RA Sushi Bar Restaurant

10/06/2008 Posted by hilarysmouth

Okay so I've always heard great things about this place, so my boyfriend, me and some friends went there. Getting in was easy, the atmosphere was chill, fun, relaxed, and young, which was PERFECT. They had great music to go along with it! Down to the bad part.. we actually had to FIND our waitress. We ordered the Goujia (i think thats how it is spelled), and a Sunami, then some of our friends ordered. Well 10 min later we still had not seen our ONE drink that we ordered, and our friends had theirs, waited another 5 min, and then went to find the waitress b/c she still had not even come to check on us. Found her, explained to her that I still had not gotten my drink, and she had gotten things confused, and brought us our drink (which was 13$ and hardly full of liquor, mostly ICE) then had to wait another 10 min for the server to give us our food. The food was amazing, but the service was horrible. On top of all of that, their credit card machine kept rejecting (denying) our card, which needless to say had money in it. So after that we ended up paying cash. Go if you want to just chill, and hang out, and order your drinks at the bar, you will most likely get them quicker that way.

Pros: Great Food, Fun Hang Out Place

Cons: Service

08/16/2008 Posted by stujos

The restaurant appears as if a good chunk of the money went into the decor and the sound system (which was ridiculously loud). The waitress was attentive and helpful although it would have been nice to have a flashlight as it was impossible to read the menu. I held my menu up to the small candle on the table hoping not to light the menu on fire. But dim light and ear-splitting music is not the only problem. The sushi rolls are bland and tasteless and fell apart as if improperly prepared. If you attempt to dip your sushi in the soy sauce you will lose what didn't fall apart when you first picked it up. I strolled over to the sushi preparation area and noted about 6 or 7 young american guys (not one appeared remotely japanese) hurriedly preparing mushy rolls. Nobody can prepare sushi well when they are in a hurry. For three people we ordered the lobster spring rolls (not bad) however the crazy monkey roll, the spicy tuna roll and the lobster shrimp roll were quite awful. Still hungry and disappointed we ordered teriyaki beef (way too salty) and a concoction of pineapple chicken (not too bad). Desperate to leave, my wife decided to ordered fried ice cream. We have had this numerous times before but this came straight out of the freezer sliced up like pieces of pound cake with some ghastly drizzle over it. It was not flash fried as in other japanese restaurants. One thing you are guaranteed is a headache to match the stomach ache you will get eating here.

Pros: I liked the music but it is loud enough for a dance club

Cons: forget about conversation, skip the food, grab a drink and sit outside

07/27/2008 Posted by ckincan

The entrance/stair way lights were very cool but that ended up being the best thing about this place. It was really busy so we sat at a table on the 'bar' side. Seems as though this place can't decide if it wants to be a night club or a restaurant. It was very loud and hard to talk across the table, men were just standing around as if it was a meat market, the atmosphere once inside nothing to speak of, the cosmo's were too sweet, and the sushi very average at best. There are too many better sushi places in town to waste your time (and money) at this one.

07/19/2008 Posted by skilover

The food is great! I love the tootsi maki rolls are soooo GREAT! I love the happy hour and all the food and drink prices! Sundays are for sure the place to go!

Pros: amazing happy hour and good food

Cons: sometimes waitresses can be rude

07/03/2008 Posted by TheCokeBadger

I went to Ra with a group of 8 on a busy Wednesday night for a friend's birthday. We were seated promptly, and the ambiance and decor is fantastic! Service was lagging (I know they were busy), but it took 15 minutes to get a Miller Lite bottle and some saki. Our server just didn't seem to try very hard because I'm sure he knew he could grat us (AND BTW WE ARE NOT CANADIANS, it was a group of young professionals and our server coulda made alot more $$ would he tried). Anyway, the rolls were very tasty (I recommend the Viva Las Vegas Roll... even though it strangely tasted like mashed potatoes). Crispy Spicy Tuna roll was not what i expected, but still okay. The sushi here is by far not the best in Houston, but I would probably go back one day. Something else that was a little disturbing was that a girl ran to the bathroom to ralph, and didn't make it. She let it rip by the windows near the bathrooms, and the staff let that sH1T sit there on the ground grossing everyone out for 10 minutes before anyone cleaned it up. Freaking DISGUSTING!! But to cap it off, the birthday dessert was phenomenal! COMPLIMENTARY VALET TOO!!

06/10/2008 Posted by userofreality1

A friend brought us here as they frequent this place...claiming good sushi/atomosphere. We came here for a Sat. Lunch... The place is nice...cool decor atomosphere. Sushi is above avg. but not the best best. But none of that matters... I saw this with my own eyes... A (M- - - - ) (rhymes with House) drops down from below the sushi bar onto a bar stool...then jumps down to the floor..and goes to the kitchen doorway...stays there and drinks water from a puddle near the door and the wall not far from a sink I suppose... Then goes back up the bar stool...hops on top of the glass and walks around!!! This was crazy! I was able to keep our table calm, I didn't want to cause a scene... but a few other tables saw this and got up instantly. Luckily we just paid our bill and we left... it was disgusting. Just thought you should know about this... We will never return. FYI: why won't this review let me say the word (M O U S E) and ( R U N S ) ???

Pros: atomosphere, decor

Cons: M O U S E loose in restaurant for starters.

06/09/2008 Posted by Vpatronell

I went to Ra Sushi on this past Sunday night. It has the first time my daughter and I had been and we both were very impressed by the ambience of the place. A male server smiled at us and said hello with a sincere look on his face. The hostess eveline sat us and was very polite and sat us near the sushi area. However, we did not get service right away. I was starting to get very frustrated because my daughter was very thirsty and were not even offered drinks! However, a server named lauren quickly came to our table and asked if we had been waiting long. She did not know where are server was, but assured us that we would be taken care of and she did just that. Our drinks were always filled, and our food was out quickly. We observed that she also was juggling several other tables the same way, and my daughter and I were very impressed. Our opinion was quickly changed and we had an overall pleasant experience. The hostesses greeted us on our way out warmly and invited us back. The only complaint I have is the parking situation, but its managable.

06/04/2008 Posted by haleymarie85

This place is a lot of fun. Its got great atmosphere, good music, excellent drink menu and awesome food. The drinks on the mnu are good and offer a variety. The food is good. I'm not a big fan of sushi but i did really enjoy some of the different rolls they offer. Parking isnt the best but they do offer complimentary valet. The bar area is hopping on Friday nights so get there early and get a good seat by the window.

Pros: Complimentary Valet

Cons: Parking

05/05/2008 Posted by finedined32

I go to RA Sushi all the time and always have fun. You kind of have to know what to order. The Shaggy Dog and the Park roll are both off- menu items that are both spicy and delicious. Chili ponzu yellowtail and the Tunacado are really good Sashimi plates. The Sesame Wings are surprisingly good and also on the happy hour menu.Get to know the bartenders and cocktail servers and they will make sure you are taken care of. As for rats.....like I said, I am there at least three times a week and have never seen anything like that. Maybe it came in with the ratviewer.

Pros: Great bar staff, good food.

04/25/2008 Posted by ms1119

this places reminds me of hooter s. the hostesses could stand to cover themselves a little more and every female server had bra straps showing from their tight tank tops. some of the staff had shirts with very provocative words which i found to be a little sexist. about half of the stuff we ordered was ok but the other half was pretty bad. the service was ok but i expect better service for the price. the music was way too loud and we could barely hold a conversation. the decor is nice and the sake was good but that was all. i guess the place is ok if you're looking for americanized-japanese food in a place that's a mixture between hooter s and numbers. but if you're looking for good sushi, go somewhere else.