Fort Worth’s 12 Best Sushi Restaurants — From Hip Newcomers to Longtime Staples, the Land of Steak Knows Raw Fish

Fort Worth is well known as a town of great steakhouses, but if you’re in the mood for sushi ― from maki rolls and sliced sashimi to rice draped temaki and nori-wrapped hand rolls ― Cowtown’s restaurant scene brings plenty of worthy options for that too. Believe it or not. You just need to know where to look.

Here are Fort Worth’s 12 Best Sushi Restaurants:

Blue Sushi Sake Grill

3131 West 7th Street

When Blue Sushi Sake Grill first landed in Fort Worth’s Museum District back in 2010, it brought a vibrant atmosphere and a lot of attitude to the otherwise very traditional sushi scene found in Fort Worth at the time.

As you enter Blue Sushi, you’re still greeted by the giant aquarium which can be viewed in both the Sake Bomber Bar and Blue Sushi dining room. The sushi is also still spot on from the interesting rolls and fresh sashimi to house specialties like the Itchy Seabass, featuring baked seabass served on top of a spicy crab mix, topped with serrano and cilantro with a ponzu dipping sauce.

Edohana Sushi

2704 South Hulen Street

Serving the Tanglewood/Overton Park neighborhood for more than a decade now, Edohana Sushi still remains a bit of an under-the-radar Fort Worth sushi restaurant. It’s a snug joint in a strip center, near TCU favorite Yogi’s Deli.

The sashimi trio is a lavish meal of freshly sliced tuna, salmon and red snapper mixed with the chef’s spicy sauce and garnished with various fish roe. The interesting maki rolls include a selection of no-rice rolls. This lets the fresh fish and other ingredients really shine. Take the French kiss roll with spicy crabmeat and spicy tuna wrapped with soy paper and topped with more fresh tuna.

Hatsuyuki Hand Roll Bar

907 Foch Street

One of the most authentic sushi experiences in Fort Worth comes from Hatsuyuki Hand Roll Bar. This is much more like the handroll bars you’d find in Japan. That means a U-shaped counter with sushi chefs hard at work in the middle. It’s dinner and a show — and likely a bit of a wait to grab an empty stool.

The trick to getting the most out of a handroll is eating it immediately ― before the crispy nori seaweed wrap begins to soften. The fresh fish of choice is paired with warm sushi rice, wrapped and presented. Or choose your fish straight up (sashimi style) or atop rice (nigiri). The unique selection of fish at Hatsuyuki, which changes daily, is something you’ll find nowhere else in Fort Worth. Including the madai/sea bream, otoro/fatty tuna, uni/sea urchin combinations.

Japanese Palace

8445 Camp Bowie West Boulevard

This Fort Worth classic has been packing them in since 1975. Many still folks line up early on the weekends to score a teppanyaki table for good reason. The Japanese Palace was one of Fort Worth’s first sushi bars — and it’s still one of the best.

Pro-tip: If you’re just in the mood for sushi, you can skip the line and head right to the sushi bar in the back.

The specialty rolls are interesting like the one called Motel 6 with toasted eel, crab and avocado, but the sashimi is smashing. Dive into the sashimi dinner for an indulgent treat, with thick slices of the freshest fish. You’ll probably want to bring a friend along to share the food and the experience with.

Kyoto Hibachi Sushi & Bar

4833 S Hulen Suite No. 131

Kyoto just opened last year across from Hulen Mall (next to a Five Guys). What Kyoto lacks in ambiance, it makes up in lavish arrays of sushi, sashimi and nigiri.

The menu goes on for days, the special roll section alone lists some 36 different rolls. Kyoto’s interesting a la carte section includes hard-to-find items like Kumamoto oysters and live scallops. Order a bento box lunch with an array of sushi and nigiri and I guarantee you won’t leave hungry.

Little Lilly Sushi

6100 Camp Bowie Boulevard. No, 12 in Keller at 1004 Keller Parkway, Suite. 106

Little Lilly Sushi has been serving up Japanese bites on Camp Bowie for more than a decade. Now, the beloved restaurant’s opened a second location in Keller called Little Lilly Sushi too.

Chih “Danny” Liu owns Little Lilly Sushi. Originally from Taiwan, Liu has cooked both traditional Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine. His varied menu at Little Lilly Sushi are filled with wonders. Why not try something new? Like, Binnaga which is garlic-seared Pacific albacore, Masunosuke  (New Zealand king salmon) and Ama Ebi (Canadian sweet spot prawn). Chances are you won’t be sorry.

Musume

Inside the Sandman Hotel, 810 Houston Street

One of Fort Worth’s newest destination restaurants, Musume (pronounced “muh-suh-may”) is way more than just sushi, but that is a big draw. The fish is flown in daily from Japan and Fort Worth’s largest selection of premium sake and Japanese whiskey await.

Chef Yuzo Toyama is the man behind the sushi bar at Musume, and the clean-tasting fish is prepared by a master with specialty sauces and interesting twists like the robusta roll filled with lobster, pressed avocado, tempura shrimp and a Cajun dip. It’s served with a side of hot garlic butter for drizzling.

Diners can also enjoy the Madai Mikan with delicate slices of seabream and navel orange, floating in a Thai chili amazu sauce with a hint of nine spice.

Pacific Table

1600 S University Drive Suite 601

Well known as one of Fort Worth’s go-to restaurants for seafood, the tiny sushi bar at Pacific Table turns out the goods tii. With two locations now — one in Las Colinas and the original in Fort Worth’s University Plaza — this remains one of chef Felipe Armenta’s most interesting restaurant creations.

The sushi rolls are dramatic and different at Pacific Table. Some are wrapped in thin rice paper and shaped in a square. Others get wrapped in cucumber. The Lincoln, Penny and Margot rolls are named after three of Armenta’s kids. If you can’t decide what to order, the nigiri salad is always an option. This kale salad sided by an assortment of fresh nigiri rarely disappoints.

Quince

1701 River Run, Suite 181

This new transplant that arrived in late March originated in San Miguel de Allende, and its Asian/Latin fusion menu will keep you guessing. If you prefer your fresh seafood in the form of ceviche, Quince has got you covered there too. The environment will transport you with an airy dining room that flows out to a patio overlooking the Trinity River.

Expect stunningly beautiful sushi and sashimi presentations with some unexpected Mexican and South American flavor profiles. Take for instance the Peruvian Nikkei sashimi featuring fresh slices of hamachi bathing in a yellow chili sauce, with a touch of eureka lemon and soy reduction. Then there’s the Frida roll wrapped in hamachi with avocado and topped with spicy aioli, coriander, serrano and Sriracha served on a mirror of citrus sauce and togarashi.

Sakura Sushi & Asian Cuisine

6399 Camp Bowie Boulevard

This new Ridglea Hills restaurant takes over a space that has housed everything from Chinese to Vietnamese food over the years. Now the corner spot in the Tom Thumb shopping center is home to Sakura. While the interior is spartan, the food is good. It’s not fancy but the sushi is fresh and surprisingly high quality.

On a recent trip to Sakura, my table enjoyed an eyepopping Bento lunch box brimming with hearty serving of sushi and nigiri. The Houston roll is a no-rice option with lettuce, avocado, jalapeño, tuna, salmon, white tuna and crab meat, all wrapped with thin rice paper and served with ponzu sauce. There is also Hawaiian-style poke on the menu.

Sushi Axiom

4625 Donnelly Avenue Suite 101 and 2600 West 7th Street Suite 171

One of Fort Worth’s tried and true spots, Sushi Axiom has been here for Cowtown locals’ sushi cravings since 2007, with two city locations, as well as one in Burleson and another in North Richland Hills. It’s popular.

Here you’ll find a familiar, if not Americanized, sushi menu. They serve all the unusual classics like spicy Hawaiian, rainbow and yellowtail along with a full selection of cooked sushi options for those who don’t go for raw fish. A few of its specialty rolls highlight hometown names. The TCU roll is a mixture of spicy tuna, shrimp tempura and cucumber, and the Colonial roll is filled with crab, shrimp, avocado and cream cheese, then its tempura fried.

Tokyo Cafe

5121 Pershing Avenue

After the sad closure of its sister-restaurant — the sushi-centric Shinjuku Station on Magnolia this summer — all eyes turn once again to Tokyo Cafe. This is the final remaining restaurant from owners Jarry and Mary Ho and Casey Kha. It’s been a Fort Worth mainstay since 1997.

Longtime chef, Kevin Martinez’ sushi menu keeps the regulars coming back, and he makes it interesting by concocting special maki rolls daily. For starters you can share some perfectly sliced sashimi, or dive into the spicy tuna tower of tuna, avocado, creamy krab, sushi rice, micro greens and rice pearls. Specialties include the white tiger with spicy salmon, avocado, yamagobo (pickled burdock root), topped with seared white tuna and green onion, served with ponzu sauce.

It’s time for Fort Worth sushi fans to take a bow.