Kaito Sushi

Really loved this place. The fish was very high quality, kind staff, calm atmosphere, and appropriately priced. We ordered the spicy calamari, dynamite roll, spicy tuna roll, sashimi roll, bluefin tuna sushi, snapper sushi, large hot sake, and a large kirin. Total came to $100 including a 20% tip. Everything was amazing but the sashimi roll was a standout! We will definitely be back.

This has been our favorite sushi place since forever. We tried other places but we always come back here! The fish is fresh and delicious. The place always feels cozy and the staff is very nice. Don't miss the appetizers that are great, the Japanese fried chicken is amazing! After that you have a lot of choices, sashimi, rools, special mention to the eels one, my favorite. Dinning in or taking out- don't hesitate you won't regret it.

My new favorite sushi place in North County. A must visit. We called ahead in the morning and left a voice mail for reservations. Received a call back by a very friendly person and they had room for us at the sushi bar. If you go here sit at the sushi bar and make sure you call ahead they were busy. We absolutely loved the environment, staff, service, and of course the fresh sushi. We ordered omakase (sushi chef's choice) and everything, I mean everything was amazing!! Go here you will not be disappointed. Pro tip, they do run out of sushi (goes to show how busy they are) so for the most variety you may want to go earlier rather than later.

We sat at the sushi bar, and ended up sitting in front of the head sushi chef & owner of the restaurant. She was fabulous! The sushi was phenomenal and fresh, so much flavor. We ordered the blue fin tuna sushi, sashimi roll, edamame, miso soup, along with 2 additional rolls, total with tip was $100, very reasonable for the quality of the fish, no doubt!

Pretty nice neighborhood sushi restaurant located in Encinitas. The foods here are pretty delicious. My favorite one is their Wahoo fish - nigiri and sashimi, which I don’t see it often in other places. The other items are nice too, sushi roll, beef tongue, tempura, all good. The wine here is so so, it’s pretty cheap too. Hot sake is decent. The only thing is when we got there tonight, they are packed and only have two waiters serving. So it was super slow, we waited 1 hour for appetizers to come. But their food is too good, so I still give a 5 star.

Amazing Sushi, but the staff will make you're dining experience worthwhile. If there's a seat at the bar, then I would highly suggest taking it for the full dining experience. They don't have a cocktail menu, so either you're pairing your meal with sake, beer and or wine. As for the sake we went with the bottle of junmai (cold sake) and chased it with Asahi Black. For the appetizers we went with the chicken (tatsutaage) which was cooked to perfection. Also, the mixed shrimp and vegetable tempura which was also delicious and very generous on the portion size. As for the nigiri, which stole the show for me, I would highly reccommend the ONO (wahoo) which is not found often on many menus, kanpachi (amberjack), unagi (freshwater eel), Hamachi (yellowtail) and Uni (they mainly get from Santa Barbara). I rarely come to north county, but I'll be coming more often now that I've discovered this wonderful establishment.

Loved the fresh scallops! And uni. Good service. No yellowtail or albacore which is a little disappointing but the rest of the fish is fresh. Different kind of dynamite roll and wasn’t my favorite.

We really wanted to like this place, since our son's name is Kaito and he was really excited to try this place for his 7th birthday. Even though we mentioned it was his birthday and his name was Kaito, they didn't show any interest and the service was very very slow, even though the restaurant was not busy at the time. Our food took a long time to be delivered. Other people's food who came after us was coming out before ours- I think they are regulars since I saw the staff visiting them often and talking to them. The server AND the other staff including the chef were all very unfriendly and didn't want to answer questions we had. We felt neglected and forgotten. Even if the food was good, this bad service made us not wanting to go back here again. What a waste of time and money. It ruined my son's special day.

One of the best experiences I've ever had. And the most entertaining dinner I'ever had - all thanks to the chef! I called to make a last minute reservation which they happily accommodated. Upon my arrival, they took me and my friend to our seats at the sushi bar where we were served by one of the chefs himself. I unfortunately did not get his name but he was so sweet and funny. We decided to play Dealer's Choice tonight, letting the chef pick our choice of sushi. He gauged my preferences, making sure nothing too out of my comfort zone. He then recommended an array of fish that I had not tried before. Oh boy, they were amazing. My personal favorites were Toro, Mackerel, and Golden Snapper. It's a small restaurant so if you can make a reservation, please do so. Otherwise they are pretty accommodating. It's definitely a family-owned business so please be patient with the chefs and waitstaff. You don't rush artist for a reason!

As good as it looks, I found the experience and the food not up to expectations. When they say there is avocado in a roll, it's a teensy thin sliver of avocado. Who does that these days? Too much wasabi in the nigiri. Even the sashimi roll was so-so because of the mix they put in. There doesn't seem to be much understanding of food combinations and a combined taste/food experience at this place. The service was very nice, but unfortunately it took them so long to get the rest of our food out (almost an hour after we ordered) we canceled 2 dishes and left. This place has potential but didn't hit the mark.

My go-to sushi spot in Encinitas ticks all the boxes, from the service to the food. It's a small spot but has a lot of charm. Ryan, the owner, consistently makes our visits special by going above and beyond.

This was our second visit to Kaito. The service was poor and slow despite us being there before the restaurant got busy. We ordered several different types of sushi, cut rolls, and hand rolls, along with the beef tongue appetizer and salmon collar. Our first experience was good enough to bring us back a second time, which let us down terribly. The nigiri did not seem fresh and service was very slow, in particular, the soft shell crab handroll. The crab was cold and soggy, and the hand roll was overstuffed with tamago, which also seemed quite old.

I ordered two appetizers and literally got nothing. Zero stars. How can they be so busy that I don't even receive my food?!?

We love this place! Excellent food, fresh sushi, great service and entertaining sushi chef!!

Legit sushi restaurant! Glad we found it. Staff is all Japanese and chef is considered a Sushi King by Eater

Ambiance & service was 5/5. Very authentic Japanese restaurant in North County. Saw some reviews before saying service was slow, however, my husband and I were sitting the sushi bar and we would get our order within less than 5 minutes of placing it, so definitely no concerns there. Sushi would be a 4.7/5 in my opinion. Still really good, not necessarily the best we've had, but definitely the best we've tried up in North County! We tried the caterpillar roll, rainbow roll, toro nigiri, tuna nigiri, salmon nigiri, and scallop nigiri. My favorites were the rainbow roll and toro nigiri! But overall, the fish was soft and buttery. Would come again!

It is abundantly clear that the owner of this restaurant, Ryan, who was also our server has no interest in welcoming new guests to Kaito. Our table observed him serve other guests throughout the night with various hugs while he paid ample attention to them. The treatment we received while being served by him was embarrassing at best. He offered no introduction, no welcome in, not even a 'hello' before he demanded our order. He proceeded to carry himself with a pious attitude, abrasive tone, condescending glares and snappy responses to questions. If his objective was to ensure we would not return to nor recommend this place then he certainly achieved that. This restaurant is not welcoming to new, first time visitors. If you are considering coming here and do not personally know the owner -- forget it! Because you'll surely be forgotten about and looked over if he is the one to serve you. Save your money and go anywhere else.

Loved this sushi restaurant! I believe it's owned by a couple: the wife is the sushi chef and the husband, Ryan, helps run it? Anyway, Ryan was soooo helpful and patient in making a reservation for me...which I changed a few times -_- but he was always so nice when calling me back. 5 stars for service alone! Now onto the important stuff...the food! We sat at the sushi bar and ordered the amberjack sashimi plate, a cali roll, spider roll and a bunch of sushi: toro, halibut, uni, scallop, unagi and kinmedai. All of it was really fresh and really good. If I'm ever in Carlsbad again, will definitely eat here again.

We came here last year for our son's birthday. He loves sushi and his name is Kaito, so he was SO excited to try this place. They didn't seem to be interested in us at all, even though we mentioned about his birthday and his name. The service was very slow and other people's food was coming out before ours. We felt neglected and forgotten the entire time we were there which made us very uncomfortable. All the staff including the chef were very unfriendly and didn't seem to be wanting to answer our questions we had. The server never came back other than the time he took our orders and delivered food. Not even refilled our water. Even if the food was good, this was enough to make us not wanting to go back ever again. This place ruined my son's birthday.

Great food and great service. It's a popular spot with the lots of regulars that come on. Always a good sign when you see repeat guests come in. Love the layout and design of the restaurant.

It was fine. Nothing outstanding and nothing awful. Just a typical, strip mall sushi place. Typical for the area.

By far the best Sushi in North County, and one of the best Sushi restaurants in San Diego. Service is awesome and the sushi chefs are amazing. Food is consistently amazing. I don't understand some of the negative reviews. I am very much a sushi snob. I have been coming here for years and service has always been great and the sushi has always been fresh. I have never had bad suchi here. If you want the real sushi prepared by real Japanese chefs, then this is the place. If you want cheap, low quality and quick sushi, prepared by non Japanese "chefs" then this is not the place.

A bit overrated all around as my family and I had far better, but my eldest wanted to come here, so we made reservations. Venue: extremely small inside with what I call former pandemic seating outdoors, which in my opinion should be axed as smelling vehicle exhaust, while eating, is beyond unpleasant. Wait time: we had reservations, but the service was awful. My husband had to ask 3 times about our youngest daughter's order that had never arrived unlike the rest of our food. My youngest daughter had to wait almost 30 min for 1 order of rolls while people who came after us were getting their full orders. Service: Caucasian staff member was rude in his tone when my husband asked for the 3rd time when our child would receive her order as we did not want to eat without her. We never got checkout and never offered more than our first order of water. Completely forgotten in my opinion. Food: Meh, nothing to scream about or recommend to anyone. Forever a one and done! Told my family we probably would have had a far better experience at the Pho place next door or going to our favorite sushi spots. Because of the overall experience, no generous percentage of tip was given.

Best sushi in north county. Everything is fresh and so delicious. Servers were awesome and provided great recommendations too. Love this place!

My husband and I ate at Kaito at minimum every Friday night for years until sadly he passed away. Kaito is far and away the very best omakase experience in San Diego and in the top five sushi places of SOCAL. Morita-san is so talented, humble, and accommodating and he only selects the highest possible quality of fish available to serve. I couldn't recommend this restaurant highly enough. I enjoyed every minute of my dining experiences and looked forward to every dinner we enjoyed there. It's an unlikely location but don't let it fool you. It's easily one of the best restaurants you'll ever enjoy. No doubt.

As it was our first time here, we had to look very carefully for the sign, and almost thought the restaurant had closed, as the sign was not lit and it is a very narrow space. If you can find the pho restaurant and/or Massage Heights, it is in between, on the same row as Elizabethan Desserts. Everything was great once we found the door. We received a very warm welcome and offered seats at the sushi bar. Once seated, the sushi chef with a long white beard greeted us, and the host brought us menus. We decided to share a hot sake, a few rolls, and some individual pieces that caught our eyes. What stood out to us was how fresh the fish was overall, and that the tempura shrimp roll was still warm on the inside; we saw the tempura shrimp being given to the sushi chef, as soon as it was cooked. The restaurant being fairly small lends itself to personal and custom service. The pickled ginger was fresh and strong, not fake pink, and the kama was bigger than expected, too. Pieces of fish were generously cut, including the eel that my husband ordered which flowed off the rice on both sides. While we were there a large party of 9 starting coming in for their reservation, and each person as they arrived were accommodated very quickly, too, with dishes being brought out as they ordered more when the group grew. I really enjoyed the family feeling of this place and attention to service and quality. I look forward to this being our go-to local sushi bar from now on.

I just went there tonight on a date with the love of my life, and this is a delicious sushi place. The DFL is just fantastically flavorful and yummy. This is such a treat, I'm so glad I came. We also had the rainbow roll which, just by look was so pretty and looked so refined but the taste was also amazingly scrumptious. I got scolded by my wife to make this review as she was looking at me and laughing at my urge to review.

Food (5/5 stars): Good quality sushi! I recommend the Red Tide Experience (5/5 stars): * Price: a tad pricey * Wait Time: minimal on a weeknight * Service: very good and friendly * Parking: there's a parking lot * Ambiance: it's a nice restaurant with indoor seating

Wow! Two thumbs up! Delicious! Authentic style nigiri & sashimi! Service is quick & friendly! They killed it!!

love this place. eating in is superior to takeout of course, but it's great either way. we come here every time we're in town, without fail!

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. My family and I went to dinner with some neighbors tonight. The saki was good, the food was good as well. However, I will never go back. My 1 1/2 year old daughter starting crying during dinner. I quickly picked her up, tried to sooth her. She cried again as I put her back in the booth. Within minutes, the owner of the restaurant walked over and asked us to leave because my child was crying. HE ASKED US TO LEAVE. I have never felt more belittled, insulted, and hurt as a mother. The audacity of the owner, is absolutely beyond me. I would highly suggest that anyone with children - or a soul - find another establishment for sushi.

0 stars! Kaito has completely gone downhill. It used to be one of our favorites in North County but service and quality are absolutely poor ( not even below average). The scariest thing was we found scale and bone in our sushi. We felt disgusted after going there and being treated like trash by the male server.

Pretty nice neighborhood sushi restaurant located in Encinitas. The foods here are pretty delicious. My favorite one is their Wahoo fish - nigiri and sashimi, which I don't see it often in other places. The other items are nice too, sushi roll, beef tongue, tempura, all good. The wine here is so so, it's pretty cheap too. Hot sake is decent. The only thing is when we got there tonight, they are packed and only have two waiters serving. So it was super slow, we waited 1 hour for appetizers to come. But their food is too good, so I still give a 5 star.

So yummy so fresh so authentic. Great service and easy parking. Tight for big parties but great for families.

Came in for a double date with our friends. I had made a reservation 3 days prior but when we arrived, my name wasn't on the list. The lady I checked in with went in to double check on something and came out to set up the open table for four by the window. We ordered... Several bottles of Sapporo Gyoza Miso Soup with mushrooms Tuna belly sashimi Salmon sashimi Sea Urchin sushi Tempura crunch roll Crunchy roll The soup was delicious with those little mushrooms. All the rolls and sashimi were fresh and delicious. The service was quick and attentive. We were helped by the lady and gentleman that worked on all the tables outside. The only reason I'm giving this a 4 star rather than five is because I ordered tuna belly and was charged for tuna belly but what we got was the regular tuna sashimi. My husband had eaten most of it before I realized that it wasn't what I had ordered. Because of that and they were super busy, I didn't bring it up with our waitress.

Always fresh fish and best sushi in town! Super cute little place. All the sushi chefs are great there!

I honestly don't understand the positive reviews!! I ordered a few pieces of nigiri, cali roll, spicy tuna roll and a so called "dynamite roll". All of it was bad and we're not talking Michael Jackson bad. The nigiri is not fresh tasting and super small pieces. The Cali roll has one long piece of solid surimi that was taken right out of the package and not chopped. Spicy tuna had Tabasco sauce and a piece of carrot in it (I kid you not). And the dynamite roll was like a gigantic deep fried california roll with some type of ground, rubbery meat inside (ground cooked tuna or ground eel?). Whatever it was, the frankenstein creation was not good. Overall, the sushi quality and taste was like nothing in the reviews. This place was listed as a top 15 sushi place in SD - I bet to differ. I went to Kaito for the first time last year, but thought I'd give them another try after two of my favorite sushi restaurants had closed due to the pandemic, and since there are somehow 550 plus reviews averaging 4.5 stars ... just to make sure I wasn't having CO2 mask hallucinations at that time. Nope, one year later and just as bad. If you don't believe me, go up the street to Vons and pick up a Cali roll and salmon or tuna nigiri sushi and compare -- Vons sushi is far better which is sad.

Staff and food are absolutely excellent. Attentive, willing to make substitutions, communicative about what's good daily. We are now regulars here.

Great local sushi place. I've been here a couple of times and am consistently impressed by the quality of the fish and sushi, and for super reasonable prices. The food is fresh and well prepared, and they have a ton of options for everyone! I love their combination plates and omakase options, which allow you to try a variety of fish. Their rolls are great as well. I love eel and their caterpillar roll is great. Their soft shell crab roll is amazing and has a cucumber wrapper. For appetizers, my favorite is the agedashi tofu - lightly fried and in a delicious broth. A must try in Encinitas and my favorite spot!

A great place for some good sushi, though a little over priced for the quality they are offering. Still, around Carlsbad this is one of the better places to go and I definitely recommend for a once in a while type meal.

Came here after reading good reviews. Outside tent is convenient and provided comfort during this pandemic. The tent area can serve food from both Kaito Sushi and Pho-ever, which is very nice. We may come to a day that they didn't have many choices, out of orders on many of my choices. 4 stars for future improvement on menu offerings.

Food is fresh and good quality. Service is friendly and timely. Ambience is simple and nice and the sound is not loud. I highly recommend for local north county sushi.

If you know me, I'm not a fan of raw fish and I'll only eat rolls with an exception to poke once in a while. Why? I'm not familiar with what to order but if the person I'm dining with, wants to introduce me then I'm all in. This would be one of those times, where my friend insisted this place was authentic and her favorite because the fish is shipped from Japan daily and it's women owned whom also works behind the counter. I had amberjack for the first time and I just can't believe it! I think I'm hooked! I got shrimp tempura roll and the udon which is a must have, the broth was light and the udon is super fresh. If only I knew more about fish, I wouldn't mind coming back to be adventurous to try other items.

LEGIT AUTHENTIC JAPANESE SUSHI We have a timeshare on the beach but we make the 20 minute drive to get sushi here at Kaito because it's THE BEST sushi in the area. And trust me we live next to Little Tokyo in LA and eat good sushi all the time so we know wassup Amberjack citrus sashimi w/ the black masago eggs and chopped jalapeño was a great starter dish. O-toro and maguro (fatty tuna blue fin tuna), halibut w/ yuzu (citrus), scallop w/ yuzu, buttery uni everything was FRESH and OISHI! Tempura Mixed veggie and shrimp was good too. Not too thick batter is crispy get this! Sake - kubata manju- is pricey at $120 but if you love sake get this it's sweet and perfect with the sushi. Arigato thank you! We will see you next year on our next vacation. Covi

It's my seven-year anniversary of going to Kaito Sushi and what better way to celebrate than to write a review for my friends? Kaito is authentic Japanese sushi- that's the key takeaway for anyone reading this review. If you want a cream cheese and imitation crab roll, I implore you to go elsewhere. If you'd like fresh fish, beautiful rice, and new sea friends to discover, this is your place. You'll be greeted by Ryan at the door- always smiling, always shaking hands and giving out hugs. I encourage you to sit at the bar with Kaz (spelling?)- he is personable, will remember you, and will tempt your palette with new flavors.

Our favorite local sushi restaurant. It is a small restaurant with a friendly service. The food is consistently good, and the prices are reasonable.

Awful service. We got there and were told a wait time of 20 min for table. I asked to sit at the bar which were mostly open and was told the house rule does not allow it. The food may be ok but the service is awful.

Still probably the best sushi in San Diego. I love their toro and salmon sashimi. The toro in particular is so fresh, flavorful, fatty and tender. It's spectacular. Miso soup is warm and cozy and perfect with flavor as usual. So simple but they do it right. Certainly best miso soup I can think of. Also really enjoy the DFR and Rainbow rolls. Protocols during COVID are great. Lots of outdoor seating spaced far apart. Felt really safe and clean, and service was good as usual. Easy to get a restaurant last minute on a Saturday.

I was really excited to try this place out. I got to the pho place all the time. Met a friend for dinner and drinks after work on a Friday night. From the time I sat down, to the time they closed, I felt attitude from the server and I felt rushed the entire time I was there. After sitting down, the server came to get our order. Of course, we were talking entirely too much to review the menu. I hurried and ordered some wine, then wanted to look at the menu before ordering food. She came back around, and we ordered some food. I ordered some sashimi, and he ordered some appetizers and sushi. The food is really good. We sat and talked, and I felt after we got our food, I had to chase the server down for more wine before we noticed we were the last people there. I did not realize they closed so early. I would have appreciated it more if they could have politely reminded me of when they closed, instead of feeling rushed and given attitude the entire time I was there. Moral of story. Good food. Bad service.

I really like the atmosphere here. Decor, music, noise level are all great. You can have a conversation here but there is still a good energy here. Service was friendly. Was able to be seated here right away on a Friday night. Menu is just ok. I love specialty rolls, but it was hard to find one that didn't have tempura or spicy fish in it. I went with Caterpillar, which was delicious, but not inventive or exciting. Nick had the rainbow roll, which tasted fresh but didn't have any complex flavor. Easy parking.

I was so disappointed tonight. Hubby and I have been coming here for years but this will be the last time. My salmon sashimi was so tough and fibrous I could have used a knife to cut it. Uni didn't taste fresh. Hubby's pork tonkatsu was tough as well. Service was quite dour. No one smiled or said thank you. Very sad place living off past good ratings. Why would I want to eat in this restaurant if the staff doesn't even seem to want to be there?

Food is fresh and tasty but the venue has a long wait due to its size ,nice ambience and good service

Traditional Japanese sushi are not easy to find these days. This is a gem in North County. Quality you can taste with each bite. It's an intimate space but they were able to accommodate my party of 10 with plenty of safe space around us. Hope to visit the place every time we are in town from Chicago!

Tried this place based on something we saw on Eater. Was hoping this was going to be a great experience but it was far from it. We ordered a sushi combination plate, some pickles, some tempura and a roll. The combination plate had a spicy tuna roll and on my first bite into the roll, I discovered a STAPLE. I got the attention of the sushi chef and showed her, but she gave us another piece of tuna. I don't really know what to say beyond that.

Delicious and super fresh sushi- came here with my husband and 4 year old daughter and she even gave the sushi double thumbs up! We didn't order any special rolls but kept it traditional simple which let the quality of the fish shine through. Sat at a nice table outside with lovely ambiance with some nice music and lights. Highly recommend and looking forward to coming back again!

Very disappointed to see how this place has gone downhill. The male owner that greats you is always in a bad mood & definitely not appreciative of your business. The rolls have shrunk, service is slow, order was wrong & they overcharged us in the bill, which we caught & had to then deal with getting that. I won't be going back or recommending this spot anymore.

Had pass , won't be coming back. Sushi was the worst I've ever had. They won't go out of the way to accomidate any requests. The seaweed salad was decent. The rolls were very bland and when my other party asked for some sauce they gave her what appeared to be taco sauce. Jeeze if I wanted rolled tacos I would have went to Alberto's. It was like mexian sushi or something. So we then tried a fried roll and that tasted like a flauta. I was like WTF . she wanted siracha mayo and they said they don't have mayo and handed her siracha? Guess if your a regular you may get special treatment but as outsiders looks like they want to keep you out.ohh well now I know where not to go.

Great place with some of the best sushi in north county. The "sushi salsa" they serve alongside each dish is AMAZING. It would be great if California changed their liquor laws, so places like Kaito could serve cocktails. They have beer, wine and sake.