Ray’s Sushi

Taking over for the previous El Burro Mexican restaurant, Ray’s sushi offers surprisingly fresh sushi for a decent price and large quantity. This place is huge so seating will not be a problem. What to order here — both of the hamachi and salmon kamas are good; very tender and flavorful. You also won’t go wrong with ordering straight up sushi (nigiri or sashimi). Their rolls aren’t bad neither.
One thing to note: Ray obviously didn’t spend a lot on redecorating the place so it’s still very much Mexican restaurant on both the exterior and interior. This provides a dining experience that is very similar eating a white watermelon.

They should of stayed as a small restaurant. Reservations for 6 at 12pm, and its 110 as im writing this review and NO FOOD has been served yet. Ask our waiter whats going on, and he starts to stutter. Never coming back aftee this meal.
And for their screw up, they couldnt even offer a free appetizer for the damn wait. WOW!!!

First time for us to visit this… another Chinese owned Japanese restaurant. This place used to be a Mexican restaurant and it is huge!
I ordered the bento to test the water. Beef was good and fish was fresh. Need to come again to try out the sushi.

Came here for the first time today with some friends. We did not know what to expect but this place was actually really good. We enjoyed all of our sushi rolls we got including our dinner entrée. They have a HUGE list of sushi rolls that you can choose from including baked, cooked, hand, raw, and etc… the list consists of about 3 – 5 pages of all their rolls ONLY. but total of about 10 pages for the full menu. The sushi rolls range from $ 4.5 to about $ 15 depending on which ones you pick from. The quality was good and portions were reasonable too. We all enjoyed the lunch we shared together and will be coming back soon again with a big appetite.

I didn’t order sushi tonight, but the octopus, tuna and salmon pieces in my Ray’s special salad were very fresh and delicious. Beef foilyaki was very tender though, as expected, we waited a long time for it.

Came here twice. Both times, the same type of food consistency are not there. The Oyaku Don cost us $ 9.50. It has so much rice, but they only gave 3 – 4 bite size chicken. That’s like the feeling of paying $ 1.50 for the chicken and $ 8.00 for the rice. We also orders Tonkatsu Donburi and we felt an over whelming amount of rice, but got a few pieces of Tonkatsu.
The other order we had was Teriyaki Chicken Bento. Somehow, the chicken we had for the second trip smells a bit stale. Not sure what it is, but it definitely is not pleasing.
Overall, the environment is unique, but the food definitely don’t feel like authentic Japanese. Do not plan to return to this place for awhile.

It’s been a while since I’ve had Ray’s Sushi, actually since their old Hayward location. The old Ray’s Sushi was my favorite place and the place where I had my first sashimi (and fell in love with it… years ago haha). Since it’s opened up again, I finally got the chance to go to Ray’s Sushi again and I kind of left eh… the old place was better.
The place itself here is lovely! It’s very clean and lots of seating. When my boyfriend and I walked in, we were behind a family. The lady at the front was on the phone so we waited… and waited… and waited. Several people walked right past us to get menus and etc., still waited. We tried to get anyone’s attention but gazes were averted. After a while, another lady finally came out from the dining room and everyone was seated. Our sever came fairly quickly after that and our orders were taken, it’s nice to still be asked if I was a student, I guess I really do look younger than I am…
The orders did take a while and the hot tea I ordered was… lukewarm at most, after a refill too :(When we did get our order, the dragon roll was very big… more rice than filling, definitely couldn’t eat in one bite. I really like that the Tonkatsu was fried in smaller sizes (2 pieces instead of 1 hunk) because it’s sure to be cooked. As for the Sukiyaki, a little on the salty than sweet side, but still delicious! The portion size was huge and the noodles were a lot longer than expected.
Prices are fair was always and decent for a Japanese/​sushi dinner. Our bill was quick though since it was an older man that handled it, and was very friendly, chatted with us a bit :)
Final Thoughts: The sashimi is just as big as the old location, one of my favorite things about this place (pretty fresh too). The front service could use a boost… hopefully since if someone was cranky enough… they’d leave.

My wife and I live in Fremont and we’ve driven by Ray’s several times, so tonight we thought we’d give it a shot.
As soon as we walked in we were greeted and seated by the very friendly staff. About 30 seconds after we were seated the nice busboy asked if we would like glasses of water. Then the server came by and asked for our drink order. Another server delivered the drinks within minutes. Then the server took our order and was very kind by answering all of our questions and you could tell he knew the menu, which is huge, backwards and forwards.
My wife ordered a lion king roll and I ordered a bento box. We both ordered miso soup. Within minutes our soup came out and it was delicious. Then our entrees came out and they were perfect.
Besides the food being really good, I must say the staff is really amazing. From the bus boy, to the waiters, to the manager and even Ray himself, who was working behind the sushi bar… everyone helps each other to assure that each table got impeccable service. The place was pretty crowded, but we got service like we were the only table there! Everyone was friendly and professional and we can’t wait to return.
I’ve been in the Foodservice industry for about 40 years and let me tell you, Ray knows how to run a restaurant! I wish I could choose 10 stars instead of only 5!
Anthony and Jigi
Fremont, CA

Got there at 6:10 pm on a Sunday. They said it would take 25 – 30 minutes «at the worst» for four people to be seated. An hour and a half later: nothing. And at that point there were still three small parties ahead of us on the waiting list, not including those with reservations who had to wait too. So we finally just gave up and left. It was Mother’s Day, so I’ll at least give them that. But apparently, a lot of dirty tables were empty and not being bussed.
It’s understandable that a restaurant would be busy on a holiday, but at least give an honest/​realistic estimated wait time or updates if it may take longer than anticipated. It would save potential customers a lot of time, hunger, and dissappointment.
As for the food, maybe next time.

First I want to say that the food is awesome… the potions are big and the taste is just as big. Such a great environment and feel.
But the down falls… service is slow as a sloth… and when I say slow… I mean takes forever to get a refill and something as small as lemons took forever to get…
Will I ever come back to eat here when I come back to visit… of course I will… the great food out weighs the slow service…

They relocated from the Hayward location! Much bigger, nicer, and more sushi roll options!
+ Fantastic rolls
+ Pricier, but HUGE portions. (3 rolls filled us 4 adults!)
+ Not a typical authentic Japanese restaurant — the interior was a little rustic, and the exterior more Mediterranean
We ordered:
1. Lion King (Biggest Lion King I’ve seen, and a must to order — California roll baked with salmon on top, drizzled with special mayo sauce — $ 13.95)
2. Spicy California Crunch (Deep fried California roll drizzled with spicy mayo sauce — $ 7.50)
3. Dragon (Also humongous — $ 13.95)
Only giving this place 4 stars because our server, Tanny, didn’t provide great customer service. All the other servers were pretty nice, but Tanny had some attitude and didn’t seem happy to help us.

I came here because I noticed this Mexican place I use to go to turn into a sushi house, and what I was most curious about is how they turn this beautiful Mexican looking vila into a sushi house. Told my bf I want to try it and it turns out ray is a well know sushi house that moved from SF.
The atmosphere was very nice, very big and open and it seems like they do lunch on the patio. When you step into Ray’s, you don’t feel like your are in Fremont anymore. Plenty of parking, lots of tables.
The sushi were delicious, not to mention huge in portion size.
Would come again. My only concern was the amount of time it took for food to come out. Other than that, had a great experience.

2^nd time dining in this restaurant and the food is good. Sushi is fresh and rolls are huge size. The service is fast and servers are pro actively asking if we need anything.
The price is comparable to other sushi place and the size is huge!
Will be coming back again.

Came on a Friday night at 7:30pm and the entire restaurant was packed.
Started off with the agedashi tofu, which came in 6 pieces. I love the crispy skin and the sauce, but I think the tofu could come in half the size and would be perfect I also ordered the combination bento with chicken teriyaki, shrimp tempura, and california roll. My mom ordered a combination bento with sashimi and it came with 4 large pieces. I tried one piece of tuna and salmon, both were quite delicious and fresh.
It was also my cousin’s birthday and they were nice enough to give complimentary ice cream. I tried the red bean ice cream and it was fantastic!
The manager on the floor was very kind and helpful. He would come back and check on us more frequently than the server did. Very down to earth guy.

Fresh fish served in generous portions! Biggest complaint with sushi restaurants is that I always feel I have to ration my portions and not unleash the hunger onto my food or I might finish in 10 minutes. Not so here! Each sashimi slice is quite large and, I swear, each slice is about 1.0−1.5 cm thick! (No I didn’t bring a ruler though tempted now to carry one.)
If you like the fattier fishes, you definitely have to try their hamachi. Always fresh and super tasty!
Also tried their Titanic Roll and the roll with unagi and avocado. Based off these two, I would have to say go big or go home. Even though the Titanic Roll was twice the price of the other, it was at least 3 – 4 times bigger in size. Both were pretty good, though the imitation crab on the Titanic Roll was a little messy.
Love the overall Spanish-​pub look of the space. Definitely a good place to have a party or a date where you want to impress!

Sometimes you have meals that make you silent.
This was one of those. A business associate hosted a recent weekday lunch here. Dining at their crab shack across the road in October, my friends joked to me that there’s a new «Roy’s» (as in Hawaii) just opened. At first glance, I was shocked at this location. Centrally located by several notable eateries (85°C and), this revamp of a large Mexican restaurant is now home for Ray’s. Arriving around noon, we entered the half filled dining room after placing our drink orders at their outdoor drinks bar left of the entrance.
We didn’t receive any menus as our host spoke with Ray near the kitchen in composing our feast.
Here’s what we shared:
1^st course — Lobster salad (
) — Thinking this was a simple salad, the hidden lobster pieces were a nice surprise.
2^nd course — Sashimi platter (
) — The highlights were the uni mound, amaebi, hamachi, mirugai, and scallop. Only criticism is that I wished the sashimi slices were thinner.
3^rd course — Grilled mushrooms, misoyaki cod, and robata beef tongue (
) — The mushrooms were tender and not overly dry. Beef tongue was tender but didn’t really stand out. Miso cod was decent, but my bar is high (Roy’S Hawaii Kai and the House).
4^th course — Hamachi kama (
) — Suffering from food coma by the time this came, I did not take a bite and brought it home for a future meal. Great flavor still as a leftover and the dipping sauce was perfect.
5^th course — Sushi platter (
) — The least memorable course given that we struggled to finish our meal. We willed ourselves on this as it wouldn’t do well as leftovers.
Being stuffed with all the food, i was relieved that there was the dessert course was light, a mochi ice cream closer. My drink, Ray’s fruit iced tea (
), actually was a premeal dessert in itself.
How can this be anything less than 4-​stars, given the special treatment that we were given from my host being a longtime regular. The leftovers fed me for three more meals and that’s no exaggeration. My host explained that this new location is a remodel of a previous Mexican restaurant, hence the villa design. The dining room has a banquet room feel, conducive for a family and festive dining atmosphere. The above meal fed three of us and then some. The service was quick and efficient with all necessary condiments provided.
As we left, we heard a voice from the host stand which emanated from Ray, the restaurant owner. Hard to beat door to door service.
Silence is golden except when it’s because you’re in a food coma.

Ray’s sushi is one of the newer sushi joints around. Having taken over where El Burro used to be, hints of Mexican décor can be seen in the newly remodeled Japanese restaurant.
While the restaurant itself is pretty cool by terms of its decorations (big, heavy wooden tables, bricked walls, dark castle-​like ambiance), the food left me rather unimpressed. It wasn’t so much that the food was bad… It just didn’t stand out very much. Kind of like. just another plate of sushi to me. We ordered a roll of raw sushi, and a roll of cooked sushi (dragon roll by default), and my first thoughts were, eh, I’ve had better elsewhere. The dragon roll, specifically, was cold.
The poke we got were overpriced too and a very small portion. At $ 13, you’d expect to get a bigger bowl, no? Especially with all the new poke bowl restaurants popping up in the bay for less than $ 13/​bowl with extras.
The service I experienced seem better than other Unilocalers, since our orders were taken quickly. However, I ordered an extra dragon roll to-​go for after the meal, for a coworker and that order was never put in. I ended up being 30 min late to work waiting for it. There also didn’t seem to set tables of responsibility for servers as we had 3 – 4 different servers help us during the 2 hours we were there… The manager/​owner himself even came around to help clear our table.
The other time I was there was with my coworkers and service was actually really good considering we had a party of about 15 people. Each of us ordered bento boxes and we shared a few appetizers ranging from the chicken karaage, agashi tofu, poke. The bento boxes were pretty good and the portions are big and worth its price tag. Honestly, this is probably what I would go for if I were to visit Ray’s Sushi again, since their rolls are unimpressive and pricey.
The silver lining of this place is that there is no wait time, even during rush hours like lunch/​dinner. If you’re looking for SOMEWHERE to have quick bites of sushi to fulfill your sushi cravings, disregarding its price and sub-​par rolls, this could be a good option.

Came here for a friend’s birthday party and there were probably between 50 – 60 guests. The food surprisingly didn’t take too long to come out, and I found it to be OK. The servers seemed quite prepared and ready to provide us with drinks (water, hot tea, sake, etc.) immediately and didn’t mix up too many orders. Win! I was actually quite impressed with their service.
They also have a big banquet room in the back where we were all seated, since we had a large party. Very nice!
As for the food, I wasn’t incredibly impressed, and somewhat underwhelmed. The Firecracker had a cooler name than how it really tasted. I was expecting some type of «kick» or super flavorful taste, but it was pretty much like a standard role with different sauces on it. The garlic edamame would have been better if it was served hot and if the garlic and soy sauce flavor was infused throughout the entire dish. It all trickled down to the bottom but some pieces were more seasoned than others. More flavor would have drastically improved the dish. Lastly, the New Park Roll was OK also. Nothing exciting about it, and the rice on the sushi was a little bit more mushy than what I was used to.
If I came back here again for dinner, cool, but nothing I would travel out to Newark for. Great experience though, but definitely A-​OK.

What does“soft opening” mean? How long does a «soft opening» last? Does it mean you give the staff a pass for confusing your order? Does it mean menu items are not available? And for how long? I don’t think reviewers /​customers are any less critical when they are paying full price for the experience. We loved Ray’s in Hayward and were so excited to try the new Ray’s in Fremont. Two and half weeks since opening. Here are the initial Pro’s and Con’s and will update as the on the next visit.
Pro’s
Big new space
New décor nice table and chairs
Roomy open restaurant.
New clean restrooms
Con’s
Higher prices
Smaller cuts of fish
Confused wait staff.
Boring menu
No seats at the sushi bar.
Service is comical. Server brought us double order of soup. then came back to take back one bowl. hmmm. Plenty of Parking. $ 170 before tip. We will let them get on track before coming back.

Soft opening but it’s already busy and they have a lot kinks to work through. We ended up with dishes that sort of looked like what we ordered but slightly off, and then they kept bringing dishes that weren’t ours.
All the rolls were average and how I remembered Ray’s to be when it was in Hayward. This time around, they were pretty stingy on the actual raw fish in each roll. I would’ve expected more since it just opened.
Sea bass bento is around $ 21 but there are 3 big pieces. The sauce on this and on the chicken teriyaki were a bit too salty though.
Got complimentary oysters because they couldn’t find the table it belonged to. Unfortunately there was a small worm in one of the oysters. It was still… alive.
They have a separate café with fancy looking milk tea type drinks. Décor is updated with a slightly modern but warm feel. It will be a good place for groups once they get things in shape.