Took 10 minutes to place a phone order and then they don't allow carry out for the miso soup for the lunch Bento Box but you still pay full price. read more

I've never been one who has been accused of being a card-carrying member of the Sushi Mafia: I like sushi, adore some of it in fact, but have always been reasonably forgiving when it comes to same. In fact, I've never lived in Japan, own precious few kimonos or other culturally appropriate items, and I generally use chopsticks like I'm trying to lose a bet. That said, I know what I like and have tried enough sushi throughout Austin (and in fairness, plenty in NYC, Chicago and SF) that I feel I have some comparative personal history. The Alaskan roll portions are ample here, the entire staff is super nice (each one of them friendly and welcoming, extra appreciative after we closed as well). They're still waiting on TABC for the alcohol license, so expect that it's BYOB until further notice. I needed something substantial, so after sampling the above, some edamame and staring down some of the dessert lover's nigiri selection, I opted for a chicken teriyaki dish. It was good, and I definitely left full, but I did wish that I'd chosen more of a variety of sushi selections instead. The setting's somewhat no-frills and open. I'm sure I'll be back as they're close by, but in the interim, it was a start that at least feels somewhat incomplete. Perhaps when the full story's told on repeat visits, that star edges up. Time will tell. read more

This is a great hidden gem. I drive into this complex all the time (Jersey Mikes, and now Wholy Bagel) and now I feel I've found the Holy trinity---- Sushi, bagels and subs. OH my! The interior pops you right out of the strip mall and into a nice, romantic date night. The service was extremely good from walking in to walking out. Our waiter was funny, attentive, and communicated the timing of the food very well. Being our first trip here, and also very hungry, we ordered a ton of stuff. The salmon sushi was probably my favorite. The Yumi Yumi roll was Yummy, but too much sauce/ stuff on top. The Diablo was very tasty, and I probably enjoyed that more than the Yumi Yumi. I normally order rolls because they disguise average quality fish better than sushi or sashimi... But I think here I'll be ordering plenty of sushi. Oh-- and even tho I usually don't get dessert, I was feeling a bit spicy (no i'm not kidding, the diablo had a kick!), so we also got the red bean mochi, which was a party in my mouth. Overall, this is my new sushi joint. You don't have to go there though; I enjoyed not having to wait for a table. read more

So, Yanagi got their liquor license. My, oh my, $30 for a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel Vinters Blend? But that retails for less than $8, so that can't be right! It looks like one of the best sushi places in South Austin has also become one of the worst wine markups in Austin also. I'm still a fan because them is some tasty rolls, but this is getting a little too expensive to be a regular place. I might be more inclined to get my sushi fix filled at Haiku occasionally with a cheaper tab, even if it means a step down in the food. read more

The wait staff here is wonderful; friendly, helpful, and totally on the ball. They even recognize Mark M and I when we go in. *gush The edamame is perfectly steamed every time and I love it so! We usually get the fatty tuna (hello, taste of pure holiness!) and escolar (I am drolling writing this) to share. We have tried various rolls. I would have to say that the baked dynamite roll is one of my favorites. Great gosh o mighty! That is just yummy goodness on a plate! We have also had the spider roll. The soft shell crab was fried to perfection and tasted amazing. We recently tried the Calamari Crunchy roll. The eel sauce was a bit too much, but, other than that, it was also very good. We are going to ask them not to put any on next time and see if that's better. It just seemed to overpower the flavor of everything else. The size of the rolls are great! They are pretty big and well worth every cent. The sashimi is amazing and fresh. I highly recommended Yanagi! read more

I've been here once because I heard people rave about it, and I will never go back again.. the staff is utterly incompetent. We went in for dinner and were one of two tables in the whole place, and with three servers I finally had to get up and go find someone to take our drink order.. after another ten minutes someone else reappears with water and I asked about some of the "specialty drinks" on the menu, of which he had no idea what they were or what was in them. I ask the bartender the same thing and get the same response along with "we don't have anything to make that stuff". WHAT?! So I go with sake, which I figure they can't screw up because they didn't make it. WRONG. It was blistering hot. Once our order goes in I look over to see the two cooks (who are in full sight of the entire restaurant) ignoring my ticket and watching the Lakers game. At this point I was one minor irritation away from walking out.. I have been in the service industry for years, and I am really patient-but this was out of control. The food finally comes out and it was okay, there was one roll with tempura on it that was particularly good, but I think I was too blinded by my anger to care or remember. The entire time we are being feebly "waited on" by two different servers, and got better service from the non english speaking busser. It may come as a shocker, but I am NEVER going back. read more

Eeek. I hate to be the first non-glowing review, but... I was as excited as anyone to see that a sushi place was movin' down south. Not just south, but mere minutes from my house! I was hoping to be eating sushi here a couple times a month at least. Alas. Started with the gyoza. Not so good. They were more deep fried than pan fried (which I prefer). Honestly, I'd rather have the gyoza from HEB than order these again. My favorite sushi is straight up nigiri so I sampled a bunch and wasn't blown away by any of it. They weren't bad, but... yeah, not great either. Now, I will say, they have a HUGE menu of specialty rolls. However, the two ingredients I DON'T like in sushi - shrimp and crab - are in over half the rolls. (Glass half full - that still leaves a fair number of rolls for me to try!) So if rolls - especially rolls with shrimp and/or crab - are your thing, definitely check this palce out. Verdict: Far from the best, but just as far from the worst. I won't be here as often as I hoped, but I'll likely be back to give some of their rolls a try. If they blow me away, I will update this review accordingly. read more

I brought my wife here yesterday for Chinese Valentine's Day. I am afraid the sushi here is merely average. Since it's gotten great reviews, I might be willing to blame it on the fact we went at lunchtime. It wasn't busy at all. The ikura (salmon eggs), tasted clumpy and not fresh. Also, I absolutely hate when those get decorated by little pieces of greenery in the salmon eggs. I rarely see that, but when I do I always feel like something is being hidden. Like they use it to modify the taste to hide the lack of freshness. The salmon sashimi was very average. Only four pieces in an order too. Felt skimpy. The spicy scallop roll, was not so spicy and rather dry. The sweet shrimp didn't have that "tanginess" I am used to. And the fried heads were cold when I bit into them. Finally the Japanese Ceviche dish felt gimmicky. Didn't taste Japanese and didn't taste Baja Mexican. Not sure what it was supposed to be. The 80's soft rock contributed to my annoyance with the place. As did the fact they didn't have a the typical sushi checklist to turn in. I might have even ordered more if they had that. The waiter had to slowly write everything down we wanted and then go over it with me. Had to confirm I didn't want the ikura sashimi - huh? Get me a spoon! Or sweet shrimp sashimi. People order this usually over the nigiri? He also felt a need to correct my pronunciation of ikura, one gaijin to another. Whatever. So, I accented the wrong syllable. Maybe my friend and our resident sushi/Japanese expert Vidor H will come along and scold me later too. LOL Anyway, without the sushi checklist it just slowed the whole process down. And I also felt the sushi plates were bigger than they needed to be. The table got really crowded. Sorry to be the dissenting view on this place. EDIT 11-08-09: On my new trademarked Ikura rating scale Yanagi gets a 3 out of 10! read more

Yanagi is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Austin. Spicy edamame and rainbow roll are my all time favorites. Very good service, quick and professional. Plenty of parking makes it easy for a lunch time. Love it! read more

Okay, I'm not really sure what's up with some of the pretty great restaurants being located in strip malls, but that seems to be the thing here in Austin. Not all over, but certainly in some areas. Yanagi happens to be a pretty dope sushi place near my apartment and I would most definitely dine here again. They have killer sushi, the place is clean, it has a full size bar and a separate sushi bar. The rolls were put together nice and tightly so that the sushi nor the rice were falling out. They were flavorful and tasty without being too overpowering. We ordered our usual (spicy tuna, sashimi) and the fish seemed fresh. The staff is awesome and they have an AMAZING happy hour on Saturday's until 7:00pm. Try it out. You won't be disappointed. read more

Holy cats. So the plan was to spend $20 on a light meal of happy hour sushi, see how good the food was. First and last parts worked great, nice happy hour prices, food was delicious, waiter kept my water glass full (not easy). Middle part got stomped into flat bloody goo by their insane kitchen; one appetizer, one roll, two nigiri, and I'm stuffed. I'm a 240# lifter, this is ridiculous. That delicious Las Vegas roll was eleven BIG - Scott-sized! - bites. The two nigiri (sea bass and red snapper, really good and WOW!, respectively) were nicely sized, the appetizer (heart attack, yum) was big but not Godzilla-sized. Happy hour's 4-6 weekdays and 12-4 Saturdays, I'm going back a lot. Two rolls might be too much for me to finish! Happy hour nigiri are $1.5 each, maybe next time I'll just get ten, or six and a roll. Or forget the $20 limit and keep eating until I fall down and they have to roll me to the motorcycle... Please note the price range is moderate for the happy hour menu, later would be pricier. read more

We took a visiting japanese friend here for dinner. We'd been to Uchi, which is an amazing place, but had heard good things about Yanagi, so we decided to try it. The price is at the upper end of average sushi prices in Austin, about $6.50 for 2 sashimi. The rolls were great, but being longtime sushi eaters,we almost immediately noticed that the fish was far from fresh. Truly fresh sashimi gives off either no smell or a sweet smell. Their fish gives off an almost stangant fishy smell, like it had sat in the fridge for a week. We brought it to the waiter's attention, and got a new plate of sashimi. Unfortunately it also smelled the same way. I will not be eating here again. read more

I am so happy to say that my second visit here was about as different from my first as it could be in all the right ways. My fist visit was 6/12/09 and I was really concerned that they really were not open yet to public and just using me as practice for when they were actually open and it was a very bad and clumsy practice and I felt uncomfortable the whole time even though my sushi was delicious. I was driving home from work and starving since I had not taken a lunch break and looked over and saw the Coming Soon sign was down but no Open sign yet. I saw that the hours posted on the door was 5:00 - 11:00 so I opened the door and stood there and waited and waited until a young man finally came out and looked startled to see me. I asked if they were open yet and with a yes he led me to the sushi counter. I was the only customer that night at an early dinning hour and blame that experience on first day open jitters. After reading Stephanie's review I new I had to try it again and armed with a 10% discount coupon that they gave me my first visit I headed over with a neighbor who was also anticipating their opening. My neighbor and I walked over (less than 10 minute walk from my house = sweet/or dangerous to my wallet:) and were immediately and graciously seated at the beautiful curved sushi bar by a sweet young Asian woman. The decor is typical minimalistic Asian decor with pretty painted windows. The fish on both visits was super fresh and flavorful. They have a great selection of traditional rolls and some great unique rolls that are their own creations that are all beautifully plated. Last Tuesday we started with a flavorful miso soup each and shared Salmon Sashimi, 2 pieces each of Unagi, and super fresh yet richly flavored cucumber roll filled with smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese ( I absolutely loved the outside crunch of the cucumber). As of Tuesday they were still without a liquor licence; but, you can BYOB. I want to give them 5 stars because they are within walking distance from my house; but, that would not help anyone who does not and simply they are not "as good as it gets" as far as sushi goes. I would compare the quality and prices to Sushi Sake and yes I will be back to both. read more

I used to pop in every few weeks- after tonight's service I'll NEVER GO BACK! I don't ask for much in a sushi place- 1)provide adequately good food that won't make me sick, 2)provide adequate service that will address problems should they arise. Tonight Yanagi dropped the ball on both accounts. The primary reason for the review is this- After a long day at work and a Mopac-traffic ride home I decided not to cook, so I called in a take-out order from Yanagi. Its in a convenient location & has not failed me yet. I ordered the Philadelphia roll, the Las Vegas roll, the Crunchy roll & spicy garlic edamame. I also asked for extra soy sauce, noting laughingly that we were out at the house. My husband stopped in to pick up shortly after I called. After a short wait he returned home with our order. The bag was knotted shut or else maybe he'd of checked it before he left the restaurant. Not thinking he'd have to look for an impending mistake, he brought the bag in and we checked it out. Inside was 1) no chopsticks (the girl I ordered from mentioned they would be) 2)no soy sauce (even though my request for extra was not going to be a problem) 3)edamame that was not cooked through 4)only two of our three rolls we ordered. The food was alright- edible for sure, but lacking that sparkle you expect when you spend $40 ON TAKE OUT!!! Here's THE WORST PART- If I come across a mistake like this, all I ask is to fix it. I left with $25 worth of merchandise- you should reimburse me for the product I did not receive. When we called the restaurant we explained what happened and we were told they'd call us back. 20 minutes later the phone rang and they apologized but offered no recourse. We pushed further for a solution and were placed on hold while the hostess talked to the "manager". When the hostess told us there was nothing she could do we got upset and decided NOT to drop it. We demanded to speak with the manager- a man came on the line and we explained what happened- then he laughed, "I am just the waiter- the managers not even here tonight..." We about flipped out. All we wanted was to be reimbursed for the food we never got- thats practically like stealing RIGHT out of our pocket. They were not willing to even provide another roll- something we may have (begrudgingly) accepted. Bottom line- if you can't serve your customers needs when an issue pops up then you "have no business being in business!" read more

I recently moved to the SW Austin area and kept hearing about Yanagi sushi. Being a sushi lover, I decided to give it a try. The restaurant is nice- located in a strip mall off of William Cannon. The furnishings are modern and hip with a touch of warmth. Our waiter was excellent- we were greeted promptly upon being seated. Throughout the meal she was very attentive- water was constantly replenished, checking on our meal, etc. Service was attentive- but not overly annoying, which can happen at places. The sushi was good- it wasn't stellar, but it was good. I ordered a veggie roll, spicy tuna roll and a couple of the signature rolls. The veggie roll had a weird aftertaste, perhaps too much vinegar/sauce- the flavor did not mesh well with the vegetables. It overpowered the veggies and left me tasting nothing else. The spicy tuna was good, but lacking in spice. The singature rolls were good. All in all it was a good experience, but 'ok' sushi. read more

The wine list is lacking and very expensive, but the sushi is top notch, especially considering the area. Deep south Austin needs more good restaurants, and I feel that aside from the overpriced wine list, this place does fit the bill. The decor is upscale-ish. The service could be better, but I have not found too many sushi places with great service. The spicy tuna titaki specialty roll has won our praises all three times we have tried it- clearly my favorite roll here. It's sort of like a large spicy tuna roll, topped with more tuna that has been marinated in a citrus dressing (sort of like a ceviche roll). Everything else was very tasty and fresh, but not as memorable. read more

The quality of the fish is decent. The presentation is not good. The prices are too high. The service is subpar. They do not have everything that's on the menu. read more

This place is close to the house, so we have tried it a few times now. I'd say a vote of "average" is accurate. When ordering sashimi, we almost always get escolar at any sushi place. The escolar we got here was frozen in the center. FROZEN. We are not complainers, but we had to send back an $11 dish that was inedible. They were super nice, and said "the salmon and yellowtail is ALWAYS fresh." Which left me thinking, the other stuff isn't? Is it frozen and in the walk in? I don't know how this sushi stuff works but that isn't what I envisioned. The rolls were average, the tempura was flavorless. We probably won't be back here, even though the service was actually pretty good. It does take foreverrr to get your check when you're ready, so ask ahead of time! read more

I deleted the comment, but the response I received from the owner was "please don't come back." HORRIBLE customer service! And don't worry, I won't be back! read more

No longer BYOB. Also, last time we went the Unagi was not fresh but recently learnt it is on the recommended "avoid" list by the monterrey bay fish aquarium, so...won't be eating eel anymore anyway. And the next last time we went, the Mopac Roll did not have tuna on the inside. It had that weird puree of spicy tuna you find in some firecracker rolls. No no no. Still good, not egregious enough to ax a star, but still. Will try again and post back. They've done a lovely job mitigating the ambiance with the panels. Now they just need to kill the southwestern plant life and replace it with orchid and bamboo. read more

Since 2009, south Austin has been graced with the blossoming of a number of highly-rated Japanese restaurants. Yanagi, located at William Cannon west of Mopac, is the perfect neighborhood spot for sushi aficionados As I reviewed the Yanagi Happy Hour Menu., I learned that the restaurant's name Yanagi, refers to a type of sashimi knife. The versatile Japanese knife, ideal for everyday slicing, is the perfect blade for slicing long pieces of fish. On this rainy Friday evening, I wanted a warming yet light meal. I ordered hot sake, miso soup, and two six-piece Nigiri-sushi platters ($1.75 per piece). Danny provided great wait-service and the chef presented beautiful, fresh, proportioned, and succulent nigiri morsels that exceeded my expectations. The flavors and textures of the Albacore, Escolar (my favorite), Sake (Salmon), Dai (Red Snapper), Suzuki (Sea Bass), Ebi (Shrimp), Masago (Smelt Eggs), and Seared Tuna nigiri were exceptional. Another party at the sushi bar mentioned that their favorite after-dinner treat to order is the Panda Bear (it's not listed on the menu). The chef carves a whole orange into the shape of a Panda. It is a whimsically, delightful dessert with juicy citrus slices that cleanse the palate and have just enough sweetness to satiate the appetite. To be able to order appetizers, sushi, rolls, and drink specials from the daily 4-6 pm Happy Hour menu is a fantastic way to be introduced to the restaurant. I am glad that I arrived early and could be seated at the sushi bar. I enjoyed the friendly experience so much that I'll return soon. I look forward to hosting a group dining experience, sampling from the extensive dinner menu, and exploring the versatility of the Yanagi chef's preparations of appetizers, soups and salads, tempuras, rice bowls, teriyakis, bulgogi, sashimi, sushi rolls, house special rolls (35 selections), and desserts. read more

Yanagi is a great addition to the neighborhood. It's totally unrecognizable from the last two businesses to reside in that space. The decor is a blend of modern and traditional Asian. The service is good, though sometimes a little ovezealous. I had a bento box lunch on my first visit. It had a nice selection of different items. The chicken teriyaki was a little bland - next time I'll try the bulgogi. I went back for dinner and had the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap - a hot pot of rice, vegetables, beef, and a fried egg. There are a few other traditional Korean items on the menu. It was quite good. I agree with a previous reviewer that the miso soup is a little bland. I look forward to future visits and trying out the sushi menu. read more

We lived in California for many years. We know good sushi. We did not expect great sushi in Austin, but we hoped for good food nonetheless. The selections were sufficient. The prices were relatively high. The service was OK. However, the food was between average and OK. We were somewhat disappointed. We do not discourage anyone from experiencing this place. We simply advise to moderate your expectations. read more

I have to gush about my recent discovery at Yanagi - ramen. So delicious and available for dinner. Also I can bring my little one here and not get the stink eye. I mean people with kiddies gotta eat sushi too. read more

I sat at a table with my girlfriend for 10 minutes without being greeted while the following happened: 1. Server talked with her table for the entire 10 minute period about Sushi served on dry ice. The server looked at us and we made eye contact multiple times, she decided not to turn around fully and help us. She could have at least flagged down another server to help. 2. A server was leaning on the podium by the entrance to the kitchen just...standing there... Tried to get his attention multiple times to no avail Luckily this is Austin, there are numerous Japanese restaurants (I can name a few within 5 miles of this place). I'm not going to be coming back here/recommend that my company take corporate lunches elsewhere. read more

They have a roll they named after the nearby highway. At first we laughed that they named so many rolls after things near by. Then we tried the Mopac Roll. It was fantastic. One of the most interesting infusions or sushi and tex-mex I have ever had. The jalapenos on it, and the flavored fish roe on top of that made it very interesting, with a sweet, salty, spicy thing going on, than the taste of himachi in the role. I will get this again Also the servers were very nice, even if it was difficult to understand them, and we went and thanked the sushi chefs after the meal and they were very nice and friendly. Will be back, and I'm glad to have sushi on my side of town. read more

We went here for the first time tonight, on a Wednesday night at 8 p.m. I'm glad we have a good sushi restaurant in South Austin! There were only about 5 tables of people - not busy, but enough patrons to not make me think twice about eating there. I'm always happy to not wait for a table. The restaurant is comfortable and spacious, but there was somewhat strange music featuring high-pitched Asian women playing in the background. My boyfriend doesn't really like raw fish, so we stuck with more cooked items from Yanagi's extensive specialty sushi menu. They have a ton of choices! What people have said about the generous portions is true, as we only split 3 rolls between us. Tiger roll (11.95) Shrimp tempura/crab/cucumber, topped with shrimp, avocado, and house goma sauce -- Delicious!! We loved the tangy, citrusy sauce that really made this roll, and the shrimp and avocado on top was arranged beautifully. Salmon tempura roll (10.95) Crabmeat/cucumber/avocado/salmon tempura topped with eel sauce -- This was served with two small salmon tempuras and was quite good. It had a nice flavor but it was not as special as our other rolls. Hot night roll (9.95) Shrimp tempura/crabmeat, topped with spicy tuna, house eel sauce, and spicy rayu sauce -- This roll has a good kick to it, with delicate and yummy tuna on top. My favorite :) Our waiter was attentive and always checked up on us throughout our meal. My only problem is that they don't have a menu you can write your order on like most sushi places, and there are too many choices! I spent half our meal scanning the menu but I guess that's a good problem to have. I'll definitely be back, and I want to check out their happy hour next time! read more

What's with me and strip mall sushi? Yanagi did a great job of delivering consistently good food with thoughtful preparation in a relatively nice atmosphere. We ordered plenty of Sushi, and several different rolls, and even tried the ramen noodles! All were well executed. I'll start with the sushi. We ordered jumbo scallop, tuna, salmon, red snapper, and I think some crab. All were pretty good, not as high quality as, say, D K Sushi on S 1st. At least in my opinion. But overall really fresh, good taste, decent cutting technique. For our rolls, we went a little bit crazy. I believe we got the Sexy Roll, the Spider Roll, the Tiger Roll, the Yumi Yumi Roll, and the Yanagi Roll. My personal favorite was probably between the Tiger and the Sexy. The others were good, but not really my thing. The Tiger was just downright delicious. Great flavor combinations, nice crunch from the tempura shrimp and cucumber, and the sesame oil sauce was perfect on top. The Sexy Roll is not your ordinary roll. Instead of rice and seaweed, the delicious tuna, salmon, and white fish are surrounded by thin strips of cucumber, and served flat on the plate with masago and a quails egg. Absolutely wonderful. The crunch, the clean flavor, just delightful. And great for a low-carb diet! ;) The ramen soup ain't your college ramen! Give it a try! It's wonderful! I highly recommend this place. I only give it four stars instead of 5 because I think the Sushi/Sashimi could have been a litttttle bit better. But the service here was top notch, quick and friendly and the rolls were delicious! read more

Ugh. So disappointing. Craving a nice sushi lunch on my day off, I went here and ordered my favorites: a sashimi salad, a salmon skin handroll and unagi (eel) for my "dessert fish." All four sashimi slices on the salad tasted mushy and dull: far from firm or fresh tasting. No sparkle to any of the fish. Despite the pretty presentation, it was all soft, mushy and disappointing. Even the ususally hard-to-screw-up Unagi was bland--despite the huge globs of sweet sauce laddeled over it. Yuk. When the demure server asked how it was, I told her it was disappointing. She said, "Oh, sorry!" and brought me my check. As I was leaving, I mentioned to the hostess that I'd just spent $32 bucks on a really lame lunch, she asked if I wanted to tell the manager. I said YES. The kid appeared, listened and asked me to wait. When he came back, he shook his head and said, "This fish is still fresh" and that therefore my complaint was unwarranted. He refused to offer me anything else or another chance to give them a shot. Bad business, mushy fish, plus $32 bucks and an hour wasted. Dismal atmosphere. Will not be back. I'd rather drive another hour than go here again. read more

I'm so glad to have good, consistent sushi close to home. I've tried a good selection of their rolls and all but one have been excellent. The tiger roll and salmon tempura rolls are my favorite, and they have tons of others that are unique and tasty. The only one that i didn't like was the philly roll because the cream cheese was really, really overpowering. I was also a little peeved that when I politely told our waitress that the roll wasn't good at all she just smiled and said ok. You'd think that since we only ate one bite, then said it wasn't good, they would have comped it but oh well. The other rolls we were so good that we were quickly over the failing philly roll. The rolls are HUGE, so be warned. When we ordered 6 rolls for the 2 of us on our first visit and the waitress said "oh my goodness really hungry" we should have figured it out. Their prices were average, so i was expecting average sized rolls. These were way bigger than average. I've gotten take out from there too and it's always super fresh and ready quick. I really, really love this place. So why only 4 stars? * You have to tell your sushi order to the waitress. That's a pain. I just want the little list to mark off, but they only do that at the actual sushi bar. * That nasty philly roll. * I was chatting with the hostess once when I picked up a to go order. I said something about how much closer they are to me than the place we frequent in Oak Hill. Her reply was "yeah, and they're not even good". OK, I get that your fancy new place is better, but have the manners to not bash your nearest competition. Even if they aren't that good. If they'll start using the paper lists and lose the over confidence I'll be back to give them 5 stars. Just talking about this place is making me want some. I think i'll be having a tiger roll and some tuna for lunch tomorrow! read more

Well this place went from five down to one star in my opinion. When I first started coming here over a year ago this place is pretty good the food was awesome the servers were nice and everything what's good. Now when you walk in the entire place smells like it a disgusting toilet the food sucks the waitstaff sucks I will never come here ever again read more

I'm totally sorry that I chose to dine at Yanagi this evening for my birthday. My 13 year old son and I wanted something in our neighborhood that would be relatively fast and healthy. The food here is good, but definitely not top notch- but I knew that going in, and that's ok. We went in for happy hour, which is from 4:00 to 6:00pm. We arrived at 5:34pm, and we were seated promptly. Our waitress took our initial order at around 5:45pm. She announced at 5:50pm that it was last call. At that moment, we didn't order. At 5:55pm, my son wanted to order another Las Vegas roll. We ordered it immediately after our waitress took the order from the table across from us. They too, had ordered off the Happy Hour menu. At that time I believed that we would be getting the happy hour price (which is $3 less than normal price) as it was still five min to 6pm. When I got the check, they charged me full price for the LV roll. I asked my waitress to make an adjustment, she initially refused. I then requested that she ask her manager and she did- Only to get the response of "NO." I brought up the point of telling them that I ordered it before 6pm, they said that it didn't matter, that there was no way for them to override the price. When I asked why they honored the other patrons order, at that specific time, she stated that it was the hostess's fault for giving them that happy hour menu, therefore she had to offer the deal. So much for customer service. I can't believe that they were willing to loose me, or any customer at that, for $3! Going forward, I'll take my business elsewhere. The worst $47 dining experience of my life. read more

Great big pieces of quality sushi. Has all the standards plus more. Staff seems super helpful and friendly. Very reasonable prices. Topped off with Moochi dripped with honey, an unexpected delight. Finally. A decent casual sushi place for a spur of the moment craving. read more

Love this place! The prices blow every other sushi place out of the water. You really can't eat sushi that you'd want to eat for cheaper than this! The fish is always fresh and delicious. The staff is very friendly. And did I mention the prices? I can actually afford to eat here regularly ;-) I'd stick with beer, sake, wine, etc ... their mixed drinks are a little weak. Otherwise, nothing to complain about! My husband and I go regularly. read more

I've been hesitating to update this review, because as I have said before, I really dislike having to give fewer stars to a place that has previosuly been outstanding enough to receive 4 or 5 stars. But the last few times we've been to Yanagi, we've been sorely disappointed. The fish has been really fishy- which means that it's not very fresh- and even the rice has been somewhat dry. So sad. We will give them one more try, and hopefully can write a new glowing review the next time. Wish our bellies luck ;-) read more

After days of an un-quenched sushi craving, I met my sister at Yanagi for lunch today. The two of us each tried a bento box - Shrimp Tempura/Sushi and fried pork, which each came with rice, california roll, miso soup, salad and veg tempura. The quantity was generous - its not the kind of sushi where you leave hungry! I would say the quality was just average. California rolls were good, miso was watery. The tempura was crisp, but the shrimp did not have a fresh flavor. The pork was ok, but the tomkatsu sauce was overly sweet and cinnamon-y (a very strange flavor for tomkatsu). The atmosphere was fancier than we expected, and the staff were nice and soft spoken, if not always readily attentive. About half the tables were full, and based on other reviews, I would say this put them in a "crunch" - it took about 20 minutes for our food to come. I would recommend it as a decent sushi or lunch option in the area. Southwest Austin is a little devoid of choice, so I welcome Yanagi's addition. Other tables near us ordered rolls and sashimi, which looked very tempting. Then there is the sushi boat ($25) if you go for dinner. read more

The sushi here is most excellent, everything is very fresh and don't sit at a table going straight to the sushi bar is a must. The complementary salad appetizer is incredible, the miso soup rocks this and they have a wide selection of rolls on the menu. Unfortunately due to the location and the lack of patrons I'm afraid this jewel won't last long. read more

Fresh! Got the Spanish mackerel and salmon sushi. The Caterpillar roll and gyoza were also tasty! Great sauces!

This place was a gem!! The service was very quick and friendly! They had lots of variety between traditional Japanese dishes and sushi rolls. They also had a great selection of salads. I ordered the Chicken Katsu and it was genuinely one of my favorite meals in Austin. Definitely give this place a try!!! read more

Some things that were disconcerting: -My drink napkin fell to the floor, and the waitress picked it off the floor and put it back on the table under my drink. D: -I noticed also that when she was putting our little soy sauce dishes on the table, she was holding them on the inside (where are food would go). Call me a germaphobe, if you will, but I'm pretty sure that's not up to code! The food was not all that good. I had to send back the veggie tempura roll because it tasted pretty much like stale oil, there was no other flavor. The sea bass appetizer was off-tasting. I tried some shrimp yakitori noodles that weren't too bad. The place gives me the creeps a little. read more