Kim Lee’s Japanese Restaurant and Sushi

The Sushi Is Delicious but the Service ALWAYS sucks! Well the Host/​Waiter anyway. The Sushi Chefs are always amazing and helpful but the rest of the staff not so much. If it werent the only sushi place in town I wouldnt go!

My husband and I wanted to have sushi one evening. We chose to eat here! We chose all you can eat sushi, and to our surprise it was wonderful! Every dish was awesome. One star missing due to not the most comfortable atmosphere. But the food I give five stars. We tried to go back and of course gone! Come back… Please

Terrible!, Worst Service! Manager likes to argue with the customer! Food Sucks! Sushi is definitely not fresh!
I agree with the negative reviews as I have one myself.
My sister and I went in on 2÷10÷2014 for dinner around 7:45PM
I was thinking all you can eat but I wanted to try something before going that route first. I recommend doing that because you want to see what they will give you first before you commit to AYCE. I was also concerned because the last time I was there I didn’t like the quality so I was cautious this time. We were the only two people in the restaurant.
The name of my server was Maricela I think. I ordered 1 hamachi nigiri and my sister ordered a long roll. The cut of fish was so thin I could see the rice through the middle of the cut. That’s how thin it was. Then as I had suspected, and they do this at Ming’s in Carson City too, and the server that does it at Mings is named Ping. What they do is the amount of rice is double of what it really should be because they want you to fill up on rice and not the sushi. So the taste was ok but hardly fresh and you can tell that because they have the fish all wrapped up in plastic wrap. So my sisters roll came and the fish on that was just as thin. So I said «let’s go». Maricela asked if I wanted anything else and I asked her for the check and then she read off our order to the new manager. Fred Sanford’s brother. He winced at me and said «one order of sushi and 1 long roll and that’s it?» I said very politely «well I have been eating sushi for over 30 years and that was the thinnest cut of fish I have ever had in 30 years of eating sushi.» The manager said «aww c’mon!» and started arguing with me and said «they cut more fish that any place in Nevada.» «More than Naked Fish, more than any other place!» He said «we don’t cut thin here!“He said «let me get you another piece of fish» and he asked Maricela to show him what she cut. She started cutting another piece and while she was doing that he said «CUT IT THICKER!» So there you have it right there she’s cutting it way too thin and he’s asking her to cut it thicker and noticing that what I was saying was true and I’m trying not to laugh in the process. So she cuts this piece and holds it up in air dangling it like it’s some kind of friggin trophy mackinaw. Now I’m being nice and I said «thank you very much.» I was very polite to him but it was still too thin! LOL. So he give me the check and said he was going to take off a soda for us and with the 1 order plus the roll and a soda it was $ 20.00 bucks. No biggy, I’m happy to pay. The thing of it is the quality is bad, the service is bad, the manager argues with the customer and the menu looks like something I have seen on Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. Too many things on the menu so you know with that many items some things are probably not going to be fresh. Kim Lee’s needs to sell their old U-​Haul advertising trucks in the parking lot near the 395 and close their doors. If that place survives another year I will be shocked! It’s funny as I look at these other posts how they are so one sided to being so great and the others are exactly what we had experienced, bad everything! I’m a local in G-​Ville I will never go there again and neither will my friends and family after this last trip. Reel in your lines, turn off the burners, and close your doors for good. This place is terrible!!.
For my credibility on this review my choices for great sushi in the Carson Valley?, Kei Sushi on HWY 50 Carson City (Awesome quality, great service, Chef Michael who also works part time up at Samourai in Tahoe is the best!). Tahoe Sushi choices are Samourai Michael, A-​Je, and Makoto are awesome chefs and know how to run a sushi restaurant. Naked Fish, Off The Hook, Sushi Pier and Sushi Kai on the 2^nd floor at Harrah’s are all good choices. Other excellent restaurants in the Carson Valley are Saletti’s, CV Steak, Buona Sera, Le Ferme in Genoa and Thai Jasmine. which has great Thai food and it’s right across the street from Kum Lee’s. Hunan has good Chinese also and a block away. The new manager at Kim Lee’s was rude and looked like Fred Sanford from Sanford and Son’s and what did Fred Sanford sell? Junk and that what we have there at Kim Lee’s junk that no one should eat!

I have owned property in Gardnerville since 1996 and have visited to this establishment twice. The service has to be the worst service I’ve ever experienced in Northern Nevada. It took 30 minutes before the first sushi rolls came out. We were a group of 4 adults and two children. We were the only people in the whole place other than a group of 5. There was their sushi food preparers and only one server/​host/​cashier who actually is the investor/​owner. Over a period of 30 minutes, 14 people came in and all of them were served prior to us. When we were finally served, the orders for two of the children came out almost 30 minutes after the sushi rolls. The server forgot what we ordered and had to go to the kitchen three times to make sure that french fries and chicken nuggets could be finished. I had to actually ask the sushi chefs for our food order for the rest of us since he had only brought out one fricking order out to us in 30 minutes. The server, whose name is Mike, was horrible at taking orders and prioritizing customers orders. He was forgetful, rude, agitated and the worst at actually following through on bringing food out to us. I had to remind him multiple times of our orders. Mike was kurt and seemed put off that he had to be reminded to bring our orders. The majority of the other customers sat at the counter seating and had their food way prior to us even though they sat down 20 to 30 minutes after us. Mike blamed he was the only guy staffed to serve but when we left he stated that he didn’t schedule anyone thinking that it would be slow 2 days prior to Valentines Day. I want to be honest for all who read this. This guy seemed to have no business to be in the restaurant industry at all. Zero! At the very least, he has no business to greet people or serve anyone. He has almost zero tact and almost no ability to multitask. Mike’s personality was that of a DMV employee who was bothered by the very fact they had to actually be at work. He was short in response and his customer service was almost non-​existent. Mike would be better off to work as a Department of Transportation stop sign holder. If he really wanted to make his business thrive, he would hire a real server who loved doing their job with pride. Someone who could remember an order and be courteous to their customers. I really tried to be patient with him and had to ask him multiple times that we either were missing orders or he had failed to even put the order in. While waiting for our food, a different family of 5 sat next to us and never received any food during the 45 minutes that I observed them. I had plenty of time to watch and grimace. The original group of 5 that were present upon out arrival left while we waited for our food. That family appeared to have been served their food but since they were the only ones when we arrived, who knows how fast he was with them. Mike offered a very off handed remark about how he never thought the week would have been busy even though Valentines was two days away. If he was the business partner, why not assume any day could be busy and at least schedule one real server who had the experience and attitude needed to serve your customers with good service? As long as this guy is running the show, I’m not ever spending any time nor money here. Ridiculous. One more thing, the sushi chefs appear to be Spanish speakers only or have very limited English speaking ability. They were almost no help in making sure we had our food.

Service is friendly & quick, but the dishes I had in this location so far fall short of the same items in the Carson City location. Teriyaki Chicken is my absolute favorite in Carson along with the Rice Balls. Neither one of these would hit my top 10 here in Minden. I do like the idea of having both the deli & wings in this location as well & will definitely will be back to try those, but will stick to the Carson store for my Japanese dishes.

I love this place! I am so glad that there is a place like Kim Lee’s in Gardnerville! This place is a little strange at first because it is part sushi bar, part American diner you can get burgers, chicken wings, sandwiches, and other American diner food along side fantastic sushi!
I adore the staff! Some of my favorite rolls to get there are: the wendy, the lilly, Godzilla, and the heavenly rice balls are fabulous! If you are a fan of sushi try this place. If you are not such a fan of sushi, try this place, because they have many other things to tickle your taste buds. I took my parents here and they had Yaki Soba, and Udon noodle bowls. They were very pleased with their meals and they even enjoyed the sushi rolls that I made them try.

There are a few times when one has great sushi and this was one of them. Nevada roll with lime, avocado, and tiger shrimp and very fresh albacore! California rolls will now seem blasé after this roll. Before eating, brush with a tinge of rooster sauce to make the lime in the roll come alive!

This place is BOMB! All you can eat sushi for a good price and the sushi is delicious. I’ve been here twice and both times I left satisfied. I would highly recommend the Red Dragon roll and the Choto roll. Mmmmm! The Breakfast roll is tasty too! The people that work here are friendly and both times I’ve been here I have been highly satisfied. Check this place out!

The sushi here is always fresh and its a good price for all you can eat. I highly recommend Kevin he is my favorite chef there. If he is too busy then go for Joel. But only those two I don’t remember her name but this one girl gave me rolls that had nothing in them and were falling apart before I even touched them.
The staff is really nice here and the service is a good pace. I am only giving this four stars though because the other food is just kind of okay it is nothing spectacular and the chicken wings often come over breaded too!

Love this place for lunch. Willing to make special rolls and brown rice if you call ahead.

When I moved to San Diego I wish I could have taken this place with me!
#1– When I was living here the price for all you can eat sushi was like 15 – 16 dollars… For all you can eat sushi that price is amazing.
#2– Order a Lily Roll and become a better person, no, a better human being. Not only is this roll absolutely ridiculously amazing but it’s life changing. Just go put one in your mouth and you will see what I’m taking about.
#3– The sushi chefs are the best! They’re fun and all around great at what they’re doing. I always have a good laugh and a great roll when Ken’s working!
I wish I could place a delivery order. It would take 9 hours but it would be so worth it.

Local, I used to frequent more often but the service is answering phones, cashier and waitress all together sometimes and you can find yourself waiting to be serviced. The sushi can take quite a long time to arrive also, so since I like the actual food I’ve opted to take out. This way I still can enjoy the Good sushi but eat on my terms, more enjoyable. Also a nice option when your working and don’t have the two hours it can take to eat there.

We always have good food and service here! We like Kevin the best when we have AUCE sushi.
We don’t under stand why some are picking on the owner Tony. We’ve meet him a number of times and have always had a good experience with Tony and his staff.
Food: 5 Stars
Service: 4 Stars
Value: 4 Stars

Stopped in randomly on a road trip. We were a little wary as it seemed just this random mishmash of a restaurant with only one other table of customers. However, everything we ordered was outstanding. I had the tempura, others had the chicken udon (very flavorful), a burger that was said to be good, and the chicken teriyaki which was nothing short of amazing. We also tried the Red Dragon roll with great results. All in all, we were very pleased to have stumbled upon this strange mash up restaurant. Service was attentive and good, everything was clean!

The soba noodles that stood out with my last visit did not make the cut a week ago.

Huge menu, service is excellent, may be the best burger in town! Sushi is fresh, not the best I have ever had, but damn good for a landlocked state. Very reasonable prices and at dinner time you can also get tasty prime-​rib!

Okay for one, the people who gave less than 4 stars don’t know what the heck they’re talking about. Sorry but you really can’t judge the quality of actual good sushi unless you’ve been to Japan and/​or Hawaii. Yes you can judge if you like the taste or not, but as for them actually making good sushi or not, please do Travel abroad rather than act like you know SUSHI!
Okay, I come to Carson CIty/​Gardnerville every other month now to visit friends/​family since flights are cheap from Denver. And my Must hit spots are ALWAY Kim Lee’s and The FLower shop Café. It’s a MUST!
The first time I visited here was over a year ago and has been there over 8x’s and a few times for Lunch and a late dinner. My ex-​hub told me we had to check it out and he likes to get my opinion of what I think. Well I use to be a sush snob a.k.a (only ate/​liked sushi made by Japanese chefs) but Sushi is the IN things and has actually caught on in the states THANK GOD! I grew up eating this stuff in Hawaii and well Helloo I am married to a 100% Japanese Man. lol Yes, Yes, I know you don’t have to be Japanes or Asian to appreciate and know good sushi, but you do should have atleast been eating it for a decade or so to actually know good sushi and sashimi.
Well the low down is, this place, though has a Korean name and the owners may not be Japanese and the chefs are nice looking young boys, well let me just tell you… THEY ARE THE BOMB!!! So nice and love there rolls. I have a thing about trying different places because there are always those signature sushi rolls each place has. The only one that seems to be universal and made the same way by all is the california roll, but ofcourse that didn’t come from the Homeland.
Well we always get the all you can eats and sometimes order side items and take out from the Deli side. Yummy as well.
The signature rolls are an we always get atleast 12 plates, yes we can eat the hell out of it.
Breakfast Roll — a citrus like roll with crab on top
Very S & M roll
Saswa –breaded clams w/​sake sauce
Spicy Crap Hand roll
Lily Roll, I think it’s called
hmm…well pretty much we’ve had everything Except the ones with UNAGI (eel) to chewy for me and my ex, but my Husband now, eats the hell out of it… I just can’t do it, but the eel sauce is pretty good.
Oh only one bad thing, the Miso soup is just the broth, not seaweed or tofu in it, and that’s what my daughter loves the most.

Kim Lee’s is a 4 in 1 (Ice Cream, Doughnuts, Sushi, and Tony’s Hot Dogs or something liek that) restaraunt which is a plus, BUT;
1. The ice cream is ehh, Ok. The frozen yogurt is great.
2. Doughnuts: they never have any made
3. Sushi: The sushi is fantastic. Takes forever to get it but when you do it is good.
4. Tony’s Dogs — They are good too, but the OWNER is very rude to his employees. He yells at them in front of customers, we go in once or twice every other wek and NEVER have we seen the same waitress twice, He can not keep employees which in turn MAKES BAD FOR BUSINESS!!!

My GF and I decided on Sushi last night and picked Kim Lee’s for the 1^st time since we moved here. We were seated quickly and the sushi was tasteful, my only complaint was some of the rolls fell apart easily. overall though it was a nice dine out.
Side Note: Its not just Kim Lee’s but the prices for all you can eat sushi around the Carson Valley/​Carson City area is outrageous for the quality. This is NOT LA or SF. I used to work for a Japanese motorcycle company in LA and sushi was a way of life. To get 4 or even 5 stars, the chefs around here really need to step it up and learn how to do sushi right, not just read the «sushi for dummies» book, buy a sushi mat and have at it.

We had six oysters, the Spicy Tuna Roll, the Arizona Roll, and the Godzilla. Everything was ‘ok’, not outstanding, not to die for, but ‘ok’.
I’d go back, but it might be a while.