Banzai Sushi

We were so disappointed in the quality of the sushi at Banzai. The rolls hide the inferior fish and the menu is very dated. Not for a sushi aficianado.

Cons: Slow service and poor quality fish

Posted 10/18/09

Banzai is one of the best for sushi. I like to order a bunch of rolls, some miso soup and share with the whole table.

Pros: Fresh sushi

Cons: Servers are inattentive

Posted 10/15/09

I love this restaurant. We drive by often and there always seem to be cars outside. The shoji screens shield out everything out so we were not sure what we were going to get ourselves into but as it turns out, it is a cute quaint little Japanese style teahouse.

I love all the choices of rolls and great happy hour. $3 beer/wine/sake & appts. I like the Atomic Shrimp, spicy but a must try.

Rolls were creative, last night they were having a contest to create more new rolls. NICE!

Prices are very reasonable and portions are very nice. I also like all the Japanese Ladies that work there. It gives it a feel of being in Japan. (especially when they don't understand what you are asking them :-))

Pros: 100 rolls

Cons: small and sometimes have to wait

Posted 10/02/09

Average at best. Nothing great. My hubby and I went out because we love sushi and heard Banzai was the best sushi in Denver. Well, if this is the best than I am disappointed! We just moved here and would love to have a great sushi place to frequent....it is not going to be Banzai. Worst tempura we ever had. Waitress was inattentive and spacey. Highlight of the meal was the Lichee Sake that I had. Soup and salad were average at best. The sushi was fair. The fish did not have the "freshness" I was looking for and the sushi rolls lacked the "delicious" flavor combination I have come to expect from high-quality sushi. I will keep looking for my great sushi restaurant in my new home in Denver because Banzai is not it.

Pros: Lichee Sake

Cons: Sushi, lack of fresh fish, poor service (no bathroom)

Posted 02/28/09

I am in SHOCK that people would actually give this place a 5-star and say it is the "best" in Denver. As for wyndi2000, you are obviously NOT a sushi snob since you don't even know good sushi. This place was a joke and for that matter any restaurant that has over 100 rolls is ridiculous. Seriously, just because you deep fry the roll and give it a new catchy name doesn't mean you're being creative. Everything tasted the same but of course I assume that most of these so-called sushi lovers are the kind of folks that whip up a paste of soy sauce and wasabi so they can drown out the real taste of the fish. My boyfriend and I tend to eat sashimi or if it's a good sushi restaurant just order the omakasi and we RARELY use any soy let alone huge globs of wasabi. Since we don't mask the fish, I can tell you the fish was mediocre, the service was pitiful and we have told everyone we know that this place is a joke. If you want good sushi and don't want to spend a ton go to John Holly's or even GoFish if you want high quality go to Sushi Sasa. I would give this place a negative rating but it's not allowed. I will never waste my taste buds on this place again!

Pros: None unless it closed and reopened as a real sushi restaurant

Cons: Ridiculous amount of rolls, poor quality fish and bad service

Posted 02/27/09

banzai mania was the best sushi ever, even though I only experienced it in my imagination. I need to write 100 characters so i'll just keep typing.

Pros: just testing

Cons: just testing

Posted 02/20/09

I like the atmosphere, fresh sushi, love the rolls, good prices and friendly staff. I am a sushi snob from Chicago and this is my favorite sushi restaurant in Denver. Doesn't look that great from the outside - I had driven past it tons of times until I did an Internet search and got lucky!

Posted 02/10/09

Great atmosphere, quaint, and extremely great food! Service is friendly, prompt and well maintained throughout the meal. SUSHI ROLLS are fabulous, fresh, great taste, and they have an incredibly large variety! Soups, salads, teriyaki and tempura are also wonderful. LOVE THIS PLACE!! Prices are appropriate!

Pros: ambience wonderful, great variety menu, great service, delicious food

Cons: none

Posted 10/06/08

I am hesitant to write this review, because I love this small place so much that I almost feel like not sharing. In short, the sushi is very fresh, large in size, and extremely flavorful. This place provides the best sushi I've had in Denver. A+

Posted 08/08/08

I had just moved to denver from Tampa,FL with my boyfriend and we love sushi. We didnt know where to go being new and the reviews here seemed great so we went to check it out. It was a little cozy place and we saw while sitting at the bar everyone having a great time and the owners serving the food. You get so much food for the price even a sliced up orange at the end for palette cleansing. The fish was really fresh that day and it was late afternoon. We tried the Bonsai roll and it was my boyfriends favorite. The owner came up to us after we were done and we raved to him about our meal. Thanks to citysearch we found our new place to hang out and eat healthy.

Pros: Great prices for the value

Cons: parking is pretty tight.

Posted 07/23/08

It is the best sushi in town? No- but it has a lot of creative rolls and is reasonably priced. The seafood is not the freshest in Denver but the variety of ingredients in the rolls make for a fun dining experience. Service can be a bit slow but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives at this place. I recommend it to anyone that likes trying different combinations of flavors in their rolls.

Pros: Creative and tasty rolls, easy parking, reasonable prices

Cons: Service can be slow, sashimi is not as good as the rolls

Posted 03/03/08

Oh WOW! this place blew us away! Service was top notch, (the owner came to check on us and everyone else more than once) Selection/Menu was top notch tons to choose from, Freshness/Quality unbeatable the best EVER!!!! We took our friends that night and they had wanted to go to their favorite (Sushi Den). Even they agreed by the end of the meal, it was HANDS DOWN, the best sushi any of us have ever had. It was very, very busy that night, and we now understand why. PS even the bathroom was spotless

Pros: freshness and quality of the sushi, service, the owner was great!

Cons: pretty busy the night we went, but it was well worth the wait, and we now know why they were so busy

Posted 09/16/07

The only reason we went to Banzai sushi was because of the good reviews and the fact that it was voted "best sushi" in Denver according to this site. Let me tell you that it was not!!! For one thing, the service was horrible! It was extremely hard to get their attention and it was really early (5pm on a Wednesday night). At one point I had to walk over to the table the two waitress were sitting at to get what I needed. I would deal with service like that if the food was excellent. Let me tell you that this was the worst sushi my husband and I have ever had!! The fish looked old and... they put asparagus in the spicy tuna rolls, who does that???? None of what we had tasted good except for the edemame. My husband and I know what good sushi tastes like it, (we eat sushi about once a week) and this was not good!!!!! We will never come back and will from now on stick with our typical sushi place in Parker, Colorado (Junz). Junz has great sushi and it is fresh!

Pros: none

Cons: what isn't a con at this restaurant

Posted 08/29/07

this is the best sushi in town! !!i love going there,they have wonderfull rolls and everything else.

Pros: food is great

Cons: long wait

Posted 08/21/07

I went here because of many positive written reviews as well as some personal recommendations. My wife and I were at the door when they opened on Saturday night. We ordered several items and they brought everything except for the salmon, so we asked the server about the salmon. The server had a bad attitude and acted like we were trying to get something for free, and brought us some old fish that tasted really bad.

Most of their fish was average (some was better and some was worse), but I would not have fed the salmon to my dog. I grew up in CA, so I am used to having excellent sushi from both Japan town in SF and a few different places in Santa Cruz. This place, as well as every other place I have tried in Denver has been disappointing, but this is the only place where I was very ill after eating there!

Posted 08/08/07

Banzai is known for their huge selection of rolls. It is probably my favorite place to go in Denver because of the quality of fish and the selection of rolls. there are so many rolls that it is a great place to bring people that want to try sushi, but are afraid of raw fish (you know who these people are...). They have lots of rolls that are tempura rolled, or deep fried, and the flavor combinations and creativity cannot be beat.

Order from the favorites list and you can't go wrong. I prefer the spicy rolls like the ninas, funky monkeys, and jalepeno infused rolls. the dynamite hand roll is like dessert!

Pros: tons of rolls, great quality fish, good value

Cons: can be crowded

Posted 05/08/07

This is the place for affordable sushi and good service. The ambiance is nice, but not the reason to go; if you are looking for a scene, stick to Hapa or Sushi Den. We went to Banzai on a Friday night and were seated promptly. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive. The menu is extensive and creative. Edamame was pretty good, although I've had better. We ordered several rolls and the taste was great, however the rolls were very large and the rice was not sticky enough or rolled tight enough, leading to large, lost chunks of roll in your bowl of soy. Rolls had to be eaten in 2 bites and some of the seaweed was a bit tough. Although hard to eat, they were very good. Because this restaurant is a bit off the beaten path, the prices were great (compared to Cherry Creek, Downtown or Sushi Den, for example.) We were pleased with the experience and consider it a good place to go for good, affordable sushi.

Posted 04/28/07

Banzai definitely has a great, creative sushi menu-that said, the freshness of the sushi left a lot to be desired the night we were there, so I feel like there are other places in Denver you can go for less creativity but much better product. Also, the service is a big drawback-we waited for everything from being greeted to ordering to getting our check, and looking around the restaurant, everyone was getting the same service.

Pros: lots of creative rolls

Cons: service and food fresheness

Posted 02/24/07

We?ve tried every sushi restaurant in Loveland and Fort Collins and all the hot spots in Denver but Banzai by far exceeds all others! I love Banzai sushi. The fish is fresh and the rolls are creative and filling. Banzai is extremely generous with the fish ? a lot of places may have BIG rolls but they tend to be rice heavy. Banzai loads the rolls with the good stuff. The sushi quality is worth the drive 50-mile drive each way. Great job Banzai!

Pros: AWESOME SUSHI - WONDERFUL STAFF!

Cons: Just the drive...

Posted 02/24/07

Banzai has the best sushi in town! Everything is fresh and tastes WONDERFUL! I can't believe they have 100 rolls and I haven't tasted all of them but the ones I have tasted are EXCELLENT! The servers are very nice and helpful - if you are indecisive, they can steer you in the right direction. The miso soup is awesome as well! Overall, an excellent find in Denver!

Pros: Everything

Cons: Parking isn't the best

Posted 02/07/07

I stumbled in here after passing it everyday for a few years and am now addicted to their rolls. The choices for rolls is overwhelming, the restaurant quaint, the staff very sweet and caring. Sometimes if it's very busy, you may wait a little longer, but it's totally worth it. I've tried elsewhere and Banzai is the best! I almost didn't rate this place b/c I don't want it to become too crowded, but it deserves the recognition.

Pros: Quaint, Staff, Location

Cons: I can't afford to eat here 3x a week :(

Posted 11/05/06

Did the chef just arrive from Japan??!! This place is special delight hidden in the heart of America. Incredible sashimi and innovative sushi. It just does'nt get any better than this!

Pros: THE SUSHI!!!!!

Cons: Crowded...Not a $

Posted 10/22/06

Great rolls, from one-of-a-kind combinations to traditional spicy tuna - you just can't go wrong. Wish I was there right now!

Pros: Outstanding rolls, decent service

Cons: Often very busy so parking can be limited and waiting is common

Posted 10/09/06

If you love sushi, you will love this place. It is reasonably priced with very high quality stuff!! I refuse to go anyplace else. Try it and you will be hooked!!

Posted 10/04/06

I tried the Patrol roll and it was excellent. I also tried the amaebi nigri and a spicy hamachi roll. The amaebi was great but the spicy hamachi roll was only ok. The taste of their food was really good, but I think their sushi rice could have been a little softer. It was nice to see all the staff speaking Japanese. It makes the place feel more like Japan.

Pros: good tasting sushi, fresh fish, friendly staff

Posted 07/31/06

I've tried many sushi restaurants in Denver and this one is always the best. The fish is fresh and always yummy. We've managed to make our way through both the sushi menu as well as the dinner menu and have yet to find anything we don't like. I even ordered something by mistake (my fault) and the dish ended up being one of my favorites! I order it often now. The decor reminds me of a small Japanese countryside restaurant I visited once many years ago. Comfortable and clean with lots of character.

Pros: Small, clean and comfortable. Sitting at the sushi bar can be fun.

Cons: Sushi is an art form - give them time to create their masterpieces. Try one of their cold sakes while you wait.

Posted 07/22/06

Banzai has some of the greatest sushi I've ever had. I recently went with my Japanese teacher (who is from Tokyo) and she thought it was very good as well. Excellent rolls and nigiri. The sushi ranges from beginner (tuna, crab and shrimp) to advanced (eel, salmon skin, octopus, raw scallops, sea urchin). If something isn't on their huge menu, the chefs will make almost anything for you. Great atmosphere. I recommend Patrol (spicy scallops and lemon on the inside, fish and avocado on the outside). Highly recommended.

Pros: Excellent selection, tasty sushi.

Cons: Sometimes very crowded, closed on mondays.

Posted 07/10/06

I cannot stand it when some people bash the caring staff at Banzai. These ladies are the nicest people in the world and they work hard and efficiently.

I love the staff at Banzai, I will take them any time compare to the snotty waitresses at other trendy restaurant. If you want attitude, don't go to Banzai.

The 100 rolls are wonderful and really creative. If you want Sashimi you should look in the Sashimi and sushi menu, NOT the Rolls menu.

Keep up the good work Banzai and ignor the Naysayers.

Pros: rolls, freshness, parking

Posted 06/19/06

I have lived just around the corner from this place for years, and have never visited it prior to yesterday. The only reason I did go is because of the great reviews this place was getting and I was rather excited to find a place thats so good and so close to where I live. Well the hype didn't last for long, as a matter of fact it was over once we walked in (7 pm). Rather than being greeted after standing a couple of minutes at the door, we were finally told to sit in a little waiting area. After we got a table (7:15 pm), it took almost fifteen minutes before we got our drink order, another fifteen before someone came back on our order. The food took almost an hour to get to our table (8:45 pm), the sushi was average at best, while it appears that there are so many rolls to choose from if you pay attention they are very repetitive, and the regular sushi and sashimi are virtually non existant on the menu. The service was terrible and then it only got worse, after finishing up our meal (9:20 pm), we turned to the waitress for a small to go order as well as to order some desert, when we were told that the kitchen has closed and we cannot order anything else. The dinning room still had 5 tables filled with people yet they packed up shop and were waiting for everyone to leave. To summarize my experience: RUDE and UNATENTIVE SERVICE, AVERAGE FOOD, SMALL & CROUDED, SPEND YOUR MONEY ELSEWHERE !!!

Pros: Not sure

Cons: Slow, Rude, Small

Posted 06/15/06

added more servers ...food very fresh and sushi rolls are very creative.

looks great after the remodel

Pros: price, sake menu, good parking

Posted 03/11/06

I was blown away by the huge selection of rolls they make. They probably have 3-4X the number of different rolls any other place in Denver has.

The sushi was fresh, rice perfect, and wait staff great.

Ambiance was par for a small japanese sushi bar/restaurant.

Prices are what you might expect, about 5-10 dollars for a roll depending whats on it.

Green tea ice cream was the best I've had in a while

Pros: great food, wide variety of rolls, fast service

Posted 11/05/05

This place is hard to find.. but my friends insisted we go and now I am hooked. I 've lived here in the neighborhood for years and had never noticed the restaurant. Their 100 rolls are amazing. Not all for me mind you but man there's a lot to choose from. Their waitresses have been there for 20 yrs and all are as nice as can be. If you like rolls and good sushi I think you'd like Banzai.

Pros: parking, friendly, good deals

Posted 06/12/05

This little tiny restaurant delivers a punch when it comes to fresh fish and wonderful original Maki rolls. My favorite Donminic 2, it is refreshing and yet has a real kick to it. With all the sushi joints out there, this one is different and unique and price can't be beat. As for the staff, We love you Millie !!

Pros: prices, rolls, parking

Cons: no lunch of Sat, Sun

Posted 06/10/05

After moving from the coast my fiance and I were a bit leery about trying sushi out here. This restaurant was recommended to us by a friend who stumbled onto it, and we were very pleased with the results! The menu was fantastic, full of many different varieties of sushi (the many we tried were excellent!) and you standard non-sushi items (teriyaki, tempura, etc). The sashimi was top grade. The atmosphere was cozy and the service was very good. Best sushi we've had in Denver so far (coming up on 4 years now).

Posted 02/11/05

Unlike so many sushi places in town, which seem bent on bowling you over with their hip or trendy atmosphere, this restaurant is focused on the food! If you want to "see and be seen," this ain't the place. If you want excellent-quality sushi, this will quickly become your favorite. I've converted many a sushi-eater away from the "hot spots," thanks to the food at Banzai.

Pros: great quality, excellent pricing, wide variety

Cons: closed on Sundays

Posted 12/01/02

It's not the world best atmosphere inside, but the sushi is very tasty. There's so much selection, the menu is sometimes hard to navigate -- I wish they'd break it up a little better. Also, service can be pretty darn slow, but the food is worth waiting for. Decent value, too.

Pros: superior selection, great value

Cons: small, unreliable service, lacking charm

Posted 09/05/02

I have tired Sushi all over Denver and this is by far the best Sushi house in Denver. The best Sushi I ever had was in Victoria BC at a tiny little Sushi house

Posted 08/14/02