503 Sushi Bar

Walking downtown on a very excellent summer evening when my daughter said she wanted Sushi for dinner...and there we were outside The Reed Opera House..so we took the elevator to Sushi Bar 503.
I really like how they have kept a lot of the old features plain brick work..old pillars and the old windows..with a nice view of the street below. Waring if you are tall the ceiling is not high.
Ordered 2 miso soups and 3 rolls and some nigiri.
The rolls are smaller than most places but also less expensive.. They were all good..especially liked the "Oregon Roll". Nigiri was good Miso not so much .
The wait people were very good and always on top of things.
Rather liked this place.

I got food here yesterday I ordered online and first thing is it didn't go through so me and my girlfriend waited almost an hour for our food, it was bland and salty and just overall gross. Today I am now sick from the food and I just am overall disappointed.

1 star is solely for the service. Very sweet waitresses but besides this, nothing to offer. The location is great and the atmosphere is nice... but all in all not good. Starting from the ordering system- you have to scan a QR code to place your order and pre-tip (which I did see on previous reviews but still gave it a shot) but it's extremely confusing and not user friendly. Drinks took way too long to get to us, would've preferred an actual server. The sushi itself was not good. The nigiri was stale and the rolls were underwhelming. Would not come here again.

Sure it's salem so the sushi isn't great. That's expected. And a lot of places post pandemic are struggling with speedy service, so let's have some generosity of spirit.

But the servers are just rude. For no reason. It's one thing to have mediocre food and bad service but at least be pleasant.

Also the kitchen area is disgustingly filthy. See pic.

We have been on a quest to experience every restaurant in downtown Salem over the Summer. We found this to be a little on the high side for the quality and quantity of food. Even though the location is nice, the first impression is it's not very clean! The table was sticky and the backing behind the rail was filthy it just didn't sit well as anyplace I would choose to frequent again! Service was "ok", nothing special, and since part of the kitchen is in the entryway it makes for an awkward first contact. I would not be able to recommend this restaurant to any of my friends!

Not everyone wants to use QR codes. I have gauging my family that it is a treat to go out to a restaurant for a dining experience. My feelings are that the experience should include the opportunity to detach from devices and enjoy each others company and the service provided.

The food was marginal and I have to thank myself for creating the experience. This place should be take out only.

The food was really good & a lot of variety, very favorable. Will be coming back again !

Chef behind the counter has a horrible attitude and a sailors mouth.

Wouldn't be an issue if his sushi was actually good - the younger of the two chefs is the one carrying that duo.

Seems like an out of touch owner forcing himself to remain as the chef because he's afraid to hurt his soft ego. And it shows in his food.

Horrible service! It's a scan to order, pay and tip before service type of place. No explanation of menu items just a "here is your table, scan and order using the code..." Waitress just basically threw our items on the table and walked away. No eye contact or anything. Appetizers came out after the rolls. Only one tiny piece of soft shell crab in the "spider" roll. I can not explain how disengaged the staff were. It was like we were bothering her by being there... avoid at all cost unless you like being treated like garbage.

My partner recently took on a big change at work and we've seen our time together get much more limited with her work schedule changes. Last night we planned to meet after her first Sunday shift in years for a sushi dinner date at what we'd been told was a pretty good place. I love what they've done at the Reed Opera House downtown, it looks beautiful. Going into the restaurant I was a little annoyed with their new method of ordering, but I'm nothing if not adaptable in this post COVID world. You scan a QR code and you're taken to a digital menu where you order and pay all at once (I do like Apple Pay options, I suppose). I will say I intended to leave a tip in cash based on service, but I have an issue tipping before I receive any service. Anyway after ordering, we received our sushi on one plate, and were surprised to find that the only double roll (the dragon roll) was slathered in avocado slices (which was not specified on the menu). We noted specifically an avocado allergy existed. We also ordered a spider roll (that is made with avocado) that was going to be completely for my partner and so we ordered as is.

Upon receiving our food, and noting the issue that we had, we flagged one of the two servers down and explained the situation, that the dragon roll appeared to be made incorrectly, because there were avocado slices all over it. She went back to the chef, who is also apparently the owner and manager, and I saw her explain the situation. She came back and informed us that "that is just the way he makes it". When I emphasized that we ordered it specifically because it didn't have avocado, I asked her to have the chef remake it. She stated that he had told her that he would not remake it. That was when I asked her to let me speak to him, assuming she would pass along the message and he would come out to speak to me. When she came back to our table a minute later, she looked rather embarrassed, and said that we needed to leave. Needing clarification, my partner asked were they going to refund us, to which she replied no, they were not going to refund the coat of our meal amd that she had been instructed to take our plate, and we were to leave the restaurant. He would not remake our food, allow us yo eat our food, or process a refund. It was at this point that I did get up and walk over to him, just to clarify what was being told to us, and after grabbing a menu from their serving counter, and showing it to him very clearly where the Dragon roll DOES NOT have avocado listed as an ingredient. He angrily tossed his own menu and said again no refund, no correction, and we had to leave. I was shocked.

Needless to say our date night hit a serious speed bump. We ended up at Ventis just to eat something, but we'd both been excited for sushi, soooo. I would highly recommend that we let this horrible business go out of business. With so many good options of places to eat downtown, this one should not ever be patronized again.