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A piece of sake toro (aka salmon belly) topped with garlic almond chili oil. 
Nigiri from Yakuza House.
Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA

16 Standout Sushi Spots in and Around New Orleans

From classic strip mall restaurants to pristine omakase, here’s where to eat sushi in New Orleans

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Nigiri from Yakuza House.
| Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA

There’s sushi and there’s sushi. In a pinch, who hasn’t fed the craving for the flavors of creamy raw fish, wasabi, and pickled ginger with a grab-and-go from the grocery store? Serviceable, yes, but true sushi masters take the specialty to a much different level. Fed by local Gulf seafood, creative New Orleans chefs incorporate local flavors — crawfish roll, anyone? — as well as imported specialties like unagi for a wide variety of flavor pairings. For a real treat, try an omakase restaurant where chef-driven menus leave the ordering to the experts. The spots on this map, arranged geographically as always, specialize in sushi specifically.

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Taste of Tokyo

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Plan a little extra time to navigate Taste of Tokyo’s behemoth of a menu with a list of special rolls that spans pages. While New Orleans metro area has plenty of sushi restaurants, this spot in River Ridge has some rolls that make it worth a drive, like the playboy roll, an ample portion of avocado filled rice, half topped with tuna, the other half, salmon. The owner is so proud of his creations that there are no descriptions of the rolls online to keep copy cats at bay.

Kyoto 2

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Located near the AMC Elmwood Palace movie theater in an inconspicuous strip mall, the casual and colorful Kyoto 2 delivers consistently fresh seafood in generous servings. The best deal of all is the chirashi lunch special — a heaping bowl of fresh fish over fresh daikon radish and sushi rice for under $15. It’s big enough to split.

Mizu Sushi Bar & Asian Fusion

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This Elmwood newcomer offers a variety of sushi and sashimi entrees, including the Love Boat, a Mizu specialty that includes 25 pieces of sushi and six unadorned pieces of sashimi, a true boatload for two at $45.95. There’s also a la carte options, stir fries and noodles, and a $6.95 menu of chicken or shrimp tempura for the kiddos.

Daiwa Sushi Bar & Japanese Cuisine

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Daiwa in Metairie on Vets Boulevard is a spacious restaurant with a vast menu dominated bya multitude of roll options, many offered in soy paper instead of seaweed. There are also seasonal specialties featuring less common fish like Japanese striped jack and diver-harvested uni. Lunch is a super bargain — and portions are generous.

Flouting “California style sushi,” Metairie’s Kanno proffers the usual, along with an entire section of skinny rolls sans rice and soy paper. Available in half and full roll portions, these pared down rolls include the likes of the Elvis roll (named for the chef), made with salmon, avocado, and both snow and blue crab, and the protein roll, with spicy tuna, snow crab, avocado and salmon. A hefty sake menu includes sparkling sake, though it’s not always featured. Too bad about the Barefoot house wine.

Yakuza House

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Hand rolls and dressed nigiri from chef Huy Pham are the stars of the show at Yakuza House, which recently celebrated its relocation to a bigger Metairie space. One of the area’s best new sushi spots in years, a new, bigger menu still offers temaki in 3, 4, and 5 roll sets — the last one for the “hangry” — in addition to a slew of individual rolls, solo sashimi pieces and dressed sashimi sets, intricately dressed nigiri, and more (not to mention an omakase option). This is a place to celebrate and splurge — though with reasonable prices, splurging here is a good return on investment.

Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA

Certainly one of the oldest sushi bars in the greater New Orleans area, Shogun has been serving a wide variety of fresh sushi since 1982. Sit at the bar and ask for the chef’s choice — the delectable sashimi just keeps on coming. The large eatery is also outfitted with hibachi grills for a more interactive experience.

Sukeban

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Oak Street’s revival continued with the debut of this modern Japanese restaurant from Jacqueline Blanchard, the founder of upscale culinary shop Coutelier. Blanchard’s ode to a traditional izakaya, Sukeban is a sleek shop that serves a succinct menu of sashimi specials, rotating handrolls, and a handful of traditional Izakaya sides, like Japanese potato salad and ohitashi (spinach, dashi, and bonito flakes), in addition to robust beer and sake offerings. Don’t expect a typically vast sushi menu here, and the price point is a bit higher than most.

Mikimoto Restaurant

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A Carrollton Avenue standby for decades, Mikimoto is the lowkey local go-to for takeout sushi, which means the dining room is usually empty (and that means food is generally delivered very quickly). Favorite rolls include the maki, Utah, paradise, and dragon rolls, but the special rolls menu in general is one of the most extensive, varied, and creative in town. It’s also open until 10 during the week and 10:30 p.m. on weekends, a bonus.

Origami Restaurant

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Set in a renovated home with an outdoor deck on funky Freret Street, Origami has lineup of specialty rolls with names like Godzilla our way and throw me somethin’ mister, the latter including snow crab, avocado, and tempura shrimp inside, a drizzle of spicy mayo and sweet and salty eel sauce on top. The fish is pristine and chopped with the kind of expertise that comes from years of experience. Cold soba noodles are a refreshing dish for summer.

The special tabo roll includes scallops and yellowtail inside, albacore on top with ponzu, chili sauce, and scallions
Yelp/Tam M.

Asuka Sushi & Hibachi

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Gert Town is lucky to have Asuka Sushi, a contemporary-meets-traditional sushi spot now in a new home on Washington Avenue. There are funky roll options like the Saints go go go with tempura crab, cream cheese, and salmon atop eel and spicy sauce, and the el diablo, a mix of spicy salmon, tuna, and yellowtail spiked with jalapeño, chile, and ponzu sauce. There are also plenty of deep-fried rolls — a good fit for this decadent city.

Sake Cafe Uptown

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Sake Cafe Uptown is swanky sushi at its best. The place, in a former K & B drug store, is pretty in a 1990s sort of way with design wows like bright, multi-colored, Chihuly-esque blown glass chandeliers and bi-level white tablecloth dining. The sushi menu melds traditional Japanese dishes and New Orleans ingredients (see jazz roll, Uptown roll, and New Orleans roll on the menu) along with bento box lunch specials and a full bar including an extensive sake list and specialty cocktails. The happy hour is a steal, with tons of eats and drinks under $5.

Bisutoro on Magazine

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New Orleans’s sushi scene has changed considerably in the last few years, with the arrival of restaurants like Yo nashi, Nagomi, and most recently, Yakuza House. Bisutoro continues the trend, one that comes from chefs trained classically in Japanese sushi — simple but elevated. It’s a promising new spot to try rare fish, specialty sake, and other traditional Japanese specialties.

Yo nashi

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This CBD restaurant opened during the pandemic serves eight to 10 course tasting menus in the Japanese dining style of omakase Thursday through Monday evenings. Yo Nashi is from owner Kyle Payer and chef Mackenzie Broquet, who spotlights local ingredients and flavor with Japanese technique and presentation. The $89 menu usually includes a variety of sashimi and sushi along with a seafood entree from the kitchen.

Josh Brasted/Eater NOLA

Tsunami

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Tsunami started in Baton Rouge and expanded to New Orleans in 2017, unleashing a playful menu of rolls (like the Dorito-encrusted “munchie” roll) and other Japanese fare. Radiating an upscale, corporate vibe, the restaurant is expansive with high ceilings and an open kitchen with a menu to match: loads of over-the-top, super-size rolls.

Royal Sushi & Bar

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This Marigny storefront is light and airy with lighting that changes colors, friendly servers, and consistently good raw seafood offerings. It’s hard not to love Royal’s generous portion of tuna tataki and the “geisha kiss” roll stuffed with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, snow crab, asparagus, avocado, cucumber, and masago. There’s also an extensive array of ramen bowls, with pick-your-own protein, broth, and veg for a bowl of custom noodle love. Soy wrapped and rice free rolls also available. The same owners are behind Haiku on Magazine and Geisha on Tchoupitoulas, so menus there are similar.

Taste of Tokyo

Plan a little extra time to navigate Taste of Tokyo’s behemoth of a menu with a list of special rolls that spans pages. While New Orleans metro area has plenty of sushi restaurants, this spot in River Ridge has some rolls that make it worth a drive, like the playboy roll, an ample portion of avocado filled rice, half topped with tuna, the other half, salmon. The owner is so proud of his creations that there are no descriptions of the rolls online to keep copy cats at bay.

Kyoto 2

Located near the AMC Elmwood Palace movie theater in an inconspicuous strip mall, the casual and colorful Kyoto 2 delivers consistently fresh seafood in generous servings. The best deal of all is the chirashi lunch special — a heaping bowl of fresh fish over fresh daikon radish and sushi rice for under $15. It’s big enough to split.

Mizu Sushi Bar & Asian Fusion

This Elmwood newcomer offers a variety of sushi and sashimi entrees, including the Love Boat, a Mizu specialty that includes 25 pieces of sushi and six unadorned pieces of sashimi, a true boatload for two at $45.95. There’s also a la carte options, stir fries and noodles, and a $6.95 menu of chicken or shrimp tempura for the kiddos.

Daiwa Sushi Bar & Japanese Cuisine

Daiwa in Metairie on Vets Boulevard is a spacious restaurant with a vast menu dominated bya multitude of roll options, many offered in soy paper instead of seaweed. There are also seasonal specialties featuring less common fish like Japanese striped jack and diver-harvested uni. Lunch is a super bargain — and portions are generous.

Kanno

Flouting “California style sushi,” Metairie’s Kanno proffers the usual, along with an entire section of skinny rolls sans rice and soy paper. Available in half and full roll portions, these pared down rolls include the likes of the Elvis roll (named for the chef), made with salmon, avocado, and both snow and blue crab, and the protein roll, with spicy tuna, snow crab, avocado and salmon. A hefty sake menu includes sparkling sake, though it’s not always featured. Too bad about the Barefoot house wine.

Yakuza House

Hand rolls and dressed nigiri from chef Huy Pham are the stars of the show at Yakuza House, which recently celebrated its relocation to a bigger Metairie space. One of the area’s best new sushi spots in years, a new, bigger menu still offers temaki in 3, 4, and 5 roll sets — the last one for the “hangry” — in addition to a slew of individual rolls, solo sashimi pieces and dressed sashimi sets, intricately dressed nigiri, and more (not to mention an omakase option). This is a place to celebrate and splurge — though with reasonable prices, splurging here is a good return on investment.

Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA

Shogun

Certainly one of the oldest sushi bars in the greater New Orleans area, Shogun has been serving a wide variety of fresh sushi since 1982. Sit at the bar and ask for the chef’s choice — the delectable sashimi just keeps on coming. The large eatery is also outfitted with hibachi grills for a more interactive experience.

Sukeban

Oak Street’s revival continued with the debut of this modern Japanese restaurant from Jacqueline Blanchard, the founder of upscale culinary shop Coutelier. Blanchard’s ode to a traditional izakaya, Sukeban is a sleek shop that serves a succinct menu of sashimi specials, rotating handrolls, and a handful of traditional Izakaya sides, like Japanese potato salad and ohitashi (spinach, dashi, and bonito flakes), in addition to robust beer and sake offerings. Don’t expect a typically vast sushi menu here, and the price point is a bit higher than most.

Mikimoto Restaurant

A Carrollton Avenue standby for decades, Mikimoto is the lowkey local go-to for takeout sushi, which means the dining room is usually empty (and that means food is generally delivered very quickly). Favorite rolls include the maki, Utah, paradise, and dragon rolls, but the special rolls menu in general is one of the most extensive, varied, and creative in town. It’s also open until 10 during the week and 10:30 p.m. on weekends, a bonus.

Origami Restaurant

Set in a renovated home with an outdoor deck on funky Freret Street, Origami has lineup of specialty rolls with names like Godzilla our way and throw me somethin’ mister, the latter including snow crab, avocado, and tempura shrimp inside, a drizzle of spicy mayo and sweet and salty eel sauce on top. The fish is pristine and chopped with the kind of expertise that comes from years of experience. Cold soba noodles are a refreshing dish for summer.

The special tabo roll includes scallops and yellowtail inside, albacore on top with ponzu, chili sauce, and scallions
Yelp/Tam M.

Asuka Sushi & Hibachi

Gert Town is lucky to have Asuka Sushi, a contemporary-meets-traditional sushi spot now in a new home on Washington Avenue. There are funky roll options like the Saints go go go with tempura crab, cream cheese, and salmon atop eel and spicy sauce, and the el diablo, a mix of spicy salmon, tuna, and yellowtail spiked with jalapeño, chile, and ponzu sauce. There are also plenty of deep-fried rolls — a good fit for this decadent city.

Sake Cafe Uptown

Sake Cafe Uptown is swanky sushi at its best. The place, in a former K & B drug store, is pretty in a 1990s sort of way with design wows like bright, multi-colored, Chihuly-esque blown glass chandeliers and bi-level white tablecloth dining. The sushi menu melds traditional Japanese dishes and New Orleans ingredients (see jazz roll, Uptown roll, and New Orleans roll on the menu) along with bento box lunch specials and a full bar including an extensive sake list and specialty cocktails. The happy hour is a steal, with tons of eats and drinks under $5.

Bisutoro on Magazine

New Orleans’s sushi scene has changed considerably in the last few years, with the arrival of restaurants like Yo nashi, Nagomi, and most recently, Yakuza House. Bisutoro continues the trend, one that comes from chefs trained classically in Japanese sushi — simple but elevated. It’s a promising new spot to try rare fish, specialty sake, and other traditional Japanese specialties.

Yo nashi

This CBD restaurant opened during the pandemic serves eight to 10 course tasting menus in the Japanese dining style of omakase Thursday through Monday evenings. Yo Nashi is from owner Kyle Payer and chef Mackenzie Broquet, who spotlights local ingredients and flavor with Japanese technique and presentation. The $89 menu usually includes a variety of sashimi and sushi along with a seafood entree from the kitchen.

Josh Brasted/Eater NOLA

Tsunami

Tsunami started in Baton Rouge and expanded to New Orleans in 2017, unleashing a playful menu of rolls (like the Dorito-encrusted “munchie” roll) and other Japanese fare. Radiating an upscale, corporate vibe, the restaurant is expansive with high ceilings and an open kitchen with a menu to match: loads of over-the-top, super-size rolls.

Related Maps

Royal Sushi & Bar

This Marigny storefront is light and airy with lighting that changes colors, friendly servers, and consistently good raw seafood offerings. It’s hard not to love Royal’s generous portion of tuna tataki and the “geisha kiss” roll stuffed with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, snow crab, asparagus, avocado, cucumber, and masago. There’s also an extensive array of ramen bowls, with pick-your-own protein, broth, and veg for a bowl of custom noodle love. Soy wrapped and rice free rolls also available. The same owners are behind Haiku on Magazine and Geisha on Tchoupitoulas, so menus there are similar.

Related Maps