I not only love  this  place because it's steps away from my best friend's house, but because it actually has some of the best sushi around.
Service: Friendly, fast and  remember the regulars. Even if you sit  at the sushi bar, the wait staff works hard  to keep sake filled and edamame fresh.
Atmosphere: Modern, glitzy and filled  with techno  music. Sometimes someone will have a birthday and  the  wait staff will bring out the Japanese drums and walk through  the  restaurant. Pretty neat! Sushi bar is fun  to sit at and  watch them make  rolls, the bar is cozy and plenty of tables elsewhere.
Food: Uhhh-mazing. Sashimi (my favorite) is  always fresh, with  plenty  of special chef  selections. They also do a fresh wasabi that is to die  for.
Special rolls are always good, and presentation really has a high awe-factor. Beautiful, beautiful food.
Worth  finding a parking  spot on Bardstown Road on  a Friday night!
I was not a fan of sushi, BUT....I am now. Our son wanted to eat sushi at Sapporo for his 28th Birthday. Â My wife agreed and I went along kicking and screaming and I"M GLAD I DID. Â Five of us ate a wide variety of sushi and I enjoyed every dish. Â I now consider myself a fan of Sushi and will definitly return to Sapporo. Â I especially enjoyed the Hurricane roll!
Review Source:This was the best sushi place I've been to off of the coast. Â Even though my other experiences are not on Yelp (unfortunately, as Yelp is a new thing for me), I have tried MANY, many, many sushi serving establishments in Kentucky as well as multiple coastal areas.
The only sushi that is better than Sapporo in Louisville, was a nifty little place I tried about 5 times in 5 days while visiting Seattle, WA for a pharmacist conference (it was near the conference center and was called Blue Fin I think?). Â You just can't beat stuff THAT fresh- but the point is, that I've had it, so I'm adding credibility hopefully to my review.
Prices were ranging from $8-$15 (specialty rolls), the seaweed salad was a generous portion, and the seats from the bar were EXCELLENT. Â Entertaining without the pressure for performance that I think that the grill provides (I'm not into that sort of thing really- please don't throw a piece of hot grilled shrimp at my face- shrimp don't have wings, they weren't meant to fly ok?)
The service was fast (impressive for the SIZE of our meal) and friendly(impressive due to the amount of customers they had- my WATER was NEVER empty). Â Clean and very busy. Â Â Rolls were PERFECT. Â Room temp served and therefore just right. Â Location adds convenience of course. Â
Cannot wait to go back.
I was hungry and was with friends they were raving about this place so I figure I check it out.
We got there and I found this was a Hibachi place my kind of Japanese. So we were told a 30 minute wait so I went strait to the the bar they had Jack Single Barrel so I was even more happy. We then were fitted in to a sit not bad at all.
Food: the side sauces were great I liked them very good. I went with steak and lobster. As it is in the middle of the country and no ocean near by I had to give this place credit. The presentation was great the food and sides were perfect. I get out this way for work often and coming from California where there are awesome Hibachi grills and Sushi places for what it's worth this place was really good.
My now husband and I love this place! We started going as college students and have been to many sushi joints since but still one of the best! Decor is getting dated...
However feel that service is and always had been great. Fresh fish, creative rolls and sit at the sushi bar for a fun and personal experience!
The decor needs updating and the service is hit or miss. Â I have only had the sushi, never the hibachi.
However, the sushi is definitely worth the visit. A good spot to grab a couple of friends and head to town with the nigiri, sashimi and of course their specialty sushi rolls. I would start of with a house salad, the peanut dressing was very tasty. As for the sashimi, the fish is definitely fresh tasting. You know it's good when the halibut sashimi taste like it does in Alaska.
When it comes to the sushi rolls, the mango is one of my favorites but I like them all. I polished off quite a few rolls every time I go trying different ones each time.
The quality of the sake I found to be a bit lacking. Maybe it was what I ordered, but that is really the only fault I see with the food.
I was visiting this place to see how they stacked up to the competition around lousiville. Â i would have to say that the food was alright. Â i was really concerned about the lack of customer service overall. Â
we walk in to a restaurant that was filled with 3 tables and was greeted by the mean hostess to saying that they were on a 30 minute wait. Â i was like "what"! Â i said that 90% of the restaurant was empty and we had reservations! Â she was not friendly at all. Â
i thought the decor was nice, but was very sterile feeling. Â kinda the feeling you get when you go to the hospital...
Overall, the food was a 3+
Friendliness 1+
knowledge of service 2
sterilness 4+
I would try this place again.
Every time I visit my brother in Louisville I insist on going back to this restaurant. It amazes me how many great restaurants are in this city. I've had some of the best sushi rolls here. It has such an extensive list of custom sushi rolls that I'm always excited to see what I'll try next. I appreciate the variety because to me after a while sushi can get sort of predictable. So if you're into sushi and want something different, this is the place to go. The food and service is always spectacular!!
Review Source:Too much sauce.
That's really all that needs to be said.  If you are a sushi traditionalist and enjoy it for the flavors of the fish, stay away from anything except maybe the sashimi. Of course, I ended up with random sauces on much of my nigiri, so maybe they put sauce on sashimi too.  All I know is that everything the sushi bar prepared was pretty much wallowing in some kind of sauce.  See the picture of my plates (<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ckaO-zU97EfFi5AGOy9HOQ?select=bD-8nPncHmyk5q2b3bW0sA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>) and you can see what I mean.
Add to that the fact that our waitress was curt and difficult to hail. She put in my sushi with an extra order of Unagi but because it had been so difficult to deal with her up until that point, I just left well enough alone and ate (and paid for) the extra.
All this is rather unfortunate because the quality of the fish here seemed very good. Â That is what I could taste of it between mouthfuls of sauce.
I had the Spicy Tuna Roll for an appetizer. It was a pretty good and had quite a bit of spice. Presentation was atypical though. Stacking instead of the traditional roll presentation.
I ordered the Steak Hibachi med-rare. The fried rice was too salty, but the vegetables and beef were cooked exactly to order. A little greasy, but with that much butter being thrown around who could be surprised.
The clientele ranged from good looking twenty somethings to families. The prices are pretty reasonable too. Think $100 for a date with apps, entrees, and drinks.
Being from California, Sushi spots are as common as Mcdonalds. Â After moving away from Cali over a decade ago - sushi lovers such as myself lock on to those high quality, good sushi spots we are accustomed to and become regulars. Â Sapporo is one of those places. Â Whether you are into traditional sushi, 'fusion' sushi, hibachi or you are scared of fish and are more of the midwestern, American type who prefers meat - Sapporo has it all. Â Good, high quality sushi, and excellent customer service with reasonable prices. Â Go there!
Review Source:Being from DFW, Texas where sushi bars/lounges are left and right, Louisville is on track with this place. Not many sushi places around Louisville so it was a nice sight to see. They are building into the trendier side of fusion experiences and its nice. The fish here is great and what I had expected. Sushi rolls are very creative, especially the VIP Roll that comes out to you in a 151 open flame. Our servers were always attentive. Crowd is mixed and trendy during the weekends for dinner and it can get crowded so waiting for a open table might happen. Its a fun little place to just wind down. I'd recommend!
Review Source:I'll make this simple. This place would've been great, except...
1) The hostess wasn't friendly at all. We were walk-ins, yes, but she was really rude about it when seating us. Terrible service.
2) Our server wasn't knowledgeable about the menu. Also, he seemed kinda drunk. He couldn't remember who did or didn't order, who ordered what plate, nor were our glasses filled until we asked.
3) It was pricey, considering the quality and portions of the food wasn't that great compared to other sushi spots that I've tried.
However, I must say that the sushi chef who executed my custom roll made it exactly as I wanted. Also, the habachi chef was really nice and entertaining. These two stars are for them! Owners, if you are reading this, retrain your front of house staff and servers.
I like Sapporo. I will gladly attend any cliche birthday party that is held here. It's a nice interior with greatly padded seating and a lovely area of alcoholic beverages.
I'm going to agree with most of the previous reviewers. If this was my first time at this sort of an establishment, I'd be impressed, but because I have been to Benihana numerous times in the past two decades, I leave thinking how poor the execution is. This is just a nice spot in a nice neighborhood with fair food.
I am not going to even start into the differences between American interpretations of Japanese cuisine, and what actual food in Japan is like. No one in Kentucky really cares about that sort of a thing. Sapporo is safe for those members of your party of 4 or more that hate sushi, and would never try it because.. "Isn't that raw fish? Ew." They can just get a steak. American Style. Well done.
The service here was pleasant and fairly attentive. Sushi quality was good. Their green tea was okay.
Presentation was mediocre -- generally I don't care, but with Japanese cuisine presentation is a pretty big deal. Â There wasn't much to speak of here; no adornments or particularly creative arrangements.
The atmosphere was nice, except that we were sitting right in a draft. Other than that, this place has hip looking décor without being full of douchebags. The custom rolls (like the Bardstown Road Roll) sounded good, though we didn't have any of them.
It was a little pricey for what you get, but not over the top. The custom rolls did seem pretty high-priced, but without the benefit of having had one to see how much you get for that, I can't really judge.
Folks,
The fact that Sapporo gets mostly 5-star reviews is astounding. Â Let me enlighten you...
I love sushi. Â I have been given the nickname "sushi monster" by my favorite chefs. Â My girl and I average 2-3 times/wk, and get everything from rolls to sushi to sashimi to sea urchin.
There are so many reasons why, if you truly love sushi, that you should avoid Sapporo.
The menu mainly consists of vastly overpriced fried rolls. Â Although they taste pretty good, fried rolls should not be the reason that anyone frequents a sushi joint. Â Maybe they'll get you hooked on the idea, but as soon as your taste buds open up, there is nothing like the taste of the raw fish. Â Period.
The menu lacks any sort of creativity. Â As I said, 80% of the rolls are fried. Â I'm no sushi chef, but I can drizzle eel sauce on a fried roll with cream cheese and everyone will love it.
When you order cuts of sushi/sashimi, you are basically getting ripped off. Â The cuts are literally the smallest I have ever seen outside of an airport. Â They are both short and thinly sliced, and priced way to high. Â There are MANY locally owned places that do a MUCH better job of giving you what you pay for.
The quality of their fish if OK, but nothing special. Â I have had much more satisfying experiences.
If you have never had sushi before, or eat it once every three months, Sapporo is not a bad choice. Â If you eat sushi more than 1x per month, please realize that Sapporo is like the Ruby Tuesday's of Sushi. Â Not awful, but oh boy are you in for a treat when you actually get taken care of at a fine steakhouse. Â The great part is, in this analogy, the steakhouses cost just a little less than RT's.
The atmosphere is great, and the service has always been pretty good at Sapporos. Â If these are the most important factors to you, take my opinion with a grain of wasabi. Â When I taste a thick piece of yellowtail that melts in my mouth, I know that I am at home at a sushi joint (and not at Sapporos).
Do yourself a favor. Â Read my other reviews, and if you're in the areas where I've reviewed a good sushi joint, GO there. Â It will likely mean the end of Sapporo for you.
There are better sushi places in Louisville without the long wait. Â I think a lot of people come here for the hype and because it's on Bardstown Rd (a hotspot in Louisville). Â Ordered Crunch Munch and Red Bull rolls along with a side and seaweed salad. Â Sushi was good and the server was very friendly - hostess not so much. Â The hours sign is really strange made with puffy paint as you walk in, for a place that's so busy and so expensive they might want to update that.
Review Source:Hopping establishment with a liquor bar in the front, sushi bar in the back, tables, and hibachi in a separate area. I generally go for simple makizushi and my Philadelphia roll was excellent. The lovely lady had nigiri as well as fried shrimp heads (forget what it was called on the menu). All very tasty. They keep the place clean, but we felt like they cramped in a few too many tables in the main dining space. Would definitely go back.
Review Source:I love my sushi, from traditional style to experimental. Â I lived in Chicago and had "live kill" sushi, where they sashimi the fish right out of the tank and serve it up to you with the severed head and tail on opposite sides of the plate still moving.
Sapporo doesn't have any "live kill" options, but I didn't ask either. Â Their fish seems to be so fresh that they may very well have a fish tank in the back. Â I have been to Sapporo numerous times, and I will throw in my vote that it is the best sushi place in town. Â The Teppanyaki is very good also (my wife loves it), but it's not why I come to this place.
It's easy to get sashimi here because of the fresh fish. Â They get toro here too from time to time, which has a smooth and meaty texture. Â The tuna tataki rocks.
Fresh fish aside, I love this place because of the creativity of their rolls. Â Though they make traditional rolls, most of the rolls I get will have extra flavors. Â My favorite is the Spider roll which, here, has a teriyaki type sauce drizzled over it. Â Then there is the No Name roll which is rolled in cucumber slices. Â Try 'em all...Playboy roll, Chili Tai roll...watch the specials on the board. Â
I had a roll that was essentially adopted from vietnamese cuisine, using moistened rice paper to wrap lettuce, tuna, shrimp, and snapper. Â Then it was placed in a shallow pool of their version of nuoc mam (fish sauce, lemon, garlic chili, sugar). Â So good! Â My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Pricewise, it's on the expensive side if you're a sushi freak like me. Â I wish I could eat there everyday, but I would have to take out a loan. Â Teppanyaki is affordable.
I have had sushi all over the world and Sapporo is on par with the best of them. It is consistently the best sushi that I've had in Louisville, by far. Just to let you know beforehand, I hardly ever get the fancy rolls or the regular menu items. I pretty much get nigiri, sashimi, any oyster specials and occasionally the oyster roll (Kaki Maki) Â That said, the fish is the freshest, the chefs are very knowledgeable and know not to cut the fish too large in American style, they have the best variety of selection, the service is good and the owner and staff are genuinely friendly.
My only complaint is the clubby atmosphere with the loud music. I think such wonderful fish should be digested in relative calm. Even with that as a negative, I still give this place 5 stars.
I went to Sapporo based on reviews I read here on Yelp.
We tried the dumpling app based on recommendations. Â It was decent but not something that I would get again.
We did get the Top Secret Roll (not so secret after all, eh?). Â While I can appreciate that something that comes to your table in flames is not technically sushi, this roll was delicious! Â
I can't wait to go back and next time I'd like to have a seat at the sushi bar and try a few more options.
The sushi is decent but doesn't match the hype. Service isn't the best I've had. Hibachi's terrible....I definitely wouldn't go there for that. From the outside it looks nice and the atmosphere's pretty nice, but the food's another story. Mediocre but there are better places in Louisville.
Review Source:Really fresh fish! Wow. I am also a sucker for those makis rolled in tempura crunch - try the Playboy and White Castle rolls. At first I was skeptical because most of the rolls on the menu had "spicy" in the description but these 2 didn't and I'm really glad I tried them! They are also large and filling. The white tuna in white castle roll was awesome - i should have ordered some sashimi or nigiri pieces! My friend shared her salmon nigiri - lovely! I also had the mango-tini which was delicious but not too fruity so you could still tell it was a "grown-up" drink. Â The neighborhood is kinda funky but in a good way. They open at 5:30 and we were there on the dot - place filled up fast - definitely a good sign . . .
Review Source:Looks great from the outside, overly crowded insided, the tables are crammed too close together, service is sparse at best.
The food was good , not exceptional, but very good, but was hard to enjoy when being bumped into while attempting to eat. A bit pricy compared to better places in town.
It is obvious that Sapporo is a trendy place where more people go to be seen and drink than enjoy very good sushi.
Looking to get laid try Sapporo, just want great food and great experience try something else.
This was such an unexpected surprise. I was in Louisville for my Grandmother's 80th birthday and decided to get some sushi with my Mom after meeting her at the airport. Now I love good, fresh, authentic well prepared Japanese food and I eat sushi everywhere I go. I was not expecting much out of Louisville, Ky sushi. I was wrong. Yes, they had all the obligatory fried, covered with thick sauce, weird "special" rolls in order to cater to the clientele. But they also had fresh, high quality nigiri and interesting imported specials. They even went out of the way to use good local ingredients, most notably in the form of crawfish sushi! I was very impressed and will be back next time I'm in Louisville! Probably only deserves four stars but gave it the extra one because of location and far surpassing my expectations.
Review Source:Mr says... great place for sushi
Mrs says.... used to be our one and only source of japanese food until OISHI SUSHI Â opened up this year which is also on bardstown road and even though this place is slightly expensive than OISHI SUSHI we just love the unlimited choices of sushi and the grill similar to shogun off hurstbourne and taylorsville road.
the variety of sushi and roll is remarkable. couldn't believe the unlimited combination of sushi from crab, shrimp, tuna, salmon to philadelphia cheese, cucumber and avocado.
we always get sashimi wherein we price our own (wait? i think we do this at OISHI SUSHI) and we get generous portion of tuna and salmon for $10bucks - its a steal deal
late night can get loud and crowded so we usually go here around 6pm where parking is bearable
granted this is the only sushi place i have been to in louisville since moving here from san francisco, but frankly, i haven't felt the need to go anywhere else. the fish is fresh, the rolls are great, and when you sit at the bar they really take care of you. i've been 3 or 4 times and always left happy and full.
i was really concerned i wouldn't get quality sushi moving from the west coast, but i stand corrected.
So I've been going here for the better part of a year. Â Went two times in a row last two nights. Â It still is a 5 star sushi place. Â Just dont go here if you like traditional sushi because they don't do that. Â
-----[Previous Reviews Below]--------------
Flaming tinfoil wrapped sushi?? Â HELLO - AMAZING!
People always think I'm completely insane when I say that the best sushi I've ever had in my life is in Louisville, KY. Â Louisville is the main UPS hub in the country so they get fresh fish flown in daily.
Most sushi places try to stick to tradition and make sushi that looks like all the other sushi in the world.  Sapporo throws that out the window.  They have something called a top secret roll that isn't on the menu that is amazing.  It is some sort of roll (dont remember) on a banana leaf with sesame seeds  - all wrapped in tinfoil and when it comes to your table they light the plate on fire.  The fire toasts the sesame seeds and the roll is infused with a smoked sesame flavor.
Just down right amazing.
For someone who is a total n00b when it comes to Sushi, this is the best training ground you could have here in Louisville.
The atmosphere is nice and lively although the 90's techno may be a little much for some, I personally love reliving my youth.
The Sushi here is the best ive ever tasted, and their Specials are some of the best combinations of fish ive ever seen.
If you are planning on visiting here during the weekend make sure you have a reservation otherwise the wait, even for the sushi bar can be upwards of 90 minutes.
Parking totally sucks, it is Bardstown road after all.
But the walk is well worth it.
First let me say that the sushi and sashimi I had was some of the best I've ever had. The sashimi was slightly chilled and not room temp. The presentation was nice but not as one would expect.
Now the bad news. The service stinks.
Looking for something different and not our usual haunts, we decided to visit what is touted as a Best of Louisville Restaurant for sushi.
We had a lackluster greeting at the door. We asked to be seated at the sushi bar and the hostess turned away and walked halfway to the bar, came back and said almost inaudibly that there were two seats. Taking that as our cue, we went to go seat ourselves. Luckily we did find two seats together and took a seat.
About 10 minutes later a waiter arrived and deposited water. He returned and took our drink orders and left to go get them. We never did get our drinks the entire evening and he never did inquire again if we wanted  something to drink.
The restaurant is loud and neon lite. I don't recall what music was playing but I've heard it's supposed to be techno. I did notice many children running around the restaurant so I suppose that is why it is considered family friendly. I noticed many large tables of groups sitting with nothing in front of them.
We usually like to order combination dinners as they are usually what we consider the best value with soup and salad included. When the waiter came back, I asked him what the Sushi & Sashimi Chef's Special for $35 & Up comprised of. His reaction was to point towards a menu on the bar and state that it is in there. While the other combinations were, the Chef's combo was not. We decided to go for it as usually a Chef's special is, well, special. I marked the sheet and handed it in.
The waiter came back asking if we decided to which I said yes that we wanted the Chef's Special and had already turned the order sheet in. Still no drinks either.
Other than a complementary cucumber salad that we got before we ordered, there was no soup or salad included with the chef's special. At about the time I noticed that we had been sitting there for a long time with no food, the chef presented us our food. Served on a plain white square plate, it comprised of a large amount of julienned radish, a tablespoon of pickled ginger, and a teaspoon of wasabi. There were 3 slices each of tuna, salmon, and I believe white tuna. Six small pieces of tuna roll, and one each of sweet shrimp, tuna, salmon, and white tuna. The fish had a nice chill to it and the white tuna was dressed with thin lime slices which gave a wonderful flavor to the fish. However, had I ordered these items ala cart, it would have come to $60.25. We were charged $70.00 plus tax.
Would you belive that once we ate what we had, we actually expected that maybe there would be more? It usually happens but not this time. No, the waiter appeared and dropped the check. Hmmm...interesting that I saw others receiving slices of orange but not us.
I would had complained to management had I seen any present. As it was, I feel that we paid too much for what we received. I did not tip our waiter "Thao" as I feel he did not do anything to deserve it. Not tipping is something I very rarely if all all do. I did however place a cash tip in the chef's tip jar.
I feel overall that it was not worth the trip, we were abused by our server and I wouldn't go back there again. I would give it 1 star but the food we had is better than that. However, all the best food in the world will not bring customers back to a restaurant. Thankfully for the internet, I have someplace to let others know. Â :)
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