Sushi Restaurant Minato in Smyrna Is One of Atlanta’s Hidden Restaurant Gems | Eater Atlanta

"Tucked off Spring Road about a half mile from Truist Park, Minato in Smyrna feels like a speakeasy: a windowless, basement-level sushi spot with scant signage and a Japanese character on a stone facade marking the entrance, and it relies on word-of-mouth rather than social media. After 33 years it remains a neighborhood anchor owned by Pat Lee, Phillip Saetia, Kevin Chang, and Ming Chen, and it pairs eclectic, late-’80s nautical kitsch—stone walls with figurines, a dolphin-anchored sunken dining room, wave cutouts, and family portraits in the entryway—with a family, “Cheers”-like atmosphere where owners greet regulars by name. The seafood is consistently fresh (sourced from five suppliers), and signature items keep customers coming: the long-standing “Super Crunch” roll (crispy shrimp tempura and tempura cracker inside, raw tuna and salmon outside, drizzled with eel sauce) is the most popular roll, chirashi bowls line the sushi bar at lunch with slab-like salmon, shrimp, and tuna over sticky rice plus crunchy crab salad and tamago (about $20 with miso soup and green salad and praised by regulars as the best lunch deal), and chefs also turn out donburi, udon and soba, and teriyaki made from an all-natural sauce simmered for three hours. Off-menu creations add to the mystique—the owner-chef Kevin Chang’s “Cowboy Hat” shrimp cracker topped with crunchy crab salad, a deep-fried scallop, and eel sauce is a beloved secret. Open weekdays for lunch and dinner and Saturday evenings, Minato feels like home to multiple generations of diners." - Lia Picard