I visited Island Sushi because of its high Google rating, but I wish I had looked more closely—most of the positive reviews are from several years ago. The more recent reviews reflect a decline in quality, and unfortunately, I can only echo those negative experiences.
From the start, things felt disorganized. The waiter was running around chaotically and eventually seated me in a dark corner facing a wall. He brought the menu along with a tiny flashlight lamp—an odd and uncomfortable touch. Since I was short on time, I placed my order right away, but it took nearly 50 minutes for the food to arrive.
When it finally did, the server asked if I needed anything else. Looking at the empty table, I asked for wasabi and soy sauce—essentials for sushi that should never be forgotten. As for the food: the sushi was disappointing. The rice was hard and tasted old, the nigiri fish slices were so thick they resembled sashimi but lacked quality and finesse, and the fish kept falling off the rice. The “spicy tuna” rolls weren’t spicy at all.
To top it off, when I asked for the bill, the server handed it to me and told me I had to go to the bar to pay—again, disorganized and impersonal.
This wasn’t just a bad day—it felt like a poorly run operation with no pride in service or food quality. I genuinely cannot recommend Island Sushi. Sadly, even supermarket sushi would have been a better experience.
spirit the dogo :3
I have read the reviews and I see so many saying the sushi is outstanding. I ordered some for the first time as I was passing through and I honestly didn’t think it was good. I didn’t even like the taste of the wasabi, it was off.
David
Wow what happened to this place. Sometimes open but usually not. The food quality has really been horrible. This will be the last time I give it a chance. Used to eat here all the time and it was excellent, but now not worth the effort.
Mike Kapocius
Sushi tasted delicious! Only two customers in the restaurant and it took over 30 minutes to get my first two rolls and 24 minutes for the second two rolls. Bartender/server was as bad as the wait time. He never asked for my drink order and it took 24 minutes to get my drink. The GM did what he could to make the situation better. He expressed that he was short staffed and very apologetic.
Kimberly Hernandez
Just isn't the same without the boat experience. That is what made this place unique. The food was good, but the atmosphere was lacking.
Meralis Alvarez
Love this place, and this is the only place in town with decent sushi...but you never really know when they're available, if they're truly open, or if they're taking orders for pick-up. There never seems to be enough staff working to fulfill demand, and that makes it difficult to want to support this business more often.
Shannon Marie
This used to be a great place and a favorite, but appears to have changed owners and lost some of its appeal. On a Wednesday night with very few customers we waited an hour at a table without receiving any rolls. There was only one chef cooking and he had already told the server to hold the next customers because he was taking a break. unfortunately we left without the order even arriving to our table so I can't speak to the quality of food.
Keegan Blish
My wife and I were excited to go as we went a few years ago and had an awesome experience. We left this time really disappointed. There were maybe 12-14 people in the whole restaurant and the workers were chaotically running around. A 20 minute wait, turned into an hour to sit down and another 30+ minute wait for our food. Granted, only 1 cook....give the man some help! So many other great options in Appleton, this is unfortunately not one of them.
Courtney Marie
Island Sushi Appleton is the only place I will go for sushi. They have options for everyone’s tastes and if they don’t, they can help find something you’ll like! The chefs are fantastic; conversational, accommodating & great at recommending rolls or substitutions! They are also great at getting my picky child to try new things always!
Abbie
Absolutely delicious. I would recommend this place to anyone! The workers were outstanding and so nice.
My name is michael And I'm wondering if you guys are hurting in the kitchen.I got referred by
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tarynn Johnson
This is not the same Island Sushi that it was a few months or even a year ago - they got rid of the floating boat bar and turned the “all you can eat” room into a 7 table space (yes you read that right, ONLY 7 tables) where you can only order 2 rolls at a time per person. It is an extremely slow process as the sushi chefs have to prepare Door Dash and take out orders, also while doing the dining room sushi, so it has taken about 1.5 hours to get 7 rolls total. Absolutely would not recommend eating here in person - your door dash order would be ready quicker. If you want all you can eat and at a good pace, might as well go to Sushi Lovers down town College Avenue where at least they are quick and you’ll leave full. Only reason I did not give 1 star is because the sushi chefs still make dang good sushi. Definitely a disappointing experience and will not be back to this location.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Marie Yang
Came on a Saturday. False advertisement no sushi boats. Looooong wait time. Was not entirely packed. They don't do all u can eat sushi until 4pm we were there at 3:40 we didn't get seated until 4:30. Food was OK. Was not impressed. First place we ever been to we had to order Wasabi and ginger
HikariKaitou
This is my favorite sushi place. The staff is so kind and they always remember what I like.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Aaron Wentzel
Ordered some rolls for take-out and was pleasantly surprised. Very good! Spicy tuna was, definitely spicy, but not overpowering. Tuna tasted very fresh and well prepared. First time and WILL be back!
I visited Island Sushi because of its high Google rating, but I wish I had looked more closely—most of the positive reviews are from several years ago. The more recent reviews reflect a decline in quality, and unfortunately, I can only echo those negative experiences.
From the start, things felt disorganized. The waiter was running around chaotically and eventually seated me in a dark corner facing a wall. He brought the menu along with a tiny flashlight lamp—an odd and uncomfortable touch. Since I was short on time, I placed my order right away, but it took nearly 50 minutes for the food to arrive.
When it finally did, the server asked if I needed anything else. Looking at the empty table, I asked for wasabi and soy sauce—essentials for sushi that should never be forgotten. As for the food: the sushi was disappointing. The rice was hard and tasted old, the nigiri fish slices were so thick they resembled sashimi but lacked quality and finesse, and the fish kept falling off the rice. The “spicy tuna” rolls weren’t spicy at all.
To top it off, when I asked for the bill, the server handed it to me and told me I had to go to the bar to pay—again, disorganized and impersonal.
This wasn’t just a bad day—it felt like a poorly run operation with no pride in service or food quality. I genuinely cannot recommend Island Sushi. Sadly, even supermarket sushi would have been a better experience.
I have read the reviews and I see so many saying the sushi is outstanding. I ordered some for the first time as I was passing through and I honestly didn’t think it was good. I didn’t even like the taste of the wasabi, it was off.
Wow what happened to this place. Sometimes open but usually not. The food quality has really been horrible. This will be the last time I give it a chance. Used to eat here all the time and it was excellent, but now not worth the effort.
Sushi tasted delicious! Only two customers in the restaurant and it took over 30 minutes to get my first two rolls and 24 minutes for the second two rolls. Bartender/server was as bad as the wait time. He never asked for my drink order and it took 24 minutes to get my drink. The GM did what he could to make the situation better. He expressed that he was short staffed and very apologetic.
Just isn't the same without the boat experience. That is what made this place unique. The food was good, but the atmosphere was lacking.
Love this place, and this is the only place in town with decent sushi...but you never really know when they're available, if they're truly open, or if they're taking orders for pick-up. There never seems to be enough staff working to fulfill demand, and that makes it difficult to want to support this business more often.
This used to be a great place and a favorite, but appears to have changed owners and lost some of its appeal. On a Wednesday night with very few customers we waited an hour at a table without receiving any rolls. There was only one chef cooking and he had already told the server to hold the next customers because he was taking a break. unfortunately we left without the order even arriving to our table so I can't speak to the quality of food.
My wife and I were excited to go as we went a few years ago and had an awesome experience. We left this time really disappointed. There were maybe 12-14 people in the whole restaurant and the workers were chaotically running around. A 20 minute wait, turned into an hour to sit down and another 30+ minute wait for our food. Granted, only 1 cook....give the man some help! So many other great options in Appleton, this is unfortunately not one of them.
Island Sushi Appleton is the only place I will go for sushi. They have options for everyone’s tastes and if they don’t, they can help find something you’ll like! The chefs are fantastic; conversational, accommodating & great at recommending rolls or substitutions! They are also great at getting my picky child to try new things always!
Absolutely delicious. I would recommend this place to anyone! The workers were outstanding and so nice.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
My name is michael And I'm wondering if you guys are hurting in the kitchen.I got referred by
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This is not the same Island Sushi that it was a few months or even a year ago - they got rid of the floating boat bar and turned the “all you can eat” room into a 7 table space (yes you read that right, ONLY 7 tables) where you can only order 2 rolls at a time per person. It is an extremely slow process as the sushi chefs have to prepare Door Dash and take out orders, also while doing the dining room sushi, so it has taken about 1.5 hours to get 7 rolls total. Absolutely would not recommend eating here in person - your door dash order would be ready quicker. If you want all you can eat and at a good pace, might as well go to Sushi Lovers down town College Avenue where at least they are quick and you’ll leave full. Only reason I did not give 1 star is because the sushi chefs still make dang good sushi. Definitely a disappointing experience and will not be back to this location.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Came on a Saturday. False advertisement no sushi boats. Looooong wait time. Was not entirely packed. They don't do all u can eat sushi until 4pm we were there at 3:40 we didn't get seated until 4:30. Food was OK. Was not impressed. First place we ever been to we had to order Wasabi and ginger
This is my favorite sushi place. The staff is so kind and they always remember what I like.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ordered some rolls for take-out and was pleasantly surprised. Very good! Spicy tuna was, definitely spicy, but not overpowering. Tuna tasted very fresh and well prepared. First time and WILL be back!
Food: 5
Service: 5
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