After 38 years with Tony-San, new management changes are easy to see and not in a good way.
Had my first date with my wife 20 years ago at Sushi Ichiban, and then after the move Sakura Bana was our favorite. Seems as though everything that set this restaurant above other sushi restaurants was removed. Small staff so it was a little slow but that was OK. No longer do you get a hot towel to wash your hands... sushi for me is finger food. Out of Shapiro and out of Kirin beer. Hot tea they no longer leave you with a small pot and you have to ask the waitress if wanting more. Menu was reduced and many sushi items no longer available. No specials of the day sushi - used to be some interesting specials. No happy hour - used to have daily happy hour till 6pm. Used to get a small free soup or salad with purchase of certain amount of food - no longer a thing. Fish still great quality, however rolls not made as well and fall apart a little. Still tasted good and fresh but nothing exceptional to set them apart from all the other sushi restaurants in omaha. Even the little Japanese candy's at the counter have been removed. Just no character after for so many years being the best in Omaha. Sad to see a my wife and I have a lot of history eating here and at the old ihop location. ?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
drkinferno72
Great sushi
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brittani Button
The service was attentive and friendly, which was greatly appreciated! Overall, the food is affordable and flavorful. Only gripe would be I wish the rice was a little stickier. The Shishito Peppers easily my favorite! Will be back sooner than later!
Can't really say anything about the food or service except I went in a little before noon, stood at the 'a hostess will seat you' area for about 5 minutes without anyone helping me or anything, and turned around and went to longhorn. Would like to try the sushi, hopefully I'll be acknowledged next time I try.
Shane Salrin
I've been an occasional visitor to Sakura Bana going back to the days it occupied an old, 70's style IHOP on Dodge. It's our go to for basic Japanese fare such as Udon and Katsu Bento boxes. The food flavors and the quiet decor are comforting.
Today we discovered that a few months ago, they downsized their lunch menu from book to a single page (read on both sides). I actually approve of this type of change as it normally leads to better executed food.
Today I had Champon noodles. I loved the broth which had a strong seafood umami. The fatty notes were initially surprising. It came with scallops, shrimp, egg and pork. The noodles, according to the menu, are a Nagasaki style. They were excellent. They were thin but tasted like Udon. The bay scallops were surprisingly tender. The shrimp was fine and not over cooked. The egg is an egg and always welcomed in a noodle broth dish. I suspect the pork provided the fatty accent to the broth, but it was bland and over cooked. There wasn't a lot of protein, but to be fair I was really into the broth and the noodles, so I didn't care. The noodles came with a salad and I had the carrot ginger dress. I wish they would just dump the salad greens and offer a seaweed salad option. The dressing was watery and I didn't enjoy it.
My wife had the Salmon Teriyaki Bento box. She absolutely loved the salmon and the tempura shrimp. She had high praise for the accompanying sushi as they used sushi grade rice, something which most Midwest sushi purveyors go cheap and substitute with whatever's on hand, or they change out the wazoo. But not at Sakura Bana. One negative to the Bento was the tempura mushroom. You have to watch yourselves with any form of fried mushrooms in Nebraska. When you bite into them you end up with a mouth of hot steamy water. This is usually due to using frozen mushrooms and not fresh dry cleaned mushrooms. Of course the added sliced orange is always a nice touch.
The service was excellent. The waitress was very professional and helpful. She even went above and beyond by packaging my left overs in the kitchen herself. How unusual and how appreciated! Even most high end restaurants today drop the box on your table for you to fill yourself and occasionally they'll volunteer to fill it for you.
Overall it was an excellent experience and I applaud the new menu approach. I would recommend coming up with a special of the day which they can use to rotate their success on to the main menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Miso Soup, Fish, Sushi Rolls
Maggie Medbery
Such a cute place. They even have private tea rooms. Very delicious. I think I'm going to have my bday party here.
They were bought by another company and the quality of the food has declined, the menu is also super tiny now.
I can't recommend this anymore
Below was my previous review:
The food is amazing here! I highly recommend the sukiyaki with udon noodles.
The sushi is top quality and really delicious. Much better than other restaurants downtown.
Sandra Hawes
First time visit, great food, will be coming back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joy Prys
Really good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Keiko Terasaki
We were disappointed about the sushi delux. The fish were not fresh enough for sushi. I almost feared if I got sick on our way home. The owner has changed recently. It never had happened before . The restaurant was one of our favorite Japanese restaurants before.But no more sadly.
This place is very cool. The vibe is just right and the atmosphere is very welcoming. My wife and I loved the interior look of the place and we were greeted right away. The service team here is top tier! We had 3 other servers that weren’t even our server top off our water and check on us throughout our meal! Seriously A+! We ordered 6 different rolls which were all spectacular! We will be back and if you are looking to try something new that is very fresh then this is your spot!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi Rolls
Alec Sh
It changed a lot under new management, and unfortunately, to the worse. Rolls are bland. Teriyaki chicken tastes like in a cheap Chinese fast food place but costs $18. The service was fast, but we had to ask our server for everything - plates, straws. I understand she was new, but when you spend $90 at lunch for two (with no alcohol), you would expect better service and definitely better food. ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Salad Dressing
JoAnn Barmettler
We have gone here for years and now it’s under new management, unfortunately the food was not good quality. The chicken rice bowl tasted like chicken from a can. The fried squid and seafood dumplings were not well cooked and tasted more batter in the squid. Will now have to find a new place we celebrate birthdays at. The staff was good and polite. We were disappointed for sure. We used to love this place.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
T S
Their somewhat unique take on california rolls with rice on the inside will forever make them stand out among the rest!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Matt
Been there a couple of times since it was sold. This is one of those places that you knew wouldn't be there forever but it was almost. I'd say the sushi quality has improved but the menu is stripped down. Many of our favorite rolls are gone. And for goodness sake bring back Osumashi soup. Everyone has miso basic soup. Main reasons we really go there is carrot ginger salad and that seems to have been tweeked and Osumashi soup. Chicken teriyaki seems sweeter as well and didn't like it as much. When you've been going to a place for decades you gets used to what it is and in this day the comfort of knowing what you will get and that is probably what is missing. The old menu was big and probably unsustainable but the price increases are pretty high. I'm afraid like the miso soup this will be basic as well. Hope I am wrong.
After 38 years with Tony-San, new management changes are easy to see and not in a good way.
Had my first date with my wife 20 years ago at Sushi Ichiban, and then after the move Sakura Bana was our favorite.
Seems as though everything that set this restaurant above other sushi restaurants was removed.
Small staff so it was a little slow but that was OK.
No longer do you get a hot towel to wash your hands... sushi for me is finger food.
Out of Shapiro and out of Kirin beer.
Hot tea they no longer leave you with a small pot and you have to ask the waitress if wanting more.
Menu was reduced and many sushi items no longer available.
No specials of the day sushi - used to be some interesting specials.
No happy hour - used to have daily happy hour till 6pm.
Used to get a small free soup or salad with purchase of certain amount of food - no longer a thing.
Fish still great quality, however rolls not made as well and fall apart a little.
Still tasted good and fresh but nothing exceptional to set them apart from all the other sushi restaurants in omaha.
Even the little Japanese candy's at the counter have been removed.
Just no character after for so many years being the best in Omaha.
Sad to see a my wife and I have a lot of history eating here and at the old ihop location. ?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Great sushi
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The service was attentive and friendly, which was greatly appreciated! Overall, the food is affordable and flavorful. Only gripe would be I wish the rice was a little stickier. The Shishito Peppers easily my favorite! Will be back sooner than later!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Champon, Salad, Teriyaki Chicken
Can't really say anything about the food or service except I went in a little before noon, stood at the 'a hostess will seat you' area for about 5 minutes without anyone helping me or anything, and turned around and went to longhorn. Would like to try the sushi, hopefully I'll be acknowledged next time I try.
I've been an occasional visitor to Sakura Bana going back to the days it occupied an old, 70's style IHOP on Dodge. It's our go to for basic Japanese fare such as Udon and Katsu Bento boxes. The food flavors and the quiet decor are comforting.
Today we discovered that a few months ago, they downsized their lunch menu from book to a single page (read on both sides). I actually approve of this type of change as it normally leads to better executed food.
Today I had Champon noodles. I loved the broth which had a strong seafood umami. The fatty notes were initially surprising. It came with scallops, shrimp, egg and pork. The noodles, according to the menu, are a Nagasaki style. They were excellent. They were thin but tasted like Udon. The bay scallops were surprisingly tender. The shrimp was fine and not over cooked. The egg is an egg and always welcomed in a noodle broth dish. I suspect the pork provided the fatty accent to the broth, but it was bland and over cooked. There wasn't a lot of protein, but to be fair I was really into the broth and the noodles, so I didn't care. The noodles came with a salad and I had the carrot ginger dress. I wish they would just dump the salad greens and offer a seaweed salad option. The dressing was watery and I didn't enjoy it.
My wife had the Salmon Teriyaki Bento box. She absolutely loved the salmon and the tempura shrimp. She had high praise for the accompanying sushi as they used sushi grade rice, something which most Midwest sushi purveyors go cheap and substitute with whatever's on hand, or they change out the wazoo. But not at Sakura Bana. One negative to the Bento was the tempura mushroom. You have to watch yourselves with any form of fried mushrooms in Nebraska. When you bite into them you end up with a mouth of hot steamy water. This is usually due to using frozen mushrooms and not fresh dry cleaned mushrooms. Of course the added sliced orange is always a nice touch.
The service was excellent. The waitress was very professional and helpful. She even went above and beyond by packaging my left overs in the kitchen herself. How unusual and how appreciated! Even most high end restaurants today drop the box on your table for you to fill yourself and occasionally they'll volunteer to fill it for you.
Overall it was an excellent experience and I applaud the new menu approach. I would recommend coming up with a special of the day which they can use to rotate their success on to the main menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Miso Soup, Fish, Sushi Rolls
Such a cute place. They even have private tea rooms. Very delicious. I think I'm going to have my bday party here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Miso Soup, Roll, Sashimi Sakura, Sushi Rolls
They were bought by another company and the quality of the food has declined, the menu is also super tiny now.
I can't recommend this anymore
Below was my previous review:
The food is amazing here! I highly recommend the sukiyaki with udon noodles.
The sushi is top quality and really delicious. Much better than other restaurants downtown.
First time visit, great food, will be coming back
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Really good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We were disappointed about the sushi delux. The fish were not fresh enough for sushi. I almost feared if I got sick on our way home. The owner has changed recently. It never had happened before . The restaurant was one of our favorite Japanese restaurants before.But no more sadly.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Champon
Restaurantji Recommends
This place is very cool. The vibe is just right and the atmosphere is very welcoming. My wife and I loved the interior look of the place and we were greeted right away. The service team here is top tier! We had 3 other servers that weren’t even our server top off our water and check on us throughout our meal! Seriously A+! We ordered 6 different rolls which were all spectacular! We will be back and if you are looking to try something new that is very fresh then this is your spot!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sushi Rolls
It changed a lot under new management, and unfortunately, to the worse. Rolls are bland. Teriyaki chicken tastes like in a cheap Chinese fast food place but costs $18. The service was fast, but we had to ask our server for everything - plates, straws. I understand she was new, but when you spend $90 at lunch for two (with no alcohol), you would expect better service and definitely better food. ?
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Salad Dressing
We have gone here for years and now it’s under new management, unfortunately the food was not good quality. The chicken rice bowl tasted like chicken from a can. The fried squid and seafood dumplings were not well cooked and tasted more batter in the squid. Will now have to find a new place we celebrate birthdays at. The staff was good and polite. We were disappointed for sure. We used to love this place.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Their somewhat unique take on california rolls with rice on the inside will forever make them stand out among the rest!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Been there a couple of times since it was sold. This is one of those places that you knew wouldn't be there forever but it was almost. I'd say the sushi quality has improved but the menu is stripped down. Many of our favorite rolls are gone. And for goodness sake bring back Osumashi soup. Everyone has miso basic soup. Main reasons we really go there is carrot ginger salad and that seems to have been tweeked and Osumashi soup. Chicken teriyaki seems sweeter as well and didn't like it as much. When you've been going to a place for decades you gets used to what it is and in this day the comfort of knowing what you will get and that is probably what is missing. The old menu was big and probably unsustainable but the price increases are pretty high. I'm afraid like the miso soup this will be basic as well. Hope I am wrong.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
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