sushi zanmai

expert, thoughtful chefs, above-average fish. very friendly staff. comfortable atmosphere. if you’re in boulder, this should be your default sushi joint.

it borders on fast food sushi. i really only like to come here during their reverse happy hour while people are singing karaoke. it's very entertaining and quite loud/busy so don't go if you want to talk or hear anyone talk. the visual stimulation is most of the appeal. the sushi is moderately good and very well priced during that time. if you want high-quality go next-door or to the sushi den in denver which is the best hands down.

one of my favorite sushi spots in boulder. make sure to grab a spot at the bar so you can watch the chef prepare your sushi! the nice thing about this is he/she will hand each roll over the bar as it is completed and you don't have to wait for all rolls to be served at once.

sushi zanmai is one of my friends any my favorite spot for celebrations. they have private rooms with low tables to rent out, which is an incredibly intimate and fun experience. i absolutely love their spider rolls; it's all i ever order alongside their spicy tuna rolls. all the sushi chefs welcome you when you walk in, and give empathetic goodbyes when you leave. one time, i was with my sister, and the head sushi chef pulled out a microphone, and started his rendition of "sushi q". bizarre, but delightful. they have a decent selection of sake too, if that's what you're looking for. on weekends, it's always busy, so come early, or be prepared to wait!

low quality with good service. i have traveled quite a bit and come from a part of the country that has very good food, with many sushi restaurants at a variety of price points. i have been to sushi zanmai for various reasons four times over the years and each time was not impressed. this last time was the worst. the rolls were mostly rice and what little fish they did have, lacked in flavor. and this unenjoyable sushi had a high price tag for what was delivered...rice shouldn't cost that much! the service was friendly, however. bottom line, the sushi is not good at sushi zanmai...at all.

this restaurant is great for what it is: an american sushi joint. they do a good job with the standards and their special rolls are pretty solid as well. nothing out of this world but you can find much, much worse in the area.

and a special note to all you wannabe-gourmands: if you think you're going to get "authentic" japanese food in the denver-area, you're an idiot. we're in the middle of america. at best, you're going to get an above-average, americanized version of whichever cuisine you're looking for, and this place fits the bill. you aren't going to find "authentic" sushi/japanese food in a city that's roughly 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean and god knows how many thousand miles more from japan. almost all ethnic food we can find here in america is the americanized version of said cuisine. i've spent 2 years in japan. this place is as good as any other "authentic" place you're going to find in the middle of america. nice try at being hipster-foodie-a-holes though, we're all very impressed with your ability to recite what you've heard them say on food network

the green mussels, the smokey and the bandit roll (smoked trout, crab), and the grilled scallop sushi are exceptional! a tip: go during the lunchtime "happy hour" and get extra-affordable high-quality delicious sushi.

i was sitting at the bar, but smells like fish was rough. servers were working hard but that could not cover bad fish.

it has a good atmosphere, but i expect more quality from the place where they serve raw food. tuna tastes blend, seemed like it has less quality than ones from the whole food. mediocre rolls didn't catch my eyes, ikura was fishy. there's a clear distinction between good natural fishiness and bad old fishiness. it was latter. i thought japanese owner would serve me more of an authentic food than americanized food, i couldn't find any. very disappointed.

i originally liked this restaurant but after last night i will never go again. we waited well passed our allotted wait time and when i went to ask about getting a table no one was up there but we had been skipped on the hostess list. we finally got a table at which i continuously got bumped into by patrons and servers alike. after waiting 10 min at our table we finally got drink orders. for fear of her never coming back we ordered our food as well. the waitress did my have a pen to tke my order so she told me to "write my own order down on the sushi menu". when we finally got our drinks the martini and beer were warm. the food was excellent, but a full 20 minutes after it arrived we got our kobe beef roll that was ordered incorrectly since i wasn't able to ask my server questions (she seemed in a hurry to get away). we got the wrong dish and it was 20 min after we had our original food. when we told the server this was the incorrect order and asked to either have it removed from our tab or to get the correct roll she informed us her manager would not allow either and she took our food. sure enough the roll was still on our tab and we still paid for it without beig aloud to eat it. when we mentioned that. she brought out a mystery roll that had supposedly been in the back waiting for is and she ensured us she hadn't "done anything to it". needless to say we didn't eat the mystery roll we were charged for and left with a disappointing sense of eating a very expensive meal with a horrible atmosphere. i will never waste money at a place that doesn't care about patrons and makes you take your own order. sushi zanmai is that place.

very delicious. my family and i were in town on vacation looking for a good sushi restaurant, and we found it. they had a good variety of sushi and also cooked dishes. definately recommend this one.

great place for a group. great food, great atmosphere. if your out with a group and looking for a good time this is the place to go. other sushi restaurants in boulder are stuck up and a lack of atmosphere.

we ate there last night with a group of 6 for a friend's birthday. the food was excellent, but the service was really lacking. we were sitting 15 minutes before anyone greeted us. and when we actaully ordered food it took over 45 minutes before any of our rolls appeared. i'm guessing we just got behind some other large parties by seeing how busy they were, but an update or bringing us a simple appetizer or soup for the wait would have been nice.

hands down best sushi in the denver/boulder area. been going here for years, and sushi and service are greatl. you may have to wait to get a seat but well worth it. sit at the sushi bar and ask the chefs what they reccomend, as they get special fish in at times. sushi chefs are personable and fun!

fyi: z is gluten-free (which means she can't eat wheat, rye, or barley) so our reviews are all from the gluten-free perspective. we care about how many gluten-free options the restaurant has and how helpful the staff is in dealing with our concerns.

gluten-free options: they actually have very few gluten-free options, but they will provide tamari soy sauce and edit sushi orders (if necessary) to make them gluten-free.

total from a to z: 2.5 stars

a's review: * *
the food is really good...but that's about it. although the hostess assured me that they had gluten-free options, further questioning of our waitress revealed that the gluten-free options were limited to tamari sauce...and that was it. so anything that already had sauce or was marinated was out. the waitress did do her best to help us, so she can't be blamed. but couple the lack of options with the fact that this restaurant is perpetually packed and you potentially have a very frustrating experience.

z's review: * * *
boulder county celiac has a restaurant list of gluten-free friendly restaurants in the boulder area, which is where we originally saw sushi zanmai. before visiting, we called sushi zanmai to confirm that they really did have gluten-free options. over the phone they told us that they didn't have a separate menu but that they could certainly modify things to make them gluten-free and that their servers were very knowledgeable. i lived in japan for a summer and i have a soft spot in my heart (or stomach?) for japanese food, so i started to get excited about the prospect of getting to have things i have missed since becoming gluten-free.

however, when we arrived at sushi zanmai we discovered that their gluten-free offerings were actually quite limited. they couldn't modify tempura or katsu or teriyaki or yakisoba or gyoza, which basically left me with nothing to order but sushi, which i can pretty much order at any japanese restaurant. still, after asking a lot of questions they were able to provide tamari soy sauce and make unagi (eel) rolls with the sauce on the side. the sushi was delicious and i really enjoyed it, but i was still a little bit disappointed that they indicated i would have more options than i did.