Maru Japanese Restaurant

This is the absolute best place to get sushi in Austin, and I am including Uchi in that statement. I spent a semester in Japan, and Maru makes me feel like I'm back in Osaka. They are currently redoing their interior, and it looks fantastic. The sushi is superb. If you take one bite of the samurai roll, you'll be sold for life. Pros: food, price, atmosphere more

Unassuming place with super fresh sushi. Better quality seafood than Umi's. Sushi portions were reasonable also. Pros: Super fresh and good prices more

My wife and I were excited to try Maru and went last week on a Tuesday evening. Got right in, friendly enough and we ordered a ton (eyes too big for our stomachs)...have to say the stuffed mushrooms were great and a price performer! The standard tempura was fine, the standard sushi (calif, spicy tuna and philly) were sub par for our tastes; the specialty rolls were ok - my eel roll was too fishy, the tiger good, and another crunchy one we didn;t love even though it had our fav companents. \r When we finished we both looked at eat other and went for this $$$ I'd rather go to Mushashino which is heads and shoulders above in quality and taste.\r No bad, just not good enough for us to come back. Pros: stuffed mushrooms Cons: sushi is just not that good more

The sushi is tasty and surprisingly filling. Of all the sushi places I've been (and I've even worked in a couple in my day), I always find Maru to have the most memorable-tasting sushi. It's definitely one of those restuarants you think about and crave for days after you leave. I always have to get the Stuffed Mushrooms, an appetizer big enough to serve as a whole entree. But all of their sushi is very good. The decor isn't too fancy, so if you're looking to impress a colleague or your boss, this probably isn't the place. It's more casual/low-key, but still cute. My boyfriend and I look forward to it almost every weekend. Pros: Crave-able sushi, family-owned, reasonable price, SUPER-filling Cons: Parking, interior not too fancy (for those who care), not open on Sunday more

We were so excited to finally try Maru because I love sushi and the restaurant is right in our neighborhood. It was a HUGE dissapointment. We were greeted right away, which was nice, and our drinks came quickly. But, after that, we sat and waited for a long time for someone to take our order. A different waiter came to our table and rushed us through our order. We explained to him that we were going to start with a roll and an order of sushi and then order more after that. The sushi took a long time to come out. The salmon sushi was okay. The roll (Dragon Roll) was terrible. The fish was mealy and the pieces were too big. It also turned me off that the restaurant was warm, so the sushi didn't stay cold long. We decided that we would try one more thing just to give it another try, but our waiter never came back. All of our drinks (beer, sake, water) were empty. We lined them up at the edge of the table to get someone's attention. It did not work. We finally flagged down the hostess and asked her to just bring the check. \r I would not recommend this place. The service was awful and the sushi was not good.\r Pros: Location Cons: Bad service; bad sushi; warm restaurant; not a nice restaurant more

The atmosphere in Maru is very easy going and the service is nice and friendly. The sushi there is excellent!! I always go there with family and friends, we love the California roll and Shrimp Crunch roll. If we want good sushi, Maru will be the first restaurant that comes to mind! I will recommend it to anybody!! The food taste Healthy and homemade but Very Tasty!! more

I was having a great time here, the sushi is really outstanding. Half way through my meal at the sushi bar a mid sized insect (you know the one- for some reason City Search won't let you write it) scurried across the counter top towards my plate. I instinctually brushed it away and tried to continue to enjoy my meal. A few minutes later either the same brown insect or a new one climbed ON TO my plate! I notified the waiter and he wisked the plate away without so much as an apology. When I got my check there was no discount, and the manager never came and spoke with me about the experience. I waited a few days and then called and asked to speak to the manager- Howard. Come to find out he had actually been my waiter that night. After explaining that the situation was still bothering me and I wanted to call and let them know about it, he was not apologetic, did not say or do anything to make me feel better- he just didn't care. Lets hope the insects aren't crawling on the food behind the scenes too. If he had just made more of an effort, or seemed a bit mortified like he should have been- I might give them another chance, but now you better believe I will tell everyone I can about this negative experience! Pros: the sushi tasted amazing Cons: those pesky brown insects and poor management more

Maru has good sushi, decent prices, and while the ambience is not fancy or fabulous, the attentive staff and friendly management provide an enjoyable environment for dinner. \r \r My major complaint, and what will likely drive me to stop eating at Maru, is that they charge a ""corkage"" fee for folks who bring their own liquor, yet they do not have a liquor license and thus cannot themselves provide the beer, wine, and sake. To me this is a misguided and unscrupulous business practice. When I sought some kind of explanation from our waiter and management, they merely shrugged and laughed at my critical observation. \r \r A corkage fee is right and necessary when the restaurant misses out on the opportunity to sell from their stock because of the preference of a patron to bring his/her own alchohol. When the restaurant has not made the investment in obtaining the license and thus cannot provide any drinks, management puts the responsibility for doing so on the customer. Why should we be charged for making the extra effort to provide a product that the restaurant has elected not to provide? \r \r As I said to start, Maru has good food and nice service. I will return to eat at Maru only after they discontinue the ridiculous corkage charge or obtain their own liquor license. Who doesn't want hot sake with sushi? I would gladly pay the rates charged for such service. Sadly, when the waiter and manager let me know they do not care about my concern, they also lost a few good customers and also motivated me to write this review. Pros: Good sushi, non-pretentious environment Cons: Misguided corkage charge, no liquor license more

Maru does not offer a glitzy, yuppie atmosphere like a lot of Japanese restaurants. Instead, you get amazing food at a reasonable price served in a relaxed, come-as-you-are Austin establishment. The sushi is better than anything else I've had in Austin including Musashino, Kenichi, DK's, Sushi Japon, Sushi Sake, Shilla, Ichiban... Maru's signature dishes offer very new flavor combinations--daring and delicious; try the J-Bomb and the Samurai Roll. \r \r Despite the laid-back atmosphere, neither the food nor the service ever suffer. The waitstaff is attentive and courteous. I have frequented Maru since it opened. In the past three weeks I have been four times; the food is consistently good and reasonably priced--I love it and I think you will too! Pros: great food, reasonable prices, comfortable dining area, nice waiters Cons: sloped edge of the parking lot more

Went to dinner for the first time at Maru and the food was excellent, that is until a critter (rhymes w/broach) scurried across our table and tried to get onto our tiger roll. When it didn't succeed it jumped on me! The manager (maybe owner?) came over and moved our items to a different table. They brought the rest of our food and re-made one of our rolls that was on the table at the time. Overall the situation was handled poorly, as we were still expected to pay for everything, and merely got an ""I'm sorry"". ""I'm sorry, I won't be returning to your restaurant!""\r \r Pros: Great food\r Cons: Everything else Pros: Good Food Cons: Ambiance, critters, Non-sympathetic management more

I have heard several great reviews about Maru which lead me to get excited about going for my first time. Unfortunately, my experience was short of great. I enjoyed the J-Bomb, but my only complaint was how much crab was in it. This was the same problem I had with the rolls I ordered (spider, dragon, and rainbow). I personally feel like the crab masked the rest of the flavors in the roll. On a positive note, I enjoyed the opportunity to BYOB and the service was extremely friendly. Pros: BYOB more

My husband and I ate at Maru last week and we were pleasantly surprised by how fresh and inventive the combinations are here..we sat down immediately at the sushi bar..and although it's byob we had our six pack of great beer and thoroughly enjoyed the selections we made... we decided on the philadelphia and american rolls (among many other things)...the portions were ample and the fish..very fresh..it was a bustling, energetic crowd and I would recommend this neighborhood joint to both sushi novices and afficianados.. Pros: geenrous portions, fresh fish, good value Cons: slow service, BYOB more

Ate at Musashino and was not impressed. I was very sad because it was voted best sushi of citysearch in Austin and thought wow there must not be great sushi places in this city. I drove by Maru and thought I should check it out. Blew Musashino out of the water! No, not much ambiance, however, my stomach and pocket book was more than satisfied. Everything was beautifully presented and extremely flavorful. My spicy tuna roll fell apart a little bit but mostly because it was full of yummy goodness. Take a couple friends, your favorite bottle of wine or saki (BYOB) and enjoy reasonable service, exceptional sushi, and extra cash to come back again! more

We tried Maru on a Saturday night after reading several glowing reviews online. We wanted a restaurant that had good sushi without the airs or pretentious ambiance or prices of some in town. After having sampled some great sushi around the country including San Francisco, we were hopeful for a good meal but sceptical that we would find anything great. Boy, were we wrong!\r \r Maru was PERFECT in every respect. Even during a weekend at prime dining hours we walked in and were immediatly seated. \r \r The rolls we sampled (Dragon and Samurai) were full of complex flavors, fresh ingredients, and complete with a lovely presentation. My dining companion and I were in Sushi heaven with every bite! We also sampled some Salmon and Yellowtail Nigri along with a finishing order of Tamago Nigri (sweet egg omelet). The Salmon and Yellowtail were melt-in-your-mouth wonderful.\r \r The atmosphere is decidedly casual and the 2-person tables a bit small but that didn't take away from the overall experience complete with attentive, but not overbearing, service. Prices are resonable and alcohol is BYOB. \r \r We look forward to going back again and again and again to this delightful Austin sushi gem. Pros: Fresh Sushi, Great Rolls, Attentive Service, Comfortable Attmosphere, Reasonable Prices . . . I could go on and on! Cons: Parking can be a bit tight but there are spots available in adjoining residential neighborhood. more

Overall, I had a great experience here at Maru. The Katsudon is probably the best that I've had in a long time. My husband and I crave it sometimes. The Sushi had a few hits and misses. The salmon and yellowtail were fabulous both times that we went. It was buttery and melted in your mouth. The rolls we tried were all great-including the spider roll which was probably the best we've had in awhile. Maru is definately not cheap about putting a lot of fish in thier rolls. Every roll was very well packed. I do have to complain that the spicy tuna roll actually had too much tuna and not enough of everything else. It really messed up the balance of tuna/cucumber/rice ratio. This also applied to a few hand rolls that I ordered as well. The scallop sushi wasn't as fresh. I couldn't finish it at all. The eel was fabulous-crisp and flavorful. However, it always would come too late at the end of the meal. They need to work on timing and consistancy. I think they're a lot of potential here. Pros: good salmon/yellowtail, excellent katsudon, cheap Cons: slow service, consistancy w/ rolls need to be better, parking is horrible more

Maru is a great sushi place, without all the pretense. It may lack ""atmosphere"", but the fish is delicious (and fresh! A feat to be sure in land locked Austin), the rolls are different and yummy and the price is very inexpensive compared to other sushi places around town. The miso soup was not the best, though, it seemed to be the dry packaged instant miso you buy at the grocery store - good for home, not so great for a resturant. Other than that, I highly recommend this place if you love regular sushi and often. more

Went with a friend to enjoy lots of their food in celebration of my new business and her finishing another semester of school. Excellent food for an seasoned Boston Sushi fanatic, her, and my new pallet. \r \r Started with a soup. forgot the name of it. Had seaweed and spring onions. Excellent pallet cleanser. Dragon Rolls were excellent... eel avocado and crab..... and the wasabi! mmmmmmmmmmmmm fish heaven. eel reminded me of bacon. Didnt have the white tuna so went with the pink roll instead of the snow white roll. That was excellent with soy sauce. Also had the sweet egg, tuna and scallop served with rice. Had enough rice so i just had the sweet egg part. we saved it for later. excellent late night treat.\r \r Service was excellent although our server was quite pressed. He very well managed and the food was out fast. The portions were large and very ample. For $40 we ate like a king and queen. I am still satisfied. Went to Austin Draught house after and had a few drinks at home with know ill effects. So I suppose my first complete sushi experience went well! I quite recommend this place and will likely be enjoying the sit down bar as a regular. Pros: Ample portions, nice price. fresh Cons: Server seemed pressed more

I went on a Friday evening, there was about a 15 minute wait, which is actually pretty good considering the place was full, and it's not that big. We were seated in a corner near the front window, and there was a detectable musty smell in the area. \r I ordered a couple of sushi rolls and my companion ordered a steak teriyaki dish. There appeared to be one server for the whole restaurant, so getting her attention was difficult at times. About 25 minutes after we were seated, my companion got his dish. He finishes eating about 25 - 30 minutes later, meanwhile, my sushi still has not arrived. They even brought us the check, and we had to tell them that I had not gotten my sushi yet (this was about an hour after being seated). The sushi came about 5 - 10 minutes later, it was good, except some of the tuna used in one of the rolls was almost ""sinewy"" - definitely not the melt-in-your-mouth tuna I have come to expect from a sushi restaurant. I don't think I enjoyed the sushi as much as I normally enjoy sushi, since, after sitting for an hour with no food, I was ready to just go home already. Still, the sushi was not bad, and my companion's steak dish was very enjoyable, and came with ample amounts of meat and tempura vegetables. \r I will probably try Maru again in 2 or 3 months...maybe they will be able to hire additional servers in the meantime.\r Pros: Excellent prices Cons: Understaffed, weird smell, chewy tuna more

I almost didn't fill out a review - I love this place so much I didn't want to share it with anyone else. This place is quiet, the service is quick and the rolls are heaven, I don't want anyone else to find out about it and because I know there would be a line waiting to get in!\r \r Sure, the walls aren't glamed up, but neither are the prices. So for the more materialistic crowd best go somewhere downtown where you pay an arm and a leg for ambience and your food tastes like 6th street smells.\r \r If you are more open minded, my favorite is the Samurai roll. It comes out warm. It is the best roll I have ever, ever had. If you go and see a woman sitting at the sushi bar doing a Meg Ryan 'When Harry Met Sally' reenactment, please do not point and laugh, just order the Samurai roll!!\r Pros: Great sushi, inexpensive, quick service more

I have eaten here many many times and loved loved loved it every single time. The American roll is great tasting and a great value as well!!! Apparently they also have a wonderful dish involving stuffed jalapanos. I also like the fact that MARU is BYOB and a great local joint. Seriously, you have to check this place out. You won't be disappointed. Pros: Great food. Great price. Cons: The ambience is a bit lacking. more