Presentation on Map Reviews Nearby

Shintori Sushi in Santa Barbara

4.2 (81) 3001 State St A, Santa Barbara, CA 93105, United States

Categories

Japanese restaurant
Sushi restaurant

Location on the map

Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California, US

Phone: +1 805-898-0177
Site: http://shintorisushisb.com/

Opening hours

Monday:5–9 PM
Tuesday:5–9 PM
Wednesday:5–9 PM
Thursday:Closed
Friday:4:30–9 PM
Saturday:4:30–9 PM
Sunday:Closed

Edit info

Total reviews rating 4.2

81 Reviews for Shintori Sushi 2024:

Review №1

2023-09-16 14:59:02

Had dinner here last night, and was completely impressed! I wanted just about everything on their menu, which offers all sorts of options. The entire menu felt healthy and fresh, with lots of fresh salads. I ordered the green salad, which had a peanut dressing instead of the traditional carrot miso dressing, and it was lovely and fresh, with papaya and tomato on top. We ordered shrimp tempura rolls which were perfectly lightly crispy on the outside, not overly battered. The yellowtail sushi was fresh and delicious. The miso soup had a much nicer umami flavor than any other Ive had in town. And to finish it off, we had freshly made Japanese donuts, served piping hot - ahmazing! Overall, the best sushi dinner Ive had in Santa Barbara so far. Five stars, and well be back soon!

Review №2

2023-07-06 02:18:30

Haven’t been here in 15-20 years due to moved out of area. Moved back and thought I would visit an old reliable sushi restaurant. First off, seating for maybe 8 people. Still looks like an old Covid restricted zone. Tables and chairs stacked up. 2 seats at sushi bar. 2 small tables….that’s it. Waitress wearing mask?? Really?? In July 2023 still wearing mask?? Don’t be open…. Food was dreadful. 1 roll and 6 pieces of nigiri sushi. Fish was tired and probably very close to inedible. The rice was the worst I’ve ever had at any Japanese restaurant. The rice is the key to good sushi, assuming almost expired fish doesn’t make you I’ll…. STAY AWAY!!! Worst sushi experience in my life…. Grocery store premade sushi would’ve been better; and that’s not saying much 🤮

Review №3

2019-03-07 05:16:56

Great cozy little neighborhood sushi restaurant serving up classic Japanese fare and fresh sushi. Went for dinner and ordered miso soup, spicy edamame, and the Tie-Die roll. The soup was well balanced and flavorful, the edamame was too mild to be called spicy and a bit over streamed, but the sushi roll was outstanding. The wait staff was friendly, attentive, and eager to please. Overall I had a great experience.

Review №4

2021-10-24 18:56:04

Average sushi at best. Sauce on the R8 Eel Avocado too heavy for the small pieces. R17 Spicy Salmon Skin palatable. Joints that use cucumber in seemingly a majority of their rolls is hardly authentic Japanese.

Review №5

2023-11-05 17:46:07

Very good menu of appetizers and great sushi. The service is excellent.

Review №6

2023-11-23 02:55:14

Great food great service, nice cozy little restaurant. Japanese donuts were 👌👌👌

Review №7

2019-03-05 21:18:16

Came in a Monday night for salmon nigiri, the fish was so fresh and the rice was so good that I ended up ordering 3 more nigiri.Amazing little place, fast service and very clean place. The sake is delicious. Will be coming back here !

Review №8

2018-09-06 06:37:55

Delicious sushi, reasonably priced. The shintori dome is a MUST! It has salmon, tuna, shrimp, crab, and avocado over a ball of rice, topped with the most delicious sauce. The other rolls/sushi were good too. Theres only a couple of tables, so if you want sushi during a peak meal time, I recommend ordering for pick up.

Review №9

2021-07-24 21:42:30

I have always loved this small and friendly sushi bar. I want to return, but I believe part of the experience in addition to their very good sushi, is interacting with the staff and other patrons. When you return to normal inside dining

Review №10

2023-04-02 17:57:45

Tiny spot that has been here 20+ years. Extensive sushi menu. 🍣 Reminded me of little sushi shops in Mishima.

Review №11

2019-01-05 19:46:52

This place has the best lunch special! Special #1 is one of my favorite lunches on the planet. Good Miso soup to start, CA roll and a sampler of various delicious Nigiri. I always come here when I visit home a couple times a year.

Review №12

2023-04-20 05:08:28

The owner of this restaurant is racist he doesnt allow other people to speak their native languages even tho he is hispanic shame on this person

Review №13

2019-12-23 02:01:51

If youre truly a sushi fan this is not the place for you. Shintori is a budget sushi roll restaurant. Theres nothing wrong with that, but expect minimal fish options and ALL specials are rolls. It seems like most of them have fake krab or spicy tuna. A higher end restaurant would show their FISH specials.Since they seem to focus on rolls, after some nigiri I tried the avocado scallop roll. Their menu was correct - no where did it say scallops. My roll did, in fact, have one bay scallop. It was mostly rice and some goo. As we sat at the bar, we saw the chef repeatedly reach for a big tub of this goo that he used continuously. In decades of eating sushi around the world (including Tokyo, Kyoto, etc.), Ive never seen this before. Im guessing its some cheap filler as it was not particularly flavorful.

Review №14

2019-12-24 03:07:15

Got in was served our drinks. And that was about it. The waitress passed us several times, continued to serve people that came in after us, waited there at least 15-20 minutes before my mom and I just got up and left. Were black so I dont know if they stereotyped us. As if we couldnt pay but this isnt the first time. Probably wont be the last. But I expected better seeing how they have 4.5 stars. Wont be back.

Review №15

2019-07-02 19:49:47

Upon entering I noticed how small the inside of the restaurant was. This place is best for couples and a friend or two due to this and the atmosphere is amazing. The food was made swiftly and the two chefs even helped recommend some dishes to me.

Review №16

2016-09-30 04:51:27

Love atmosphere of the restaurant however I had an awful experience when dinning. Long story not-so-short my friend and I were brought white rice with wet boiled vegetables in a bowl when we had ordered vegetarian fried rice to share. The food was shuffled around as we searched for anything fried about the rice. We asked the waiter if what was in front of us was the dish we ordered and said it was similar but not the same one. When she told her manager we wanted to have the dish we ordered he immediately argued with us saying that it is our fault for not ordering the correct menu item and we should have told him sooner before touching it. His attitude was extremely unprofessional as we felt threatened to be there. After we paid the check he told us we were unwelcome and banned from going to the restaurant again. Completely unprofessional staff, wouldnt recommend.

Review №17

2011-10-16 02:41:17

This tiny place is a gem. They make lots of unique rolls that are amazing. Get these and dont just stick with your usuals. Also you must try some of their baked rolls. I was skeptical, but now cant believe what I was missing out on. Dont expect to be able to sit more than 4 people together here though.

Review №18

2019-12-19 11:25:43

Small sushi bar and restaurant with good quality sushi. Fish selection is a bit limited, but everything is very fresh and tasty. I focus on the sashimi and sushi and have never been disappointed. I havent tried many of their sushi rolls, but the ones I have tried have been good.

Review №19

2022-01-02 20:19:43

I came in to order sushi the lady told me she had to many orders today and wouldn’t take mine even though it was just 2 rolls. She also had the lady behind me wait 30+ minutes for her order like girl?

Review №20

2020-03-23 02:46:32

As of 3/19/2020, Shintori Sushi is open for business! Despite all my trips to the grocery store in the past couple weeks, we couldnt kick the sushi craving today and we luckily stumbled upon Shintoris Instagram post announcing they were still open! We ordered the Baked Lobster Roll, Tie-Dye Roll, Nabeyaki Udon and Veggie Gyoza, paid over the phone and they brought our order out to our car when we arrived - minimal contact!!! Also, it was delicious. The owner thanked us endlessly for supporting a local business when we picked up our order, we truly need each others support during times like these! Thank you, Shintori!

Review №21

2013-05-05 21:56:36

This is a great little place that does sushi very well. If anything I would say its a bit too small and a bit too confined as far as the space and the layout goes. But the sushi was pretty great so I would come back, but probably do take out.

Review №22

2022-11-07 01:51:41

Great food and service at reasonable prices. more sake choices would be great

Review №23

2019-04-01 20:49:57

Its your standard mid-range sushi place... But with crazy good fresh made donuts for some reason! Seriously, if you come here you have to get them.

Review №24

2017-12-07 05:17:03

We have been to every sushi bar in town. Shintori has the best quality fish and great friendly service. Ask Eddie if he has shasito peppers. If he does you are in for a trwat.

Review №25

2022-12-10 10:30:31

Way too expensive and the service is ultra slow because if your dining in you are the last person to be served as all the to-go orders take precedence!

Review №26

2018-06-29 08:06:00

The Five Stars I have given to Shintory SushiIs for the way it was run and managed by the previous owner and her staff, and not for this present day staff and owner, they will eventually drive this great awesome little down to ground and probably to a close out situation, because they are soooo horrible at managing this wonderful little Sushi place.It has been a long time since I have eaten here at Shintory Sushi, but I used live it, when the previous owner had it it was more pleasant and the service was excellent and friendlier, now with this new owner not so much last time I was there it was I think Christmas Eve of 2015 and it was horrible and the worst experience ever nothing like with the previous owner, like when I first I walked in one of the waitress’s asked me what I was doing there and then when I tried to seat at one of sushi bar seat a different waitress wouldn’t have it and so i totally had it by then with the rudeness and walked out went across the street to Kyoto Sushi which they are not as good as Shintory but hey by this I was starved, so I just went with it! So no I wouldn’t recommend Shintory with the new owner and new staff waaay too rude and nasty, and mean and totally unprofessional, just awful!

Review №27

2019-11-25 02:44:23

If you come here I highly suggest ordering the fried chicken gyoza, shintori dome, or the ginza roll. All so delicious! Great service and authentica Japanese environment. My new favorite sushi place!

Review №28

2016-11-06 03:26:29

Excellent food and service! Best sushi in town. We keep coming back for more! Try it, youll like it!!!!

Review №29

2018-11-13 07:15:37

Creative & tasty rolls. Friendly, pleasant staff. Five 4-top tables & 12 bar seats. Very cozy.

Review №30

2017-01-08 04:51:00

I LOVE Shintori. They have great special rolls, great lunch menu items, and the vibe inside is really cool in the sense that it only holds around 30 people.

Review №31

2021-07-17 02:06:59

Sashimi was very fresh and delicious. Some of the fancy rolls left me wishing I had just got more sashimi.

Review №32

2016-11-22 03:02:37

This is our go to place for sushi. Great quality. Friendly service. And Eddy ussually sends an extra roll to our table.

Review №33

2021-01-03 02:01:34

Bad costumer service, owner super rude, my dish was smaller than what the menu said, it took more than 30 min go get my order, employees give you what they want instead of what you are paying for and they dont pay attention to your request when placing the order,prices are higher.

Review №34

2022-07-26 02:35:23

They have gone down last time I ordered most of the food taste and looked old.

Review №35

2018-01-19 22:51:14

Friendly people and good quality sushi. Will definitely be making this place one of my regular spots.

Review №36

2018-08-08 14:09:04

Step into this small sushi house and lose yourself in the flavors and atmosphere of Japan. The most authentic sushi dining restaurant in the area.

Review №37

2018-07-15 02:06:25

Shintori is my favorite hole in the wall sushi restaurant. Im never disappointed. Naruto roll is a must try!

Review №38

2018-06-19 12:21:02

Not good at all. The food was very low quality. I was surprised. And the prices are outrages for the quality. There are better places in town with better prices

Review №39

2015-01-20 21:36:28

Great service and pretty darn good sushi. Lunch specials are a great deal!

Review №40

2016-09-09 23:22:29

The best in Santa Barbara I have had, born in raised in SB the best sushi restaurant I have had for a hole in the wall LOL

Review №41

2017-04-18 20:59:26

Great little cozy place with some unique rolls that have papaya. Recommended for lunch.

Review №42

2019-12-09 22:06:06

Love the food. Its our go-to place for sushi.

Review №43

2016-12-11 16:11:47

Great food. The hole-in-the-wall location feels pretty authentic

Review №44

2018-07-03 19:20:02

So very good! Love the spicy lobster roll! The best!!!❤️

Review №45

2019-11-15 22:17:30

The Dynamite roll was terrific. Waitress was very nice.

Review №46

2022-01-05 04:31:17

Worst service very rude employees. Had better sushi

Review №47

2016-06-09 04:49:15

Our favorite local sushi. Great hole in the wall.

Review №48

2015-12-30 22:31:02

OK, not bad. Our Hamachi sashimi was frozen.

Review №49

2017-07-22 21:46:04

Good sushi. Very small, so it feels like some sushi bars Ive been to in Japan.

Review №50

2017-02-18 18:30:39

I have always enjoyed their lunch special.

Review №51

2018-02-11 04:40:49

Clean restaurant with friendly staff and great food

Review №52

2019-11-07 20:03:11

The ginger pork tomato soup is the best thing ever!!!

Review №53

2019-03-27 01:54:34

Average sushi and expensive, but friendly staff

Review №54

2014-10-16 07:13:19

Original, yet cheap food.Love the sushis!

Review №55

2017-12-11 02:03:23

Go regularly. Has few tables but seldom is there a wait.

Review №56

2018-01-30 03:56:15

Fuggin best Salmon Jalepeno roll, tie dye, Kama!!!

Review №57

2018-11-21 05:20:46

Got to try their Japanese Donuts!!! THEY ARE INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS!!!

Review №58

2021-07-02 20:04:50

Good customer service and delicious sushi

Review №59

2020-08-23 03:55:19

Good rolls. Fair price. Fairly fast.

Review №60

2018-01-12 03:47:41

Tasty menu selection. Get there early

Review №61

2019-05-01 02:40:12

YUMZ. Good food, good prices, cozy location.

Review №62

2014-08-27 21:45:52

Time sux. Says on web open 11-2100. Not true close at 3 until dinner time

Review №63

2017-12-09 16:08:10

One of the best sushi spots in sb

Review №64

2019-11-01 05:00:40

Cute place, great food

Review №65

2016-08-03 18:59:33

Laid-back, smaller place. No frills.

Review №66

2019-07-30 13:04:49

A bit cramped but the food was good.

Review №67

2020-02-16 18:43:44

Horrible service, never going back. Wow!

Review №68

2019-01-08 00:12:59

So nice so good no more words

Review №69

2021-07-03 07:50:46

The food its really good 👍😋👌

Review №70

2017-03-29 16:29:28

Great food and atmosphere

Review №71

2019-09-29 12:54:10

I love sushi so I love this place

Review №72

2020-01-04 03:54:03

Very delicious food!

Review №73

2017-09-24 00:34:25

Good lunch specials.

Review №74

2017-07-27 20:02:59

So yummy

Review №75

2016-05-12 09:19:06

Best sushi EVER!

Review №76

2019-12-28 20:43:55

Hidden gem in Santa Barbara 😍

Review №77

2016-11-28 23:17:37

Great food.

Review №78

2019-03-22 21:06:19

Cozy restaurant with good sushi

Review №79

2018-12-31 23:34:30

A Gem!

Review №80

2019-07-24 13:14:26

Yummy as always!

Review №81

2017-01-24 18:03:24

This is an American sushi restaurant.The hurdles are too high for Japanese people to eat T_T