monisha s.

The rolls are decent/good....i really like the super oregon roll actually and they get the rice/fish ratio right (rare and much appreciated). However, tonight the service was AWFUL. Waiter 1 snapped when I repeated by request for a refill on the tea (and then took forever and a half), waiter 2 put down the check while we were still eating (i was half done), waiter 3 asked us to sign the bill when my husband still had a full beer and waiter 2 came back to snatch the cash tip while it was still in my husband's hand (and the beer was still full). Even worse, we weren't singled out for bad service. The couple next to us waited about 10 minutes before they had to try to flag down a waiter. Another table had someone waving their hand attempting to get something.

J A.

I will keep this short and sweet. I have been coming here for a few years now with expectations of "decent" ( read not the best but consistently decent) sushi. I have gone twice in the last week and I will never be back. Today my sashimi was completely inedible, one bite and I may have to wait a few months before I can even think about eating raw fish anywhere. I am done Tomo. Disgusting.

Alex A.

Decent cheap Sushi, convenient location. This isn't a place you take someone to impress. It is a place you go to when you don't have a lot of time, don't want to burn a ton of cash, but want something decent downtown that isn't pizza.

Bhaskar D.

Should've checked the yelp reviews before coming to this place! Duh! Tried lunch here the other day. Food was okay - nothing memorable. If you are looking for good Sushi in the Palo Alto area, there are better choices. Service needs improvement too. My overall vote will be 2.5.

Evelyn M.

For the price and location I'll come here again. I got 3 rolls and a veggie udon. My tip: stick to the rolls. The fish was surprisingly fresh, and really, that was enough (at least with my expectations here). If you're paying ~$5 for a roll, you can't expect an excellent presentation. If it tastes good, that's fine. Don't get t he udon. The broth was tasteless.

Chanel H.

If I could give 0 stars, I would. In fact, I'd go to negative stars. I came here cause my friend and I were hanging out and we wanted some california rolls. We got seated right away but no one came to take our order. There was a family right next to us who got seated after us and a lady came to take their order right away. I had to tell the guy there to come take our order and he still didn't. We waited for a little more than half an hour. I'm allergic to avocado so when I order california rolls, I request them to replace the avocado with cucumbers. But they don't do substitutions. Also, you have to buy at least $5 per person. I thought that was ridiculous cause my friend just wanted to eat something that was $3.95. Basically, the service here sucks.

Christopher L.

"One day, after we have graduated from college, we will come back here and reminisce about how shitty it was," I observed to my friend Mike as we sat in Sushi Tomo for the fifth time that month, waiting for the inept waitstaff to arrive with a bed of stale rolls. "Don't we do that already?" he asked. "True," I admitted, cracking my chopsticks apart and rubbing them together to get rid of the splinters. "Honestly, that's the main reason I come here. I like bitching about easily avoidable circumstances."

Trevor H.

Toro and Tako nigiri are quite fresh and affordable. Plus, a small hot sake is only $3.5, making for an inexpensive adventure if you're out and about in downtown Palo Alto and are craving a small quantity of sushi!

Breena S.

This review is for a visit to Sushi Tomo a few months ago. I woke up on a Sunday craving sushi, and there are very few places to get sushi on Sundays. I ended up here, waiting in the plaza for them to open, and placed a to go order as soon as they did. Having never been here before, I ordered two very different rolls so that I could get a good idea of how good their sushi was. I got the Crazy Horse Roll (tuna, hamachi, salmon, and vegetables) and the Viper Roll (avocado and crab topped with baby scallop). I took them back home to eat and, on opening my to go box, found that my rolls smelled quite fishy. Fresh raw fish should NEVER smell fishy. I started eating anyway, and the Crazy Horse Roll tasted fishy in addition to smelling fishy. The Viper Roll was also a disappointment: the spicy crab was made with far too much mayo and tasted mostly like mayo, and the scallops tasted off. I threw away half of both rolls, which is something I've never done before or since, because I found them inedible. Needless to say, I won't be going back.

JJ L.

Unfresh sushi. How appetizing. No thanks. Amazing that 2 terrible sushi places can survive in Palo Alto, this and Miyake. I guess the foot traffic on University Ave is just that good for a business. At the VERY least if you want sushi, go to Kanpai a few blocks away.

Brent N.

Pretty lousy place. We like trying different sushi places, and are certainly not sushi experts/snobs, but Tomo is rough. The sushi pieces were small and had an off taste (low turnover on the fish?). O Sushi House down the street is better. Neither are outstanding really.

Katharine A.

Food was mediocre at best, but we were hungry gals and sushi was the only thing we could agree on. Food was bland and "fast food" like, but it is not horrible.....just nothing to write home about.

Steph C.

Well, it is cheap. I had a decently sized lunch box with chicken teriyaki, gyoza, and tempura that set me back $7.50. It wasn't bad. The quality was reminiscent of food court food, but sometimes food court food can be satisfying. I wouldn't dare try the sushi, though.

Sherrie H.

This is a place to cure your sushi fix on a budget and leave... quickly. The atmosphere is that of a fast food chain and the service leaves something to be desired. Once being pointed to your table, you'll have an extended duration of time to peruse the menu selection. From my experiences, the order will come out promptly, usually even before drinks are delivered to your table (if they are not forgotten). The sushi is decent, but as I am a recent transplant from Ohio, my opinion could be askew. This is a great option for a quick lunch, but not a place to impress.

Laura B.

Overall, my lunch experience here was pretty good. I was bit hungover and craving soup, so I got chicken udon while my husband and our friend shared some sushi. Both of them seemed pleased with the sushi, and raved about the smoked squid on one of the rolls. My chicken udon was excellent. Flavorful broth and the chicken tasted like Andale's rotisserie chicken, making me wonder if they got it from there since it's close by. Service was friendly, but there were a couple of odd occurrences that make me give this a 3 instead of a 4. First, I ordered a sprite which was on the menu, and they told me they use this menu for two different restaurants and they do not have sprite here. Ok.... Then, my husband ordered a tuna belly roll and they did not have that either. Lastly, our friend had to ask for her water to be refilled instead of them automatically refilling it.

Peter C.

I went to this place for lunch today and enjoyed it a lot. The chicken udon is very good, and the california rolls and hamachi are very good as well. This place also has a very diverse range of sushi and the prices are very reasonable. I hope to go back here again at some point and try more of the sushi.

Catherine W.

This is not sushi, or even Japanese food. I went, starving, and almost threw up. Someone, please shut them down. How are they even staying in business?

Jessica D.

I've passed Sushi Tomo on numerous occasions and always was a bit curious about it. So Friday night,me and the Sibling decided to FINALLY check it out. Upon entering the resteraunt we realised we were the only customers besides another group sitting across the room.For a Friday night,this was a little suspect,but it was still early.However,It took the waitress atleast 5 minutes to give us a menu to even start looking at anything.When the place was as empty as that,I figured service would have been a little bit more prompt. It took us another 5 minutes to get any water,and then ANOTHER 5 minutes before a totally different waiter took our order.Our initail waitress had decided to start taking the order of another table that had only been in the resteraunt for about 3 minutes compared to our 15. After that whole fiasco,though..the food is pretty good for the price.Its not the most amazing sushi I've ever had,but it also wasn't horrifying or terrible.Just pretty standard.Our waiter was funny,accomodating,and fast.That would be the ONLY reason I'd give this place 3 stars,because if we had been served by our 1st server that evening I'd probably never go back. I think Sushi Tomo has the potential to get better reviews if they were to hire a few more friendlier servers.The food is completely overshadowed by its questionable service.

A L.

I went to dinner here with a friend last Saturday night. This place is small, casual (more of a lunch place) and affordable (think, a meal under $10). It always seems busy. That night, it was packed! I thought, if this place is so popular it has to be good, right? Not so much. To sum up the experience: The food was not good, and the service even worse. I ordered Miso soup and a variety of sushi. The soup was slightly warm, but definitely not hot enough, and only 1/4 of the bowl was full. The sushi was falling apart, and tasted like Safeway sushi, so why not go there instead and save some money? The service was pretty much nonexistent after we were seated at our table. We were never once asked if the food was ok or if we needed anything. It was not the best dining experience. I guess sometimes you really do get what you pay for, or maybe even less than what you pay for.

Erik F.

I thought I had seen it all as far as bad restaurant experiences go. But this definitely tops them. First off the restaurant is small (no harm there). And it was relatively uncrowded. Still, the host/waiter established eye contact with my friend and I multiple times before ending his chat with his coworker and coming to seat us. Almost 10 minutes later, the waiter came to ask us what we wanted to drink. That came 5 minutes later. (Mind you, there were probably 3 occupied tables in the restaurant at this point in time...probably about 8 people total in the restaurant) During the meal, (which had no taste to say the least) this group of students came up and asked us to help with a 10 question survey. We did it and they were very grateful. After this, this group of students had finished their meal and left the restaurant. This is where this suddenly became an almost unreal experience in my opinion. Their waiter RAN, not walked, RAN outside to stop them. We thought, dine and dash? The reality was, these people had paid their bill in full, and probably due to bad service left a small tip. Next thing we know, these poor students are scrounging in their pockets pulling out dollar bills, and small change while the disgruntled waiter waited. All in all, the food alone would keep me from coming to the particular restaurant ever again. However, the spectacle of this waiter running out to demand a tip from his patrons in return for his (and the restaurant's) horrible service will keep me from ever going to any restaurant owned by the franchise. I will also be sure to warn people who ask for my opinion regarding this place.

Breezy M.

What can I write that hasn't been said. nothing except for ditto There was maybe four other people here when i came in but the waitress still was rushing around and was not very welcoming when I was seated, which I sat at the table next to where she pointed and she made me move to the other dirty one, which she cleaned right then. Kind of odd, made me feel like I was at the Mad Hatters table. The sushi itself was a good price for the mediocre lunch you get, I liked the tempura sushi, I ordered two rolls, even if i wanted to order more, she didn't ask, she just dropped the bill. Not a friendly atmosphere at all.

Mark A.

Decent food, very good value. Did not appreciate being rushed out of the restaurant at closing..

Thuy N.

The first thing I must say: terrible service. I walked in with four friends and was seated immediately; then the server left. The place looked pretty empty with only a couple tables occupied, so I assumed we'd get pretty quick service. Little did I know that was not the case. We were sitting around for a good 15+ minutes wondering if the server forgot about us. We didn't even get drinks! So the five of us sat there thinking of ways to get the server(s) attention; we tried staring at them in a very insinuating manner, then laughed really loud and obnoxiously, and then we just eventually resorted to complaining about how we've never experienced such slow and terrible service; we then joked about how we were going to save money on the tip, hah. Anyway, before anyone of us decided to get up and ask the server if he forgot about us, he came by and said he'd be with us in a second...as if we didn't wait long enough. Geez. After we got our food, I realized why it was so cheap; the portions were VERY small and it looked pretty cheap. I ordered a California roll, which was as I expected, but then I also ordered the Viper, which cost more than twice the California roll, but was pretty much the same thing, with two tablespoons worth of tasteless scallops on top. What a waste of money! In the end, the food was very mediocre and cheap and the service terrible!

Eric A.

Good cheap lunch. I had their bento box for $8.50. I'm sorry but if anyone is expecting super quality, you should set your expectations. Anyways, I think it's a great lunch spot for those that are in the Palo Alto Downtown area...

Jen K.

Mediocre at best. Service was very, very slow. When we arrived two waits were on staff, but one left shortly after we arrived. The woman who took our order wasn't too pleasant (she is the one who left), and the guy who was left to wait on us was hard to get a hold of for service. Prices were decent and the food was OK. Basically you get what you paid for. No reason to go back.

David W.

Terrible experience. Bad food, worse server.

Katie Y.

If you're a sushi aficionado on the hunt for Silicon Valley's finest monkfish liver, look elsewhere; you're not going to find anything mouth-wateringly fresh or particularly fancy at Sushi Tomo. But if you love sushi, aren't hugely discriminating, and are on a budget, this place is great! I've eaten here 10-15 times in the past few years, and recommend the sake nigiri, the Tokyo Roll, the Super Boston Roll, and the deep-fried one that involves salmon. (Their unagi and hamachi usually aren't very tasty--avoid those.) To be sure, the waiters are rude (they'll avoid you, then act like you're bothering them), you'll have to wait a little too long for your food, and you'll have to ask for tea and water half a dozen times. Oh yeah--and it used to be a World Wraps joint, but they didn't bother to redecorate, so now it has an odd hybrid decor that actually fits the place well. But, dang it, nine times out of ten, the food will be decent, and you'll have to triple-check your bill, because you'll keep thinking you were undercharged.

Briana P.

BEWARE!!!! I "WAS" pretty much a regular here. I work close by and the lunch boxes make a good meal. I have recommended many friends here (regret it now) and also told family about it. After today however, I will NEVER step foot in sushitomo again.... I had an Prenatal ultrasound at Stanford today and brought along my mom & my husband. After leaving the hospital we were all a little hungry & it was my idea to stop at Sushitomo! So we sit down and while trying to order a dish he tells us it doesnt come with rice soup or salad when it clearly says "SERVED W/ RICE, SOUP, & SALAD" I point at it and he said oh ok it does. No biggie Soon after ordering, my husband notices he ordered a seafood soup & not a seafood plate. He wasnt really feeling soup so he asked if he can change his order for a lunchbox...NO,the waiter said they already started his food & they cant do anything about it. Not that big of a deal. I just told my hubby to make sure whats he ordering next time. We get our food & everything is good. My husband being Mexican asks for some hot sauce..15min later and no hot sauce. He has to get up and ask one of the sushi makers(not sure their proper name sorry) for the hot sauce and they give it to him right away. My water had a fly in it & the waiter wouldnt bring me another one, i figured it would another 20min & by then I would choke on a gyoza so I drank my husbands. He never bothered to check on us or bring us more water even tho the restaurant is super small. Not good service, but I am aware this is not the cheesecake factory so I settle. We pay via debit card, and start to leave. Outside we were waiting to cross the street when the waiter comes out yelling "hey, hey!" I ask him whats wrong & he tells us if we arent gonna leave a tip. Uh no. No tip He tells us we have to leave a tip! What?! as far as I know you HAVE to leave a tip if you have a party of 6 or more. Not 3. He insist we HAVE to leave a tip. C'mon the restaurant is full of customers who probably need chilli & water & hes out here causing a scene. Never in my life have I experienced this at a restaurant. No im not some cheap ass who never leaves a tip. I just feel the waiter should do something to at least deserve it. I have to call my husband back because the waiter is causing such a scene & he tells him we dont HAVE to leave a tip. This angers the waiter even more & he tells us to never come again. NO PROBLEM!!!! WE WILL NEVER ENTER SUSHI TOMO AGAIN. btw (our waiter was an older 35-40 male with sort of long hair up to the neck) Just stay away from here....

Bianca C.

I've been going here since it first replaced World Wraps a couple of years ago, and was a regular for a while. This place is solid in terms of quality-- not as high-end and "authentic" as Fuki Sushi (the staff isn't Japanese from what I can hear of their accents when they say "Irasshaimase!"), but infinitely better than Miyake's disco-meets-bad-sushi vibe. I'm vegetarian so I always get the Vegetable Tempura Supreme with tobiko, and it's been pretty tasty and consistent on average. Their soups and noodles don't taste amazingly "Japanese", but after you've tried them once, you know exactly what to expect in the future (I'm telling you, the place is, if anything, consistent). The waiters and sushi chefs nowadays aren't as great as the ones who were there when the place was first starting out (recently I had a waitress who tried to make ridiculous small talk), but I still like it a lot. Great place to pop in for an impromptu dinner out with some friends, and the prices are reasonable.

Michelle N.

This place is a trap! It's one of the only places on University Ave to get sushi besides Miyake on a Sunday afternoon. And quite frankly, the only reason to ever go to Miyake is to get wasted on Sake Bombs. So here you are on a Sunday afternoon walking up University Ave and you and your friends are craving sushi. You really don't feel like doing Sake Bombs and the only other place around that's open is Sushi Tomo... that's how they lure you in. The restaurant itself is fine... small but cute. But beware the food is terrible. My tamago came out brown and with hardly any rice. Do NOT order any rolls with mayonnaise! Daniela A. is not lying about how much mayonnaise they use in their rolls. We ordered the Rainbow roll as well and it seriously tasted like a mayo explosion in my mouth... gross. I'm assuming they use a ton of mayo so they don't have to add as much crab meat and/or to cover up the taste of the fish. Next time when I'm craving sushi on University Ave, I'll do myself a favor and just suck it up at Miyake... at least they'll liquor me up before I eat the food.

Jaye C.

I was severely annoyed at how long it took them to finally pay attention to us and take down our order. Three waiters walking back and forth from the kitchen to the register, rinse and repeat. Mind you, it wasn't even a busy evening. We came 45 minutes before they closed and only 2 other customers were present. Then finally 15 minutes after we were seated they asked if we wanted anything to drink. Wow you guys SUCK!! Minus 1 star for ignoring us, and minus another star for taking too long to realize "OMG they have money!" I wanted a dinner bento box but I felt like they just wanted us out and quick. So I instead ordered Super Boston Roll ($7.95 for 8 pieces) and Tomo Spicy Roll ($4.95 for 5 rolls) -- these are excellent btw -- a bowl of miso soup for $1.50. The price isn't bad for the size of the rolls I ordered. So that definitely deserves a 3 star. However, if their service was better it'd get better rating. I'll give this place a second chance and hopefully then they'll wise up on giving better customer service.

Tina L.

BADDDDDDD SERVICE & their food isn't all that great! Enough Said! =X

Nicole W.

I've never had such a negatively visceral reaction to food before. Immediately upon placing a piece of sushi in my mouth, my whole brain alerted me that something was wrong. I think it was the air that breezed past my olfactory sensors (caused by the movement of closing my mouth) that brought the warning of ungoodness. I expelled the offending item from my mouth and threw the rest out. There are so many sushi places to eat at, that any sign of poorly prepared RAW FISH is enough to make me seek elsewhere.

Meredith N.

It's not spectacular by any means, but I know that for $9 I always end up with 2 meals out of their bento boxes. The tempura is tasty, the california rolls edible, the grilled fish was good but had a lot of bones. It bugs me that you get soup if you get the combo in the restaurant, but if you get it to go, no soup for you. Anyway, its a regular go to for consistently decent food...but not special. Oh it is great if you want to eavesdrop on some pompous, techtype, boring, lingo throwin guys. Every time I have been there, theres been at least one table of them and promises lots of lols...at them, not with them.

Jackie D.

I went to Sushi Tomo for the first time last night with a couple of my close friends and needless to say, it was delicious. The restaurant itself looks like it can seat perhaps 30-40 people and it was pretty packed when we arrived around 8:45pm or so. The service was great, very attentive waiter. We managed to order 4 rolls and a salmon sashimi appetizer between the 3 of us. I really liked the dragon roll, crazy horse, cherry blossom and rainbow roll. It's nice to know there's an affordable sushi place (aside from Miyake's - although they are known for their sake bombs) in PA. I guess we had a good experience last night - they let us stay past closing time. Only downfall - they leave a jar of ginger on the table. Wish they kinda didn't do that.

Evan S.

You get what you pay for here. The special rolls are pretty good of the ones I've tried. Also, they give you all the ginger you could ever need which is good cause I love me some ginger. The food may be good, but the service is beyond terrible. (Btw I don't trust waiters at Asian restaurants that do not hail from the same country as the cuisine. That doesn't make me a bad person, right?). But hey, I'm a chepo, starving student and even though the service is poor, it's usually my go to place if I'm looking for some cheap sushi.

Joseph G.

Wow!!! FROZEN Hamachi?? Yeah next time no mas!!! as I dipped the frozen hamachi and ate it all i can taste are ice crystals.. This was pretty bad. Even the fried tempura sushi rolls were taste less. Might as well fry the batter and dip it in soy sauce.. Ohh and no coke or sprite? wtf??? are we in a 3rd world country? most likely never going to come back to this place. buy sushi in safeway instead!

Jessica L.

The sushi was fine, nothing was excellent, nothing was bad. The ambiance leaves a bit to be desired and the poor waitstaff were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Tables sat for a long time without being cleared, but they were clearly doing their best. Don't go here if you want amazing sushi, but it does the trick.

Carrie L.

I love chicken karaage, but would not recommend coming here to eat it. It was a little soggy and greasy and the pieces of chicken were small. I don't think i would have known it was chicken karaage if it had not been labeled that on the menu. The sushi rolls were ok, but the seaweed was a bit on the chewy side, so it was hard to eat the roll without it falling apart. There were also bones in the unagi, which I didn't like eating. Unfortunately, i don't think I would come back here despite the good prices.

Victoria Y.

Uh, where was the waiter? That's the game me and my friend were playing the entire duration of our meal. The only time he was attentive was when we got there, granted it was 5pm and there was no one else there. God forbid two tables are taken up after we sit down and he's barely seen after that. I kept having to flag him down for 'lukewarm' tea and 'salty' water. But I do have to say that they are on the cheaper side but the food is still good. I ordered the vegetarian sushi and the scallop roll. The miso soup wasn't that tasty though.

H Y.

I've been to all the sushi places on University Ave and while I would have given this place 3 stars, the service really bumps it down to 2 stars. I go here occasionally for a fast and quick meal when I have a craving for sushi. The food here isn't too bad, but not too great either. In general the fish quality is decent although their spicy tuna is a little weird...either the prep or the sauce just isn't right. I understand this place is casual and isn't some 3 star Michellin restaurant, but the service here is pretty bad and rude. High throughput is important, but to the Asian female waitress...do you really find it necessary to remove my ginger and other condiments 3 minutes after getting my sushi? Or do you really feel the need to tell me I need to pay 5 minutes after getting my sushi? That's just plain rude. If the service improved to average, I'd give it 3 stars and come more often.

Dara D.

This is hands down the best sushi and the most sushi you are going to get for the money! We had so much food and a few drinks and our bill was only around $40, that is unheard of in the sushi world, especially the way we eat sushi. Give this place a try, its worth it.

Lex C.

Terrible Food. Terrible Service. Terrible Atmosphere. I wish I could say I'm exaggerating a little, but I've been there twice (don't ask how I got convinced to go a second time--it's a sad and boring tale) and both times everything was so bad that it's almost comical in retrospect. But it's not actually comical. Don't even go here for comedic value; it's neither fun nor funny to eat shitty food and get shitty service in shitty setting. In fact, it's downright depressing when you have to pay for it. ***Despite how offensively bad this Sushi Tomo is, there is another Sushi Tomo on Camino Way that is actually worth going to under certain circumstances--read my review of the Camino Way location to get more information on how you too can eat at a restaurant named Sushi Tomo without getting terrible food and terrible service in a terrible atmosphere.

Gregory S.

I can't believe this place has been in business for years! While there are not a lot of good Japanese restaurants in the area, almost all the others are much better than this one.

Jessica J.

if i could put zero stars for this place, i would. worst service EVER. i have been to many restaurants and i have never had anyone come up to me after i paid and gave them tip to tell me that i didn't give him 10%. let me tell you he did NOT deserve 10%. this waiter was between 40-45 years old and he said that we MUST pay tip to 10% because they work for it and they earn from it. and i told him that tip was optional and is not mandatory and that it was done out of courtesy to reward good service. if your customer has to ask for water to be filled and ask for togo boxes after we've paid for our meal then you are not working hard, which is exactly what happened here. food was ok but after that service i will never ever return here i would recommend coming here if you're prepared to pay more for tip than your meal

Amanda F.

Hmmm...the low reviews here throw me off a little. I've never had a bad experience with Sushi Tomo. In fact, I've only had great experiences here. I infinitely prefer the fish and prices to the trying-to-be-fancy-schmancy Fuki Sushi down El Camino, and while the service is pretty much non-existence, it's also a cheap-ass order-at-the-counter fast-food sushi place. You get what your pay for. Actually, IMHO, you get more. Their rolls are above average and their sashimi is pretty darn good. I've had some good drunken times in big groups at the El Camino location, and I like that I could get through 4 years of college feeding my sushi habit on a tight budget. I also have a love-hate relationship with University Ave., but somehow Sushi Tomo and its close proximity to Borders always manages to elicit my love.

Tyler H.

The relative PA newcomer Sushi Tomo is the best 'cheap sushi' around. Sushi Tomo offers fresh sushi at almost half the price of more upscale establishments. And while the environment is not a fine dining experience, it is clear that the quality is solid enough to make this the perfect place for your sushi craving. The service has been overworked and slow, but apologetic. Perhaps when they have had time to work out the kinks and traffic, they'll be fine, but service is questionable for now. Update: I have downgraded to two stars from 3. The service is still slow and they never seem to have enough staff to bus tables. I thought that service being slow was a temporary thing as they ramped up, but they don't seem to have improved. I still think this is the best 'value sushi' place in the area. The quality is quite good for the price, but if you are not patient, forget it. I also think that reusing the tables from World Wraps (the restaurant they replaced) is a little cheesy. There's nothing like eating sushi on a table that says "Latin America" and "Mediterranean" on it. Oh yeah, and there is zero room for baby strollers. So, if you have a baby with you, don't even think about dining here!

Kapo T.

is there no decent sushi place in PA? I came here not expecting much and i guess it didn't meet any of my standard at all... and i didn't have any standards... how sad! this place is good for cheap sushi... had a few rolls... nothing special and the bill came out to be $50 for two people... i guess it's good for college students?!?

Mary M.

Had the chirasi sushi for lunch and was unimpressed. Some of the fish was not fresh and tasted very fishy, and the smoked ika completely overpowered everything else in taste. Their ginger was also too pickled and was soft instead of being nice and crunchy.

Alex R.

Its not even that cheap. And the fish is not good. Probably the worst sushi I have had in the bay area. I won't be back.

Ryan K.

Came in a group of 6. We were looking for sort of a quick meal, so we each got a different combo box. We were sort of curious why they only listed 16 combo boxes, even though it seemed like you should be able to mix and match your choice of sushi/sashimi, teriyaki, and california roll/gyoza, but the waiter said no substitutions, so whatever. The food came relatively quickly, and for $10, the combo boxes are a pretty good option on University Ave. The wait staff is spacey and doesn't speak great English, but maybe that's how we convinced them to split our check six ways (yeah, we're horrible people). If you're looking for a quick, decently-priced Japanese meal on University Avenue, this isn't a bad choice. Nothing great, but nothing to scoff at, either.

Sydney B.

Horrible! Never again! It was Friday night, and I wanted to have a relaxing evening with my husband. It was about 9:30p.m. when we walk in. We're greeted and seated promptly and given water and tea. So far, so good. About 5 minutes later, the waiter comes back and we ask for more time because we haven't decided what we wanted. He says this is not possible, that we have to order right away because they close at 10 p.m. and they have to close the kitchen soon. So I asked, "Does this mean we have to leave at exactly 10p.m.?" And he said no, they'll probably stay open until about 10:30 p.m., but they need to just close the kitchen soon. Ok, so I don't like being rushed but I understand their position. And the restaurant was about 1/2 full still so I figured we'll have a decent amount of time. There was a couple sitting next to us who had ordered a few minutes before us as well. So the food comes, and everything looks good. We ordered soft-shelled crab, which was nice and hot, but the flavor was a little bland, like they didn't take the time to season it but just threw it in the oil. The sauce that came with it also tasted like....nothing. My husband ordered the salmon roll, which he said tasted good, but he was disappointed by the crab, which is one of his fave appetizers. I ordered the shrimp tempura, and that also very bland. And the sauce, once again, tasted very bland. We were pretty disappointed over all, but the worst is yet to come! We are barely finished eating when they start coming by asking us if we are done with this dish or that, and shoving the bill in front of us. It's about 10:05 now. Anyway, they take our card, process it, and then basically stand there while my husband signs the card. We are barely finished eating and they start clearing the table. A waiter comes around with the bus cart and takes away our water and tea, even though we're clearly still trying to relax a bit before leaving. The waiter goes by the two other tables near us and do the same thing--just takes the drinks away without asking if it's okay or not. They clearly just want us to get the hell out. One one side of our table, there were four women sitting together who were having a lively conversation. They were clearly pissed and say something to the waiter, although I can't hear it. Then the couple on the other side of us is really offended as well and the man is vocal about how rude it is that they are just kicking us out, that had they not rushed us he would've bought more sake and some dessert. I told them to go to Yelp! I can't believe this place is in business when they are so rude and clearly do not appreciate their customers. And it's not like their food is that great, either. I will definitely never go back!

Pofak A.

my friend and I started going there a year ago on and off for lunch. Giving them business for many months. Today at lunch we ate there and since AS USUAL we don't get a freindly staff approach and a good service and since we sat at the bar, I didn't leave a tip and we ate $40 worth of food. The waiter came over rudly and said WHY NO TIP? YOU EAT HERE ALL THE TIME AND TODAY NO TIP???? all people sitting around turned around and looked at us. I said well becuase we don't get any service at all.. he said well NO YOU NEED TO LEAVE A TIP and started yelling at us. I reached into my vaulet and gave him $3. he said YEAH THAT'S BETTER.. NOW BYE. hahahahahahahah.. you money hungry getto people.. are you serious? we gave them business for a full year and he even acknowledged it and for $3 he literally embarressed us in front of everyone and literally threw us out of the restaurant. Guess what fat man, I contacted your boss MR. PARK and told him about it. He said he will let you have it when he gets there at 10:00pm tonight. As we say in Farsi, badbakhteh ghedaayeh ghoshneyeh bichareh :) Good luck keeping your job. You will remember that $3 I gave you... for a loooooooooong time.

Alyssa Z.

The food here sucked. The service sucks. The lady practically had her hands in my face the whole time we were ordering. Never coming back. You pay for more than what you get. Eww.

Sherri C.

After shopping at Stanford Mall this afternoon, my friend and I cruised down University to find Sushi-Ya closed (duh, it's closed on Sundays). Not having read the Yelp reviews prior, we walked into Sushi Tomo as a nearby alternative. Luckily for us, we didn't experience the service issues mentioned by others. Nor did we have bad food. We kept it simple with miso soup, side salad, fresh salmon, shiro maguro, ikura, the dragon roll (California with unagi on top), and an unagi handroll. The salmon and white tuna were good-sized slices of fresh fish! Everything (except the ikura*) tasted better than expected and prices were a steal for Palo Alto. *I'm fanatical about ikura; the only place to date that has my vote for fresh salmon roe is Hanamaru in Mountain View...

Raena S.

Perks: Sushi Tomo is fast, conveniently located, and cheap. *the other Sushi Tomo in Palo Alto is better) Downsides: not so fresh, someone will die because of the unsanitary nature of the communal and never changed ginger jars, and truly the worst service possible. One of my friends and I frequent Sushi Tomo because it's fast, it's easy, it's cheap, and we know exactly what to expect. The service is so bad though that we've left (with a 15% tip) a "tip" that they need to improve their service. They yelled at us for it. If you know what you're expecting it's fine and kind of fun...but if you read these reviews, are fine with something that falls a shade short of mediocrity, and just want to eat cheap sushi with a good friend you're not trying to impress, go here.

Andy M.

People always say the only good sushi is in San Jose or Cupertino. Turns out they might be right. The first time I went to Sushi Tomo, I ordered the ikura (salmon roe), unagi (freshwater eel), and salmon skin roll -- to-go, so I ended up waiting fifteen minutes for some badly-packaged unimpressive sushi. The ikura tasted off for some reason, and the salmon skin was more chewy salmon than the skin. I gave them another shot last week since (a) I'd had a bad day at work and owed myself dinner, (b) the unagi had been pretty decent. This time I ordered unagi, sake (fresh salmon), and maguro (tuna). Better this time around, and the waiting time was, for some reason, less than when I'd ordered to-go and had obviously needed to be somewhere else. I've definitely had better sushi elsewhere, but at least Sushi Tomo's ingredients are fresh, and it's probably the best you can do if you're at Stanford and don't have the time/money/inclination to travel very far.

Tim P.

Bad service, salty food. I tried this place when it opened, and didn't get the right vibe. Just to double check, I went back again today and had the katsu don. The pork was decent, but the onions underneath were far too salty -- almost enough to send it back. A shame to do that to good pork. Otherwise, the dish was standard fare for what I expected. The service was slow. It was a long time to get water at the beginning, then to place an order, and I had to walk to the counter to pay as I was tired of waiting after my meal was done. The waitress seemed overworked, and that's not her fault, but it did make her grumpy enough to complain about customers wanting clean tables and to make me not want to come back. Too bad Sushiya is long since gone downtown as I keep looking for a place worthy of replacing it.

Kat V.

Really really bad service. Average sushi, but for unbeatable prices. Definitely not authentic, but fills the niche for cheap sushi.

Y C.

Would give zero stars if possible. Food is somewhat acceptable for the price, but extremely bad service. Rude waiters and rude boss. Take your business to a restaurant that actually cares about serving its customers.

Delay V.

I'm really not a fan of sushi but I love my bento boxes and let me tell you Sushi Tomo has the WORSE bento box I ever had and trust me I've been to many places! The meat was extremely dry and the tempura was just soaked in cooking oil like they didn't drain it. Everything was just horrible. The service wasn't to great either.

Jenny D.

For a sushi joint on University, I wanted this place to be so much better than it was. I ordered the Cherry Blossom, and it was kinda off. Just didn't taste right to me. The udon that my friend ordered looked yummy. So extra star for that, and the delicious plum wine.

Mies N.

Eh. Everything was mediocre, but the prices weren't bad. Went there with a small group for dinner. The table was clearly not wiped before we sat down, as evidenced by a slice of avocado (albeit, fresh) on the tabletop. We tried seven different Americanized rolls, and most of them were okay but not anything astounding. Perhaps the other stuff on the menu is better. On the plus side, the food was served quickly, the atmosphere inside was pleasant, and there was only a short wait to be seated.

tiger t.

I like it, because it will not costs your too much money to eat at Palo Alto, at least is fresh and less money, good bad. I usually go shoopng in Palo Alto , drop by to get a lunch there.

H. L.

whoa whoa whoa. after reading all these negative reviews for this place, i feel like i've been going to a different restaurant. the bf and i have been going to this place while he was doing his masters, and we're cheap and poor. this place is definitely within my student budget. i think the food tastes fine, and there's a good selection of rolls. i've never had to wait to get seated, and i mean, i guess i usually have to ask for stuff in order to get it, but again, get with the program and flag down your waiter? i mean... if you don't want to wait, right?

L. V.

I just went here for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it. I got the bento box with a california roll and terryaki chicken and it was great and affordable. From the outside, it looks a little like a fast food place because of the sign but it's pretty nice inside, really open compared to most sushi places (probably because of the windows). It took us a while to get our check and for them to split the bill but it wasn't a huge deal.

Barn M.

I don't know what's wrong with the people who work here, but they all act like people who don't have enough sex at home. They act like customers owe them. Saying that there is no service at this place would be generous. We used to go here pretty often, only because it is cheap and close to home. But recently, we went in and were literally told to go away. I guess it was because it was too late. But they didn't post their hours outside, and the sign says "Open", so we ventured in. The owner and people who work there are so rude that they shouldn't belong on this planet. Maybe they should find something better in life to do so they won't be so bitter about everyone and everything. They should get a life and put themselves out of the misery of this miserable place.

Tulie L.

This place was terrible. My friend and I wanted to sit at the booth tables, and the waitress was so rude, she was like "NO".. and the guy waiter felt bad, so explained to us that restaurant gets busy for lunch, so they need to keep the 4 person tables available for larger parties. I ordered #12 and so did my friend, the cali roll came out dry-rice, and falling apart. The waitress needs to learn manners, she's a short rude asian lady.. They never stopped by to refill my drinks either. Overall experience was terrible compared to the El camino way restaurant. So sad, I should have listened to YELP!!! hhaha

Amanda L.

This is where I first lost my sushi virginity. Originally, I loved it. I thought the dragon roll (eel ontop of a california roll) was theeee best. But now, after trying numerous sushi shops, this one just doesn't cut it anymore. The service is.. alright. It's kinda dirty inside. The quality of the sushi.. just isn't all that great.. Sorry Tomo, I probably won't be back.

Kyle B.

It's good for a quick bite, but nothing special in my opinion.

Sean A.

I had a craving for sushi, but I needed it to be quick and cheap. Enter Sushi Tomo. Sushi Tomo is located in the former World Wraps across from Pizza My Heart on University Ave. This location is conveniently close to campus, but inconveniently on University Ave meaning traffic and parking are an adventure. The place is very casual, with minimal decor, and wooden tables left behind by World Wraps covered in cartoonish Mediterranean designs. On the table is a rather disgusting jar of ginger soaking in a mysterious liquid with tongs submerged (yuck!) and a bottle of full-sodium soy sauce (940mg, or 38% of the daily allowance in a single tablespoon!) After consuming easily 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, I noticed another diner request and receive a green-capped bottle of low sodium soy sauce, but alas it was too late for me. Sushi Tomo was packed at dinnertime on Sunday night, and the service left much to be desired. Water was refilled far too infrequently and the waitress asked if we were ready to order after about 1 minute, then didn't return for another 10 minutes after being informed that we needed a couple more minutes to decide. The menu is reasonably extensive and very reasonably priced, but I recalled from a previous visit that the cooked dishes and more complicated deep-fried rolls were to be avoided, so I kept it simple. I selected miso soup ($1.50), an unagi handroll ($2.75), an "Oregon roll" (salmon and avocado, $3.95), and a "Crazy Horse roll" (salmon, hamachi, tuna, cucumber, $5.95). I also tried the Rainbow roll ordered by my dining companion ($7.95). The soup came very quickly and was nothing out of the ordinary - just plain old miso soup that was perhaps a notch too cold and salty. The rolls came only a minute or so after we finished the soup, and they were huge! There was clearly no skimping here - for the money there was an impressive amount of fresh looking fish filling and covering the various rolls. I loved the unagi handroll, but no surprise there - I can't get enough unagi. The salmon and avocado roll was nice, and the Crazy Horse roll, generously stuffed with three types of fish, was also very tasty, although if I were designing rolls, I probably would have replaced one of the fish varieties with another vegetable (perhaps avocado) or maybe even softshell crab. The Rainbow roll was the best of the lot for me. All in all, my share of the bill was well under $20 including tax and tip, and I left stuffed and satisfied. It was far from the best sushi I've ever had, but the fish was fresh, the helpings generous, and the meal was quick and inexpensive. The key to enjoying Sushi Tomo is to stick to simple rolls and have reasonable expectations. It's not world class sushi - it's just quick, cheap, and tasty. As far as I'm concerned, that's a winning combination.

Purin P.

Not bad but nothing spectacular. I went in there my second time looking for cheap sushi and got what I want.

Mia L.

Service was friendly and fine. No problem there. However, you know you're dabbling in sushi mediocrity when the fish has a palpable aftertaste. And also, who serves udon with a METAL spoon? I could either work to finish my soup or not burn my lips.

Melanie D.

We wanted to go to Sushi-Ya but they were closed the Tuesday after Memorial Day, so we went here instead. Service wasn't terrible, just not very good. Average, I suppose. Our water had no ice but it was filled fairly often. Although I did notice one time, he filled the water of my dining companion and then, even though I had only a little bit more in my glass, didn't fill mine. The sushi prices were fairly cheap and there was one guy behind the counter for the whole restaurant. That might explain the messy cuts of fish in our nigiri. The spider roll was decently priced but there wasn't really a soft-shell crab in the roll at all! It looked like all tempura batter and no real meat. A shame, as that is one of my favorite rolls. The Tokyo roll was pretty yummy. Overall, I might come back here again but only if I was in a group where everyone decided to go.

Fen Z.

Food: Fantastic for the price, and it's the only place that I've found that consistently has Uni. Unfortunately, when the place is in any way busy, the service goes down exponentially. Last time, my friends and I watched our completed dishes sit on the bar for a good 30 minutes before we were served it. And even on a non-busy day, we got dishes we didn't order, though the waiter was apologetic.

Jenny K.

Tempura udon was pretty decent and reasonably priced for Palo Alto. But if I ate tempura udon in SF, I would expect the Japanese 7-spice peppers (Shichimi Togarashi), and tempura sauce??? Also kinda of lame, that my friend wanted to order salmon sashimi and the waiter said it's a lunch only...with rice and soup...but whatever. Bento boxes also very reasonable at $7.50...that's cheaper than a sandwich.

Mervyn M.

I had a really nice chicken katsu dinner. Came with Miso soup and a nice little salad. Good size and very tasty. I also ordered some hamachi and salmon sashimi and was very disappointed. Very low quality and very expensive. I sat at the sushi bar and had prompt good service.

Connie W.

This is the worst restaurant in the Bay Area, not only because their food, but also their service. It is truly not a friendly place for kids to eat, even to a 18-month-old baby, a waiter will scold you to keep your baby "shut up". I have never had such worst experience in the united states, not even in the world. I hope everyone around Palo Alto or Bay Area gets this information, pass it on to your friends, and stop going that place. If I could, I will give them ZERO star, or negative.

Clair L.

My negative review here is based purely on service. I think the food is all right -- better, at least, then Miyake's across the street. But the last (and final) time I went, the woman who was serving me (I think she was the owner because she was giving a lot of orders as she cleared my table) spilled soy sauce all over my shirt and was too much in a hurry even to notice. The people sitting next to me stared, and I was too taken aback to say anything. I'm all for fast service, but efficiency that gets in the way of good service just seems like... why are you in the restaurant business?

judy l.

(if we could offer 0 stars...) Horrible, Horrible service... Our experience will go down as one of the worst we've ever experienced at any restaurant. We got there at 9:45pm on a Friday night - the place was jammed. Yet they didn't want to sit us at a table because they were closing in 15 min. We settled at the sushi bar. When we tried to order, we were told at least 2 more times that they were closing at 10. We had to order because the kitchen was closing (again they said it! -- we get the message!). While we were eating, we even had to protect our food from being taken away by the service staff who were anxious to clean up! Even though the food was adequate, even good tasting, the service was *so* bad, that we will absolutely not go there again. It was so poor, that we were motivated to write this review and have never written one before.

Anna R.

Horrible service. Sushi is not fresh. Do yourself a favor and skip this place.

Roy F.

The food is just okay... maybe not even that. The service is bad - it's a small place and yet it's amazingly hard to get their attention.

vanessa r.

I wish I could give it ZERO!!! This place was TERRIBLE... a disgrace to all american sushi restaurants. the sushi filling they called salmon was mushy and completely inedible. My stomach turned at the sight of it and as my boyfriend and I began to eat, it was clear we wasted 35 dollars on the smallest, indigestible rolls we had ever had of the dozens of sushi places we have been to in the bay area. We eat sushi weekly and were drawn to this place because of the crowd on university. BUT DONT BE FOOLED, it s truly disgusting.

Ed P.

The one on El Camino Way is better.....

Edmund G.

This place is probably the worst dining experience I've ever had. I wish I could rate the food, had it ever been actually brought to our table. Business lunch and we were kept waiting an hour AFTER ordering! We asked what the hold up was and the waitress ignored us. So we walked out. DO NOT GO TO THIS RESTAURANT!

John S.

Dude... We went there tonight. The Sushi Chef was a complete asshole. We walked in and within 2 seconds (keeping in mind no freaking posted hours on the door) "Take Out ONLY!" he yells at us. Dude were you born in a barn? Seriously. It's not like the economy is so bountiful and you have such a steady customer base. A dude walked in just before us and was being waited on and there were two other tables. It's not like the waiters are providing full service here man. I used to like coming here but I guess since he ticked us off we might not be coming back.

Elizabeth S.

Bad sushi chef! Bad sushi chef! Rude. It's okay to argue with the waiter and insult the customer if your food is good - I've been to my share of family owned Italian restaurants on the east coast - but if your food sucks, you better at least be nice. The chef didn't like my order which combined sushi with katsu and teriyaki. The chef refused to make my food except for the sushi. Told the waiter I was a bad customer. I could hear him carry on. Sorry to insult you chef, because clearly you have high standards, but my kids don't eat sushi. Good thing because this was the worst sushi I've ever had and if my kids had tried it, they would never have given it a second shot. I had hamachi. It looked and tasted nothing like yellowtail. It was yellow I'll give it that and looked like it had been beaten up. The sushi chef's anger coming through in his food I guess. I've had sushi in landlocked cities that was more fresh and clean and beautiful. Don't go to this restaurant. Just don't. They don't deserve your business. If I could give it negative stars I would.

Sarah B.

Ok... so am a total Tomo supporter, but our last visit was pretty crappy. The service was AWFUL. we sat down and waited nearly 10 mins before they even acknowledged our existence, the waiter even came and got orders and drinks for the table next to us who arrived after we did. He finally decided to breeze by and take our order. I usually get a rainbow roll, but decided to try a dinner box. The value seemed worth it... 3 cali rolls, teriaki chicken, a small mountain of tempura, soup and a salad for $8.95... cant beat it. The only gripe i had was the chicken was grissely and kinda charred . But the rest of the box was just about perfect. The other members of our party seemed happy with the food, but damn... get some new servers.

Richard C.

Check out all the burned out light bulbs in the ceiling. They don't have a ladder tall enough to get up there to fix them. Sooner or later this place will be too dark to eat in.

Nir Z.

The food here stinks. Even my dog will not eat the leftover fish.

S M.

The Service sucked. The SUSHI IS SOOOOOO GROSS. It's Cheap. So I guess you get what you pay for. Cheap Crappy Sushi.

Janae B.

Alright, yes the service is bad, but it's not The Ritz, so what do you expect. My boyfriend and I figured out how to get service. Stop looking at your menu or talking to each other. Just stare into no where and they come right over. It works every time. We frequent the place and while I know there are better sushi places out there we like that it is cheap and convenient. We don't eat the raw sushi there only the tempura rolls or california rolls. And yes, when I order the fresh water eel it is a bit fishy, but I have never gotten sick. Knock on wood. I would recommend the place if you go for the more mainstream Americanized sushi, not the authentic raw Japanese cuisine.

Kermit N.

Extremely slow service.

Mary L.

ONLY GIVING THIS PLACE 1 STAR BECAUSE 0 STARS IS NOT AN OPTION. This is easily the WORST SUSHI PLACE I have ever had the misfortune of eating at. My husband and I tried out this restaurant for lunch one weekend. I made the mistake of ordering their yellowtail rolls and nigiris. When my order came out, the yellowtail was sallow looking and obviously NOT fresh. Not only that, but the cook was too lazy to remove all the black skin off the fish so my rolls looked like it was half-covered with seaweed, until a closer look tells you that it's just fish skin. After a few bites, I was nauseated by the strong fish aftertaste -- courtesy of LACK OF FRESHNESS and the PRESENCE OF BLACK FISH SKIN ALL OVER MY ROLLS. There was nothing I could do about the lack of freshness (I figured 'you get what you pay for') but I didn't think I had to put up with so much black skin on my rolls. I asked the waiter if the chef would help me cut back the skin from my 2 rolls. The waiter actually said "no." (!?) I was stunned at their refusal. There were only 3 other tables in the restaurant at the time and the chefs looked like they had plenty of time to do this small task. Rather than argue, I asked them for a knife (even a butterknife) so I could cut off the black skin myself. They STILL SAID "NO" (?!!!!!) and proceeded to tell me that they don't have any knives. What kind of a restaurant doesn't have knives (even butterknives) for their guests??? The waiter then had the gall to tell me to peel off the skin with my chopsticks and fingers. Since the skin covered more than 50% of the fish covering the top of my rolls, I don't know how he imagined I could accomplish such a feat without totally destroying the rolls. It was highly insulting and downright RUDE. Bottom line: Horrible service. EXTREMELY rude waiters. Horrible, nasty rotten food. Normally you get what you pay for. But their food is not worth even their reduced price. If you want sushi, you're way better off buying it at the local Safeway.

Michelle T.

We sat at the sushi bar because there was only one waiter for the entire restaurant. Restaurant was packed so we figured the bar was our best bet for service. Sushi was decent for the price but I've had much better. We had the spider roll, super oregon roll, and sake roll for under $20. The spider roll was by far the best one of the three. Its definitely worth it to walk across the street and pay the little extra more for sushi at Miyake.

chini l.

Best budget sushi. Puts the little San Francisco budget places to shame. Portions are good, quality in terms of budget places is above average.For example, shrimp tempura is actually shrimp in tempura batter rather than, say, fried shrimp.

Alyssa U.

Mediocre sushi, slow service... and wait, is that a hair in my sushi roll?

Julia C.

i agree with many of the other reviews, the service is horrible while the sushi is just edible and nothing more. i've been here twice and both experiences were pretty much the same. it's one of those places where you should have never gave a second chance. the sushi wasn't fresh but it was still in such a condition that was edible. there wasn't anything special or unique about the rolls. i'd best describe it as an amateur take on sushi if there was such a thing. the service, or lack of was quite irritating. like other's mentioned they forgot or confused our orders several times after being reminded or corrected. it also took them a really long time to do everything. we had to wait to be seated, wait to have our orders taken, wait for the food, wait for the check. we were there for practically 2 hours both times and there were only 4 of us. the price is that of any other sushi place, but from the appearance on the outside you'd expect tomo to be cheaper since it seems much more like a casual almost fast food looking joint. for the amount we paid i'd rather drive around or further to find some better food and service.

Hazel H.

I had a craving for sushi and thought I would try this place. I got a lunch special. It was bad. They were not friendly at all to my toddler and I had to beg to sit at a booth that they wanted to save for a party of four, even though the restaurant was half empty. No high chairs. Chicken teriyaki was inedible. Heavy tempura, Crummy California Roll. I wouldn't spend my own money to eat here again.

Ralfa R.

FAIL all around This place is garbage. And they're very serious about being garbage. In fact, if they had advertised themselves as purveyors of fine garbage rolled up in seaweed I might give them a 5. Well to be honest, they'd probably still get a 3 in that case too...

Alex A.

Another forgettable lunch place in downtown Palo Alto.

clyde j.

the sushi is decent but the service is horrific. The waiters are pretty bad, they are not very bright and very forgetful. I always have to ask for things twice and it will be wrong.

Sean B.

This place was pretty good. The service is fine and the food was good. Seems to have some bad reviews, but wasn't our experience. Not the best sushi I've had in my life, but it was a good fine meal. The waitress took our picture and was friendly about it. Very fair prices. :)

Natalie N.

Tl;dr: Meh, painfully mediocre I came here last Thursday and ordered one of their bento combinations. The waiter was pretty accommodating and allowed me to make a substitution (gyoza instead of tempura) which was nice. The food however failed to impress on almost all counts. The Saba in the bento was decent, but the gyoza was mushy on the inside and their sashimi was questionable. The bill for one bento came out to $16, which was more that I was willing to pay for the food I was getting. I probably won't be back unless I am desperate for Japanese food and all other places are packed.

Kayla G.

The food was okay. I had a dragon roll and miso soup. My husband had a bento box, which included a california roll. He asked if the california roll could be switched for tuna only, which is a cheaper roll on the menu and was told no. We were not greeted when we arrived and it seemed as though we were burdening the server, even before asking about the roll change. She greeted other guests and seemed friendly towards them. I would not go here again.

Danielle N.

This place is amazing!! Our waiter was so nice to us but I forgot his name... There was a tiny incident where some soda was spilled on my boyfriend but our waiter was quick to grab a bunch of napkins. The food was amazing and the customer service was one of the greatest I've ever experienced!!

Sarah L.

Not the best sushi I've ever had, but it could've been the company and the service that left me a bit dismayed. Went here on a date and the person I was with.. didn't like sushi? Weird that he suggested this place... anyways. We went I got two rolls and he got a bento box with teriyaki chicken. It was very mediocre and the service was horrible, she ignored us for the most part and insisted we ordered alcohol and more than one roll (weird right?). He wasn't impressed with his bento box and I didn't even finish the roll. Too bad I was on a date so I couldn't whip out my phone and take pictures of their concoctions. Overall, I may come back if someone is pressuring me to... not by my own accord by any means.

Aureliano C.

I went in cuz I had no idea what I wantedta eat as my 1st meal of the day. Was hungry and jus decided to go in and check them out for my very first time. I was one of very few there, but then again it was after 3pm and most folks are bout ta get off work so that was nice cuz I didn't haveta wait long for my food. I had a nice big bottle of cold Asahi and a large hot Sake whilst awaiting my Rainbow Roll. When in Rome.... I pondered over the menu and decided to jus get sumthin simple. There are lots of choices to choose from! Noodles, bentos, rolls, baked clams, etc. Pretty standard Japanese menu. There was only one lady there whom, after takin my order, went home soon after cuz't was the end of her shift. I felt bad cuz my food hadn't arrived yet so I wasn't able to tip her. But then again, I did haveta initiate conversation. Not much was said. I asked her how her day was goin. Not the most loquacious of sorts there that's for sure. The ladies are nice, ya jus gotta break the ice with'm. But that's jus how I am. Very social and engaging. I wait tables and tend bar so makin a connection w people can go a long way. That bein said, ifya jus wanna sit down and have a quick and quiet meal without disruption then thisz the place! Kanpai! Speakin of Kanpai, they're next on my lust for Sushi!

Christine Allison M.

This place needs zero stars. Clearly. OLIVIA, the so called manager has absolutely no manners. She's incredibly rude and walks always from the customer and gives them no chance to speak. No customer service skills what-so-ever. Overcharges. I ordered A SIDE OF PLAIN udon noodles and she tries to charge me $9.95!!! Are you kidding me? She rolls her eyes and can't even speak like a human being. Before I even got a chance to have an adult conversation with her, she comes up from a table away saying, "yes?!" So freaking rude. This place in unprofessional. Don't come. Not worth your time or Money.

Sepand A.

Horrible service, don't be surprised if get the bill while you are eating!!!! They will force you to pay even before you finish eating here. Awful experience

Miss R.

Quiet little place with the best sushi and can't beat these prices. You won't end up with a $50 bill...well unless you order something crazy..I stick to what I know, nothing fancy, usually don't end up paying more than $20 bux! (Sorry run on sentence, I'm good at those) California roll Always good, Oregon roll (salmon inside California roll) Caterpiller Roll!!...Miso soup and tea.. always, always!! happy with my food, and very clean. LOVE, LOVE this place. Oh if your expecting a chatty waitress you'll be disappointed..but if your looking to enjoy your food and leave satisfied then be prepared! :D

Lerin M.

I totally agree with Christine on this one. I've never wrote a bad review before but after eating there today I wouldn't want anyone else to though their money away. The waitress was extreemly rude and got my order wrong (hey, it happens) but, when I very polightly asked her to confirm the order she practatly yelled at me "YOU ORDERED IT!" I didn't see her for the rest of meal. I was allergic to the roolm she gave me so I just left it untouched on The plate. Gave the busser my card, TIPED and left. No good bye, no thank you not even a look my way as to why I didn't even touch my food. I would deffinatly opp for one of the more creditable restraints on University.

Shivani G.

I've lived in Palo Alto for 24 years and before sushi tomo this spot was World Wraps, which is evident in the decor that hasn't changed since Sushi Tomo took over. Any way trust the overwhelming number of yelpers when they say don't go here unless you have to. I've been maybe 20 times over the years and have only have 1 fair experience. One time I was so irritated with my service I didn't leave a tip and one of the employees chased me after I left and literally demanded me to tip them. I did go here recently and the food was fine, service was neutral but still pricey for what you get. Fuki Sushi is probably the best in PA, it's a shame Miyake is gone.

Laylah S.

Horrible service. Signaled me to take a seat in a corner. Slapped a menu on my table & didn't bother to come take my order at all. Did not ask what drink I may have wanted. She just kept walking by not looking over at me. I thought of calling her over but why spend my hard earned money at a place who doesnt value constimers. After a good while I just got up & left...

Rachel Y.

Worst sushi I've ever had. No flavor--if anything, bitter from the cheap seaweed and the skimpy amount of rice surrounding the rolled seaweed. Not a very lively atmosphere either.

Austin J. A.

Over the years, I've given this spot several chances, and it's seriously not worth giving it any more. Every time I come here, it's been out of necessity; proximity or the late hour. Sometimes, with a good restaurant, that serendipity will parlay into a nice new regular haunt for me, but Sushi Tomo is not this kind of place. Tonight was a great example of how Sushi Tomo doesn't deserve more than two stars. Sushi Tomo closes at 10pm on Friday, but when we came in at 9:50pm, the host seemed really unhappy to see us. When a restaurant is open until 10pm, that means they take seatings until 10pm, but she was so unpleasant and sour and unwilling to seat us. Instead, at the encouragement of the two other people present (the sushi chef and someone sitting on the customer side of the bar), she reluctantly said that we could get takeout. They didn't offer us a seat while we waited for our food to arrive. We noticed that they posted a sign that their to-go containers cost their customers about $0.50 apiece extra. When we got the food home, we found that the rolled sushi was rolled really loosely, as if made with little care or attention to detail in a rush. It all fell apart. The miso soup was full-price but half-size, and contained nothing but miso broth: no tofu, no scallions, no seaweed, no nothing. The nigiri was okay, nice big slices of fish, but the fish was split on the fat lines and wasn't prepared the way in which I had asked. They missed several fish scales. Everyone has a bad day sometime, but it seems like every time I have come here, "sometime" is now. It seems like they don't want customers, to be honest. If they really don't want customers, they won't have to worry about me.

Mahgul U.

Worst sushi ever. It's sad that they have prime location but their food stinks. I'm done giving them a chance.

John C.

Very poor service, bad rice. Avoid ! Yelp says that's too short to post... So really, really , really avoid !

Helen H.

This is not your fancy-now-you-owe-them-hundred-bucks sushi place. The decor might not be quite as "sexy" as it could be, but it is clean and this is all I care about. My boyfriend and I come here so often that they know us and know what we'll be ordering as soon as we enter :) In fact, they give us free soups and/or edamame! :D Once we got there 5 min before closing but they still made us to-go boxes! And the best part is the PRICE. It is AFFORDABLE for a sushi place despite being on University ave. I have gotten Cherry Tree Blossom roll, Monica roll, and my favorite Salmon Skin roll. My boyfriend always goes for a California and Golden California roll - I tried those too and they are delicious. Order one roll if you are hungry and two if you are starving :) Love this place and will be back for more!

Hen A.

open sundays and korean run...weekend lunch and tables plenty...standard menu with sashimi, rolls, sushi, hand rolls, combination bentos, etc...miso soup served with meals....sashimi lunch with four fish varieties and twelve slices...served with a bowl of rice..priced near $20 and poor...salmon, tuna and two white...very thick-cut slabs of fish...a need to bite through larger slices...served with lemon slices, wasabi and lettuce...guess lettuce cheaper than shisho...one fish bit mushy in texture...the combination lunch better at roughly $10..given rice and salad...teriyaki beef, california roll and tempura....tempura battered bit thick...standard california roll...teriyaki beef sauced heavy...$37 total after tax and tip for 2 lunches...

Karla P.

Horrible place don't spend your money here. Food is okay not awesome and the servers are very distracted. They are so rude because you don't order everything at once and they give you the check without asking for it which I find it very rude. We had to eat at subway instead because of the bad service. I rather drive all the way to San mateo or foster city to eat decent sushi with more friendly people.

Yinglan M.

I came in because Fuki Sushi next door was closed. I had salmon roll and tempura udon for lunch. The salmon wasn't fresh at all, and the color was a pale pink. The tempuras I had was more of fried doughs. Iced tea tasted like water. I ended up having chicken mc nuggets after that. Definitely never visit again.

Alma A.

Horrible service. Lady seemed racist. Asked other people what they wanted to drink before me. I got there first unfortunately. After she helped others she asked me what I wanted to drink. She stapled my bag to go even when I asked her not to. I thought since it was Palo Alto there would be a better quality sushi. I eat sushi all the time and this place is horrible. I don't recommend it.

Zhe H.

If I could give a half star, I would be happy to do that. I ordered a spicy seafood don, what I got is a bowl with non- fresh seafood and strange soup base, the service is the same as its good, which I feel like I should leave soon. I would never come back again.

Zoe M.

The tuna and avocado were very fresh in the Boston roll and the Tofu stick was interesting. Really close to work and fair price. I ordered a cold Nigori sake that was much bigger than I thought. So I had them hold the other half of the bottle for me and swung by later to finish it and nibble again. That was nice :)

Ken C.

I ordered Udon, and the taste was not bad. However, the attitudes of waitresses were so bad. I have never seen this quality of service. If their attitudes are improved, this restaurant deserves three stars. Quite unpleasant. They don't seem to understand what the service is.

Kelly G.

Jeez Louis. Talk about slow service. I came here with my boyfriend for a date night and the first weird thing to happen was the waitress bought out only one pair of chopsticks and one soy sauce saucer. I mean, I know I'm dating the guy, but I prefer to not have to share utensils with him over a meal. After a while, she took our order- we got Red Dragon Roll, Spicy Tuna, and Hama something something roll (it had yellowtail fish). The Red Dragon was really good!! Spicy tuna is pretty standard, but also good. The Hama whatever was pretty mediocre. Must be why its name is so forgettable. After we finished (oh and we finally got another pair of chopsticks after requesting one) we sat there for a while. And we sat some more. There wasn't really anybody there. Maybe 4-5 other tables of 2-3 people. We joked about dining and dashing just because it was taking so long for the lady to bring us our check- calm down, we weren't REALLY going to dine and dash. But she was so oblivious to our existence that it would have been completely possible to get away with. Eventually we were able to wave her down and she brought us the check. For the quality of the sushi I would probably go elsewhere for better food at the same price and with better service.

Sam Z.

Sushi Tomo. What happened to you? I remember coming here in my high school years and you were fine. At least 3 stars. Maybe it was because we were young and didn't really notice how bad of service that you provided. Front of the house absolutely sucks now. But hey, at least you get some decent sushi.. So no complain if you're looking for a quick fix.

Sean H.

Pretty simple, this place is awful. The service was awful, they were rude, took forever, and forgot half our stuff. Never even got drinks till we asked the 3rd time. Sushi wasn't fresh at all. Nothing tasted quite right. Bento box was bland and just overall not good. Paid 50$ for 2 people to have crappy sushi. I won be back. That's for sure! Don't go here!

Mindy V.

I won't be back. Two stars, one for the sushi, one for the location. But that's all they deserve. The service was atrocious! From the moment we walked in we felt like we were inconveniencing them. Nobody welcomed us. The waitress had a sour look on her face, slammed down our drinks and our tray of sushi, and couldn't be bothered bring us extra plates (we were sharing two rolls). Didn't ask how the food was, didn't offer us refills on our drink, and just slammed the check down on the table because apparently she decided our dinner was over. Wow. Sorry if you had a bad day, but don't take it out on your customers! But from reading the other reviews (which I should've done before I went in the first place), this kind of treatment seems to be pretty common at this establishment. There's other sushi places on University, so don't even bother with this one.

Chelsey G.

This place seemed crusty, but we were hungry and in a rush. I figured cuz it was on University Ave it couldn't be that bad. I was wrong. The menus were sticky, tables were sticky, flies buzzing around inside. We should have ran out. The sashimi platter was not up to par. The tuna was that bright red fake color. Thank god the salmon was ok. I would never go back. Sad sushi :(

Irene H.

I have been here time and time again to find that the service is lacking and the food is subpar, especially given the expensive price of this location. This time we went, the service and the food took so long that we just got our food to go. Waitress took fifteen minutes to get our order, gave us no heads up at all that the food might take longer to prepare--the whole waiting process took about 45 minutes in total. It's unfortunate that all the sushi places in downtown Palo Alto fluctuate from mediocre to awful. I sincerely hope these places reconsider what they're charging us, what they're serving us, and what kind of service they're giving us.

Racquel R.

The sushi rice. "I mean. What. Is. Up. With. That?" *Jerry Seinfeld voice* My Philly roll would have been decent had it not been made with two week old rice. #sadsushipanda

Prev D.

This place wasn't so bad. The food was pretty good. But I can understand how the attitude of the servers could come across as a bit cold and unfiendly. Most of the servers when I went today were older, most were friendly. Although 1 did stand out as standoffiish... but maybe that's just how she is, she seemed nice enough when she came to check on us and they all thanked us on the way out. I would still go back.

Brian D.

Your review helps others learn about great local businesses. Please don't review this business if you received a freebie for writing this review, or if you're connected This place got slammed pretty hard on Yelp! funny,it's exactly what you should expect given the prices and stereotyped Japanese decor and ambiance. in any way to the owner or employees.They have commercial rolls with lots of rice yet fair given the quantity/volume and pricing.I would stick to the most basic traditional rolls if you must go here because those are at least the ones they are needing to make every 90 minutes or so! :)

E W.

Came in to order to go as it was recommended to me by a good friend. I agree with the earlier review, I think the Japanese lady lady whonis the server and hostess at the same time is racist! People here are rude and doesn't even greet you! I didn't know where to order so I approach the guy behind the counter he points to the lady with his mouth! Ugh I wish I wasn't so hungry I would have gone somewhere else. I usually tip very well coming from Manhattan but I didn't feel bad leaving without tipping! Sorry gratuity is for gracious service! Service with out eye contact and rudeness is no service at all!

Andy D.

Was just in the area and wanted a quick bite with a friend just to satisfy the mouth and sit down after some walking around the Stanford area. Had one of their roles, the edamame and agedashi tofu. The roll was decent, the beans weren't bad either but the tofu sauce on the other hand was weak. I had friends who come here and expected a bit more out of the place but it's just a pick me up. Not sure if I'm compelled enough to come back, it just doesn't stand out.

Brittany N.

There was hair in my food! Omg!! The waitress gave us the wrong roll. We told her that this was not what we wanted and not what we order. We told her that we didn't want this and we told her what we had ordered/wanted. She said she won't take the roll back because then we "will be wasting the food, and the food is going to go to waste." The food does not even taste that good, the flavors are very bland and there is nothing unique or exciting about it. The chicken looks and tastes pre-packaged. They did not even give an orange with the chicken plate, but instead a chunk or grapefruit, that doesn't match the flavors. We had to ask numerous times for silverware and waiting for the longest time to get it. We waited a good 10 minutes for the check after we asked for it. I do not recommend this place and I will never come back again. I do recommend that you DO NOT COME HERE!

Ranjina R.

Rolls I ordered were okay. Average or below average at the most. Chicken-K was the worst I've ever had. Service was very poor. Waited for another 40mins after asking for the bill before I could pay. About 5 hours later, tummy started hurting really really bad. Never going back. Not worth the money and time. Oh! And all that suffering that followed.

Javier P.

I was actually surprised on how fast their service was. After my friend and I placed our order there were four orders before ours and within 6 to 8 minutes our order was done and brought to our table. At first I thought that they made a mistake but they didn't lol I ordered the salmon bento with tempura and sashimi and my friend order I think it was Unagi roll. The salmon that came with my bento was actually a pretty decent size. I was happy because most Japanese restaurants usually give you a small piece of salmon or two small pieces. The sashimi and tempura were fresh. One thing I didn't like is how the rest room is right next to the sushi bar. It's a bad idea because someone uses the restroom and drops off the kids at the pool. When that person exits. The people sitting at sushi bar will hear them flushing and possibly get an unpleasant smell as the individual walks out. Nasty stuff! lol

Christian D.

The food was bad... The sushi fell apart, the waiter was rude and very unfriendly. Just moments before entering she was telling a customer to move to a different table with attitude. I mean if you want food equal to cafeteria food and horrible service, feel free to stop by. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

Ellen C.

This is the worst sushi I've ever had. Infinitely worse than the grocery store. Don't go here.

Stephen S.

Overpriced. Poor service. Satisfactory quality. It's hard for me to understand how anyone who has eaten at a range of sushi restaurants could give this restaurant a high rating. I will not be going here anymore.

Jason Y.

All the reviews are right. Deserves zero stars for service. Had to come 3 times to place an order. When I got my order they did not segregate the rolls, when I asked for extra plates was charged 25 cents per small container. Worst place ever

Thomasina M.

I am kind of obsessed with Sushi Tomo. The prices are really reasonable and the fish is fresh. Service is quick. For the price, I expected much less. Sure, the decor is not fabulous and the sushi is not super artistic, but it's a nice deal. I always feel full and happy :)

hana s.

JUNK.

S K.

.

Stephanie Y.

Because Kanpai was closed at 3pm, we came here instead. There were 2 other occupied tables, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was really hot in there, maybe they needed to save money on electricity or something. I got the hama roll and tempura udon. minus for having the tempura in the soup, so it got soggy. I quickly took them out when it arrived at the table. Other than that, it had pretty good broth. minus the hama roll had a fishy taste to it and the place was warm, so it probably made it worse. The sushi roll came out warm.

Neilu A.

I'm slightlyyyy confused why this place has only 2 stars! I thought it was pretty good! The service was a little on the slow side but the sushi was good. My friend Lindsey and I decided to try this place out cause we were going out in Palo Alto after and we walked by this place and are both obsessed with sushi so we obviouslyyyy had to go in. I got the lion king roll and it was good. I mean I have definitely had better but I would give it like 4 stars. We also got sake bombs so that definitely upgraded my experience as well. But it was a good location-right in downtown and the food was decent. 3 stars cause the service was slower. But overall I would go back again!

L Z.

I gave 1 star to this place simply because I was not allow to rate it lower. The location is awesome, and I think that might be the only reason they still have business. I only ate here once and that was a mistake I won't repeat. To be honest the food was not very bad but at most average. The price was on the higher end given their level. The key was the service. They offer one of the worst restaurant service I've experienced. That day there weren't many customers (no more than 4 tables throughout our dinner) but they have 2 or 3 waiters/waitresses on service. We asked for some paper napkins, and they arrived after asking for 3 times. Food arrive very late. No service during dinner. When we finished and asked for check, we didn't get it within 10 mins even after asking for it twice. I raised my hand and waved, at least 2 waitresses and 1 cook saw me but nobody reacted. I had an argument with them and they didn't feel they did it wrong. I was totally angry. I ended up paying no tip and left very unhappy, and they seemed OK with it. I only found out their yelp reviews afterwards and people are complaining about all kinds of issues, and this is amount the worst reviewed restaurants I saw here. Next time I should do my homework before trying out a new place.

Ramsey S.

I'm not sure where all the other reviewers usually eat, but if this place is the worst food they've ever had, I'd sure like to eat where they're eating. I went for lunch and got a sushi combo. The fish didn't really melt in your mouth but it was ok, especially for the price which was cheap by any standard but very cheap for University Ave in Palo Alto. I didn't smell anything fishy. I don't know which waitresses most reviewers had but mine seemed friendly enough. They didn't give a free back rub or anything but maybe that's what the other reviewers are used to. Basically, one of five situations seems plausible: 1) I went after some change in ownership. 2) They read the yelp reviews and changed. 3) Most yelpers in Palo Alto have much higher standards than I do. 4) Most yelpers in Palo Alto have very weak stomachs/sensitive taste buds. 5) Most yelpers in Palo Alto have low self-esteem and need to be worshipped by waitresses. Considering that no sushi place in Palo Alto currently has an average rating above 3.5 stars, I'm guessing it's number 3, 4, or 5. Again, the sushi is just average, but definitely not vomit-inducing like people describe. The waitresses don't tell you how great you are, but they're not exactly cold, either. Average, not terrible.

Thuy L.

I don't get all the reviews here. I guess it could be a hit an miss place? I loved it. I would rate it 4.5 Stars. I went here because my sister graduated from Stanford over the weekend(I know I know WOW Stanford right?? LOL) anyways, after she walked, the first thing she wanted to eat at was Sushi Tomo. It's her favorite sushi place near her school. It was around 2-3PM on a Sunday afternoon when we got there and it wasn't that busy. We had a young guy helped us. Here is what we ordered: -Cucumber sonomono - yelp.com/biz_photos/dYOW… It was good. I like cucumbers so couldn't get it wrong. -Salmon Sashimi - yelp.com/biz_photos/dYOW… WOW these were HUGE!!! It was more like STEAK Salmon more then just sashimi. I was VERY impressed and it was fresh too. I really liked it. -Super Oregon roll - yelp.com/biz_photos/dYOW… Can you tell we love salmon? LOL. This roll was good. They gave you a lot of salmon on top. I forgot which roll next to it was though.. LOL. I didn't order it but it was pretty good too. - yelp.com/biz_photos/dYOW… We ordered this roll too and it was pretty good. I don't know what it's called but I like it. It was kind of big on the size. Had to take a few bites to finish it. Overall, if I was in the Stanford area, I wouldn't mind coming here again. The place is pretty clean, service is a tiny bit slow because I think they are short handed. I didn't see that bitchy lady work when I was there. so I had a good experience. Also! there is a restroom in there, its just camouflage with the wall paint. LOL.

Rachel S.

All I can say is WHY!! Why did I walk in there? I was in a hurry and thought I could grab a healthy few bites of sushi and figured that anyone who has a spot on University Ave is worthy. Wellll, NOPE. I got a california roll and Sake Nigiri. The salmon tasted old and the california rolls were loaded with mayonnaise (UUUGGGGHHH). Never again.

Anthony C.

Came in on Saturday afternoon- completely empty- the rice was really dry and flaky at best-service was slow- overall, a sub mediocre sushi place

Lynsey N.

Worst sushi ever! The service is also terrible. Not to mention the place is a sauna. I would give it zero stars if allowed. This place needs to be demolished.

Kristin V.

The food is okay, don't get me wrong, but this place has lost it's mind. Food is not good enough for the rude staff. Service sucks-really sucks. Rude employees and horrible service. $15.00 minimum on credit card purchases (which is illegal to have a minimum anyway) $7.50 minimum when paying in cash. WTH? Need a to go container? 15 cents per small container and 25 cents per large container.

Jessie G.

Not sure what is up with all the crappy ratings, but I (and everyone else I've taken here) love this place. The White Tiger Roll is my favorite and I could eat it everyday without getting sick of it. The service is fast and friendly and I have never had to wait for seating. If you are in the area and craving sushi give this place a try and make up your own mind.

MJ J.

The worse sushi I have ever tasted. Can't believe this place exists. The fish has been dead for weeks. The service is bad. Did I mention the food is rancid and dangerous ? I don't know why PA has so many bad Japanese restaurants. Maybe due to so many students on a budget ?

R. M.

First server ever to grunt at me as she gave me the bill. And I mean it was a pretty guttural, caveman-like grunt. I was baffled. My family wasn't rude, we didn't complain and we kept to ourselves enjoying our own company. I had the pork cutlet and was a bit surprise it came without some kind of sauce. Standard and uneventful. The one star was for over the top, out of the way, bad service. Wow. Punctuated with a grunt no less! Being Asian I understand a type of service at Asian restaurants. Authentic Chinese restaurants aren't kissy face, it's about business- that I can understand. But this server was just rude. That's different( the server wasn't Chinese, overheard her saying she was Korean). Read other reviews here and can see that other unlucky people have been exposed to this server.

CAScuba Y.

Out of despearate we went here on a Saturday. Yes, confirm disaster. grill pork rice came out more like sautee pork on oil over rice. Usually miso soup can't really goes wrong but even my 3 years old seems to refuse it ! The sushi I got wasn't too bad, at least I didn't get sick, it's at the level of those rolling boat self serves type. At least they beat Miyaki across the street since they are gone ! I think they are operate by Korean if that matter.

Josh K.

3 stars for consistency and matching of expectations. I mean, who goes in here expecting fine Japanese cuisine? It's a non-Japanese sushi joint with dubious fish and cheap bento boxes. Get the bento or get some rolls with cooked stuff in them (eel, tempura.) Or, get the oyako/katsu don, it's filling and huge (you can pack it up for tomorrow's lunch.) It is dirt cheap compared to Fuki Sushi and way better than Miyake. The tea is alright and the service is good enough. Don't get nigiri or sashimi here, and you'll be satisfied. Don't expect a gourmet experience here. It's just pseudo-Japanese food - but sometimes you want that.

Teresa P.

I picked up some Nigiri for my sis-in-law last night, who just had a baby and was dying to have some sushi after refraining from it during her pregnancy. I remember now why I haven't been to Tomo since that first time I ate here! I regret that I didn't have the time to go somewhere better to get her better Japanese food. It was an embarassing way to welcome someone back to sushi. The Sake and Hamachi Nigiri were grayish in color and did not make for a pleasant my-body-is-my-own-again-and-can-eat-whatever-I-­want meal. The bento box with Chicken Teri (sopping in sauce, in a bad way), Gyoza (quaggy) and California roll (doleful) was just as disappointing. How sad in an area like Downtown Palo Alto, on University Avenue no less, that there is not one notable restaurant to get legit sushi and just Japanese food in general. Sushi Tomo is definitely not it, but I'd have to say it would be a marginally better choice than Miyake. If you decide to check this place out, be prepared for slow service, mediocre food with DTPA prices. CCs accepted with $10 minimum.

David W.

Shocked this place has such low reviews. Went here last night and loved it. The dining area is nothing fancy, but the food was great.

Sarah Y.

This is my regular sushi place! I order from them 3-4 times per month when I'm too lazy to cook, and always love it. I generally get the Super Boston roll and Tokyo roll. They are tasty and the staff is friendly. It's not the exquisite top of the line sushi experience that you would drive for miles for, but the fish is good and the rolls creative. The atmosphere is pretty basic so I usually get take out.

Carson T.

I saw the reviews on Yelp after I tried the sushi at Sushi Tomo, and I was surprised by how bad they were given my good experience here. The California and Philadelphia rolls I ordered were plump, juicy, and beautiful to look at. For $10, I would definitely order these rolls from Sushi Tomo if I were on the go, or if I just needed a sushi fix.

Sandip S.

The sushi was so bad we had to get up an leave without finishing the meal! I was highly disappointed at the way the sushi was constructed and the service was below standards as well.

Aaron F.

And that's what I get for not checking Yelp in advance! The rating is highly accurate for this restaurant. In a hurry, I saw a busy sushi restaurant and walked in. The service was fast, and the prices were reasonable (especially the lunch - $11 for a sushi lunch special with 5 pieces of nigiri, a california roll, and miso coup). Unfortunately, the sushi was on the verge of inedible: the fish was not fresh, so the color was off, it was chewy and it tasted fishy (it had clearly been frozen - how many times I don't want to know). Even the rice was disappointing, dry and crispy so the pieces fell apart before getting to my mouth. I look forward to trying another sushi place next time...

Skye W.

Omg this place is pretty terrible. So i got of the caltrain to visit my friend at Stanford. I had somehow missed all the bullet trains and got there Friday night a little after 8pm. I decided to be adventurous and to not look on yelp for a place to eat. So we walked and saw Sushi Tomo. It was packed and looked very lively. BAD DECISION First the miso soup they gave me was pretty much a bowl of hot water. It's like they were using mix and forgot to put most of it in my bowl. I had to ask for another one. The rolls were mediocre and the fish was suspicious. Luckily I didn't get sick. The crab mix in the californian rolls was so salty and weird. Worse than the prepackaged stuff at whole foods. Ok, so this place is relatively cheap. Improve your game guys. It's gross.

John W.

Our experience: good food, but not-so-good service. Kudos to Sushi Tomo for having a nice selection of vegetarian rolls. Not as many, nor as creative, as some other places, but a lot more than some offer. For less than nine dollars, you can get the vegetable roll combo, which has 18 pieces: 6 each of avocado roll, kappa roll (cucumber), and what might have been the yamagobo roll (pickled burdock). The rolls are small, but for two of us, sharing that plus an order of croquettes and soup was very satisfying. The croquettes were some of the best we've had: soft and tender inside, lightly crispy outside, and served fresh and hot. Our favorite thing from our small order. What makes us wonder whether we'll go back is the service. The waiter, once he showed up on this not-all-that-busy early evening, was pleasant enough, but not horribly knowledgable; he had to go back to the kitchen twice during our order to answer simple inquiries about the menu. And once we finished, the bill was a long time coming, finally dropped off by an older woman--apparently the boss lady--who neither asked how things were as she dropped it on the table (she didn't speak at all, it was a hit-and-run), nor thanked us when she came back later to drop my card back to me. Not a word at all! Really left us with a why-bother-to-come-back feeling. There's plenty of Japanese food in downtown Palo Alto, & I'd really prefer to go somewhere more customer-service oriented, where my business seems more welcome.

Jamie C.

Whoever likes this place has never tried real sushi. Bland, nasty, not good, overpriced. BYE!

Kriti R.

The lunch service here was great! My friend really liked the chicken teriyaki lunch special, but I was not a huge fan. I didn't think there was anything special about it and the miso soup and salad on the side didn't wow me either. We tried the Spider Roll too, but even that did not hit the spot. Basically, I've had better sushi/chicken. Hopefully I can come back here and try more options on their menu to give a more thorough review.

Harish Kumar S.

I love sushi...but this was the first time a place disappointed me when it came to sushi!!! The teriyaaki chicken was good though..average actually. I have had better teriyaki before. Service seemed to be pretty average. 3 star as I didn't try anything else but chicken.

Rebecca G.

horrible horrible horrible. I regretted it as soon as I ordered.

Athena S.

I'm not the person to yelp a place before I go in as I am walking by, especially on a date. Thankfully I tend to be more spontaneous than that unless we're out of town looking for a place to go. This is 1 place that I can safely say Yelp would have served as a heads up at minimum. First off I'd give fair warning about going here on a Sunday evening... or any evening too close to closing time. I figured it was early enough plus I am mindful not to be the last patrons at any restaurant anyway. That said, when we arrived, we were not exactly warmly greeted. we didn't think about it at the time because we had a couple beers at the pub so we were pretty chill. Figured our server was just kind of a douche. But when I asked the sushi chef for something since we were sitting at his sushi bar, he told me to tell the server who is nowhere to be found.Hmmm. Any other sushi restaurant I have gone to before seems to encourage engagement with the chef. But here, since we were the only ones in the joint I guess the sushi chef was just too busy. Or unnecessarily arrogant...if he had mad skills and knew how to cut things straight, I'd cut him that respect. The food and service were dually unimpressive: the presentation looked like a blind 5 year old put it together, no tea was offered, water was empty, couldn't find said server to get an extra napkin, and quality was not there on any level for appetizers our the rolls we ordered. You get what you pay for, sometimes less. This place is cheap, we didn't know that coming in but I should have been able to tell by the tacky sign... that's a tricky 1 because a lot of decent Japanese places trend to have silly "decor." Next time I want sushi in Palo Alto I'll skip the overrated U avenue, maybe head over to Trader Joe's for that nasty packaged stuff, which tastes better than Tomo & at least the workers there are always very nice. You've been warned. This place probably won't be open for a lot longer at the rate they're going.

Greg B.

Came here with a friend toward the end of the night, and the staff was downright rude and clearly wanted us to leave. We ended up taking our sushi to go to avoid the unfriendliness, only to find that the sushi was as awful as the service. The fish did not taste fresh, and in fact, felt a bit rubbery/chewy, and they clearly used mayo and spicy sauce to mask the poor quality. I can't imagine why I'd ever go here again - truly horrible experience.

Hillery G.

Poor slow service - boo.

Janet N.

My party of 4 was seated quickly and was left with iced waters as we decided what to order. Looking at the menu will be surprising due to the low prices each roll was about less than 8 bucks, but don't be fooled these rolls were about the size of quarters in comparison! I had the Spicy Tuna roll which supposed to come with seaweed salad on top, which they forgot to leave out it was also mushed up Tuna which gave my roll a strange texture. The California Roll I didn't even bother to try it was imitation crab, I've had done wrong way too many times. The Salmon Skin was pretty decent as well as the Unagi Roll. The rolls were not tightly rolled and the rice seemed dry and a bit stiff. However, I tried the ten'pura from my friends Bento and it was delicious like it was right out of the fryer ... it was about the best thing I ate. Walking in and seeing what appeared to be Japanese chefs just brought my hopes up, I don't plan on coming back here.

Kevin E.

I came in alone to order some quick sushi because of a craving, and wishing to check out this location (having been to the one in south Palo Alto quite a few times). I was sat at the sushi bar by a grumbling waiter, and then was ignored for over 15 minutes without even a glass of water or mention of taking my order. When I finally got his attention, he was annoyed that I flagged him down, and then grumbled some more. By that time (30 minutes had passed) and my family came in looking for me, and they were going to sit with me and eat, but I immediately stood up and walked out with them. My waiter still never returned to take my order. Save your money, and considering eating from the trash instead of this undeserving cesspool.

Nicole A.

Whoa, so many bad reviews!! Personally, this is my favorite sushi place in the Palo Alto area. It may not be very authentic, but it is DELICIOUS. It also is very reasonably priced for sushi (though they recently have raised the prices from the dirt cheap levels they used to be at). I have never had problems with service despite coming in at busy times, and I like getting it take out for lunch. Just my take on it! PS Yeah lol at the tables

Bryant C.

I think this place is decent. Service could be more friendly. Location is great. A little expensive for the quality though. The salmon in my salmon hand roll was decent. The rice and fish in my other orders were very stale and of poor quality.

Jennifer T.

Horrible, horrible, horrible, service. The Korean lady and her guy friend that works there have got to be the most absolute worst people in the service industry. Worse than the people at DMV! I work right across the street at the New Mozart School of Music and go there for the occasional sushi lunch. I always order the Crazy Horse roll and every time the Korean lady is there she charges me more than other people working there. I get charged 7.30 with other people and 8.60 with her. Don't get it. Adding on your own tip, aye? Also, she always gives me just one packet of soy sauce and I always have to ask her for another one. Every. Single. Time. It's been like 10 times I have ordered the Crazy Horse roll and very single time she gives me one packet of soy sauce, I ask for another one, she rolls her friggen eyes, takes a huge sigh, then grudgingly grabs another soy sauce packet for me. AND I ask really nicely too- every time. Over it. I definitely won't be coming back to support a business that has such unprofessional people working there. Horrible, horrible, HORRIFIC service. What a shame.

Rob O.

I've been here for lunch a few times, and each time I think it's going to get better... Guess I'm an optimist when it comes to sushi? Big Fat Note: Stay away from the nigiri or sushi - the fish isn't that fresh, and more often than not it's a little chewy. The rolls are fine as there's enough other stuff in there . Cost-wise it's pretty good as you can get 3-4 rolls for your $10-$14 for a pretty good lunch. But that's pretty much it. Service is mediocre at best, though they do a good job of greeting you when you walk in. But I've sat for 20 minutes waiting for a menu, and witnessed other patrons taking 10 minutes trying to flag down the waiter to pay their tab. There's probably better places in downtown Palo Alto...

Stephen G.

Ok food, poor service. Asian chef went out front had a cigarette and came in w/o washing hands started making food.

Eeway H.

I never expected much out of this place due to my experience with it's sibling on El Camino Way. However, it's actually not all that bad. Sticking to the bento boxes, I can actually quiet enjoy myself here. The services are alright, or at the very least, more accommodating that of it's twin. Chicken teriyaki time.

Jefferson W.

Had the chicken teriyaki lunch special. Overall decent meal with an ok price tag at $9. Service - was good, but the server wasn't interested in me substituting anything and denied me. Miso soup - was good but a little thin. Chicken - standard portion and sauce. Tempura - one shrimp and some vegetables, pretty greasy and felt like it was tossed into the fryer with little care, like f it its lunch time and it's fried. California roll - 3 with a dime sized wasabi. Smaller in size, imitation crab was ok but skimped on the avocado. Rice and salad included.

Brett B.

Wow, never realized sushi could be so terrible! I had the chirashi and I should have known something was wrong, when my chirashi smelled and tasted like fish... I know, I know, you are thinking "BUT IT IS FISH"! Yes it is fish, but every time I have great chirashi, it never tastes or smells like fish... The chirashi at Sushi Tomo definitely tasted terrible! And it even decided to stick around the next day in the form of fish flavored burps! Gross!! I will never, ever, go back to Sushi Tomi!

Jessica C.

the sushi is not fresh. i could tell because the fish on my nigiri was all dull looking, and the meat was falling apart. don't order fish here. the vegetarian roll is pretty worth it though - $8 for an 18 piece roll with 6 containing seaweed salad, 6 with cucumber, and 6 with pickled vegetables. the "spicy" rolls are just regular rolls, with a squirt of sriracha on top of each piece. i guess they take "spicy" very literally the miso soup is extremely watery and contains like one cube of crappy tofu. overall - it's pretty bad but not horrendous. use as a last resort for a vegetarian roll or bento box. oh yeah, i find it hilarious that they are reusing the old tables that used to belong to "world wraps"...the restaurant that they replaced here. a japanese restaurant with obnoxiously colorful tables that have "MEDITERRANEAN" scribbled all over them...someone OBVIOUSLY has a great eye for decor!

Erich V.

We wanted $10 worth of sushi served really quickly and I think that's what we got.

Jaime O.

ZING! great fresh fish. My experience was excellent. the chirashi was the best ever - i was so full and it was tasty, $16. The service is efficient and earnest. No coddling, some of the folks aren't native english speakers - hey its all good. The fish cuts were HUGE and tasty. I say thumbs up. I attended at lunch and was early before the crowd.

Holly P.

After lunch, our friend was craving a few pieces of sushi. So we went here with a group of 4 and he was the only person ordering. The waitress was EXTREMELY rude for no reason, apparently mad we weren't all ordering. Isn't all business good business? The place was half empty anyways. She felt the need to roll her eyes and act like a complete bitch for no reason. It seems by the looks of everyones reviews that this lady either needs to be fired or needs to take a class on customer service. Won't be back, don't waste your time or money.

RandyCP U.

We love Sushi Tomo. We normally go to their other location. This one feels more fast food than sit down dining. Good selection of American stylized sushi at a reasonable price. I prefer the bento, udon and domburi dishes.

Catherine C.

Eeeeek. I've been here twice, the first time being a quick lunch with coworkers and the second on a date. You can imagine what was going on in my head when the poor guy decided to take me here. I didn't want to seem picky so i just went along with it. The second time was almost as bad as the first. Can I say Safeway-grade sushi?! I can't call what they serve here fish, it's more like low quality mush. Epic fail on both Sushi Tomo and the date's part. Good-bye to both!

Stephanie W.

Gross. I'm never coming back. The food is completely unappetizing - my tempura was almost soggy there was so much breading, the udon had no real flavor, and Thom S.'s California roll wasn't any good either. Even though there were only people at two other tables, we still had an impossible time getting the server's attention, and he didn't speak much English anyway. Definitely go to Fuki Sushi next time!

Ladan M.

I'm a bit scared to review this place, considering it has 2 stars, and so many people have had such bad experiences. But I'm giving my opinion on the place, and the experiences I've had...which have been good. This is actually one of my favorite sushi spots....and I'm suddenly again regretting saying that because I see 200+ reviews and an average of 2 stars. I'm scared. I've been here plenty of times, both during lunch rush and during dinner rush. I've never had a bad experience, and always get fresh smelling and tasting sushi. The wait staff is a bit off, I'll admit that. They aren't the friendliest, nor the most attentive. You do have to ask for things, like refills on water or hot tea, which is why I took off one star. I'll have to admit, I'll be in here more often, but will definitely pay more attention next time...considering I just read a review about someone seeing their food being dropped on the floor...yuck!? For now, they get 4 stars. Happy customer.

Alexandra I.

Went with my boyfriend. He got one of the boxes and I got the Camino Roll. The roll was yummy. Not over the top amazing or anything but no complaints. My only annoyance was they waitress came and asked what we wanted 3 times before we were ready, and we were clearly not ready as we were still analyzing and staring at the menu. Then when we were ready to pay they did not come back and expedite that process very quickly. But they were really nice and friendly and the food came pretty quickly. Not expensive at all either.

Steve K.

I had a dinner with my son a few days ago. Sushi and udon were just O.K. I think this place is in business because of its prime location on University Ave.

Anh P.

Sorry, no offense to anyone, but this is sushi for people who..don't really know what sushi tastes like (poots). If I took a picture of this dinner crowd, we'd be the only Asian table in the place. Got the y2k roll. Pretty mediocre. The fish on top was pretty bland, I think it's been frozen too long? Also, NEVER EVER order the kitsune soba. It's fried tofu with soba in a plain broth with two flakes of carrots and a dead green onion stock. The soba and tofu get suuuuper soggy and doesn't taste like anything. blehhhh

Ed L.

With Wall St. crashing down and people's 401K getting anihilated, Sushi Tomo's cheap menu has got to be more appealing by the day. No one comes here expecting a Kaygetsu-esque meal and honestly I would not even order anything raw here. There's a mutual understanding, which works because they know their food is not great so they keep the prices low which keeps your expectations low. Believe it or not, this work; the place is pretty busy of people wanting affordable Japanese food. I pretty much ordered everything fried like soft shell crab, scallops, and fish. The combo meals are a great deal at under $10, great variety and portions. Certainly a value play for the Stanford kids.

Andrew S.

Don't come here if you're expecting great customer service. Unlike good quality Japanese restaurants where the guys at the Sushi counter greet you in unison, at Sushi Tomo on University Ave. you'll get a grouchy waitress who plops two menus down at a table and goes on her merry way. No "hello," "hi" or "welcome." Just a cold shoulder. She comes back 5 minutes later and says "What do you want?" [What I wanted was a a friendlier waitress]"...I went ahead and ordered the Chicken Teriyaki and Sashimi Bento Box. Bland Miso Soup (over watered), bland salad with a drop of dressing (incomplete with two thin slices of cucumber and no tomatoes), bland chicken teriyaki, bland small pieces of sashimi, and bland tempura. They should have called it Sushi Bland if you ask me. I personally prefer the lunch service at Sushi Tomo on El Camino Way. At least their sushi chefs greet you, with the wait staff treating you with some form of respect.

Ivan K.

The food was bad. The eel was fishy, the avocado old, the sashimi big portioned but tasteless. The tempora wasn't bad. The chicken teriyaki was fine, but if you mess that up, there is no hope for you. The service was horrible. Waited for 10 minutes for a table to be cleaned off to sit down. Waited another 10 minutes before getting water and our order in. I'm a generous tipper, but left the smallest tip in recent memory here. Very nearby is a much better place (that happened to be closed for the day) in Menlo Park called Tokyo Subway which is good and cheap. The staff is extremely friendly. Down in Palo Alto on El Camino Fuki Sushi is good but more expensive.

R G.

I would give ZERO stars if I could. Awful, awful, awful, awful, AWFUL! Never will go there again. Service was confused, inattentive, and unresponsive to requests. Food took almost 30 minutes to arrive (although we got 2 other tables orders in the meantime, which we had to redirect). The only tolerable part of the "meal" was the miso soup, and that was only ok. Vegetable tempura undercooked, with "sauce" that tasted like dirty water. Gyosa which was a greasy chunk of batter with little meat, and that was cold. I never had a bad tasting California Roll before this experience. Teriyaki chicken that was undercooked and over salted, and with so little teriyaki sauce as to be overly dry. Couldn't get anyone to come and address any of this. Finally someone comes and says "how is the meal?". I point out all of the above and return the meal saying "I can't eat this". They took my plates and went away. Never had any more contact until they brought the bill, leaving it without saying a word. I went up to the register/counter and waited for someone to show up, explained that I returned my meal and to please take it off the bill. I was told "it's not our policy to give you a discount if you don't like the food." My response - "It's not my policy to pay for what I can't eat. Please adjust the bill". 5 minutes later I was told "we aren't authorized to adjust the bill. Only the manager can do that". I asked for the manager, and another 3 minutes go by until someone says the manager isn't there. I ask for them to contact the manager. Another 3 minutes and "we can't do that." "Ok, what's his/her number and I'll contact them" "We can't give that to you, so would you like to just pay the bill?" This continues and more back-and-forth for another 5 minutes. It's clear the staff have not been trained to deal with a customer unhappy with the food. Finally I tell them, "Here's your choice - either adjust the bill, I pay it, and we're done, OR I give you my contact information and you have the manager contact me to discuss it, and in the meantime, you get nothing". Suddenly, there was no problem making the adjustment. No apology for the bad food, no apology for wasting my time with 15 minutes of B.S. no responses. I on the other than did apologize for any complications, but by that time, I was getting no words, no eye contact, just hostile body language, so I paid the bill and left. There's no reason to combine lousy, lousy, food, with lousy, lousy, lack of service. Save yourself the double disappointment and frustration.

Francisco T.

I took my little sister here on a whim, just to surprise her with a random sushi lunch. And let me tell you, our lunch started with RACISM. They seated us brown people on the only themed table that said "Latin America." Really, Sushi Tomo? Could you be any less subtle? Just kidding. Our waitress was very nice, contrary to what I read in these other reviews. My sister and I ordered bento boxes. I ordered something like chicken katsu, and my sister a vegetable tempura. Both came with the standard bento lunch fixings. It was good. First time my little sister actually liked the miso soup. But we weren't satisfied with the few tiny CA rolls in our bento boxes. We ordered more. We ordered a crazy horse roll (tuna, salmon, hamachi) tomodachi roll (spicy tuna) and a spider roll (crab). The rolls were eh. Not as fresh as what I would expect from California sushi. But they were tasty. Great flavors and textures, spicy, sometimes sweet, and we left satisfied. I would recommend this restaurant. Knowing that this is an inexpensive sushi joint, I would say that this is a great value for the price.

Susan D.

Sushi Tomo, I'm sorry I have to give you only 3 stars but your place has some points it needs to improve on. Your Tempura Udon was pretty good but the hamachi nigiri ranked really low, even though the cut was generous. My girlfriend's sake sashimi was much fresher... too bad the hamachi couldn't be the same. If your fish isn't fresh, say you're out and don't serve it. It lends to a bad reputation. Next, you should have had more than 1 server on Memorial Monday. It's a holiday for goodness sakes! We started with a girl and then she left and a guy took over with no warning. She should have told us she was leaving so we wouldn't have been looking for her when we needed help. The guy was so busy, we kinda felt bad for him. We felt more bad though at the poor service. I probably won't be back. I was hesitant from the start from the fishy smell anyway...

Salina T.

Parking is terrible and expect to wait on a weekend. The service is friendly and the food comes promptly, so that's a plus. Not by any means the best sushi restaurant I've been to, but for the price and proximity to Stanford's campus, it can't be beat. I like the atmosphere way more than Miyake's down the street -- it's small (which explains the wait), with paper cranes hanging from the ceiling which gives the place some character. I usually order a Wakame salad and bento box (with teriyaki beef/salmon, california roll, tempura, small salad & miso soup) coming out to about $10 including tax and tip, so not a bad deal at all. Walk next door for some gelato and you've got yourself a meal!

Diana L.

*Yawn.* This safe menu consists of standard offerings of chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki, other blah teriyakis, and run of the mill hand rolls. Nothing inventive here but hey, at least you know what you'll be getting on your plate. Lunch is affordable with plates running around $8. For Japanese on University it's either this or Miyake's. Hmm, makes me want to start a Japanese restaurant.....stay tuned!

Kari G.

Sushi Tomo has a great location, right there on University Ave plus they don't close too early. Those are my reasons for going to Sushi Tomo. Its definitely not for the sushi. I don't have any complaints about the sushi. It was decent and reasonably priced, but nothing stood out to me. I wasn't blown away. I went with three people, we each ordered different things and sampled as much as we could. It was filling and they have a nice box option that comes with soup and rice, but there wasn't a single outstanding roll, nothing that would draw me back.

Kalm Y.

Got this because the mediterranean place right downt he street was out of business...got the viper roll... the tomoko wasnt that poppin but it was good nevertheless but still a bit pricey

T V.

I wish there were better places for sushi in downtown palo alto. I tried sushi tomo the other day and was very dissapointed. We got the wrong rolls and they were not very good and my friend said her bento box was plain and unmemorable. The worst part however is when we were leaving i stopped to use the bathroom and got yelled at by a worker that the bathroom was for customers only...the worker was our waitress...really? there were about 5 people in the restaurant and she had no idea who we were...ummmm

N T.

Stays in business due to its good location, not its food. I've walked by many times and always had the impression it wasn't very good, possibly from some past experience I only vaguely recall. However, a friend wanted to go there tonight so I willingly went along. I was impressed by the fact that there was a natto roll on the menu - usually not the easiest thing to find. Taking this as a good sign I ordered 2 natto hand roll. What came wasn't actually a hand roll, but I can look past that. What really bothered me was how hard and horrible the rice was. Anyone who knows sushi knows that the rice is a big deal - getting it to just the right consistency and flavor. This rice was hard and awful and the worst sushi rice I've ever had fresh from a restaurant. The only worse sushi rice I've had was from the refrigerator case at Trader Joe's. (that sushi is just plain inedible.) Also, any time I've had a natto roll there is usually some green onion or some kind of green added in the middle. There was none. Which I wouldn't have minded so much if the rice hadn't been so bad. Also, the natto was fine, but was subpar (pre chopped bland variety, for those who care). Additionally the ginger seemed to be artificially colored (can't be sure, but looked like it) which I also do not like and don't think is good sign at a sushi place. I don't know of any better sushi at University Ave at the moment, but I highly recommend Homma's at California Ave for far tastier and more authentic sushi. PS There is a 15 dollar credit card minimum.

Chris B.

Well... After sampling some Russian River beers over at the Rose & Crown I had the munchies. And to me munchies = sushi. With Sushi Tomo practically across the street first thing I did was check out the Yelp reviews. Uh, oh... this is not good? Let's see what else is around... Kanpai, great... they weren't open yet. Sooooo... I'll brave it, just get a couple of hand rolls and some green tea and be done with it. In all fairness, the hand rolls were pretty good. Not "OMG Good" but they were good. Especially when you've had beer (Supplication and Pliny the Elder, to be exact. If you care -but if you're a beer geek, you do care.) I only had two hand rolls, the first was the toro & onion the other the Tempura roll. The only issue I had was with the Tempura, as the shrimp was fresh out of the fryer and was very greasy. But otherwise, they both filled the spot. Wasabi and ginger is self serve, by the way. This place is CHEAP. Short of all you can eat, this was by far the cheapest sushi joint I've ever run across. My total tab, with tip, was $11. But then... as I was sitting at the bar I noticed I had a clear view of the kitchen. What do I see, but this guy wearing blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt doing some sort of prep work... peeling shrimp it looked like. Sucking... on a lollipop. W T F ??? Yes. He was sucking on a lollipop. In the kitchen. No gloves... no hairnet. Lollipop. It was a green one too. A green lollipop. Seriously? I paid my tab and I left. Me thinks I won't be back. If your fish tastes like a green lollipop. Now you know.

Lyn C.

Came here because I thought it was a sister store to Sushi Tomi in Mtn. View/SJ, but dyslexic me didn't realize they were different restaurants. Lunch bento box is a good deal, but the sashimi was icy. After we were seated, no one gave us water or took our order for 15 mins...and that's because we had to tell them we were hungry and ready. Good service is a deal breaker for me, and this place was definitely lacking.

Matt S.

I'm going to help Sushi Tomo out a bit. First off, I've been twice in the last couple of weeks and I have had both decent sushi and good service. If you're looking for that melt-in-your-mouth OMG sushi, then of course Sushi Tomo can't provide that. I mean, look at the prices. But if you're looking for your week day sushi fix without breaking your wallet, Sushi Tomo is your place. It's the poor-man's sushi place, and that's why we love it. I'm reviewing it as I'm eating their oregon roll (salmon and avacado) and this thing is mighty tasty. Their hamachi nigiri was great. Their mackeral is great as well (and they don't put that vinegar sauce on it like other places - mackeral fans know what I'm talking about). The thing I've noticed about them is that, they don't necessarily have bad quality fish, they just aren't that good at artfully preparing the food. For example, my hamachi didn't stick to the rice in my nigiri order. Kind of annoying, but no big deal so long as the fish gives me that fix. The overall 2 star rating makes this place look like it has trash fish and trash service, both of which are untrue. Both times I have gone it hasn't been busy, so maybe they have an issue with handling busy moments. In that case, I can't vouch for them. I can only rate them based off the experiences I have had.

J. B.

Pretty bad. Just don't bother. At least Miyaki is weak sauce and lame but fun. Tomo is just weak-sauce. Too bad downtown Palo Alto doesnt have a decent mid range (priced) sushi joint, it could really use it. If you have a couple bucks on you go over to Kanpai.

j b.

REVIEW FOR TAKE-OUT After reading all the lackluster reviews on Yelp, I was hesitant to test this place out, but I was close, craving sushi and there wasn't chance of me going with earshot of the noisy alternative on the corner of High and University. After seeing the reasonable and varied menu, I gave in to my hunger and ordered take-out. After 15 minutes and quick check out, I was in business, The result--pleasantly surprised. The sushi was well prepared, fresh, good portions and adequately packaged. For a value and convenience Sushi Tomo will stay on my list.

Hartman L.

You know at first, this place wasn't all that bad...until we (my girlfriend and I) came back after the entire staff transformed into complete...hmmm, can't find a suitable "bad word" without using "curse words." The service alone was grossly incompetent. Soy sauce and water have been spilled on me one too many times. Afterward, we were chased down for not tipping them...yes, they literally followed us outside their restaurant and almost demanded we tip them after all the spills. Insane. Did I mention we stood at the entrance for a good 7 minutes without anyone seating us...DURING A TIME WHEN THERE WERE NO COSTUMERS THERE?! We probably had our invisible cloaks on or something. As for the food...meh. I mean, what good can you say about a place whose food is no different from that of say...oh, the pre-made sushi packages at your local Safeway? There you have it. Consider yourself warned!

Vladimir P.

Food is not very good but eatable. Asian waitress is pretty bad - don't want to work at all, brought dirty spoon to me :)

Iana C.

I like this place a lot. The sushi is always good (not amazing, but pretty darn good) The prices are very decent (especially for a place in Palo Alto) and like I said, pretty good quality. I am a huge California Roll fan but also love salmon so I highly recommend the "Super Oregon Roll" It's a California Roll with salmon on top. So I peel off the salon and then it's like an order of California roll with a salmon sashimi side. I do have one negative thing to say and that is, the waitress there, she is always polite but no matter what she never ever smiles. Not even when I found a hundred dollar bill under the table across from mine and gave it to her. I could'a kept it for myself, but I try to be a good Samaritan, and, Really lady? you can't even smile? I dunno i guess it just makes me kinda sad that she seems so serious all the time.

Douglas S.

Meh. We asked for hot water twice and got tea both times. I never have leftover sushi, but there were a couple of fish on the omakase platter that I could not stomach. My cat made short work of it; so maybe they should go into the business of pet food. I confess that I confused them with Sushi Tomi in nearby Mountain View, a much better venue. Perhaps they are counting on that confusion.

Chris T.

I came here with a friend after little get together and needed to grab a bit to eat, it was pretty late at night and we were pretty hungry and not to many places in the area were still open. I had the udon and a tempura shrimp roll. The dashi (broth) was a bit on the bland side, I'm not sure if they put much Konbu (seaweed) and Katsuo bushi, (bonito flakes) instead it seems it was more a soy sauce and salt base. I thought it was a little weird that they put these large rounds of carrots, even more weird was that they were on the raw side. Crunchy and cold in the center. And the green beans in it were grey from being overcooked. The noodles were gummy and overcooked as well. I also had a California roll and a tempura shrimp roll. The rice was a little on the dry side and tasted a little off, I the filling the "crab" which was really imitation crab meat which tasted as you would expect, the tempura shrimp roll tasted very fishy, and I think it was made in advanced as the shrimp tempura was cold and soggy. Service was very slow, despite the fact that there weren't very many people in the restaurant, service was really inattentive. For refills on our water, tea and beer, I ended up having to get up and go to the area where the lady was at the register and ask directly. Even for the bill I did the same thing. Not once was there someone circulating to ask if we needed anything. The prices were pretty reasonable, but the service was pretty bad, and the food wasn't anything I would rave about. For late night eats, or those on a college budget, I can see why you would go here. After the experience we had, I think I try to find other options for late night eats.

Jed S.

I stopped in here for a snack and got two temaki rolls unagi and spicy tuna - which is pretty much how I judge a sushi joint. I thought they were wonderful, the tuna was fresh and awsome the unagi not too overpowering. My only complaint is that the only plastic they take is Visa and Mastercard which was not displayed anywhere -- I ended up having to go to an ATM due to the $15 minnimum on cards -no big deal. I will be back to this place next time I am in town -- the prices were great and the fish was delicious.

Hogan W.

If you're looking for attentive service and a decent Japanese Lunch Box under $10, then look no further, Sushi Tomo is your savior. Compared to Miyake's across the street, Sushi Tomo is cleaner, offers fresher ingredients, service is more efficient, food comes out faster, and they give you change when settling your bill in a timely fashion. I revisited Sushi Tomo after a dry spell and decided to drop in today. It was 2:30pm and no others were eating except a server and a sushi chef. The waitress let me pick where ever I wanted to sit. Silly me, I sat at a table facing the sun and had the sun in my eyes the whole time. I had to position my seat close to a corner wall to keep the glare out. I reviewed their laminated menu and finally came across something mildly healthy. I ordered the Salmon Teriyaki, Tempura and California Roll Combination Lunch Box for $8.50 which included Rice, Salad, and Miso Soup as well. I asked for everything no onions including the tempura. Two minutes later, I was served a bowl of hot Miso Soup. It was a perfect start to a chilly afternoon. As I stirred the contents around, there was seaweed (not the dry kind), diced tofu, and miso flavoring. It wasn't overly salty, no green onions, and tasted just right. Another few minutes passed and my bento lunch box came out. It was the usual red box with six sections filled with a succulent grilled fillet of Salmon with skin in teriyaki sauce, a scoop of Japanese rice, three California rolls, salad with 1000 island dressing, tempura shrimp and vegetables, and some wasabi sauce. I'm never a fan of wasabi so I usually ask for no wasabi, but I forgot in this case. Every section had hot contents except salad and rolls. The tempura was freshly fried and still steaming even after I waited more than five minutes to get to them. Rice was good and moderately sticky as it was easy to scoop using their wooden chopsticks. The lettuce and greens were fresh and crunchy with a good amount of dressing. The rolls were plump but still the same mediocre CA rolls. No complaints at all. Fresh hot food here. I can't believe I waited this long to come back to Sushi Tomo. When I received my bill, the total was $9.30 and the cashier promptly gave me my change. The wait for food might be longer during rush hour, but I had a really good experience today and everything was speedy. Hot tasty food and great customer service. All that and a nice facial tan while eating, what more could I ask for?

Keith R.

This place is alot alot alot better than alot of the sushi places ive been to. If you want great sushi for an awesome price go here. Thats my opinion! I enjoy it every time ive been here and its been 3 times. Check it out.

Ramanda L.

This place absolutely deserves its overall 2 star raiting.. I'm surprised it even has 2! My bad experience started off when I first walked into the restaurant. The woman was very rude to me, and her attitude didn't get any better. I ordered a philly roll, salmon nigiri and miso soup. The philly roll was 75% avocado, which wasn't even the worst part.. The avocado was old and brown! Then, to top it off, the roll wasn't even rolled closed. It was falling apart before I even started eating it. The salmon also had a bit of a funky color on it. Lets just say, I was gagging before I was done eating so I definitely did not finish my food. Do not go here.

Nicole B.

I've been coming here for years because for the amount of sushi I eat, this is what I can afford, and let me first say, the rolls are great for their price. I am usually seated very quickly (I don't go in groups larger than 2-3). The atmosphere is pretty loud because the room is a little packed, but I'm never one to complain about people enjoying their meals. I love coming here on dates and more recently, I've been sitting at the sushi bar and it's been great talking to the chefs and he always makes sure we get our drinks ordered right away. The wait staff is usually very busy and sometimes service takes a little longer than normal, but they do try and make up for it by having multiple servers help every table. I also don't like to be rushed, so I'd rather wait a little longer than have a server pestering me throughout the meal. I always go for the Dinner Box Meals (salmon teriyaki with sashimi) because they have the most food for your dollar and I'm always satisfied with that and a small roll. The tempura is pretty greasy, and I usually don't eat it because it's very filling, but I always make sure to have a couple bites because it's good, but definitely not the best. These boxes also come with miso soup, salad, and rice, and the ginger dressing on the salads is far above average, one of my favorites for sure. The miso soup is average, and nothing to complain about. I always load up on ginger and wasabi because it's in jars at the table, so this is one of the places where I use them the most.

Ryan L.

I wish there were a rating less than 1 star. This is quite possibly the worst restaurant of any kind I've ever patronized, even including little street stalls in countries with no sanitation, power, or security. A combination of horrible food, incompetent staff, and crummy ambiance successfully overcome a great location. The staff left some of their own personal food out on the sushi bar (some kind of half-eaten fried rice), and were very inconsistent about taking orders, bringing the same things ordered, etc. I didn't get sick; I guess that's a plus.

Gina T.

A friend and I were hungry one weekday afternoon when we walked by this place, and agreed we were in the mood for some japanese food... maybe a lunch box or something fast and satisfying. We entered and got seated right away with menus -- ok, good start. That's about all we got though. The restaurant wasn't even half full, so we thought service would be quick and easy. We decided on what we wanted and waited. and waited..... and.... waited. We waited for so long that we started chatting with the people at the next table, who told us that the food takes an additional 20 minutes to come out. Great. My friend flagged down a waitress who came over, saw that the bill at the next table was ready, collected it and promptly left. Uhhh hello, our order? I guess money is more important than letting hungry patrons order. We continued to wait... and wait... and... WAIT. I become a cranky bitch when I'm hungry, and so does my friend, so we decided to leave. Just as we were standing up to put our coats on is when the waitress comes back and asks "ready?" My friend says "yea, ready to leave." And we're gone. We wasted a half hour sitting in that restaurant for nothing (weren't even offered tea or water). A 30-second walk across the street to pizza my heart and a 2 minute wait in line got us a hot satisfying meal. never coming here again.

Ashley Y.

After today I will not go back...which is such a shame... I work in downtown Palo Alto and I often stop in to get my uni nigiri fix before work (along with a couple other random rolls that spark my interest). Honestly their uni kind of sucks. Its not as firm as fresh uni would be and it tends to be slimy, again which goes to show its not as fresh. But I get it anyways because I'm craving it and its not all that bad. So I did the same today, went in for uni and decided to have some hamachi kama. Same as usual, the uni was not fresh but thats not the issue. The hamachi kama took about 20mins to get to the table and I'm wondering whats taking so long because I'm the only one there besides a 2 top who already has their food. Finally it reaches my table and I take a nice meaty chunk, dip it in my sauce and in my mouth. It was the most driest peice of fish I ever had. And when I look at the under side of the fish it was burnt, black char and all. .. No wonder it took so long in the kitchen...seems they prolly forgot about it in the broiler... The server comes around and I let her know, in a very nice polite manner, that I feel the hamachi kama is too dry and that I don't even want to eat it. And if I can have another one made or taken off my bill. What made me really livid about this place is that she said she couldn't do anything. NOTHING.?? Seriously you're going to make me pay for something that I don't even want to eat and its because you're kitchen burnt it...?!! WTF?? Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the server in any way but after this I don't want to support a place like that. Just really rubbed me the wrong way. When the uni already is not up to par its easy to make my decision to just pay a few bucks more and try out Miyakes down the street.

Reggie H.

PRO: Clean dining environment. Selection of cheaper-than-average rolls. Self-serve ginger (in a jar on each table). Tasty fish katsu on the menu! CON: Nothing too exceptional with food quality or service; acceptable and expected. SUM: Although there aren't many options for a sushi joint around the immediate area to compare with, Sushi Tomo does fulfill your sushi/Japanese food cravings at very reasonable prices. Don't expect to place the spot on your priority list when in Palo Alto, but if you're looking for Japanese food, you can find it here.

Ari F.

What can be said about Sushi Tomo that has not already been said in 200+ reviews? The place is obviously not aiming that high in decor / ambiance, but is clean and efficient. The sushi is okay, really not as bad as all the reviews suggest. And actually, as a guy who was a grizzly bear in his past life, I can say that the size, number, and succulence of the salmon sashimi pieces they serve is large and pleasing. Go stick your face in the river and come up with a big bite of fish.

Maryellen B.

Mediocre sushi and very slow service. Tried many times, trying to give it a chance, because of the great location. Such a shame that with such a great location that they can't upgrade the quality with fresher fish. The rolls are better than the straight fish items.

Eugene N.

Out of all the places here in Palo Alto, we landed here. First of all, I'm not Japanese nor am I accustomed to what "authentic" is or isn't. I've never went to Japan, so by all means do I not have the right to claim what authentic is. Maybe something a lot of people on here should consider with their reviews. ;) What I do know is what taste good. And Sushi Tomo is on the brink of below average to average. So why with that remark do I still give it 4 stars. The first thing you will notice about this place is the affordable menu. I was expecting this place to be overpriced like A LOT of mediocre "Japanese/Sushi" joints. They would even have more reason to being on University in Palo Alto. I wasn't too hungry, I just got a spider and cali roll. The taste reflects the costs, but I wasn't hating on it too much because I've been to PLENTY of places in the South Bay where the taste was the same yet charged a premium. My gf got a bento box with the beef teriyaki. The meat was rubbery, but the sauce.. well its like any other generic teriyaki sauce from other places. The surprise for me was the tempura. It tasted of much higher quality than the rest of the items. So a plus there. The included miso soup is the same like most. What was interesting was they did not include salad, but instead gave edemame. I don't eat this, but my gf does. So to have this included instead of salad was very welcomed. The service was ok, but they were about to close, so perhaps it might have dwindled because of that. Overall I was satisfied with the place. Again I'm not a Japanese/sushi connoisseur, but compared to other similar "average" restaurants, they hang along side with them. But being in Palo Alto and with affordable prices this place will surely be remembered. The quality of the food is so-so average, but its almost expected with the price. They were not trying to fool you. The interior is small but quaint. If they upped the quality of the food a notch and kept the prices, this would be a better restaurant. unfortunately better quality with the same low prices is hard to combine.

Shannon R.

If you like sushi, or it is your first time, I would suggest going elsewhere. The sashimi was very flavorless and pale in color. The "veggie udon" was mostly noodle, broth, crab cake (pink stuff out of a package) and a few veggies here and there like carrot. Not really anything that jumps out at you. It's too bad, the location is awesome, but the food here is very bland, and seems made cheap with a lot of premix taste to it.

Jane M.

My family went here for lunch. The moment we walked in, we realized that it was a Japanese restaurant owned/runned by non-Japanese people. Not a good sign. Anyways, we got a tempura udon, and lunch boxes. The udon was so bland and tasteless. I didn't try lunch boxes but the ones who did said they were not impressed. Service was ok, nothing special. Atmosphere is poor. Won't be going back.

Nirat C.

I would give this place 1/2 a star if that was an option....the last time I ate here will be just that...the LAST! Sushi was SUPER FISHY smelling and tasting, and not like the way it's supposed to be, but it definitely WAS NOT FRESH! ;( We've given this place like 4 or 5 tries, hoping it will be better, but no. And you have to buy $15 worth of their disgusting food to charge it to a card. Being that it's so cheap, and you get a lot of the unfresh food, that's hard to do. We will never visit this place again, and the service sucks too!

Tara R.

The sushi is decent and the rolls are large. I will give them that. The only woman that works there is extremely rude all the time. When I dined inside, she threw the menu on the table and was very short and rude. It seems as though she hates the place, despises working there, and shows same to the customers. I have placed several orders to go, and I usually order 12 rolls. For those rolls, I am given 2 soy sauces, I mean come on... Then I ask for much more, she gives me 2. I ask again, nicely and she says that it is enough for 12 rolls! They are very greedy with the soy sauce and the lady is rude. Once she was not there and a gentlemen working gave me soy sauce, no questions asked. He was very nice. All the other men working there are nice...I would not even mind giving her an extra damn dollar to get some more sauce, so I can enjoy my food. Now, I will just keep soy sauce in my drawer, as I cannot expect any help or any degree of niceness from the lady that works there. She has a major problem and should not be working there, if she treats customers like that. No place should have a waitress that rude and inconsiderate.

Aaron M.

So, it's still a great value for a sushi place, but the last visit showed their menu was even more uneven than previously. To summarize: AWESOME: - Viper roll. Holy #&@%. They use that creamy slightly spicy sauce on some raw scallops on top, with fresh k-rab and avocado inside the maki. Easily the choice winner among all of us. - Salmon nigiri: huge slices, super fresh, and only $3! - Unagi on anything including maki or nigiri: our neighbors got it, and it looked fantastic. But we didn't. LOSERS: - Cherry blossom roll, as recommended by our server. Super dry, not too much flavor. - Oregon roll: also not very fresh... dry and lacking flavor... unlike previous visits. JUST OK: - Spider roll (ours was dry again), Hamachi (not super fresh, but ok), Toro (but they did have it at only $7). Gosh, if you order wrong here, you totally lose... but if not its effin awesome.

Rebecca N.

You go here when nothing else is open. The food is decent, nothing amazing but nothing I have ever ordered has wowed me. Service is inconsistent and usually mediocre, and they won't refill your water glass unless you ask, which sucks because if I had it my way they would leave me a pitcher on my table because I drink so much water. Nothing exceptional but I have never had anything awful. I will keep coming back when I can't get to Little MadFish in RWC.

Will L.

I had a craving for sashimi, and as I was heading into the Cingular store next door, I figured I'd grab a bite here. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled by food in Seattle, especially seafood. Even lower end sushi places have surprisingly fresh fish, and mid- and high-end places are unbelievable. I was nervous about ordering raw fish, as I always am, anywhere where I can't see/smell ocean or hear seagulls. But... San Fran IS a port town, and we're only a half hour south... We were seated quickly, but it did take a bit for us to place an order. My lunch partner ordered one of the box lunches, I got a Sashimi mixer. A couple of the fish pieces were fine, but my favorite, Salmon, was a little fishy smelling and tasting. Not the rich, buttery flavor I'm used to. It took forever for us to finally get a check; I thought for a moment that we actually were supposed to get up and pay at the bar or something. There are other spots in the area I can grab food. I don't think I'll be back in.

Lizzy G.

Sushi Tomo is my go-to place for a sushi lunch or dinner by myself. Between this location and the one on El Camino Way, I probably have Sushi Tomo about once a week. I know, it's not top of the line Japanese food, but neither does it claim to be. I'll admit, I'm an "American" sushi eater - I'm willing to try the unusual stuff, but my favorites are the basics. My typical meal at Sushi Tomo is a salmon roll (always fresh tasting, usually with a good amount of fish), a salmon skin hand roll (sometimes more chewy than crispy, but still delicious), and a caterpillar roll (tempura shrimp on the inside and avocado and sweet sauce on top). The quality of the rolls sometimes varies depending on the sushi chef, since some of the guys put much more care into their craft. I think I've only been disappointed once though, by the chef who put seemingly no interest into his creations. And he screwed up my order. I don't think he works there anymore though, I haven't seen him in ages. Since I usually just get sushi, I'm not too familiar with the rest of the menu, although I had the teriyaki salmon bento box once and found the salmon rather dry. Also, this place tends to get busy on weekend evenings (of course, it's University Ave.) and also at lunch time (once I called for takeout and they wouldn't take my order since they were too busy... oh well, I went over to El Camino Way for my sushi fix). I do like that they don't close between lunch and dinner though so I can go for a late lunch or early dinner and it's not busy at all. In summary: Tasty sushi at a reasonable price, as long as you don't go in expecting high end, does get busy at times so go during off hours or be prepared to wait.

Lang T.

I work in Palo Alto off of University and there aren't many options for lunch near-by that's at a reasonable price. And I love sushi and that never runs at a reasonable price. So when I heard that Sushi Tomo was pretty reasonable for sushi, my co-workers and I decided to try it out. We did take out on this particular day so we called it in and went to pick it up. The guy that was there was a complete jerk as well as other words I'd rather not use. There was not one smile on his face even though my co-workers and I were trying to be polite and nice. He was rude and basically couldn't shove us out of the restaurant faster. So we thought perhaps he was just having a bad day, we're all allowed to have those moments so on another occasion we decided to go back. Take out again. And yet again, the same guy is there and is a complete jerk again! I couldn't believe it. The food isn't that great and for the price, I would rather cough up a few more dollars and go some where better (like Kan Pai on Lyton) where the service is actually good. I haven't been back in a really long while and if this was the past sushi place on earth, I still wouldn't go back.

Arthaey A.

Nothing bad, per se, but I've had much better sushi.

Maria T.

Close to my job, so I come here for my sushi fix. I never dine in; I use my "Order Ahead" app and they have been on time with my pick up order. I ordered the crispy roll and the unagi roll, which were pretty tasty. I ordered 2 others but I can't think of their names. They were all good. The convenience (use order ahead app) and taste earned them 3 points. However, I work in hospitality, so being greeted and assisted right away is a huge deal to me. I walked around looking for the pick up counter while the staff members just stared at me blankly. I stood by the cash register and told the lady I was picking up using order ahead. She didn't utter a word, just pointed to my order.

Kendall M.

Don't order anything on the menu. They don't card for alcohol but the food is horrible. Don't get the tuna.

Sam K.

Not a sushi expert, just a guy who works in PA looking for a solid lunch. I left feeling very satisfied with my lunch special box. Good value ($13 after tax + tip) for soup, salad, main meat (went with fish), 3 pieces of sushi and some tempura? Check. Nice staff? Check. Quick? Check. Food quality? Indistinguishable to me from other "higher quality" sushi joints. Think some of the other expert reviewers have watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi, but need to lower their expectations just a bit..

Abey Q.

Santa Clara Food Facility Inspection: 06/18/2014 - ROUTINE INSPECTION-COMPLETED Minor Violation Cited - K01 - Inadequate demonstration of knowledge; food manager certification Site Observation: FPK01- STAFF AT THE KITCHEN DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO RUN THE DISHWASHER [CA] TRAIN STAFFS ON HOW TO OPERATE EQUIPMENTS All food employees shall have adequate knowledge of and be trained in food safety as it relates to their assigned duties. (113947) Food facilities that prepare, handle or serve non-prepackaged potentially hazardous food, shall have an employee who has passed an approved food safety certification examination. Minor Violation Cited - K06 - Inadequate handwash facilities: supplied or accessible Site Observation: FPK06-HANDWASH STATION DISPENSERS AT THE KITCHEN ARE OUT OF SOAP AND PAPER TOWELS [CA] SUPPLY DISPENSERS WITH SOAP AND PAPER TOWELS Handwashing soap and towels or drying device shall be provided in dispensers dispensers shall be maintained in good repair. (113953.2) Adequate facilities shall be provided for hand washing, food preparation and the washing of utensils and equipment. (113953, 113953.1, 114067(f)) Minor Violation Cited - K07 - Improper hot and cold holding temperatures Site Observation: FPK07- THE BAKED FISH STORED IN THE MICROWAVE SHOWED A TEMPERATURE OF 80F [CA[] HOT FOODS SHALL BE STORED AT 135F AND ABOVE-corrected Potentially hazardous foods shall be held at or below 41/45?F or at or above 135?F. (113996, 113998, 114037, 114343(a)) Minor Violation Cited - K14 - Food contact surfaces unclean and unsanitized Site Observation: FPK14-FOOD CONTACT SURFACE SUCH AS THE PREP COUNTER ARE WIPED OFF WITH USED UNSANITIZED WIPING CLOTHS [CA] CLEAN AND SANITIZE FOOD CONTACT SURFACE All food contact surfaces of utensils and equipment shall be clean and sanitized. (113984(e), 114097, 114099.1, 114099.4, 114099.6, 114101 (b-d), 114105, 114109, 114111, 114113, 114115 (a, b, d), 114117, 114125(b), 114135, 114141) Minor Violation Cited - K40 - Wiping cloths: improperly used and stored Site Observation: FPK40-THREE USED WIPING CLOTHS ARE STORED ON THE PREP COUNTER AT THE KITCHEN AND FRONT SERVE AREA [CA] STORE USED WIPING CLOTHS IN SANITIZING SOLUTION Wiping cloths used to wipe service counters, scales or other surfaces that may come into contact with food shall be used only once unless kept in clean water with sanitizer. (114135, 114185.1 114185.3 (d-e))

Angelica Z.

THE GOOD: Need a cheap cooked faux-Japanese food fix? Come here! I've been eating at Sushi Tomo since my undergrad years. Good deal for the dinner/lunch box - decent tempura, decent California rolls, ok chicken/salmon teriyaki. Comes with miso soup, salad, rice, and a slice of orange. Yummmy in my on-a-budget tummy. THE BAD: DO NOT ORDER FRESH FISH ROLLS. My uncle got really sick from the spicy ahi roll!!! BOTTOM LINE: Great deal for COOKED items, leave the fresh rolls alone.

Brian F.

So tasty! Great portion sizes and very friendly workers. I had two rolls and two pieces of sushi. Huge! Barely able to finish. I usually order three rolls but not here.

Heather R.

Horrible! Came in at 9:30 and asked if they were still seating people, they said yes but them immediately started to rush us through dinner constantly reminding us they closed at 10. The sushi was not well rolled and wasn't the freshest. Overall worst service I have ever had and the most mediocre sushi I have had. It's better from the Stanford cafeteria.

Sarah C.

The quality of food is decent. My friend and I went here for lunch the food was good, but I guess the waiter who took our order and brought our food out had his shift end before we were done eating. When it came time to pay the bill we waited for 45 minutes for someone to come out of the back so we could get the bill so we could pay it. Overall very underwhelmed.

ttn t.

Yes, Thats right, the service is not the best I saw, BUT their Sushi is there best. I learned to love sushi thanks to this place. They are the best. Their price is affordable, and they serve big Sushi

Rabilyn A.

THE ONE TIME I DONT YELP A PLACE BEFORE I GO AND THIS HAPPENS!!!! The food was average. Not the best I've had but the customer service is why I'm giving this place a one. I would literally give this place a zero if I could. I usually leave tips but today I didn't leave a tip because I was afraid to over spend on my card so I didn't want to take my chances. Not only that but she didn't really do much for my friend and I. We sat down, waited at least 10 min at our table before we actually got our menu and I saw her look at my cup which was not empty but almost empty and she did not even bother to refill it but she did refill the cups of the table next to us. I was a little irritated at this point but I didn't let it get to me. THE PART THAT GOT ME EXTREMELY MAD was that after I left I signed the check, didn't leave a tip and my friend offered to buy us a scoop of ice cream from next door(delicious btw) and next thing I know our server was there. I thought it was because my card declined but her reason to follow us out of her store was because we did not leave her a tip. Seriously? What kind of shitty customer service is that for you to follow your customer out to ask why to didn't get a tip. When we tried to explain to her my card situation she stormed out. Super rude.

EJ B.

The food was okay. The service was terrible. The waitress was so rude. I went with my girlfriend and after eating our meal we went to get some ice cream next door. When I was about to pay for the ice cream I saw the waitress and assumed my gfs card declined. Not wanting her to deal with the waitress, I went up to her and asked what was wrong. She pointed at the total and told me that the total did not include the tip and questioned why we didn't leave any for her. I told her we didn't have much money left and to that she responded, "NO MOAR MONEY??!??" I said that we were just teenagers and then asked her if she really needed a tip. She grabbed the tray and receipt and just stormed out. Wtf. What pisses me off the most about this is that this place is even still up and running. With employees like that, I don't think this place will be there longer. Like who follows customers out because they didn't leave you a tip? Come on man. DO NOT GO HERE.

Vladimir P.

Thank you Sushi Tomo for my Maverick badge. Yes, you get the Maverick badge for checking into 3 or more places that I fondly call "bottom of the poo barrel" (less than 3 stars). And this is certainly that kind of place. Chicken was so dry that I was expecting it to fall apart into dust, the suspicious black sauce looked (and tasted) like it came from a canister of motor oil and the soup was very overcooked and just generally crap.

Missy D.

So I was craving sushi, googled this place, and called in my order. Here's how I rank them: -1 star for the food. The gyoza was cold, and I think it had been made several hours (or days) prior to my order. The fish was really fishy, like it was old. Not fresh, and it was gamey/chewy. The rice was hard and also seemed like it had been cooked hours or days beforehand. I wanted real crab in a roll, and was told that they did not have real crab. WHAT SUSHI PLACE DOESN'T HAVE REAL CRAB???? And the menu doesn't tell you that what you're getting is not real crab. Talk about false advertising. So WTF are they putting in their rolls that they are calling crab? -2 stars for price. They charged me $2.50 for a "salad" that had less than 1 leaf of romaine lettuce, and 3 super skinny cucumber slices. Totally jacked. -3 stars for the customer service. I asked for extra wasabi, and got a walnut sized dollup of wasabi. How is that extra? When I went in to pick up my order that I had called in 20 minutes prior, the "hostess" said, NOT YET, NOT YET. I asked if I could pay for my order so as to facilitate things. She grudgingly took my card and gave me the check. She got a personal phone call and totally ignored me after that. The price for my lunch was pretty hefty. Then, I see my order ready to go, and this guy took no less than 5 minutes to package everything up. I'm serious. First, he tried to fit my order into one bag (please note, they will charge you for to go containers and bags here). It took him a full minute to figure out that it wouldn't all fit into one bag. So he plays around with my food and finally decides that most of it will fit into a bag, and he leaves my so called salad out. He places it on the counter at the sushi bar. Next, he goes to the hostess counter to grab chopsticks and soy sauce. He slowly wraps it up, and turns to the sushi counter to S-L-O-W-L-Y place in the bag. He looks at the bag and decides that it needs to be stapled. So he returns to the hostesses counter to find a stapler. Then he returns to the sushi counter and again, S-L-O-W-L-Y staples the bag together. I was beginning to wonder if they were being super slow just to piss me off. Finally, the guy puts my order together and says, here's your order. When I got down to eating it, I decided that I would never again eat here. Overpriced, crappy quality, dismal service.... how is this place still open? Is downtown Palo Alto THAT starved for sushi? If so, I am thinking of opening my own sushi place and smoking Sushi Tomo out of existence.

S C.

I've been a patron of this joint for many years, but last night was the last time I ever went there. We stopped there at 7:50pm on December 24. The lights were on, the signs were lit, but the guy at the counter said: "Sorry, we're closing in 5 minutes, so we won't serve you". Again: WE ARE CLOSING IN FIVE MINUTES SO WE WILL NOT SERVE YOU. Why the hell are you open, then? With service like this, I am surprised it's still in business. So we went to "O Sushi House" three blocks away, and got a pretty good dinner. Bye, Sushi Tomo.

Adam K.

There are MANY better options for sushi. I want to preface this review by saying there was nothing "wrong" with my experience at Sushi Tomo... but there wasn't much right. The first thing I noticed about the restaurant is that it seems a bit out-dated and has a slight fishy odor. A fishy smell is never a good sign for a sushi place. In addition, the rolls that we ordered were subpar and the quality of the salmon seemed to be bad. To top it off, the price was about average for sushi places in the area. For the same price in many nearby locations you can have better sushi.

Johnny M.

Good food and prices aren't bad. Don't expect the best customer service but it's for sure worth the food and price. I recommend it if you're around and want good inexpensive sushi.

Yukiko S.

Horrible service and fish was not fresh. I thought this place can not be bad because it is located in Palo Alto downtown, but I was wrong. The lady had stern face, and looked almost like she hated me. She didn't even look at me when she brought the food I ordered. Without a word she put the food on the table. I said "Thank you", and she didn't say anything! I didn't even eat the food because tuna was not fresh. I just wasted money.

Monette C.

This place was awful. Wait time was unacceptable, server was rude and the bit of food that was served was poorly presented as well as not served with proper utensils. (Soup with no spoon) won't be going back anytime soon. Others clearly felt the same way because they left as well. We went down the street to O Sushi House and saw the people who were sitting next to us. If only I could give 0 stars.

Asia W.

The service at this place is atrocious. We came into a practically empty restaurant... And it was all downhill from there. The server took our order and then came back to our table twice with no water or the tea we ordered. She also brought me the wrong dinner box which isn't a big deal, but she was huffy and had an attitude when we told her. Also the bento box was bland and horrible. oh forgot to mention that she brought out the wrong order the second time. Also I now have a stomachs from whatever little food I actually ate. No water or tea refills. No nothing. I'm leaving hungry, sick, and unhappy. Terrible. I will never go here again. And I don't think anyone else should either.

Alexa H.

I am usually really generous with my ratings...but I was SO disappointed. I should have known, because the restaurant was pretty empty...but the fish was NOT fresh, and it was pretty pricey as well. We ordered an avocado, cucumber appetizer salad, and the leaves on the bottom of the plate were wilted, and there was maybe 1/4th of an avocado...come on that's a little stingy :p Our waitress was really lovely, she was funny and kept offering to bring us more sake (but we declined...because she clearly didn't mean it would be free!). So I have zero complaints on the service...but if I am going to spend a decent amount of money, I expect it to be BOMB, and fresh for sure. I've had a lot of really good sushi, and this place doesn't cut it :/

stella s.

Wow. I can't believe this place is in business. Old rice. Shrimp in the veg tempura. Horrible service.

Justice H.

Ordered a to-go order and ran out of time waiting so I wanted to sit at an empty table. Only 2 other customers and they would not let me sit and eat my meal; the food is sub par for Japanese anyway.

Jason S.

I stopped in here because I really wanted to try out some Uni for the first time. I liked that the service was really quick. I was seated right away, and served right away, and was able to get in and out super fast. My Uni seemed darker and less fresh than pictures I've seen online of good Uni, so that was probably a bad sign, but I ate it anyways. It was pretty good. I can understand why people love Uni. Unfortunately... I'm not feeling so good now... I should probably avoid sushi/sashimi when it doesn't look fresh...

Mark M.

I like to emphasize the positive but this restaurant deserves my first one star with my Yelp reviews...and if I had a choice this restaurant deserves a zero. Gohan or "Rice" has to be the core of any Japanese food and this restaurant fails from the basic. They use the lowest quality rice that is dry and flaky. I had Katsudon for lunch and the first impression was the quality of the rice that was being used... Then I tasted something strange and foul. I had to study where this strange taste was coming from and realized it was pickled shiitake mushrooms that is usually used for cold chirashi-sushi and definitely does not match with cooked egg batter for Katsudon.. I do not claim myself as any food specialist but I know my Japanese food and this restaurant does no service to promote Japanese food. University Avenue is hip and deserves a more authentic Japanese restaurant.. I will also add that owner/manager seems they don't know the word customer service.. which has to be an integral part of any restaurant business. Big thumbs down to Sushi Tomo... You are gone sushi tomorrow...

Lucille T.

Oh gee, this place... Every time I go to Downtown Palo Alto I am so bummed by the selection on sushi restaurants. I tried this place twice and in both time are the same experience. This place isn't a bad place to go, per say, but it could be so much better. The bento boxes are at good prices for a simple sushi restaurant but it really is lame when you can only deal with a prefixed bento selection. No substitutions are accepted. I ordered a bento with shioyaki (grilled mackeral) that was eye-popping because it was so big, but I had to stop every second to either take out a bone or get poked by one. I wish the sashimi combinations were so much better. I feel it's priced pretty high for a selection that doesn't even appeal to me after reading it. I love me my sashimi, and will pay so much for so little if it's worth it and fresh from an outstanding sushi spot; but Sushi Tomo's combinations aren't even worth it. I don't like sushi rolls but can eat a lot of them. They have a good amount of rolls, but just like the sashimi and bento selection, NOTHING APPEALS. It seems like this place lacks so much personality and character. It just feels like it's simply existing. I feel so bad for saying that. Service lacks quality. I drink a lot of water and I notice both times I visited that the server gets tired of keeping up with me, even after I ask nicely for a water refill. I guess after 3 refills, I become an annoyance.

Rebecca S.

I came in this evening to order take out. Upon placing my order with the waitress I asked if miso soup came with the to-go. Her: 'oh so you want to add miso?" Me: 'umm no, wait, what?" Her: rudely points to the small print on the bottom of the menu that states miso soup is not included with take out.... which makes absolutely no sense. If you can provide the to-go container just freakin give it to me... don't make me pay more for it. WTF Anyways, after placing my order I just sat myself at the sushi bar and waited for what seemed like forever. During that time I was never offered water or tea or paid any mind by the staff. Finally my mediocre food came out (sans miso) and I just took it and bounced asap. No waiting around for a bag or chop sticks - I just really wanted to get the hell out of there. Bad vibes. Shitty service. California rolls were disgustingly chock full of mayo but the teriyaki sauce and salad dressing were good, although probably not good enough to come back. For nearly $13 I feel like I got ripped off. I think lunch bentos are half the price which is definitely more appropriate for the quality of the food and service.

Garett T.

Wow. I'm really quite surprised this place only has a 2-star average rating. Minus the wailing toddlers (who were gone in the first 5 minutes), my family had a great time for lunch here today! I ordered a miso soup, a Tomodachi roll (deep fried spicy tuna), a Red Dragon roll (also included spicy tuna), and a glass of plum wine. Everything my family ordered was fresh and delivered to our table quickly. All delicious! My parents and I weren't really sure where to eat today, to celebrate my birthday, but I am a huge fan of spicy sushi. Not so much a fan of the blander California Rolls and whatnot, though those might be sold here as well... But, if you choose wisely, you, too, will find the flavors you desire here. The wailing toddlers could have been reason enough for a "mere" 4-star rating, but damn it, I want to bump up the average!

Xai C.

This is an okay place for sushi but the environment isn't the nicest. It has a fast food feel and was very quite-- there wasn't any music or ambient noise... which made it a little awkward to comfortably speak. It was also pretty empty (I came around 7pm). Unlike other reviewers, I didn't experience any rude or slow service, though I have to agree that the waitress doesn't come by very often. Because of this, we actually weren't sure if we were suppose to pay at the counter or if a check was to be given to us XD. Also, I wish they give us individual plates. It would be far cleaner if I had a plate of some sort to catch sauce drips and fall outs. Other than that, I didn't have any issues with the service. As for the speed, the food actually came pretty fast! I ordered the gyoza appetizer ($5.95), the crispy roll ($7.95) and the chicken teriykai roll ($4.95). The gyoza was good, but it was on the crispier side (the wrapping reminds me of a thin fried wonton wrapper. Traditionally, it is should be more like a pot sticker). The crispy roll was very good, but hey, you can't really go wrong with fried sushi and mayo! The chicken teriyaki, on the other hand, was disappointing. The chicken was bland and the sauce was on salty, "msg" side (it didn't have the sweetness of a teriyaki sauce). It was also a pretty small roll so I'm not sure if its worth the price of almost 6 bucks.

Justin L.

Fast food sushi... it's exactly what you expect from fast sushi. The food... mediocre, and fulfills a craving when you have only a little bit of time to spare. I was on my way to Stanford Theatre and needed a quick bite. They were relatively quick, but it's definitely not the best sushi around. The service... there was only one server and she was a bit overwhelmed. I'm not sure if this is the norm. She was attentive and timely when I get her attention, but may have had a few too many tables. Perhaps they were just a bit understaffed that evening. Overall... not my go to for sushi, but in a pinch and in Palo Alto, perhaps.

Kevin C.

The waiters at el camino way are simply the rudest people I have ever met. I went in because I wanted to take a look at the menu. I was mildly interested. They wanted me to sit down at a table. They were emphatic. It was 5, so I was coming back later if I liked the menu, but no matter how many times I told them that, they kept trying to get me to sit down. They finally told me it was against the rules to stand at the counter and look at the menu- according to whom? There was no one else in the restaurant. Anyway, after what should have been a quick 30-second process evolved into a 2-minute argument, I decided to take my family elsewhere. How unpleasant and unreasonable can one be? I can't comment on their food, but how often is service so bad that you don't even get to the food? That should tell you something... And based on the reviews I am reading here, the food is no better.

Tenniel R.

Lets just say this place knows nothing about good suishi... Visited this place for lunch while staying in Palo Alto this summer. We felt a craving for suishi so decide to give this place a try. Our first mistake was not reading the other Yelp reviews about how bad this place was. Lesson learned!! The service was slow and surly We order the California roll and chicken teriyaki. So pretty simple fare for any Japanese restaurant. But no dice... The California roll had low grade crab meat and was mostly mayonnaise. As for the teriyaki, well the chicken was chewy and the sauce salty. Nuff said! Look elsewhere.

Tim H.

Went here with my wife and family friends who live in Palo Alto. This place is not very large but can hold quite a few people. I got the beef terryaki bento box. The California roll was different than what I am accustomed to but it was still good. The beef was tasty and the salad was good. My wife got the salmon bento box. She was pleased. My friends tried some other dishes and seemed to like them too. The Sapporo beer was excellent, well maybe it's just because I like beer. Never the less, I must say the Sapporo that comes in a bottle tastes differently than the Sapporo that I am used to getting in the silver can. If you are in the mood for simple and quick Japanese food, give this place a try. Thanks for reading my review. This review is based off of my personal experience and opinion.

Pierre B.

If it wasn't for the food court at SFO, I'd easily declare this the mist mediocre Japanese restaurant in the Bay Area. Rolls were deformed and the fish did not taste fresh. It's funny that when I think of Sushi Tomo, I think of the McDonald's of sushi, while it's actually not that cheap. Solid, "cheap" sushi exists, as is the case at Geta in Oakland. However, don't expect to find such cheap finds in Downtown Palo Alto: With some of the highest rental rates in the country, the area simply isn't accommodating to cheap, delicious eats. Stick to the Evvias, Tamarines, LYFE Kitchens, and Sprouts, Palo Alto. Even your diner (PA Creamery), isn't cheap.

Francis L.

Donburi's are one of favorite Japanese rice dishes - long story short, it has to do with nostalgia à la childhood memories :) I had their Katsu Don for lunch during a recent weekend trip to Palo Alto. It featured a generous variety of vegetables (including Shiitake mushrooms!) mixed in with steamed egg and served over a bed of cooked-just-right rice. The donburi sauce had a good balance of favor and was not so much that it became a soup (some places actually do that, which is bananas). The katsu - breaded pork cutlet - was layered under the vegetables-egg so it lost some of its crispiness. I'm personally indifferent on this aspect, but objectively one should expect breaded ingredients to be crispy. The restaurant is located at an intersection along University so there's no shortage of interesting things to see while waiting for your food (kids in strollers, impeccably-dressed individuals, fancy cars, your future soul mate, life in general, etc.). The service was alright. Nothing fancy as far as atmosphere and ambiance. I'm not sure if they have AC, but they were relying on open-door drafts on a day when temps were hitting north of 30 *C. Plenty of free parking, which is always a plus. Note: I realize there are numerous unhappy reviews of this place. I'd just like to say that my four-star rating applies to their lunch offering of the Katsu Don, the only dish I've tried from them so far.

Vey S.

This sushi place is a ripoff, food taste like crap and the tip is Mandatory if your party is 5 or more. Isn't that tip is based on how the food and service was?

Sophers M.

The service was fast, but that's the only thing this place has to offer. I got a California roll, and it was incredibly fishy and almost inedible. They're very short with people here, and I was incredibly unimpressed, compared to the other sushi places I've experienced in Palo Alto.

Marti L.

On a food hunt after YEE Melt Lounge. Saw Sushi Tomo, open and poppin'. Service was a bit slow with only one server taking orders. Ikura ( yelp.com/biz_photos/dYOW… ): Although a generous amount, the ikura was flavorless. The nigiri was poorly wrapped as the nori slowly unraveled. Crazy Monkey Roll ( yelp.com/biz_photos/dYOW… ): Sake, maguro, hamachi and wakame. I liked the variety of ingredients and the generous size of the fish pieces. But once again, the roll fell apart and the fish was not that fresh. Pork Cutlet Dinner ( yelp.com/biz_photos/dYOW… ): Comes with salad, miso soup and rice. Pretty good deal for $9. But unfortunately, the cutlet was dry and flavorless without the katsu sauce. Overall: Reasonable prices. Decent portions. Unsatisfying food.

Cristie S.

Great service! Even though I've been to other sushi restaurants, I say that its good except that they dont have the Lion King roll. Other than that, its ok.

Vera W.

I agree that it's mediocre. Had the spicy tuna roll with seaweed on top and the fried anago roll. They're alright.. not bad.. but nothing special. But service was fast for me today and it's cheap too! So 3 stars for that.

Adrienne B.

Now, I'm not exactly sure where to start when reviewing this place. I had read many terrible reviews here, but decided to walk downtown and take a chance on Sushi Tomo. Saying that it was a big mistake would be a great understatement. We walked into this restaurant (this word is used loosely here) at around noon and it was about 1/4 full. Seeing their lack of customers, I was surprised we waited to be seated for about 5-10 minutes, all the while with different wait staff staring at us. In addition, we were limited on where we could sit by almost every empty table being dirty. They remained this way the entire time we were at this place. Let me clarify that the restaurant was not slammed with business nor was there a lack of employees available to actually pick up a wash rag and do some labor. The preferred thing was to stand around and not help customers. Okay, now on to the service and food. We again waited at least ten minutes for anyone to come over to ask us what we wanted. Remember I'm on a lunch hour and cannot leisurely dine, not that this is the type of restaurant to do that. Finally our orders were taken. I had a bento box with teriyaki chicken, tempura, and California rolls. All tempura items tasted like nothing including the batter it was fried in. The chicken was so-so as well as the rolls. Overall, it wasn't the worst Japanese food I've ever tasted, but definitely not something I would ever want to eat again. Coupled with the lack of service and somewhat cavalier attitude of the wait staff, I will take my business elsewhere. I have to give this place a two thumbs down!

Katie D.

OK this place does look tempting because every roll is like 5$ but DON'T go here. Pretty much every roll comes with a whole lot of mayonnaise. Gooey, mushy, wet rolls. It's just sick. You can't even taste the flavor of the fish, which is probably to their advantage.

Solly M.

I don't usually write reviews but felt I had to on sushi tomo on University Ave. Food was mediocre but the service- despicable! I ordered to go , waited very long time, the waitress was extremely rude. She handed me the bag which was missing the rice ( included in the combo sushi lunch) literally dragged her feet to get me the rice which turned out to be dry with a weird yellowish color. You also don't get the soup when you order to go. Horrible place!

Robin A.

Shitty service and food just ok. Guess what my boy treated me too. Made one more appearance and that was it for the rest of my career.

Stephen L.

Okay if you only order the bento box. It is not a place for sushi.

Nelly H.

I have been coming here for years during lunch and have had a good experience. But then I brought my cousin here from out of town and wished I hadn't! He loves sushi and we came here for dinner. We ordered an assortment of sushi, and this is what we had: Mixed Tempura - very oily Spicy Tuna -- tasted like raw meat with a dash of hot sauce. Bleh. Octopus - very rubbery and bland Salmon - tasted fishy and old! Unagi (3 different types of rolls) - terrible! dry, fishy, too sweet! California Rolls - good Will not be coming here again!

Lauren H.

I can't say I'm all that impressed with this place. I'm not exactly the pickiest sushi eater, but I usually expect it to taste at LEAST as good as the stuff you can pick up in the deli section of Safeway. I don't think I'd bother going back. Why dine cheaply here when you can dine cheaply across the street at Pizza My Heart's and get better food?

Kristine D.

Fast, friendly and exceptional service, this sushi place serves up terrific food at a reasonable price. Hubby and I highly recommend the Chicken Teriyaki Roll, the Crazy Horse Roll (tuna, salmon, hamachi and vegetable) and the spicy tuna roll. Quick, delicious and filling, Sushi Tomo has a bit more of a cafe feel to it than a traditional sushi restaurant. Whether you're catching a flick at the Stanford Theater or headed to the Melt Ultra Lounge, the folks at Sushi Tomo will make sure you're ready to take on the night and possibly even the world.

Sandy S.

Came here in a large group with Ryan K. It was pretty crowded when we arrived around 8, and we had to wait for a few minutes. Not a big deal. We got seated, and the waiter was quick to take our drink and dinner order. The menu is descent, with more than a few good options, the centerpiece of which are the cheap $11 dinner combos. These come with an entree (chicken, beef, fish, etc), and two sides (tempura, sashimi, california roll...). All of us ordered one. I got the Saba Shioyaki (Broiled Mackeral), with tempura and sashimi. The dish was excellent. The fish was cooked well, and was great was the lemon over it. There were four generous slices of sashimi, along with an assortment of tempura, featuring 2 giant prawns. Paid 14 dollars and walked out the door. The service was a little spotty - drinks weren't refilled enough, and paying with credit cards turned out to be difficult, but the food was good, and it was inexpensive. All in all, I was a happy customer and I would definitely go back.

Cecilia M.

Convenient location, reasonable prices. Not sure what the deal with the rice is...frequently al dente (which is good for pasta but not so much for sushi rice). I enjoy the sushi--salmon/avocado is my favorite, don't remember what they call it. Love that there is a jar of the ginger on each table, so you can have as much as you like with your sushi (most places I tend to run out, ask for more, get tired of waiting...). Haven't tried the hot food. Somehow, don't have the waiting on people with kids stuff down (yes, get food for the kids first, yes arm us with extra napkins right away, no, don't fill water glasses to the brim as it is IMPOSSIBLE for small children not to spill them that way.)

Nicole L.

I went to Sushi Tomo thinking oh it was going to be nice to have some sushi on my lunch break, but NOT ONLY WERE THE STAFF RUDE!!!!! BUT VERY SNOBBY AT THAT! I was ordering sushi to go and figured while I was waiting I would eat my edemamme and miso soup. So when I asked the lady if I could eat my soup and edemamme while I waited, she WALKED AWAY FROM ME WITHOUT ANY RESPONSE! I mean can I get a yes, a no a give me one minute? I will NEVER EAT HERE AGAIN AND I SUGGEST YOU NEVER GOING THERE BECAUSE THE SERVICE THERE IS GARBAGE AND A WASTE OF TIME AT THAT!

Jessica C.

This is one of those times I wish I could give stars in negative numbers! Please know my comments on this place are based on my personal visits of over 1/2 a dozen & over the course of about 6+ months - not just one, singular visit! First off, the food is mediocre at best, not bad, not great, the prices are in line with what you get, again not great, not bad. Oh, & they are strict about imposing a $15.00 minum for credit card purchases, $13.99 doesn't cut it, trust me! My real ax to grind is the consistently HEINOUS customer service! The woman who is either the owner or simply the day manager (she's been there every time I've ever gone in), isn't only unhelpful & unpleasant, she's down right rude! I don't just mean to me (no personality conflicts here, I've observed her give lip to all other patrons as well!). Examples : I was sitting by myself, some random weekday, noonish, 2 women walked in, pointed & asked for a table in the sun, she snapped "2 of you? You sit there" & pointed to a spot in the shade on the other side, the ladies again requested a spot in the sun stating they were cold, she then told them, "those tables only for parties of 3-4, you sit over there", pointing to the shaded tables. They walked out. Then there's the time she was trying to clear my table while I was still eating because she seemed to think 15 minutes was long enough to occupy that spot. I could go on & on, because there's something EVERY time I've been there. It's not just me either, I work at a pretty large office in downtown PA & everybody there has horror stories to tell about here too! Bottom line - not only are we through & never going back but we're now on a mission to let everyone who will listen know how ATROCIOUS these people are!

Rick G.

I want to like this place. I really do. But every time I visit, they let me down. First: they are far too slow to clean the tables after guests leave. The result: when you walk into the restaurant, you are greeted by a sea of dirty tables. When they see you, they clean a table so you can sit down. Definitely not appetizing or welcoming. Second: their service tends to be very slow and inattentive. I almost always end up having to get up and go to them to pay the bill, or get water, or something. For such a small restaurant, they do a remarkable job of not noticing when you need something. Third: When they do get around to cleaning tables, they pull a big cart around with dirty dishes, then dump the dirty dishes in the cart. Since it is a small space, I've had them brush against my guests with their trash carts while we were eating. I've had them leave the trash cart (which smells horrible) right next to the guests (less than 1 foot away) while they left to do something else. If you are eating, or preparing to eat, the last thing you want is a trash cart, or smelly dirty dishes sitting right next to you. Very unappetizing. Notice I've not even commented on the food? The sushi is mediocre at best. A few of the dishes are decent, but many of the "standards" (like maguro, and hamachi) are only so-so. For whatever reason, I do notice that their rice tends to fall apart more easily than at other places. Bottom line: I want to like this place. But they really need to do a better job of running a restaurant and making it appealing.

Chanmao S.

This is what you call a cheap eat. I am not really sure what's up with all the low stars rating, but my experience was pretty good. On our way to Yelp Ugly Sweater bash, we just wanted a quick dinner to semi fill our tummy just in case there wasn't enough eats at the event. Sushi Tomo was a block away from B412, so we figured to give it a try. I thought the food was decent. I had nothing to complain about. We both ordered bento box dinner, and I was fairly ecstatic that it was only $10.95 per box. Wow, that's cheap eats for a restaurant off of University in PA. With my bento box, came some tempura & sashimi. I was fairly impressed on the quantity and size of the tempura pieces. I'm not much of a tempura fan however, this was pretty good. Our total bill with tip was well under $30. All in all, decent food, decent prices and decent service.

Je M.

So before I went here I read the reviews and saw that it averaged two stars.. haha don't know why the bf and I still decided to eat here, but to our surprise it wasn't all that bad! I think it's cause we were expecting it to be horrible considering the two stars. It was really basic rolls. I think what made it good was we ordered different types of sushis with different textures. The Viper roll was good!! My fav.. it had baby scallops on top and they weren't shady at all with how much they put! Phili roll always a good choice. I do not recommend their other special rolls- eh not too good. The spider roll was okay as well. Service was SLOW and they seemed inattentive, but they were nice. Three stars my friends. It's a good place to go for cheap sushi that is decent. Do not expect fancy, super delicious rolls, you will not get it. You will however get some basic sushi that isn't all that bad.

Dennis O.

Ive been here a couple of times and the dishes are so-so. Nothing to write about. However I thought it was strange when I went here with a friend and all we had is a bento box and some sushi. Our bill was nearly 50$! Whats the deal here?

Sara W.

I was pretty surprised by the negative reviews. We came here because we wanted a quick bite to eat, and it was much less busy than the sushi place down the street. It was around 9:30 and there was like a one-minute wait. The menu looked pretty great... very cheap! I looked at the veggie combo and you get 18 pieces for $8.95. I ended up getting a camino roll with cream cheese, avocado, shrimp and salmon. It was great, and the BF's Hawaiian roll was good as well. They didn't come out as quick as I'd hoped, but the service was pretty fast otherwise. My water smelled really fishy, which kind of turned me off, but for the most part, I was content with this place.

Lily W.

If I could I would give it a 3 1/2 star. Decent sushi place - not many to choose from in Palo Alto (NOT Miyake for sure!). Variety of sushi special rolls to choose from. Fresh sushimi (favorite is hamachi & salmon). Service is good too - pretty quick. Oh, definitely buy the sushi chefs beer... you'll get even nicer rolls. They're fun & nice!

Raj T.

Do Not Dine in or relate with this place under any circumstances! Cold Shoulder! Blame! Guilt was tried to put into a customer without reasonable cause. Honest dining is not the key, find a delightful place elsewhere. Good day!

Nancy F.

My coworkers were debating about whether to go to Sushi Tomo for lunch. M: I don't want to go there. Kanpai is better. S: Yeah, but Kanpai is closed today. Just give it a chance! I bet it's better than you think it is. M: Okay.... I guess I'll try it. My coworkers came back from lunch: Me: So how was Sushi Tomo? S: (looks sheepish) M: Well, I got a bonus with my salmon nigiri. Me: Oh what was it? M: ... A bone. In conclusion - if you're in Palo Alto, go to Kanpai. It IS better.

Sushi Tomo in downtown Palo Alto has faced an uphill battle since taking over the location previously owned by the Palo Alto favourite World Wraps. While the restaurant's previous tenant was a well-known and -liked foodie joint, the new Sushi Tomo is really just decent but not spectacular sushi. If you don't want to get sick from bad fish but want the lowest cost sushi available, Sushi Tomo has you covered

Anne E.

Great sushi for half the price. Let's face it, most sushi places rip you off for the allure of eating the unique cuisine. Sushi Tomo is the only place that feels worth the price. More importantly, it's delicious. I first came here for dinner with friends after a job interview, and we were seated immediately. We all order special roles, and I'd particularly recommend their Dragon roll. I've also had their seafood broth with veggies, which wasn't quite as good- I'd definitely stick to the sushi. I'd also steer clear from their salad with house dressing (the 'dressing' was basically mayo). But outside of that- Sushi Tomo is my go-to sushi joint.

Kimberly C.

wow...how is this place rated so low esp. since it's usually packed?! decent price, but (friendly/attentive) service could be improved. Tempura is decent, rolls are slightly below average and so is the chicken teriyaki. BUT this one roll, its like a CA roll with scallops on top its really good!! On a side note...i havent been back since bc last time i ate here i yacked 3hrs after... smelled like tempura, but hey, it could be worse!

Mae E.

This place has the worst service ever. This place is small enough to pay attention to every table and they still fail. They didn't allow us to separate our checks for our party. They don't follow their "we charge 15% gratuity for parties five or more" motto on the bottom of their menu and followed my friends and me outside for a tip! How desperate are they! Besides service, food was ok. It's just not worth the trouble.

Zach A.

I have been here three times over a span of three years, each time hoping that they improved. However, each time I am reminded of the painfully slow service, low quality food and prices disproportionate for such an awful experience. It felt as if the wait staff couldn't see our table and the chefs were only making other peoples orders. Then, after you nearly raise your voice at your server, the chef rushes out your order with no pride in his/her work, leaving you with a sub-par, un-satisfying bit of "sushi". I really wish that this place got better, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Marevie T.

May I say that my bill was awesome! It was super cheap here and I definitely loved that it was super clean. Went here over the weekend as one of my healthy choices for after a hang over and was it a great choice! I had a Phillidelphia roll and an Unagi handroll... Jam packed with awesome goodness!

Wayne K.

The fish here isn't great and the food made one of my friends really sick once. I could say the same of Carl's Jr. though. If you're looking for fast food sushi, Tomo's not a bad choice. It's the place to go when you don't want to spend a lot but you really want to have sushi. Just don't walk in with high expectations.

Jenny C.

Hmmm....what was better? The service or the food? So hard to decide, because they both SUCKED!!! After a long day of studying, my sis and I wanted to grab a quick dinner and walked along University. Like all the other victims, we looked at the menu on the door and thought, hmm...pretty decent prices so we gave it a try. First of all, the waiters were just rude! We ordered a few rolls and a tempura udon. I mean, how badly can you really mess up udon?? Apparently, really bad. The broth was funky tasting, it wasn't anything like udon soup. Also, they stuck a couple soggy peices of tempura in to the soup. Ick. I really don't know how they made it so weird tasting. For about 30 cents, you can buy a packet of noodles with base at the market. Let's do it together now - Step 1 - boil water, step 2 - add soup base, step 3 - add noodles, step 4 - put in bowl. WTF is wrong with you people that you cannot do that. Geez. Now the rolls. These were just the weirdest tasting rolls. Their spicy tuna was like this bright pink color. What the hell did they add to it? On the cherry blossom there was supposed to be tuna, white tuna, and salmon. It came out with tai or hirame instead of white tuna. I asked the waiter and he had the guts to straight up tell me that it was white tuna when it obviously was not. Helloo!! I can tell the difference. It's a completely different texture and color. He didn't even offer to take it back to the sushi man. All the rolls just tasted old and gross. It was the first time I didn't want to finish the sushi I had paid for. Damn, I should've known by the nasty ginger in the jars on the tables that this was a crappy place. Always trust your instincts!! Always!! Yuck yuck yuck, it grosses me out still thinking about that place. Those people who gave it 3 and 4 stars, are you serious?? Try another sushi place, any place, and I guarantee it will be better than this place. It's a waste of a prime location on University if you ask me. When the bill came, I wanted to leave no tip but I didn't have exact change and I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could so I left like a dollar tip. Extremely generous for the experience. I just felt upset and robbed when I left. I'm glad to see other smart Yelpers giving this place one and two stars. Thank God for Fraiche Yogurt to get the taste out of my mouth.

Jon W.

This place is always busy, and the service sucks. But then again I'm usually ordering take out. It takes me like 10 minutes just to explain to these people what I want to order and sometimes they don't even pick up the phone. I remember one time I spent like 10-20 minutes trying to get them to pick up the phone, then told them I was ordering for 5 people and then they said "no we can't do it" who the heck says that?! It was a favorite for lunchtime sushi takeout just because I used to work in downtown palo alto and the sushi was decent (not to mention better than miyake, and CLOSER than miyake). But I prefer the original branch on el camino.

Shelley N.

Place was a little disappointing. Sushi was cheap, but not that great. And i had the kitsune soba... there was no flavor, the noodles were very soggy, and i asked if veges came with it the waiter said yes.. when it was placed in front of me there was green onion and a slice of a carrot. Not what i meant be veges. My friend had a bento box which again was pretty cheap considering the amount of food you got, but over all not that great! Service was very rushed as we were in there right before they were closing. Just didnt like the feeling here.

Mario A.

The food - it was really not even up to the standard. The service - it was the worst I received in many years. The overall experience is 1 star. Will not go again!

Wendy C.

Bad service.. One waiter.. only just.. just one little person to service the whole place.. it took about 15minutes to get an order in, 25 minute wait for food and well the check came pretty fast. 15% auto grad for 6 people or more and they will not split the check.. so there goes another 15minutes or so figuring how much people owe plus tax and 15% tip.. and yes some people do try and chip in less then their share.. the bentos were a bit on the barren side.. rolls were decently priced tho.. 2 tamago pieces were 1.75 and a normal 6/8 piece roll was 7.95.. i would pay more for better service..

Mimi T.

My friends and I met up in Palo Alto hoping to find something that would please everyone... One didn't want Italian, one didn't want Thai, one wanted seafood... so after walking a few blocks and people were getting irritable because they were hungry, we stopped into Sushi Tomo. The first thing I noticed was the fact that they didn't have AC... it was hotter in the restaurant than it was outside. After we were seated, instead of telling us right off the bat what they didn't have, the server asked us what we wanted to drink... half of what we ordered, they ran out... ice tea, lemonade, sprite... all gone. They only had coke and diet coke. When the food came out, all of the sushi came out on one platter, which in most cases would be a good idea if everyone had ordered sushi, but in our case, only 2 of 5 did. The California rolls sucked, but then again, they're never good anywhere. The poki roll was ok... the Tokyo roll had tempura shrimp in the middle, and it was over cooked, and stale. The rest of my friends ordered bento boxes and over all enjoyed their dinner. Service was friendly, but I don't think that I'll be returning... This restaurant doesn't really belong on University Ave.

Mia L.

My boyfriend and I came here for dinner and we both got Beef Teriyaki with Tempura and Gyoza. The rice was HARD, the teriyaki sauce was BLAND, the shrimp in the tempura were SMALL, and the service was TERRIBLE. Our appetizer dishes were never cleared out and we could barely fit our bentos boxes in (I was eating with it leaning against my chest). The waiter even set our bill on the next table. It was just unsatisfying. Afterwards, we went elsewhere for drinks and dessert and saw other people from Sushi Tomo doing the same.

Andy B.

Disgusting. Rude staff ignored me and my wife for ten minutes after we sat down, refusing to even acknowledge we'd walked in the door. After we finally flagged them down to get a menu, we started looking around and noticed all the patrons waiting for their orders (or check) impatiently. The final straw was a pile of dirty dishes sitting in a dishpan on an empty table, and several tables still waiting to be cleared. Bad night? Maybe, but I doubt it judging from the rest of the reviews. I can't trust eating raw fish in that environment, so we walked out.

Hubert H.

Yeah, yeah, this is rather low grade food. I ordered a soba noodle soup; not much flavor, the tempura was already soggy, swimming in the soup, nor was the part not submerged in soup particularly crispy either. The caterpillar roll wasn't much better; rice wasn't real sushi rice, not enough vinegar, or not enough to distinguish it from normal Japanese rice. Avocado was fresh though. As for ambience, forget it; you mind as well eat with all the other patrons in the restaurant, since you're within earshot of all other patrons. At least I learned why I should vote for Obama. All in all, a decent place for relatively cheap sushi by P.A. standards, but there must be better places around.

Christina M.

Stayyyyyyyyyyy awayyyyyyyyyy Never had a good experience here.

Christine V.

Wow looks like no one likes Sushi Tomo LOL. The rolls are pretty good, I like special rolls and they had a nice selection of those. The waitresses arent very friendly though, they didnt have straws and the chefs dont speak english. It's hard to know what you want to order without knowing whats in the rolls. Their specials board just lists the rolls but you have no idea what they consist of. Went for lunch only. We got a free roll though because some lady at the next table had a hissy about her roll and refused to eat it.

Nicole M.

Worst Sushi I ever had! Rice was undercooked, the fish had no taste, the Salmon lots of fat. Atmosphere was not very attractive, either, and the service not very friendly. I don't know why we even ate there. Must have been the $8.95 Sushi Lunch offer... Never again!

Lindsay S.

Caterpillar roll = super good Poki roll = good Pot sticker roll = pretty good Fried spicy tuna = bleh bleh bleh The sushi ranges in quality and tastiness but it is the absolute cheapest you can find so if you want very basic or semi mediocre sushi for next to nothing this is a good place to go. I don't recommend it for it's quality but I do recommend it for dining out on a budget.

Ray K.

I try th 3rd time since they open. 1st time when tey open the sushi is acceptable, but not too bad. The last time I try the quality is getting bad. The 1st time I went there, I know some customer can order sushi by adding a few more different item other than just follow the regular menu. Last time (3rd time) I went there for dinner on Friday. I order sushi, the quality is getting worst. I ask the waiter if I can add one more item on the Dragon roll, he said "NO". I can order only what is written in the menu. But last time I see the customer can order additional item to add to the sushi. I don't mind of paying more. I can see the waiter don't care, but just take order and deliver the food only. Sushi als doeen't taste that good any more. I don't know what they put on the plate, it look oily. It look like they place a coating of oil on the plate before the sushi to avoid sticking. Too much oil coating on the plate. Quality of the sushi is BAD.

Ed E.

Sushi Tomo is on the same block as the Stanford Theater and they are open early for dinner. That means you can eat a pleasant Japanese dinner and still make the 5:45 movie. When we have eaten there I have ordered the ton katsu - a fried breaded pork cutlet. It was a large portion well made and served with tasty sauce for dipping. For a $7 price this was an extraordinary deal! We have also enjoyed tempura at Sushi Tomo. Every time we have been there there were at least two or three families there. The place has many tables and sometimes it gets crowded but we have not had to wait for a table, so far. But then we typically eat here before going to the Stanford Theatre so we get there before the dinner hour. We have always had good service, good food, and a good time watching passersby. I'm not sure why so many yelpers have panned this place. From the 'catty' quality of many of the postings, my guess is there is a personal thing going on among girls.... Can't please everyone, I guess. If you want a fast dinner with good food and great prices you might want to try Sushi Tomo.

Beau G.

It's low cost sushi, so they've got to do some things to keep the costs down, and yes I should have known better. I was walking down University by myself and was looking for something simple. For me many of my pieces had huge slices of avocado out of proportion with the amount of fish in many pieces, and on the menu the fact that certain rolls even have avocado is somehow not mentioned. It also doesn't help that I'm not a huge fan of avocado in my sushi.

Ken K.

I have visited this place number of times; most recent visit was two weeks ago. I honestly think the mark is one and a half stars. Just because convenient from my work and price is really reasonable. If looking for cheap and OK lunch, I think this place is good for lunch. However, as a Sushi seeker, I can only give one star for their sushi. Unfortunately, there are many other good sushi places in SF area... Tuna was really below average - no flavor, not proportioned cut...Salmon probably the best among worst, but still average. Hokki (red surf clam) was still frozen - this happened three times. Unagi (eel) was probably just out from the package (I know most eels served in US are frozen anyway...but good places will put some effort on it). Worst probably was rice; no vinegar flavor and too much sugar - basically I just cannot agree with using long grain for Sushi. Now if they say they use short grain rice...I wonder even more...

Yusaku S.

Went to Sushi Tomo the other day, feeling kinda adventurous (not reading any Yelp reviews prior). This has to be one of my worst restaurant experiences to date. They didn't even give us chopsticks when serving miso soup. It took us forever to get any attention from the staff to bring us chopsticks. Ok, a minor annoyance, but whatever. Then we waited and waited for the food to arrive. After we got tired of waiting, we asked if we can expect our food soon. The waitress mumbled something, did not even make an eye contact, and just walked away. No "I'm terribly sorry, but [some excuse]" or nothing. We got really pissed off and walked away. For the record, I've walked away like this only twice in my life. Another instance was China First in Milpitas.

Angela H.

Been here before, and it gets 5 stars for location and 5 stars for quality of food [when compared to Miyake in close proximity] but nothing over the top about it. If you want sushi on Uni - this is the game in town. Not my favorite chicken teriyaki, but the tempura was great - and the goyza was good, too. Service was good as well.

Ginni S.

I didn't get to try the sushi here, but had the katsu donburi. It was reasonable, because it's kind of hard to screw up a donburi. However, I did think it was a tad dry. I had a taste of the sushi, which seemed OK. I agree with the rest of the reviews that this place is rather average. If you have braces, you want to skip the sushi rolls because the seaweed portion will be difficult to chew through. However, service was somewhat lacking...took a while to get refills for the tea.

Ed C.

This place is terrible, even with the cheap price. I went in on a Tuesday night. After saying hello, the wait staff didn't direct me to a seat. I had to ask "where do you want me to sit?" This is strange especially since they have a sign asking you to wait for the staff to direct you. Then, it took them almost 15 minutes to get to taking my order. First, they brought out my beer, then it was another 10 minute wait for my sushi. The worst insult after all this is that the sushi was terrible. The fish (maguro tuna) was tasteless. Most items on the menu was not even available (suzuki, shiro maguro, etc). This is the worst sushi place ever. After my $20, they will not get a single penny out of me again. I wonder how long it will last.

Channon W.

I wish i would've read the reviews before coming to this place. I was on my maiden voyage to Fraiche and stopped by here for lunch. TALK ABOUT SLOW! There's only 2 workers and the place has no AC. Normally i'm fine without AC, but i was roasting in here. We ordered and waited....and waited......and waited....and waited.... Bento boxes came after 40 something minutes, BUT they were good (hence the 3 stars). anyways...we waited soo long for our food that we ran out of time for Fraiche! (minus 1 star) Overall experience was just ok.

Erik A.

This used to be my go to place. Close to home, reasonably priced, and good fish. I basically order the same thing each time, and it's a lot and always to go. Very fast service. But I think Im done. Prices were raised by $1 per roll, and per nigiri. My order just went up $6. For that money I'm looking elsewhere. They are now priced at what Kanpai charges. Ridiculous cost increase. So long Sushi Tomo, and thanks for all the fish.

Catherine R.

I am a straight sashimi girl. I recently came from living in Japan and don't do all the American invented rolls. The salmon was excellent! I ordered an entire plate of it. The maguro was ok...I only ordered it because they were out of sake. The gyoza was a disappointment because I expected it to be pan fried (JP style) instead of deep fried. The miso soup was nice. And an Asahi topped it all off. The service was sufficient, and the decore reminded me of my local sushi spot in Nagasaki. I really appreciated the "Irashimase".

Ciao B.

The only reason it gets 2 stars instead of 1 is that the service seemed to be fine. The sushi rolls were terrible. We probably ordered 5 or 6 different rolls and not one of them was good. I'm shocked it gets as much traffic as it does (probably all due to a great location on University Ave and the fact that it seems to be open later than most other restaurants).

Candace A.

Yea, I know, I know, why would I bother? Well, It was a Monday and I was downtown. I'm thinking, well I've never been in here...there's a reason for that. So, the sushi's not good, but does the service has to be so bitchy and bizarre? I was surprised by how full it was. One star for at least not giving me food poisoning which is a real positive in my book now (see Baracuda review).

Rosalind C.

I'm hesitant to give Sushi Tomo 4 stars, simply because I don't really like eating my sushi in a place that still says Med Wraps on the tables (Sushi Tomo replaced Med Wraps about a year ago). I'm all for reusing things, but it's just a little strange to eat Japanese food on a table that has abstract pictures of Greek buildings. That being said, I would say that Sushi Tomo is a good compromise between Sushi Ya and Miyakes. It's cheaper than both of the afore mentioned eateries, but doesn't have the cute and cozy ambience of Sushi Ya. Given a choice between Miyake and Sushi Tomo, I'd pick sushi tomo hands down. Just today, I had a lunch box for $7.50 that had chicken teriyaki, shrimp and veg tempura, and four ginormous slices of sashimi, along with your usual rice, salad, and soup. Now that's what I call a good price! For the same meal at Sushi Ya, you'd be paying at least $4 more. Definitely give it a try - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I remember coming here a few months ago for dinner, and remember thinking that that was more of a 3 stars experience. I think the lunch prices are really what swayed me. UPDATE 4/30/07 I came here for dinner a few nights ago, and I have to agree with everyone else - the service here is BAD. I'm still happy with the reasonable prices, but never ever sit at the bar. The service there is worse than it is at the tables! The older sushi chef is on top of it and was always checking in on me, but he had to get the servers to notice me when I needed things.

Eston B.

Whilst reviewing Sushi places, I wanted to update this. I have been here multiple times since my last review and the sushi has always been warm, kind of tasteless, and service apathetic. This place is terrible. Go to Kanpai if you need to eat sushi downtown.

Sionnan H.

Its funny, the more people I talk to about this place. the more complaints I hear. Please, keep looking. I have had consistanly below average experiences here. Yet, it retains a good rep. My only thought is that Palo Altans are too afraid to leave University to go to Sushi. The fish is not fresh, and rather pungent. Maguro is one of my favorite foods in the world, and I was almost unable to finish my nigiri here. I would definitely not try anything other than fish! Take my world for it. Most recently I was taken here by my boyfriend whose friends raved on and on about it. Rather suspiciously, I went back, and got just what I had remembered. I even thought for a moment that I didn't like sushi anymore. That's just silly. I took them all to Momoya, in Mountain View, and their jaws were on the floor. I hate to have a completely negative review, and do my best to find the good things. The tea there is fine. Please do not go. Pros: service is fine, tea is fine Cons: atmosphere, food, freshness

B M.

Will not go again. Our family usually goes out on Saturday for lunch. This time, we picked Sushi Tomo and it was a bad decision. First, the food - it was really not even up to the standard. Even the most important of ingredient - Rice - was not cooked right. The service - it was the worst I received in many years. One of the male waiters there really got bad attitude. The overall experience is 1 star and will not go again.

Sirin H.

If you like real sushi, fresh fish and want to have a decent, maybe even mediocre type of experience, never never go here. I went one time and that was it. Their miso soup was awful, I couldn't finish it and my stomach didn't feel great at all after a couple of sips. The fish is just tasteless, I don't understand how people can pay for such meal. Their rolls also suck, do not taste like anything. The worst Japanese restaurant/sushi bar experience ever!

Sue W.

Gave me food poisoning. Miso soup was tasty. Sushi was thick but tasteless slabs of fish on tiny cold dry rice. California roll was nasty full of fake crab mayo goo and soggy nori. Came on an old plank. Service dismal - not even given soy sauce or ginger.

Emily L.

Meh. Okay food and cheap prices, but man oh man our server was baaaaaaaad. "Excuse me, can we get some chopsticks?" "Excuse me, can we get some napkins?" "Excuse me, I don't think this is what I ordered." He brought my friend a chicken teriyaki rice plate. Too bad she ordered the bento box. And too bad it belonged to the guy at the other table.

Alina M.

Plenty of parking. Small bland place. The waitress there was slow and never checked back on me; she was a prety below average waitress. The sushi was good at least and the cooks at the sushi bar are always nice when I come. Another average sushi place, nothing special.

Daniela A.

What is a place like this doing on University Avenue?!!! This is definitely the absolute WORST restaurant I have EVER been to!!! I seriously advise anyone who expects restaurants (especially seafood) to be hygienic, and for their sushi to taste decent to get as far away from this place as possible. I just cannot emphasize what a disgrace to Palo Alto and Japanese cuisine this place is!!! My co-worker and I were craving sushi after getting out of a seminar we had to atted in Palo Alto, so before heading back to the South bay we decided to look for a sushi place on University Avenue. After walking around for a while, we stumbled across Sushi Tomo. It was unpleasant as soon as we walked in. We opened the door and went to sit at the bar, but before we could even sit down this short waitress with bruises on her arm that resembled bite marks came out of the kitchen and told us we couldn't sit there. We thought this was odd, but sat up and tried moving to another table next to the window. "no, no, no!!!" she said in a thick accent. "You can't sit there!! Other people are coming in!!!". She then made us sit at a table in the middle of the restaurant, right in front of the door. She then threw menus on the table for us, and walked away. Several minutes later we were able to get her attention so that we could order. We had a few questions about the menu, but she kept cutting us off and trying to grab the menus out of our hands before we were even done looking at them. My friend tried asking if there were any rolls that combined spicy tuna with avocado, but she wouldn't let her finish her sentence, and would cut her off.. "No-..... no-....... no"... and when my friend asked if she could customize a roll she practically yelled "no". Totally, TOTALLY obnoxious and rude!! We ended up ordering two dragon rolls and a rainbow roll. The first thing I noticed was that the rolls were not rolled correctly, and there was so much mayonnaise in the crab that it was practically oozing out of the roll. After trying the sushi, we both agreed that the predominant flavor was the mayonnaise- gross! Also, the unagi (eel) on the dragon roll was not cut properly, because there were bones everywhere! The rainbow roll was also filled with the ultra-mayonnaise and fake crab mixture, and the fish on top was not fresh. I could tell this immediately because the fish was room-temperature, dry and the hamachi (yellowtail) actually had a very yellowish-brown tint to it. The sushi was terrible. We only took a couple of bites and then decided to leave. I tried getting the waitresses attention for a very long time, so that we could just pay our bill and get out of there, but she ignored me. During this time I also noticed that other people there were sitting down at the same tables we had originally wanted to sit at, but that she had made a big deal about us sitting at. This was the last straw. By the time she finaly came by our table, I was fuming. Our total came out to $40, which I charged to my credit card. I then wrote "NO TIP" on the receipt. I get the impression that they might be the type of business to charge a tip to my card even if I did not authorize it. Stay away from this place, it's horrible in every possible way!

Ocee D.

I should've gone with my instincts and left after speaking with the waitress the first time. This place is on University in downtown palo alto, so I expected decent food and service. The food was ok. Don't ask for any alterations to the menu because there's no way that'll happen (makes u think if this stuff is pre-made). The waitress rushed us to order, had a sh*tty attitude from the start, and when she brought out our water and plates, my girlfriend's plate had pieces of food still on it!!!! "whoa, what r u doing? that's a dirty plate!" she was less than 6 inches away from me when i said it, but either didn't hear me or ignored me, so i said it again. "I'll bring you another one". That's it, no apology, nothing! Did she not look at it when she picked it up, brought it over and put it on our table? Food was VERY plain but mediocre, but when i went to take a sip of my water, the glass smelled like it had been wiped down with a towel that sat in the dryer for 3 days b4 being dried....moldy and nasty! A new customer walked in and she came and took our soy sauce off of the table and took it to him w/o even asking us! When the check came, I left a nice note saying "you have a terrible personality. You brought us a dirty plate, and my glass of water smelled disgusting. Happy Thanksgiving" and left no tip. 30 seconds later, this psycho came out of the restaurant yelling and sprinted 1/2 of a block to where we were saying "I reserve my tip I reserve my tip" me: "you get no tip" her: "why" me: "because the service was sh*tty, you brought us a dirty plate, my water was filthy, and you don't deserve a tip. Read the note I left you" her: "Happy Thanksgiving" me: "Happy Thanksgiving" hahahahahahah what effing nerve some people have! More energy was spent running out to ask about her tip on a $14 meal than was spent the entire time to ensure we had a pleasant experience. It's not like i left the tip line blank. There was a clear ZERO drawn in with a note. WOW!!! The entertainment value made it ok, otherwise if I had left a tip and not said anything, it would be eating away at me.

Joseph C.

The salmon bowl is a lot of fish on rice for not too much money. Not bad, if you're in a bad way for salmon sashimi. I'm happy to go there, in a pinch.

Atsushi M.

I give this place a 2 in terms of service and food taste. First of all, the waitress tried to take our order water a minute or two.. well before we had a chance to take a good look at the menu. There were 2 servers and 1 chef, but there wasn't much of a wait. We did have to wait for our bill though. To be fair, I forgot my credit card on the bill tray and one of the waiters came outside to hand me back the card. The water smelled a little like fish...and the miso soup was pretty watered down and the salad dressing was also. I ended up taking a little of each and leaving the rest. The beef teriyaki was THIN (read: small portion) and although there was sauce on top, there was hardly any taste. The rolls were the same ones you can find anywhere else. None of them stood out as unique. The prices are pretty low compared to other sushi places ($4 - $8 a roll, probably around 6 pieces a plate). However, the quality is low and this must be a reason why they can afford to stay in business. I don't know if it's Japanese owned, but the workers were Chinese.

junryo w.

this place is for maki-sushi only. if you go for nigiri, you will be disappointed. service is as bad as others have described. if you have a craving for maki-sushi, and lots of it, at a price that won't break your bank (thus not too picky about quality), this is the place.

Brandon M.

I've only been here when they are not busey and the service is so,so.It's like cafe style,not white table cloth type restaurant so if you want cheap sushi,it's cool.I've had the spider roll which were big,spicey tuna,hamachi,sake which were above average in taste.The muso soup was luke warm.I've had nothing here that was really cook so things were made pretty fast for a sushi place.Just remember it's cafe style looking so it's cafe,not Benihana's.Really cheap sushi,get in get out.

David C.

one star for the guts to open "something like this" in the midst of Palo Alto. If there were negative stars I can give, it has to be this place (hopefully only place) that I will give negative star(s) rating to. First, I found it very inconvenient to have to pointlessly wait in front of the door. I tried to go into the restaurant and see if anyone would come to me ask how many people there are for us. To our surprise, they seemed to not really care about sitting you promptly, to make matters worse, I swear one of the waiters looked at me like twice, but didn't do anything. But I guess I am destined to suffer tonight since I crave for sushi. Finally got seated, ordered a sashimi dinner plate($19.95) and a chirashi($16.95) for my gf. First off, I got my bowl of rice with my miso soup, which was weird because I have to wait for the sashimi to come before I can dig into the rice, unless they want me to dump the miso soup there and eat with it, a little weird there. Well the fish came after a while, and again, somehow someone has to remind one of the waiters/waitress to get our food from the sushi bar to our table, which, took about five minute and a turn around to deliver the plate, and we ended up waiting and watching the sashimi warm up ........ the service staff here definitely need some more training .... Well back to the dishes, I mean you get the stuff for the price you pay, but I honestly think they can do better than this. The only thing that can be passable is the salmon for both plates, among the tuna, hamachi, ika, white fish, some other kind of unknown fish, and even the rice! I do not expect these guys will do it exactly right, but my rice was cooled down due to before, and my gf's chirashi ... well .... i can only say, it wasn't sushi meshi ......and the fish , basically just not fresh as you want them to be. Esp. Hamachi, it's been a while since I come back to eat the "brown" hamachi ... the "bad" ones ...... but this one made me just rushed it in my mouth, chew, and swallow, I DID NOT TASTE IT AFTER I HAVE TRIED THE FIRST BITE. I am a big hamachi fan, so at the same time, you will know when the hamachi in a place totally failed on me, and I probably cannot find anywhere that can choke on cutting fish more than this ...... One more of note, my gf's chirashi had first ....... seaweed and boiled octopus, both of which should be served at an Izakaya ...... and I don't think it's such a good idea to put with the raw stuff on top. What's more funny was ..... there was chopped dai kon on the bottom of the raw fish, on top of the rice ... that was just outrageous, aren't those dai kon only are supposed to be served on plates of sashimi? I'd totally prefer paying a bit more and eat some sushi that I won't feel as bad as these I tasted. At the very least, there are lots of them in the surrounding cities, I just have to drive there, so punch me for being too lazy to move my car. I am depressed.

Zaizhuang C.

This place always has someone inside, no matter what the time! surprisingly good for a small, cheap sushi place. I guess it helps to draw in the Stanford students.

Matthew C.

Open late on Christmas eve, Sushi Tomo was a fair sushi place: Speedy service and fresh sashimi. It was the only sushi place that offered a "potsticker roll." If I happen to be at the restaurant again, I have to try that because I have never heard of a roll like that. We had the dinner meals which were pretty big: the tempura was crunchy with the seasonal pumpkin tempura, fresh salmon sashimi and an OK teriyaki salmon. I also ordered the Boston roll which had tuna wrapped with alternating tuna and salmon on top. Swwweet. The water came around so quickly, but so did our check. I thought we were being rushed out of there when it wasn't even too busy. I guess it was just the nature of our waiter: he was a quickster. Good place but just average. -Matt

Karen K.

Had dinner here with my sister last night (Sunday). It wasn't busy, but then again, we ate early, like 5:30pm. It was really warm inside. The menu is cheap, probably to cater to students. It's really casual. The tables looked like they were left over from when this used to be World Wraps. The dinner bento boxes are $9.95, which I thought was a total deal since you get three items plus the usual rice, salad, and miso soup. I chose salmon teriyaki, sashimi, and tempura. The portion size is great considering it's only $9.95. The salmon was very tender and not over-sauced. There were four pieces of sashimi (2 salmon and 2 yellowtail). I felt the slices were pretty thick and tasted fresh. My third item was the tempera. It came with two shrimp, one broccoli, one squash, one carrot, and one yam. The restaurant did a good job of frying it. The service was a bit on the slow side, but we weren't in a hurry and it didn't look like other patrons were either so we didn't mind. Overall, this is a good cheap Japanese joint.

Liz W.

I came in at about 2 pm to order lunch to-go. The guy who took my order was quite rude and when I arrived to pick it up, I made the mistake of not checking the bag. They forgot my soup (which was one of the main reasons I ordered what I did), the portions were small and pretty bland. I am never going there again.

Crystal K.

This place is great for take out-- the sushi is CHEAP, fast, and acceptable. For $11.75, I got two kappa rolls, one CA roll, and one Spicy Tuna. I cannot say it's the best sushi I had, but for those hit and run days where you're hecka rushed, it's a great place to pick up some food. The service is mediocre... the wait staff seems a bit out of it when I was ordering food.

Ken s.

The sushi is affordable and tasty. The service was subpar (tough to get refills on every beverage and hot tea is more like room temp tea). Also, you definitely should not be going there for ambiance. But, I'm more interested in the sushi. They have a wide variety of rolls, which i enjoy (this makes up for the poor service and leftover 'World Wraps' environment).

brenda b.

Luckily there was no crowd when I arrived, so service was not bad. With one sushi chef, this would not be the place to be if it were crowded. I liked the Super Boston Roll. Unfortunately, none of the rolls have tobiko, so that's a deduction for this sushi eater. Pricewise, I think that they offer good deals, and the fish was fresh. The lunch specials looked affordable too.

chelsea b.

It's funny how sometimes you realize you don't notice good service until you've had really bad service. That's what happened at Sushi Tomo this evening. At first everything seemed welcoming. I liked that they had some sushi combos I'd never tried before and the prices were quite reasonable. Then, my less than attentive server ignored me while he chatted with the sushi chefs about having too many women to handle calling on one 15 minute break. Then he sloshed sake all over my table when he brought it to me. That was followed by tofu being stuck to the outside of the bowl of my miso soup. The sushi wasn't much to write home about. Average. You can get it anywhere. To top it all off, the server left all of the dishes on the small table after I was done with the meal, but he did push onedish aside so he could place my bill in front of me. Jeez. Basically this place is run by 4 guys who really don't care and it shows. If you want sushi and you see Sushi Tomo, keep on walking...

Anonymous X.

TERRIBLE service. Couldn't waive down a waiter to seat us, give us a menu or take our order. TRULY horrible dining experience.

tisha d.

understaffed and always busy due to its location. The food is still good though, but if you have a car (and had problems parking it) just go to the 'main' restaurant near El Camino...you'll get better service and a more enjoyable dinner/lunch experience there.

Dana C.

I ordered take out from here and when I came 2o minutes later, they hadn't even processed the order. While I waited, I did notice that they had pretty bad service. There was a line of 4 couples and the waiter/bus boy was making everyone wait while he was cleaning off the tables for two instead of seating them in the 10 larger tables and booths that were all empty. Sushi was okay though - long wait though for 2 rolls.

Harsh K.

Booooo! mediocre sushi and crappy service

Joyce L.

I think I'm being kind of generous with 3 stars, but I didn't try any hot foods, so...3 stars it is. I just ordered a couple of spicy tuna rolls to go (had to order at least 2 to qualify for take-out). I didn't really like the rice and I didn't really like the fish. It wasn't bad, just not my taste. I think I need to try Sushi-Ya...

Jana K.

Nothing spectacular, but if you are walking down University Ave. and you get a sudden urge for sushi then you find yourself at sushi Tomo. Their sushi is cheap and not the best quality. The Super Oregon roll is good other rolls are not much to write about. For some reason though, every time I walk by this place is packed.

Eugene W.

I ate there for lunch on Tuesday, got the number 7 bento box. The tempura vegetables were way undercooked, but that wasn't the real problem. It was the rubbery beef teriyaki and the apparently spoiling ingredients of the California Roll. You know that feeling you get right before you vomit, and how you start uncontrollably salivating? Well, that happened to me after eating the food. Disgusting.

Brett G.

This place gets a solid two thumbs down. I ordered soba and two pieces of tuna. they brought out the tuna and i took one bite. There was something wrong with the tuna, it tasted like tuna fish out of a can. I told the server and he took it back to the sushi chef. The chef proceeded to argue with me that the tuna was in fact fresh and that I would have to pay for it whether I ate it or not. to demonstrate his point, he took the remaining piece that I had left untouched and shoved it in is mouth, pointing to his mouth while he chewed it as if to see "see this is fresh." I didn't care, it was nasty but they made me pay for it anyway. needless to say I won't be going back to sushi tomo and neither should you.

Jon W.

we recently moved to the palo alto area, and have tried this place for takeout a few times. The sushi was pretty good and surprisingly affordable. But my most recent visit will definitely be our last. We called for a takeout order on a saturday night, and they told us 50 minutes, but in a way to try to dissuade us from placing our order. We placed it anyway, but we should have known.... When I arrived to pick it up more than 60 minutes (not the 50 minutes they told me) later, they hadn't even started putting our order together. And then after the sushi chef even acknowledge that I was there and he had my order he continued to make sushi for other people. Finally, after about 10 minutes, he got around to starting to put together my order. While I was waiting, there really isn't a place to wait to get takeout, I more or less stood back by the cash register and was pretty much glaring at the staff. After a few minutes, one of the waitresses rudely told me to sit down at the sushi bar to wait, but in a tone, like "get out of the way you stupid customer." Right after that, a couple with a young child came in and asked for a table. They saw a few empty seats at the sushi bar, and asked about sitting there. The waitress tried to seat them, but the other sushi chef, (not the one who had now finally started making my order) told them that they couldn't sit there. I didn't hear the reason why, but it was just another example of awful service. So we're never going back. Koma on El Camino in Menlo Park is much better and their service has been great so far....

Eric L.

The box meals are cheap and have plenty of food, but the quality is atrocious. The place's always crowded and they're definitely understaffed. I've had to wait for 15 min once just to get my meal ordered. I would only come here if you're starving and want a cheap place to eat.

Eric M.

Haha, this place is hilarious. Two friends and I tried to have lunch here one time, only one of us wasn't eating as he had already done so, and was just along for fun. The other two of us however had ordered large amounts of sushi. However, the waitress informed us that there was a 6.95 minimum per person, and that our friend would have to order. I tried to point out that it was pretty ridiculous to demand that when between me and the other guy we were ordering plenty of food, and besides, the restaurant was nearly empty, but to no avail. We ended up leaving. Besides, the few times I have eaten here, the food has been decent at best.

B. A.

One lone sushi chef working an overcrowded dining room; two wait people who shouldn't have had a problem with about 8 tables each, but somehow did. I don't know what was worse, the service or the sushi. I walked in and every vacant table was still dirty at 1:30 PM on a Sunday. Took an act of god to be noticed and seated, and the staff never checked on me after that. Thirty minutes to get sushi from point of order. The rolls were sloppily made, way too much rice, not enough fish. I tried some usual sushi benchmarks such as burdock root (way too crunchy, and the rice was horribly dry), salmon and avocado (the salmon was by no means fresh and of an inferior cut), and fried spicy tuna. Fried sushi is supposed to be flash fried, like tempura, only this roll had been left in WAY too long...the tuna was horribly dry, and not enough of it...the core of the roll was less than a CM in diameter, with about 1.5 CM of rice on either side...it was a deep fried rice ball with an eraserhead of overcooked tuna on the inside. It was not spicy at all, and the roll came slathered in roe which was not mentioned in its menu entry....a horrible shock if you don't like roe (I'm indifferent). Seems par for the peninsula, though...no good sushi in these parts.

Emily L.

Absolutely, I agree with the previous reviewers. This restaurant has very bad service. They sushi chefs don't care much about whether you get your food. I placed an order over the phone and they told me it would take 20mins. So when I arrived 30mins later, I thought I would get my order. AFTER I paid, then they decided they would make my rolls. And, they did not have any other customers to serve before I came in. Unprofessional, unclean and the food is borderline acceptable. I would never visit again.

Angela L.

Ok, I used to really love sushi tomo - the highlights? Affordable sushi, far better than Miyake, the option to get the all-salmon sashimi appetizer or entree, conveniently located downtown, never had to wait for seating, togo orders available quickly, great wakame and miso. But recently I've been finding their fish quality deteriorating - I eat primarily sashimi, so it's more noticeable than for rolls (their rolls are great - unique options, tasty, filling, cheap). The salmon (and some other fish) are a bit watery, having that previously-frozen texture, and the past couple of times I have gone there, I have had stomach discomfort the rest of the day (hmm).

Peter L.

If you are looking for good and competent service, this IS NOT the place for you. A couple of weeks ago, I walked-in during my lunch hour and had ordered a standard bento lunch (Chicken and Fish). After an hour later and several assurances that "My food is being cooked" or "It's almost ready", my server came up to me and said "I'm sorry but we're all out of fish today, would you care to order something else". So, rather wait for another hour for that order to arrive, I left in disgust. So, if you're in the mood for some really, really bad service, this is the place to go!!!!

J T.

The only thing worse than the food (particularly, the fish smelling like it hasn't seen the ocean in months) is the horribly rude service. Expect to wait 15 minutes to even see a waiter, and another 20-30 minutes to get your order (that's quite a bit of time to cut some raw fish and roll it with rice).

Elena A.

The teriyake chicken here is awesome..I never order anything else. I eat here at least four times a week - no joke. I can't really comment on the sushi because I don't eat raw seafood, but I have had the inari and cucumber roles and wakame and they are also delish. Come and enjoy!

Hazel Grace D.

so, sushi tomo doesn't have the best sushi - not even close. but, it's totally edible, even decent for palo alto, and the price is much better then most of the other sushi places in downtown - which aren't really much better tasting anyway... so, i still do takeout from herewhen i'm in a pinch, i just know what to expect... we call it "value sushi" here in palo alto.

Jason K.

Okay, so probably 2 stars. But it's not as bad as the 1 stars say. I've been here and had great service, and I've been here and been overlooked for 20 minutes, and it's not a big restaurant. The sushi's pretty standard for sushi places in PA...that is, better than the grocery store, and reasonably priced. I've never been disappointed by the food, and I like this place when I want sushi but don't want to spend $50 a person. If you want better service and the same menu, venture on over to the El Camino Way location. Neither will ask if you want to keep your menu to order more sushi unless you're at the bar...which I think is weird...

Veronika O.

Horrible, horrible service. Which is too bad because the food is decent enough. It was very hot in the restaurant (is that good for the fish?), I had to ask for water, I saw my lunch sitting on the counter for 10 minutes and finally had to ask someone to bring it to me--and this is after they brought me someone else's order. I also had to ask for the bill. One of these complaints is already bad enough--put it all together and they've lost me as a customer.

Rui T.

the food is decent for the price. well, at least the fish is pretty fresh. the reason i am giving it 2 stars is the service, or rather, the lack of. i work in downtown palo alto and get lunch in the restuarants around here everyday. of all the restuarants i've been to here, this place has the worst service/attitude of them all. you can literally walk in and stand in front of a staff, and be completely ignored, as if you are invisible. i guess the low price generates enough business for them that they don't need to emphasize service.