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Mon-Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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I've eaten at a lot of sushi restaurants, and this one I would have to say, because of their lack of selection on rolls is just ok for me. The rolls I have gotten tasted ok. Nothing spectacular. Next time I'll try a bento box.
The service however is great. They're consistently asking if everything is ok and seeing if you're enjoying your meal and if there's anything else they can get you. Everyone is really nice. And it's a nice stroll away from work for lunch.
This is my favorite sushi place in Los Altos! There are boats and there are tables, you can sit at either.
They have an awesome roll that has tempura shrimp, avocado and caramelized walnuts, YUM! My sister makes it veggie by omitting the shrimp, and it still tastes great!
Also their sashimi and fish in general is very fresh, and I've yet to have anything bad here.
Service is easy going and usually acts on your request immediately.
If you're in the mood for sushi and in the area, go to SUMO!
We discovered this place from my son's hot lunch program and since then have been visiting it.
It's a family oriented and kids friendly. The sushi is delisious and guiosa is great. The rolls are nice too.
After years of walking by this place my kids and I decided to give it a try. Sumo has a nice atmosphere and the staff is very friendly. My kids enjoyed sitting at the sushi bar watching the boots sail by. The establishment offers a decent kids menu, which is always nice when you are dining with little ones. My kids really appreciated that the meal included ice cream. It does not include drinks however! I have never been charged such an outrageous amount for apple juice! ($7.50 for three of them!!!) Well, the owners do have a Los Altos rent to pay for and I would imagine it's hefty!
Still, the food was tasty. I enjoyed the sushi a little too much, which showed in the bill. If I could back again, I will be sure to bring my self control and my accountant!
I came here on a Saturday evening, an impromptu date night I guess. It was really last minute because I saw an ad clipping in my man's car about some special to this place and decided to try it since we were both craving sushi. You supposedly save $25 on a $60 deal, so we figure what the heck... why not. When we walked in, we were surprised that the place was packed and we had to wait maybe a good 10-15 minutes for a table.
The platter came out to be a bit smaller than expected, but since I was not that hungry because of the heat, it didn't really hit me. We had a fried spicy tuna roll with some stuff, some unagi/avocado sushi, California roll, 5 strips of sashimi and a Dragon-like roll (excuse the bad descriptions, I was really too tired to truly pay attention). What was weird was that we ordered a tasting menu for 2, yet the sashimi only came in one piece. So I didn't have a chance to try the salmon and something else, which kind of sucked. The octopus didn't taste that great since they did a horrible job of defrosting it. I felt like I was just biting into water. It also came with your typical miso soup and salad, with some lightly sweetned crunchies as well. I would have to say the service was nice, where they always refilled our water and tea. For dessert, we opted to trade in our scoop of ice cream for fried ice cream instead. I would say that was one of the highlights of the meal - lightly fried tempura with green tea inside... what a treat to a hot non-summer's day!
We were being adventurous that day and wanted to try something new. Will we be back? Probably not...
I haven't been to Sumo in years because I wasn't impressed. Tried it for lunch today and I was! Walked in around 12:15 and the boats were full, but the bar was practically empty - my sushi fantasy come true.
The staff was super attentive and the food was well above average for Los Altos.
chinese owner, you know what i mean... regular taste. nothing special. price is higher than the average because of the location. i tried to find something nice to eat in downtown los altos in weekday afternoon but it seems like only this restaurant was opened..
After living in Los Altos for a year now, I can say that this is my favorite local sushi spot. Good sushi (perhaps not the finest ever, but good quality indeed), and even better service that is friendly and hospitable. The overall combination makes for an enjoyable and satisfying sushi experience that has made Sumo Sushi my regular haunt. Its very kid friendly too, so don't hesitate to take the kids along for lunch or dinner.
So I took a pilates class the other night.
I have a question.
How is it that a guy who is able bodied and relatively strong cannot sit with his legs crossed and hold his arms over his head for more than 2 minutes???
Oh, I actually know the answer.
PILATES IS HARD AND ARCHIE HAS A WEAK CORE.
Sweet Jesus. I couldn't even sit up to get out of bed the next morning.
I have a WHOLE new respect for the ladies that look all sweet and innocent with their pilates mats and their smiling faces.
They are animals. Very, very strong animals.
After the pilates ass kicking I needed to get some protein so I decided on Sumo.
Either I was pissed from the pilates class or they had an off night but it wasn't that good.
The ebi was just ok. The saving grace was the soft shell crab roll.
We didn't partake in any sake this evening so not sure about their selection.
I might come back.
As for another pilates class? Jury is still out on that one.
Stretch.
I have been here a few times and for the most part have had a very very average meal, always ordering sushi.
BUT recently I went to pick up some sushi from here and had the walnut prawn roll (2 of them) - this roll alone has totally redeemed Sumo. Next time you go GET IT!
Calm place for lunchtime chat. Quiet and friendly service. Our tea was always filled as we restored our vocal cords. We sat at the sushi boat. The boats offered a good selection--cali rolls, dragon, unagi rolls and the like. Requests are welcome. A nice side to this place was during my stay, at the corner of my eye I got to see an employee slice up slabs of fish, stack them together domino style and wrap them in saran wrap--I was mesmerized. I'm so easily amused. My small lunch consisted of
walnut prawn roll: Um. . .I like my walnut prawns the way chinese restaurants serve them. This roll doesn't pass with creativity; however the roll is tasty. The nuttyness combined with the prawn and rice makes a good one bite mix.
negihama: Topped with crisp green onions, this roll had a nice slab of yellowtail--no skimpy slice nor shredded pieces. I could feel the thickness of the yellowtail grind between my teeth. I was pleased.
spicy tuna roll: Tasty. I had 2 plates of these. The spiciness didn't overload the tuna taste. Not overly hot, just enough to tingle. The avocado and rice mellows out the mixture.
Downtown Los Altos parking can be hard to find sometimes but there is convenient tight parking spaces next to Safeway and it's about a 2 minute walk to Sumo.
Very kid friendly, very average food.
They have a large menu that includes kid plates. The California roll had a lot of mayo in it. Main dish I ordered was the Katsu Curry Donburi. Amount of food was small and it was served in a flat bottom "bowl". Not exactly rice friendly. One person ordered a bento box with salmon. The piece of salmon was huge. Interesting also that nobody in our party got miso soup with their dinner meal. Service was fast and attentive, although they didn't particularly seem to be enjoying their jobs.
Granted the sushi isn't the most amazing ever, but for the lunch crowd the size and price for pretty decent quality is unbeatable.
Okay first off I am not a sushi purist. However I have to say I know what I like and I love this place. My husband loves sashimi and he says it is definitley fresh here. I love the rolls. JD roll is not on the menu but to die for. The staff is sincerely friendly and even though we only go every once in a while the sushi chef remembers us and asks as we are sitting down if we want the JD roll. Very kid friendly and just a great local hangout.
I came here for an afternoon lunch last week and the place was empty. We had great service and the food did not disappoint. I like coming in the afternoon because you get the afternoon special with two types of rolls, soup, and salad. Another reason why I enjoy to come here is that they are always friendly. Even when it's not empty the waiters are always attentive and the food is served quickly.
I like Sumo because I like sushi. It's your standard sushi, satisfying, but not spectacular. The… Read more »
If you want true Japanese foods, knowing what they are, go to Akane. At Sumo Yakisoba isn't Yakisoba; it's Teriyaki Chow mein, yak. I only had one bite, left untouched, but they didn't question me about it, so it's another ethnic restaurant that doesn't care much about customer service if I may add. Sushi is OK, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tuna is frozen.
We passed this place up last time because I was bugged by the stereotypical red lanterns hanging outside. FIRST SIGN. Tonight, we decided that we would give this place a shot and felt a bit adventurous.
Pretty packed for a Tuesday night at 845pm, 15 mins before closing, they greeted us with the traditional Japanese greeting, and seated us immediately.
First of all, no FREE edamame, instead they give you some fried wonton strips in a teacup, yes the kind that belongs on top of a Chinese chicken salad. SECOND SIGN. It's great that we didn't have to ASK for the low sodium soy sauce, seems like it's the only type they stock.
Opened up the laminated makeshift menu, and immediately zoned in on the shu mai, what the hell? Then it dawned on me, this was a Chinese run Japanese restaurant. THIRD SIGN.
We ordered the Johnny roll, $11.50 for 5 huge pieces of sushi. Massive, but the execution and aesthetics of the roll were horrible: spicy tuna atop, looked like something a child put together in a sand castle contest, and the interior was cooked salmon with white onions and mayo, seriously it was like tuna salad. Who mixes cooked and raw fish? Plus the roll would not stay together, fell to pieces immediately and was basically a mess. They also could have garnished the top with green onions instead of yellow sesame, to give it more color and flavor.
We also ordered the crazy roll, 5 small pieces loaded with different colored sauces, presentation was good, but the flavor was lacking, surprising since there were so many condiments squeezed onto the roll.
The bento was $11.50 for rice, soup, salad, two pieces of broccoli, a slice of orange, and a good amount of chicken teri. I thought that was pricey for the amount of food in the bento, especially since you get the same amount of chicken on the yakitori for half the price.
For Sumo, definitely judge the book by it's cover, I should have gone with experience and instinct and stayed away. Not horrible, but there are better choices.
THEY USE MSG IN THEIR SUSHI-YUCK!!!!!
This is definitely NOT the place to go if you are a sushi connoisseur. Not a romantic place to go, full of kids, stiff seating. I can say confidently I will never go here again. Oh and this is the second time I have gotten a cold sore after eating at a sushi restaurant. I have just made the connection. I just called the two sushi restaurants that gave me cold sores and they use MSG!!!!
This is one of the most kid-friendly sushi establishments I have visited. The sushi boats are pretty entertaining for the young ones, though I personally wouldn't touch the stuff on the boats because some of the kids like to handle food that they don't actually grab for themselves or their parents. I always order directly from the chef. Some of the rolls are tasty, but if you order hand rolls with crab make sure they have REAL CRAB on hand. Otherwise you may end up with imitation.
A major complaint I have is the table arrangement. You are practically sitting in the lap of the person next to you. As in, the person next to you who is not in your party. All the tables are too close together; some are divided by short bamboo fences that don't do anything. You can't help but hear everything the table next to you is talking about, and if they have kids there, god help you. You will have no peace your entire meal.
The waiters are friendly and like I mentioned before, some of the rolls and hand rolls are good. But that's about it.
I eat at Sumo all the time since it's kind of close to my house. The food is excellent, always super fresh made by the sushi chef's in front of you at the sushi bar. Even when it's busy, if you have a small party, you can get in without waiting. The food is always served quickly and I highly recommend the Walnut Prawn roll!
Creeping up to 3 stars.
I ate here once before for a late lunch and was not at all impressed. There was a fresheness isues that I have with most sushi boat places I've eaten at.
Today, however, was quite different. My 4 year old and I got there right as they opened. We had, all together, 2 bowls of rice, 1 cup of Miso Soup, 2 plates from the boats and 1 specially ordered avocado maki. Oh, yeah, and we both had tea. The tab came to $18.
While the freshness of the sushi was much better at this second visit, the price was high for what we had. They charged for rice, miso, and, I think, even the tea. Fine. We sat at the counter. We were ordering a la carte, but lunch for 1 adult and 1 four year old who ate only rice and 1 roll should not be $18. Their regular children's menu costs $8, higher than other downtown Los Altos restaurants that serve better food.
The main factor that creeped them up from the 2 stars I would have given them was the Salmon Nigiri. It was possibly the best I've ever had. The piece of salmon was HUGE, not always a plus when it comes to Nigiri. I did have to bite it in 2, which is not really polite eating, but it tasted amazing, with a slight lemon flavor from the slice of lemon on the plate.
But still Mikado, only a block or two away, is much better, if only they had the boats that entertain the 4 year old.
I go to this place a lot. It is a nice location, though quite small for the crowds that it brings in, especially Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. The staff is super friendly, especially the folks you see in there every time you go. If they notice you walk in, you get the traditional Japanese greeting, which always brings a smile to my face. The servers are a little awkward sometimes, especially with tea and water refills, but that's okay. When you sit down, they bring you a plate with steamy hot washcloths to wipe your hands, which is refreshing and and interesting.
It's pretty mediocre as far as Japanese food goes. The sushi doesn't always seem perfectly fresh and the bento boxes, though quite cute, leave something to be desired.
It has a sushi bar, which is fun, but REALLY expensive (in my opinion) for what it is. Anywhere from $1-5 for a 2x4 inch plate that either has sushi, seaweed salad, edamame , mochi (japanese rice paste desert), or gyoza (potstickers) on it. Sometimes it can be a little disappointing when you grab a delicious looking $5 plate with only 2 rolls on it that turns out to be a little rubbery and odd-tasting.
The udon is ookkayy... pretty big bowls. Not AMAZING but good if you want something to warm you up.
Sometimes, when we sit at the tables, we order rolls of sushi. Some are pretty good. We like the Dragon Roll and the Rainbow Roll the best. They are pretty pricey ... around $9-14 for 8-12 (??) pieces of sushi. Not bad though.
Overall, I'd say it's worth a try, even if you don't come back. I haven't found a sushi place in the bay area i like more than Sumo, but that may not be saying much.
Went here on Saturday lunch time before going to the Borders and Stanford bookstore.
I wanted to reveiw Sumika, a Japanese Yakitori restaurant but it was closed till dinner. Was going to try Rin in Los Altos since I hadn't been there for ages but I found out that this japanese restaurant was remodeling and closed prepping to serve Japanese tapas soon.
Sumo was ok.
Well, not really. The food was ok (3 stars...sushi and Katsu curry) but considering the price and way they served it, I can only give this place a 2.
Sat at the sushi boat but since there was not enough customers, they didn't have anything on the boat. The boats were super clean as if they have never used it. Probably because the place is new...well, at least it looks new.
Ambience: 3.5 starts(***1/2)Small but looks bigger with mirrors. I like the ambience with lots of Akachochin, a Red Lantern that says sho-chikubai, hanging from the ceiling.
Food: Sushi: Ordered some nigiri. Maguro, Saba, Salmon, Hamachi...the fish was good. Cut, portion-wise. The nigiri was too soft...softly made and I had to agree with my Japanese friend that it was just ok. The way they cut the fish was also unusual.
Katsu curry: wow!..$11.95...and in fine prints(takes 20mins to prep)..hmm..I was almost not going to order it but I can't leave a store without trying their Katsu curry at least once so I ordered it with sushi.
First of all, curry is supposed to be inexpensive in Japan. Secondly, I've never seen such an expensive Katsu curry in the bay area.
When I ordered the katsu curry, the itamaesan(sushi chef) said, "One 'chicken' katsu curry". I thought, wait a minute....Tonkatsu or pork katsu is the standard when people say Katsu and why did he change it to chicken although the menu says can substitute with chicken katsu upon request... So, I told him Tonkatsu(pork) and there went my order. In about 15 minutes, less time than I expected, came my katsu curry. It was weird!! It came in those round sushi dish and came with no Fukujinzuke, a must red condiment for curry. Instead, it came with two yellow takuan, a pickled radish. On top of that, the katsu(cutlet) was soaked with curry sauce which totally ruins the crispy outer side of the cutlet. Bad!! The curry was definitely cooked at the store as there were small cubes of potatoes and carrots. I know that some restaurants uses the 'industrial use curry' , yup, those that comes in a huge can but this was definitely not the case here.
But...I saw onions! Yes, for those who cook or has taken any french cuisine classes that teaches you how to cook stew knows the onion is supposed to be cooked/stir fried at least 20 minutes and becomes light brown. When you cook, after 10 minutes or so, the onion should become translucent then after several minutes,the onion should "Kitsune iro" meaning, the color of the fur of a fox. This is basic when making Japanese curry and if you do so and cook curry, the onion is basically gone/melted by the time the curry is ready. So, this onion tells you that it's homemade as no curry that comes out of can has onions in this way but it also tells you that it wasn't cooked properly.
The 'invisible' onion is supposed to bring you that sweetness and flavor.... So, I was disappointed with the curry. My ex-gf and I used to cook excellent curry and even if we make it in a hurry, it always tasted excellent! Maybe I'll learn to cook katsu myself and make katsu curry next time but hmm..going through all the hassle deep frying the katsu for a curry serving one might not be worth it...
Price: Curry was at least $3 more than most places.
Sushi, decent price. The most expensive plate was $3.95 so shouldn't be bad but I'm excluding those Seasonal/market price sushi.
Don't think I'll be coming here again....
ok, time to review Satura, the well-know Japanese cake shop that has wedding cake and cookies even.
Overpriced mediocre food. Would not eat here again. It just was not good.
Excellent lunch special. They have a 2 item special that offers from teriyaki steak or chicken to sushi items, to tempura. You also get miso soup, rice, salad, orange slice, dumpling and brocolli. All for 9.50. Its very filling. They also deliver over a certain amount ordered. They do To-go, catering, party trays and dine-in. I prefer this over Sushi Boat any day. :)
I love their sushi and it's wonderfully priced. They have an amazing lunch bento box and I love the golden california roll. The entire staff greets you when you walk in, and really make you feel welcome. Just an all around fun place.
I hit Sumo Sushi with a large work group that ranged from some real sushi snobs to complete newbies. Everyone came away happy. We sat at the boats and watched the chefs making everything fresh, plus we could make requests for our favorites. For someone like me who is still testing the waters (ha!) it was great. The nigiri I tried were all fresh and delicious, and the funky non-traditional rolls were tasty too, especially their signature walnut prawn roll with tempera ebi, avocado and candied walnuts. My coworkers who are more into the sushi aesthetic complimented the rice on its form, but I'm not as picky about that sort of thing. It was pricey, but not outrageously so. And sushi isn't really the type of food to bargain shop.
Many opinions about Sumo for sure... I actually like them. The sushi is not the best I ever had but it is good and the boat service is the way to go (for me...). You can go in, eat what you crave (you can make on the fly requests from the chef, no need to wait to service) and go. So here are the advices:
1. lunch- good place to get in and out quickly and get good food
2. Dinner- around 6 or 7 the place is full with kids. Bring your own if you go there...
3. The sushi is best at the busy hours (12:30, 6:30) when there is a lot of turnaround.
This is my favorite place to eat japanese. They have very good prices and the food is always fresh. They are always quick to seat you and will make things to order if you don't like them a certain way. Its a great place to eat with friends
yes every body loathes this place but if you go hear a lot you come to really like it like 1 to 5 stars if your sore about msg lemme break it to ya. they dont use em. you can listen to me ive been here exatly 86 times. tif on the other hand only once. really good service after a while you dont need to order just say hi. in other words come her and have fun or die
This place is one of the worst Japanese restaurants in the bay area. It was a cold night and we wanted to go try Aldo's the next block over, but it was closed until Jan 3rd. So after searching around the area for a place to eat, we finally settled on Japanese since a nice bowl of hot soupy noodles would warm me up. Well, I ordered their miso udon, it was really bad. Have you ever had those packets of instant udon (you can buy them at Ranch 99 when they're on sale 3 for 99 cents! Yeah, they're good when you're feeling really lazy about cooking)? Well, that is exactly what was served to me, this was not freshly cooked udon, it was the instant stuff, served to me with their instant miso soup. Blech. My husband ordered the chicken katsu curry, also made from instant japanese curry packages. Fine, so you serve us that, but you drown the chicken katsu in the curry instead of placing it on the side or on top, making the breaded chicken all mushy and gross. I'm never coming back here again.
I'll make this quick; Sumo is to be avoided. I've never had a sit-down meal there but have had take-out a dozen times. Each time it was sushi that had clearly been floating around in circles for hours before being loaded into my to-go bag; limp, almost clear rice, atrociously warm seafood, etc.
Los Altos, CA
Category: Japanese
Los Altos, CA
Category: Japanese
Los Altos, CA
Category: Japanese
Sunnyvale, CA
Category: Sushi Bars
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Category: Sushi Bars
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