Yosake Downtown Sushi Lounge

The food was wonderful, but the wait was a bit long. Even after having a reservation, our party waited about 30 minutes additionally.
Would still consider coming back, just not on a Friday/Saturday again lol!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Firecracker Shrimp, Miso Soup

I got nothing. Door lady was absolutely unprofessional. It wasn't me having any other agenda except to eat because it looked good. But sometimes you can want the food. But if the attitude is unprofessional then I'm out the door before we can get to eating. Being from California and eating at some of the most great sushi and sushimi restaurants this was not a good way to be Introduced to your restaurant. maybe one day I'll try again

Atmosphere: 4

Service: 1

So my wife and I visited this location on Friday, March 28, 2025, first time visiting here as we are from out of state, but in Wilmington for 6 1/2 weeks living and this place was absolutely horrendous. The food was terrible the service behind the bar. There was two young women. One of them was very nice. The other was very nice. The service was very good impromptu. What a complete turn off when this young woman with somewhat of a tank top type shirt on goes underneath this cabinet and I can see her vaping and blowing the smoke into the cabinet coming back out, not washing your hands or nothing and then handling cups and everything else while she’s mixing drinks this is terrible. Gross and I almost want to contact the Department of health and human services for Wilmington and let them know this. I was almost going to take a picture with my phone or a video to show this. We had lettuce wraps and it was terrible. We had a dumpling type soup and that was absolutely terrible and my wife had some sort of sushi roll that she said was maybe a two on a scale of one to five.

Absolute complete turn off, watching this young woman again, grabbing her vape stick opening up the cabinet door behind the bar and taking a couple reefs, soffit and blowing the smoke clouds of smoke underneath the cabinet and coming back out without washing her hands and then starts mixing drinks and handling cups of which people are going to put near their mouths

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 2

Service: 3

The snarky hipster greeter covering for her insecurities with a thin veneer of holier-than-thou perfectly describes everything about this place; it's cuisine very definitely included.

The Salmon Sashimi was on par or below, as was the "Fiery beef," from the favorites section. The rolls we had were tasty, but not exceptional, and the signature cocktails (we tried the Tequila Katie and a few others) were decent, but again, not exceptional. I liked the decor, and the atmosphere was lovely and lovely. I've just had better everything at better prices without the needless pretension, although a younger me would probably have felt like I were doing something right with my life by eating here.

Worth visiting, just temper your culinary expectations accordingly.

Kid-friendliness: They have high chairs. So that's something.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 4

Eat here.

Let me just say that Yosake is a cool place to eat. They have an elevator, and it will get you there, but the treacherous stairwell leading to the restaurant is all part of the experience. The Sushi is well presented, fresh and rolled by people who are clearly very skilled. The chefs definitely know what they are doing, a requisite I am told. That being said Sake is on the menu and very good.

I have eaten here many times and never left regretting the decision. They can be very busy at times. Be prepared to question your decision in putting your name on the list should the occasion occur that it will be required. This reviewer assures the prospect that if you but just wait it out you will receive a dining experience that will not disappoint.

I have never personally, nor have I been a party to any individual or group that has left disappointed at the end of the evening when Yosake was involved and so you should expect similar results. The reviewer highly suggests trying this restaurant.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

We recently celebrated a birthday at Yosake with a party of 13. While the atmosphere was nice and our server was friendly, the overall experience had some issues.

It took an hour and a half for our food to arrive, and when it did, it came out at different times instead of all together. One meal arrived last by itself, long after the rest of the table had started eating. Some dishes also had very little meat, which was disappointing. My husband’s meal had only a very very small amount of chicken in a huge bowl of rice. He ended up not eating rather than waiting even longer for more—especially since his food was already so delayed. When he mentioned the issue, it was sort of brushed it off and offered a $4 discount, which felt like an odd resolution.

The food itself had good flavors, and the prices are reasonable for sushi and Asian, but the long wait and portion issues made it hard to fully enjoy. Hopefully, this was just an off night, but I’d recommend being prepared for possible delays, especially with a larger group.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 2

Always come to yosake the food is great. If you are a business and change your hours make sure it’s posted on your website as well, came 2 nights ago just so see they closed at 10pm. Tonight they didn’t answer the phone 5 times so I went downtown to get a take out order. Note posted saying they are closed for a party. Make sure people know and put something out other than a piece of paper on your window letting people know you are closed. Definitely eat at yosake but don’t be surprised if those plans change due to their vague way of letting customers know that they are closed.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 1

Great food and excellent service! We went on a Thursday night during Happy Hour, which I highly recommend!

The miso soup was not tasty, the pork udon was too salty and the rolls were not good (sticky rice and flavourless fish).

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 4

Nice place and delicious food.
We use the elevation for the stroller but we didn’t have any problem there.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

We had reservations it took forever to get seated once seated it took over an hour after ordering to get our food

This place is super expensive. I ordered a saki bomber and got a shot glass filled of saki and a quarter glass of beer for nine bucks. This is outrageous in the rest of the world when you order a sake bomber you get an extra large beer and a full craft of warm sake.

The fish was tasteless and old one of the four rolls that we ordered was very fishy taste and smell and later when we got home, all four of us were sick to our stomachs

I’m not sure how this place has become such a hotspot, but I find that in Wilmington people have a very unsophisticated pallet when it comes to food I would rate the food here as terrible.

On the other hand, this restaurant is at the worst. It was our second time here and neither time did we have a good experience with the food.

We will not be returning in this restaurant and it is firmly placed on our do not return list ever !

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

Happy hour is the BEST here. Atmosphere is nice and service is always good. Have been coming here for years.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Went to yosake 9-7 and the service and food were absolutely amazing!! Highly recommend and will be back. I suggest the yuzu cheesecake!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great food, fun atmosphere. A must in downtown Wilmington.

Don't sit at the bar on a Saturday night unless you want to be ignored by a bunch of airheads. Food was great and there was good value for the amount of food. We would have spent a lot more money had the bartenders been engaged. We were celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary, but nobody there would ever have known. Will not return.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 2