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Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
Neighborhood: Gaslamp
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im actually enjoying this place more and more now! i think its because now that i am 21, i get to enjoy their amazing Beer and Sake special. $5.50 for a Large Sapporo + small hot sake!!.. ah, do not underestimate the combination of the two. i always reach a nice buzz before i get seated/receive my food. it's cool too because they have a bar area where u can just talk and chill with friends. the crowd is always nice and diverse
so yeah, to sum it up, if you like to get drunk for cheap and you're patient enough to wait for a table, Sushi Deli is a must!
Came here last summer, but I still remember the long wait. The wait on a busy night is way too long.....could be 1 hr+......
Sushi and scallop dish are pretty good and prices are not bad AT ALL!
Restroom was memorably dirty....
Overall I'd come back next time I'm in SD.
Where have you been all my life? (or at least the last 2.5 years I've lived in San Diego)
I've been a sushi lover way before it became trendy. I've been eating sushi since I was a kid and it ranks as one of my favorite foods. The only problem is it usually requires dropping more money than I care to for a less-than-filling meal.
Not anymore.
A good sized plate of chicken teriyaki or karaage chicken, a specialty sushi roll, a large Sapporo, and a small sake for less than $20 after tax and tip? Wow! I kid you not, you will leave Sushi Deli stuffed, buzzed, and happy.
How this place only has 3.5 stars, I do not know. I do not care. Yes, the line to get a table is long. Get over it -- or don't so I can get in that much quicker.
No, this place is not RA. It's not a nightclub that serves sushi all while making you empty your savings account to get that roll you wanted. I enjoy the sushi at Sushi Deli more and for 1/3 of the price.
Look people, this place is no joke. It's the only thing about San Diego I'll miss when I move in 6 months.
That being said, listen to the people who say the food and/or wait sucks -- I love Sushi Deli, but I too hate waiting. (But I will continue to endure the waits at this place.)
Holy Crap!! You can not get better than this place. My friend and I went here on a whim before we went to go see the Lion King musical (awesome!). We got there at Happy Hour. I was afraid of a line or crowd, but there was none! We waited for like 3 minutes then sat right at the bar.
The food was awesome!!! We paid like $18 for 2 sodas, miso soup, and 5 rolls. You cant beat that. I can not wait to go back!! New favorite sushi spot!!
This place is great!
We went on a Sunday night with 6 people. We ate 13 plates of delicious sushi and it came out to be under 100 dollars! That's amazing! That's not even possible at other places. Don't worry, we tipped our waiter well. We gave him a 20 dollar tip!
Anyway, pretty fast service...we didn't have to wait for that long. We waited like 10-15 minutes to get a table. I think we just got lucky, because usually the line is lonng... If you are bringing a big party, it might be a little tidy, but who cares right? Squeeze your @$$es in and get comfy..lol
Red Dragon, Tropicana, and the one with the smoked salmon and a hint of pineapple taste was sooo good!
If you are a sushi lover, this place is it!
What more can you say about a place having over 300 reviews...in my opinion the best deals on sushi I've experienced. The quality is above par, not the best, but who can complain about the prices. Plus they play 80's music and the place is always happening.
If you plan on going on any given weekend...be prepared to wait at least 45 minutes for a table, but the good news is there's a bar to grab a tall Sapporo and house saki (it only tastes like isopropanol for about the first half of your Sapporo) for $5.50 and complimentary soy beans.
Great sushi, prices and lively environment. I'm thinking about copying their style and opening a restaurant on the East Coast.
I came here on a Friday night for a birthday with a group of 10 and not only did we wait a very long time in the cold, but we ended up getting split up into 2 tables across the room for each other. That sucked. I tried a bunch of sushi I've never tried before and it was a cool experience. For a bunch of sushi and a large sake I paid $17 bucks- its a pretty good deal, but I don't know if it was worth it. Then again, I'm not big on sushi.
So...I've been meaning to write this review for a while now but just haven't found the time.
About a month ago me and 5 of my friends decided that we wanted to go to Sushi Deli 2. When we got there we wrote our name on the list and realized that there would be a little bit of a wait. After 20 minutes they called our name, but 2 of our friends were just parking there car over at Horton Plaza, so they told us we couldn't be seated. WHY???? I don't understand why the couldn't seat us at the table they had for us just because 2 people in our party weren't there. So we patiently waited again until the other 2 showed up, which was 2 minutes later, and informed them that our entire party was now here, but yet they told us they gave our table away. Are you kidding me????? So we all went to the bar to wait some more for a table, and after another 45 minutes we finally got seated. So our wait was only 1 hour and 5 minutes because we were missing two people in our party.
Once we got seated, everything started to calm down and we were able to get our food order in, only after we were informed that we had 10 minutes to order our food and this would be our only chance to order food because the kitchen was going to be closing down for the evening. Well, we all kind of put that aside and ordered our sushi. The food came in a reasonable amount of time and was actually pretty good for the price.
After we finished our food we were waiting for our check from the server and realized that she was no where in sight. She pretty much gave us our food and left. About 5 minutes later we saw her eating her dinner at the bar. We waited and waited and waited for our check and for our server to be finished with her dinner. After waiting, a little bit longer, we approached another server and asked for the manager....here's the funny thing....our server was the manager. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Not only was she a horrible server but she was also the manager. When we asked why we had horrible service, she explained to us that she thought we had already paid and then gave us some BS excuse. Mariko, the manager/server, at Sushi Deli 2 should be fired and should have apologized for her attitude and bs excuses that night.
Let's just say...I will not be going to Sushi Deli 2 ever again...but I do love Sushi Deli 1 and 3!!!
Their drink specials are where it's at though. You get a large bottle of Sapporo and a carafe of warm house sake for like $5! This is my kind of place to grab a quick bite and prefunk before heading to wherever your destination is for the night.
The food isn't conveyor belt style, but the quality is basically like kaiten sushi, which is to say it's not great. Not bad, but definitely not that great. The draw is that it's really cheap and very fast.
The wait is crazy, although you can get in a little faster if there are only 2 of you, especially if you're willing to sit at the bar instead of a booth. They don't take reservations, so be prepared to wait at least a half hour at mealtime. I'll definitely come back again.
Fave place for cheap sushi. The tuna poppers are amazing.
The wait: 45 minutes or so, on a Friday night.
The service: Good. I feel like we waited a long time for our food, but maybe it was just because I was hungry.
The food: Pretty good. Try the Hot Hot Crunchy Roll, and round out your meal with Inari if it's not cheap enough.
The price: Cheap for sushi. We each spent about $17 on food, including $5.50 for a large sake for each of us.
Overall: I'll be back, but probably not when it's so busy. Great location to start a night of bar-hopping from, and $5.50 for a 12 oz. bottle of sake (about as much alcohol as two beers) is a good way to start.
This is not the fanciest place, nor is it the best sushi in the world, but you know what? They are fast and and friendly! Luckily, we got there at the right time and had only about a 7 to 10 minute wait.
Walked in and, of course, the popularity of this place is how inexpensive it is. 2 beers, 2 sakes, 2 rolls, a hand roll and some other stuff all for $36 (including the tip)...not bad, not bad.
No sooner do you put your order in and the chef is handing over your food. Nice.
I wouldn't say to go here if you want your socks knocked off-or if you're trying to knock off someone else's (or any other clothing pieces), but for something simple, cheap and fast it works.
I might be writing a better review if only I remember my night here. It's a little fuzzy... so here goes for what I can still recall.
Incredibly cheap drinks... a round of sake bombs for only 15 bucks?? unheard of! So of course we had to take advantage of this... thus the questionable memory. I do remember after ordering we had a whole table full of food, rolls here and there, gyozas, tempura, the list goes on. We must have cleaned house with all our appetites. I only remember leaving full, drunk, and happy... a very nice way to start the night in town. Anyways, next time I'm in SD, I'll have to try to remain a little more sober so I can write a proper review of this place.
This place is fun and loud! I enjoyed the atmosphere. There are beers, sake, and of course SUSHI rolling out of the kitchen. There place has unique rolls that really miss their mark. Some of the rolls sound fun but turn out not to be harmonious flavors as they may read. Prices are the best.
They do not take reservation and you will definitely find your party waiting outside for 20-45 mins (depending on the day). This place is fun but not gourmet.
Wait is still ridiculous... They didn't sit my party of 2 cuz the entire party wasn't there. Lame. This time around I stuck to ordering the rolls. The staff is friendly but my god, sometimes you do feel ignored. The rolls I ordered wasn't bad, just okay. San Diego and Keith Roll. It does get filling but the rice on the outside was mushy. Which meant they cooked it way too long! Plus, majority of the rolls had more rice than a thin layer on the outside. I can see the allure of cheap sushi but do you really have to sacrifice quality? I just hope they improve on their rolls. I'm pretty sure I'll be returning to Sushi Deli cuz I have friends who rave about this place but maybe not this location (unless I have to).
Wait is ridiculous! Cheap sushi and quality is sub par. This place is perfect if you are looking… Read more »
This place was hopping and boasted a long waiting list, which to me was surely a good sign. Luckily I wasn't too hungry at the time so I didn't mind the wait too much...plus, it gave me time to contemplate the menu.
This is where I should have stuck to the age-old rule--ORDER THE SPECIALTY. I don't know what possessed me to order a bowl of completely unspectacular udon with horrible soggy tempura other than the fact that I was cold from standing outside for a long time. Thankfully, the very budget-friendly prices for specialty rolls and platters saved the venue, and I would highly, highly, HIGHLY suggest that you stick with ordering just the sushi rolls. I didn't really get the opportunity to sample the nigiri, but I'm going to go ahead and say...just order the rolls.
In truth, I would probably give this place a 3.5 but out of the goodness of my heart and in the name of good times for a cheap price, this place rounds up to a 4.
Great food. Great prices. I just do not like the long long long lines. However, if you want cheap food near the gaslamp this place is great.
The spicy hot wings are highly recommended.
EEK, two bad lunches in two weeks= no more of my money honey.
Seriously. I really liked the to go line, although the limited menu made it harder to select a good lunch,
Here is my assessment after several months and meals:
Chicken bowl = bad cuts of meat with icky grisly connective tissue. I realize that in some cultures connective tissue is a delicacy and special ceremonies are dedicated to it's consumption, but in my culture the connective tissue is removed and sold to Hormel.
This was all fine, whatevaaaar, I will just eat the sushi that is OK and gets me fed and back to work...until last week.
Last week: Hey ( I say to myself) don't like the connective tissue on the cluck., lets order the Moo. Note to self, bad chicken does not =good beef.
Sadly they ordered the beef from the same connective tissue factory and I had to wait an extra half hour to enjoy the privilege of icky connective stuff and pieces of meat that were more usefully employed as shoe leather. Seriously, you could not chew that stuff. Wasn't even the chew it like gum and hope it dissolves, it was more get me some posts and I can build a teepee right here on Broadway. Homeless problems solved. We have the materials to build shelters for all.
Today in a last ditch effort to try them again ordered a pedestrian roll (no not the real name, although it fits) waited for another half an hour and finally was ready to give up when the crusty riced icky roll showed up.
Bleah.
Poke Salad and Garlic sautéed edamame? Life is good! This was my first trip to this place and the… Read more »
I went to Sushi Deli a couple of weeks ago w/ a few friends. The time before that, Sushi Deli had failed to deliver on the food. This time proved to be the same.
The server was rude, and to be frank, a bit of an asshole about explaining the specials. He insisted that I was wrong about the specials, and was an ass. The food was what you would come to expect for sub-priced sushi: lower quality fish. The handrolls didn't have much flavor, and even the appetizers which I had raved about before were pretty bland.
The only thing that was great was the drink special - still $5.50 for 24oz Sapporo & ~3.5oz of crappy sake. Yes, the sake is still awful, but no complaints there.
If I go to Sushi Deli again, I'll stick to the bar and get a drink special and eat the free edamame at the bar. If the drink special weren't so great, they'd get 1/5.
If you're strapped for cash, and you want to get sushi/completely obliterated, Sushi Deli is the… Read more »
My FAVORITE sushi place in SD!!! The crunchy roll is AWESOME!!
Not only does the food taste FANTASTIC, but the prices are also really great! it's only like $5 for a lot of the rolls! And they have small plates, which are smaller portions of the entrees, it is nice cuz then you can try a variety of food!
Sushi Deli is the number one place I wanna hit when I'm in SD. HAHA!
My friends and I all really love going to Sushi Deli. There is such a wide selection of rolls & seriously, everything is so so so cheap! It makes the food even more simply irresistible! I've tried a lot of different rolls here but the two that I consistently keep ordering is the San Diego Roll & the Red Dragon Roll. Both very very spectacular! Others that I've tried were also good, but not necessarily my favorite: Crunchy Roll, Pico De Gallo Roll, Mexicana Roll, Hot Hot Spider Roll..and many many more. These were all pretty good! I also tried the soba noodle in broth for a change. That wasn't too bad, but it wasn't the BEST. OH! but for an appetizer, you most definitely have to try the spicy tuna jalepeno poppers! Those were extremely good, but also extremely caliente!! :)
If you have friends visiting, you should really take them to Sushi Deli. Although, you have to take into account that the wait is a little long. The numerous times that I've been here, they seated us before the time they actually told us, so be careful if your party isn't all there! They won't seat you unless everybody's there.
I thought the ambiance was really chill and relaxing. They have cute red lanterns everywhere :D Sushi Deli is consistently good. I've tried Sushi Deli 3 & the food tastes the same, which is a definite plus in my book.
Excellent value. Delicious Miso Soup, rolls, and Nigiri. They even carry Sapporo Light... Yeah!! Lots of Sake drinks, I think next time I'll try the Lychee Sake. Quick service and even quicker food. Horribly busy with long wait times though. Don't forget, you have to your name on the waitlist as there often isn't a host waiting outside to welcome you to Sushi Deli 2. On a busy night, hubby and I have waited over an hour. That's an amazing wait given that our food arrives in under 10 minutes. The one real drawback is that they close early, 10 pm on weekends.
This is by far my favorite sushi joint. The people are awesome and the environment is super fun.
You are probably wondering why I gave them 4 stars... It's because the food is not mind blowing (but it is the best for the price).
Speaking of price, my wife and i go here about 2 times a month and our bill is at most $30 for the both of us. We can get 3 rolls, fried gyoza and a drink special and still leave a really nice tip.
I would definitely recommend this place to everyone!!!
Cheap rolls, but not high quality sushi. It's a place where you fill up on rolls and not have to pay the high prices. Go during happy hour and eat the hand rolls for half off. That's a good deal. For real quality, go somewhere else.
I get a stomach ache sometimes when I come here, but maybe its because I stuff myself with their sushi which is so price friendly. I like the seared ahi roll with 7 spices, one of my first forays into eating raw sushi.
I also got the fried tofu appetizer, which was just all right. pictured here:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
And the Baked Scallop Dynamite, pictured here:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
This took forever to come out and still wasn't baked enough -- it was kinda goopy. Lots of imitation crab and small scallops, overloaded with mayo. I will pass on this next time.
Love love love!! I used to go here so often with my bf since he lived in SD. This place is so affordable and delicious! Yes the waiters and sushi chefs aren't Japanese but who cares because the sushi is delicious! The fish may not be the BEST quality but it's still pretty good for the price. You can get a 4 x 4 (16 pieces of 4 different kinds of rolls) for about 8 bucks! So worth it. Park at Horton's Plaza and get it validated for free. Be prepared to wait at least 30 mins - 1 hour on busy nights. Not open for lunch on weekends (which is the only bad thing). The place is hit and has a great ambiance.
Its good.
you should go.
i mean it.
The perfect pre-party dinner spot. Sometimes its a long wait, ~30-45min but they have a bar and wonderful sake/large Asahi beer special for $6. They give you free soybeans at the bar. They have great service and seat you as fast as they can and get you your food as fast as they can, but they're not rude to also try and get you out as fast as they can. I love coming here whenever we visit SD. I have lotsa vegetarian friends and they have lots of options for them as well including dinner boxes (not just tempura)! The rolls are super cheap averaging about $5 and the fish quality not bad at all.
For my birthday they gave us a bowl of green tea ice cream (like 4 scoops, they definitely did not skimp on the ice cream) that had little chocolate poki sticks and sweet crunchy things on it and a candle. It was amazing and what a wonderful bday song that joined it from my beautiful wasted gfs.
I have been to Sushi Deli numerous times and this time around I ordered the San Diego roll, which was everything that I expected. Just imagine spicy tuna roll meets crunchy california roll with fresh tuna on top and crunchy flakes to top it all off and of course the sauce they drizzled all over this concoction. They have the best prices($2-$7 for their rolls) and their sake and large beer is only $5.99! It was very filling for my one and only roll, but I have tried the hot hot Shauna roll, the Shauna roll, CA roll, and more. The line is pretty long, my gf and I had to walk 5 blocks JUST to put our names on the list! Well worth it :) And yes, this sushi place is vegetarian friendly!
PS, if you or your friend is celebrating a birthday, they give you this massive amount of green tea ice cream!
The shushi is ok, the real thing that I like about this place is its a great place to start a night out in downtow!
$5 24oz beers and a craft of saki! toss in half decent food (tofu salad is pretty good) and it makes for a great start to the evening.
can be a long wait and the wait staff are in a rush to turn the tables over.
But don't let that discourage you just dont' bring a date there trying to impress, but go with friends to start out a night on the town.
I love Sushi Deli 2 because they have the best vegetarian sushi that I've encountered at any sushi restaurant in San Diego. Not being a seafood lover, their Shauna Roll, Sunshine Roll, & Tofu Roll are my top choices when I go there. I'm crazy about the Miso soup & the Seasame chicken as well. If you're into spicy food, I recommend getting the Seasame chicken with the spicy sauce. They have pretty delicious drinks as well, the Plum Splash being my favourite right now. Sushi Deli 2 isn't the best traditional sushi restaurant around, but when you're in the mood for good food, drinks, & a night Downtown it has the attributes that count: cheap, fun, & delicious.
I'm hooked on this place. :)
I work in downtown. My coworker convinced me to come here despite my whining. I have always seen long waits for this place. Well, i have to say that its worth the wait. the most i have waited to be seated was 15 min. their tofu and veggie roll is good and i love their crunchy roll!
I appreciate Sushi Deli for what it is. Cheap sushi. The apps are good, the sushi is alright, but the price is amazing! They have really great drink specials as well (5.50 for a large beer and "small" sake!), and the atmosphere at this downtown location is awesome and much larger compared to the one in Hillcrest. The wait @ this Sushi Deli is usually much shorter too (probably because they have more room...duh).
The service is usually very nice, but to the point. Its all about turning tables here. Which is fine, they are staying true to a sit down "deli" style.
I like coming here when I'm in the mood for some quick and basic, crunchy, fried, cream cheesy fish and rice concoctions. (I recommend the Shauna roll or the 7 Spices roll.) Also, maybe a cheap drink. For high quality sushi moods, I don't go here.
So, if you know what to expect, this place is just fine!
I came here on the recommendation of a friend and a couple of the valets at the hotel when I was down for business.
Four of us went around 7pm on a Tuesday and had a bit of a wait (about 10-15 minutes). Obviously, this is a hot spot for the locals which was a great sign right of the bat!
The prices are incredibly CHEAP. But the quality of the sushi is great! They have a huge selection of fancy and traditional rolls and nigri. It was amazing.
The 4 of us ate for $51!!! And we left a lot on our plates. We were stuffed for sooo cheap.
One thing that wasn't so hot was the fact that they used iceburg lettuce for their salad and the service was "meh". Otherwise...
I'm SO coming back here when I come back with my husband later this year! I can't wait. He's gonna love it!
Even though we were in SD for only 5 days, we decided to go here twice. This time around we ordered one bottle of sake and 4 kinds of sushi rolls. I think it came out to $34 for 4 people.
I will spare you the long review, and just leave you with this:
If you are looking for a fun place to try something different but not too adventurous then give this place a try. It will satisfy both the sushi-lover and sushi-phobe. There may always be a long line but it is worth the wait. Think about it... there is a reason why people are waiting outside and other sushi places are empty.
Yes, you will have to stand in line, but it will be worth it. I am not a huge sushi buff, but my… Read more »
Only been here for lunch, so not sure about anything else.
I am a big fan of good, cheap sushi, and that is what this place is. great, and i mean GREAT prices. they open around 11, and it is usually packed for lunch by noon. we usually try to get there around 11:30 at the latest, or else plan on waiting in line.
some people give this place bad reviews for the soup nazi-ish lunch experience, but i really enjoy it actually, lol first off, they will only seat you if EVERYONE in your party is there. we saw some people try to pull some BS and tell them their party was smaller so they could go right in. then their other friends showed up and they acted like it was a surprise and asked if they could be seated with them. Result: No F-ing way. these people made a scene and it was hilarious. The service in this place is extremely fast as well, mostly because they really want to get you out of there fast. before coming, the Sushi Deli veterans I was with really embellished how much they push you out the door though. they never do anything rude. just get your order, your food and your check like their life depended on it.
in conclusion, this is a polite, but very rush hour, lunch place. good food, great prices.
Yum! Cheap! Clean! Excellent Service!
Only downfall... long wait, but that is expected in places that are good.
I was reticent to give Sushi Deli 2 only three stars. A bit of a back-story: I never ate fish when I was little. It's not that I didn't like it, it's that my mom never cooked it for us, so I was never exposed to it. When I got to college, some friends decided we should try out sushi, so I tagged along to some little mom-and-pop sushi store. The simple thought of putting raw meat in my mouth freaked me out a bit, and the addition that it was fish, something so new to me, just made it worse. I think all I could stomach without feeling nausea was the cucumber rolls. I tried a few more times at other sushi places, but it just wasn't growing on me.
Fast forward a couple months, and we take a trip downtown to Sushi Deli 2. I tried it. I loved it. I ate it all, and ordered more. This place was what finally got me into a sushi mode. Now I can go anywhere for sushi and eat it without a problem, but I always view Sushi Deli 2 as my first. So needless to say, I want to be a big fan of theirs.
However, over the last few years, things have declined a bit here. It might not even be changes to how they make the sushi - it might just be me getting a more acquired taste. I don't rely on the multiple sauces and gobs of cream cheese. I don't need so many items on the menu to be small variations of the California roll. I still return when I bring friends into town, but it's just lost a bit of its shimmer in my mind.
The staff can be hit or miss, though most of the time there's not a problem. The food is very reasonably priced. The sushi is very tasty, but traditional it is not. Definitely has prime location, right on Broadway near the mall, so there's plenty to do in the area before and after your meal. I'd recommend going here, but don't expect too much.
I love love love Sushi Deli 1,2, and 3
Though I must say that Sushi Deli 2 is the best.
What is there not to love about $1.50 hand rolls.
If you love yourself you will try the Mexican Roll/Hand Roll.
Trust me.
They, by far have some of the cheapest sushi and rolls out there, but their quality is impressive.
So yeah you have to wait quite a while during the lunch rush and dinner rush, but totally worth it.
Their orange sunrise 'martini' (it's actually made with sake), is delicious. I don't even like sake and I loved it.
Make sure to go during happy hour they have half-priced Hand rolls and Sake.
It's pretty legit, every roll is authentically good: rainbow, caterpillar, dragon, spicy salmon, tuna, ninja, PLUS dozens of their own creative rolls.
How much do I love Sushi Deli? A week before I left to Boston, I ate there 3 days in a row saying goodbye to all my friends.
If only they had more seating. I'd give 'em 6 stars
goddamn these guys ~ they took the best thing on the menu (IMO): the KAREAGE CHICKEN... and changed the recipe... now it tastes like ass...
if it wasnt for the spicy chicken bowl for $3 (from the TOGO counter) - i would skip this place all together.
had to add a STAR -
one reason why:
KARA AGE CHICKEN -
enough said.
Read more »
Neighborhood: Hillcrest
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Gaslamp
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Gaslamp
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Clairemont
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Old Town
Category: Japanese
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