Kubo's Sushi Bar & Grill

(713) 528-7878

2414 University Blvd, Houston, TX | Directions   77005

29.715067 -95.415172 View Website
  • Hours

    Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm Fri 11:30am-11:00pm Sat 12pm-10:30pm Sun 12pm-9pm
  • Menu
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Neighborhoods:
South Central, University Place

Cuisine:
Japanese, Sushi

Categories:
Restaurants, Bars & Clubs
Price:
$$

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Restaurant Special Features:
Family-Friendly Dining, Outdoor Dining, Private Rooms, Lunch Spot, Date Spot, Group Dining, Happy Hour
General Info:
Open 7 Days
Bar & Pub Special Features:
Happy Hour
Payment Methods:
Diners Club

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At a Glance ?
100% ambiance
“Great atmosphere, great sushi, nice service.”
100% dessert
“For our friend's birthday, they brought out a wonderful tray of ice creams, enough for everyone to share.”
100% drinks
“would definitely sit at the sushi bar where you can ask the sushi chef what is fresh.”
87% food quality
“We moved here recently from San Francisco and were really missing good sushi.”
88% menu variety
“With such an expensive menu, you would think that the service would be somewhat decent, but that was untrue.”
100% overall
“was seated promptly and had great service because the restaurant was half-empty.”
100% return potential
“Every time I sit at kubo's sushi bar I watch in horror as american customers order more exotic, hardcore Japanese sushi and then complain or ask to return certain fish just because they smell a stronger smell.”
69% service
“The service was friendly albeit a bit slow (took a long time to get waited on even though we were there for a late lunch with no crowd).”
76% value
“think this place is overpriced.”
50% wait time
“The service is always slow.”

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Kubo's Sushi Bar & Grill

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From The Owner of Kubo's Sushi Bar & Grill

Perennially busy second-floor Rice Village hot spot for expertly crafted sushi and creative monthly chef specials.


 

Tips for Kubo's Sushi Bar & Grill

2.0
August 05, 2008

Poor Service - won't go there again!. We were seated promptly but the waiter was either over worked or stupid. We waited forever to get our order in and when ti finally came the pieces were small. I think this place is overpriced. Miyako's is so much better!

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5.0
June 27, 2008

Wow! I was impressed.... This is my first restaurant review, but that does not have anything to do with my vast experience in eating at restaurants. I went to Kubo's last night with my husband, my sister and her boyfriend for her boyfriend's birthday. I have to say that was the best sushi experience I have had in a while. Although I was leery about him at first, our server was very informative and completely on top of it, able to fill our very demanding requests! Our service was impeccable. It was busy, but not as busy as I expected for a Thursday night. It was perfect, actually. The quality of the sushi was great and the pieces were big and fresh. My husband, a novice, ordered a non-sushi meal off the menu, and as picky as he usually is, he was completely happy and loved his meal. For our friend's birthday, they brought out a wonderful tray of ice creams, enough for everyone to share. I also felt the prices were completely reasonable. We will definitely go back soon.

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2.0
March 08, 2008

Incompetent host/hostess but still like the food. I've always found Kubo's staff to be a little inferior but tonight's (Saturday) seating service was TERRIBLE. We stood at the counter for several minutes, during which the head host (a gentleman dressed in a suit though he lacked the manners) had his back to us and completely ignored/disregarded our presence. After a short wait we were seated by a hostess (who seemed to be more concerned about bleaching her hair and eyebrows than doing her job) and erroneously handed the Happy Hour specials (which were then reneged by our actual waitress because HH had already ended). Just as we opened our menus, the artificially blond hostess came back to tell us that she had seated us at the wrong table and would we please re-locate to a different table? How much more could they have turned off my appetite with such garbage? BOTTOM LINE: Happy Hour is so much better at Oishii or Rickshaw Bambu, but Kubo's does have a large variety of rolls and their frequent diner card is the reason I still go back. Just be prepared for an incompetent staff.

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5.0
February 19, 2008

Great Happy Hour!. My mom is Japanese and we have tried many different places in Houston. While this is not Nippon, it is a fantastic place for Sushi. Especially at happy hour. I was so sad to see that they were no longer catering the Sushi at Central market. Great atmosphere, great sushi, nice service. Fantastic food!

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1.0
January 14, 2008

Not a place for groups.... The meal/food is OK. But the service was just, literally, HORRIBLE. If anyone plans to go a at least with more than 5 people to this restaurant, one should keep in mind that or should be ready to face serious problems in service. The service is extremely slow and the waitress can be arrogant.

When I was there, our table had 8 people. The waitress came only twice through all the night. I asked the waitress to make some changes regarding the bill, here is what she said " Sir, I am too busy, I can not do it".

I told her, then send me someone who is not too busy. She said "Sir, there is nobody.....".

Of course, all the people at the table said "Look to the stupid Bytch, what is this, is it restaurant or what".

I must say that, I could not care less, if a restaurant is busy or not. They should adjust themselves for any situation. If I am at a restaurant, a waitress should SERVE me. That is why they are there.

By the way, since we were more than 6 people at the table, suddenly we saw in the bill that %18 gratuity was added automatically and shamlessly. All the people at the table were going to leave either one dollar or none to her(waitress, short japanese).

Some of my friends were going to clash the waitress, I could stop them with big difficulty. They were really going to create problems by shouting at the stupid waitress (an of course actually they would be right for that).

Basically, I certainly do not recommend this restaurant, particalurly at Fridays and other busy days. And certainly this place is not for big tables.

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4.0
December 03, 2007

Americanized in a good way. I have visited Kubo?s Sushi Bar & Grill quite a few times at various hours, and I have so far had a pleasant experience.

What I like the most about the restaurant is the upscale, stylish food selections and ambience without compromising on the quality and authenticity of the food.

I get the impression that it is a successful, non-traditional Japanese business in town.

Located conveniently in the heart of Rice Village, it is suitable for a semi-casual date. Kubo?s offers seasonal food items monthly, and they show the creativity and the good taste of the restaurant. Its happy hour and lunch menu are highly valuable meeting various needs and wants of general public. The sushi is known for its high quality by Japanese nationals in town, and I agree for the most part. The prices are not too high or too low for a Japanese restaurant at normal service hours. If you feel like putting a nicer pair of jeans tonight, it may be a place for you.

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5.0
November 06, 2007

More authentically Japanese than most. While there are many good sushi restaurants in Houston, Kubo remains our favorite because it offers more traditionally prepared Japanese dishes. You can find them in the appetizer menu and in the Japanese menu, if you go with a Japanese. If you just want to eat raw fish and "Westernize" Japanese food, then there may be better and cheaper places. However if you want to try something more Japanese, then Kubo is one of the few places that can deliver that. We eat at Kubo regularly about once a month over a three year period and the food quality is always very consistent.

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5.0
September 15, 2007

Most consistant quality in Houston!. Love Sushi, eat it at least 1x a week if not more. For the last few years, attempted to visit all of the sushi places in town, to find out for myself which is the best.

KUBOS is the winner. They are ALWAYS on point with freshness and quality of fish. Service is almost always perfect, the staff is cool...sometimes when they are really busy you don't get that full attention, so we just go during the non rush hours and we are really satisfied.

We even have their frequent diner card, that saves us $$ for going there regularly, which is what we would be doing anyways.

Bottomline, there are others that are good..but never 2 x in a row, its just never consistent in my experience.

Glad to have Kubos in Houston.

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2.0
August 24, 2007

Not fresh, not good. My husband and I love sushi so we've tried almost every sushi joint in the city. The best is the Fish in midtown. Kubo's sushi was mediocre at best. The fish just didn't taste like it was sushi grade and none of the specialty rolls were really all that special. We wouldn't go there again.

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5.0
July 22, 2007

WILD SALMON, THEY HAVE IT!. This is the only place I've found in town that serves WILD SALMON. I called twelve sushi restaurants in Houston to see if they served wild salmon, and this was the only one that delivered. All the rest serve farm raised salmon which contains PCBs. FYI, for those of you who are wondering, PCBs are a carcinogen and doesn't flush out of your body for about 10 years...meaning you're accumulating it the more you eat it. Service isn't the best, but the food is great, and the atmosphere is nice as well. This by far tops my list of good sushi places in Houston.

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Nominated for:
Sushi (2011)
Sushi (2009)
Happy Hour (2008)
Sushi (2008)
Sushi (2007)