9 Best Japanese Restaurants near Santa Maria

“Good service and tasty food. My husband had the mixed tempura, and I had a delicious salad with pieces of tempura chicken. We shared the gyoza appetizer. Our server was attentive and friendly, the food came out promptly, and it was all very good.“

“ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.
At this point, there’s no going back. I go here at LEAST once a month. My personal favorite order is the protein roll, the miso soup and the cucumber salad which comes out to around $20+. Pretty macro friendly if you know what to get. There are so many options, and the food is presented very nicely. I’m a major introvert, so the fact that almost half of the seating there is booth seats is a huge A+. I might be overselling it a tiny bit because I love sushi and ramen, but this is a very solid restaurant. :)“

“Excellent food and service! First time there, very pleased! Sushi was fresh! And their dressing for salad in the bento box is Amazing! I then talked to a friend who happens to be a plumber. He said they are the cleanest restaurant he has seen! It's scary trying new sushi places, but Ichiban is a definite gem! I will definitely go again and again!“

“Food is great, but service has been poor lately. The restaurant gets way too many To-Go orders to keep up with, which results in poor service to indoor customers who’ve waited 45 min or more from when they initially ordered their food.“

“Great sushi bar with fresh fish, well-balanced flavors, and beautifully presented rolls. The menu has a solid variety, from classic favorites to creative specialty rolls, and everything tastes high quality. Friendly service, relaxed atmosphere, and consistently good food make this a spot worth coming back to.“

“Celebrated a special occasion here recently. Really lovely service and outstanding food and drink. Wonderful unfiltered sake. Got the motorcycle, tarantula, dragon and salmon delight rolls. All excellent particularly moto and salmon delight. Really great experience all around. Super friendly staff! Thank you!!“

“Very good sushi, great service!“

“We stopped by for a weekend lunch in order to get some last minute shopping out of the way afterwards. I got their barbecue chicken teriyaki bento special ($16). I should've split it with my friend as we both struggled to get through half of each of our bento orders. The bento comes with salad, steamed rice, miso soup, mixed tempura, and 4 pieces of a California roll. Luckily, the server had given our order packed to-go so I could easily take it back to the hotel and stick the leftovers in the fridge.

They have some seating indoors, but you can grab a table inside the mall if you're meeting up with others grabbing food from another eatery.

They're also right by one of the entrances from the parking structure, so not too hard to find.“

“This sushi place was a pleasant surprise. The food was great, the service outstanding and the decor comfortable and attractive. It's nice to have an excellent sushi place in Nipomo.“