Roll On Sushi Diner

I went during the closing weekend, and it was predictably bad; sushi wasn’t fresh, service was apathetic, and guests were annoying.
The Brussels sprouts were fantastic as always however, and much of the menu was half price. All-​in-​all, I’m sad to see this place go. It was a creative bright spot, and a fun visit.

Came here for happy hour. Note: They do not have brussel sprouts at HH anymore. We tried the hamachos, sticky ball, and (loburn roll?). The most that I tasted was the fried crunchy goodness, which masked the flavors of the fish inside. A good fast meal when you’re super hungry and have a fried sushi craving.
The cooks were very friendly and helpful even though they were almost closing.

The food is amazing!!! Joel, the chef and his kitchen crew are great, they know their food and have good suggestions the food comes out fast and the staff is efficient, friendly and very professional. Hannah was our server tonight she was very attentive and sweet! Totally recommend !!! Enjoy the goodness!!!

Okay so I am writing another review for the first time because since the first review the Resturant/​service has gotten so much better! I genuinely like this place, go there often and recommend it to my friends. The head chef Joel is also so friendly and remembers me when I come in! I recommend the dream roll and the spicy scallop nigiri!

I really love their creative menu and the fact that happy hour is all day on Mondays! Parking here is free on the lower level of the garage labeled for retail so major points there too.
They have so many items I still want to try like fried ice cream and the Elvis which is peanut butter, bacon, a banana egg roll, chocolate sauce, white chocolate shavings, and chili dust. For real?! I was way too full to order it when we came but next time it’s on.
As for everything I did try, it was all delicious! Even a roll that I didn’t want to like because it’s such a rule breaker was out of this world good. The one I’m talking about is the Cholesta Roll which has chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green bean, soy paper, and white pepper gravy. A secret of mine is that I hate my food to touch so essentially this roll was my worst nightmare. It totally worked though! It tasted like a plate of southern comfort food with a fried crunchy outside. Just awesome y’all.
The brussels sprouts are also phenomenal. Yes brussels sprouts, try them I promise. I couldn’t stop going back for more. The sticky ball had great flavor too.
I raved about this place to my husband and now he’s excited too so we shall return on another Monday in the near future. I will be ordering the BelLychee cocktail again that’s for sure. It was lychee infused sake with champagne and a lemon lime twist. So refreshing (and dangerous).
Thank you Roll On for the wonderful food and thanks to Dawn H and her hubby Bobby for the fun company (and for not laughing too hard witnessing my lack of chopstick skills)!!! It was a great night.

I had a Groupon for this restaurant, so my boyfriend and I decided to check it out. Usually, I assume there’s some underlying reason a restaurant is advertising through Groupon. So, I had low expectations. Well, Roll on Sushi Diner really impressed me! When we were walking up to the restaurant, I noticed it was over half full. Good sign. When you walk in, it’s got a cute diner feel going for it (hence the restaurant name). We chose to sit at the counter where we could watch the sushi chefs create delicious rolls. I was impressed by the cheap prices for happy hour (nothing under $ 4 on the list!) and enjoyed the cute names given to the different sushi rolls.
Miso Soup: Best miso soup I’ve had in awhile. Perfect amount of saltiness and tofu. Loved that there were mushrooms in it. ⁵⁄₅
Brussels Sprouts: I’m a huge fan of fried brussels sprouts and these are no exception. The only thing is they could use less sauce. ⁴⁄₅
Panko Fried Pork Belly: Exciting because I had never had fried pork belly. It was yummy! Though, fried things aren’t overly impressive. ⁴⁄₅
Guaca-​Rolly: So delicious. I didn’t need any soy sauce! So much flavor between the guacamole, shrimp tempura, jalapeños, and chipotle mayo. ⁵⁄₅
Beefy Texan Roll: This was my least favorite roll of the night (but bf’s favorite, of course). It was fairly good but nothing really stood out to me. The brisket blended into the taste of the rice and just served to make the roll a little chewier. ³⁄₅
Spicy Tuna Roll: Just a typical spicy tuna roll. Basic and yummy. ⁴⁄₅
The servers were very attentive. I never had to ask for my water to be refilled and dishes were whisked away when we had finished.
At the end of the dinner, I gave in and signed up for their rewards program. Bonus points that I can choose to receive texts from the rewards program instead of carrying around some sort of punch card.

I was really excited to try this place. I’ve heard great things about it and the happy hour on Saturday from 8 – 10 looks awesome.
Sadly, I never got to try it. And I probably never will.
We walked in a few minutes after 8. It was busy, but not overly busy. There were a few open tables and no one else was waiting for a table. I said «hi» to the host. He seemed flustered, didn’t greet me, and asked me if we wanted a table or to sit at the bar. There were open tables, so I asked for the table. He said «hold on» and left. A few minutes later, a hostess came over and says «Sorry. The kitchen is backed up right now. We’re not going to serve anyone for 20 minutes.» I was very confused… There were several seats open at the bar, at least two tables open inside, and a few tables open outside. So I asked «You’re not going to seat anyone for 20 minutes? Or you’re not going to put any orders in for 20 minutes?» (I was OK waiting for food, so long as I could sit down and wait.)
She said «No. You can’t sit down. If you want, you can sit outside and we can give you water.» So I clarified and asked «so even though there’s open tables, we can’t even sit down and wait for food?» She said «No. My manager asked me to slow things down.»
I said OK and told her we would just leave. Very confusing. Horrible service.

The house saki is Gekkeikan. Saki is served warm to reduce the harshness. Most high quality saki is served cold. I enjoyed it because it has a nice buzz.
The Beefy Texan: (house braised brisket, wasabi coleslaw, avacado, crispy shallots, bbq aioli) The rolls are small and did not impress. It’s just as described, brisket rolled in rice with bbq aioli. It’s nothing special that pops out and makes your taste buds want more.
California roll: crab, cucumber, avacado. Generally this roll is served chilled, but it was warm. Many traditional rolls benefit from it being chilled. It depends on the ingredients and these ingredients called for this roll to be served chilled.
I’m not sure why every restaurant gets soy sauce wrong. Soy sauce is supposed to be refrigerated after opening, read the label next time you go grocery shopping. Refrigerated soy sauce is much more robust and full of flavor because it is preserved.
The wasabi is a little dry. The ginger is not dyed pink, thank goodness. They skimp out on these items, ask for more. The rice is a little dry and I can tell it’s been sitting in the open air, it’s getting a little hard. The rice is just low quality.
Wow to the Elvis dessert Egg Roll! Banana, peanut butter with bacon and chocolate syrup. This is the most delicious item I had. I would come back for this.

Affordable, cute sushi restaurant (with Austin flavor)!
Great veggie small plate options: edamame, seaweed salad, (TOTALLY DELICIOUS) okonomiyaki, and delicious crispy brussels sprouts! They also have several delicious veggie roll options: Inari, garden maki (avocado, cucumber, shiso, inari, sprouts, and seaweed salad), the greenbelt (avocado, arugula, tempura jalapeño, mango, Fuji apple, shallots, soy paper, chimichurri), tomato tomato (romaine, cucumber, cherry tomato, avocado, shallot, wasabi aioli, smoked tomato wrap), and — my personal favorite — pico de rollo (cream cheese, tempura scallion, pico de gallo, asparagus, sprouts, panko, wasabi honey)!
Their happy hour is pretty great, too! And they have delicious drinks! Try it out!

I thought I wrote a review already? I guess not!
I really loved this place. Their menu is simply refreshing and to die for.
To die for what, you ask? FRIED PORK BELLY.
We tasted many other things from the menu and every single one was amazing. The prices are very affordable, which makes me happy.
I like the diner style set up with the counter and will be back with friends.

They have a few creative veggie rolls– which is cool for us veggies. They are a bit small for $ 10, but tasty.
Mondays are all day happy hour with $ 4 sake cocktails & select sushi specials. Drinks are pretty good & sushi specials are good *if ur not veg*.
Getting all the veg happy hour options + 3 rolls, 2 drinks & fried icecream (yum), we spent $ 60. Wasn’t quite the happy hour price point I was hoping for, but the food was good & I don’t regret it.
The brussels & greenbelt roll & jalapeño nigiri were my favs :-)

The good: Roll on Sushi is doing its part to «keep Austin weird» sushi version. I love the unique (but still classic) option offered on the menu. A must try is the Jalapeño Nigiri, not too spicy and holds a lot of flavor in each bite. Also fell in love with the edamame dipped in butter & garlic! I’m a fan of anything garlic and for some reason never thought to add it to edamame’s, glad Roll on Sushi did though. Also Roll-​on-​Rita is a must try.
The bad: I was not a fan of the Panko-​fried pork belly. Thought it was a little dry, the sauce on the side was delish though so paired together it was a bit more enjoyable.
Overall it’s not your usual sushi shop so be prepared to take some «risks». You won’t be let down!

I went here recently for the Unilocal Elite event (I can’t find the event… I am retarded) and I am super happy with their updated menu, extended happy hour, and layout changes.
They’ve added a ton of interesting non-​sushi dishes to the happy hour menu. My personal fave was the jalapeño tempura unagi with guacamole. Bonus, its vegan! I don’t eat pork but hubby liked the pork sliders. The crunchy california roll is totally different than most. Its coated with panko bread crumbs that are baked in sriracha instead of sesame seeds. The chicken kaarage was amazing, as was the shrimp dish. They’ve also added a number of sake cocktails (warning, most are super sweet). My favorite was the belychee. The pikachu was waaay too sweet for me, and I like sugar a lot. My hubby dug the sakerita (sp). Their HH is now between 4 and 7 which is really nice and the prices on the HH items are fantastic.
On the layout, they have reduced the size of the diner counter from the entire restaurant to about half of it and filled that space with tables. We are fine with the counter but its kind of nice to have the option.
With the addition of tables, it looks like they’ve added the ability to reserve a table. I imagine it gets busy on weekends so I’d suggest doing so.
Finally, for a while it looked like our favorite waiter, Phillip had left, and we are stoked to see he is back managing the front of the house!

Brussells sprouts for the win again! I would highly recommend them.
However, totally let down by the edamame (which is another one of my faovorites). It just tasted like it was out of a bag.
The rolls were mediocre, slightly small but I still enjoyed it. Very clever names, I had fun reading through them and some are extremely out of the box which I love!

I’ve been here a couple of times. I usually give a place at least two visits before I write a review. The restaurant has a nice décor and there is plentiful if parking in the nearby indoor garage. The rolls that I had were just average and smaller than usual. I did experience great service on both occasions
I had the Longhorn which consists of crab, tempura shrimp, cream cheese, jalapeño, spicy salmon, spicy aioli. This had a nice fla or to it and the Jalapeño give it a nice kick. The cuts were tiny for the price. The flavor didn’t knock me of the floor.
I also had the Red Dragon which consists of crab, cucumber, avocado, spicy tuna, scallion, unagi sauce, TNT sauce. This rollhad good flavor but the roll was just too small.
I probably won’t be back because for the price about $ 10 the rolls should be bigger in my opinion.

Great place to have dinner or happy hour. Especially good to go with a friend who isn’t «sushi friendly» because they have so many cooked and fried super yummy options.
Everything is really well priced and the Beefy Texan is one of my favorites.
They recently installed more tables that have been added to the large wrap around bar so now it’s group friendly. It doesn’t disappoint.

A little pricey but delicious nonetheless!
My boyfriend and I came here a couple weeks ago. We’ve been wanting to come for some time and we finally decided to make the trip after buying a Groupon.
We wanted to try the unique Texas themed rolls so we got the Cholesta Roll, The Beefy Texan, and the Rasta Roll. I wouldn’t consider the Cholesta Roll a sushi roll per say but it was delicious — each piece was like a little bite of Texas! The Beefy Texan and the Rasta Roll were good as well but not amazing or anything.
One of my favorite parts was actually the sushi bar. I loved seeing the sushi chefs make the rolls. The the three rolls we got did take awhile to come out but that that might have been a reasonable amount of time given the crowd.
I would say this is a 3.5 star place bumped to a 4 stars due to the Cholesta Roll and the sushi bar. I don’t know if I would come here if I were craving real sushi but the experience was fun and I would probably come back in the future!

Service was a bit slow but friendly the first time I came; Much faster yesterday.
Atmosphere was comfortable– it’s artsy with big windows in the strip under the AMLI apartments.
Parking is easy in the garage.
I was so excited to come here for dinner, especially given all the stellar reviews.
Wanted to order some simple maki rolls because sometimes, you don’t feel like a fried roll with a gazillion ingredients inside.
Sometimes, you just want to enjoy some fresh fish and sushi rice.
Ugh. Really disappointed. Got the yellowtail, escolar, and salmon. The portions are TINY, the fish is not very fresh. You have better luck getting HEB sushi.
I would’ve given this place just 1 star based on my first experience alone, but yesterday’s experience redeemed this place a little. I really only came back b/​c we already bought a groupon.
This experience was better– food-​wise. Realized that portions here are pretty tiny. Left the evening slightly hungry. Got tempted to go get some Torchy’s queso to get full.
Cholesta Roll– it is what it is. if you like CFS, you’ll like this roll, but I personally prefer an actual chicken fried steak. Esp since for $ 7, you only get like ¼ of an actual CFS.
Rasta Roll– probably my favorite roll we ordered. It was creative & weird but it worked in your mouth. Blackened shrimp, pepper, mango, some other stuff I can’t remember with a curry aioli sauce. Again, not REAL sushi, but I guess this is what this place specializes in. $ 8
Spicy salmon maki– was actually a decent portion. Pretty tasty.
Salmon Nigiri & Yellowtail Maki– just ok.
Overall– if you are acquainted with sushi & you want real sushi, this is definitely not your place. If you’re looking for creative «sushi» & only eat cooked stuff, you’ll probably like it here.

Onward and upward with my new sushi fetish. And what better way to experience and learn about this popular food than to team up with the King and Queen of Austin Sushi. Oh, you know who they are. They who are not to be named. I’m cool enough not to mention by name Errol M and Amy D. Oops.
The Beefy Texan (sounds like a Texas wrestler or a John Wayne movie but it’s so much better) landed in front of me due to the owner, Chip’s encouragement. Delicious brisket with a crispy slaw, shallots and spicy mayo. The Crispy Brussels Sprouts were amazing with a sweet and tangy sauce.
Sushi, I think I love you.

So what do you call it exactly when you’re at every new bar & restaurant opening in town, but moan & groan how Austin’s changed since you moved here — is that irony? Dichotomy? Just another day on Austin Unilocal?We could have it a lot worse, you know.
But you gotta feel for people who bet it all when they open their own restaurant. They may have some leeway if it’s a corporate franchise, but it’s still going to be long days & nights, and the money keeps going out until customers come in. That fried arugula may indeed be the best thing since goat cheese ice cream or whatever, but if it isn’t selling, something better change, or you’ll be downloading that app for Team Day Job.
So among the zillion eateries here in Austin, I’ve always been most fascinated with the sushi places. We have a lot of them, but sometimes it seems it’s not about simple fish & presentation, but colorful rolls & cute names. I get that it’s easy for me to say «Less is more,» and «If you filet it they will come» — I understand when Jiro comes to Austin, even he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.
And this update is becoming longer than necessary, so I’ll cut to the chase. Is Roll On Sushi Diner still a player? Yes. Can you still bring your sushi-​wary friends here? Yes, let them go nuts with those chicken fried steak & BBQ rolls and enjoy their expressions. But can you still ask Roll On to hold the show biz and make you a serious sashimi platter? Yes, because deep in his heart of hearts, Chip Reed takes his sushi seriously, he gets great fish, and all you have to do is ask. That’s pretty much what I do when I’m here.
I guess I could point out the changes I’ve seen during the last three years, and dole out a star for this and that. It’ll be quicker just to ask me sometime. The bottom line is whatever Roll On needs to do, I’m happy they’re doing it. All I really care about in my world of sushi is can they still back it up with their food. And the answer is yes. How trite would it be if I ended this with «Roll On keeps rolling on?» Nah, don’t answer that, we’ll just all keep moving on.