I have been MANY times now, and have to upgrade to 5 stars after the visit this past Sunday (14-July).
The female employee working the line at around 4pm was SO helpful with my fiance's special dietary needs and "custom" salad. As always, the employees make visiting Rollbotto a real pleasure.
If more businesses realized the draw of good customer service, smiles, and a friendly fun atmosphere - more would succeed. Rollbotto does everything right.
And 23 dollars for a full dinner for two is an outstanding value!
Rollbotto makes life happier and easier for me. Â I'm a mom to a couple fairly adventurous eaters. Â The whole family enjoys sushi. Â So, instead of going to a pricier table service environment, I can bounce over to Rollbotto instead. Â My husband is a big fan of the Crispy Critter. Â I generally create my own with tuna or just veg. Â I am very happy with all the different combination possibilities such as asparagus, cucumber, coconut flakes, sweet potato for example. Â I'm happy about the brown rice option, and my daughter sometimes likes to get the soy paper instead of seaweed. Â My son and I share a ginger salad while he works on a side of rice and some shrimp potstickers. Â All yum. Â Plus, we've tried all the mochi ice cream flavors: green tea, strawberry, mango, vanilla. Â My favorites are mango and green tea.
Rollbotto most certainly makes for an affordable, light, and delicious meal. Â
Oh and one more thing. For an hour, you can park in the Plaza parking garage next door and get validated (I always forget.) Sometimes, parking in the area fills up, so don't forget the garage like I always do.
I been here tonight, the sushi was ok but not for the price you pay. The staff was nice and friendly and you can either order their specialities or customize your own sushi which I personally think it is really cool. They also have different kind of beers and sake plus a soda machine in case you want drinks from the fountain. Clean and nice, but I don't know if I will be back, I will probably keep going to my regular sushi restaurant.
Review Source:A chipotle style sushi place. It's ok. Â Honestly, I've had better sushi from Publix. At the very least, Publix actually has chopsticks.
Overall, you're not missing anything if you don't go. Â I imagine it's just someone trying out a restaurant model that they'll eventually want to franchise. Â That's about the quality of food you'll get.
Just wanted to update to say that my love for Rollbotto has only strengthed over the 6 months we have been together. The staff is always friendly and it makes such a great cheap meal. I will share with you the secret to our love, my tried and true roll: sweet tofu roll with brown rice, avocado, asparagus, sweet potato fries, ginger dressing and coconut flakes and a side of the cucumber salad.
My only complaint is that the miso soup does have a fish base, so I still have yet to find a trustworthy vegetarian miso in the area, but no relationship is completely perfect.
(Yelp can stop removing this review now please....) I go here pretty much every day. It is fast, it is delicious, and there's nothing at all to complain about. Honestly, 4 stars is even ridiculous unless you're grading your own taste for sushi. With the way they make the rolls with speed and efficiency, makes me curious as to why the idea hasn't been around longer. If I were you, I'd get the Japanese Bagel because there's not much better than smoked salmon. You can roll your own here, but their menu covers everything pretty well. The staff is nice, the location can't get any better, made quickly at a reasonable price. If you're looking for more, then you're not really looking to eat sushi.
Review Source:This is my neighborhood eatery. I am what you'd call a regular, choosing to dine here almost weekly. The sushi is fantastic, the staff is friendly, and you can walk in and out with your food in less than 10 minutes.
I often passed by this quick-service sushi joint, thinking it was another trying-too-hard-to-be-trendy restaurant that would serve half-decent, overpriced food. Wanting to try a new place, I decided to trust Yelp and give Rollbotto a chance.
Now, having eaten here at least a dozen times, I can confidently award Rollbotto a solid 5 stars because it is consistently a great experience with delicious, fresh food.
Some things to note: One roll consists of 10 pieces with double protein - it's hard to leave this place hungry. There is no oven so no hot rolls, but they do have tempura shrimp. The menu doesn't have grilled or steamed shrimp, but there are a ton of other amazing proteins to pick.
My top picks: the Japanese Bagel and the Big Kahuna (tastes like coconut shrimp!), but you really can't go wrong. Plus, the team has some great recommendations so listen to what they have to say!
Great idea for a restaurant, sushi made the way you want it. (It's kind of like Subway or Panchero's where you stand in a line and tell them what you want in your rolls or you can order their specialities.) They give you the option of brown or white rice which is a big plus. We had the volcano and spicy tuna w/ brown rice, which was AWESOME! Great sushi at a reasonable price (not sure why so many people thought this place is expensive because they give you a LOT of sushi for the money??). Building doesn't look like much from the outside but the design inside is very cool. Polite and friendly staff, reasonable beer prices. Will come back for sure :-)
Review Source:Happiness is Rollbotto.
I mean how genius of an idea is this place? Not only do you get to create your own masterpiece sushi roll exactly how you want it, but the food actually tastes good too!
I walked in confused about what was happening and walked out full of happiness.
And the staff is so helpful and patient. The restaurant is clean and in a nice location.
My son and I like to eat here, and we can walk from the Marina where we live.
He's !0, and he loves sushi.
We both think that the concept of "fast sushi" and the way they handle the menu/line/preparation is unique and efficient.
We usually get the Submarine, and one other roll to go with it. Â They are busy enough, and have a simple enough menu that it is easy to see why everything stays so fresh.
Could you find a sushi bar that has a more artful presentation? Sure. Â
Could you find a Japanese restaurant with a bigger selection of apps and varieties of seafood? Sure!
Could you find another sushi place that has combination rolls with 6 ingredients...order 2 rolls that were enough to feed 2, and a big 'ol Sapporro beer for a total of about $20 bucks.....and be outta there in less than 20 minutes? HELL NO...not a chance.
Here is the thing....they are not trying to compete in that high end space. Â What you get is very fresh rolls, served efficiently and artfully.....quite quickly....at a very good price....and fast. Â
Lastly, I certainly don't blame the merchant for commenting on a 1 star review that just doesn't "add up" like a couple people have done. Â The comments of the owner fit the tone of the reviewer!
Talk about excellent fast-food sushi. But I wouldn't categorize it fast-food. They're too good for that label. The Ten Megabytes sushi roll was perfect, along with the spring rolls with what I think was sweet chili sauce. The staff was very friendly and the atmosphere was very hip and cool. They've been around for a year and hope to see them around for many years more. (Also, they don't advertise, so help them out with a sticker or two ;] )
Review Source:A group of my friends and I visited Rollbotto several weeks ago before going to see a movie. We were all quite happy with the food, thought it was a great concept at least for our tastes and talked about how it was such a perfect place for pre-movie food since it was fast and is literally right across the street from Baywalk Muvico.
HOWEVER, after seeing all the condescending and disrespectful comments that the Rollbotto staff leave in response to anyone who has given a less than perfect rating here, I will NEVER be going back to this establishment again just out of principle. How unprofessional! Even great places aren't perfect 100% of the time and most of us understand that and that doesn't keep us away. But to troll the reviews and insult anyone who has ever had an issue while patronizing your business is NOT the way to inspire customer loyalty, much less for any of those people to give you a second chance. I do not want my dollars going to support such an unnecessarily aggressive and unprofessional staff.
Edit: I of course received a response ending in: "I'd rather go out of business than serve ungrateful people like you and your stupid friend, Nat."
It's too bad for you because me and my "stupid" friendS eat a lot of Sushi. So unprofessional!
The customer service at this place is absolutely horrible. Â I initially gave this place 3 star with some positive and negative notes. Â The owner writes comments and messages to yelpers who give less than perfect reviews, saying that we yelpers gang up on him to destroy his business. Â Of course I myself constantly receive the most disrespectful comments from him, much like everyone else. Â He thinks his business is the best in the world and he doesn't take anything but perfect comments. Â He makes sure that people who gave him not perfect reviews wouldn't come back to try second time by insulting them. Â We are not the ones damaging your business....you are destroying your own business, and it is absolutely making YOU look very bright.
Review Source:Expensive? Yes
Unique? Yes
Tasty? Yes
While it was definitely worth experiencing Rollbotto at least once, it's nothing I would trek to St. Pete from Tampa for. If something is created for me semi-fast food style, I would expect the overall price to be less than a sit down, full service sushi restaurant. That being said, I did enjoy my meal and was glad to have the unmique experience.
This is a cool concept, but its really nothing new. It's a walk up sushi bar where you can order traditional rolls or custom build your rolls and watch them make it. The novelty is cool, but there was some young college kids making the rolls who were not as skilled as an experienced sushi chef. You get the "cool factor" but lose some "quality" as the rolls are just average to above average.
Review Source:Does anyone else feel like they are eating in a well lit area of a multilevel parking garage? Ok, it could be a corner of a large not quite finished airport but it's  that same cold concrete feeling that some I hear enjoy. Perhaps it's the smell of a half pipe that entrances the younger skate punks, I guess I'm generations away as Leif Garret was the dude who's wheels and trucks I wanted to know about. So onto the food; I can think of 4 places within a mile that I would rather eat Sushi at. I'm not saying Rollboto is bad it's just that I'm not a huge fan. Would I go back,? Yes.  Why? Not quite sure yet but I have some theories,,
Review Source:I went to this place back in July and who knows what took me so long to review this place. Â I thought it was cool and urban. Very hidden in a little plaza off of 1st N near Baywalk near Ale and Witch.
I thought this place had a modern twist to a traditional sushi place which I found rather inviting. Â I ordered the Fish & Chips and Tokyo Tuber (gotta say I love any fish tempura style) and both were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO delicious.
Anytime I go to a sushi place or any restaurant for that matter, I believe in getting bang for my buck. Â I do fair well in places where you spend tons of money and get a small portion; sorry I am a foodie so I want tons of food ha ha. Â The two rolls of sushi I got was wayyyyyyyyy more than enough. Â I was forcing down the last few pieces and the price was very affordable. Â I definitely have plans to stop by here again. Â Staff was very friend and put up with my questions about the types of rolls as I was indecisive that day. Â Great place to visit!
Excellent sushi! Awesome build out! Friendly, HELPFUL staff! Great hours! Terrific location!
thats 5 stars all day!
I've had about every specialty roll and each has been magnificent. My fiance LOVES the cucumber salad.
We moved to the area a year ago from California and this is by far the best sushi we have had since we've been here.
Keep doing your thing, Rollbotto!
In one word, OBSESSED! Â This place is legit. How legit you may ask? Too legit...too legit to quit. And people that give it anything less than 4 stars are NOT legit. (So they must quit....and reevaluate their thought processes in regards to their opinion on this devine eatery...)
((Sorry if you feel insulted by this review because you failed in life and only gave Rollbotto an undeserving 1-3 stars. I don't understand or trust you, but I still respect you as a human being....sort of))
Moving on to more ridiculous talk of Rollbotto. The food is everything you could ever dream of and more. The ingredients are both fresh and "phresh" and will make you "phat" not fat. For those of you that may not understand my ultra intimidating urban lingo, know this: Putting a "Ph" in place of any "F" word automatically makes that word and anything it's preceding and/or describing so unfathomably awesome that not even Paul Ryan and his weird frown smile could make it seem uncool.
The employees are great. I don't know any of them personally, at least not outside of my fantasies, but they always make me feel welcome....75% of the time these sushi making extraordinaires behind the counter make me smile and/or chuckle and/or produce a hearty guffaw. That's AT LEAST 65% more than the employees of any other of my frequented eateries. On that note, does anyone else despise the baggers and cashiers at Sweet Bay? They always feel the need to comment on my purchases. Mind your own business, sir! Just because I only bought cookie dough and tampons doesn't mean I'm having a bad day....you don't know me.....
Back to Rollbotto...my 134th favorite thing about this place is the barely noticeable impact it has on my bank account. I get serious fullness for under $5-$6! You're probably saying to yourself, "What? Did I hear that right?! " Yes, if you're reading this review aloud, then YES, yes you did! I get one roll (10 pieces) and a cucumber salad for like 5 and some change. And then I dance over to the condiment bar (because I'm so happy that I'm about to eat some cheap ass healthy food) and fill up on all the soy sauce, sirachi, and wasabi that my little tiny heart desires.
Listen. All I'm saying is that there's a lot of regret in life. Don't let missing out on Rollbotto be on that life list. Even if you don't like the idea of  "sushi" or eating "healthy ingredients"  or "laughing" or making your life better than it has ever been or ever will be...GO.....just go. You'll walk out a changed (wo)man.
~Namaste
Great sushi, cool atmosphere. Felt like I was in a little sushi bar you would find in NYC. Employes were very knowledgeable and helpful. I felt like they were very personable and easy to talk to.
I got the spicy tuna roll, split it. Good quality, but the sauce was very spicy. Not that I minded. Price was fair for good sushi.
I will deff recommend this place to friends and go back.
I've only been here twice and im in love.
I specifically went to this site to sign up just to write a review because you guys are that awesome!
I love that I can walk into a place and they actually remember me. It means more to me than you know. :)
SUSHI WISE: Screw whatever negative comments you read on here. The sushi taste amazing. I didn't come here the day after I first tried it for no reason. I came back because it was delicious. (not to mention speeding so that I could make it in time because I didn't know when they closed.)
I am pretty much addicted to your Rollbotto sushi.
Thank you guys for being so amazing and genuine.
ALSO!!!
I love the way you handle your negative reviews. It makes me love this place more and more.
It's a hip little sushi joint... Â We were in the are to try out a new craft beer bar a block or two over, but go there too early. Â We felt peckish, so we stopped by. Â The menu is creative- but it;s easy to customize things if you like something slightly off from the offerings. Â It feel like a cafeteria line as you walk down the counter, watching them make your order. Â It's presented to you on round metal baking dish that serves as a tray- making me think the place used to be a pizza joint, and some of the equipment came with the deal. Â The decor is white-painted cinder block walls and tables that could have come form a fast food joint. Â It was comfortable, even with a couch or two at back, decorated with pillows in the shape of sushi rolls.
The food was quite tasty, but not a huge standout. Â I was satisfied with it, and would most definitely eat here again.
It's not a pretentious sushi joint at all. Â You feel at ease, and the staff is quite friendly.
Domo arigato, Mr. Rollboto.
What a neat little sushi bar! The atmosphere is laid back- mostly industrial looking with a slight Japanese pop influence. The rolls were delicious! Very fresh with lots of options- white rice, brown rice, nori wrapper, soy wrapper, and tons and tons of different fillings, both raw and cooked. You can order one from their menu or create your own. I opted for the latter and I was quite pleased with my creation.
All in all, I'd love to come back to Rollboto. I'm really starting to fall in love with the downtown St. Pete area!
I've heard a lot of great things about Rollboto so I was excited to finally have the chance to try it last week when I was hanging out at nearby Ale and the Witch and dinner time rolled around.
There were only 2 people there when I walked in...not good for them, but good for me since that meant no line!
I love the concept of this place. You can create your own roll from the rice, fish and veggies. Of course, they also have signature rolls they can make if you're not feeling very adventurous. I went with making my own.
I chose brown rice with tuna, salmon, avocado, sweet potato fries, cucumber and spicy aioli. Fries in sushi? It sounded so off beat I had to try it.
This was not the best sushi I've ever had, but the fish and ingrediants were fresh and everything tasted pretty good together. Even though it wasn't mindblowing I will definitely go back just because the concept is so neat. And for less than $8 a roll it's a quick and cheap dinner.
Not what I was expecting but in a good way. They have their own specialty rolls you can choose from or you can build your own rolls. They have a decent selection of ingredients you can choose from including different pieces of fish, veggies, sauces, and textural items like sesame seeds. I created a roll and I tried the Shell Shocked roll with tempura shrimp and grilled eel which was awesome! The Bot Kahuna had a nice flavor burst from the pineapple in it. I first thought that someone was going to load the ingredients into a machine and the machine would roll the sushi but it seemed like they rolled it, put the roll into a machine and with a few turns it came out. Still not sure what happens in the machine unless it just tightens the roll.
You can get some items like pot-stickers, eggrolls, edamame, and squid salad. The shrimp pot-stickers and squid salad were really tasty! They also have some craft beers and they had a 12oz beer of Yuengling on tap for just $2. I would go just for that!
The decor was the complete opposite of a traditional sushi restaurant. Bright on the inside with light fixtures that resemble vents with fans, they have mini flat screens on one wall and a cool little lounge area.
The first thought I have after eating sushi here was "I've had better" but maybe this place isn't for me.
has a interesting build it yourself roll idea with a simple "Subway" feel to them making the roll right there. Â Their ingredients were fresh, I'll give them that.
I guess if you want fast and cheap sushi this place is awesome. Â But if your like me and half the reason you like sushi is the atmosphere and dinning experience, I would continue looking.
Think Chipotle or Subway, but with sushi. So I give them bonus points for originality. Here's the run-down-- they have a menu of standard and specialty sushi rolls as well as a "build-your-own" option. The 3 build-your-own options are Roll made with White Rice, Roll made with Brown Rice, and a Salad bowl. Now, in theory it's a great idea... if only the food was as good as the concept.
I went with a couple friends and we ordered 2 rolls from the menu, a build-your-own roll, and a "build-your-own" salad bowl. The salad was the best tasting option because it didn't have rice. The white rice and brown rice were both on the dry side, probably because it's how it's prepared and stored -- Â the rice is pre-flatten into a square and stored in plastic wrap. They take the rice out and place a sheet of nori on top then fill it with the desired ingredients. Fresh rice? I think not. However the fish and other filling options did taste fresh. It's just the rice (both white and brown) that needs A LOT of work.
It's a cool looking restaurant and the people working the line were really nice and helpful. I'd come back for the salad bowls. Otherwise, I think there are plenty of better places to get sushi in the Bay area.
AVOID AVOID AVOID. Do not fall into the trap like I did. The sushi is made with very low-quality ingredients.
Let me put it this way, if you can chew through the seaweed (nori) without gagging, send me an e-mail. You deserve a prize. Nobody who knows and appreciates sushi will like this place.
If cheap crappy sushi like what they sell at the gas station or grocery store is your thing, you'll love it.
If you've been to Tokyo and you know what good sushi tastes like, do NOT go here.
A "unique" and hipster concept/decor means nothing if they are serving you dog food.
Addendum: As you can see from the response from the restaurant below, they could care less about substandard ingredients.
Why 4 stars? Because of originality and variety.
 ---  ---  ---
BIG props to whoever came up with this interesting and unique concept. Â It's one of those ideas that when you hear about it, it makes you wish you had though of it first.
It's a good place to go when you want sushi but the people you are with are not big on it. Â My gf will only eat sushi occasionally, so she was happy I make a chicken-based roll. Â And I was happy to down some actual seafood, while watching her eat Chicken sushi :)
Here is my only caveat- the sushi was far from "awesome." It was good..good in the same way that Publix sushi is good. Â I don't know if that was because I have never been responsible for creating my own roll before, or just that the fish wasn't up to par. Â Either way, I did enjoy my experience and would definitely recommend it and return.
Add one part Subway customizing, two parts delicious fresh ingredients, and finally, one part friendly staff, awesome space and unique experience. Mix together, roll it up and you've got this great sushi spot.
My boyfriend and I walked by and wanted to get a snack. This place is such a good idea, it's amazing there's not more of them around Florida. I wasn't surprised when I found out that it started in San Francisco, which is my gastro-heaven.
It works kind of like Subway (but obviously much much better). You pick the base (rice and seaweed, or brown rice, or a bowl), add main ingredient (a variety of fish), vegetables, then texture (sesame seeds, etc.) and then top it off with sauces. What you get are delicious, fun rolls. I want to go back just to make more of them.
The restaurant is fun and resembles a Japanese pop video.
Domo arigato, mr. rollboto.
WORKFLOW INEFFICIENT. INGREDIENT SELECTION PROCESS ENJOYABLE. VALUE FOR MONEY UNPARALLELED. FOUR DOLLARS FOR TEN PIECE MAKI WITH AVOCADO, CREAM CHEESE, SESAME SEEDS, ASPARAGUS... DOES NOT COMPUTE
So now that we've heard from Nombotto, the computer hooked up to my taste buds, let's do this in English for those of us who communicate by flapping our meat at each other.
If there's a few people in line ahead of you the first time you come to Rollbotto, you'll have enough time to look at the menu and figure out what you want. On subsequent trips, especially if you already know what you want, the wait can be a touch annoying. This is not due to Rollbotto's human servants, who are well-trained in the art of assembling the requested ingredients upon the rice-packed nori, rolling it all up, and delivering it as input to Rollbotto's sushi-slicing machinery. Rather, it's that composing a custom roll in your head can take a minute or two, especially if you're considering ingredients like pineapple, tempura crunchies, and creamy miso topping. Â
If the sushi orders were already written down as soon as each customer got to the front of the line, things would go faster. Perhaps some future Rollbotto upgrade will give us the option to put together an order using an Android (ha) or iPhone, with orders only transmitted if GPS puts you within a couple of blocks of the store (so that you can order while the credits are rolling at the nearby movie theaters, and then identify yourself at the shop to confirm your order). Not likely, though, since such an app would be costly to develop and there would be too many abandoned orders. So skip the cyber-solution and try to do your fellow humans a favor by deciding before you step up to the counter. (And perhaps Rollboto's human servants would be so kind as to print up some slips of paper with checkboxes, one slip per roll, and put out some golf pencils.)
Having griped about that, however, I've gotta say that I was actually glad in retrospect that the sushi place I'd been heading to was closed. Rollbotto filled us up better and charged us less, and I really enjoyed the creativity of putting together my own rolls.
I would LOVE to see Rollbotto deploy a sushi-computing unit at a data center near USF Tampa.
This fast paced and modern concept for sushi is so advanced that many have not heard of it before. Rollbotto is the first place I've been to that served up sushi in a "Chipotle" style environment. You're able to customized your sushi the way you like it and stand in front of a glass case full of fresh ingredients.
There are also a few machine that does the work for you, for example the one that presses rice onto the nori and a machine that cuts up your roll into equal parts! Very friendly staff and also plenty of seating inside and a few tables outside. This modern cafe like restaurant is def what you need in Florida.
Don't fear about this "fast food" style sushi because it's as fresh as it gets! The food  I ate was fresh and delicious and it was prepared in just a few minutes right in front of your eyes.
I wish it was right down the street from me because I would be there everyday! There's plenty of rolls on their menu or you can customize one yourself. They are all pretty cheap too.
I live like a block away from this place, so I watched it get put together and very much anticipated it's opening. Finally open!
This is a fast-casual setup sushi spot. You get in line, pick out what type of roll you want, and you can put whatever you want in and on it.
It's a flat rate for the roll itself, the protein you add is extra. You can pick a 1oz or 2oz portion for the fish, 2oz is a crazy amount of fish for the inside of a roll. There's a big list of veggies and sauces you can add to the roll at no charge.
They also have a couple of toppings, I got the volcano topping, which is an aioli seafood mixture. The portion is pretty decent.
I got two rolls, could probably have just stuck with one with the volcano topping -- very filling. Two custom rolls was $18, but I could have gotten out of there with one big roll and a drink for like $11. I'm going to be eating sushi a lot more often now that this place is nearby.
- Sushi prepped and cut by robots
- Sushi ordered "Chipotle-style"
- Sushi for the average person
If those odd statements didn't pique your curiosity, then you obviously fainted from shock or are a die-hard sushi-hater.
FOOD
(Like Chipotle) choose your base from a variety of wraps or rice... choose your "protein"... then add-ons. Or for the lazy (yours truly) there are pre-determined specialty rolls.
(From this sushi snob's mouth) my rolls have been DELICIOUS! The seafood has tasted fresh and you can taste/feel the contribution of each additional ingredient. Still harmonious! Honestly, do a blind taste test and you can't tell this is "fast food" sushi.
Even the miso (from a machine!) tasted normal!
Dislike: the seaweed ends of my rolls came apart... at least the rice stayed together. And only soda and beer? No tea?
PRICE
In the end, food prices were just slightly lower than "normal" sushi restaurants... but experience was still CHEAPER-- remember, no tips!
SERVICE:
Still kinks to work out. With only 5 people ahead in line, it still took 8 minutes before the spotlight was on me. So far all the college-age-looking employees have been smiley. Even the co-owner was later wandering the tables meeting the customers and grabbing feedback.
THE STORE
Ehhh-- No visible advertising yet. I wouldn't have known the restaurant existed or was open until I was practically at the doorstep. Ehh-- your first view inside is... a BIG wooden wall with the bathroom door. Ehh-- it's still pretty bare inside. Although it gave a clean/modern feel of steel and wood, I think more decorations are needed. There was too much blank space that felt more like wasted space.
Rollbotto is still very new-- lots of room for improvements. If you believe the really cute co-owner Max (but "cute" won't sway my opinions) then Rollbotto will definitely be a Downtown St. Pete force to be reckoned with... even for sushi snobs.