Are These the 21 Best Sushi Spots in America?
By: Kevin Alexander and Liz Childers
Credit: Thrillist
Sushi. It’s what for dinner. And lunch, especially if you’re in a rush at Whole Foods. But who in this great land of ours makes the best sushi? The freshest & most mouthwatering maki? The heaven-approved hand rolls? Well, in order to find out, we spent a lot of time dipping and eating everywhere from strange strip malls in Pasadena to the stranger side roads of downtown Boston, plus many spots in between. We paid particular attention to the places closest to the water, and those that care more about giving you seasonal, changing menus of fish you can get locally than just giving you the same thing over and over. Not that we’re really complaining, Whole Foods.
So pick up your chopsticks, tuck in your napkin, and slurp down our picks for the best sushi spots across America.
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Credit: Arami
Chicago, IL
Arami was an instant hit when it opened in Chicago in 2010, drawing patrons in with its tranquil skylit back room and, more importantly, well-executed, traditionally rooted sushi that could swim (figuratively speaking, the fish is generally no longer alive) with anyone’s. Since then chefs have changed, but the level of excellence hasn’t. Like many elite places, reserving yourself the omakase is most likely to lead you to a transcendent experience, but going a la carte will still leave you quite pleased with specialty sashimi options like hamachi with mushroom and truffle oil. Pro tip: if you have any annoying vegan friends, their yasai (that means vegetable!) creations like eggplant with peanut red miso dressing will likely keep them quiet. You may even find yourself wanting to steal some.
Credit: Flickr/Owen Byrne (edited)
Santa Barbara, CA
Located on Santa Barbara’s bustling State St., Arigato’s all about sushi as art. This is a place where something as simple as sashimi looks like it was plated at the Louvre, where even things as simple as salmon are adorned with gorgonzola sauce and dill. That’s to say nothing of the not-sushi dishes like a plate of broiled scallops, shiitakes, and crab piled on sushi rice and lit on fire. Everything here’s a gorgeous spectacle. But spectacle’s worthless if the fish isn’t perfect. Lucky for you, it is.
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Credit: Thrillist
Portland, OR
This Northeast sushi spot melds Portlandia style with traditional sushi, tapping local beers with Asian influences and hosting pairing dinners with local breweries. While their menu doesn’t stick strictly to what sushi purists would like, even their funkier rolls, like a spicy tuna & tempura shishito pepper number, don’t go overboard. They also boast an omasake that’s a bargain compared to options in larger cities on this list.
Credit: Alanna Hale
San Francisco, CA
First off, they have a really cool mural which tells you how to eat sushi. Second off, it’s somewhat crazy that, for all the amazing Asian food, sushi has long been a weakness in SF’s culinarily fortified defenses. Well, ICHI, from Tim and Erin Archuleta, solves that. It keeps the SF ethos in mind with the sustainable, seasonal menu, but doesn’t skimp on anything delicious. If you are smart, you’ll start by heading to the NI Bar in the back for izakaya and cocktails, and then get the omakase chef’s choice (one of the best omakase deals in town). Be smart.
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Credit: Nicole Bartelme
New York, NY
Separated by a glass wall from David Bouley’s TriBeCa restaurant, Ichimura at Brushstroke boasts two Michelin stars — only two others NYC spots have that — and a trio of stars from The Times. Chef Eiji Ichimura, who helms the tiny omakase counter, prepares his fish edomae-style, meaning they’re cured and aged, the way sushi always was until the early 1800s, so every bite has an extra bite of umami than what you’re used to. But, then again, you’re probably not used to anything quite as tasty as this.
Credit: Mirai
Chicago, IL
Proving he has quite the track record in place, long before he left Arami, B.K. Park, the sushi-wizard who used to be at Arami, also departed this Wicker Park spot that’s been a Chicago staple for over a decade. Mirai is a dimly lit, sexy spot with a menu of traditional sushi mingling with unique picks, and chef Jun Ishikawa wields a light touch to delicate dishes like Ika Uni Ae, tender, thin squid slices served in a sweet, creamy sea urchin sauce.
Credit: Miyake
Portland, ME
After working the NYC restaurant scene, Masa Miyake moved with his family to Portland and its far cheaper start-up costs. The Japan-born chef turned his expertise to local bounty, creating an uniquely Maine experience with options like the truffle oil-touched lobster, crab & scallop hamayaki that’s all from nearby waters. The chef has even taken it so far as to open Miyake Farms, so diners know exactly from where that yolky spot in the the Golden Egg dish of uni, roe, and egg came.
Credit: Flickr/Scott Dexter
Boston, MA
In 2008, Tim Cushman shocked the food world when his small 40-seat sushi restaurant in a random part of Boston by South Station was named Best New Restaurant in the country by the NY Times. That same year, I went there on my birthday, and was totally out of my league, especially when they brought out the foie gras nigiri with cocoa pulp and sake at the end of the meal. I actually nearly fainted, because I wasn’t used to the flavor combination. And yet — whenever I could afford to — I kept coming back. Cushman — who famously has no formal training, but acted as a restaurant consultant for many years before hatching this masterpiece — can and still does bring it with nearly everything he serves, from the tea-brined chicken thighs to the spiced chile oil-drizzled hamachi tartare. If you don’t opt for the 17-course tasting menu, and go a la carte, you still have to get the nigiri. I DARE YOU.
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Credit: Jeff Miller
Los Angeles, CA
After 2011’s devastating tsunami slowed business at his six-seat spot in Japan, chef Hiro Naruke was brought to America by a trio of LA lawyers who’d started obsessing over the itamae’s sushi-touch years before during their visits to Tokyo. A seat at Hiro’s downtown spot is a 20-course, intimate omakase experience that starts with small appetizers and dives into edomae-style sushi with delicately vinegared rice and aged or cured delicate fish cuts.
Credit: Flickr/Ron Dollete
Los Angeles, CA
Imagine you’re one of the most beloved sushi chefs in LA: you’ve had a restaurant for two decades, you helped bring raw fish to a city that’s embraced it, and, now that you’ve hit retirement age, you want to slow down. You pass your restaurant, Sushi Ike, on to your disciples, and take a deserved break… until everyone realizes that your disciples just aren’t making mouth-orgasms the way you were, and convince you to open this tiny, hole-in-the-wall, absolutely incredible omakase joint, where you can once again serve up your signature seared salmon (“Do not put the rice down! Put it right in your mouth! Now!”), your unbelievably textured octopus, and the freshest… uh… everything from the sea that you can get your hands on. You’ve imagined Sushi Kamagure Ike aka mecca. Yes, it’s that good.
Credit: Thrillist
Seattle, WA
Seattle’s super buzzy Shiro’s has been just than for over twenty years now and, despite the namesake chef retiring last fall, the edomae-style sushi is as impressive as it managed to be for two decades. The skilled team offers omakase and by-the-piece throughout the spot, but go at the beginning of the week for a 14-piece tasting at the bar under the attentive eye of the sushi chef. He limits it to four customers at a time.
Credit: Flickr/Dana Robinson
Los Angeles, CA
Located in downtown’s busy Little Tokyo, this inconspicuous joint, tucked away in a strip mall, stands tall among LA’s incredible sushi joints, and the constant line full of regulars just goes to show that this is sushi worth returning for… and waiting in line for. The trick to beating that line? Show up alone or with one other person, then ask to sit at the sushi bar. There, order omakase and watch the chef work his magic on ultra-fresh fish, which will hopefully include their buttery toro and ika squid that tastes like it was chilling with Spongebob about an hour ago.
Credit: Sushi Miyagi
Houston, TX
This spot in Houston’s Chinatown looks like a discount strip mall store that mistakenly got “sushi” boldly slapped onto its facade. Miyagi, the man behind the sushi knife, and his wife are the sole owners and employees, and they boast that their mom-and-pop shop is one of the few Japanese-helmed sushi restaurants in Houston. The not totally authentic menu demonstrates the city’s tastes so crazy rolls do take up some space on the menu, but Miyagi’s way with painstakingly thin usuzukuri more than makes up for it.
Credit: Sushi Nakazawa
New York, NY
The nearly impossible to get into, four NYT-starred restaurant (only six restos can claim that) is only slightly more famous than the story behind how it all began: after watchingJiro Dreams of Sushi, Bronx restauranteur Alessandro Borgognone tracked down Jiro-trained Daisuke Nakazawa in Seattle and brought the chef to the East Coast. His 22-course omakase blends exquisite fish plates with showy entertainment for a two-hour experience.
Credit: Sara Norris
San Diego, CA
Like so many of San Diego’s hidden gems, Sushi Ota is tucked in an unassuming strip mall between a 7-11 and a car dealership. But while the exterior looks like a place where you could score a payday loan, the interior’s a constantly packed oasis popping out incredible sashimi and some of the most reliably delicious uni in town. Even better, the prices are reasonable, so you won’t need that payday loan after all.
Credit: Joe Starkey
Sausalito, CA
Strangely enough, lots of people might argue that the best sushi in SF is actually a ferry ride away. From Yoshi Tome (with executive chef Scott Whitman and sushi chef Taka Toshi), Sushi Ran has been dominating for years in Marin, mixing in local fresh fish from right outside with fish handpicked and flown in daily from Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. Both the salmon skin and the live Dungeness crab maki are must orders, along with the sashimi and their incredible scallop-chive dumplings. Plus, if you’re coming from the city, you get to ride a ferry. It’s kind of a win-win-win.
Credit: Flickr/mobil’homme
Boulder, CO
Yes, Boulder is, well, in Colorado, and yes, that’s a landlocked state. But this Japanese spot has become a haven thanks to beautiful fish flown in from Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, and all that mild smoked white tuna and bold unagi are still loaded with enough flavor that you might forget for a second that the ski slopes are nearby.
Credit: Flickr/ccho
Honolulu, HI
It used to be housed in a decently bleak strip mall on Kapahulu, with a menu that featured very little English and newspapers covering the windows. Entering for the first time was an act of faith, because you had no idea what you were getting from the outside, and maybe when you were inside it was just an elaborate kidnapping plot by an evil genius wearing a black mock turtleneck. Well, luckily for the thousands of true believers who now obsess over Tokkuri-Tei, it was actually a delicious sushi restaurant. And though it has since moved on to fancier digs without papers covering the windows, they still make food your mouth will want to slow dance with, from a ridiculous spider roll and sake gyoza to their own Kurobuta bacon.
Credit: Flickr/Jimmy
Atlanta, GA
Tomohiro Naito opened his Buckhead-based restaurant after years training at Nobu’s Vegas spot, even manning the omakase station. In ATL, he prepares beautiful, traditional slivers of fluke, spotted with hot sauce and ponzu jelly alongside decadently rich live lobster & uni, all in an expansive space, but don’t ignore the specials, which always feature Tomo’s shipments from famed Tsukiji.
Credit: Dan Gentile
Sushi traditionalists might scoff at some of the things that happen under the roofs at Uchi and Uchiko. The sister restaurants consistently top Austin’s critics lists of best restaurants in the city, not just for the razor sharp cuts of Tsukiji sashimi, but for off-the-wall touches like splashes of carbonated celery on oysters or goat cheese paired with big eye maguro. But as much as they stress a unique menu, technique always trumps creativity, and they’ve got the Beard Award to prove it.
Credit: Zuma
Miami, FL
The American outpost of a London spot with a handful of European and Asian locations, Zuma is modeled after Japanese izakayas, but styled to fit into the city; there’s plenty of Miami glitz, nestled up against the city’s river. The sushi bar follows the same methodology: the sushi is prepared traditionally, but twists that make it ever-so-slightly local, like their ponzu sauce that may or may not have a dab of truffle oil in the mix.
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