Sleek, upscale spot serving creative sushi, Japanese entrees, beer, sake & wine.
"With a prime Rittenhouse Square location, chef Hiroyuki “Zama” Tanaka’s home base is a stylish staple for classic sushi as well as more inventive dishes and special rolls, including cheesesteak-influenced maki. Zama also has a number of platters built for sharing, like an oversized chirashi and a 90-piece sushi combo. Call for pickup, get delivery via Caviar, or make reservations on OpenTable." - Maddy Sweitzer-Lamme, Ernest Owens
"Offering both indoor and outdoor dining, and more sake options than the game piece count on the municipal building courtyard, the menu at this Japanese spot gets creative with things like a grilled avocado stuffed with salmon, tuna, and yellowtail, and ZFC (Zama fried chicken). But they also do more straightforward dishes well, too, like the spicy crunchy yellowtail with jalapeno mango roll, and the shrimp tempura rolls. With lunch deals running through 5pm, we drop in here between calls or sneak out of work a little early for a drink and a few snacks." - candis mclean
"Zama is packed every night of the week, so you can sit in the back at the wooden sushi bar and speak at Citizens Bank Park-volume levels and nobody would blink. The Rittenhouse restaurant has two chef’s tasting menu options—one for $65 and one for $100. Both are seven courses and come with hits like Alaskan king crab oshizushi and toro with a red-yuzu pepper. But the pricier menu includes fancier things like juicy, torched wagyu." - candis mclean
"Straightforward, relatively inexpensive sushi in Rittenhouse and a liquor license. What else do you want? Zama makes a roll with spicy crunchy yellowtail with jalapeño mango, plus well-battered tempura shrimp rolls. With $15 rolls at lunch and $25 combinations running through 2:30pm, this is a place to prioritize for lunch (or whenever you want to sneak out of work a little early for a drink and a few snacks)." - candis mclean
"Excellent sushi in Rittenhouse and a liquor license? What more do you need? Be sure to focus on the specialty maki section of the menu—the Bronzizzle and Wasabi Tuna are two of our favorites—plus the snacky shareables in the small bites section (they make a mean spicy rock shrimp tempura). With $15 rolls at lunch and $25 combinations running through 2:30pm, this is a place to prioritize for lunch, or a dinner that’s all about inventive sushi and hearing about your friend’s weekend over sake." - candis mclean, alison kessler