Sasaya Japanese Restaurant

BEST IZAKAYA IN THE LA & NEW UDON BAR Authentic, tasty dishes, unusual sake and shochu list plus draft beer... a relaxed vibe, chillin' music, friendly owner and staff and OPEN LATE. I have spent a lot of time in Japan... and this is as close as it gets without the plane ticket. They just added next door a reasonable Udon and noodle bar which is open for lunch and dinner - soul in a bowl! Yasumi, Koichi and all will make you feel right at home at this sincere family run place. more

I use to hate this restaurant but not anymore. This restaurant carries a new sake called: Kamenoo and Tenmei daiginjo. These two sakes taste so good better than Kubota, or Onigoroshi. Just try it and eat some of their appitizers. more

This restaurant didn't do much for me. The food was average, the service was average, the decor was average. With as many restaurants as there are in the area, I'm not interested in eating somewhere average. Pros: Drink list, relatively quiet setting Cons: Parking, average food more

I think this is the best Japanese Restaurant I have been to in the States and I have been to a lot of them. Japanese is one of my favorite cuisines. I have grown up and lived in Japan for a few years and I think the flavor is very Authentic Japanese & the customer service is great!!! more

This is my second visit to Sasaya and after great memories of the first time, I returned. The menu is a little to huge for it's own good, since it offers a variety of Japanese Tapas, so it was hard to pick and choose between too many choices. The servers seemed understaffed since it took them long to serve us and the tables surrounding us. At one point, our waitress disappeared for a solid half hour, while there was one guy on the floor running around and the sushi chef himself had to pitch in. The food is definately meat-oriented: grilled whole pike mackarel (including the fish's eyes that look at you helplessly while you eat his body), rib eye with ponzu, calamari (and i mean real deep fried octipus legs, not nicely cut into shapes where no longer recognize it as an animal). Definately not a place for vegetarians, though they do offer seaweed and salads. All in all: the experience really depends on what you order here. If there is a waitress to help, ask, if not you might get lost and stuck with a new inclination toward veganism. Pros: Sapporo on Tap!, Sake choices Cons: Understaffed, Menu almost too large, takes half an hour to read more

After hearing many conflicted reviews (including the two I read here on Citysearch), I decided to go try Sasaya for myself. A friend and I went together, and shared six different plates and had about two drinks each. The alcohol selection is excellent, but I unfortunately can't say the same for the food. We tasted two extremes within such a short period of time - too salty or too bland. The only saving grace was the saba shioyaki, of which we got another. Our server was pleasant, but the manager on duty was quite annoying. To the restaurant's defense, however, we did not receive any complaints on the amount of tip we left (a little over 18%). It was somewhat expensive for what we ordered, considering there are a number of places in the area selling similar things for less. All in all, an average dining experience. We probably won't go again, but at least we could say we tried. more

Everytime I go to sasaya with my buddy (about 2-3 a month) we get the same great treatment from the owner. She is one of the sweetest ladys I have ever met. And the manager knows our drinks and recommends different items on the menu (because we usually order the same things). I feel like its my second home! Although I don't know how much your bill was, but there must of been a reason for the owner to come to you and not just harrass you for more tip. If your service was good, 18% is good enough and I definitely don't think they have a 20+% tip rule. Yours must have been less than 10% for her to come to you. Well enough said, I personally highly recommend anyone to go to Sasaya. Nice ambience, warm wait-staff, and lots of food and drinks to choose from! And if you don't know sake they'll teach you! Pros: authentic Cons: authentic more

Yup, the food was good...thank god my company was good because I would have been even more irate at the end of the night. I gave a ""GRATUITY"" that was decent and as ""FREE MONEY"" for the service which I think is fair,.....CareFUL EVERYONE, the owners will come after you and Patronize you for more tip or gratuity. What EGOS! It's free money....for the service. I was about to walk out thinking the place was okay unitil the owner ran out and told me that my 8$ tip was not enough...You gotta be joking right? 8$ is a good tip for 2 buddies who gave them alot of service with food and alcohol. THat's the first and last time I go there.\r \r Anyhow...be careful if you go, service was good, but owners will patronize you if you don't tip to their ""standards"" of 20+%. Pros: Unique japanese tapas Cons: patronize attitude from owners more

Friendly, good service and great food for a great price. What more can you ask for!!! I recommend this place for an enjoyable dinner with a great crowd and staff members. The prices are very reasonable and you definately don't go away hungry. Pros: Inexpensive more

Don't think Japanese food is always expensive. This restaurant not only is extremely friendly, the food is good. It's a great hang-out place for family and friends, and afterwork hours. If you like trying new things, don't forget to take a shot of Oyster Shooter before you go. And if you have a thing for sweets, Tempura Ice-cream is great. Pros: Cheap, Great service more