22 Best Japanese Restaurants in Madison

“This restaurant's best offerings are their American style maki sushi exploding with all kinds of fillings and toppings. The appetizers and other offerings are pretty basic. The nigiri was disappointing but as expected for this part of the country. The cocktail menu is interesting, but I haven't sampled much from it yet. The new decor is kitschy and over the top, but it imparts a fun, casual vibe if you just kind of relax and enjoy it. Some of the sushi plates had little orchid / flower sprays on them that were quite visually appealing.“

“Delicious sushi. I enjoy their raw salmon. The spice ratio and blend for their spicy tuna is my favorite I have had at a sushi restaurant. Staff are great and hardworking. The atmosphere is beautiful and great for a date or celebration. Their sushi boats are really a treat aesthetically. Would recommend and always take my family here when visiting.“

“Incredible value, friendly wait staff, great food! This is always my go to for ayce sushi, teriyaki, and hibachi.

The atmosphere is fine, but that's not this place's charm. The food is good enough to make the vibe unimportant anyway.

Literally all I would ask for is for the menu sheet to have room to clearly write multiple rounds.“

“Really nice little sushi stop. Good sushi rolls & seaweed salad. Nice atmosphere. Welcoming staff and great service, willing to customize your order. It's fairly easy to find. Just a hop off the beltline. I enjoyed the decor. The little origami birds are lovely! It's artistic and nice. I would definitely recommend it! Hoping they might get real koi fish! I'll definitely be back.“

“Service was wonderful and food came out super fast! Plenty of options and food was very good!“

“I have gone there several times to eat, the food is excellent. The people are very nice. But today the waiter who served us seemed not to have a good day, part of the good experience is not only the food but how the server treat you.
The server who attended me never asked me if I wanted something to drink, I ordered a hibachi steak, he didn’t ask me how would I like my steak?.
He didn’t come to ask if we were missing something, he just came to give us the bill and that’s it. He didn’t even ask if we wanted something else.
The food 10/10 as always. But the attention today did not make my visit to Niji the best.“

“Our party of five loved our meal! We had habachi, sushi, egg rolls, salad, and ramen. It was all delicious and would definitely recommend.“

“Dined here for lunch today and loved the vegan options! Menu is clearly marked so we didn’t have to modify anything, which was highly refreshing. Shout out to Living on the Veg sushi set and the crunch salad, both solid choices. Bright and welcoming interior, with equally welcoming staff! We will be back again and again. Take no shiitake🍄“

“I have been a regular patron at Sushi Express for about 4 years now. I describe this place as a place to get “4 star sushi for 1 star prices”. Their menu is extensive, with many creative rolls, and their 2-roll or 3-roll specials are hard to beat price wise. My personal favorite is the Lake City Roll. The wait staff are always friendly, and I can only recall one time where I waited more than 10 minutes for my sushi rolls. I’ve also ordered delivery from here many times. I once waited over an hour for an order, and they gave me a $10 store credit upon realizing my GrubHub order didn’t go through entirely. Like any restaurant, these folks are human and 99% of the time you’re going to get great sushi with great, friendly service at a price that won’t break the bank. More cities need a Sushi Express like this one in Madison, WI. 5/5 stars for their delivery service and 6/5 stars dine in. HIGHLY recommend this place for anyone that wants great sushi but doesn’t want to break the bank.“

“Visiting from Colorado with some friends and came across this place. Food was very delicious Highly recommend the Korean BBQ wings and Pork dumplings.“

“Delicious food, cozy atmosphere, and very nice staff.“

“Highly recommend!!! Great place!!! Very beautiful ambience 🤩 so awesome I’d recommend everything as they have a lovely menu with delicious foods and beverages especially love their Boba 🧋 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️“

“Love the North Riverside location they’re always delicious and the customer service is friendly and welcoming to say the least.“

“Always great sushi and service. Buy 1 get 1 deal is a terrific bargain.“

“My favorite place to bring people when they visit town. Incredible food, no frills. I'm a big fan of the communal aspect of ordering a bunch of small plates for the table and sharing them. Not much seating so make a reservation if you can. If you can make it for happy hour it's kind of a ridiculous deal. Head across the street for the arcade bar afterwards.

Update 11/6/25:
They nerfed the happy hour 😞 Instead of all happy hour items half off, they now hover around 25% off (depends on the item). Still a nice deal, but far less value. To be fair, the previous happy hour was kind of an absurd deal. Still recommend!“

“We, my husband and I, love this place! It’s honestly hard to find a straight forward and good Chicken Teriyaki in Madison/surrounding areas (We live in Middleton). So this place is perfect for it. The price is more than reasonable for the amount of food you get, it’s hot and delicious, and fresh due to the high volume of orders they are making.The veggies, the chicken, rice and sauce- yum! Plus it makes great leftovers, which I almost always have if I get my own order. A lot of times, my husband and I will split an order if we want to save money. It’s the perfect, not too heavy dinner or lunch.I will say one thing, and that is that you have to like dark meat chicken because I believe they use chicken thighs. Not a problem to me, but I know some people prefer white meat chicken.They also have a punch card system, so after every 6 you get a freebie- we just cashed one in yesterday!The staff is friendly, quick, and I like how you get to watch them make the food.Overall, this place is perfect for a a chicken teriyaki craving… definitely worth a try! There is a location in each of the malls here in Madison, East & West.“

“Takara offers a wonderful variety of rolls and sides delivered via conveyor belt. The fish was all incredibly fresh and flavorful with unique combinations coming around every 10 minutes or so. We paid about $30/person and it's all you can eat, so bring an appetite to make it worth your while.“

“Ordered online, very easy to use website and great pictures. Veggies are fresh and crunchy! Food is fresh and yummy. Done on time and order made exactly correct. Food still perfectly warm after 20 min drove home. Compares to Panda Express in alot of ways but more options. Lots of seating inside. Cute! Will definitely be back for more! So much variety and things to try.“

“Absolutely delicious! Highly recommended.“

“Wow. The sushi was some of the freshest I've had. I got food delivered, so I can't comment on the service at the restaurant, other than to say the delivery process was great. I'm visiting for a few days, and I'm considering getting dinner from here for a second consecutive night, it was so good.“

“Wonderful service and very delicious food!!💕“

“Great food for a great price!“