Drew K.
Yelp
This is a tough one, but I settled on 3 stars because that's supposed to mean "Ok" and that's what I felt overall about my visit to Akiko.
They recently opened off of San Felipe in the same shopping center as Randall's, Los Tio's, and Adair Kitchen. They have tons of seating, booths, tables, and a long bar top. The interior looks brand new since they just opened up, so everything still has that new restaurant gloss.
We came by for a late lunch while running errands, and it was more or less empty besides a guy or two eating at the bar. We ordered sake and wine, but they don't have their liquor license yet FYI.
The lunch menu has some very well priced sushi combo deals($13 - $20), bento boxes ($16), as well as hot lunch combo meals that come with soup or salad, and a bowl of steamed rice alongside the main protein you pick ($10-$13). I was really surprised by the pricing compared to other sushi spots in the area.
I settled on a sushi Lunch Combo, the Maki B, which was one roll of your choice and chef's pick of 5 nigiri pieces. My tablemate went with the Sesame Chicken from their Hot Lunch Combos.
Service was prompt and friendly. They checked in on us a ton, especially after handing us the check while we were still finishing our meal. They kept checking to see if I had put down my card which was offputting. Otherwise, they did a fine job refilling waters, and bringing food out.
The quality of the sushi and other food is what makes me settle on "ok", because if you're looking for a high level serious sushi meal (MF Sushi, Uchi, 5kinokawa, Kata Robata, etc.), this isn't it.
If you're looking for mid grade sushi that won't break the bank (Miyako, Ra Sushi, places where sushi rolls covered in mayonnaise and stuffed with cream cheese make you happy, etc.) this will work fine, and may even surprise you at how affordable they are.
The nigiri rice was cold and firm, the sesame chicken was clearly a frozen bag of premade chicken nugs covered in an oversweet syrupy sauce, the soy sauce was super low sodium almost like water, and overall it just felt like a phoned in meal, but again, maybe I was expecting too much.
I suppose the short review is they get 3 stars if you're a pricy sushi fan and expecting a top tier high quality Japanese meal, but 4 stars if you like a cheap sushi deal that will scratch your sushi itch.