Ootori Sushi

A wonderful and flavorful sushi experience - 4 stars. WHY OOTORI? My visit to Ootori was completely random. I drove 2 hours to Rochester to checkout a car listed on FB Marketplace. The car purchase was a disappointing failure. But my new sushi find was a success! They were the closest sushi joint to where I was car shopping...so that's where I ate dinner. DECOR: I was pleasantly surprised by the décor. From the outside, it looked like a little shoe box. But looks are deceiving. When I went inside, it was larger than I thought with tons of creative and beautiful Japanese themed accents (see photos). Note: The entryway has a couple of framed awards. FOOD: I ordered my usual tuna based sushi rolls. All of them were styles that I usually see described as "specialty" rolls. All three were excellent and bursting with bright, vibrant flavors. Speaking of bright, the visual presentation was vibrant and colorful too (see photos). "Thanks" to the 3 sushi dudes that were creating their art behind the sushi bar. SERVICE: The service was excellent. Shout out to Lilian who was wonderful...on top of everything, friendly, and a pleasure to chat with. BTW, I asked her about Rochester sushi joints, she said "hold on" and she came back to my table with the latest copy of Rochester Magazine. It happened to feature sushi restaurants and one of them was Ootori! I took their suggestion on the Volcano Roll! LOW CARBOHYDRATE: It's easy to eat low-carb, keto, or carnivore style at Ootori. I stuck with my usual tuna based sushi rolls with a moderate amount of rice and plant material. I avoid any selection with mountains of rice, puddles of noodles, added sugar, or anything that might hide highly processed vegetable seed oils. It keeps my blood sugar levels happy and it keeps my doctor happy. Thanks for a great visit, Ootori! - Maxx

If you ever have never had halfway decent Asian food aka you've never lived in a city at any point you may enjoy this. However, having had many versions of these dishes now in my life, the takoyaki was undercooked and there was hardly any filling. Felt like I was eating a hushpuppy. The katsu rice bowl was disappointing and I'm almost certain I bit on an eggshell eating it. The katsu was soggy, very disappointing. The sushi was alright but the rice was actually a little crunchy. Just overall, wouldn't recommend.

What a wonderful variety of sushi options. Great for the vegan as well. Tried both their cooked roll and regular rolls, both of which were delicious. Service was top notch and frequently checked in to make sure everything was up to taste.

This place was great! We had all sushi: amazon princess, hidden dragon, eel roll, Alaskan roll, and spicy tuna roll. My favorites were the spicy tuna and Amazon princess. They were perfect flavor and texture. Least favorite was hidden dragon because it was too much deep fried (for me). Sauces on top were great though. Service was great! We went on New Year's Eve - it was super busy but the service was great. Staff was hustling! If you are craving sushi and in Rochester, this is it!

Food 4* Ambiance 5* Service 5* Overall, 5* My wife and I have been to Ootori Sushi many times, so this review is pretty overdue. Every time we've gone, we've had good service and food. I've eaten a lot of the menu over time and like almost everything I've had. For our trip last night, shout out to our server Lillian for being awesome! She has made two of our dining experiences great so far. Cool server and really nice lady! Our favorite appetizer is the Agedashi Tofu! It's awesome because the Tofu comes in a sauce that's extremely delicious. And then from there, we ladel a little of the sauce into the sauce bowls to use it for sushi dipping. From there; we had four rolls. Spider Roll, an all-time favorite of mine and a sushi staple. (Soft shell crab for those that don't know) Mo Yasai, Just Awesome , and a Sweet Potato Roll were the other ones we got this time. All very delicious!

Great food! Definitely will come again, Crispy crunchy and Crouching Tiger was superb!!

My favorite Ramen in Rochester. Their pork belly Ramen is amazing! Sushi is great too! Their crispy tofu is to die for (both appetizer and as the protein (?) on the yakisoba or yakiudon. A lot of options for vegetarians. Fantastic service.

Bowls had too much oil & they tried to charge me 4% higher than prices on the menu & 3% credit card fee Not a fan.

1st time I've had Sushi in Rochester and am pleasantly surprised. Ootori is a nice addition to the city and offers an assortment of Japanese eats including typical street food style appetizers, sashimi, and rolls. There's also some sake and other drinks if you're looking to celebrate. Menu was straightforward and had no surprises. Prices are slightly higher than other places. We ordered a few rolls and takoyaki and were impressed. The food was made-to-order and was fresh and tasty. Service was prompt and attentive. Looking forward to coming back and trying the ramen and rice bowls.

I will start by saying, I ate here 4 years ago and much has changed, not for the better. The quality & presentation of the sushi was subpar and unfortunately both the tuna & salmon on the 3-wise men had a very fishy taste. The Just awesome was "Just okay" ..maybe a step above what I could find at the local HyVee grocery store. I hate to leave a less than stellar review, so I will end by saying.. our waitress was very kind & pleasant, and another waitresses recommended the Korean fried chicken which we loved. Sake is always good.. so the evening wasn't completely spoiled. I'd just suggest going elsewhere if you want good sushi in Rochester.

We've gone here a lot and the past year the flavor has gone done. But what infuriates me the most is the hidden fees. We went a month ago and were happy that they removed their 3% service charge but what do they have instead? When you get your bill everything is marked up 4% which feels even shadier. Just print new menu's already and be done with it.

Good sushi. Not exceptional, but everything we ordered was tasty. We tried a number of different rolls in shashimi. It might be the best sushi place in Rochester. Our server was great throughout.

Cute little spot- super clean and pleasant waitstaff. I came here to get the crouching dragon (shrimp tempura wrapped in crab stick). The roll was super fresh but definitely lacking oomph. The "crunch" they listed on the menu was just white sesame seed whereas this kind of roll usually has an onion or garlic crunch on it. It has didn't have much in the way of sauce. I think there was something holding down the crab but it definitely needed something more like eel sauce.

We took our adult kids (who are vegan and vegetarian) out to dinner in mid-March on a Friday evening. The restaurant is a bit on the small side so be sure to make a reservation just in case. Our kids were pleased with the options they had on the menu to accommodate their diets. The waitress made sure to note that one of them was vegan to ensure the kitchen didn't put anything on their plate that might not work with their diet (i.e, mayo.) My fiancé and I ordered edamame and a couple sushi rolls for appetizers and both ordered the pork belly ramen for dinner. (The ramen was still in season - yay!) It was way too much food, but delicious! For the four of us, with many rolls, plus the two ramens and a bottle of wine, our bill with gratuity was $200. It was a little bit of sticker shock but it was worth it.

Great spot for sushi! And this is from a girl who thought she didn't like sushi!! The staff is super helpful in assisting with recommendations, and have totally made a convert out of me!

First off my 3 year old daughter loved the sushi bento box. We mainly ordered it just for the Cali roll for her and we munch off the other items that comes with it such as salad, soup, edamame and salmon and tuna maki roll. But to our surprise she was munching on the other items as well. The Uncle sweet roll was OK. It was drenched in sauce which personally I was not a fan but I can see how ppl would like it. Most likely won't order it again. The other two rolls that we ordered was really good. I would definitely order it again. Aloha roll had just the right amount of spicy/kick to it with a touch of sweetness/cool down from the mango. Service was great. Megan was our server. She took great care of us even though she was by herself. Will definitely come back again. Can't wait for the next time.

In town for my parents who are both at the mayo clinic. Both the restaurant and that area it is in are good place to eat and stay. There is nothing nice about Rochester and it is in fact dangerous in the "downtown town" area. I liked going to this sushi place and having fish and sake the service is great the food is good and for what u get in such a town it's nice place to go.

I ordered online and my order was ready when I arrived. It was fast service. Although my order was the yaki udon and two vegetable sushi rolls. It was good for the price. Nothing memorable

Food is good, service is ridiculously bad. We ordered two entrees and a sushi roll for pickup. When I got to the pickup window, I they took my card. While they bagged my order, I pre-tipped over 20%, they gave me two tied off bags and I drove home. They forgot the sushi roll. I called and talked to Summer (I think the was her name) who gave me the option of coming back to get my roll (nope, I did not have time). Or I could get a credit for a free roll in the future. ( nope.. what am I supposed to do? In a month or two when I go back tell them " umm Summer told me I could get a free roll since my previous order was screwed up." Awkward.) I told her neither of those options worked and I just wanted her to credit my card. First she protested that she had no way to do that, then after talking to someone in the background, she said she could credit my card. Now, almost a week later, no credit has shown up. I'm a good tipper, always over 20%, but this pretipping is getting out of control. If I'm pretipping the same amount as I would for dine in, the person giving me the order should at least compare it to my receipt to make sure everything is there. If a mistake is made, they need to correct it and not make the customer chase them down. One phone call should be all that's needed to correct a complaint. Anything more just tells me they don't care.

This spot offered COVID socially distanced tables outside. The inside of the restaurant is not offered for seating. So, you do have to reserve table space ahead of time so that they don't overflow with customers. There is also enough parking in a parking lot in front of Ootori sushi, so it was nice not looking for street parking or ramp parking. The tables had sun umbrellas over them, so if you are eating on a sunny day, it can be easier to eat outside. We tried the katsu don which came with a miso soup. The meal was around $13 which is reasonable. The service was also friendly! The katsu don was also a pretty large portion size. I can split it between two meals. It took around 5-10 minutes for all of our food to come out after we ordered. Miso soup came first. Being Asian, I am pretty picky with how the food tastes, but I think the food was pretty authentic or at least as authentic as you can get in the U.S. I would also recommend getting the takoyaki and asking for mayo on the side. It is delicious!

We really had no expectations going into this place. Went we walked in only one other table was occupied so that was pleasant but startling. We sat down and were greeted by our server . She was pleasant and helpful . We looked over the menu and it was very creative, descriptive and we'll laid out. We ordered the summer roll which was very light and a great way to start a meal . We also ordered crab Rangoon which were typical but executed nicely. As far as the sushi went my wife loved her spicy tuna roll and avocado asparagus rolls . I ordered the Tuna Poke Don- Ahi tuna, green & sweet onion, avocado, ponzu, sesame seed, and sriracha aoili. This was really good . Worth coming back ! The 4 stars were due be to the beer didn't come cold it was warm and the miso soup was very under seasoned . Otherwise I'm glad I live close by. This is worth a visit if you like sushi in Rochester.

Our favorite sushi spot in Rochester by far and actually very impressive for a landlocked option. The veggie rolls are some of our favorite - clumsy ninja especially but all the fish options are of course incredible too. We get takeout or come in at least once per month

I've been to Ootori a few times now and I've been happy every time! This last time they had a seasonal winter menu that included a ramen option and decided to give it a try. We also shared a seasonal roll that was also on the winter menu. Both were awesome and I hope they continue having ramen on the menu!

I don't like seaweed, can't stand the stuff. Sushi has to be pristine for me to like it at all. Ootori is amazing! I love their spicy salmon roll. They have soy paper if you want instead of seaweed( I do) and the flavor, texture, composition (ok now I want sushi) is among the best sushi I've ever eaten and I've been to Japan. I even forgot to get no seaweed, it was *still* amazing! Not that I'm ordering seaweed (not my fav weed) again but I ate those two rolls! I've been there with several people and they've all had a variety of food, all amazing. The house hot sake is also good. Best sushi in Rochester by far.

The Tonkotsu Ramen is legit. Better than most places in Minneapolis. Very surprised to find such good Ramen in Rochester. The noodles are springy and not overcooked. The broth is very porky with a bit of smokiness. The eggs were perfectly cooked but unmarinated. The chasu was tender, fatty, and smoky. Not dry. Green onions -- check. Menma -- check. Nori -- missing. *Don't forget to ask for chili oil!

It was amazing from the food to the atmosphere. They played nice Lana Del Rey songs and they had art on the wall next to me. I've never had mango with sushi before and when I tried it for the first time I was blown away. The food was easily a 10/10.

Great sushi spot in town! They have a great selection of speciality rolls, fried rice, noodles, etc. They have good lunch specials with reasonable prices (~$12). In general, they have reasonable prices across the board and the service is quick and friendly. Their raw fish rolls tastes very fresh, which is pretty unusual here in the Midwest. They offer many vegetarian options, which are also delicious, and great for those with dietary restrictions. Besides their rolls, their other entrees are pretty good. I've tried their ramen, which is seasonal, but one of the only places in town that offers it. Some of my favorites to get here are the lunch bento box (Box B), the laughing panda roll, and the Yakisoba. They also give you a $5 off $25 coupon, which is awesome! Highly recommend, only complaint is that they're closed Sundays and have unusual hours.

My favorite sushi place in town! Great selection of rolls in general, including a wide range of vegetarian options which I love. My two favorites are the laughing panda and the mo yasai. Aside from sushi rolls their menu includes other entrees such as fried rice and noodles which are also solid. Service is fast and friendly and the food is delicious. An additional perk was the lunchtime music, which included the 2008 Jonas Brothers hit "Burnin' Up". I highly recommend!

Finally, we found a good sushi place in Rochester! After moving from Hawaii where the fish is so fresh, it's a high bar to meet in the middle of the Midwest! Ootori's shrimp tempura roll was fresh with crispy tempura in the middle. We got the takoyaki which had generous amounts of tako. We got a lunch bento sushi set B with spicy ahi and philly rolls. Very well-made rolls that don't fall apart, and small enough where I can fit the whole bite in my mouth, haha. Miso soup and salad were good as well. Everything pretty tasty! Solid choice for sushi in Rochester!

From the warm greeting when entering to the dessert, it was all so good! We had their Edamame, sushi rolls and noodles with a cream cheese dessert paired with Plum wine. April was a great waitress, she was friendly and appeared to love her job. It was a very enjoyable evening dining experience. We will be back!

By far the best place to go for sushi in Rochester Mn . Nothing else comes close to it! Service is fast and friendly. Bring Cash to save on you money on your dinner.

Great selection of appetizers, rice dishes, noodle dishes, sushi and non-sushi dishes. Great staff and the Japanese sodas (Ramune) are fantastic! Definitely returning.

I travel for work. A lot. And I go out to eat sushi. A lot. My $125 per diem allows me to try all kinds of sushi dives. Ootori Sushi was the place I chose to eat at while visiting the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as there weren't too many sushi places around (it is the middle of the US). A short drive form the Clinic, Ootori is a small, cozy restaurant with above-average sushi and high grade sashimi. I ordered the Sashimi Ume (Chef's Choice) and the Hana Michi speciality roll with 8oz of Ichishima Seishu sake. My total came out to $54 for about 22 pieces of sashimi/sushi and an order of sake. The waitress was excellent, and not overly attentive. And the atmosphere was intimate and inviting. I would definitely recommend this place to travellers, as someone who has eaten sushi across the U.S. and in Japan. My next business trip to Rochester, I will be back.

As vegetarians, it is difficult to find sushi restaurants that offer creative vegetarian friendly rolls that aren't basic. Ootori has several unique combinations which are delicious. We have tried the Futomaki, Clumzy Ninja Roll, Color of Life, Green Turtle, Laughing Panda and Mo Yasai. Although my favorite vegetarian sushi place is in Detroit, Ootori hits the spot when you're craving some sushi!

Ootori is an upscale sushi restaurant off of West Circle Drive in Rochester. It features eat in space, as well as patio dining. The pros: Finally! Some decent sushi in Rochester. Don't get me wrong, there are tolerable options. But Ootori reminds me of the traditional sushi restaurants in the cities where I have lived. The cuts of fish are quality, the veggies are fresh and in season, and the options are good. The price is on point with the other sushi establishments nearby. The atmosphere is upscale, perfect for a date night or night out with friends. The cons: Not. For. Kids. They do not have a children's menu, let alone non- glass glasses or high chairs. We brought our toddler in for dinner at 5:30 on a Tuesday and although the staff was polite, we felt uncomfortable the entire time that we were there. Another table nearby had a preschooler and they obviously rushed eating so they could leave quickly. The location is also not great. Although there is a patio, who wants to sit on a patio and watch cars wiz past on the four lane road in front of you? Overall, Ootori offers great sushi for adults. I recommend sitting inside and giving it a try.

Best sushi and service in Rochester. I know Rochester has multiple all you can eat sushi places but Ootori has the best quality and taste. They staff is always so sweet, accommodating, and appreciative of service and I will choose them any day, all day over all you can eat sushi places in rochester. They even have a drive through window for to go orders. My husband and I love this place! Never had a bad meal or sushi roll.

We were here for the first time yesterday. We ordered an appitizer (octopus something) and were disappointed. But our mains were great. I had the rising son which could be the best sushi roll I have ever had. The other 2 in my party had bento boxes. Great food...the terriaki chicken was great!! Service was very good and our server was cordial and helpful. They have a huge saki selection which I would love to try on my next visit.

Food is always great with seasonal items that are so creative and service is exceptional!

Rochester's sushi and roll game could use several upgrades. Having said that, this place is the best out of all of them. We wanted a quick bite after shopping at Costco. Quick and friendly service where the waitress answered all of our questions. The rice was not dry and stale. Good ratio of filling to rice. We ordered the takoyaki to start. The outside was crispy and the inside was mushy as it should be. The mango and mango sauce surprisingly went well with the eel, and it didnt dominate the taste at all. The meat portion on the don katsu was not as big as I wanted it to be, but it was prepared well. Pretty and modern looking interior that is good for a date. I definitelt want to go back and try other things on the menu. I'll make sure to save room for dessert next time.

Always on point just can't get enough of this place highly recommended Rochester MN best sushi

This is one of our fave sushi places in Rochester for sure, but don't forget to try some of their other dishes. Fried rice is some of the best I've ever had. Honestly though, if they are serving the ramen, order that! Best ramen on the planet with creamy tonkatsu broth and delicious marinated eggs. Just. So. Good. we recently visited every restaurant we could find in Rochester that had ramen on their menu (Asia fusion, blu Duck, Cameo and Wabi sabi) and Ootoi's was by far the best of them all!

Went here for dinner yesterday. All we can say is it was phenomenal. In Rochester there aren't any good sushi and Asian restaurants. This place is looking Buck the trend. We ordered standard sushi, the spicy salmon and spicy tuna roll. Both were great. Then we ran into a problem as we ordered Thai fried rice with basil. The problem was that we didn't realize that there wasn't a Thai basil fried rice. When the Thai basil chicken came out we were a bit shocked. We explained to the Waiter that we wanted fried rice. She took the food back and the owner came out who was very pleasantly apologetic. She explained that this happens a bunch. She then told us she asked the chef to special order it for us. When the spicy Thai basil fried rice came out, it was phenomenal. One of the best we have had. The food had a Siracha kick to it and had a basil flavor all through it. We told the manager she should offer this all the time!! The miso soup was ok. The chocolate lava cake was delicious. Overall the experience was great. This is a must visit and ask them to special order the Thai basil spicy fried rice!! You won't be disappointed. Excellent restaurant and service. Can't say enough.

We stopped here because our favorite, Osaka was closed for renovations. Service was very good, food was adequate. The garlic fried rice with chicken was outstanding! The chicken was cut into nice sized pieces and pan fried. The rolls we had we're very good, the Crispy Crunchy roll was the better of the two the other we had was the Ootori roll. A nice bite, but not real special. And though waitress said they are traditional, the next breath she said they are trying to be more Fusion -- which we noted cilantro was in way too many things. But they were ok with not putting it in. I thought their peach ice tea would be house made tea with peach flavor. Nope. I was served a cold bottle of Lipton peach ice tea ($2.50). And she asked if we wanted Yum Yum sauce, which both of us did, not knowing we'd be charged $1 for each serving of it. Would have been nice to know there was a charge for it.

My husband and I are pretty picky when it comes to sushi. This is prob the best sushi place in town. Definitely cost more than other all you can eat places. But you get quality here.

Try the sweet potato roll. It's delicious. I like to get the vegetable bento box for lunch it's comes with two rolls, edamame and a salad. Yum

I have ordered sushi from here twice and it's just OK. Some rolls are good but I didn't like the Romeo & Juliet roll at all. Both times the teriyaki chicken has been awful! It's very low quality, gristly meat and too salty. Also it's hard to get anyone to answer the phone, and both times I have ordered from here they put my teriyaki chicken and soup on top of the sushi rolls in the same plastic bag. Why not just give the hot food in one bag and the cold in another? The sushi is getting warm and smushed!

The specialty rolls are a little strange and of the 4 we tried were all really sweet. The wasabi was nearly frozen for some reason which made it difficult to swirl in the soy sauce. The gyoza was good but the included dipping sauce is one I'm not used to and lacked some flavor. The traditional edamame was really good. The breaded pork/rice dish was decent but you get a ton of rice and the pork goes quick. Miso was good. Good selection of Asian alcohol options. Service was ok. Worth a shot to decide for yourself.

Fantastic new Asian Sushi restaurant. Comfortable atmosphere. Beautiful ambience. Food is excellent! Staff Extremely helpful. Lovely place. Highly recommend! Prices are very reasonable. Quality of food is very good.

I read the reviews and was excited to try it. I am here a business on a regular basis and looking for someplace that I can go to on a regular basis. But apparently even though they are open till 9:00, don't expected to be seated if you show up at 8:35. They only offer take out after 8:30. Maybe I will try again, but not sure.