Big Eyes Sushi

I walked by this place many times but never went in. I tried it based on a friend suggestion. I can’t wait to go back. Clean place, good food, and extremely friendly staff.

I feel so bad giving this place a Meh review but I’ve had better sushi.
I normally try the sashimi since I think that’s the best way to see what their grade of fish is. It was dry… which I don’t think fresh fish should be. The salmon was just that too, it was underwhelming.
Their avocado salad was good but I don’t see how you can mess that up. I had the celebrity roll and that was moderately decent but if you’re a true sushi snob, not worth the trip here. They put more filler than fish in the sushi.
The people that work here are super friendly but I think you can get better sushi elsewhere.

I love big eye sushi!
The place was so cute and intimate.
It is definitely better to go for lunch.
The sushi was really good.
I know sounds cheesy but it really felt like it was made with care and patience.
The waitress was really nice too

Samuel does it up right. Fish is fresh and tasty, the specialty rolls are creative and fun, and the staff extremely pleasant and polite.
Nice location, very clean, cool exposed brick walls, and very laid back low key atmosphere. Place is never over crowded, you can always get in.
If you want fancy, go to Morimoto. If you want awesome reliable Sushi at a decent price at a low key hole in the wall, this is your place!

The worst meal I can remember. Funny now but awful in the moment.
On the plus side it was not crowded (though I know now why) and the servers were very nice. And then it went downhill… fast. I ordered some sashimi and a ginger salad. The salad was a plate of iceberg with mayo-​type «ginger» dressing. Nasty. Next up is the sashimi. The tuna was FROZEN, hard as a rock, and MEALY. It crumbled in my mouth and if you know sashimi, this is not what you want to have happen.
My boyfriend ordered a chicken teriyake bento box. We heard the microwave go off a few times before we got our food so we were only mildly shocked his meal had been microwaved. Chicken was bland and sitting in a gelatinous sauce accompanied by a chicken nugget (no clue on this???) and some other less entertaining but equally gross sides.
Sure its not that expensive but you couldn’t pay me to go back. Save you money and your stomachs. It deserves no stars.

I’m a little afraid to let the secret out, but this place is an undiscovered gem. I’m not sure how this is even still up and running because it’s never crowded here. Let it be known, though, that the sushi is fantastic. The rolls are inventive and fun. The décor is kind of odd and the service is a little hit or miss depending who your waitress is, but the food itself makes up for it.

Let me preface this by saying I have eaten sushi pretty much all over the world. Outside of Japan, where sushi and its preparation approaches a religion, the best sushi is in the US. In Philadelphia, we are beleesed with a number of very good places, but for the money and convenience, Big Eye is my favorite. I have been here many imes and worked my way though their menu. Very fresh, well prepared and well presented, this is the best sushi value in Philadelphia. I

My Fiancé and I are big Sushi fans and we decided to try out Big Eyes Sushi for the first time on a Saturday night. Our go-​to in the South Street area is Sushi Planet but since we were around 7^th & South, we thought to try something new. Big Eyes Sushi was probably the worst sushi experience we’ve ever had. The sushi is overpriced for what you are served. Our sushi rolls were all falling apart because they were not rolled together properly. We got five rolls and they were all lacking taste. Additionally, there was one waitress trying to handle 5 tables.
I would also advise Big Eyes Sushi that if you are going to utilize the microwave as much as you do, I highly recommend putting it in the back kitchen.

my date and i enjoyed our tuesday night late night meal at Big Eye. the waiter was a good listener when we requested light cream cheese it came out per our request. Now to the, we ordered the bainbridge roll which was extremely good with crisp avocado on top, blue roll with crisp tuna and the yellowtail roll. All were extremely fresh and full of flavor.
I will definitely go back.

I ordered miso soup and a spicy tuna roll. The waitress was dressed in pajamas. The miso came out lukewarm so I sent it back to be microwaved and then I came out scalding hot and burnt my mouth. The tuna roll was okay, nothing special.
The real reason this restaurant gets one star is that THE FOOD WAS ROTTEN. I got horrible diarrhea the next morning.

I agree. Nice people, but the place is just subpar food-​wise and actually overpriced for quality. The ramen I had tasted like it could have come right out of a supermarket ramen package, and a box of MSG was out in plain view! Sushi didn’t taste much better than the pre-​packaged stuff they sell at airports. Disappointing.

Great budget sushi in bella vista. They have both a variety of creative rolls and awesome service. It also doesnt hurt that this is a Byo! I would deff go back for a quick fix

Wait, this is a chicken nugget… yup, my girlfriend who isn’t a sushi fan ordered chicken teriyaki and on her plate was a chicken nugget. A Tyson brand freezer style chicken nugget. Also on the plate: some weird egg dumpling that was still frozen in the middle, and a decent fish ball. All things considered, the chicken teriyaki itself wasn’t half bad.
But this is is a sushi joint. The name has the words «big eye» which conjures images of wonderfully pink fatty tuna. Not quite, not by a long shot in fact. I’ve gotten lazy in my sushi ordering habits and often order a combo; tonight I ordered the sashimi deluxe «12 pieces of assorted sashimi.» OK so I got 12 pieces. Forget about the fact that two of those were imitation crab (not knowing a word of Japanese I’m still willing to bet imitation crab doesn’t qualify for the definition of «sashimi»). No, the worst part of the meal were the 4 pieces of mushy salmon. Forget about the fact that the (very very friendly) service was painfully slow, the only reason this place isn’t getting 1 star is the fact that they were so nice but the food is abominable.
Oh we were there late and the sushi counter was prepping for the next day. My suspicions for the mushy salmon were confirmed. The man behind the counter was busy sawing a knife through a giant frozen slab of salmon, no wonder it had the consistency of baby food…
I want to like this place, the people are so nice here but the food just sucks.

I grabbed some sushi rolls and miso soup on a Monday night. Décor was interesting and different, overall ambiance was pretty cool except for the cheesy music playing.
The service was unremarkable but fine; food was above average. Good selection of sushi/​sashimi and specialty rolls, although I only tried two separate rolls. Also a good selection of non-​sushi entrees and appetizers, which is key since my gf does not eat sushi.
Overall I think it was a pretty good spot. Nothing to complain about, also didn’t knock my socks off. A good, solid sushi spot.
Great addition to that area of the neighborhood.

5 –star for the service.
4 for the freshness of food. And
3 for the presentation of dishes and the décor: TOTAL OF 3.5 Stars
It was a weekday night and we decided to give this place a try since I live pretty close to the restaurant and felt lazy to make dinner. Christmas lights were up but it was RED which made the whole restaurant glow in RED. Kinda weird atmosphere on a dark winter night… lol
Anyways, we were promptly seated and given the menu. The place was pretty clean and the owner was very nice to explain some of the rolls that he’d recommend.
We got a specialty roll (which I don’t remember the name of… I think it was the first one on the list) — which only gave four large pieces of salmon rolls with more salmon on top. Fresh but too much salmon. It would’ve been better if there was more to chew on besides the fish and the rice. Sushi platter was pretty good, though.
Since they deliver for free, I might give it a try one more time and order me some sushi dinner.

Sushi, sashimi — seriously satisfying
A squadron of us made a dinner venture here on the recommendation from a fellow critic. Our reserved table waited for us. We cracked open a bottle of Saki and had some wine left so we were set. I like most sushi and I can be a bit picky about it, but it wasn’t necessary here. Upon entry, we were greeted and promptly served.
3 rounds of edamame
1 sashimi platter
8 standard and specialty rolls (which were killer!)
We craved more
3 more special house rolls and we finished it with a banana dessert that was absolutely perfect.
I found that we were lost in conversation and just enjoyed the feast. This is the kind of casual delicious sushi that should be found high on the bookmarks of any food critic’s smartphone.
The presentation — terrific.
The taste — outstanding.
The service — great.
The price — you can’t be it.
The atmosphere — peaceful.

Big Eyes, you are exactly what this space needs. Your service was excellent and most importantly, your fish was outstanding.
When some fellow Unilocalers suggested checking out Big Eyes, I was a bit wary. I know that this particular restaurant location has seen some changeover in the years that I’ve lived in Philadelphia. Still, with a group of 5 on a Friday evening I decided to give it a shot.
We arrived and were seated at a table with a «Reserved» sign on it. I don’t require that level of pomp and circumstance in my life but I don’t frown on it either. At this point, we opened our wine and began our dinner convo.
We all started with edamame which was nicely steamed and salt. As a group, we got a sashimi platter and a fair number of rolls from their specialty and their traditional categories. Upon my first bite of the sashimi, I could tell that this chef came to play. Sushi is very much an art form in my opinion and also an activity that requires a high degree of skill. This fish besides tasting ultra fresh, truly melted. Each person at the table had the same look of wonderment in their eyes as they took their first bites. Needless to say, we decimated the plate.
What followed next was an roll assortment assault. The chef not only prepared the rolls splendidly, but split them up and artistically presented them platters where he intertwined them to make beautiful shapes. The colors seemed to play beautifully with each other and as we ate our way through our selections, our conversation was dominated by how much we enjoyed ourselves.
Lastly, I want to mention the price. Our bill came and we were just shocked at how reasonably priced this place is.
Seriously, you need to eat here.

In the spirit of fair Unilocaling, I waited until making a second visit to Big Eyes before writing a review. My first visit was shortly after they opened. Boyfriend and I were greeted with smiles, complimentary soups, and a lot of questions along the lines of, «When are you going to come back with all of your friends?» Then they took a picture of us. We’re on the wall. It was kind of creepy.
Despite the excessive friendliness, the sushi was pretty decent. Not the kind of sushi you might dream about, but it was certainly better than grocery store and convenience sushi.
Tonight’s visit was different. Boyfriend and I were greeted with the same smiles and warmth that brought us in the first time, but no one offered to cuddle this time. After we placed our order, the chef quietly went about his business while Boyfriend and I had our conversation.
We started with the soft shell crab tempura, which was a little heavy on the sauces but delicious. Then our three rolls came — one specialty roll and two basics. The Bainbridge roll was good, but personally I found that the basic rolls — sweet potato tempura and spicy yellow tail — overshadowed it. One of my biggest pet peeves with traditional seaweed-​on-​the-​outside roll is that sushi places tend to use tiny pieces of fish so all you taste is seaweed, but at Big Eyes, they use just the right amount so the fish taste really comes through. As for the sweet potato tempura roll, it was a perfect marriage of sweet crunch and bitter seaweed.
For the very reasonable prices, they do not skimp on ingredients.
When I was sure I was done waxing poetic on how amazing this meal was, the chef presented us with a few pieces of complementary veggie tempura. It was a nice surprise.
I’ll definitely be back. I might even bring a group of friends.

I went to Big Eyes Sushi last night and had their Deluxe Sushi/​Sashimi Combo. It was really fresh and tasty. It included a couple of fatty tuna pieces as well as a nice mix of rolls, sushi, and sashimi.
Service was prompt, friendly, and unobtrusive. They included a complimentary orange at the end of the meal. Prices were very reasonable.
This is now my «Go To» sushi place.
I can’t speak to their tempura dishes as I only go to sushi restaurants for uncooked food.

Oh man, just go to Whole Foods and get sushi. My hijiki salad was smothered in sweet sauce to the point that I could barely taste the veggies. The yellowtail scallion roll looked like it had been microwaved and to top it all off, they forgot my gyoza order.
This was some of the most disappointing sushi I’ve had – and in Philly, it’s not hard to find crappy sushi.
The staff, however, was very friendly. At times, I found them a bit overbearing because I was continually asked when I would return with a large group of friends. It came off as too desperate.