One of the best local sushi spot in OC. Great atmosphere Japanese vibe. Yelp remote checkin Available on peak times. Been coming here over the five years plus. They did increase their menu prices riding the inflation train and reduced portions at the same time. Service is a hit or miss.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Rolls, Sesame Chicken
OC Reviews
They still have a long wait during peak hours, but I think it’s more because of poor management than too many people. The lunch prices are good and you can choose bentos with plentiful food and reasonable prices. Sushi quality is decent, not amazing. If they can invest in taking out the old carpet and put in wood or tile floors, it would benefit the whole restaurant.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Taiko Bento, Chirashi Sushi
Debo Bob
I’ve been going here for years with my family and the food has always been spot on. I’m craving it right now. They have a green muscle that they bake, sashimi, rolls…never disappoints.
Nice place to eat, price is reasonable and the staff are very friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Taiko Bento
Kaveh Saffari
This was my favorite sushi place / bar for 3 decades however after pandemic and new ownership it is no longer even remotely on that same level. All the bar chefs are retired and the new chefs are not quite trained in social skills.Vegetarian options: Sushi is primarily seafood and if that’s not accepted multiple vegetable tempura dishes as well as other are available.Wheelchair accessibility: There are several disabled spots but always taken. The lot is always busy especially during the weekend.
The good: my gosh, the food is SO DELICIOUS here. Every single item we have tried here was fresh and fantastic. We don’t get sushi anywhere else these days - we’d rather wait and make the drive up to this spot for all of our sushi cravings. Also, it’s very cozy inside. Perfect date night spot.The bad: this trip, not the best service. Didn’t get a chance to talk with the manager as they seemed very busy so I will share here: our server forgot to order my boyfriend’s dinner. I totally understand mistakes happen, and normally I wouldn’t comment about this hiccup, but the server was dishonest with us about it (and did not offer to comp anything either). When my food came out, the server said his food would be right out too. It wasn’t until I later asked another server about the status of his food that we found out our dinners had been ordered 20 minutes apart - she called our server over, and that’s when our server admitted she had forgotten to order his food initially. His food came out 25min after mine. Again I understand mistakes happen but please communicate the truth in the future as this made us both feel poorly about the whole dinner experience. It’s not pleasant to eat at two different times (especially while hungry). Thank you for the delicious food though.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Christopher Mierzwa
First came 25 years ago and have so many wonderful memories here. Here we are today and Taiko is still serving wonderful sushi…and those fantastic portions haven’t changed! Always a wait, and always worth it!
Excellent don, odon and lunch specials. Fast and good price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Taiko Bento
Masako A
We had the sushi here, including one of the special rolls. The food was seriously fantastic. The service was also good. But the dining area could really use a renovation. I would definitely go back for take out.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Laurence Schultz
The sushi was really good, up there with the other good sushi places around Irvine, and the service was very friendly as well. Unfortunately the decor is so aged and the interior so in need of a renovation that it detracts from the experience. Next time I will take my meal to go unless they renovate the place.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 4
Jack Hsu
Ordered take out, terrible job making the rolls they all falls apart while picking them up and also, they forgot the udon noodles in the order but only refund us $4 of the noodle price of $15. Will not order from here again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
sylvie tran
I want to put zero star, but there is no zero here. I used to eat at this restaurant before with my friend and we can use our Groupon deals. We come back again, but the service is bad. The manager's attitude is very unprofessional. At first, he is ok for us to use our deal as before, then he changed his mind that we only use 1 deal ever we pay separately bill. We can pay the bill if he said that at the beginning. IT IS VERY RUDE AND DISCRIMINATION. WE NEVER COME BACK THIS RESTAURANT.
Overpriced and wasn’t very authentic at all.
One of the best local sushi spot in OC. Great atmosphere Japanese vibe. Yelp remote checkin Available on peak times. Been coming here over the five years plus. They did increase their menu prices riding the inflation train and reduced portions at the same time. Service is a hit or miss.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Rolls, Sesame Chicken
They still have a long wait during peak hours, but I think it’s more because of poor management than too many people. The lunch prices are good and you can choose bentos with plentiful food and reasonable prices. Sushi quality is decent, not amazing. If they can invest in taking out the old carpet and put in wood or tile floors, it would benefit the whole restaurant.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Taiko Bento, Chirashi Sushi
I’ve been going here for years with my family and the food has always been spot on. I’m craving it right now. They have a green muscle that they bake, sashimi, rolls…never disappoints.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sauce, Shrimp Tempura, Tuna, Calamari Steak & Tempura, Spicy Tuna Roll, Rolls, Assorted Sashimi 3 Ten, Spicy Tuna Cut Roll
Nice place to eat, price is reasonable and the staff are very friendly.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Taiko Bento
This was my favorite sushi place / bar for 3 decades however after pandemic and new ownership it is no longer even remotely on that same level. All the bar chefs are retired and the new chefs are not quite trained in social skills.Vegetarian options: Sushi is primarily seafood and if that’s not accepted multiple vegetable tempura dishes as well as other are available.Wheelchair accessibility: There are several disabled spots but always taken. The lot is always busy especially during the weekend.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Onigiri, Sushi Combination, Salmon Sashimi, Cali Roll, Fish Misoyaki, Rolls, Spicy Tuna
The good: my gosh, the food is SO DELICIOUS here. Every single item we have tried here was fresh and fantastic. We don’t get sushi anywhere else these days - we’d rather wait and make the drive up to this spot for all of our sushi cravings. Also, it’s very cozy inside. Perfect date night spot.The bad: this trip, not the best service. Didn’t get a chance to talk with the manager as they seemed very busy so I will share here: our server forgot to order my boyfriend’s dinner. I totally understand mistakes happen, and normally I wouldn’t comment about this hiccup, but the server was dishonest with us about it (and did not offer to comp anything either). When my food came out, the server said his food would be right out too. It wasn’t until I later asked another server about the status of his food that we found out our dinners had been ordered 20 minutes apart - she called our server over, and that’s when our server admitted she had forgotten to order his food initially. His food came out 25min after mine. Again I understand mistakes happen but please communicate the truth in the future as this made us both feel poorly about the whole dinner experience. It’s not pleasant to eat at two different times (especially while hungry). Thank you for the delicious food though.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
First came 25 years ago and have so many wonderful memories here. Here we are today and Taiko is still serving wonderful sushi…and those fantastic portions haven’t changed! Always a wait, and always worth it!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Sushi Combination, Rolls, Spicy Tuna
They have Mexican Coke.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Tuna Roll, Cali Roll, Rolls
The SUSHI BAR is BACK! Not the whole thing, just about 6 seats, but it's back. Some new yummy items on the menu too!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Nigiri, Fish, Rolls
Restaurantji Recommends
Excellent don, odon and lunch specials. Fast and good price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Taiko Bento
We had the sushi here, including one of the special rolls. The food was seriously fantastic. The service was also good. But the dining area could really use a renovation. I would definitely go back for take out.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
The sushi was really good, up there with the other good sushi places around Irvine, and the service was very friendly as well. Unfortunately the decor is so aged and the interior so in need of a renovation that it detracts from the experience. Next time I will take my meal to go unless they renovate the place.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 4
Ordered take out, terrible job making the rolls they all falls apart while picking them up and also, they forgot the udon noodles in the order but only refund us $4 of the noodle price of $15. Will not order from here again.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I want to put zero star, but there is no zero here. I used to eat at this restaurant before with my friend and we can use our Groupon deals. We come back again, but the service is bad. The manager's attitude is very unprofessional. At first, he is ok for us to use our deal as before, then he changed his mind that we only use 1 deal ever we pay separately bill. We can pay the bill if he said that at the beginning. IT IS VERY RUDE AND DISCRIMINATION. WE NEVER COME BACK THIS RESTAURANT.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1