Shoji's Of Eugene's

Well I have read the other reviews and let me tell you I am very shocked at what I read. I have been going to Shoji's here in Eugene for over a year or more. I recently introduced my daughter into eating Sushi in Key West Fl. I have been all over this country and have enjoyed Sushi at one of the best restaurants in the country for the delicacy of raw fish and the art of making Sushi in New York City where this place flies in their Sushi everyday from Japan!!! It was the best I have ever had. Now to this place. Eugene is not a silly college town like you might expect, they have some very good restaurants here and very cutting edge. They have about 4 good Sushi places here. Shoji's is far the best choice for a great Sushi! The former Sushi Chef that was there is sorely missed but he has taught his grasshoppers well! The wait is a bit long for your order which I will admit, but the way they prepare it and the fish is very very good. I always am asking for them to make something different for me and my daughter and they are very willing to oblige to my requests. They are a young staff at the Sushi Bar but they are good. They do need to lighten up a bit and converse more with the customers at the Bar. I am a talkative person and one that likes to have a good time when I am out to dinner. I find that they are too busy talking to each other than show interest in their customers. SO, they do have their bad pints but I don't go ther for conversation but the wonderful Sushi they give you. It would be nice to have a faster staff and for them to be more , well polite to the Sushi bar customers. Eugene has a long way to go to be like Portland, but they are getting there. Give this place a try and you will not be sorry. For God's sake speak up if you are unhappy and they will get their act together! Don't just sit there and then go home hating the place if you don't complain if something is wrong Pros: Excellent Sushi and fresh! I always go back for more! Cons: They need to quicken their pace at making the Sushi, but they are still the best in town. more

I've never before wanted to close down a Restaurant until Shoji's. After waiting a unaccepable time to be seated in the half empty sushi bar we found our table cleared but very dirty. The Hostess/waitress said she would come right back to wipe the table down with a cloth. She never did on her own accord. The shrimp tasted like it was from the frozen food section at Safeway, the staff unprofessional, the sushi chefs guilty of using foul language in front of dining room, the restaurant filthy, the music loud and inappropriate (Led Zeppeilin?), the menu confusing and very UN- Japanese. My dining companion had the Chicken-awful and tasteless. Neither my guest or I could finish. The sushi ordered also tasted like it came from the Safeway deli and was also not the Sushi we had ordered. And is it just a testatment to the so- called diversity of the progressive city of Eugene that none of the chefs were Japanese? The decor of the restaurant itself suggested that my senile old grandmother got inspired for about fifteen minutes to decorate her apartment in the style of the Orient after a wonderful dining experiance in a "real" Japanese restaurant the nite previous but gave up soon after upon realizing that she didn't have the talent and was better suited to working the cafeteria strictly volunteer at the local homeless shelter and giving up after tossing some cheap Bamboo from RITE AID into a corner. It's painfully obvious the management and ownership of this so called "Japanese Restaurant" don't seem to care about the attitude, performance, and presentation of their staff and customers. This Restaurant is a shame to the image of Japanese Cuisine. The worst insult of the night was when I recieved the check and the Hostess/waitress told me she didn't charge me for the "sushi" I had never ordered. Hey, thanks for that brilliant note. In ending I will never recommend or ever go back to this horrid place if I was dying of hunger, I'd rather starve. Pros: You mean as in Prose/ see below... Cons: Bad service, over priced, possibly hazardous to your health more

Having had lots of experience in both dining and running restaurants, I must, in all honesty, make sure that the more discerning among you steer clear of what is supposed to be a "Japanaese" resaturant in a well-known chain. I have been to Shoji's in Medford, OR, where they get it "right"...every time. That prompted me to invite two friends to Shoji's in Eugene,OR for the first time, trusting that it would be as "good" as the one in Medford. Not only was the wait for service unbearable, we were treated to some young man who told us he had NEVER worked a grill before. He proceeded to prove that by under cooking the vegetables. Even their signature rice was tasteless and hard to the touch. When we came to the main part of the meal, ie, meat, shrimp, chicken etc., we were turned over to another youg man, who flashed his cutlery around and then went about ruining the top sirloin steak...a staple at these type of dinners. Not only did he get it far too well done (everyone at the table requested "medium" ), he even cut it against the bias of the marbling, making it extremely difficult to chew. The chicken was passable, but not worth ordering again, and the shrimp ( another ataple ) was stiff and tasted "old. It even had too much of the tail attached. I usually do NOT write to sites like this, because I feel that each diner has his own priorities, but after this meal at a well-known restaurant, I felt that I had to warn some of you who care what you eat. I gave them a four on a scale of ten, mostly for the friendliness of the staff, but I would probably have given the same score for a trip to Burger King. Pros: Ample parking. friendly personnel. Cons: Really hard to locate. The grills smelled dirty and the ododr permeated. more

I have to say, I LOVE SHOJIS...The food is scrumptous, the service ROCKS !! DAVE is my favorite chef...very crafty and full of energy. Never a dull moment, ever!. You are sure to leave there smiling. Thanks for everything! See you soon, Tonya. Pros: Friendly, High Energy, Inexpensive Cons: need more parking more

If you're an avid Sushi eater, then this place will not impress you in the least bit. Having lived in Eugene for a few years, I have had to settle for this place more than once. While the food isn't bad, it certainly isn't anything to write home about. They have a nice setup in their Teppanyaki bar in the bottom floor. It would be ideal to have a nice group of people to enjoy it with you. As far as how good the Teppanyaki is, a HS student ended up cooking it for me and my date, which turned out to be sub-par at best. There is a sushi bar upstairs that is quaint, small, and also quite sub-par. Not impressive and the service was so-so. Do not completely avoid at all costs, but it is ok to "settle" for. Pros: Teppanyaki, Prices, Ambiance Cons: Sushi, Service more