Nara Sushi

Came here with a friend, made a reservation for a “not busy” time, and waited over 50 minutes for a few pieces nigiri and two rolls. Service was extremely, snails pace slow. Interior design was extremely off putting; the color scheme dust on the walls did not make for the best atmosphere. Forgot our order of 2 Tuna nigiri. DO NOT ORDER SQUID, OCTOPUS, or the TROPICAL ROLL. The squid was slimy and flavorless, the octopus tough as rubber, and tropical roll sacrilegious. The tropical roll was drenched in a pool of salty sauce and had an unappetizing appearance. Will not come here again.

Nara's sushi is off the chain - I'm talking 'I-just-found-my-happy-place' good! The service is all smiles, the food is consistently fresh, and it's clear they're cookin' with love. Round up the gang, it's sushi time!

My first visit here, I'm new to Hampton Roads. Trying to find a new favorite sushi bar. I chose this establishment due to the 4.8 star reviews and I was not disappointed. The fish was very fresh, and everything looked delicious as well. I was pleasantly surprised that they had Uni (sea urchin) which is my personal fave when it comes to sushi - it was sublime. Highly recommend ordering the Haygood Roll, that one is a home run! I will definitely be back again! Thank you for an enjoyable dinner!

Updating my review from a year ago. Nara Sushi has the best and most authentic sushi in Virginia Beach. I come here almost weekly. The owners remember all their recurring guests. It's really a home like environment there. Most of the customers are regulars so you start to meet others. They know us and our extended family. The really make us feel welcomed every time we come. It's such an intimidate small restaurant. Somehow they make it roomy and keep it very clean. Service is superb and timely. All of the waitresses and waiters are bilingual, fluent in English and their native language. I recommend calling for reservations as this place gets busy very quickly during dinner time. It's pretty easy, just call ahead. Eric is the main sushi chef. Him and his wife own this restaurant. Eric creates each roll as if the were his master piece. The fish they serve is fresh. Each dish is beautifully presented and really delicious. I always leave there with belly full and satisfied. This is the only place in the city that creates and serves a sushi hand roll, correctly. All I can say is I highly, hands down, can not say any more, about how much I recommend this place. If you want real sushi, just dine here.

So far, the best sushi restaurant I’ve been to in the area. The food is A+ and the service was fantastic and very helpful with suggestions. We ended up doing the omakase, it was a lot of fun and super affordable compared to most sushi places. Granted it’s not some 15+ course omakase, but it’s a decent amount of food to split between 2 people for $65.

Can't believe I have not reviewed here before. This has been our spot for over ten years. We love the staff!!! We have been coming here since my daughter was born and she learned to love sushi from here. Starting with their udon all the way to their great bowls (Salmon Don and Chirashi). We look forward to many more years of coming here!

The food was delicious and the service was fantastic. We dubbed her "Mom" because she took such good care of us. Thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience with Nara Sushi and most definitely will eat there again. We tried a variety of rolls... everything was fresh, and beautifully plated.

Best sushi in VB! I have tried most of the highly rated sushi places in town and they were not good. Don’t waste your money, eat here! Service was kind and attentive. My only suggestion would be a smaller menu. There are too many options for sushi to decide on.

Best sushi in VB Always friendly Fresh sushi rolls Recommend to anyone looking for a relaxing night out

It has been a while aince I visited Nara Sushi for some tempura udon. To start, this order camenwith a salad to start then the udon noodle on clear broth and shrimp tempura on the side. Pleanty of veggiea compared to the last place I visited for tempura udon. Broth was served extremely hot, so be cautios when trying to gulp the broth. Very very tasty. The tempura are far bigger, crisp, and not so oily. Loved it!!!! Also ordered a couple of tobiko sushi. Nice!!! Small portion of rice that had a flavor of a bit of dashi then packed with tobiko, wrapped in a crisp nori. The couple increased to 5 more pieces. That's how good these tobiko sushi were. Service is beyond exemplary. Only two but both were on top of their game. Always tending to their customers and assist you when donning on your coat / jacket. Best of all, if you speak Japanese, then you can easily start a conversation with the waitress. The lighting sers the mood for a good ambiance - sets you in the mood to eat. Overall, Nara Sushi reminds me of a place in Gion. Small with cery attentive servers, and beat of all, serves good food. Compliments to the sushi chef - Gochiso sama!!!!

What a wonderful restaurant. Fast. Clean. Friendly. And most importantly delicious. I would 100% recommend this place to anyone in the area. Great for family or solo dining!

I don't know what happened. I ate dinner here a couple months ago & it was good. Came by today for takeout & half of my rolls had very little fish in them. Disappointed because I was looking for a new favorite spot.

Best sushi we've had. Wow. The taste is amazingly delicious. You'll need reservations at peak times. Well worth the wait. Super friendly staff. You will never be disappointed here. Love this place!

Haven't written a review in a while, but after Nara, I knew I had to give them their stars. I recall seeing a post on Facebook asking people about their favorite sushi place in the area and Nara seemed to have shown up multiple times. So I finally took the time to check it out. It's located in the same shopping center as colattao so the parking lot seems a little hidden if it's your first time visiting. If you don't want to make a u-turn on independence, I recommend taking that back way behind McDonald's that eventually leads to the underpass lol So! I started off with a few pieces of salmon nigiri and they melted in my mouth! I looooooove salmon nigiri and these were perfect. The rice was good, there was a small dallop of wasabi between the salmon and the rice, and when you dipped in soy sauce? Immaculate. I honestly would've been good to visit for just the salmon, but I had more on the way lol I also had a Mt. Trashmore roll which was Marinated Tuna, Salmon, Flounder with Spicy Cream Sauce, Baked over california Roll and the piece de resistance was the Dynamite from the sushi bar appetizers. It's Baked scallops with shitake mushrooms in japanese mayo! I personally loved it. If you're not a big fan of Japanese mayo or mayo at all, don't order it lol. Both were delicious and I finished it all, but I was so stuck on my salmon that I ordered more My server was sweet as were the sushi chefs. I can't wait to come back and introduce this place to family and friends. Thanks for a great first experience!

What a wonderful restaurant! The server speaks eloquent Japanese and the menu items were absolutely delicious. The eggplants, the soup, the katsu, omg everything was delectable. I had the pleasure to dine with the Legendary Local Yelper J David, too! It's been quite some time since I visited last year and I can vividly recall all the wonderful details. If you have a guest from out of town, Nara would be one of my first pick.

Tried once so far and it was good. Have to check again for consistency before recommending.

Having lived in Japan and falling in love with sushi, this place really surprised me. I want to say this place was one of the most authentic, freshest sushi places I've had the pleasure of eating in within the US (I travel all over the US for work). I highly recommend this place! The pan fire gyoza was amazing too! Ohh and by sushi, I don't mean CA roll, I mean bareback fish type of sushi!

If you ever go to Virginia Beach, this sushi restaurant is a place to go too! I've been craving for sushi and my niece told me there isn't a good sushi restaurant around here. I Yelp this place to give it a try. When you walk in the door it's a small place. Right off the bat you know it's a family oriented. You see customer sweater and jacket hanging on the coat hanger. Presentation: Sushi looks delicious on the plate and you know for a fact it's fresh. It doesn't have the fish smell. As you can see in the picture it's plated nicely. Order: Uni, Salmon roe, surf clam, Nara nacho, sashimi platter A, white fish, scallop and squid. When the sushi came out I like the presentation. Uni was mouth watering. It was creamy and doesn't have that nasty and weird taste in your mouth. Salmon roe doesn't have that salty taste. Nara nacho is really good as well. All the sushi is delicious I must say! Everyone was super nice and they always check up on you. I will come back when I'm in the state again.

Best sushi in VB! I have tried most of the highly rated sushi places in town and they were not good. Don't waste your money, eat here! Service was kind and attentive. My only suggestion would be a smaller menu. There are too many options for sushi to decide on.

Hands down I've found my favorite sushi restaurant. They are the real deal when it comes to sushi and quality. The customer service we got here made us feel like we were in Japan. I came for dinner. The chef and the servers here are genuine and they strive to keep the food here as authentic as possible. What makes them authentic is knowing they serve omakase style. We came here for a late night meal and they so happened to be one of the very few restaurants open. They welcomed us and made sure to give us the best service. i enjoyed the eggplant appetizer and the the sushi and uni! The fish here is fresh and the sushi was prepared nicely. I love the dining experience here! It's elegant dining atmosphere is good for a date, and small and intimate for those who come with a few people. It's just not a place for a big group.

Very fresh and good sushi. Service and ambiance good. Excellent Japanese restaurant.

Been eating here for many many years. Food is great. Friendly owners Elaine and Eric create a lovely family atmosphere!!

The customer service here is always great. This is my second time coming here and the sushi is always fresh. Love this place and will continue to come here. The salmon mania was soo good.

Good sushi! I got the sushi a with 7 pieces of nigiri and a tuna roll (I asked to for spicy). Pretty good!

Nara has delicious, fresh, beautiful sushi!! You walk in and they treat you like family, being very friendly and attentive. There is a great selection of sushi as well as cooked kitchen items that are also delicious. Very relaxing dining experience.

Wow sushi was fresh and large portions! We got the to go order over the weekend and was perfect! Loved the lobster!

Nara Sushi just might be the best place for sushi in Virginia Beach! It has been on my bookmark list since moving here and finally made it over for an impromptu girls night. We were sat right away, but they don't have much seating so making a reservation would definitely be smart. There is plenty of parking in the strip mall parking lot where it is located. We immediately noticed how nice the atmosphere was. Could definitely be a great date spot. As soon as we sat down, we were treated to the most amazing service and hospitality. Our server, who may have also been an owner, was insanely sweet and went far above and beyond to make our experience great. She brought an extra chair for our purses, folded our napkins each time one of us got up to use the restroom, etc. It was incredible. Let's get to the food; delicious. And very fairly priced! To start, we had the gyoza which was delicious. 5 pieces for $7 and they were perfectly crispy! The sushi stole the show obviously. They have a wide range of specialty rolls, but also a really nice selection of basics. I went for a mix of both. I got the philadelphia roll, a yellowtail hand roll, and a Geisha specialty roll. Everything was delicious. My friend got the Jazz and Oishii rolls which she also liked. Definitely make this your next sushi experience in the 757!

Food is absolutely delicious and fresh! Great service every time- prompt, -attentive, and friendly. Been twice and always busy. Great lunch options as well as a great dinner menu. Only thing- they close between lunch and dinner. New fave!

Discovered this gem about a couple months ago. Been coming by myself since my husband doesn't really like sushi until one day I made him come with. It's only been 3 weeks since & both my husband & I have been coming here at least twice a week lol. He actually requests to come here vs me. Personally, Nara is the best Japanese restaurant I've ever been to not only in VA, but all of the states. Nara being a family business just makes the experience much better. And the fact that my husband now loves sushi, says a lot about the quality of food. 10/10!

I ordered the Spider-Man roll and it was delicious! The present was great too. The service here is so warm and welcoming. Definitely would recommend it. 10/10.

The family atmosphere felt like I was in Japan again. Very small, tight shop. AC is also quite high, bring a light jacket. The age dashi tofu was good. But the sushi even better. Rice was well packed, fresh fish with good traditional sushi and non traditional sushi rolls.

We stumbled upon Nara Sushi on yelp and we are so glad we did. The restaurant is the perfect size very homey and you feel intimate no matter where you sit. We were fortunate enough to walk in on a Saturday night and get a table without a reservation but I imagine most other times you'd need one. The food was AMAZING. So fresh tasting and well made. The sushi came out beautiful, the miso soup was flavorful, the steak teriyaki was delicious as well. All that good food for a great price! If you're in VB definitely make reservations for Nara because they rock. Our waitress was the sweetest!

Quaint environment with very friendly and engaging staff/hosts. We really enjoyed our food, multiple hand rolls where the quality of the ingredients really shined! They were kid friendly in that they had a high chair and offered accessible chopsticks. Will go again!

Our new favorite sushi place! Fresh sushi & great service! We will be back again very soon!

Amazing sushi! Everything tasted so fresh and it was all great portions/very satisfying. The restaurant was quaint and the staff was very friendly. The food did take a long time to come out, but definitely worth the wait.

Amazing service followed by the perfect atmosphere. Best bang for your buck when in comes to portions. Staff provided excellent recommendations and customer service.

Always delicious with great service. Order the tuna in hot oil. Thank me later. All of the rolls I have had are great.

In the past ten years, this place hasn't changed in the best way possible. The Nara Nacho's are a MUST. I've been craving these for ten years and I'll continue to crave them ten years later. The sushi here is so fresh and the dining room is perfectly cozy. You can't go wrong ordering anything here.

Always good every time we come here. Service was superb nice atmosphere. Management is very friendly.

I've been going here since 2012. It's always good. If you eat there, the atmosphere is quiet. The prices are pretty competitive as well. It's one of my favorites, and this is coming from someone that has lived in Japan and had their sushi.

Excellent Sushi and Japanese dishes. I love their Tempura. Sashimi is always on point, but their sushi is sometimes inconsistent, depending on who is rolling the rice. The fish is fine, just the rice prep or hand rolling technique is off. Still my favorite Japanese restaurant in the area.

Visiting VA beach for the first time and wanted to find a good sushi spot. Everything was super fresh, you could tell the chef put a lot of effort into the rolls and all of the menu items we ordered. Gyozas were lightly pan fried but still sticky enough to not feel mass produced, and the sushi lunch set was delicious according to my husband. I got the chicken katsu deluxe bento box and i had absolutely nothing negative to say. Service was great, must stop if you're looking for sushi in the area!!

My friend and I tried Nara last evening . From the moment I walked in I felt welcomed . The waitress and chefs were great . The sushi was amazing. I have gone to a lot of sushi places and get thin cuts of sashimi but not at Nara . Thick pieces of Tuna were great. The Debbie roll is also great . I will definitely return .

Fresh and so many quality and tasty choices. Friendly and family run business who remember you and greet you. Absolutely our favorite sushi/sashimi place in Hampton Roads.

Went to Nara for the first time last night and it was AMAZING!! The freshest, yummiest sushi I've had in a long time. Also very affordable for the quality you're getting. Highly recommend :)

Updating my review from a year ago. Nara Sushi has the best and most authentic sushi in Virginia Beach. I come here almost weekly. The owners remember all their recurring guests. It's really a home like environment there. Most of the customers are regulars so you start to meet others. They know us and our extended family. The really make us feel welcomed every time we come. It's such an intimidate small restaurant. Somehow they make it roomy and keep it very clean. Service is superb and timely. All of the waitresses and waiters are bilingual, fluent in English and their native language. I recommend calling for reservations as this place gets busy very quickly during dinner time. It's pretty easy, just call ahead. Eric is the main sushi chef. Him and his wife own this restaurant. Eric creates each roll as if the were his master piece. The fish they serve is fresh. Each dish is beautifully presented and really delicious. I always leave there with belly full and satisfied. This is the only place in the city that creates and serves a sushi hand roll, correctly. All I can say is I highly, hands down, can not say any more, about how much I recommend this place. If you want real sushi, just dine here.

nice and cozy spot to have dinner. staff is friendly, the menu was a bit overwhelming, couldn't decide what to order, but whatever we ordered it was made fresh and good. Staff was nice

Each time we come here, regardless of what we order, the service and food are outstanding. I have personally had many sushi items, salad and seaweed salad, miso and edamame...to name just a few. I really don't think that you can wrong here. This is now my/our favorite Japanese restaurant in the Virginia Beach area.

My go to Japanese Restaurant. Period. Always fresh and as close to an authentic flavor as it gets.

Very attentive and nice service. It's a quaint and intimate spot. Well priced. Our volcano roll was the highlight of the meal !

Above standard nigiri in generous portions. We loved the caring and considerate service, a genuinely nice place, would love to revisit if we should return to the Virginia Beach area.

7/19 I like this place, but I hate that the prices have gone up. $15 plus is way too much to pay for a roll of sushi. Crazy Angel roll (wayyy to much sauce) $14.50 not worth it. Surely the price of fish hasn't gone up. Customers will know they're being taken advantage of and will find an alternative.

Again, like many of my posts, service was amazing, food was okay! Started with edamame, good quantity and a side salad with ginger dressing which was tasty. Ordered a few rolls (sweet roll, Nara, and salmon mania), all were okay. I appreciated how They cut our rolls in small sizes to accommodate our 4 and 5 yos joining us. Wouldn't come back but it was bad.

So good. Came here for my birthday dinner. My favorite, the spicy tuna quail egg sushi, the chef never made before. He tried it with my description and it came out so good! Made my birthday! We had yahoo, Valentino and mango tango rolls. Plus the Nara shot which has unagi, quail egg and sake (not for the beginner sushi eater). Everything was fantastic! Just a great experience and in a great atmosphere. Best place in Virginia Beach.

With a variety of good choices for sushi in Virginia Beach there is bound to be robust discussion on who has the best. I'm a self admitted novice when it comes to sushi, but have managed to work a pair of chopsticks and enjoy the cuisine. My favorite at the beach is Nara Sushi and they are far from newcomers to the sushi scene. Chef Eric Lee has been at Nara for just under 15 years and has been the owner for 12. He and his wife Elaine operate the establishment in Independence Plaza at the corner of Independence & Haygood Rd. Surface parking is in front of the business. I found the lot and walk up free of debris. The exterior glass window and door clean. I opened Nara for lunch and was immediately greeted. I started off with a traditional Miso soup that my sever Tomomi recommended on a cold day. Miso is actually a breakfast dish in its native Japan. It was flavorful, tasty and had dried kelp. A daily specials board is by the bar. Let's call the ambiance a bit romantic with only the front exterior window shedding light on the dining room. The space can hold around 50 customers with bar seating. Traditional Japanese decorations adorn the Burgundy walls. All the tables were cleared and clean. I decided on a few dishes. The Sushi & Sashimi Special came with tuna, salmon octopus & escolar. It was fresh and a delight with house soy on the table. My main was Crazy Angel off the lunch specials menu. It consisted of seared Cajun tuna, asparagus, tuna, white fish, Eel and tobiko on top. So fabulous, filling and complex rolls. For dessert Creme Brûlée that's a personal favorite and it did not disappoint. Waiter service was prompt and consistent on refills. Payment was received and accurate. My plates were cleared at the appropriate time. I witnessed tables being wiped down after use. Prices for the quality are better than many. When busy patience is a virtue. Only Chef Eric is lovingly making the hand rolled pieces of art with beautiful touches on plating. Nara is a hidden gem for beach sushi lovers. They have a strong local following dating back to previous owner Kevin Chang who went onto open Zushi in Town Center in 2005. I recommend rotating them in if you already have a favorite.

Best sushi in Hampton Roads. Great quality fish, tons of rolls and a super nice and friendly staff. Glad this place exists.

Decent sushi from a not super fancy place, reasonably priced lunch options, nice staff and service