Akinori

Even when I lived in San Diego, I didn’t really stop in Hillcrest too much. In retrospect, not really sure why that was the case. Definitely a lot of great food locations here… case in point, Akinori. Pretty good quality fish for the price, especially if you come here during happy hour (and yes, that includes weekends!). This definitely isn’t the spot for a sushi purist, but it’s good for what it is.

Place has a great ambiance. Fresh uni! Servers were attentive, but there must have been some confusion in the kitchen bc my sushi took forever… I mean I literally sat n watched everyone else devour their food while I waited an extra 30 min and we ordered at the same time. At least the food was delicious. A bit on the pricier side, but I’d say it’s within reason.

Our office staff decided to try Akinori for the 1^st time, So delish! very fresh! And the best part was that the service was outstanding!!! We will definitely be back!

We went back the next night. I’m raising my rating to five stars. The truth is you get what you pay for, and this place is worth it. Also two of us split an omakase, and we were fed more than enough for two, a and it was only $ 50.

Great service, great food! I found them off of Unilocal and I will definitely be back!

Great fish and even better customer service. Wait staff went above the call of duty to provide impeccable service. Though that is not necessary from a business point of view, it is something that will keep me coming back. And half price rolls too! What a deal!

i have no idea how this place received any more than 1 star?
Sushi — rolls super skinny
sushi — not a variety, lots of asparagus
service– wow, seemed like it was each servers first night, chaos and confusion
on the way to the restroom you could see, piles and piles and piles of dirty dishes, yuck

Akinori’s sushi was very fresh and of high quality. My friend and I decided to hop over here after work and we’re pleased with our meal.
We ordered a few pieces of nigiri and the double yellowtail roll — all of which were very good. The double yellowtail roll had yellowtail, avocado, and cucumber inside. On the outside was seared yellowtail, avocado, jalapeño, and green onions. The yellowtail was very fresh and buttery with a good texture.
The mackerel nigiri was flavorful and a nice balance with ginger and onions to compliment the fishy mackerel (one of my faves!).
The steamed gyoza was also delicious and had a lot of flavor.
The staff was super fast and attentive. They definitely refilled out green tea pot at least 5 or 6 times.
Overall Akinori is a solid and quality sushi restaurant — one to which I will definitely return when I am in the Hillcrest area.

100% satisfied and more. What a find! Actually, I was dragged in by some friends of mine to told me it was the best sushi in Hillcrest. I’m convinced! Have just invited a client to have dinner there next week. I expect it will become one of my favorite dining destinations.

Service was great. I had sashimi and miso. The sashimi was bland, but my friend had a crab roll and a California roll, which she found to be very tasty. It is in a busy location with only street parking so take that into consideration if dining here.

What happened!!! I was super excited to come back to this restaurant after renovations. It’s my favorite sushi restaurant. They must have been short handed because it took over 15 minutes to get drinks and the sushi chef took that order. He apologized for the wait. The waitress seemed overwhelmed and unorganized.
I ordered an 8-​piece omakse and the presentation was sad. The fish didn’t taste as fresh as I always remembered them serving. The sushi chef forgot to give me wasabi and ginger, he apologized. The spicy scallop handroll was just okay, filled up with imitation crab and scallops. I usually like masago with it.
We got up to pay for the bill which the sushi chef rang up for us. I don’t know if I just caught them on a bad day. I wish it went back to the best sushi restaurant in SD that I loved.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Akinori is an interesting restaurant. The food, I’d give 4 stars, but the atmosphere is like a 3… or a 2.5. It’s just a weird place. Half of the restaurant is more traditional Japanese with a nice sushi bar, but the other half is recently renovated and clearly decorated with things from IKEA. A weird contrast. Also, they were playing really weird music — like Owl City, Colbie Callet, and other similar music — and had the SyFy channel on playing weird movies too. Not the ideal setup for a Japanese place in my opinion.
We started off with some hot sake — good! — and some hot green tea — better!
The food was great! I went with one other person, and we ordered the sashimi omakase and a spicy rainbow roll. The omakase came with a pretty good amount of fish and assorted seafood. There was a gigantic oyster topped with uni, which was surprisingly delicious. There was also some monkfish liver on top of a bed of nori, which was very briny but pretty appetizing I suppose. The fish selection was pretty standard, and also came with 1. tuna tartare ish thing, and 2. squid wrapped around nori. These were pretty good!
The spicy rainbow roll was ordered because we both liked spicy tuna, and it sounded pretty good. The roll was pretty big and filling and topped with a pretty generous amount of fish!
We ended up staying until about they closed while the waitress kind of gave me the ‘please leave soon’ look. Nonetheless, they were very kind to us. Overall, I would come here again as it was pretty good!

The best sushi in San Diego. Good service bomb food and nothing to complain about. Kenny and Lynn gave us the VIP service and we loved everything that hit the table. We are now regulars and will be back soon.
Thanks guys!!!

Wanted to try this place out and the food was on point… delicious! Loved everything I ate. Great food, great service!

Ok, so time to update my review of Akinori under the new management & it’s a solid 5 for a multitude of reasons. Service far surpasses the old akinori (not counting aki & stefan). The remodel is great. Drink & sushi specials (all day, err day) & creative rolls by Lin & Kenny are amazing. The quality for price is nothing short of amazing. As a Hillcrest resident I’m thrilled we once again have a great spot for sushi. The hot food & appetizers have something for everyone. Open for lunch as well. So if you want quality sushi at an amazing price, good drink specials and excellent service, head on over to Akinori. This place rocks!

Decent sushi for a really good price. Some of the rolls, nigiri and other items are 50% off.
We ordered the mixed tempura, albacore nigiri, the Hairy Salmon, and Asahi roll. Our favorite item was the albacore nigiri.
The tempura was out least favorite item. It was a good portion but very tasteless and bland.
The service is very friendly and our food was out fast. Parking can be difficult on Sundays when the farmers market is going on.
I

Akinori is opened again!
BUT, be warned that it is under new ownership, with a new staff, new menu, and new chefs. Many of our favorites, Kill Bill roll for example, are no longer available. The new menu is more basic, it consists of many items you can find at most sushi places. The quality of the fish is still great, but it has lost the unique quality that made Akinori what it was.
We would still come back here because the quality has not been affected, but the niche is definitely different.

This place is just *TEMPORARILY* CLOSED!
Hooray!
Yesterday I was walking by and saw a guy painting the ironwork outside. We asked him if Akinori was closed and he, and another woman working there, said NO, they are just doing work on it. Remodeling it. Great news, because I love this place!

Akinori is hands down one of the best places to go for some legit sushi in San Diego. The chef Aki is awesome, funny, creative with his dishes, and great at what he does. We always ask to sit at the bar close the chef and ask for the freshest stuff for the day. If there is anything you’d like to try, just let the chef know and he will no doubt surprise you with his creativity.
My personal favorite was what Aki called «All Star» — ikura (salmon roe), topped with fresh scallops and uni, and finished up with a freshly cracked quail egg.

We went in for dinner last Saturday and initially we were a lil skeptical because Aki was No where to be found. Later we found out he was taking a much deserved few days off.
I had a former boss tell me «you are only as good as your employees, so if you train them correctly they will make you proud»! Well Aki has trained his staff perfectly. Our experience wasn’t any different. Staff was friendly, sushi was delicious as always!
Aki you should proud! Your protégé did an amazing job filing your shoes!
The fish is so fresh tuna belly, salmon belly, toro and uni I could go on and on!