Critic's Review
Last week I went to Sushi Garage; this week the other new sushi restaurant was the choice. This location was the horrible Beehive bowl restaurant; this couldn't possibly be any worse.
On a pretty nice day I didn't feel like eating outside. I've never liked the outside space at any restaurant at this location.
The front entrance is set back a bit; those who live or work in this area will know how to find it.
Inside, the place surprised me a bit. It's very fast food-like. There's no hostess or instructions; is this a full service restaurant or do I need to order at the counter? Who knows.
Apparently you can do either. I ordered at the counter, but there's a QR code on the table you can use to order at the table. It's basically an online ordering system; it's kind of annoying in that you have to log in and give them your phone number to place an order. I'm glad I ordered at the counter.
The music here blows: "Replay", One Direction, Fiona Apple. Lounge music would be better.
The food comes out in about 10 minutes.
The Bento Box here is different than what they have on their web site menu; they give you an entree, a california roll and a choice of 2 "sided", so you don't have to deal with Miso soup or ginger dressing if you don't like it. I opted for fried rice and chicken dumplings.
The chicken always look like a block of meat in these things; I remember chicken teriyaki as chicken marinated in the sauce and the flavor baked in; nowadays they just pour a sauce over a piece of chicken.
The fried rice was pretty "meh" although certainly better than a blob of white rice like you get at Sushi Garage.
The california roll was pretty normal. Nothing good or bad about it.
The dumplings are smallish pot stickers; not bad as dumplings go.
I added some soy to the fried rice and it improved it a bit. Still doesn't compare with Chinese fried rice in any way.
The main event chicken was nothing but a block of protein.
The good thing about fast casual is when you've had enough you can just get up and leave. No waiting around to cash out.
Conclusion
Sushi Maki is fast food sushi without the Asian people. A completely fast food staff, iPad checkout, assembly line food.
I live a block away and I doubt I'll ever come in here again. You can can take that any way you want.
