Minato Japanese Restaurant

I’ve been there twice. I love the food, and it’s so fresh. And the boss is so so nice. I had great experience dining there, and I feel like having meals at my home. I’ll definitely come back again!!

10/10 sushi and 20/10 service! servers were so friendly, i loved hearing the retro Japanese rock and admiring the mid-century modern aesthetic while waiting for my order. most importantly, however: this was by far the best sushi I’ve found in Georgia! definitely will be coming back! (PS: thank you for introducing me to this banger song: Namida no Kiss by Southern All Stars ♡)

Portions were good. Prices reasonable. Sushi was great. Big slices of fish. Really liked the yaki udon for the kids as well. We will be going back often. We went during the lunch rush and would like to try dinner also. We were seated at a little table in an alcove and it was cozy and nice atmosphere. Kids liked the fish tank and the bridge inside.

Very “rough” lunch today - some of the least appealing “Japanese”food I have ever had? And at fully $21.50 for the combination lunch, this is hard to believe. And I know my Japanese food - 4 years in Kyoto. I have no idea what this apparently fried vegetable depicted below is - I could not eat it! Japanese university cafeterias serve better food than this, and even Costco frozen tempura is better…

Delicious fresh sushi always at this hidden gem in Smyrna. Cozy interior & warm service. The salmon sashimi & all the rolls were fantastic. Try the Smyrna roll 👍👍 it’s not on the menu.

Been hear twice already this year. My husband and I 1st came here almost 10 yrs ago. It was our favorite spot to come on special occasions. Now we can come on regular basis and the food is still amazing. Fresh sushi, they actually fried the tempura fresh right before they roll into sushi. Once you try it, you will not go to other sushi places because you now know what fresh taste like. The price is very reasonable. Super busy on the weekends. Weekdays might be less wait.

Long story short: waited 40 minutes for sushi so lackluster that I felt it was a crime against the fish who died to be in the rolls. Genuinely curious about the generous cuts of fish I saw in others' experiences as all our rolls were small (think the size of a big toe for reference...) I normally choose to not write a review if I have a poor first-time experience at a family restaurant and opt to visit again, but this visit was so disastrous that I cannot stomach the thought of round two. Service: First dish (ton-katsu) came out after ~30 minutes after ordering. Rolls came out 45 minutes after order. The restaurant was not packed. We were notified ONCE by our server while she hastily dropped off the ton-katsu saying "your sushi is late but you know all of it is." Food: - Ton-katsu (3/5): The sides (potatoes, miso, and salad) were fine. The meat was intriguing. It was impossible to eat without it falling apart as there were evidently two different mystery cuts of meat (one dark, one white) packed together. The texture of the dark meat resembled that of stale hamburger patty and the white meat was probably pork tenderloin? Regardless, it was fried nicely, but was incredibly dry and overall meh (especially for the price). -Georgia Roll (1.5/5): I love wasabi and spice in general, but this was not it. The wasabi mayo had way too much wasabi and it was inconsistently distributed throughout the roll. Almost inedible. The roll itself was not packed tightly and started falling apart before I started even eating it. -Dynamatic Roll (2/5): Overall, it was fine as there were no glaring errors that pushed it to the inedible front. The amount of eel inside was negligible and there were pieces that didn't even have any towards one end. Roll was also packed poorly and fell apart before we touched it. -Fried Scallop Roll (1/5): Wayyy too much eel sauce inside the roll. All I could taste was overly sweet teriyaki. 2 of the 8 of the pieces didn't even have a single scallop-- only tempura bits! Despite being fried, the scallops were cold inside, which was an odd experience. All I could taste was eel sauce and raw onion.

Real taste of Japan right here! Fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented every bite was perfection 🍣

I was a little worried when I got here since the place is in a basement- however, the inside is nice enough though dated. Service was a little slow but they made it work. Main reason for the 5 star review is the delicious sushi- I had the sushi and teriyaki combo. The teriyaki was just OK, but the sushi had large pieces and the fish tasted very fresh. At the end of the day, I came for the sushi and I think they deserve a good rating there.

Had higher expectations. The place is a bit unique, owners tried to give it a typical Japanese vibe, but it feels a bit old and run down. The sashimi is cut thick, much too thick. To the point I had several pieces I had to cut. Both presentation and quality were average. Nothing really stood out.

Next time I'll ask for light rice. Very nice place, service was great :) Very tasty meal.

I was really excited to try this place as I've seen them on a few lists. It's 25 mins from me so I finally convinced myself to make the drive only to be utterly disappointed. I came in by myself on a Saturday night. I was told the sushi bar was closed but they seated me at a table within a couple minutes. They brought me water and gave me the basic menu and didn't come back for 30 minutes. A waitress finally came by and I asked if they have a sushi menu. She brought the menu and never came back. I waited another 5-10 mins and finally left. The table across from me didn't even eat their dinner and told their waiter "it wasn't fresh" to which he replied "maybe next time it will be". Needless to say I will not be going back.

Amazing sushi!!! This is one of our favorite spots. I'm not a big fan of sushi but I do love the options here

Over 40 years historic traditional Japanese restaurant vibe with cute decorations and photos by entrance. Very popular local Japanese restaurant for lunch and dinner. Strongly recommend the bar for dining alone or small group. Fast and experience services and very delicious food. Pretty thick portion sashimi and chirashi sushi.

Food is amazing my grandparents have been going for the past 35 years, yes 35. Service is so fast. Restaurant is a bit small but it is nice as the food come out so quickly

Disappointed/Embarrassed Came here to celebrate wedding with 20 guests- made reservation -Didn't seat us until every member arrived -Never refilled water; I had to find the waitress -Didn't provide plates/forks for cake; I had to find the waitress -I visited the waitress more times than she visited our table -Food came out late (2+ hours) and in phases. I was almost done with my meal before the others arrived -Contemplated leaving 1.5 hours into sitting down because service was terrible -Seemed like they were severely understaffed -Sushi was subpar; I've had better at Sam's, Giant, etc. Overall terrible experience. I would never come here with a group of people, let alone an important event. I saw 4.5 stars and felt comfortable choosing this place. It's unfortunate that my worst dining experience involved my loved ones and a hefty bill. Some of them haven't had sushi before and I ruined their experience by choosing this place. Let me think of something positive to say...their chairs were sturdy.

Absolutely LOVE this place! They have the best sushi. Service is wonderful as well. This is such a hidden gem, I am lucky to have stumbled upon it! Be sure to check their hours, they are kinda funky. They can get busy, but if there is a wait I promise you it is worth it!! The bar is always fun to sit at as well! The ambience is casual and intimate

The service, food and atmosphere were top notch. I'll be back the next time I'm in Atlanta

The sushi is sooooo GOOD! Best fresh fish I have had in Georgia!! I grew up eating sushi in Hawai'i and I was scared to try another sushi restaurant in Georgia but this was great!! Love this hole in the wall restaurant, family owned and operated. Knocking down a star only because it took 1 whole hour to get our food (we only ordered what is shown in the picture). We understand that it's family operated and their staff is limited, so we suggest going in as soon as they open or else you'll get stuck waiting to be seated or waiting super long for your food (take into account we went in for dinner on a Friday). Teriyaki chicken was okay, we were not the biggest fan of the dish. Our opinion, it was not worth the price for the quality and portion. But will definitely be coming back when I get a sushi crave!!

Arrived at 6:20. Still waiting for food at 8:27... people who arrived after us are receiving their food. A neighboring table who had already eaten ordered addition sushi which arrived and we havnt seen a single thing. They prioritize take out and reservations over regular walk in customers. Maybe the sushi is heavenly but you have to wade through a hell of a wait time to get there.

We were craving for sushi and decided to try this well-established restaurant that has been around for 30+ years. It was a very cute place tucked behind a shopping plaza. For appetizers we got the shrimp teriyaki and the Kara-Age chicken, which was the perfect starter while we waited for our entrees. For entrees we got the salmon sashimi, spicy tuna roll, caterpillar roll and the sukiyaki dinner. The sukiyaki dinner came with salad, miso soup and a bowl of rice. The salmon sashimi was extremely fresh and melted in my mouth. The servings were very generous and we did not leave hungry. The owner/staff were very nice and treated us like family.

This was my 2nd time at Minato and I'm pleased both times. They are accommodating and gave great suggestions. I gave them 5 stars because of the following: 1. location: close to where I live so awesome there. 2. Price: rolls are roughly $12-16 per specialty roll, but the portions are larger than other restaurants 3. Service: they are always phenomenal. 4. Setting: I love the authentic Japanese decor with the wooden bridge and pond in the middle of the restaurant. Overall, I will definitely be back.

So fresh and good. Very authentic, very fresh, and a hidden gem. Looks like a house from the outside and is so cute inside

Called before, they said they do not take reservations and then when entering at 630, had two parties enter and sit with reservations. They do not have a hostess that will take your name down, very uncoordinated and slow. Make sure to block out your entire night in order to sit.

Delicious sushi! We tried 4 different rolls and LOVED the Super Crunch Roll the best. Would definitely come back even if just for that. The Spicy Tuna Roll was weird tasting, though. They only had one waitress working but she was prompt and doing her best. This was a fun experience though and would visit again

I don't know if we just caught them on a bad night or what, but I don't think we'll come back. It was just ok and just the two of us were there for 2.5 hours. When we were there it was just the couple that owns the place running around as the only two servers and front of house. The pros: - Owners seem friendly and it looked like they knew a lot of folks there - Decently priced for sushi I guess? The cons: - The wait. Dear God, the wait. We walked in around 5:40 and left around 8. It was just two of us and we ordered 2 rolls and a sashimi plate - The food was just fine. The sashimi didn't taste very fresh and the rolls were pretty standard. - Maybe it was just my perception after waiting for an hour and a half for food to start showing up, but the owner definitely served people he knew before us even though they sat down at least a half hour later than us. We saw multiple people around us take their food to go or give up on food they ordered just so they could leave. I'm not willing to take the risk on another 2+ hour meal for some OK sushi. If they hire some servers and get more organized maybe we'll try again.

The best sushi in Atlanta by far. Kevin and Pat show you love on a plate or bowl. Please dont take my bar seat!!!!!

Right when you walk in, you know you're in a good, authentic, quality sushi restaurant. The seating here is great, my friend and I sat in a little booth/box which was walled off, making it a great, almost private dining environment. We got the Chirashi & Tekka-Don bowls, which each came with a soup and salad. This place is definitely on the pricier side - Chirashi was $36 and the Tekka Don was in that range as well. Growing up with my dad as a sushi chef, I'm very particular about where I choose to consume raw fish. I can say that I felt all the sushi was fresh & I wasn't worried about the raw fish. I love trying new things, & I do love some good sushi, however towards the end of my bowl I was definitely wishing I could've picked my fish as I didn't love anything and felt bad wasting. Overall - this is a great place to check out for some authentic & fresh sushi, however be prepared to pay a pretty penny!

Absolutely the best sushi we've had in a long time. It was our first visit, and we were so so impressed. We'll be back!

The chirashi don here cannot be beat and worth every dollar. They give a generous serving for their chirashi don - you won't walk out feeling hungry after. And the fish they use here is super fresh!

I sat at the bar this time but when I'm with other people we sit at a table - fish is the best maybe I've ever had -- tuna - yellowtail - salmon - all amazing !!! Big pieces - everything here is so good - I go back every time I'm in town which seems to be more often lately !!! Definitely a don't miss if you love sushi - it's off the beaten path and not fancy but the food is a 10

This was a fun experience. Since we were eating out on a Saturday night, we figured the best course of action was to get there early since it didn't appear that you could make reservations (I could be wrong). We arrived around 6, and thank goodness we did. The line just continued to grow behind us, though we were seated within 10-15 minutes for our party of two. This is clearly a family-run business, and they do an amazing job. They are hustling to get everyone seated, get your food to you, make sure you have anything you need, etc. It looked like they were definitely dealing with a staffing shortage, but they still provided great service. We saw on Yelp that people recommended the "cowboy hat" as an appetizer. It comes as a portion of one, so you'll want to order one per person - it's a shrimp chip topped with crab salad and a fried scallop. AMAZING. We also got several rolls, and the waitress' recommendation of green onion and yellowtail definitely surprised us - so fresh and the perfect amount of savory. The atmosphere here is so fun with a fake waterfall, a stone wall, and the little sunken courtyard area we sat in. The front entrance is decorated with years worth of Christmas cards from their loyal customers. I can understand completely why this is a neighborhood favorite, and how it's lasted for decades. We'd definitely come back - maybe on a week night when it's not so busy!

We went to this restaurant on Saturday, hoping to get our Sushi fix. There was a strange odor as we walked in the door. We over looked that and hoped it was not due to bad food. There seemed to be only 2 wait staff for a restaurant 3/4 full. Tables were waiting a good while for their food and so were we. When the hot food came out it was hot and good. The Sushi on the other hand, was not made as nicely as expected. The wasabi was not as pungent as I normally like it to be, I felt like it may have been old. Upon paying for our meal, they changed the wrong person for our meal. They need to have more staff. The wait staff were doing all jobs ie, serving, busing, cashier. I don't think I would return.

Best sushi in atlanta. Creative and traditional sushi options. A must visit. Close to the battery

It was just ok. The restaurant is definitely hidden in the back of the building but the service was very slow. The food was slow to come out and the waiter would talk to us as he's walking to his next table. If you're going to spend this kind of money on sushi, I'd recommend other places in the area.

This is the best sushi in Atlanta. I've been to the best spots for high end sushi, and this knocks the socks off those guys. The owner's are the servers, and they treat us like family. The sushi bar is a communal space where you can strike up conversation with strangers, it feels so unpretentious, it feels intimate, and you can watch the masters prepare beautiful sushi plates for hours. THE PORTIONS ARE HUGE compared to any other sushi restaurant I've been to. I'd recommend the sashimi special and let the chefs choose your proteins. You will not be disappointed. This place feels like family. I won't go anywhere else for sushi anymore. 10/10.

Owners are personable and the quality and cut of the sushi is spectacular! A real hidden gem.

This has been a great time for me for over 20 years. Absolutely outstanding. Great staff.

Love the Sashimi Lunch! Great selection of fish and the best Miso soup ever! The service is great as well. It's our favorite family meeting place for lunch. We always seem to end up at the same booth!

Great food and good service! Nice quaint location! Sushi bar allows you to watch your sushi being made.

Talk about hidden gem. Minato is THE place to go for sushi, especially if you want good sushi without the stress of having to go out and dress up. Let's be honest. When I first went to Minato, I was questioning where my boyfriend had taken me. It's downhill, behind a QT gas station and next to a store called Golf. You walk in, and you kind of feel like you've gone underground. But then you see people and signs of life. And then it's not so bad. I can't emphasize enough how great the service is. As soon as you walk in, it's almost like you're walking into grandma's house for dinner. They make you feel so comfortable, and here, you really get to just enjoy the food without caring about anything else. I would highly recommend sitting at the sushi bar and just letting the sushi chefs feed you. The food is so fresh and the prices are also very reasonable. I would highly recommend the sashimi sampler and chirashi. You get so much food and for such a reasonable price. I'm used to having to pay over $30-$40 for dinner prices, but at Minato, they're only $27 and we actually were so full before we even finished eating it all. Minato has so many regulars, and it's obvious why. Overall, I would highly recommend Minato.

Amazing! Do not be discouraged by the location or the wait times Worth it I truly enjoy this place

One of my favorite sushi restaurants. Ever. In the ridiculous wasteland of South Marietta strip malls, this restaurant truly provides an oasis of excellent sushi. Well worth seeking out.

Minato is always on the top of my list for food - their quality is always consistently excellent!!! Today we ordered a sushi and sashimi combo A plus a super crunch roll - they were delicious and the sashimi pieces were very thick - it was so fulfilled for each bite we also had cowboy - the portion of the piece was significant - You get your money's worth! We definitely will come back again! Btw - Chirashi is a MUST try!!

Been coming here for years since I moved to Atlanta. Local friends who live in Cobb County swear this is the best sushi on this side of town, and I agree. CHIRASHI BOWL is our main order every time. Comes with miso soup and simple salad, and that's all you need for a perfect lunch. The lunch crowd is insane so get there early, or be prepared to wait for a table. The owners are super sweet and very attentive to their customers. Most of the time, one of the owners is serving us, which is insane since it's not that small of the restaurant.

Our go to sushi place! Love it. Feels like the closest thing to Japan we've been able to find stateside.

Waiter was rude. He didn't want to answer my questions. The food was just ok--nothing to write home about. I ordered Tempura but it was just ok. It was my first time visiting this establishment and I had questions. Nonetheless the waiter was annoyed after I specifically said this was my first time. Lunch was $19.65 for a combo of Tempura shrimp and Tempura pork cutlet. No flavor just lots of batter. They came highly recommended but they disappointed me. Maybe the Sushi is their thing.

Have to say, really excellent food, service, and atmosphere. The sushi was great, the teriyaki was ok. Do the chef selection, the presentation is great. Good for an off the beaten path date.

Best sushi in Atlanta. It's always so fresh and delicious. The sashimi is cut THICC which I love, and the yellowtail ponzu jalapeño plate is to die for. I forgot to take pictures, but since I keep coming here, I'll grab some next time! The staff is so friendly as well.

I have been coming to this place every week (no joke) for five years now and have never ordered anything other than the Chirashi lunch. Hands down worth every penny and the highest quality fish you could ever find for lunch. Their ginger salad is so good, i dont know what makes it so much better than the others but it just is! A basic salad, but so perfect. I've been coming so regularly and bringing new people with me everytime that the owners now know my order the moment i walk in the door. They are very nice people and very attentive to customers. When they get a really heavy lunch crowd somehow they keep it all together with only two people on staff. The place is somewhat hard to find, but basically its under a quiktrip - which most people think is a bad look, i just tell them they have no idea what they're missing because this spot is my #1!

Came in for dinner and was seated right away. Pleasant atmosphere and a very warm and engaging staff. It had a very homey vibe and inviting. I ordered a crunchy role and gzoya. The crunchy roll was pretty good and the gzoya was very good. They also threw in a little appetizer treat as well which was tasty, nice touch. There was plenty of parking in the lot at no cost. Great experience.

Had been going there off and on for many years. Always recommended and gave it five stars. My dish of choice had always been the Chirashi bowl for lunch. A few months I went with some friends since I hadn't been back in a while and sat at the bar, ready for another enjoyable meal prepared by the chef/owner. This time I got a bad piece of mackerel in my Chirashi bowl. The chef has always been very kind and you can tell enjoys serving his customers quality sushi, so I was pretty shocked and disappointed. However, this was so serious I was sick all night long throughout the next day and cannot take a risk of ever going back despite all the awesome meals I've enjoyed there. Between that and the loss of their incredible aquarium, one of my prior all time favorite sushi spots is no longer. Went only down to two stars as I'm giving the benefit of a doubt regarding checking the quality of their fish before serving. If I had gone to the hospital it would most definitely been a one star review.

Great sushi, authentic Japanese restaurant. My husband and I went there for lunch, we both ordered charachi, it came with miso soup and salad. The fish is fresh and generous cut, nice thick pieces, well worth the price $20. The service was good, professional and friendly.

I'm between 3 and 4 on this one. They could have easily gained those extra stars by having brown rice and full bar. As is, the white rice seemed bland/stale and it's beer/wine only.. I've driven by this restaurant tons of times without even realizing this place have existed here for 27 years!! I guess I can use the fact that the restaurant is on the back of the building and is not facing the Spring street as my excuse. Anyhow, I finally did find it. Parking was tight on a Tuesday night and I had to park up the street next to QT. Be careful - the sign that points to "more parking" up the road and implies one way street doesn't ACTUALLY mean it's one way street only..Thus it was me and a car speeding AT ME at one point. Yeah.. Nothing like "accident barely avoided" feeling to get you out of the food eating mood.. From the outside, the restaurant doesn't look like much at all, almost warehouse-ish in appearance. Do not judge a book by its cover though, head on in. It's actually quite cozy inside and although it appears a lot of people do takeout, it's actually worth coming in and having your dinner inside. For my meal I had Sushi combo A, which comes with a soup and a salad. I voted against the soup and only had salad, which consisted of lettuce only. Seemed fresh and crispy but nothing special, considering it only had one ingredient in it. The combo is GIGANTIC. I almost fell off my chair when it arrived to my table and we stared at each other. My thoughts: "this is enough to feed 4 people!!!". My plate stared back at me with "I dare you to eat me all by yourself" kind of major attitude. Not happening. I guess I was a bit distracted when I ordered it and didn't realize the volume/content of the whole thing. Parts and items sitting on the dish were: -One tuna roll; -Sushi tuna, salmon, trout, yellow tail, ikura, and tobiko; -Sashimi tuna (3), yellow tail (2), salmon (2), trout (2), and clam (2). Salmon was my fave but the rest of the fish was cut way too thick. I'm not the one to complain about extra amounts of yummy food served to me but the sashimi cuts were easily the thickness of a steak and almost took away from appreciating what's supposed to be tender and delicate fish slices. It was like chop-sticking a piece of steak.. SH*T TON OF FOOD for one person. Do split it with 2+ people . Overall: excellent service (Tony rocked - very prompt and efficient), parking can be a challenge, limited roll menu (mostly deep fried rolls), no brown rice, beer/wine only. I enjoyed this one-time experience here but I doubt I'll be back. I'd rather pick a place with full bar and brown rice. If this is not something you care about - please try this place! Portions are huge and fish is fresh.

I have been a regular customer for 30 years. This amazing family run restaurant had never change their top quality or friendly service. The restaurant have a wonderful and family type atmosphere. It has always been a great business lunch meeting location too. Food is amazing and delicious as usual. Menu has a good variety of dishes, even for non-sushi eaters. Kudos to the entire family running the restaurant. Keep up the magnificent taste!

If you've ever wanted to know the owners of a restaurant personally, this would be the place. Whether they are new customers or regulars, the owners treat all their customers so well. We went during dinner and it was very crowded. We had to wait for a a bit, but the host was very apologetic and gave us constant updates. Once we were seated, we decided to get a couple different nigiri sushi, tempura, chirashi, and sukiyaki. The food was amazing! Everything came out quickly and as soon as we were done with one dish the next one showed up. The nigiri was priced well and beautiful. The fish was 5x bigger than the rice (although the rice was small, the fish was large enough to make up for it). The salmon was buttery and had had minimal sinews in it. I also tried the uni just for fun and it was piled HIGH over the rice. The chirashi had an impressive assortment of seafood. It even had scallops in it! The sukiyaki was also delicious. For everything we had, the total came out to about $100. I would definitely come here again to try more of their menu!

6 years later and nothing has changed. Still incredible fish and perfect service for the best sashimi lunch around. The consistency is unbelievable even after a hundred visits. Nothing more to say about this local gem, It's just perfect.