Sakura Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Reviews

• Brad B.

  star star star star star 30 June 2026

  Great experience eating at the sushi bar last night, the sushi chef has been working there for 21 years!!!  Sushi was great, the Green Mussels were amazing, Miso soup with clams amazing!  Give this place a shot when visiting St Paul...

• Michelle V.

  star star star star_border star_border 28 June 2026

  Four stars for food, three for service.
  This is a go to spot when we go downtown for date night for a concert at the Xcel center. Walking distance to Xcel is always a bonus.
  Love the Aspen roll and the Tony's special roll. If they offer Toro or Blue Fin tuna sushi for their board special .. Get it! Fish tastes fresh and the rolls have a good fish to rice ratio. Believe me this is important.
  We always get the same server. She gets the job done but not very attentive (read: doesn't bring utensils or soy trays until asked, doesn't notice water needs refills etc). Luckily the food makes up for lackluster service.

• Kou L.

  star star star star star 16 June 2026

  Sakura has one of the best bento boxes I've had in St. Paul. If you're ever looking to enjoying a bento box sushi, I recommend this place. Their sashimi slices that came in the bento box are big pieces also!

• Jill G.

  star star star star star_border 7 June 2026

  Flew into Minneapolis and was staying across the street at the Saint Paul Hotel on a Sunday night. Was looking for something close and stumbled across this place. Overall I really enjoyed this place. Good menu- not too big and not too restrictive. After ordering, the waitress brought me for a hot towel. I had the clear broth soup (which is one of my favorites) and was advised that there was no spoon and to just sip. Delish. Next had the shrimp and cucumber appetizer that was a great fresh start to the meal. I then Had the parise roll which was spicy tuna and cucumber topped with yellow tail, tuna and avocado. I was super happy with the quality of the sushi. The only thing to note it there's not a lot of wiggle room on price for the specialty rolls. Almost all of them are $15.95 which isn't a problem just noting it here.

• Nou C.

  star star star star_border star_border 4 June 2026

  Sakura has been around in downtown Saint Paul for quite some time. According to their website, they have been at their current location since February 12, 1997; and seven years prior, at two other locations close by.
  
  Over the last ten years, I've frequent this restaurant every now and then, either at lunch or after work. Usually I would get the bento box or the shrimp don. On this day, I stopped for dinner with my daughter right before the Jingle Ball concert. We ordered off of the happy hours menu since she really wanted the California Rolls.
  
  In addition to the California Rolls, we also added 2 orders of chicken wings, 1 shake make, 1 egg roll (vegetable), gyoza (pork), and a sake bomb. You must order a minimum of one drink to order food item off the happy hour menu.
  
  Items I would order again: California Rolls (came with no caviar), pork gyoza, chicken wings (fried, lightly breaded), and of course, the sake bomb.
  
  For those who don't know what a sake bomb is, it's a warm sake in a Japanese shot cup, dropped into a glass of Sapporo beer. Once you drop the shot cup into the glass cup, you get a bomb effective with the fizzles.
  
  I ate most of the wings, since my daughter was full. The wings should have came with a dipping sauce since it was just fried and lightly breaded. It felt like a lot of work just trying to get through them. The crumbs were everywhere on the table.
  
  Wasabi was really strong and brought tears to my eyes and nose when I used more than a dab of the green horseradish. That's when I can tell if a place has quality sushi or not. Wasabi matters. I scaled back on the wasabi and was able to eat the rest without the burn. The pickled ginger was okay, and not enough by my ratio of ginger to sushi roll.
  
  Items I would not order again: vegetable egg rolls. There were some type of sour vegetable in the wraps. My daughter and I didn't like the taste. I'm not sure if I feel one way or another about the sake make rolls. The rolls contained raw fish, wrapped in rice and seaweed wrap. There wasn't any wow factor or memorable taste to that roll.
  
  Customer Service: The waitress greeted us when we came through the side door. The hostess sat us by the window soon after. I asked the waitress if there were happy hours happening and she gave me the menu. My back was to the waitress so if I needed something, I would have to flag her down. She did cane by occasionally to pick up the plates and refill my water. Only issue I have was the price for the sake bomb was off by $1. Either the menu or the computer system has the wrong price. I didn't address it with them this time. If I go there again, I will wait to see if it happens again. I can never get it when they only bring out warm wash clothes for customers to wipe their hands before eating. We didn't get it this time.
  
  Overall, food and services were so-so on this day.