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I'm baffled. Bewildered. Bemused. Befogged, even, at all of the glorious reviews praising Taiyo's sushi. The sushi is, well, meh. The salads, double meh. Service, it's just ok. The parking. What parking? There's just not much redeeming to be found here when it comes to judging by any of those terms.
I've been twice now and the most remarkable thing about the place is the dark, red interior and décor. It's hippy Chinois meets east side chic in a trippy mash up complete with lanterns and little lights. Down the center and one side of the small space are a few tables leading up to a little sushi bar, but on the other side, they do traditional Japanese bench seating in tiny, high-walled tatami rooms perfectly cozy for two.
Never mind the food, they're just right for ordering up a bottle (or two) of sake along with some fried rolls before sliding the doors shut and, ahem, enjoying, someone's company. After a few drinks and enjoyable conversation, you won't care what you're eating, what you just paid for it, or how absurdly long it took for it to arrive.
For groups larger than a little folie à deux, there's a back room where you can kick your collective shoes off and, well, enjoy each other's company. Just don't get toooo cozy, if you know what I'm sayin'. There's a little hotel down the street (and the back patio of the Pig), for that. Some of us like to keep our mediocre soosh down.
Been here twice now. I have to say it's a nice little place. Good lunch specials and friendly waitstaff.
They just recently petitioned to have their liquor license extended to 2am. I believe they have been approved and in 2-4 weeks they will be slinging drinks till the city's last call. I am interested in seeing how this place is at night while it is functioning like a bar.
What a pity about this place!
The Decor is so cute with the little booths and great wall art of jars, masks and old weaponry.
My only problem with the decor is that the lighting is so very orange, you can't see your food properly! One of the most important things about Sushi is the display. so , Fail on the lighting design!
Otherwise the waitstaff is really friendly, and helpful...tho they seem either to be understaffed or under trained, because we had to ask for a lot of things like side plates and soy sauce dishes which usually are no brainer's , and a couple things were completely forgotten, like the soup which was supposed to come with our meals.. but that;s really no biggie in my book.
My biggest complaint about the place, is the food quality... really mediocre sushi which wasn't especially fresh, and nothing we ordered come out quite right.. except perhaps for the salad..they use the same salad dressing I use at home!! LoL... Sesame Miso out of the bottle!
My guess is that it was a regular restaurant that was converted into a sushi joint...logistically a FAIL.
What a pity.
L.A. is a tough proving ground for sushi spots, and the food is good but not exceptional. BUT great little date spot and the decor is adorable, and hip in an authentic japanese way, esp with the private little booths. wait staff very nice and helpful. we'll go back.
RED. makes my skin. very. Flattering. NOT!
okay this place is definitely cute. Loved the idea of private booths. Me and my 2 great friends came here on a weekday. I didn't really like how parking is pretty bad, because theres not real parking lot. We drove into some Scientology place by accident and pulled out as fast as we could before someone can run up to us and offer a free stress test.
Okay back to the restaurant! I ordered more than I can handle. A salmon bento box, with strawberry sushi roll and a salmon nigiri.
The teriyaki salmon was pretty delicious. It was moist and nothing fishy. Flavor was spot on.
The strawberry sushi roll was very different. I think I would enjoy this more as a dessert. So maybe when you do come here, get this instead of ice cream hahhaa.
the salmon nigiri was alright. wasn't the best salmon I've had but wasn't un-edible.
Service was great. Our waitress was very kind to our annoying needs.
A little bit on the expensive side. our bill came out to 70-something bucks for us 3.
me so broke.
They remodeled. I really liked the fun look of all the clutter of the way it was before, but its nice now. They put sliding doors on the booths and cut a hole out of the bottom of the booths for your feet.
My favorite waitress, Hillary, is still there and as sweet and cute as ever! She remembered us as soon as we walked in. The food is still good. The fish is always fresh. I have never had a problem with the fish not being fresh here.
I am not sure where all of the bad reviews are coming from. I have been here 30+ times and have never had a problem with the food or the service. Of course, I have been to waaay better sushi restaurants than Taiyo, but for a quick bite to eat at lunch time, I think that they are a fair option.
I am going to go ahead and say that I like this place for the lunch specials. We used to come here… Read more »
Location. Location. Location.
And yet, the only words that come to mind after eating here are...
Disaster. Disaster. Disaster.
It's a damn shame when a restaurant scores an amazing slice of real estate and then just doesn't deliver on the goods. Here, amidst the out of work, dying to get discovered pretty actors and the Scientologists basking in the afternoon sun, is an adorable little sushi spot with, sadly, terrible sushi.
We came here because we were starving mid afternoon and after getting denied at a few of our other favorite spots in Hollywood, this place came to mind and it was actually open. Sweet. We scored a parking spot pretty close by which in this neighborhood can be a task and walked in and were given our choice of seats. We opted for the cute little box with the sliding screen door to the left and tried to make our way into it.
I will add here, that if you aren't a size 0 or at the very least a trained yoga instructor, this may present a problem. I felt like a fish out of water trying to maneuver myself into this booth. Comical to say the least... and now, back to the review.
We ordered a few things and I ordered my usual meal. Some hamachi, some spicy scallop handroll action and some halibut. The hamachi was okay. I definitely prefer a Ponzu sauce over it when you are pairing it with jalapenos, but the one they use has a bit of a smoky flavor that didn't real jive with my taste buds. Then there were the scallops. Tasteless is the only way to describe them. Scallops should have a slightly sweet undertone to them, but these were like spongy lifeless little meh. The spicy mayo scallop handroll was just as disappointing. Where was the kick? Where was the flavor? Uh, boring. The halibut was also a bit on the gummy side and overall, this was just a beyond disappointing experience for my mouth.
I don't foresee myself making the trek back here again. It was a cute enough idea for a place, but when the quality is this poor, I'd sooner hit up the all you can eat Todai buffet.
Yeah, that's telling ya something.
This is the first sushi restaurant I ate at when I moved to L.A. It holds a special place in my heart. It is a tiny, but charming hole in the wall in Franklin Village. Paper laterns, bottles, and knick knacks adorn the walls. I ate there more times than I can remember and always brought friends/visitors.
What sold me was their ginger miso dressing. It's sex in a bottle. It's quite possibly one of the best tastes I've ever encountered and I often dream about it (I wish I was kidding). You MUST get a salad before your sushi just so you can try this heavenly treat.
The sushi itself is pretty darn good. I always ordered the crunchy shrimp tempura roll which was perfection. The scallop roll is also delicious. I can't recall the other rolls right now because I'm still hung up on thinking about the ginger miso dressing. Pretty much everything is good, take my word for it. Their prices are fairly competitive for L.A. (average $12 for a fancy roll) and you can't beat the location. Grab some sushi, then check out the bookstore, Counterpoint, next door, before seeing a show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. A great night in the city of Angels!
Lauren
3.5 stars. Nothing really creative to write about Taiyo because, well, nothing is really creative about it.
The extra .5 stars is a shout out for staying open until 1 AM on the weekends.
I've eaten here several times, and while the food is certainly not outstanding, it's decent. It gets the job done. It satisfies my sushi craving.
The service has always been nice. No real complaints. Food comes out quickly and always tastes fresh.
I love the crispy rice, spicy tuna, avocado and jalepeno appetizer. They give you two huge pieces that could easily be shared between 3-4 people. The sushi rolls are good - I like the Ichiban and Rainbow rolls.
Pass on baked scallop roll and miso glazed cod. Pass on sashimi too - this isn't the place for it.
Definitely don't go out of your way to go to Taiyo. Only go if you're in the neighborhood, it's late, and you're craving sushi.
I can't say I've had a single bad piece of fish here on any given day.
My favorite used to be their NY roll. It had steak and teriyaki sauce and sounds horrible until you try it. I guess to too many people, it just sounded to horrible to try because this year it was taken off the menu.
Although my favorite roll is gone, the interior is claustrophobically dark, and the staff over looks overwhelmed even when there are two costumers at 2:00 on a Tuesday, I will continue to back for their fresh uni, amazing and decadent salads, and cheap well portioned appetizer of shishito peppers
Yay! I love this cute sushi bar. They will make you all kinds of fun vegan sushi rolls and there are many other yummy selections for vegans. It is priced fair and the service is fantastic. I love to get the tables where you take your shoes off and sit on the floor or have a party in the back room!! It is free to use and has a dugout so your feet can hang down in the pit and your feet don't fall asleep while you are eating at ground level! Yummy sake too and cool ambience. Go before you hit Birds for drinks or Upright Citizen's Brigade!
Go Sushi Taiyo!!! My girlfriend and I love this place, and have nothing but great times here. We usually both get a roll, could be the the spicy tuna, philly roll, most recently I tried the tsunami roll. We're always thrilled with the results, and look forward to swapping roll for a roll. What is kind of unique and I haven't seen at a lot of sushi places, is the lotus root. If you haven't tried it, go to Sushi Taiyo and give it a shot, its delicious!! They serve you a bowl of it, enough for two people to have a few slices each, not a ton of it but, just enough to enjoy. The lotus root is sliced in to these almost "alien" looking under the red light, pieces and then lightly covered in a sesame sauce resulting in an earthy, sesame, flavor with an incredible crunch. Try 'em once, you'll always want to start your sushi adventure with them! If you can try to get one of the personal booths, which will sit four comfortably or two for the perfect date spot. ; ) You are able to slide the doors shut if you like, just to make your sushi party a little more personal.
They have a variety of beer and sake, in addition to a full bar. For all of the ladies mostly I'm assuming, maybe a few guys, they make a chocolate martini that is consistently fantastic for my girlfriend. She claims its the perfect blend of sweetness, that mixes well with the spicy and salty of the tuna rolls. Who would ever have guessed that chocolate martinis would work so well with sushi??
The one potential problem with Taiyo, is the parking sometimes. Depending on what time of the day it is, you could luck out and find a spot on Franklin, or just circle the block that Taiyo is on and will eventually find something, just think positive!
It seems like I eat here once a year because it's right next door to UCB...then I remember how much I dislike it. Perhaps this review will help me remember in the future.
The food isn't bad (except for my disappointingly unspicy-spicy tuna), it's just overpriced for the quality. The real problem is the service. Somehow, two waitresses can't handle a small, quarter-full restaurant. Aside from being slow, they're also forgetful. When my friend didn't receive his octopus roll and inquired about its whereabouts, the waitress replied "oh yeah, we're all out" and shuffled away. Isn't that something you might want to tell the customer?
If you're hungry and short on time before a UCB show, go grab something at the market down the street instead.
The service was a'ight. the decor was whatever. the food (hollywood teriyaki bowl) was OK. to be honest if I hadn't noted the name of the restaurant in my blackberry I wouldn't have even remembered it.
Sushi Taiyo is the Epitome of Mediocre.
The boyfriend and I wanted sushi but didn't want to venture too far into the concrete wilderness that is Los Angeles. So we stopped at this little gem.
I got the crunchy california roll (I know, not very adventurous). I leave that to the boy - He got the baked salmon roll (also not very adventurous). We sat at the bar for what seemed like forever before we decided that we didn't want to sit in the red lighting and had things to do at home. So we got the food to-go. Which was BRILLIANT. The food was super tasty and just enough for what our appetites were that night. We were able to snuggle up with a bottle of wine and eat our sushi right from my own couch!
Although I was reading in one of the previous reviews that the booths are actually quite romantic ;) thanks for that, we'll have to try that next time.
Minus one star for slow service and minus one for the horrible parking in the area - but i guess that comes with the territory :(
I came here last nite for my friend Birthday party, and it was at first an amazing restaurant. Very small, friendly and cozy.
The atmosphere supposely to Japanese, but the music they played was more like circuit music. The service? If there is such, as you in they have that typical service type where you need to fill out that little paper of the sushi you wanted. Then at the moment of serving yu you can be guaranteed that you get served, but I mean they bring everything on the table trying to have you eat and get out of there.
I felt like it wasn't worth it. But as it was my friend birthday, I tried to stay cool and calm and be respectful on this part.
The food portion was average, and the taste, well I can say it's more fusion than real Jaanese.
FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.
Admittedly, I'm still in the midst of my anger. I threw up violently last night due to this fine cuisine. I'll try not to come off too harsh.
Here's the deal -- it's my birthday this week, the rents drive up for a bday lunch & I'm craving sushi, per usual.
2:30 PM: we head over to Shintaro -- apparently they close between the lunch and dinner crowd, so we head elsewhere.
2:45 PM: stop at pet store (tailwaggers something-or-rather) on Franklin, spot sushi joint that I've been to before a couple years ago with a friend, resolve to eat here instead of drive to Niko Niko
3:00 PM: FAIL. consumption of sashimi that tastes tangy and almost sour. and at first I thought it just tasted a little off and then I decided I did not want to eat it anymore. BUT NOT SOON ENOUGH.
7:00 PM: went to see Crips And Bloods at Sunset 5 ...
9:00 PM: FAIL. do. not. feel. good. blame the popcorn and M&Ms.
11:00 PM: insides are dying. cannot deal. cannot deal. want to die.
1:30 AM: violent release of everything in my stomach, dry heaving, shaking like an epileptic.
FAIL FAIL FAIL.
3:04 PM: still not feeling right. keep tasting that tangy fish in my mouth like a post-war flashbacks.
Do NOT trust the cute atmosphere and wooden booths. This place will be the last sushi you want to eat for a long time :(
i LOVE this little restaurant -- before i go watch a show at UCBT, i can get nice and el drunko on their sake. also, i'm really glad that they built those little private booths. one word: adorable. boyfriend and i cozied up in one and i was the happiest little girl ever. and yes, the red light is kinda intense. but whatevs, it kinda adds to the ambience. :)
food is decently priced and tasty for the price. the only gripe i have is that the rolls are actually quite big. "why is this a gripe?" you ask. because they're cheating! the rolls have very little actual fish and are stuffed with loads of rice. cheatttingggg. if you're gonna give me a big roll, make it a REAL big roll. i dont want a big ole' roll of rice.
anyways, in sum: taiyo + ucbt = the perfect night for me. let's not talk about the hangover the next morning though :(
The sushi here was actually great! I heard all these horrible rumors that LA sushi was either horrible or ridiculously expensive. Neither was the case here. The food was actually pretty good! They also have these really cool little side rooms with sliding doors for some privacy if you're looking for that romantic night out. Not to mention that Birds is right next to it, so you can grab a beer after and listen to a mix of oldies and newsies. Make sure to grab a couple of rolls here and share, because you'll want to try everything!
My friend lives in this area, so whenever we feel like having lunch or an early dinner we end up in this place.
The sushi is not bad, not the best I have ever had in my life but not bad at all.... and the place is cute.
Service is friendly, not always fast when it's busy but at least friendly.
Just another cute little hole in the wall which I happen to like.
I loved this place for an easy casual sushi lunch. Contrary to some of the other reviews everyone I saw working there was Japanese and super nice. We had excellent service and the food was good, though not the best fish I've had - but it wasn't too expensive, so I guess you get what you pay for ;) I recommend going with the rolls - they have a fun selection and you get more for your money, also when you're not eating the best fish in the world, it makes sense to mix it up with other flavors and textures to make it more interesting... my favorite roll is this weird warm yellow tail with jalapeno combo - sounds crazy, but it's actually really tasty :)
The decor in this place is totally over the top, but that's part of what makes it so fun! They have all kinds of paper lanterns and parasols hanging from the ceiling and art all over the wall... this paired with the romantic, dim lighting makes it a perfect stop for a casual date.
Despite many bad reviews from a few years ago, I frequent this place often and have always had top notch sushi here (for the price).
I am picky about my spicy tuna - I cannot eat it with tons of that disgusting spicy mayo. Ick! And most bargain sushi joints have it.
I start with the Jasmine tea and the Gomae (spinach) salad. Sooo yummy I highly recommend it. I admit I usually order the same thing - I really like the rolls at Taiyo, especially the Tsunami, Yuri, and Samurai rolls.
The service is pretty bad though, especially the guy server. During a busy-ish Thursday evening, I was waiting for my check and he was siting down at the bar just eating. ?? Maybe he's the owner, I really don't know. But the other women servers there are really nice but just not top notch in the service dept. Its an affordable place though and the food comes out pretty fast.
I keep going back for my usual favorites. The decor is dark and overly decorated but I dig it. They are almost always playing the best music. The last few times I heard Grizzly Bear, Radiohead, Midlake, and alot of new indie stuff my friend dug as well.
Oh and the banana tempura is YUMMMMMMY!
So, I'd say if you're looking for a cool, casual place for decent sushi with friends, go to Taiyo. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me of a similar place but have yet to find it.
I'd also give this place 4 stars if the service was improved.
I have to give this place five stars. I've wanted to come here since I first went to UCB about a year and a half ago and I finally went this weekend when my brother was visiting. We wanted korean bbq but got out of UCB too late so decided to try this place out.
Now, it seems that other bad reviews focus mainly on the service. If you see below, we had a service issue. But other than that, I found the service fine. It could be because it was late on a sunday night and the place was nearly empty.
We ordered some sushi and rolls and sake and settled in. The sake arrived immediately and it was great. I'm no sake expert, but I really enjoyed it. Next the server brought out two plates of sushi. Once the waiter left we noticed that it was not the sushi we ordered. We had ordered 2 yellowtail, 2 salmon, 2 octopus, 2 eel. We got 4 yellowtail, 2 salmon and 2 shrimp. We decided we didn't want to make a fuss because it was half of our order anyway, and we like shrimp. The sushi was great and we were pleased.
Shortly after we finished the two plates, he brought out two more with the correct sushi and apologized for getting our order wrong. Suddenly we had twice as much sushi as we planned on eating, with rolls and udon noodles coming as well. We said it was no problem, ate the sushi, which tasted even better than the first round.
Next arrived the vegetable tempura udon. I've had better but it was still really good.
Last but not least arrived the three rolls: the caterpillar, Hawaiin, and crispy tempura. All three were really good but the caterpillar was best (eel and avocado).
After the meal was done we leaned back in our chairs, fully satisfied. They brought the check and we paid. As we sat, letting the food digest before making the trek back to the cars, we realized that they had undercharged us. Not only did we get 2 extra plates of sushi, but they only charged us for the ones we ordered, and they undercharged.
I'm pretty easy going when it comes to orders in restaurants so I would have been happy to have just eaten the mistaken order. But to have gotten our original order to boot was a great surprise. Adding to that, the food was really good (i've been to the japan, so nothing here can compare), you have yourself a great little Japanese restaurant on a cool strip, great place to go after a comedy show.
I don't really eat sushi but this restaurant has great affordable entrees as well. I've gotten the salmon a couple times and always enjoyed it. Love the large Sapporos too! Service is a little slow and sometimes frigid but the affordability makes up for it.
I, too, love this place. I guess this is truly a "take it or leave it" kinda spot. My first thought was "oh cool, snoby waiter" as he kinda came by and ploped the menus in front of us without really saying much, but as the night rolled out, he was actually super-cool, very chatty, came out and hung out with us, and most definitely under-charged us (I think I paid roughly $15 for a plate of Sushi and two or three Asahi Blacks).
The spot is open until three, I think, and thats rad. Its in one of my all-time fav spots in LA (Franklin Village!) which is ultra-hipster so if you're not into busy spots, this may not be your place. I sat outside and the valet was running back and forth and drunk girls were talking way too loud at Birds down the street. Not to mention the UCB theatre let out mid dinner (we went at about midnight). But I love that kinda thing. So: happy days for me.
A few words of advice: Don't eat the sushi there!
Honestly, the sushi isn't of good quality. You know when you bite down into your sushi and the fish won't tear apart and you're forced to take the whole rubbery thing into your mouth? Now that's stale fish!
One thing that's rather safe to eat there is the tuna, especially the Spicy Tuna Bowl lunch special for $7 (I think); that one is yummy and there's plenty of tuna and capers on top!
The tempura is good too, and the desserts are worth every penny, esp. the banana tempura w/ ice cream and the chocolate souffle cake.
Sometimes when you order an entree (like the salmon with pesto sauce), the waitress will frown at you and say, "Don't order it, it's not good." Says a lot, doesn't it? : )
Thank yelpers for reviewing Taiyo. If it weren't for these reviews, no one south of Franklin would know about this place. No web presence and that's just as well cause it's all mine. Here's my loves and love-you nots:
Love:
-that you can always get a table
-the sushi is consistently good and reasonably priced
-their lunch specials are great
-you could sit for hours and no one would bother you
-their Shogun roll and banana tempura
-It's always open - late too (yay, no TacoHell)
Love-you-not (so much):
-The decor is challenged, tables are small, and the inside is a wee bit dark especially during the day. Lighten up, Taiyo!
-Those special rolls sure are good but at $10 a pop, you can run up a mighty fine bill and still have lots of room in yer belly
-Why, oh, why no low sodium soy sauce on every table? You have to ask for the green one which leads me to..
-Their staff is somewhere else - maybe they are doing something really important, but it does not involve being your server
Heart you Taiyo (most of the time)
I mean seriously, what is up with this place?!
I came here last last Saturday after a show at Upright Citizen's Brigade. The P-Bell was jumpin' jumpin'. Same for the extra amazing pizza place next door and Birds. Even the liquor store on the corner was doing some serious biz. But this place was total dead sauce. A sign of things to come. Yes!
Turns out when a restaurant (and a sushi restaurant in sushi obsessed Los Angeles, no less) is devoid of people while every place around is filled to the brim, it is because that restaurant is BAD BAD BAD!
Also, the waiter spilled an entire drink on me! He wasn't even bothered by that! Arg, I am so not coming back here.
This place is gross.
1. Too many Japanese-esque stuff on the wall = trying too hard. It's like a nerd trying to learn how to speak Japanese and wearing a kimono before going to the local anime convention. JUST STOP.
2. No one that worked there was remotely Asian. Call me whatever you want, but I just thought that was weird.
3. Oh yeah, the food. Gross.
I could give this place 4 stars if not for the service. I've been there twice and both times the server was borderline ignoring us. We had to ask for everything - soy sauce, drinks, water - more than once and practically had to physically grab him when we were ready to order. The last time, he was spending more time sitting at a table with a friend than actually working.
The food is really good here. I go out for sushi quite a bit and get tired of the same old rolls and dishes. There's one - I think it's called the Dynamite Roll - that is especially excellent. It comes with a jalapeno pepper on each piece. I know...sounds a little weird, but it was great. The decor is a little busy as other reviewers have noted, but at least it's interesting. It's also open past 2am so it's good for a late night snack.
Now if they could only find a server who gave a crap...
An extra star solely for my love of sushi... If the sushi is at the very least decent, everything else has to suck for me to give lower marks.
The sashimi doesn't quite make my top five, but the salmon and unagi do not disappoint... They also have an ample martini menu, which is rare at sushi places I have found. The dim lighting and red glow tone down the abundant wall decor and mass of suspended umbrellas. The rest is made up by ambiance and proximity. We drove around far too long trying to find parking, however...wtf is up with parking around there?
After Zip Fusion, we were hesitant to try the seaweed salad anywhere else and sadly, Taiyo's version is a pale shadow...
I will say this for the place: Warm chocolate cake with ice cream.
That and a cute waitress are lifting the stars to three here.
This was night two of the sushi back to back and it sadly fared poorly next to Zip. But it was fast. And had a decent sake selection. And a full bar.
But mostly I was happy with the fast, as we were going to a show at UCB next door and needed to get out and in line.
A good alternative to Birds if you're here for the same purpose.
I'll take almost great sushi over the dry chicken and drippy mashed potatoes any day. Especially Fridays.
I'm becoming a TORO.
Fatty Tuna.
MARKET PRICE!
I like Tai Yo. Nothing to write home about if you put it up against LA's best sushi, but on the Franklin corridor it's an excellent dining option. Perfectly good sushi, nice sake selection, and service is usually very friendly.
Try to get a booth- 'tis quite romantic, although tall folks might not like squishing under the low table.
You walk in to a sensory overload of roughly 23,145 Japanese-themed lanterns, lucky kittens, and other paraphernalia scattered throughout. It's a fun atmosphere. Seating ranges from chairs & tables, to some booths on the side where you are sitting in a little chair that's attached to a raised platform. You gotta take off your shoes to sit there.
The servers are super friendly (especially that adorable blonde one) and attentive. They have a wide selection of rolls if you're into that (try the kamikaze, which is albacore w/ a spicy mayo sauce topped with a jalapeno), but also have all manner of nigiri. Their agedashi is good, served piping hot and the tofu just crispy enough. Fast service, not a long wait. Decent sake selection. I didn't try dessert but the banana tempura looked damn good!
It's not The Greatest Sushi In the World, but it is respectable (we only got rolls). I've had way worse (Sushi Rock comes to mind). I'm giving 4 stars for the place itself. Open til midnight and a great low-key place to hang out. We ended up having to kill a lot of hours in this neighborhood and this became our little hangout. The waitress and bartender guy were super-nice, no attitude (a lot of unnecessary gratuitous snarkiness in LA I noticed), they kept us in sushi and beers & cocktails and they even let me mess with their tv for 5 minutes when a friend of mine was appearing on Faux news, of all things. But those guys there are way nice. I like them.
[They also made my special drink just right, which is rare.]
When a place has this much decor, it makes you wonder, what are they hiding? Nothing, it seems.
Great sushi, great rolls, the tempura was good (although I did have one unidentifiable vegetable...must find out what it is next time.)
Two people to stuff themselves silly for $50 with a drink each...and it's all good. The decor is all Asian-inspired and almost suffocating if you stare at it too long.
Try not to be there when the guy who talks WAY too much about the game shows he's invented is there. I could've used without hearing him do trivia right in the middle of the damn place with his captive dining companions.
No, Tai Yo is not a place you make a special trip to, but as a neighborhood sushi place it's totally workable. The decor is fun, the food is good, and you can get brown rice on anything (a rarer option in sushi places than one would expect). I've lived up the street from this block of Franklin for about 5 yrs and honestly, Tai Yo is the only place I still enjoy --- Birds, Poubelle and Prizzi's wore out their welcome a long time ago.
Great Little place to pop in a get some great sushi or the Hollywood Bowl ;) Great date atmosphere and very intimate.
this is the exact sorta place i dont like to go to. its all dark red mood lighting. our server was wearing a hat, blazer, and like saggy corduroys? he looked like he was from degrassi high the original series.
first off no street parking in this area, it exists but its like asking to win the lotto you know?
it does not have its own valet and i ended up having to use the valet of one of the other spots. the food was generic, the atmosphere and the way it looked inside is its best selling point. but im not into super dark mood lighting artsy, beatnick, blazer wearing server, whos service is more cool than good.
maybe this is more of a date spot but i don't think i will be back. and plus i don't date. =(
Honestly I haven't had the sushi (yet anyway). They only know me as the weird girl who comes in & orders drinks, slams 'em & gets back in line for the UCB show. But it's been a good arrangement that's been working now for a while-lol! It's usually empty in there & while that's convienent for me it can't be good for them. Honestly I'm in front alot & I don't think I've ever seen it full so you decide what that says for the place... I can vouch for the decor though: pretty authentic homage to Japanese culture-wooden dividers & various knick-knacks on the wall- including a cute CLOCK behind the bar area where the #s have been replaced by 12 different peices of plastic sushi .-_-.
All Drinks Half Price Thu. &…
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
New Lunch Special Menu! (Mon -…
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles
Stanton, CA
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Hollywood
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Neighborhood: Hollywood
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Neighborhood: Hollywood
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Neighborhood: Hollywood
Category: Thai
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