices. We thought the slices will be less or smaller, but they're the same size to the one you order individually from the menu. They give you 3 rounds, but we were full after the first round and actually requested to stop the order of the first round. All the rolls were fresh and delicious. There was no fishy or slimy taste or smell. They also don't pad the rolls with too much rice. The spicy dragon, Jessica Alba and Pokie rolls were the favorites on our table. read more

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Sushi Monster 13307 Poway Rd, Poway, CA 92064 Took the family to a new AYCE, located here in Poway. Glad that it wasn't as busy at lunch time on a Sunday. Smaller place, but ample seating. Very friendly and attentative staff. The manager was very nice , and she answered all our questions , and even made suggestions. Really cool decor dedicated to Japanese anime, even along the way to the restroom, as well as inside. We decided to do the AYCE menu,and skip the premium sashimi. You can also order ala carte as well *Note: to control costs, they do charge for unfinished food on AYCE. We ordered what we normally eat when dining at AYCE sushi , just so we get a feel of how they cook certain dishes, and they didn't disappoint. Sushi rolls are pretty big, from when I saw them at other tables, so be ready to power them down if you're starting to feel full.( see last few photos for reference) Knowing this, we decided not to order any roll, except the "Jessica Alba" which had no rice, pretty much a protein roll. (sorry no pic provided cause we were hungry). AYCE Tip: if you do decided to order any of their regular or specialty rolls, I suggest you have a group larger than 4 so you you get a better chance at tasting more than 2 different kind of rolls. They serve you the full 8 piece roll when ordering! Really enjoyed the atmosphere, service and food! Hope you guys get a chance to come out and support a great new and local business! *sushi roll photos are not mine, but from Yelp, and are intended for reference only. . read more

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The food is delicious and is 1 of only 2 all you can eat sushi restaurants in North County SD.

I don't usually give restaurant reviews unless im very impressed. This newly renovated place has delicious sushi rolls and great service. Owner is very kind. Good ambiance with some cool anime wallpapers and swords! read more

Terrific food, great vibe, immaculate service! can't wait to come back and try more of the sushi. Great price too!

Looking for a better AYCE SUSHI SPOT? This is the place to go. Quality of fish is awesome. Fish to rice ratio is fantastic. Great service and place looks very clean with a Japanese ANIME theme. Check it out you won't be disappointed with bellies full #cheeehooo read more

Sushi Monster - Meet Joe the owner of Monster Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Poway, California

Went here late and was accommodated right away for a Sunday. Place was small but has a really cool and relaxing ambiance. Place was full of anime pic and different kinds of swords plus the relaxing waterfall in the corner. Food was excellent for an all you can eat. We just found another fav spot to eat. read more

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This place allows you to weeb it up. My husband and I had all you can eat sushi. We loved everything!! Eat here for the anime sushi experience! Delicious all you can eat, we had was the specialty sushi rolls like Poway and Hot Lips which were fantastic. The classic sushi rolls weren't anything special. The veggie tempura and nigiri sushi were very good. The staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. When ordering for the all you can eat sushi the waiter was helpful. She was professional and on point. The atmosphere was so fun and entertaining. Spoilers: It has a Japanese sushi restaurant vibe without the sushi bar. The restaurant displays an eclectic, anime samurai swords on one side and hand painted anime collage murals on the other. read more

My Favorite Sushi Spot of All Time I've eaten at a lot of sushi restaurants over the years, but this one has hands down become my favorite of all time. The quality is simply unmatched every piece is fresh, expertly crafted, and bursting with flavor. No matter how many times I come here, it never disappoints. The atmosphere is incredible, making me feel like I've stepped right into downtown Tokyo. The attention to detail in the decor, the energy of the space, and the overall vibe add to the experience in the best way possible. And the prices? Unbelievable for the quality you get. It's rare to find a place that delivers on food, service, atmosphere, and value all at once, but this one does it effortlessly. If you love sushi, this is the place to be. Highly recommend! read more

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Love this new addition to the sushi scene in Poway. It's not authentic Japanese food, but does enough to allow me to look the there way. Bento boxes are well balanced and yummy. Sushi rolls are fresh and generous. Tempura and fried squid texture is very nice. The tempura shrimp is actually not tempura but ebi furai (panko fried shrimp), but so yummy! Salads and sides are good. The seaweed salad is bright and refreshing. 4 things leaning towards a Chinese influence, and telling me it's not authentic Japanese: 1) Chicken karaage is battered and fried rather than tossed in rice flour or potato starch, so texture is off. 2) Yakisoba is not made with soba noodles, but still pretty yummy despite the wrong noodle. 3) Use of Chinese 5-spice can be detected in the soba and fried rice. 4) Tempura dipping sauce is completely wrong, but tempura is so good that I can overlook it. Overall, I highly recommend Sushi Monster despite the minor flaws. read more

i've only really liked one sushi place in all of san diego but after coming here, i've happily added a second place! food was amazing. service was friendly and pretty quick so we definitely appreciated that. the inside of the restaurant is very fun with anime themed and anime playing in the background. read more

Read good things about this restaurant so decided to give it a try. Staff were friendly. It's a cute restaurant, decorated nicely. We had a new waiter, he said it was his second day, yet he was very helpful. We started with the spicy garlic edamame. Really good, not too spicy or garlicky...just perfect. We ordered the samurai roll, spicy rainbow roll and another roll that we requested (tempura shrimp, cucumber,avocado with spicy tuna on the top. Then we decided that we wanted some fried rice. Our waiter recommended teriyaki shrimp fried rice. I asked him if he was referring to the shrimp fried rice. He said yes and we asked if it would come with teriyaki sauce. He said they could make it that way. Sushi was really good but there was one big hiccup. Our server must have ordered the shrimp teriyaki bowl. When it was served, the teriyaki shrimp was on a plate with a scoop of steamed white rice and then some broccoli and other veggies on the side. We HAD NOT ordered a teriyaki shrimp plate. We had specifically said we wanted fried rice. When the waiter came by to check to see if we were enjoying our food, I told him that we received the wrong thing. He had another woman come over to talk to us. She offered to make us teriyaki shrimp fried rice. We were happy about that. When she brought the food back to us, it looked like all they did was dump everything on our plate back in the pan and added some scrambled eggs. It came back mushy without much flavor...soy sauce, teriyaki sauce... nothing. VERY disappointing!! When I questioned her if they just dumped our food in the pan and mixed it up she said yes that is how their fried rice is made. We mentioned that we weren't happy with it to the owner. She didn't offer to remake it, substitute it for something else or take it off our bill. Not a good move, especially for a new restaurant. I would think that they would want their guests happy and to leave a good impression. They could see that we didn't eat it. Well, luckily the sushi is good, but the rice incident left a bad taste in our mouth. May or may not go back. Lots of competition out there that is willing to make sure their guests leave happy. read more

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Such a great value for AYCE Weekday Lunch! Service was fast and really great. Our server chatted us up a bit and made recommendations and kept us informed about serving size portions. They worked as a team to bring out food, fill waters. Really fast service. I really liked that you could order ngiri by the individual piece and that appetizers came in a portion of 2 pieces. You could also order Ramen, Gyoza, tempura, Kama, and sesame balls! The sushi was good. The Ngiri was fresh and the apps were tasty! The decor is amazing and fun! Things to note- AYCE Sashimi is available for an additional charge $$$. The wine is reasonable by the glass. You can order in 3 rounds, so don't order all at once in round 1 or you may end up paying a $1 per piece not eaten premium. read more

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100% if you're an anime lover, this is the place for you! The service was on point, food was delicious, and the decor is freakin awesome! Their prices on full bottles of sake are reasonable, and their rolls were super tasty! We absolutely will be back! read more

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As a self proclaimed all you can eat sushi aficionado I can confidently say that this is a notch above the rest. The rolls are varied and not all stuffed with fake crab. Very friendly staff and excellent service. It does get busy in the small location. read more

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Not good quality and overpriced for what you get. My party of 4 goes to a different sushi place for lunch every couple of weeks and this restaurant is unanimously in last place. Shrimp tempura didn't even look like tempura batter - more like a corn dog. Eww! read more

We have ordered take out many times and they do friendly and the food is so tasty. We love this sushi spot.

Don't like the Kama being deep fried. Otherwise good service, good food, and good value for all you can eat.

Great place for sushi. Very friendly and welcoming ambiance. The helpers are nice, polite, and accommodating. They even gave us free gyoza for waiting a little longer, even though we weren't complaining. We were enjoying our family conversation. The food are amazing and fresh. Must order - Baked Mussels - Kama - Dynamite - Tonkotsu - Crunchy Roll - Spicy Roll - Dragon Roll - Takoyaki We had AYCE, so we had a chance to try almost all items. Try this place! A family owned business. read more

New AYCE sushi joint. Love the jessica alba roll. Also had the spicy tuna roll and salmon with avocado roll. Sushi was fresh and delicious. The spicy scallop roll was okay--the sauce on top was a but overpowering and took away from the taste of the scallops. I love the contemporary Japanese-themed decor and the studio ghibli mural. Service was friendly and attentive. I would go here again. read more

Reasonable prices, good quality, and friendly, attentive service. I really like their Takoyaki! The fun decorations featuring my favorite anime, Totoro, make the place even more enjoyable. read more

We tried to go last night but the wait was an hour so we ended up going the next day for lunch! The inside is really clean including the bathroom. I liked the decor with all the samurai swords and anime like studio ghibli and naruto. This is a great alternative so you don't have to drive all the way to Little Sakana and they're a lot more friendly here. It is smaller than other restaurants so make sure to get here early or prepare for a long wait. Prices were okay for AYCE but i will say it is more limited. the sushi was flavorful and the tuna looked really fresh and vibrant. read more

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Me and my friends have been hearing this sushi all you can eat is going to open in Poway. We are really excited and made it to the grand opening day. The owner and staff are super nice and friendly. The food is awesome, fresh made, and delicious! Will definitely come again read more

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So so so worth it! Went for the AYCE lunch special and boy did we eat. Everything was delicious and staff was amazing friendly and attentive. The restaurant overall has great vibes and is super peaceful and clean. Highly recommend the AYCE menu. Just FYI, lunch times are until 2:30, anytime after that is considered dinner pricing :) read more

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We just visited Sushi Monster today. The place is super cute and very well thought out with the details. We did the AYCE selection, $32.99 for adults and $15.99 for kiddos under 10. We ordered 9 rolls, 2 hand rolls, miso soup, house and seaweed salads and salmon and yellowtail nigiri. Everything was delicious, the spicy rolls were SPICY so you've been warned. The rolls had so much flavor and were beautifully created. Our servers were extremely polite and excited to have us in. The food did take a bit to come out but again, they was clearly made with care so the wait was worth it. I wish the music was slightly more upbeat, it was good but kinda sleepy. The bathrooms were clean and back of the house from what I could see when walking to the restroom was clean and organized. We will be back read more

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Great foods Great service from staffs Clean and live the decorations I will refer my family and friends here read more

This place is a great AYCE sushi spot. Good quality and delicious. They don't gatekeep their good rolls and the sushi selection is great. My kids loved the crunchy roll, tuna sushimi, and yellowtail roll. I had plenty of nigiri and the Jessica alba roll. Delicious. Lots of anime stuff too. We will be trying Ramen next time. read more

Great service!!!! Amazing sushi for AYCE, really nice anmine decor! This a a gem in POWAY. read more

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The food is better than most places that offer AYCE. Service is great and attentive. The decor is a weeaboo's dream, which is heavily inspired by your favorite anime shows. read more

I've been here at least 5 times with friends and family. I've had both a la carte and AYCE. Their a la carte items are great and their AYCE used to be great, but I'm definitely not going back for AYCE after tonight. Not only was their fish to rice ratio way off (like mostly rice with tiny slivers of fish on top), the rice was mushy and super sweet like it was a sugar & water mixture. Also, they raised their AYCE from $32.99 to $34.99. I wouldn't mind the price increase if the quality was better, but it does not justify the mostly rice balls we had to force ourselves to finish as to not waste food. We just got an order of fried gyoza (2 pcs) as our 2nd round and paid the bill. Their miso soup was also just salty with no umami flavor. Their fried appetizers were good, but we went there mainly for sushi and left there feeling unsatisfied and kind of ripped off. Our total bill for 1 round of AYCE, 2 hot teas, tax/tip came out to $95! Their customer service is always excellent though, so hopefully they can up their fish to rice ratio and fix their overly sweet rice seasoning. read more

Sushi Monster - Sushi Bars Near Me - Poway, California