Vivify

Best food in Mount Shasta!!! and great service… good price…

This was one of those restaurants that had I not been with the family, including two kids, I would’ve walked out of without ordering. The service was about what I’ve come to expect from Mt Shasta… Just enough above bad that I’ll still leave a tip, but far from good. The first thing I noticed on the menu is what made me want to walk out. At the top is a little disclaimer saying all the things they won’t do such as split checks, substitutions, etc… There’s also a bit about the kitchen is slow and the dishes will come out as they’re prepared and if your dish doesn’t come out with the rest of the food you should eat off other people’s plates. I pointed this out to my girlfriend and we both laughed knowing I wasn’t going to enjoy this meal. Of course my food was the last to show up, in fact everyone else had pretty much finished when mine arrived. I had ordered the chicken sukiyaki. This was one of the more disgusting dishes I’ve ever been served. Had I not been very hungry I wouldnt have eaten any of it. It consisted mainly of a mound of boiled cabbage that looked like it had been sitting around for several days, some equally disgusting mushrooms, and some even more disgusting grey chicken that I didn’t dare eat. In fact the only thing I ate was the tofu and some of the broth. When I finished that I threw my money on the table and left without even finishing my beer.
I will say that the salads and California rolls the rest of my party ordered looked pretty good and fresh. I can be grumpy when it comes to restaurants as well. I usually prefer to cook my own meals, as I make much better food than what is commonly served in restaurants. So take this review with a grain of salt. Just remember, if when you first sit down you start feeling like you won’t like the place you should listen to that little voice and run.

Out of business

4 ½ Stars
Vivify gets 4 ½ stars from me, if Unilocal allowed half stars.
I’ve been coming to Mount Shasta and Mt. Shasta City for twenty five straight years for pilgrimage and nature time on the mountain. It is also a pleasure for me to enjoy the small town and community of Mt. Shasta City.
I have been coming faithfully to Vivify from when they first opened at least six years ago and even used to frequent the restaurant that occupied the same building prior for many years (Serge’s Restaurant).
The Japanese Fusion dishes are usually well prepared, delicious and feels very good to me when I eat them. I Love their Ramen and any dish with Japanese Basil. Their rice is a combination of white rice, red rice and black rice, but is probably more than ninety percent white rice. I like it.
In fact I love just about everything I’ve ever ordered at Vivify over the years. I like the comfortable feeling I have when I am there whether it is crowded or no other quests at all. I like the option of eating on the deck in warm weather or near the fire place in the winter.
On my most recent visit last week my server was Amanda who also is the dessert chef. They had run out of the Sake Ice Cream so I tried her Porter Beer Ice Cream. I loved it!
Bottom line, Vivify has always been a very pleasant and satisfying organic food and restaurant experience for me and my guests.
Vivify is my favorite restaurant in Mt. Shasta City!
Review 0017

4 ½ Stars
Vivify gets 4 ½ stars from me, if Unilocal allowed half stars.
I’ve been coming to Mount Shasta and Mt. Shasta City for twenty-​five straight years for pilgrimage and nature time on the mountain. It is also a pleasure for me to enjoy the small town and community of Mt. Shasta City.
I have been coming faithfully to Vivify from when they first opened at least six years ago, and even used to frequent the restaurant that occupied the same building prior for many years, Serge’s Restaurant.
The Japanese fusion dishes are usually well prepared, delicious, and feels very good to me when I eat them. I love their ramen and any dish with Japanese basil. Their rice is a combination of white rice, red rice, and black rice; but is probably ninety percent white rice — I like it.
In fact, I love just about everything I’ve ever ordered at Vivify over the years. I like the comfortable feeling I have when I am there, whether it is crowded or no other quests at all. I like the option of eating on the deck in warm weather or near the fire place in the winter.
On my most recent visit last week, my server was Amanda who also is the dessert chef. They had run out of the Sake Ice Cream, so I tried her Porter Beer Ice Cream. I loved it!
Bottom line, Vivify has always been a very pleasant and satisfying organic food restaurant experience for me and my guests.
Vivify is my favorite restaurant in Mt. Shasta City!
Review 0017

It’s nice to have a place with good vegan options and one that uses some local and organic food. But as far as ambiance, quality, service, presentation, etc compared to pricing goes, they are lacking for sure! It’s a casual, funky place, mismatched, chipped dishes, so-​so service, uncomfortable seats, funky patio, etc, with the prices of a nice, upscale place.
The raw, vegan desserts almost make up for their other problems though! ;)

Vivify is under new ownership and it shows. I hadn’t been in over 3 years or so and my husband and I visited the area during the holiday (4^th of July) week. I was excited to go back to Vivify from past experience and was sadly disappointed with poor service.
Our server brought out all 4 dishes at once which filled up our outside table and we both felt rushed, so that some of the plates could be removed. The timing of plates was silly (you can put the salad in the fridge, buddy). And the place wasn’t packed, but we rarely saw our server who we felt could care less about our experience of the place. The people behind us waited a LONG time and I felt like passing them one of our plates because we were so overloaded.
We ordered sashimi, eggplant, dragon roll and a small salad. The sashimi was fresh (always thought that it’s amazing for Shasta to get wonderful fresh fish), but served in large pieces that were challenging to eat (i.e. practicality and presentation points are low). Spicy eggplant was overly greasy. Dragon roll tasted great and fell apart, whatever. Just wondering if the guys in the kitchen know how to make an authentic sushi roll that holds its’ contents.
Service = 1 Star. Food = 3 Star, so I land at a 2 Star overall. Won’t go back. Bummer.

I have to agree with the reviewer who may have also been there tonight. I hate to have to write this review, but I actually felt sick to my stomach after eating at Vivify tonight and those who are looking at it as a fine dining choice should be forwarned.
It just appeared that there is no real chef in the kitchen. While the portions of the appetizers were a good size, everything came one at a time — which didn’t give us a chance to play the flavors off of each other.
We ordered the spicy eggplant (pretty good), the mushroom chips (flavorful but overly oily) and the agedashi tofu (which was not agedashi tofu, but prefried tofu — a complete shock).
For our main, we ordered their original sushi pieces. The presentation in concept was good, but the execution was not. First off, the rice… genmai as a sushi rice can work if well prepared. This was not. Overly doused with sushi vinegar which completly drowned out the flavors of the fish and sauces and a ‘slapped together’ set-​up, not nigiri style at all — looked like whomever put it together was a complete novice at sushi building.
The tea was good.
All in all, extremely disappointing. There appeared to be some trouble with the kitchen staff as well and to top everything off, the towel dispenser in the men’s bathroom didn’t work either.

I have admittedly only been to Vivify twice. The first time, I was pretty disappointed. I ordered the poke, and i should have brought a microscope to see how much raw tuna i got, compared to other sushi places i frequent, and for nearly twice the price. Nothing else really stood out either, from the experience. I had decided to not return. Recently, however, i gave it a second try.
Let me say first and foremost, that the service was great, and we had an awesome Server! The ambiance and setting was enjoyable really, and i had a fun time while there, with friends.
But really, paper napkins at this joint? Im thinking, organic restaurant, and we are going to throw these things away all day, filling up a landfill. I went through several during my sitting. And for the price of the food, cloth napkins are a must. Really?
I felt that the miso was a little weak, but tasty. I shared a Super Spicy Dragon roll I believe, and while not that spicy, it was the really good, and by far my favorite item I’ve had so far! I would go back and have just that and maybe another miso probably.
Everything else was decent, but not worth remembering, since i dont. Pretty spendy, but i do believe they have a high tolerance for quality of ingredients.
I recommended Shiso leaf as an additive option or occasionally with specials.
That being said, I will probably stay home and cook, and or stick to the taco truck and the sandwich shop in Weed. I do wish my blessings on the business, being it’s really tough up here to survive, (especially with the lack of snow this year, for a ski town) and they do try hard. Good Luck!

I ordered a Tazuna Roll (salmon, tuna, & hamachi outside, avocado inside with tobiko and a quail egg [which I got on the side] on top).
The fish and avocado were delicious and very fresh, but the stickiness of the rice distracted from those flavors. The rice was almost difficult to chew and had a mochi-​like consistency, making it quite overpowering.
However, as a whole, the roll was quite good and there was a huge amount of tobiko on top of the six pieces of sushi.
The rest of our group ordered chicken sukiyaki, tempura udon and romaine lettuce salad. Mostly uneventful. The tempura had an odd texture, but perhaps that’s due to the organic style of food. The brown rice was delicious when it eventually arrived.
Even though this restaurant is pricey, don’t expect a high level of service; just laid back casual.

Who would have thought one can find good Japanese food in Mt Shasta?! I would have never found this place if it wasn’t for Unilocal.
Hubby and I were on a California road trip this summer. We were eating all kinds of good food on the way to Mt. Shasta (it was our second to last stop), but me being Japanese, I was craving some Japanese food. I was ready to kill somebody if I had to see more bread on my table.
So Vivify was like a lifesaver to me.
We went on a Wednesday night, but it was pretty crowded. The crowd was a mix of locals and tourists like us.
We started off with a salad and cucumber sunomono. The salad was very good. I want to know how they make that dressing!
For entrée, I got Vegetable tempura combo and he got Chirashi sushi. It was both very good. My tempura combo came with rice and miso soup. Omg, I was so happy to eat rice and miso soup!!! (I think only Japanese understand this feeling). Hubby was happy with his chirashi sushi too.
Our waiter was a Japanese guy. He was very nice, friendly, and efficient. I told him that the water they gave us tasted really good, and he told us it was tap water! Omg, it tasted so much better than any bottled water I’ve ever had. Well, needless to say, I filled up all my water bottles next day before we left Mt. Shasta!!!
Thanks vivify, I will definitely be back!

Vivify, Wonderful, Brown Rice + veggie food, Take out + Patio — hard to find cooked Brown Rice in Mt. Shasta even the Health food deli is a ‘no go’
— I headed out of Mt. Shasta up the I-​5 hitting the miles to a speed trap $ 205 — 10 miles over ! — Do U wonder why I was speeding?
…The officer said I guess I wont be seeing you in Weed, CA for the court date,
…told him not to count on it. :)… just maybe… it’s only 3000 miles to ‘somewhere’

I’m surprise to find top reviews when I did a search for «Mt Shasta Dinner» on Unilocal.This was the first review that popped up and I’m so thankful Unilocal led me to this Japanese restaurant. It was not on the main stripe so I would not have known of this place if it wasn’t for my smart phone.
This place is owned by original owners of Kabuto sushi in SF which moved up to Mt. Shasta.
There is an outdoor patio and an indoor table that overlooks the Mt. Shasta.
Food was surprisingly good but a tad bit expensive as «ginger» was considered extra and you have to pay for it. (you have to pay for extra ginger or pay extra for a side of soup or rice)
*hamachi pear — it was okay.
* spider roll was really good
*unagi with avocado was also really good.
This place is vegan/​organic so prices are slightly more.
I posted a photo of the organic carrot goji berry cake.
I would definitely come back again.

Thanks, Unilocalers, for recommending Vivify — we stopped here on our way home from Oregon.
I had sushi — the hamachi pear, the dover sole, and tekka rolls; all were fresh, tasty, and delicious (not to mention tasty!). My wife had the salmon dinner — also tasty. And we had sorbets for dessert which knocked our socks off.
Add the view of Mt. Shasta from our table, and you get five stars for sure!

I’m not a big sushi guy. I always thought it was because I don’t really like the stuff. Turns out, that’s not true, it’s just that I only like it when it’s fantastic.
That’s the way Vivify does it, fan-f’n-tastic. Hamachi and pear, just glorious.
The soba is not too shabby either, great buckwheat aroma anywhere near the bowl, complex and interesting rich brothy flavor. Great stuff.
Like an oasis in the wilderness, you have to stop here.

This is one of the best dining experiences in Mt. Shasta.
I recommend the vegan desserts.

I’m a BIG fan of sushi, so when I finally discovered this hidden treasure in Shasta City, I HAD to try it out!
I had one piece of the unique sushi and the oyster mushroom chips, and my friend ordered the chicken katsu.
The unique sushi included:
Tuna Tar Tar, Hamachi pear, ceviche, crunch and the sauteed red trout.
Each had its own taste and were all very flavorful!
The mushroom chips were delicious and were wonderfully flavored on their own without any other seasoning!
Unfortunately, my friend (who is NOT a sushi fan) said the katsu was a bit bland and the salad that it came with was the most flavorful thing on his plate.
The service was great and we had a really good view of the mountain as the sun set upon it.
If you’re in town and in need of a sushi fix, Vivify is the place to try!
BTW, they are open limited hours 5−8ish PM and closed on Tuesdays.

Vivify is easily the best sushi restaurant in Siskiyou/​Shasta counties, and I also put it in the top 5 restaurants (sushi or otherwise) of that region. That doesn’t mean I think it’s as good as Kru in Sacramento, and the service was a little disorganized, but it’s still twice as good as any of the sushi to be had in Redding. (Where «twice as good» is admittedly a falsely objective measure of my purely subjective opinion.)
Vivify is also a little microcosm representing why I’m ambivalent about Mt. Shasta. That view of the mountain on the day we were there was magnificent. The town is charming. The people are strange.
We were dining with friends/​business associates from Mt. Shasta who call their local circle of friends «the tribe» — and they’re the normal ones. I’ve been around «the tribe» enough to know that they have a genuine sense of community, and also enough to know that they bicker over gas money. It’s hard to argue that that’s not a tribe, I guess. In a way, I’m envious. In a way, I’m not.
The people at the table behind my back comprised a family of right-​wing wackos; the father was telling his young daughter about the imminent end of civilization. «I don’t want to scare you, but there isn’t going to be any money to buy food or clothes — especially for you — and we’re all going to have to do whatever it takes to stay alive.» Straight out of a Cormac McCarthy novel.
At the table opposite the end-​of-​the-​world family, we had a group of new-​agey people saying stuff like, «The whole planet needs to have a total shift in consciousness. I mean a totally complete shift, not in WHAT we believe, but like, HOW we believe. We need to become totally feminized and matriarchal and, like, in tune with Gaia. In fact, do we even need men? With cloning, we totally have to ask ourselves that question.» (This was a guy dining with another guy — I guess the «Iron John» movement is SO 1990s.)

5-​star sushi in such a tiny town!
I very much enjoyed the fresh maguro, hamachi, and sake nigiri. My only complaint is that they are a bit expensive at $ 3 each piece.
The Tazuna Roll at $ 13.25 had so much fresh fish on it! It is salmon, tuna & yellowtail outside /​avocado inside with tobiko & quail egg on top. Delicious!
And the most unique sushi (single piece for $ 3.50) is the Hamachi Pear, which is yellowtail and a sliced pear with a fruity mustard sauce. YUM!
Thanks to fellow Unilocalers for pointing this place out to me. My standby has always been Lily’s, but I LOVE sushi and Vivify ranks right up there with the best. Were I in town longer, I would have tried some of their main dishes, which also looked and sounded spectacular. Unfortunately, it was just an overnight stop to and from Portland to the Bay Area.

On a recent trip to Mt. Shasta from San Francisco, I was looking for some healthy, organic food. The area really lends itself to this, with the clean air, beautiful scenery and all of the mountain climbing and hiking taking place in the surrounding area.
Vivify was an unexpected pleasure. The sushi was delicious, the service was good, if a bit informal. It’s definitely a favorite with the locals and they get special treatment from the staff. I had one of the «Unique» sushi selections — hamachi and pear with mustard sauce. I really enjoyed it.
Gourmet food in a beautiful rustic setting served up in an unpretentious way is very difficult to find, so it’s worth a stop if you’re roughin’ it.

As others have mentioned, Vivify is owned by the original owners of Kabuto Sushi on Geary in San Francisco. I always loved that place when Sachio was there with the great quality of food and his somewhat frantic sushi preparation technique (his head and shoulders bobbing in time) so we had to try Vivify on a recent road-​trip to Oregon.
We ate dinner here twice, once on the way up and once on the way back. The first time we had eggplant with miso sauce and tofu agedashi appetizers followed by sushi. Everything was great though the service was a little slow and it was hard to get the attention of our server when we needed some water.
On the way back we tried other main dishes and shied away from the sushi (except for a spicy tuna handroll). Service was better this time around, but the food was a bit lacking. Unfortunately they were out of the day boat scallops we had been eying our last visit so I had the lamb and my girlfriend had the grilled salmon. Both were overcooked with the lamb much more so than the salmon which was just a bit on the dry side. In addition to being slightly burned and dry, the lamb serving was also 3 thin little lollipops with a good chunk of that being fat so the dish was a bit on the small side. All was not lost as the bed of quinoa, the side veggies, and the curry sauce that came with the lamb were great.
Hopefully the second visit was an anomaly. It definitely brought my rating down a notch, but I’d still recommend Vivify to anyone visiting the area and suggest sticking to the sushi.