Hana Japanese Restaurant

Hana Japanese Restaurant was a pleasant surprise during my time in New Orleans. The space felt simple and comfortable, nothing flashy, but very welcoming. The sushi was fresh and neatly prepared, with clean flavors that really stood out. I liked that the rolls weren’t overloaded with sauce — you could actually taste the fish. The sashimi was nicely cut and tasted fresh, and the portions were fair for the price. Overall, it’s a dependable spot when you’re craving straightforward, well-made Japanese food. Not overly trendy, just solid and satisfying.

🌸 A Zen Culinary Experience at Hana Sushi 🌸 Hana Sushi in New Orleans isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a ritual. For those of us who practice the zen of food Qi, this place is sacred ground. The sushi here honors tradition, crafted with care and intention, not drowned in mayo or molded for mass appeal. If your idea of sushi is sticky rice topped with imitation crab, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you’re seeking authenticity, depth of flavor, and a quiet reverence for the art of Japanese cuisine, Hana delivers. The atmosphere is calm, the portions generous, and the experience—excellent. Go slow. Savor each bite. Hana isn’t fast food—it’s food that lasts in memory.

A Japanese restaurant in the city with a very good value for money and one of the few restaurants that is actually run by a Japanese sushi chef. It has been open for almost 30 years and the chef is very experienced. The sushi and sashimi are very fresh. (Let me tell you a secret: they restock every Friday and Saturday.) Their portions are also larger than other restaurants. However, they are very busy at night, so it is recommended not to dine there during peak meal times, as their waiters will neglect to take care of you because there are too many customers. I recommend going there during happy hour in the afternoon to enjoy the service, which is ideal.

We love and respect the owners of this restaurant. They are so sweet! They always make us feel special. The foods are so delicious. The service is great! Love to come here whenever we come to New Orleans and crave for Japanese food!

Apparently this place has been here, unchanged for decades. I've seen it out the corner of my drunken eye several times myself waiting on the street car after leaving Coops, but have never ventured to try it myself. They've been coming since HS, but as it's in uptown, doesn't make it out this way more often. OMG THE MACKEREL! This is my new favorite place. I haven't had saba this good since Morimotos. Maybe it's because I can't get anything resembling good saba in MS, so it been awhile, but damn. I was clutching my pearls and making all kinds of inappropriate noises and faces doing my best Meg Ryan impersonation. You get a comp noodle salad that reminds me of the macaroni salad ban chan you get at Korean restaurants. The miso is standard but good. Some of the best gyoza I've ever had, you can taste the green onion like you're supposed to. There was also a yellowtail, salmon skin, and hana rolls. While they were all good, I'd just come back to load up on the mackerel. I wish these other sushi restaurants would learn that my love and 5 stars can be easily bought.

Lovely lunch with my daughter. Everything was delicious and quite reasonably priced.

Great place to stop for sushi when you’re in Natchitoches. The sushi was fresh and flavorful. Our server was wonderful.

Let me say by far the best 🍣 I have had. I must as that I had stop eating sushi because the more recent visit to sushi houses were not good. This place reminded me why I love sushi. The most significant thing to me was great taste of the sushi. The fish was well prepare and didn't have the strong iodized "fishy" taste you can get from fresh ocean fish. That made the dish for me. There wasn't many non shell options but you can request your sushi without shell fish if you are allergic to 🐚 foods. We had the fish and farm roll, Naruto roll(shell food), dragon roll (w/ shell food) and freshly roll. The freshly roll was best because I love veggies. There is no wheel chair access entrance to this location. Didn't visit the bathroom that is onsite. Host was quick with our starters drink and complimentary noodles and cream sauce. The noodle and cream was excellent. It is a child dish wish tasted good. The bill was inexpensive and the rolls were good size. Please see pictures.

We had a wonderful experience at Hana. We had sushi and cucumber salad. Everything was delicious. The prices are fair too! Nancy provided great service and we look forward to going again very soon. This is a great little spot for sushi in a casual atmosphere.

I've been coming to Hana for years, always recommending it to others. I even had my birthday here one year. Love it! However, the experience we had today was very disappointing. The hostess/waitress was very nice and helpful as always, but we were continuously receiving plates covered in old food and scum. It was gross. The rolls also seemed to be formed pretty haphazardly. They're normally perfect looking but these were not right. Hoping this was just an off day because I love this place.

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! Used the paper to order a fresh salmon roll, however, due to the layout of their paper, they claimed I ordered a Philadelphia roll. I don't eat cream cheese, therefore I would never order that. I explained the misunderstanding and the older woman took the plate away. The chef grabbed the sushi off the plate and then scooped out the cream cheese, then re-rolled the sushi. The sushi returned to me is attached with a photo. He'd also taken out most of the salmon. I informed the initial waitress of the issue. She said she would remove it from my bill. The older lady who said I ordered wrong came back and stated that I had eaten the food already. I told her all 8 pieces were still on my plate. She asked did I want it taken away, and I told her the young lady already removed it from my bill. She stormed away then came back with a plate and tried to reach into my sons plate to take the sushi. I told her not to reach into a plate we are eating from and that I would put it on the plate.

I can live with the fact that the service was extremely slow, but the salmon was not fresh and the color was off. I took a bite of it and spit it out because it was sour. The tempura batter was cakey and not fried well. My wife did, however, enjoy the noodle salad. We paid and left, but I was immediately sick on the drive home. I will never go back. This is sad because this place used to be a favorite, but has really gone downhill over the years.

Service is slooooooowwwwwwwe, even if the place is empty. The sushi is fresh, but the man making it was just shaping it with his bare hands then wiping his face which kind of grossed us all out. If you ask for a napkins they'll only bring you one. We asked twice. We got two. We drive in for sushi here about once a year; it hasn't been updated in the 20 years we've gone. The interior is really dilapidated. Sushi is always nice though. If you want a nice atmosphere then go somewhere else. If you just want pretty good sushi then give this a try,

Decided to try Hana since we were in the area and wanted sushi. I decided to place a phone order for pickup, which is where the rudness began. I however let that part slide and still placed my order. Upon arriving at the restaurant, I went inside to use the restroom and was faced with more rudness, on the lines of why are you here. Needless to say my order was canceled as I requested a refund.

I've been coming here for years! I'm surprised I never did a review! Don't come here if you're looking for an aesthetically pleasing restaurant tbh. The best thing about Hana is the complimentary noodle salad. Prior to coming here I've never had that before and a lot of Japanese restaurants don't have this on the menu. It's soooo good! Typically I get the Hana roll which is their house roll. It's huge! And pretty cheap for such a large speciality roll. I think it's about $13. They also give you a bottle of hana sauce and eel sauce which is super convenient. This is normally where my review would end but on my last visit here I ended up ordering the ramen and it taste exactly like Campbells chicken noodle soup. 0/10. My friend got yaki soba noodles and it was definitely an unexpected taste. It tasted more so like curry and ginger. It tasted good but it just wasn't really what she expected so it threw her for a loop. But anyway, Hana will always be old faithful

My favorite neighborhood Japanese spot. Consistent, reliable, and fast service. The sushi rolls, gyoza, and the noodle salad are my faves.

We just had a horrible night at Hana, worst food. It is not fresh the tune looks disgusting. The chef and the manager acted horribly, weren't reasonable at all and made us pay full price for the 3 pieces we ate. DO NOT RECOMMEND. Never come here you will get stomach ache. Worst freaking restaurant.

Overrated first several times I'd been. wanted to give it another try. Went there last night - Was seated for over 10 minutes, and the only interaction we had with waitress was when she walked by at about 8 minutes and threw two menus on our table. She didn't say hi, bring waters, ask if we wanted/needed anything, nada. Just kept walking right by our booth several times and greeted people who came in well after us. Disappointing. Not sure why we didn't get the same service as others. And no, they weren't slammed.

Just left this place. It took 10 minutes for anyone to even acknowledge that I was standing there when I walked into the restaurant. The staff kept walking by me and not making eye contact. Whatever, we finally are seated. Then we're eating and I find a ~5inch strip of plastic in my sushi. I almost choked on it and had to pull it out of my mouth. I tell the waitress and the chef comes out. He's immediately rude-- I say "I found this piece of plastic in my food and almost choked on it" and he said "but you didn't" excuse me, what the hell? He continued being dismissive and kept acting confused when I said I didn't want to pay for that one roll. Finally got the roll comped after arguing with him. Took awhile to pay, as the staff ignored us for a good 15 minutes after that happened. Sushi was mediocre as well, will not be returning.

Great food, great service, reasonable prices. One of the first Japanese restaurants in the city that has stood the rest of time for a reason!

Huge portions and well priced...great when your teens love sushi! Staff is always friendly and they do the to-go orders right. It's the only way we get it and never been disappointed!

I had lunch at Hana with my family and it was ok. It wasn't my first trip but it had been a while since my last visit and I thought I'd give them another shot. We arrived when they were a bit slow, and I think we were one of three tables being served. We were greeted and seated, but then our wait was pretty substantial. Our drink and orders were eventually taken and our drinks came soon after. My noodle salad arrived as did everyone's salads and soups. The noodle salad was sweet and creamy, but the noodles were a little tough. It took quite a while for us to receive the rest of our food. I had a snow crab roll and was underwhelmed. The crab salad was a little dry, and there wasn't much of it inside. The rest of my family was feeling the same about their choices. We all left just a little let down.

No your not open on Monday nights! Please update your Yelp... How rude! I just wasted 30.00 in Uber fare!!!!

Unbelievably rude server. She had shoulder length hair and glasses. She pointed us to a table then came up to us, asked me what I wanted to drink I told her a water and when my husband came back to the table from the bathroom never took his drink order. Then walked off and never came back for 15 minutes. I had to let her know we would like to order. Never went over our order with us, just took the paper. Never brought us plates and then when I asked she snapped at me and said "That's next step!" However the only reason I had to ask her is because again she never brought it. She also never brought me the refill I asked for. Never cleared our table. When we asked her for something she acted as though we were rushing her however she left us hanging so we had no choice but to ask for EVERYTHING. Very rude. Been coming here for over 20 years, think I'm done.

I've eaten here a handful of times, and it's nice if you're craving cheap Japanese food. The portions are quite large, and the lunch specials are a particularly good value. The bento lunch is $8-$10, and comes with a salad and miso/clear soup. I've gotten the grilled salmon bento (pictured) and chicken teriyaki, and both were fine. I've also gotten the Hana special lunch ($14), which is a LOT of food (shrimp tempura, chicken katsu, shumai, and sushi/sashimi). Unfortunately, I found the sushi to be subpar (fish isn't fresh and quite bland in taste), but the chicken katsu is pretty good, particularly if you get it fresh in the restaurant. The tempura is ok too, but all you can taste is the batter because it's so thick. TLDR; it's cheap Japanese food that can be split over several meals but don't expect high quality.

I live close by so it's super convenient for order pickup or quick bite to eat with my family. The fish is fresh and my family enjoys the food.

This has to do with the service & hospitality- not the food: I've been coming to Hana for almost 20 years (literally since I was a child) We walked in at 1:45 pm to get lunch- we were told they were CLOSING in 10 min. The sign says they close at 2:30. (And re open at 4:30) I said "can we sit and eat our food or are you closing the doors". They said "you can order but we will lock the doors and you can't sit for 2 hours". At this point we confirmed we wouldn't stay for more than 45 min- we usually finish within that time or less. Then we showed our vaccine cards and id's and he said you should just get takeout. This is super super rude- as much as I love Hana- we were treated like we were invading the space and our business wasn't welcome. Not cool Hana- not cool. For all the years of loyal business to you this makes me sad.

I have been going to Hanna for over a decade and lately it hasn't been the same. It's the little things. The rolls are loose and some cuts of fish can be really inconsistent. We ordered a seaweed salad and when it arrived at the table it was swimming in the liquid it marinated in. When the rolls arrived they were not tight and many fell apart when being picked up. The staff seemed to be really flustered even though the restaurant wasn't very busy at the time. Our waitress has been a member of the staff for as long as I could remember but could not understand my order. My order is always the same and I always call it by the name correctly. The restaurant was very quiet and seemed to lack any sort of atmosphere. It will be some time before going back; if we do.

This place has been here for a while.It was the first place I ate sushi from. I also used to work here for a few months a long time ago. The same mom n son run it. They are Japanese. There was an older Chinese lady with black bouffant hair n glasses who was the manager. Idk if she still there but anyways this place fell off . Hard. The udon broth has little flavor and all the fried shrimp were limp and not crunchy at all. A little cold even. The miso is ok. The smoked salmon bento box was ok. I ordered the freshy roll which I remember liking but they messed up and I got the fresh philly roll. It was also only ok. Make sure that they read back your order when placing it to go. A pretty bland meal but it was only $40 or so which is cheaper than most for sushi but it's not memorable or something I would want to do again. Hope this place gets itself back together because I remember it being tasty. Also, they could clean up a little better. A bit dated and dusty in there.

Favorite sushi in the city! It's my favorite. I love getting the noodles when we go! My kids love them too! All their rolls are so fresh and delicious. The no name roll is my family's favorite roll. We HAVE to get it every time. Recently, we've obviously had to have takeout only, but the food is still delicious even at home! Love me some Hana!

I can't believe I've missed this place for as long as I've lived in New Orleans! A great spot for sushi with great prices and a good vibe. I'm very picky about fish (I can't eat anything that tastes "fishy") but their selection was great for the price! I loved everything I tried. We got the sashimi dinner (on accident), the Hawaiian roll, mango salmon roll, Utah roll, and I another I can't remember. But they were all awesome. Though be warned they are MASSIVE rolls - I seriously can't remember the last time I felt stuffed from sushi, but this place hit the spot. All in all we loved this place and will definitely be ordering again. I'm excited for Covid to be over so I can eat in person because my boyfriend said it looked like a very cute place when he went to pick up.

Has always been a constant date night spot for tasty decent priced sushi. Also the lunch specials are well portioned and on the cheaper side making it worth it. My only complaint nowadays is the booths are old and rickety, you can feel the customers sitting behind you a little too well, they for real need help. And last time the service was slacking. I'm taking a break for a bit from them but hoping to return soon and see if things change for the better. Still worth a shot!

I'd recommend taking the trolley or walking instead of trying to find somewhere to park. It is a cute place though and is near Tulane and Loyola. I do not eat sushi but I got the lunch special that was a chicken teriyaki bento box. I really loved the chicken it wasn't too sweet it had an amazing balance for flavor. Also it came with a little bit of noodle salad which is good. It came with tasty fresh fruit that paired well with the chicken. White rice and a house salad was also included that was good as well. Keep in mind if you order soda you will be paying for refills. The service was really nice.

came for lunch for the first time in a few years and remembered why i avoid this place like the plague. they honestly had the audacity to serve sushi rice that was so over cooked, it had the texture of mashed baby food, and when I pointed it out- the waiter said i must just be picky because no one else had complained. you don't have to be a sushi connoisseur to know immediately that the rice was mushy and vile and the completely incorrect texture for sushi rice. i would be embarrassed as a restaurant to serve my customers something that was so clearly, terribly wrong. exchanged my order for something else (that had no rice) but still got overcharged at the end for a miso soup even though i ordered a lunch special which included it. safe to say i won't be back.

If you're eating raw fish, the bar has to be pretty high, and you usually know what to expect based on the price. Hana has a price point that's similar to a few sushi places in the area that I like. A friend of mine offered to pick up a few rolls from here, so I thought why not. That was a mistake. First, half of the rolls on their menu don't have a description, which is kind of a big deal when most of the rolls have a random name. Then, I ended up being stuck with a couple of rolls with crab, which I don't really like. The ingredients, especially the fish, didn't taste particularly fresh. In fact, the rolls were pretty bland overall ( the spicy tuna and Hawaiian rolls). The ones that had some flavor were pretty gross (the crunchy roll). I don't like dipping my sushi in soy sauce, but I drowned these rolls in sauce just to make them somewhat edible. The only positives were the shumai. They were delicious, which makes me think that Hana's hot food is probably much better than its sushi. Tl;dr: If you want decent sushi, go somewhere else.

Been my go to uptown sushi joint for 30+ years. Nancy, the owner, is amazing. It was the 1st place Chandler had his 1st bite of raw fish when he was just 2 years old. He will be 23 next week. Tonight my sister, Molly, and I dined in in honor of my mom, Oatsy Adams, she passed on 4/25/21..... we have sold her house, my childhood home, so we decided to go back to our OG sushi restaurant. Highly Recommend

One of the most affordable sushi spots! I got take out recently. We got a crunchy roll, a salmon avocado & the Hana roll along with shrimp dumplings. It came with a big thing of yum yum sauce! The shrimp dumplings were only $4 and change- lil things but really delicious. Rolls were decent and large. The order didn't take long when I took into account how busy they were inside. Seems like a popular spot for the college students. Inside is a cute vibe- I've heard there's a complimentary noodle salad & warm handcloths, so I'd like to go back & try dining in one day.

Checked menu and found interesting appetizers and salads I have never seen at other sushi places. The Restaurant is very nice inside and the food tasted great. Lot of unique flavors. Both salads were unique and tasty. Will be going back soon to try more of the menu

THE WORST! Costumer Service. Been to all the restaurants around the corner by far worst restaurant of New Orleans.

Hana sushi is an INSTITUTION in the cityscape of New Orleans restaurants; its been here longer than I (or my parents) can remember. Not sure why it's taken me so long to dine here, but I'm glad I did recently. Not only were we served by a very friendly Japanese lady (maybe the owner?), but some of the food made me very nostalgic for my childhood in Japan. Don't let the decorations or rather drab tablecloths scare you away. Get the katsudon (chicken cutlet with egg over rice). You can never go wrong with that. The miso soup is of good quality. The yakitori is cooked very well too! Our server even brought everyone some complimentary vermicelli salad. The sushi rolls are probably more suited to typical American tastes with lots of mayo and tempura. I had the lobster roll and no name roll, which were good but heavy. Now for the best part - the Japanese lady who served us gifted us (and the other tables around us that day) a beautiful giant origami crane made up of like a thousand paper pieces. What a great way to end a meal!

The food was incredible & the service was prompt and courteous! It's a small, cozy place, and they are always ready to explain, if a guest is not sure about a menu item! We recommend this place, & have been there several times. Great food!!!!!!

My first ever sushi experience was here. This is hands down the best sushi restaurant in New Orleans. I have been coming here since 2007 and have never had a bad sushi experience. It's always fresh, filling, and absolutely delicious. I am a huge fan of their Hana Special Roll and it's my go to order. If I had an unlimited budget, I would eat here every day.

Waited 30 minutes to be acknowledged once we entered restaurant and another 15 to sit. The bar seats are all broken so not sure why they still have them? The sushi was warm and did not look fresh. Waitress was rude. Won't be coming back.

I ordered the lunch special. I was totally disappointed that I spent $10 on this. I was not a fan that you don't have the option to choose your lunch rolls like most places. I was more or less disappointed with the freshness/quality of the sushi. The large pieces of salmon & tuna were dry and stale. I also expected to have real crab meat from a sushi place instead of huge pieces of imitation crab. I do wish I would've known that they binded the fish pieces to the rice using WASABI, I personally hate wasabi and taking a huge bite into it was not fun. The crunchy roll itself was good, but also full of the imitation crab. I like that the lunch special comes with a large quantity of food including the clear soup and a salad, it just unfortunately was not quality.

Hana is one of my go to spots near campus. Parking can be a pain sometimes since it's street parking and I don't want to risk parking in the plaza next to it. The food here is delicious and I love me some complimentary noodle salad. The fish is always fresh and the lunch deals are awesome. The only setback is the service is a bit spotty sometimes. I've gotten the wrong roll on a to go orders before so make sure you confirm everything when you order.

I love good sushi! Checked out this lil place for dinner. It was an early bird dinner so it was fairly empty. Staff seated us quickly and was friendly. They provide a complimentary noodle salad before you receieve your meal. Tasty. I opted for soup and a salmon dish. Prices were pretty spot on for what i ordered. My tempura flakes on my rolls were a bit stale but other than that everything was good. Definitely worth revisiting for lunch or dinner.

My family has been coming here for over 15 yrs , its always fresh and delicious, affordable and above and beyond friendly service. We keep coming it's the best sushi restaurant in New Orleans.

Dropped in "by accident". Everything was EXCELLENT! Tried a variety of soup, spring rolls, mushrooms, shumai, & tempura; all great. Best in City by far! Rick

Food here is always the best. Tai San is really a master at what he does. The rolls were very tasty and the sashimi was super fresh. Definitely try out the raw octopus sushi, the raw scallops, and the yellowtail. The servers were quick and attentive, keeping my drink filled at all times and changed out my dirty plates. Every time I come, I am very satisfied and can't wait to come back. Update: 12/13/18 Another excellent dinner at Hana. The chef prepared for us a special dinner with Uni, scallops, clam soup, and the freshest sashimi I've had this side of Tsukiji Market.

I really like this sushi restaurant. It is very budget friendly and food is good. I've been coming here for years. I didn't like the roll they served only once. Plenty of parking at she shopping center. However, if you are coming here at a prime lunch hour at 12 or 12:30, parking can be challenging. The only drawback is the place is not very well maintained. Tables by the windows are always unstable. Last time I came, dishes we exceptionally dirty. My soy sauce bowl had dry seaweed stuck on the sides. I didn't notice my dirty glass right away bc I had my coke in it and the drink color was covering up the dirty glass. But in general, nice people working there. I will come back again, but always check your dishes.

Hand warmers come with each meal and that is appreciated. The miso soup is good. So are the noodles and seaweed salad and edamame. The rolls are hot or cold depending on the order.

Some of the absolute best sushi in the city. Great ambience, service, and restaurant!

This is one of the best sushi places in uptown new orleans. It was my first time going, and I'll definitely be back. The service was good and it was not pricey at all for the quality and amount of food. I got the hawaiian roll and it was so good and fresh.

Worst food ever!!!!!!!!!! Fish not fresh at all! Rice horrible!! Don't try this place. Honestly one of the worst experience in my sushi life.

I feel really bad writing this because the staff was nice. But this place just has the worst sushi I've ever had. I'm the least picky eater. But I could not eat anything from here. The sushi was strictly imitation crab and Mayo. The Mayo was so pungent. I'm gagging.

They have solid sushi but they close at the weirdest times. It says they close at 8:30 but we went in the other night at 7:45 and we're told we needed to order immediately and felt rushed the entire time.

This place has really gone downhill since 2009, used to be my go to spot in Uptown. I gave this place a few tries this year in hopes that the quality of the food would improve...alas, no improvement. The avocado in the rolls was brown, fish was not fresh (my spicy tuna roll was quite grey and tasteless) and the eel is VERY rubbery. No more chances for you Hana, won't be back. You're better off going to Origami if you're in the uptown area.

Hana is a great sushi restaurant. In the mood for sushi, a friend recommended Hana. While it isn't in the area of town I would normally go for lunch, I had business close by, and I am glad I did. We started with salmon sashimi, edamame and a complimentary noodle salad. The sashimi was excellent. The pieces were thin, very fresh and the perfect size to eat in one bite. While I have only had this type of sashimi once before, this was the best I have had. The edamame was good, but it seems hard to mess up soybeans. The noodle salad was very good. It was also the best I have ever had. For entrees we split a philly roll and a margarita roll. Both were well made, with very fresh ingredients. While the philly was good, the margarita roll was among the top three rolls I have ever had. Service was excellent. Our drinks were never left empty and the server was very attentive. I really liked Hana and hope to visit again soon.