Tokyo Inn

My wife and I went to Nikki's last Wed and were surprised at how misleading some of these one star reviews were. The service was outstanding! The beer arrived at our table within a few minutes after being seated and it never ran dry. The Hamachi and Tuna nigiri were delicious and the Yakisoba was the best I've ever had. The servers were more than available and kept our table nice and clean from start to finish. Everyone on staff went beyond the norm and proved themselves to be the BEST sushi bar in town. more

I have been eatting at this place for many years. However, one day recently I walk in with my wife (As usual) and this guy ""Pat"" who is nothing but a waiter with a bad attitude stops me before I can sit down. He claims falsely that we are ""Bad tippers"" and they are not going to serve us. We are in disbelief! I thought he was joking at first. However and without a second thought, he was serious. This guy after all these years pretending to be a friend said this. It is a flat lie and he knows it. He just ran off at least $1000 worth of business not counting all the people I will tell not to go there which are many! I always tip 10 - 15 %. Always! This guy needs to get his tail fired and get someone that can run that place right, instead of into the ground. Never again will I step foot there and you should not either. Because sooner or later Pat's big mouth will get in your face too. These people are so wrong! Please tell everyone to forget the Tokyo Inn. What a joke of a person and a so called Japanese food place. more

We had been regular customers for years, eating at Nikki's at least 2, sometimes 3 times a month. Tonight we entered and while we about to sit down, we were confronted by Pat, one of the waiters. He said no one wanted to serve us because 'we were lousy tippers'. He claimed we leave $2 for a $50 dinner bill. Needless to say, we were stunned. All this is said in front of the few customers there and Nikki herself. We thought he was kidding, as we have joked around with him through the years. It quickly became apparent he wasn't kidding. Tthere was no need to explain ourselves, he is just badly mistaken. Of course, we will never return or recommend the place to anyone. If I could give a ' no stars' rating, I would. more

Some old friends and I went there one night for the first get together in a while and, after waiting for 1 hour and 43 minutes (yes, I do time the service for future reference), I asked the waiter, who is also the manager of the restaurant, about our food and he yelled at me in front of everyone. The whole restaurant got quiet and it took a few minutes for people to start talking again. Before we could leave, he went and grabbed our food and set it down in front of us and demanded payment (implying that we could not leave without paying him). Then, when I walked up to pay after we finished eating, the manager comes back out and yelled at me again. Seeing as he is a businessman, this maneuver is totally untactful. Truth is the original owner of the place has recently moved on and I dare say she handed it down to the wrong person. Pros: Never have to wait for a table on Friday nights (know why?) Cons: Manager (also a waiter) is disrespectful towards customers more

First off, anyone that says they prefer Sushi Zushi is not a true sushi eater and their posts should be removed. That statement is offensive. Second...do you like kitschy places with a cool decor that caters to people who know good food? Then you'll like Niki's. Yes, the building is old. Yes, the building is in a sort of bad neighborhood. But my wife and I have NEVER had any trouble eating here and I find the other reviewer's story of people hanging by their car a little ridiculous and leaning towards a lie. Third...the waiter/owner is amazingly inappropriate and it makes my day! Niki's is an experience, not just a restaurant. You want good sushi and a sterile environment? Go to Godai or Koi Kawa. You want Japanese style seating and 70's decor with pretty big portions? Go to Niki's. To the person who said some of the sushi smelled like fish, that's because some raw fish actually has a fishy taste (herring, mackarel). So yeah, that's just the way it goes. Nikis is an experience, I really can't get more specific than that. The food is solid, the decor is freaking amazing, and the waiter is totally inappropriate and we love it. Take your sterile, stuffy no-fun attitude to Sushi Zushi if you can't handle the real thing. Pros: Everything Cons: Nothing more

This review is mainly for people who know good sushi and japanese food and have experience eating it. I am Japanese-American and grew up eating authentically prepared sushi and japanese meals. \r \r I had read all the reviews here, including the bad ones, but I honestly thought the bad reviews maybe were from people that didn't know real authentic japanese food and so I would try this place anyways -Boy was I wrong, and I am very sorry to have doubted you reviewers.\r \r It is no exageration when people say the building this restaurant is in looks like it should be tore down..it is absolutley horrible looking and in a VERY bad part of town with a lot of street people walking around begging for change. Once inside, your nose detects this really bad smell..kind of like mixing Lysol with the smell of old fish -I really should have left at that point but I was hungry and had driven a really long way for my dinner so I stayed. I ordered their Sushi combo plate, Yakitori and Tempura. The Yakitori was very tough and hard to chew, and it didn't taste very good. The Tempura was SUPER OILY and over fried to the point the veggies dripped oil on your chin -gross. The sushi combo plate was the biggest dissapointment in my life eating sushi -although calling this stuff sushi is really pushing it. First of all, the pieces were SUPER SMALL, and alot of the fish looked dry. The fish also smelled old and not fresh, and it was so warm they felt as though they had been under a heat lamp. Even the rice was dry and tasted old -they couldn't even get the rice right! \r \r When I spoke to the owner Pat about this, he called me a LIAR, yelling at me in front of everybody and asked me to leave. This is no way to treat a customer & in Japan this man would lose his restaurant license for bad food & acting this way. To top it all off, when I walked towards my car there were two shady looking guys standing next to it waiting, and I had to turn my alarm on to scare them off. Stay away from this dump! Pros: Nothing - No Joke! Cons: Everything was awful: location, atmosphere, food, service, prices. more

Located just minutes from downtown situated right between the oldest affluent neighborhoods and the old blue collar neighborhoods built in the 40's that have become more commercial. Nikkis has been around for many years and is a family run business. It is our favorite sushi restaurant because the food is delicious and the family running the restaurant are very attentive to their clients. If you are a sushi connoisseur or from Japan this is the place for you. \r Kick back and enjoy a meal prepared for your enjoyment, where you can relax and take your time while speaking to other diners that enjoy authentic Japanese and good company. If you want to try some of the most delicate sushi, this is the place. I have a taste for several varieties of sushi that have to be only days old from their catch, and have virtually no shelf life. I have only been served the freshest and highest quality sushi. At times they are out of these specialties, because they won't serve it if it?s not the best, but the Chef has always offered new suggestions and introduced me to other delicacies. \r \r Nikkis is all about the food and an authentic Japanese experience. As such, the outside of the restaurant and the decor are not meant to attract people driving buy. The place has been thriving for years based on referrals from knowing customers. Take of your shoes, listen to relaxing Japanese music, and enjoy the always fresh flowers selected by the head Chef. Relax and sip some warm Sake while you await your meal. It?s a place where you will have great food and a great conversation with whomever you take there.\r \r Caution!! If you don't like authentic sushi and you are someone who likes cooked fish and americanized rolls with Philadelphia cream cheese, this is not what you will find at Nikkis.\r \r \r \r Pros: fresh and only the best cuts of sushi and sashimi - great value Cons: exterior of the restaurant is run down more

To me, the food is 3-star & the place and location is 1-star. It is an old eplace & does smell bad inside but we knew that ahead of time and went anyway. The neighborhood is not good for taking a walk after dinner. My ramen was very good, the kids at chicken or pork katsu and we all got gyoza (which the kids remember as being too much black pepper to eat). \r \r It was just a bad feeling to be in a smelly place eating average Japanese food. The menu offers some of things in places we had been into in Japan (lived there three years) that were old and small, but never smelled bad and the service always good. If I go back here, I plan to eat oden next time. \r \r We had bad service but I did note that many people are regulars and and/or Japanese & were treated as such. We were first-timers and they were not out to impress us with seating or service. We were seated at the end of the room next to the wall and kind of forgotten about. That was a year ago. \r \r I prefer to shop at their market next door (in the same parking lot) instead & make my own Japanese at home OR go to Sushi Zushi for clean and good (miso, udon and katsu) OR if we want excellent gyoza we will go to Godai. There are enough clean places w/good service to eat Japanese food in San Antonio. Maybe this place is inconsistent in it's quality but since it's been there for as long as it has, I think they must have something good going on for it's regulars or it would have closed long ago. It's just not a place we wanted to become regulars. Pros: Menu offers traditional dishes Cons: service, price and odor inside restaurant more

Stay away from these crazy people. Me and my family went there, the first thing you will notice is it stinks in there, we ordered sashimi, sushi, tempura and yakitori, we are Japanese and know sushi, when they brought the food I was horrified, the sushi and sashimi platter stunk badly of dead fish, if you know fresh it has no smell at all. The tempura was soggy, the yakitori was dried up, the miso soup was watered down, I could not believe how bad ALL of the food was. It all tasted horrible. I sent back the sashimi platter and no one ate the food yet we paid the 214 dollar bill, No one cared to ask why we did not eat the food. The next day I called and asked to speak to the owner, then man that answered said his name was Pat and he was the owner, all I said is that last night we were there and the sashimi platter... Then he, Pat started yelling at me saying we mad at you, I said mad at me? he said you don't know sashimi and to never come back he did not want our business again, I told him why are you yelling at me, I am speaking to you nice, he then screamed back saying you don't know Sh__T about sashimi and if I dont like it to go somewhere else. Now I am mad and told him, you are right sir, it smelled like Sh___T you eat it. He kept yelling at me saying that I don't know nothing about sashimi. I told him we are Japanese and yes we know that sashimii and sushi is not suppose to smell like they found it dead off the beach. I have never been spoken to in this manner. They absolutely do not care about the customer, just takeing your money. Either the good reviews are fabricated or it is people that know nothing about sushi. I know for a fact they had been closed down once by the health dept for unsanitary conditions. DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE. If you do not believe me, just call them and say your ordered sushi and it smelled bad and listen to Pat start yelling at you. He is a disgrace to the Japanese and to the community and should be shut down permanent. Pros: absoulutely none Cons: everything more

At first, I really avoided this place just because of the way it looked from the outside. Finally, I was talked into going, and boy, was I missing out! Being new to sushi, I was hesitant, but the friendly staff broke down the menu. I now go to Niki's at least once a week! Everything from the sushi (salmon skin are my favorite), to the unadon, to the Ramen soup. The ramen soup blew me away! Everything is so authentic! Yes, the location isn't the best, the service is a bit slow and food a bit pricey, but it's completely worth it in my opinion. For die-hard sushi and Japanese food lovers, this is a must! Pros: Great food, great ambiance Cons: small bathrooms, bad location, decieving exterior more

Nikki's Tokyo Inn has the best sushi and traditional Japanese food in this town. I am from Japan and only this place serves real Japanese food, and it's because it is one of the few Japanese owned as well. \r I personally know people own and work there, and they DO serve fresh fish. I don't know why some review states that this restaurant doesn't serve fresh sushi... I know, for fact, they go fishing and fish market every weekend to get fresh fish. \r Other than that, you need to go back few times and they will remember you. And you will get extremely good treatment, like give you extra, off the menu, stuff. \r Try this place and you will love it. more

I would like to warn all young women that if they are going to eat at this restaurant, to make sure they have a male companion walk them in and out of the restaurant, as it is in a very bad part of town with a very dark and dangerous parking lot. I had a bad feeling when I parked my car their at night as the area is really awful and not safe looking, and when I went back out to my car after my dinner it had been broken into. Nobody at the restaurant wanted to help me and they acted like I was bothering them. Ok, I will review the food now. The place smelled very bad, as if they had not disinfected properly. The waitresses were very old and sweet looking asian women who took a very long time to take and bring me my order, but this is ok as I was really hungry. I did not like the sushi, it was too expensive for the portion size received, and some of it did not taste fresh, especially the salmon and tuna. My waitress got mad at me when I mentioned this to her, and I did not see her again except to get my bill which I had to ask another waitress for -very unprofessional to behave like this. Then I walked out and saw my car had been broken into, and nobody wanted to help me. Don't come here, the food is not good and the prices are high, but worst of all it is a dangerous place to eat at especially at night. Pros: I cant think of anything Cons: Salmon & Tuna sushi not fresh tasting, sushi prices too high, very dangerous location (my car was broken into their) more

It might not look like much from the outside, but the atmosphere and the quality of the food and service makes up for it in bucket loads. The seating options are great, I loved being able to choose the Japanese style (sitting on the floor).\r \r The sushi is very traditional, very fresh, and very well presented. NOTE: they dust the top of the rice with wasabi then lay the fish on top of it, so if you cant handle wasabi remember to ask them to leave it off.\r \r The price is worth it! This is not a lets go out every week and get some sushi restaurant. But its worth saving up and going. Their sushi portions are larger than most places so don't feel you have to order tuns of food. For the 4 of the bill was $80 with tip.\r \r They also have the Toro (Fatty Tuna) which is a treat that most sushi restaurants just tell you is out of season and if you have never had it...splurge and try it, you will fall in love. Pros: Its supper nice inside and very friendly Cons: The outside of the building and neigborhoo is kinda scary more

A group of us went because we had heard some good things about this place. First the building is so old it looks condemned. As we walked up there were a combination of odd smells. As we were lead to the area where there is floor seating I noticed that the room is covered in carpet--something you really don't want in a restaurant. The small room is cooled by a wall unit and the vents are covered in black dust. Edamame was WAY overcooked and the eggrolls were soggy. Sushi was not fresh and the service was slow. In my opinion, STAY AWAY. more

Most Japanese restaurants in San Antonio are owned by either Mexicans, Koreans, or Chinese.\r This is one of the fewest Japanese restaurants that is Japanese owned.\r So you can expect Japanese traditions rather than new sushis like the ""Spider Roll"".\r \r The restaurant has been there since the 70's so it has a lot of years under it's belt, which refers to its workers, furniture, and building. \r Service is slow, but the food isn't as pricey as other restaurants.\r As for tip, it is included for parties. It even says so on the menu!\r There are 3 styles of seating, at the bar (which includes a complimentary cucumber salad), tables, or sitting on the floor.\r Parties go well here, but I suggest you make reservations.\r \r I love the yakitori, it's delicious! It goes well with their rice and miso soup.\r \r As any other restaurants, they have their good nights and bad nights.\r But overall in general, if you want to go to a traditional Japanese restaurant, this is the place.\r Pros: Traditional, REAL Japanese, beautiful ikebana. Cons: Slow service more

This is the worst sushi I've ever had, and I know my sushi, having lived in Japan and being a japanese trained sushi culinary expert. I just don't understand how this place can have good reviews, unless the reviews are fake to garner business, or people have gotten used to this bad quality or don't know what good sushi and service is. The sushi pieces were small compared to normal american sushi, yet the prices were some of the highest I have seen. And the fish was too warm, which is an unsafe food practice due to bacteria multiplying quickly on raw fish that is not kept cold. The service was really bad, it took forever to be seated on a slow night, and then once seated took forever to take and get my order -I'm not joking when I say it took an hour from when I first walked in till I got my order, and this was a slow night! My non-sushi Tempura meal was also very over done to the point the veggies were limp and oily and the shrimp was hard -really awful. The staff didn't care when I complained about these things, and I was told not to come back if I didn't like the food -worst treatment I've ever received. And to top it off, they expected a 20% tip which was already added to my bill (restaurants only do this for large parties, not one person) for this awful food and service! Skip this place if you want good sushi and service, I'll certainly never go back. Cons: Bad Sush, Horrible Service, High Prices more

The atmosphere is great. I love that you have the option of choosing traditional Japanese seating, or western seating (our normal restaurant table and chairs). I'm originally from Seattle, WA, and I've been looking for authentic Sushi. I've been to Sushi Zushi, and frankly I don't mind paying top dollar for great sushi, because I normally only order sashimi. I think that Sushi Zushi is a great looking restaurant, but their menu is too extensive, and it's just overpriced farm raised fish sushi. At Niki's Tokyo Inn, they actually have Wild Alaskan Salmon. Yes, their menu is not as extensive as other Sushi joints, but I respect the fact that they keep it simple and traditional. Pros: Great Traditional Sushi. more

I was in San Antonio for a month and ate at many sushi restaurants. Niki's was hard to find (drove past it twice). And when I did find it, I thought it was closed. I know they can't do much about the neighborhood, but one would think they would have a little pride in the appearance of the restaurant. Once I figured out that the closed windows with no lights on did not mean they were closed, I went in. No one seemed to care I was there, and it was 5 minutes before I was seated, even though the place was less than half full. Although some people may call the menu traditional, I call it boring. There are only a handfull of rolls offered, which was somewhat disappointing. On a good note, the sushi nigri WAS probably the best I had while in town. The fish portions were large (I thought ""one bite"" was traditional?), and absolutely fantastic. The service was so-so. I probably wouldn't go back....unless I was in the mood for sushi nigri only. Pros: Sushi nigri Cons: Ambience, service, limited sushi menu more

From outside, it looks like it is out of business(needs a facelift). Next to a Japanese grocery store. Where must of the local Japanese people go to eat. Good...not great. The only ""true"" Japanese restaurant in San Antonio. Homey. Pros: Authentic ""Homey"" Japanese Food. Cons: Ugly from outside. more

Looks can be decieving! This place might not look the best but once inside you'll realize that you have walked into a hidden treasure. The sushi her is great and the staff is super friendly! This place is more like an old-fashioned sushi restaurant with REAL sushi. If you want the full experience, I suggest you ask to be seated in their small party rooms where you get to sit on floor mats and savor the japanese experience. And since this place is owned and operated by Japanese you just know you'll be having the full Japanese experience with Japanese food that even Japanese people LOVE! Don't judge a book by its cover... be sure to drop in and try their great sushi. You'll walk away a fan. Pros: Great sushi, friendly faces, nice atmosphere Cons: Outer appearance of restaurant can be decieving more