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Ai Japanese Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Japanese Restaurants Sushi Bars Japanese, Sushi Bars
1013 Fair Oaks AveSouth Pasadena, CA 91030
(626) 799-0534
- Hours:
Tue-Sat 11:30 am - 10 pm
Sun 5 pm - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
Sarah K. said: "Totally ashamed to say it but I like this place. It's best to go during lunch where teppan-yaki is $10 cheaper and you get to choose your own meats. Protein is always perfectly cooked, fried rice has a nice charred flavor and veggies…" read more »
117 reviews for Ai Japanese Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"Really, the only place where I actually crave the miso soup." In 11 reviews -
"Best sashimi and sushi at an awesome price." In 18 reviews -
"I've been coming to Ai for more than half my life." In 8 reviews
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117 reviews in English
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Review from Tracy G.
South Pasadena, CA
1/16/2012
Great value. Couple can come here and either go for very affordable sushi or sashimi or teriyaki dinners and get out of here for $30 for both. Large portions as well. Or you can eat at the sushi bar and eat amazingly fresh sushi or excellent side and vegetable dishes. The sushi bar is popular. Servers and sushi chefs are Japanese.
I find the service to be fast and personable. You get to sit in a booth as long as you want.
It closes early at 9:30 pm during the week and we'll get there at 9:15 since we know we can get a good meal, get served quickly and get home to the kids. They are opening a full service bar soon so that should be interesting.
Great local addition to South Pasadena! I'd give 5 stars but it's not a high end sushi place but for the price it should be 5 stars. -
Review from Matt O.
Alhambra, CA
5/15/2012
Like my wife, I hate to do this, but this experience was so infuriating, I have to post about it. And as you can see, I rarely post.
My wife asked for a sushi dinner on Mother's Day. We just had a terrific day together and both looked forward to Japanese food. We had been to Ai before, and while it took a little longer for food service, we never minded since she likes their sushi and I like their sukiyaki.
This time we didn't even get our food.
8:30pm - We enter. Elderly hostess is sitting at the new bar, chatting in Japanese with two older men. She clocks us. So do Waiters #1 and #2, Bus Boy and Sushi Chefs #1 and #2. There is a booth open, along with a 2-seat table and a 4-seat table. No one is in line. Just us. The sign says, "Please wait to be seated." So we wait.
8:35pm - Waiting. Bus boy cleans off the booth. Okay, good sign, he's getting the table ready. They've never been the swiftest here, so hey, no worries, right?
8:40pm - Still waiting. Weird. Waitresses are now beginning to side-eye us nervously, but they're busy speed-walking to and from the kitchen, serving rice, water, etc. Only two waitresses for the whole place. It's not a big place, but still, it gets busy. Bus Boy reemerges from the kitchen and lays out place mats and menus at the booth. Now it's ready for seating. Brilliant! We'll sit down any day now. Sushi Chef #1 looks at us, but goes about his sushi-cutting ways. Sushi Chef #2 disappears to the back. No one has come to seat us... Customers are glancing at us intermittently between bites and bits of conversation.
8:45pm - STILL waiting!! Hostess still talking at the bar. Refuses to even acknowledge us. Bartender (who I forgot to mention earlier) has now walked by us a total of 3 times and is serving a couple at the end of the bar. Waitresses #1 and #2 have disappeared in the back. Bus Boy: nowhere to be seen. Sushi Chef #1 is cut, cut, cutting away. Customers are looking at us more frequently and nervously, wondering why we're still standing there since a fully prepared booth and two other open tables are available. A lady whispers to her husband - he shrugs and shakes his head. Wakarimasen, dude.
8:50pm - STILL WAITING!!!! Waitress #1 comes out AND SORTS NAPKINS. Apparently, sorting napkins is more important than seating customers who have been waiting for TWENTY MINUTES! I'm livid. I tell my wife we're leaving. Customers snap their heads up and watch us. Every one of them. Hostess doesn't even look at us twice. But Waitress #1, Bus Boy who has emerged and Sushi Chef #1 all snap their heads up too, surprised and worried. I'm sorry, but...
WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?!
When you keep your customers waiting for 20 minutes without a line, without anything better to do than sort napkins, with open tables and without so much as a greeting, do you expect them to stick around?
ARE YOU ON CRACK?!
Like my wife said, it felt like we were being discriminated against -- which makes zero sense since we're Japanese-Americans! Have you ever heard of that? Japanese-Americans being discriminated in a Japanese restaurant in America?!
Needless to say, my wife and I are never coming back until their service improves. Such a shame since I do like their sukiyaki...
As a coda to this story, we drove 5 minutes to Twohey's where we had a fantastic meal complete with a Bittersweet Chocolate Sundae.
We were even seated immediately... -
Review from Jennifer O.
Alhambra, CA
I really hate to do this... but this was one of the worst experiences i've had in a long time.
let me give you the facts:
my husband and i arrived for dinner at Ai on Sunday night (Mother's Day) at around 8:30 pm.
we walked in the front door, past the new bar, and stood at the sign that says "please wait to be seated".
we waited. and we waited. for 15 minutes.
there wasn't anybody in line in front of us.
there were empty tables.
there wasn't anybody at the hostess stand / cashier.
there were 3 waitresses, the bartender, and 2 sushi chefs that made eye-contact with us. nobody made a move to seat us.
the old Japanese lady that usually is the "front of the house" was sitting at the bar walking with some old guy. i guess she was really HOT for him because she never once looked up at us.
we left after waiting 20 minutes.
if i wasn't Japanese, and if this wasn't a Japanese restaurant, i'd take this as discrimination.
the food here is actually pretty good, IF you get seated.
i will not be returning to this establishment again.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/11/2010
they play Hawaiian music and it's full of old Japanese people. it smells so good when you walk in,… Read more »
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Review from diamente d.
El Monte, CA
2/3/2012
I had one of the worst if not the worst service in my life. Our party was composed of: a good looking male (that's me, thank you), mom, sister, mom's old lady friend and my 3 month old baby nephew. The restaurant was not packed when we went for lunch at around 12:30PM on Saturday.
As we were sitting down, I asked the old lady waitress for hot tea. She said, "Wait a minute." I was like, really? She walked away and NEVER came back until she threatened to call police on my sister. More detail on that later.
After we had sat down for 10 minutes, I was like where are our drinks? The old lady never came back so we had to flag down another waitress to get our drinks.
While I was holding my baby nephew and the other waitress was getting our drinks, the old lady stared at me and my baby nephew. What were we doing wrong? Didn't she know that people have kids and you had to take care of them. You couldn't just leave kids alone. My baby nephew and I certainly didn't look like threats. At this time, I was starting to get mad but she kept staring at us and would not walk to or help us.
The drinks finally came. We were finally able to order food after 20 long minutes of sitting down. Since the old lady didn't want to help us, we had to order with another waitress.
I was thinking this restaurant discriminates against Asian people. How do you tell if an Asian restaurant is good? If you see Asian eating in an Asian restaurant, it is good. Otherwise, either the food is bad or the service is bad toward Asians.
There was no other Asian customer in the restaurant when we were there.
There was no baby changing station in the restroom so what do you do when your baby needed a diaper change? My sister decided to change the baby diaper in the seat. I was like, gross. But she said she had a mat or something. I couldn't really complain to her because my sister is mean to me. I didn't want her to scream or yell at me like she had done many times before. Who said Asian women are nice and docile? Upon seeing the diaper change, the old lady now walked over and said, "no, you can't do that." She wanted to call police. My sister, stood on her ground and said it is ridiculous.
This diaper changing experience and the lady wanting to police are not factors for this low rating. I could see it was gross and understand where the old lady was coming from. The low rating was mainly because the old lady waitress would NOT serve us at all. She didn't seem to care whether we patronize her place or not.
How's the food? it's OK.
How's the price? Each item is like $1 more compared to restaurants in San Gabriel. Given people in South Pasadena drive nice cars like Jaguars, they probably feel it's cheap.
What about parking? I only saw street parking. I had to park on the other side of the dangerous street and walk over.
Try another place for excellent service and food: Yoshino, located on valley blvd.
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Yoshino gets busy and you can find parking in an underground parking garage. -
Review from Yong L.
Pasadena, CA
5/6/2012
Very good sushi and teriyaki. Basically food at ai is good but the service, especially old lady at front desk is awful.
Food is 5 star, service is 0 star -
Review from Kerry O.
South Pasadena, CA
5/7/2012
This place stinks! The old lady that seats you has the worst attitude of any business person I have ever met! The service is completely sub-par, but I have to admit the food is decent. However, you are better served going elsewhere.
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Review from Vicky m.
Alhambra, CA
5/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
The food was terrible and the service horrible I tried to send my dish Back and I was told no . So with that I will never return.
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Review from Rick S.
San Gabriel, CA
5/8/2012
So the first time we tried this place we walked right out because they had no highchairs! Isn't that illegal? But almost a year later we decided to try it and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. This is not gourmet by any means but the service is friendly (they try really hard which I appreciate) and they have a full bar. The sashimi is pretty good and I really liked the tempura. My meat was awful but I should have asked for it medium rare. I will for sure go back and will rate them again just to be fair. I would say this is definitely worth a shot though.
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Review from Randy W.
South Pasadena, CA
5/7/2012
This is the best kept secret around. Real Japanese food being made by real Japanese sushi chefs. If you are looking for a piece of Japan here in America, go to the Ai and enjoy something that you would have to fly thousands of miles to find. Actually, if you went to Japan you would be paying alot more as everything is sooo expensive there.
The Ai is rocking a new full service bar with the best line up of beers and saki along with all the best mixed drinks. The food is always fresh and cooked or made while you wait.
Fumito makes awesome sushi, the grill in the kitchen turns out to die for food. Mashed patatoes with garlic are a killer side dish that people crave.
The price is right and the service is worth the wait. People need to back off on the hostess, after over 40 years of seating people, Amy gets a pass on not making small talk with customers.
Customers have been coming for over 30 years and new customers are jumping on the band wagon all the time.
Parking in the rear off the alley. -
Review from B I.
South Pasadena, CA
4/22/2012
Haven't been here in years and am not sure why! Anyhow, decided to go on Saturday evening at 6:30 as my daughter wanted Japanese food. Yes, the place was packed and about 85% Asian (I am, too) -- a very good sign. We were lucky enough to get the second to last table.
We were immediately asked for our drink order. The very, very busy waitress came after we looked like we finished looking at the menu. We needed extra time and she graciously allowed for that. Anyhow, service was flawless.
Sushi came first, followed in about 10 min. by our entrees. The food was perfect, prepared exactly as ordered. We ate slowly and were not in the least harried by anyone, although there were now people waiting. My tea was constantly kept hot.
Prices here are really excellent. Two each entrees, sushi and drinks for $33? Ai's just became our go-to Japanese restaurant. -
Review from Jenni U.
Pasadena, CA
3/15/2012
Favorite sushi restaurant. Period. Fumito-san is amazing. I've been coming in here for years. Great food. Incredible sushi. Best salmon sashimi- always fresh and perfectly chilled. Get the yellowtail collar. SO good. I just picked up an order for chicken udon to go and it's damn delicious. I never get udon to go because it gets too soggy but Ai does it right. Never had a problem with service. Always super friendly and very hospitable.
south pas' finest. -
Review from O. A.
South Pasadena, CA
3/31/2012
I really like this place. The new bar is a nice addition and they make the best vodka dirty martinis EVER! The food is good too. Last night I had a taste of their Japanese grilled peppers - they were HOT but delicious!
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Review from Tess S.
Temple City, CA
12/1/2011
I had a bad experience at Ai. I ordered the sukiyaki and the meat was big chunks meat, untrimmed cartilage and fat. When I took a bite it was chewy and nasty. Usually good Japanese restaurants use decent meat for their sukiyaki and then they slice it very thin. I returned it, Euwwwww. . . If I go again, I will order something safe like a dinner combo next time.
There's a young woman that is a great and friendly hostess. The older gal that served as a hostess was pretty sour, and she was there last night. But it's there and it's close. . . I recommend going to Oomasa instead if you want a reasonably priced Japanese food fix. The dinner prices are comparable but the quality of the ingredients is better. -
Review from Michelle A.
Los Angeles, CA
10/7/2011
Began to eat dinner with my partner there last night. Out of corner of my eye on wooden barrier between the booths...a cockroach crawling.
need I say more? yuk. we left. never to return again. -
Review from carol s.
South Pasadena, CA
12/23/2011
Service: Okay but too slow.
Food: The sushi bar is great but the rest are like Japanese fast food. -
Review from Ania S.
South Pasadena, CA
12/21/2011
I love this place despite the mixed review.
The miso soup is a killer. I don't know how they make it but it is the best miso soup I have had so far.
Lunch special is very affordable. Their side dish of mash potato is my husband's favorite. I cannot tell because he likes it so much so always eats my portion of mash potato.
I know the service is not the best but I like it. Because sometimes I don't like getting bothered by the servers asking how everything is every 5 minute. We eat at Ai Restaurant, pay then get out. No mess, no fuss. Love it! -
Review from Anne J.
South Pasadena, CA
2/20/2012 3 Check-ins Here
We thought the food was ok so we kept ordering one after another. Server wasn't very pleased and asked that we order everything we want at once because they are busy. Really?!? Poor customer service.
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Review from Kasra D.
Los Angeles, CA
12/21/2011 1 photo
This place was awful. I don't care if you're the last customer to walk in for the evening, the quality of service should not change whatsoever. That was not the case with us. We never got offer for drinks to start out with, silverware/chopsticks, offers for appetizers/soup/etc, UNLESS WE STOPPED TO ASK SOMEONE. Not to mention the waitresses were non-existent (maybe they were sent home due to being a slow night on a Friday??).
I asked the sushi chef if he could make me some dishes "omakase" style, his answer was "ok so you want one of everything?". He also continued to push the salmon, which was mediocre at best. The sushi selection wasn't very good, and the miso soup tasted like it came from pre-packaged powder.
I am generally a fan of an air of authenticity when it comes to ethnic food, ESPECIALLY SUSHI. All the workers in the restaurant, except for the sushi chef, spoke Spanish, rather loudly mind you. Maybe because in an almost empty restaurant, THEY CHOSE TO SEAT US RIGHT NEXT TO THE KITCHEN.
Best part of my review by far:
I think the icing on the cake for the already sour evening was when I saw the sushi chef take the wet dish rag from the sink and place is next to where all the fish is stored for sushi and watching all the dish water drip into the meat.
No thank you.. do yourself a favor and go somewhere else in the Pasadena area. -
Review from Renee T.
Alhambra, CA
2/15/2012
Spent a quiet Valentines' evening here. There was a bit of a wait for a table but my date and I opted for the sushi bar. It appeared the place has its set regulars, the first sign that it must be good. The menu has only traditional Japanese items, not fancy named rolls here. Just fresh fish and for people who want authentic. Reasonably priced we experienced friendly helpful service...and the steamed Asparagus with a miso sauce was a great starter choice rather than the go-to of edamame. I wouldn't mind becoming a regular at their sushi bar.
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Review from Stefanie L.
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
8/6/2011
Haven't been to Ai in years.... Don't know why we ever stopped going!
We were seated immediately :)
Service was fast, friendly, and accurate.
Portions were HUGE :)
Excellent tempura and salmon skin salad.
I do not recommend the chicken in the udon chicken.
Will definitely return! -
Review from Kenny H.
Alhambra, CA
1/2/2012
the sushi is good, buy the server is way too slow to take our orders and delivery out food out, over all the price is very reasonable. I go there twice a month as usual customer....
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Review from S T.
Alhambra, CA
7/25/2011
Hubs and I came here whenever we wanted to eat out, but had no idea what we wanted to eat. We both love japanese food, but don't want to spend a fortune.
I agree with some of the other reviews about the hostess and service. It's not the best. And frankly, they are sometimes pretty rude. The environment doesn't seem very clean, so I usually order the bento boxes or stuff that come cooked. We ordered some raw fish one time and it was super thin and super small. So never again did we order raw fish.
My friend ordered the salmon one time and she said it was super dry. So since then, we haven't really visited this place much. If we want Japanese food and especially if we want raw fish, we would rather pay more at a place that's more fresh with a better environment....and with better service. -
Review from Susan M.
Los Angeles, CA
4/26/2012
I was there for lunch for Administrative Professionals' Day today, a choice by our support staff. The food was just okay to me. Definitely a good deal tho. Most of my co-workers ordered teriyaki chicken and the shrimp tempura combo for $7.50; the portion is pretty decent and they all liked it. I ordered the everyday special, where they come with 6 pieces of Nigiri sushi and 1 roll of spicy tuna cut roll ( 6 pieces). The Nigiri sushi comes with tuna, salmon, albacore, halibut, saba and shrimp. The freshness of the fish were just average. The tuna, salmon, hilbut and shrimp were not too bad, but definitely not Little Tokyo quality. The albacore was a little too dry in my opinion and saba was way too fishy for me. Oh, the service wasn't too bad,better than what I thought from the reviews I read here. Overall, I only give it a 3 star, not sure if I would go back again. However, it is good choice if you just want a quick sushi lunch for under 10 dollar and you don't have time to drive to Little Tokyo, then this wouldn't be that bad of a choice.
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Review from Eliza s.
Pasadena, CA
12/18/2011
we did not eat here.. and here's why
terrible service- after i wrote my name on the "waiting list" I asked the older lady at the front desk how long the wait was for 2. she answered me with her index finger & didn't even look up from another customer's bill (i believe she was swiping a credit card and inputting in the balance) - rude encounter 1
after she was done looking down - she looked up however didn't even look around to see who might have asked her the question and went about her way to do something else - rude encounter 2
restaurant was very busy and I've heard good things about it ---- however... not worth the rude customer service, so we left... -
Review from Mark K.
Hancock Park, CA
6/4/2011
I was introduced to this place by my very good friend and now I've got a new favorite place for sushi/sashimi.
Usually, delicacies such as uni and monk fish liver need to be fresh and of high quality to be completely enjoyable. Prior to Ai, I never fully enjoyed monk fish liver. Now, it's one of my favorites that I'll be sure to order whenever I visit. Nothing beats a good sushi/sashimi dinner, sake, and a great sushi chef to shoot the breeze with! :) -
Review from AK K.
Northridge, CA
8/2/2011
I drove pass this restaurant almost everyday. Decided to give it a shot. It wasn't worth it at all.
let's start by their service, their restaurant has about 2 tables of customers in it when i walked in. They somehow manage to keep things super slow.
My salmon sushi wasn't fresh, but that's not all. it has 3 pieces of bone in it. lucky, I didn't swallow those bone. How can they let someone who has no skill be a chef. This is horrible and unacceptable! I showed the waitress those bone but it seems like she didn't get it. In fact, she barely speaks English! After a few minutes of trying to tell her what's going on, she finally understood me! But all she did was said "sorry". Well, what can you expect from them after bad food and bad service? I didn't want anything from them, all i wanted was a check and to get out of there.
I wont be coming back to this restaurant again. Ai is the worst sushi place i've been to. Their salmon skin hand roll were slimy and burnt. Thinking of it makes me want to vomit. Too bad i cant give less than one star for this restaurant.
Avoid this place! -
Review from allen c.
San Marino, CA
2/18/2012
I ate there this sat. Service is D-, they do care about the customers it will take an half an hour to get your food. That is the norm. All three table next to me complain about bad services and why the food takes so long. Just use your iphone timer to see for yourself
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Review from Anthony I.
Northridge, CA
6/23/2011
Only two stars.
Old Lady hostess wasn't very warm.
Pork Katsu, burned.
Sushi/Sashimi really small. non existent wasabi.
Service Slow.
Not bad if I'd never in my life tasted Japanese food. But I have. =/ -
Review from Cari C.
Pasadena, CA
2/19/2011
I've been meeting my friend who lives in the area at this restaurant for years and I will continue to meet her there for dinner because it's very good. The only complaint I have is that sometimes the service is a little slow. That's why i gave it a 4. The place isn't that big and I know they can do better. The food is good though and prices are also good. Sushi portions are great! All I need is one order of 8 piece sushi, miso soup, cabbage, and soy beans and I'm good. The cabbage is unique and is an acquired taste, but I love it!
Parking is also good, but it does get busy past 7 so get there around 5 when they open for dinner. I have never experienced poor wait staff service in terms of them being rude. I tend to be skeptical of reviewers who say the waiters were rude because I suspect they were rude to the waiters. Waiters generally don't act rude unless they've had a bad day and people have been mean to them so I wouldn't avoid this place because a few people have experienced "bad behavior" by the wait staff. It's a pretty good sushi place and I've never questioned the freshness of the food. -
Review from Summy L.
Los Angeles, CA
This is one of the best little local authentic Japanese restaurant in south Pasadena. Don't expect too much in ways of decorations or color as this is a no frills kinda place that clearly focuses on the presentation of the food rather than the atmosphere. You won't hear any complains here because I'm all about the food and the bottom line. The price at Ai is absolutely inexpensive and very reasonable. The crowded restaurant is a sure indicator everyone is on board with the price. Come early for dinner as peak time can yield a long wait. You know you're at an authentic restaurant when you see plenty of older Japanese folks dining from this place.
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Review from Chris K.
Altadena, CA
10/23/2011 12 Check-ins Here
Decent food at a good price. Service is so so.
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Review from Jerod Y.
South Pasadena, CA
3/16/2011
My friend and I couldn't believe we've lived in South Pasadena so long without trying this place.
I had the chirashi bowl and was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful selection. The sashimi was cut large and thick and tasted so yummy! There was quite a bit of variety and the price was so reasonable for dinner...I think $11.95.
My other friend had the saba dinner plate with sashimi. The saba was a big portion of grilled fish and it was so juicy full of flavor. We all loved it and definitely will come back for that again.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience and the price was quite reasonable for great Japanese food! Our server was so sweet and helpful with her suggestions on our first visit! I really can't believe we never tried this place earlier! -
Review from Angelo C.
Los Angeles, CA
5/26/2011
I was pleasantly suprised.
We instantly were greeted and escorted to the sushi bar. The food was absolutely incredible. The service: great. Our drinks never empty and our plates never bare. We laughed and exchanged stories with the chef. What a great place.
Highly recommend.
I will be back. -
Review from William Y.
Alhambra, CA
1/12/2007
Just took the family out for some Japanese food tonight. We haven't gone for awhile and at the suggestion of the number 2 son we decided to give Ai another shot at our business.
All four of us had an excellent dinner, the food is quite fresh and tasty. Our waitress was very attentive. The water and tea cups were refilled with regularity to the extend that I had to make an extra trip to the little boy's room.
The prices are reasonable and although it was a 20 minute wait for dinner, it was worth the wait.
Great food and great service with moderate prices are a great combination for a local eatery. -
Review from Rebecca S.
Los Angeles, CA
8/25/2006
If you're looking for great Japanese food for a decent price and great quality, this is the place to go. This family-owned-and-run restaurant has great sushi, sashimi, and excellent udon and tempura. The wait isn't more than 15 minutes at most, if you get there early (opening time for dinner is 5:00 p.m. for those interested), and service is excellent in both disposition and speed.
Must try dishes:
Shumai (appetizer)
Beef teriyaki and sashimi or tempura (combo)
Chicken teriyaki and sashimi or tempura (combo)
Beef Udon
Tempura Udon
Ai's Sushi Love boat (enough for two)
Overall, a great place for Japanese cuisine. -
Review from Liz X.
Chicago, IL
3/5/2007
God almighty, I love this place. For good cheap, pretty decent and fairly authentic Japanese food (and run-of-the-mill) sushi, this place ROCKS! It doesn't look like much from the outside and I'll admit, I ignored it for a long time, but I finally went on the advice of a fellow oinkster like myself. Since then I've introduced it to a few of my poor sap friends that still live all the way out there and they can't get enough. In fact, this place is so good that when my SoPas friends and I want to get together for dinner, I offer to schlep my ass all the way out there from Hollywood just so we can gorge ourselves at Ai.
My faves are :
1.) the Chirashi: simple, fresh pieces of fish, and surprisingly filling
2.) the Pork Katsu: fried pork...you really can't go wrong with a piece of fried pig in my book, then it's all cooked in an egg covering...AND it's only around 7 bucks, WTF?
3.) the udon
My fish-a-terian friend gets the salmon and loves it.
If ever in So Pas, go...if you live in So Pas and haven't tried it (which is probably doubtful), go... -
Review from Marlan W.
Los Angeles, CA
9/3/2009 2 photos
I review this with mixed emotions. Why blow the lid off the best kept secret in Pasadena? But if I don't review my favorite restaurant in the world during a "soft" economy...well, I just have to do it, right?
I've been coming at Ai (no, that's NOT a typo) since '89. I'm not a resident of South Pas but it's always been worth the drive. At the height of my adoration, I would go 3 or 4 times a week--often driving from my job in Santa Monica.
The reason is simple:
The food, both raw and cooked, is the best Japanese cuisine I've ever had in any state...and more important, when you're there, you're FAMILY. Eat your heart out, Italiano restaurants.
The sushi bar is literally a trip. It transports you to another time when folks could gather for friendship, debate and good company.
I've been away from L.A. for 5 years (now relocating back) and was relieved to find Ai exactly the same. I visit as often as I can to partake of the beautifully arranged, delicious sushi and the miso soup which always takes away my fatigue at the first sip.
It's fun to sit at the bar, listening to the anecdotes (the last one involved a woman who said she taught a wife-beater a lesson with a whip...) or watching the regulars & sushi chef (Fumito) head out to a customer's funeral (Amy, the owner sent a wreath since she had to hold down the fort).
It's never clique-ish at the bar. I sat down the other day and a woman I'd never met before poured me sake from her bottle before asking my name.
All who work there are skilled and eager to assist. Fumito is not just a sushi chef, he's a master craftsman. To get the full effect, sit where you can watch his hands (as you would a concert pianist).
The lunch special is CHEAP and fills you for the afternoon.
I recently ordered TO GO orders of Chicken Terriyaki with their light-as-air tempura and salad (a combo) for my non-sushi-eating friends and their kids -- and it was a HUGE hit. Never greasy. Never heavy.
The excitement last week was HBO's "Madmen" being filmed in the parking lot. The crew ate very well that day and I've posted the pics of preparation on Yelp.
A little bit of heaven. Other restaurants are just "restaurants." -
Review from Miguel B.
Ramona, CA
7/3/2010
What can I really say ... I loved this place.. I have been going to it 4 years now but today was one of worst experience I have ever had. I will never go there again. As my family and I were starting our lunch (since now they started to open for lunch) One of the male waiter comes to me and say "how is our service" I said.. "Fine" then he ask again .. the same questions "how was our service" "Fine, why do u ask?" so the waiter goes off.. "every time you come u never leave a tip and you need to start leaving tips for us cz this is how we live" I was mortified.. in front of my mother and children this ASS has the balls to say that.. I will never go back and I will facebook, yelp it and twitter it. Oh I forgot .. they had a full crowd.. so the table by our side and in the back heard.. ASS
A few of people have ask "did I ever tip?" Yes I tip all the time. I would never put cash on the table, I would always put it on the credit card receipt when I paid my bill. Plus I would have tip very well. -
Review from Adriana K.
Alhambra, CA
6/17/2010 8 Check-ins Here
Quality Fresh sushi Huge portions Great price!
Forget Wokcano or the overpriced sushi places in Old Town Pasadena. Drive a few mins down Fair Oaks and come here instead.
This is my sushi staple. Been coming here since the mid 90s - food is consistently good. Really, the only place where I actually crave the miso soup.
Fumito-san is great and makes it worth sitting at the sushi bar. Occassionally, he'll throw something new at you for you to try - I feel like a dolphin, but hey - free & good - gotta trust the guy - he's been doing this forever.
GREAT deals during lunch. Dinner plates come with extras like fruit, salad, or mashed potatoes. I love the salad dressing (it's a mystery). Portions are pretty huge - the Ai Love Boat has everything and for $15 or so definately enough for 2-3 to share.
Usually crowded, so leave yourself some time to wait - but you may get lucky and get a table right away. Service can be slow - but if you go to hang out and not be in a rush - it's all good :) Check the hours before you go, because they do close after lunch and re-open for dinner at 5pm. Closed Mondays.Listed in: South Pasadena
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Review from Paige H.
Boulder, CO
10/19/2006
Ai is a favorite for their great food, comfortable environment and really good prices. I had lunch their today and was reminded of their excellent lunch specials. I tried their Japanese style fried chicken, a dish that only appears on the menu as the Thursday lunch special. It was a great spin on the traditional and quite yummy with a little tempura sauce. But you can't go wrong with their sushi lunch special (with miso soup) for about $6.
And I love their little zen garden in the front of the restaurant.Listed in: Pasadena Favorites
