Zen Sushi

I also worked here for the past 3 owners until last year, and I have to agree this place slowly got worse and worse. And even at it's best it was never what it should or could have been. I was forced off the schedule after the most recent owner brought in all family members (with absolutely no experience) to take over all the serving and bartending positions, along with the rest who either walked off due to the awful conditions or were fired for no good reason. These owners had no experience running a restaurant or a bar, and the place was full of health violations. They also brought in their family members to hang out and eat and drink for free, and they never tipped us either. Cheap and greedy was what they lived for. Oh, and they never sent me my W2 either, and when I called and called and called, I never had one call returned. The owner prior to them were another couple who seemed okay, but they booked such horrible shows, there were 2 shootings as well as vadalism in the area because of the horrible hip-hop nights there. It also turns out they never renewed their license so the place was operating illegally. The first owner I worked for was not the sweetest, but seems like a god now looking back. I worked for another bar of his for 2.5 years and build a great clientel. I brought in pretty good money for them, but the new owner who came to that place let me go because he wanted people who would put up with his cheap ways... So sad these places go under due to bad ownership and management. Can't wait for Zen to die and return as a good neighborhood hang like it was always meant to be. (or just get torn down!) Pros: Nothing Cons: Bad owners, bad staff, bad music, and bad health standards!!! more

THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN WRITING GOOD REVIEWS ETHIER WORK THERE OR HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE TRYING TO HELP OUT. THE REALITY IS I WORKED THERE FOR 3 DIFFERENT OWNERS AND THE PLACE HAS BAD PROBLEMS. NO LEGAL PERMITS FOR ENTERTAINMENT UPSTAIRS OR SELLER'S LICENCE,THE SOUND QUALITY IS STILL HORRIBLE !!! THE FOOD IS EXTREMLY UN-CLEAN !!! THE NEW OWNERS ARE FASCIST !!! THEY HAVE HIGH PRICES FOR BAD DRINKS !!! THE BARTENDERS ARE SLOW AND UN-FRIENDLY !!! THE SECURITY ARE RUDE !!! THE OWNER DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY !!! ALL THEY REALLY CARE ABOUT IS YOUR WALLET AND HOW MUCH THEY CAN TAKE FROM YOU AND THEN TREAT YOU LIKE DOGS TO GET YOU OUT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN ALL THE TIME !! THE PLACE IS GREAT BUT THE PLACE IS CURSED WITH "OUTSIDERS" WHO COME TO SILVERLAKE AND TREAT IT LIKE A GREEDY BIZNESS.THE LAST COUPLE OF OWNERS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE, BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE,BAD FOOD,HIGH PRICES,RUDE STAFF AND GREED !!! I QUIT BECAUSE OF THE NEW OWNERS AND I WOULDN'T SPEN A SINGLE CENT FOR A BAD NIGHT.KEEP IT SMALL AND LOCAL !!! SUPPORT THE POEPLE THAT TREAT YOU RIGHT AND MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT HAVING FUN !!! THEY STILL DO RAP MUSIC WITH UNDERAGE KIDS DRUNK ON THE STREETS AND TAGGING UP THE COMMUNITY.THEY STILL TREAT PEOPLE VERY RUDE AND THEY ONLY SEE YOUR WALLET ! NOT YOU ! CALL ABC @ THE 800 NUMBER.ILLEGAL USE OF EXPIRED PERMITS !!! Pros: IT WILL CLOSE SOON ! Cons: IT HAS TO CLOSE NOW ! more

GREAT ROCK CLUB AND SUSHI.Silverlake finest venue for Indie ,punk and experimental music .Los Angeles's finest club in the heart of Silverlake is Club Vamped! The food,service, and bands are great Club Vamped @ Zen Sushi in Silverlake 2609 Hyperion Ave 90027 Saturday July 26th 7pm-2am Former promoters of Hot Pants at Mr Ts Bowl 1995-2001 after Fuzzyland and before Mike TV comes back with a BITE! This will be a 21 and over show with full bar 10 bands or More on 2 stages all for $5 Lineup so far with more to come TBA the Urinals The Kids Of Widney High Artichocke Indio Bait THE LONELY DUCK The Human Value The Deep Sea Goes Horrors Of Toledo Biblical Proof Of UFOS Special Guest DJ Richard Presley (Breeders/Fear guitar) Sash and Lisa Christine from Vamped Records spins everything from The Carter Family, Virgin Prunes , Tracy and The Hindenburgh Ground Crew , AutoLux , The Fall, Birthday Party, Crime , US Maple, Pavement, Pink Mountain Tops , Neutral Milk Hotel, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ,Interpol, Tex Ritter , Sesame Street Soundtracks , Red Foxx ,Deadly Syndrome , The Cramps, Soft Cell,Marc and the Mambas, Joy Division , Faust , Ugly Cassanova ,The Germs,Stereolab,The Gorries,Hot Snakes,Can, X, The Black Lips,Deer Hunter,ENO,The Frogs,Tall Dwarfs, Leaving Trains TRex,Stooges,minutemen and the best in experimental ,goth ,real industrial, garage,punk indie, and weird soundtracks and comedy.. Pros: great food service music Cons: not open 24 hours more

Where do i start? After reading review after review, I started to notice one thing, how old they are. I recently showed up on a Friday night because they started opening the dance floors for dancing. Heard they had a new manager and promoters trying to change this place to its former glory. The dance floor is big enough for dancing, good crowd, nice staff and well rounded out music (Top 40, Hip Hop, Dance, and some Spanish). The decor looked nice, and the whole place had a good/relaxed vibe to it. Didn't try the sushi (not a raw fish fan), even though people were saying good things about it. Bartenders were nice and very friendly. Overall a good experience, i defenitly would show up next week. Pros: Decor, Friendly Staff, Good Music, and Enjoyable. Cons: Parking more

This place feels like it is about to fall down. There are holes in the heap grey plaster exterior. Left overs from upset stomachs from the hot dog/bacon vendo that stands outside. Oh, did I mention there was a gunfight last night, over 12 shots fired. Class A joint if you ask me. If you don't get fatally ill from the fish just bring tha heater. Pros: let me think... Cons: bad fish, violent, filthy, broken restrooms more

this place mystifys me. no idea why people still go there. i thought for awhile it was b/c the bands playing upstairs, but i always thought the space was weird and cramped. patio was too loud and the food ... don't even get me started. Cons: food not good, parking bad, there are better live music venues in the area more

I doubt the bad reviews are "phony." The restaurant is very poorly run. The bar area is filthy. The food's not bad when you can actually get service. One particularly bad experience: we were seated by the host at about 8 PM, but couldn't get service, finally wandered into the bar area to find out if a waiter could help us and we were told the kitchen was "closed." The host offered no explanation, and appeared not to remember even seating us at a table. more

Let me start of by stating I am good friends with the promoter. He had to fire one of his promoters that night for unethical stuff. (Stealing). So that person created a couple of phony reviews. I know the staff as well, because I alway eat their, 2 Saturdays a month. The food was great. Everything went off as schedule. They were 15minutes late. Anyways, the venue has 2 floors. A great upstairs that can hold about 250. The venue had Vic the brick Jacobs from KLAC 570am that place was packed. There are videos on the youtube. Other celebrities were there as well. So as a person that was truthfully there. I thought I would stick up for the promoter and tell people what really happen. A great night of fun, food, dancing and singing in a cool environment. Pros: Depends on the night and promoter. Cons: Depnds on the night and promoter, more

Went here last night to do a show with the band. The club was in total disrepair, horrid service, mediocre food. Performance space had no A/C and it was about 95 degrees. Promoter didn't show up, no sound man, no Manager/Owner present. Bands ran their own sound!! Worst experience ever, it's amazing this place is still in business....won't be for long. It was a Saturday night and I counted about 10 people in the entire place!!! Sad too, used to be a decent spot. Do yourself a favor and skip this joint more

I've been many times to hear bands play, but this night i thought i'd arrive a bit earlier to try the sushi. So I arrive and pay the cover fee for bands later that evening and sit at an empty/dark sushi bar. A guy tosses two menus a my date and I. I take a look and see everything but sushi. I ask what about the sushi. He say's, "we're not serving sushi til 9pm." I go to the door guy and ask if we could do an "in and out" since there was no sushi, but their sign out front says, "no in and outs." Door guy complains that he only promotes the bands and was upset that the restaurant was unprepared. He complains to the staff and they have sushi ready by 7:45, but i'm receiving dirty looks by this time from the sushi chef. So, sushi is out now and i have a seat. I ask, "what kind of sushi specialties do you make (oh, yeah...had to ask since he said there weren't sushi menus)?" He replies, "nothing special! The owner isn't here." So I simply place an order of mackeral, halibut and yellowtail. "No Halibut!!" Okay an order of tuna. Sushi orders are now sitting in front of us. Large pieces, seems good so far. I eat the Mackeral which is always sweet and tasty, so okay try the tuna. Tuna was pretty mediocre, wait.....now he hands us sushi menus. $5 an order, for this mediocre tuna.....okay...well, i'll try the yellowtail. DISGUSTING!!!! The yellowtail was dry and starchy tasting, can you imagine? So i'm paying $15 for this very bad experience, fine give me the bill. When I ask, sushi chef says, "That's all??" What should he expect. I get the bill (meanwhile the band i'm here to see is already playing) and pull out a $20. I'm waiting and waiting and he's looking over at the $20 and looking away and looking at the $20 and looking away. I ask are you going to cash this for me, he belts out a "sspppgh!!" He expects a $5 tip......no way man!!!! Pros: Music is great!! Cons: Food is very, very, very bad and extremely overpriced! Service is rude and incompetent! more

I remember this place use to horrible especially on Friday nights, however, they got rid of their urban underground Shi* with Gan* bangers and choose to play real live music. The owner fired all the staff and hired new intelligent people. The menu has improved and so has the customer service. People greet you with a smile and take care of you in a timely manner. Saturday nights, they have incredible live music, from rock, acoustic, indie rock, intelligent spoken word, folk and a touch of hip hop. They also have a nice room to dance. Overall, you can eat, watch a great show and dance all in one place. The price is right. Valet parking is only $5... A great improvement. I like that on Saturday nights well drinks are only $3 before 10pm or something like that. I am a local and Saturday nights this is home. Basically everyone is friendly... Pros: Music, Friendly guest, Food, Safe Environment, Awesome artists community Cons: The music could be louder... You can have a conversation at dinner.. I like loud music though. more

I recently performed at Zen Sushi. Great venue! Spacious, great location, great people. They are currently redoing the performance area and are planning on having an on going music night which will take place 2 saturdays a month. The sushi was good and i liked that they also have a DJ and dance floor. I found there was lots to do and am looking forward to performing there again soon. Pros: venue for shows more

This is the worst place to have your party at. Never again will i set foot in this bar! They ruined everything! Also the manager doesn't know anything!! so why are you guys running a business??? or why do they have a manager that doesn't even know anything about managing the business....i asked him a question and all he can tell me is "I DON'T KNOW"...... he even have the nerve to tell me "well, next time you should talk to the manager" - there won't be a next time!!! why should i ask a manager who doesn't even know how to manage his staff....all in all,it was terrible!!!! This place should rehire people that actually wanna do their job and know what they are doing! Pros: ??? Cons: ???? more

I went to Zen Sushi to watch a band i really love perform and to have a nice dinner. Honestly, I didn't think anything could ruin that night for me. Man, was i sadly mistaken. I experienced the RUDEST bouncer staff I've ever experienced. Not only did they treat the paying customers like pests, they treated the band we went to see even worse!!! they didn't let the drummer in because his wife was pregnant!!! Since when are pregnant women not allowed in a restaurant? If not to make matters worse, people that had already paid for presale tickets for the band were being charged an extra $5 by the bouncers (and pocketing it i might add)!! I'm not quite sure if management knows about this or if those criminals at the door were the owners (i wouldn't be surprised) but that was just straight up WRONG. If this is how they run a business even before customers get in, imagine the care they put into the customer's food!! This place was such a terrible overall exerience that i would not even see my favorite band of all time if they were to perform there. unfortunatley i cannot comment on the food because frankly, i don't trust eating there. they obviously don't care about customer satisfaction and experience, what more their health. I highly highly recommend staying away from this place unless you enjoy feeling bullied or have a need to go home angry. you may actually save money though, because the doormen will surely make you lose your appetite. I hope bands find other venue's to play at. This place doesn't deserve to house much of the talent that goes through there. Pros: Music Cons: Staff, Rude Corrupt Bouncer/Doorman more

Thw waitress touched my food with her indwx finger while pointing at it to me. I would have made her take it off the bill if it didn't take me forever to get the bill, before it took me forever to get my food. And it was kindda pricey, 12.95 for a rainbow roll, wtf? Alas what did I expect from a music club that sells sushi. Music was awesome though, especially Buya. Pros: Music Cons: service more

if the scale had neg number thats what this place would get.this place needs to be shut down.giving minors drinks..the staff are just rude. the mang coming in to the ladys room when ppl are in there.note he is a man and he needs to respect .you pay a lot of money to be treated like garbage by the staff for no reason.people who go to this sushi bar need to stop going.the food is not even that good.the place is dirty. i dont know how they keep it running.but thats going to change.if you want people to keep coming you need to change your ways..and i know the mang. is reading this..thats why you have a shut blue eye that this grl (me) gave you. feb22.07.you see the staff fighting with females..you guys just 5uck... Pros: none.. Cons: none.. more

Food was so late on a small order that we decided to leave. We waited forty minutes for a few rolls and some salmon sushi when there was one waitress and one sushi chef with five tables. When we were standing at the door waiting for our check for the one roll and drinks we had, the rude waitress made us wait while she walked out and told the bouncers something and served water to her other tables. Exasperated by this after standing there for three minutes, we decided to just leave and were quickly stopped by four huge bouncers who told us to go back inside. The waitress brought us a bill for all the food we ordered, which I couldn't believe. I told them I wouldn't pay for the food that was late, and they sent the sushi detective to our table to see what we had eaten and what we had not. Finally somebody from the back came out and removed the items we did not eat from our bill. When she brought us our revised bill, the waitress had the nerve to say, "Don't ever eat in my section again." This place has problems with the management because there was one waitress and one chef on an early Friday evening. I can't believe the attitude I encountered here. Obviously they don't care about my business if they don't accomodate a customer when they are unhappy with the service. Instead I got rudeness and attitude and I regret that I paid for any of that meal. Good restaurant business is when you bend over backward to make the customer happy, and she should have immediately brought us a discounted check when she saw that we were unhappy and wanted to leave. Horrible business. Never going back. Don't go. Go to Pazzazz across the street. Pros: Albacore roll Cons: Ambience, Rude Staff, Under staffed, No Business Ethics more

I was hesitant to eat here after the poor reviews of the food and having lived in Japan I am a diva when it comes to sushi. I was suprised at how delicious the fish was. The only thing I can think of in regards to the poor reviews of the fish is that maybe these people like the special rolls with sauces and extras. I don't care for that stuff as a whole, I just like good sashimi and sushi and the quality and taste of the fish here is the best Ive had in Los Angeles. The service wasn't notably slow, I love the ambiance although it might not be for everybody if you dont like listening to Black Sabbath or the greatful dead while eating. The owner was cool as hell he was crackin me and my friends up all night. Pros: dark cool and quiet early Cons: if not done eating by ten it gets loud and noisy more

The service was horrible. Although it was very good in the beginning... it took a turn for the worse. Our waitress was no where to be found most of the time. A huge amount of gratuity was included in our bill. The waitress was not worth it. The food was o.k. I've had better. However, it was not worth it at all, i repeat. This place needs better service. Not recommended. Cons: service, expensive more

ambience was great....food was expensive, service was horrible! I guess it was good to go once to experience, but would definately not make it a habit of going there. If you like good service DO NOT go there more