Suba Sushi & Tapas Lounge

New restaurant in our neighborhood. The food and service is outstanding. The sushi rolls are fantastic, my favorite «Light my fire» is so good. Tapas are fantastic, Great atmosphere. Chef David and Shean are owesome. We wish you all the very best.

Still haven’t been here since that abomination of a meal I had a few months ago, but I’m only writing an update because I get all kinds of messages from people telling me that they’re recent visits sucked and well… I guess I still hold a grudge.
Honestly, I never meant to attract attention; I only wanted to vent and « Unilocal» about my experience and I guess it worked. But guess what? LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE STILL NOT LIKING WHAT’S GOING ON HERE!
HEY MR. OWNER! We, the general population of Long Beach Unilocalers, would definitely come back again, but you’ve got to get it together and fix everything wrong with the place. I really don’t take any pleasure in bashing any establishment but I think the fusion of sushi and tapas can work when done right. You had it right before and we would like to see it that way again.

I really wanted to like this place. Would have been great to have a good sushi spot within walking distance from home. Service was very friendly but there was only one server so was a little slow although the restaurant was pretty empty.
The sushi quality is mediocre at best, not the freshest and not too flavorful. The rolls were small and a bit sloppy. They fell apart when you picked them up. We tried the Bixby Rolls which was just OK, covered in a lot of sauce. The Spring Roll was the real sloppy one. No flavor and just not good. The last roll was the Ibiza. This was the best roll we had but wasn’t great. Ordered rice for the kids. Got Brown Rice covered in parsley??? This was not appealing to me or the kids. This combination tasted HORRIBLE. Had to ask for Sushi Rice. Also ordered a cold sake, which they keep at room temperature. So by the time it was cold, we were half way done with our meal.
Needless to say, we were sadly disappointed and most likely will not give it a second chance.

Sad to say that we have to downgrade our previous review for Suba. A restaurant that was on its way to being a landmark sushi place in Long Beach has now taken a step backwards – it’s food is as bland as its atmosphere, stripped of any creative flair it once upheld.
Was going for our favorite rolls (Light My Fire, and Crouching Tiger) which is now gone from the menu. Come to find out the sushi chef has gone to another restaurant in Costa Mesa, thus under new poorly maintained management. Will continue to frequent down the street to Kinokawa’s.
Adiós Suba. We will not be coming back.

I wrote a review for Suba a few months back on my iPhone. I wasn’t able to post it on Unilocal on my laptop until this past Monday 7÷11÷11. I just went there last night with my friends. We loved this restaurant! We had a «Suba craving.» However, the menus have TOTALLY CHANGED! No more Light My Fire or Salmon Delight. :(Apparently the chefs who created those rolls left the restaurant. & the restaurant is not allowed to use them due to copyright issues. It’s just not the same… (my heart is broken)
The new rolls are still good… but does not top the previous rolls on the menu. :(

The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that they serve both tapas and sushi. Not a combination you see everyday. I wouldn’t say they have the best location but you do see the sign from the side of the street.
The food is pretty good, especially the tapas and drinks. I do have to make a note that most of the time they are out of whatever is on their sushi menu. The last 4 times i’ve been here they are out of uni, squid and giant clam, not sure why they still have it on the menu when it’s always out of stock. I will also point out that if you are looking for great service, probably not where you would want to be.

Suba is located in an unassuming location. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came here. Opening the door to Suba and walking in felt like I was in another world. The décor was very contemporary, with a nice sushi bar and dining area. The walls were adorned with different geisha paintings. Overall, the décor was very polished and clean, which greatly contrasts with the view outside. Clearly, this radiates an innovative juxtaposition and gives the patrons a feeling of an adventurous dining episode awaiting them.
Sushi Chef Hollinger has been a sushi chef for 10 years and still going strong. He is a delight to talk to and clearly takes pride in his creative food innovations. He shared with me that Suba opened 6 months ago and that the name Suba means moving forward. After my dining experience, I can attest that Suba is still new and trying to work out the kinks, and Suba is a fitting name, as Chef Hollinger welcomes critiques to his creations, in an effort to move forward with his creations.
I came to Suba on a Friday. It was noon time and it was packed. I am not sure if this is the normal pace for Suba. The only reason I came here was because my Groupon was ending soon and I need to use it right away. I wonder if the other patrons are in the same situation as for me. Since it was very busy, it took 10 minutes for the waitress to get my order. While I waited, Chef Hollinger sensed that I was really hungry, and thus gave me a complimentary amuse buche. It was basically a small sampling of the Koko bowl, which is the chef selection sashimi with sesame based sauce and crab. If this amuse buche was a mini introduction of what the quality and taste of the other food was going to taste, then I was definitely in for a great treat. The amuse buche was very delicious. Alas, I was ahead of myself and my dining experience proved to be the opposite of what I had in mind.
I ordered the following:
Albacore Sushi — I asked for the freshest fish and Chef Hollinger told me that the Albacore was the most fresh. It actually wasn’t fresh and the sushi cut was too big.
Pilla de Atun con Piquillo Pepper (yellow fin tuna with safron rice and guacamole) — The yellow fin tuna was similar to a Poki, except it lacked flavor because it needed more sesame oil. Overall, the only flavor in this dish was from the guacamole. The only positive thing about this dish was the presentation, otherwise, the combination of yellow fin tuna and guacamole was odd.
Pan Con Tomate — I was unimpressed when I saw that the bread was grilled in a panini machine. The taste would have better if they used fresh tomato, drizzled with olive oil, and the tomato part to be warm. Also, had they used a rustic bread, the flavors would have blended well and as a result the taste will be stronger.
Patatas Bravas — I’ve had this at other Tapas restaurant. I prefer this to be topped with a spicy tomato sauce instead of a spicy mayo sauce. The spicy mayo sauce on the potatos was such an eccentric combination and it was also too much as well.
Beef Empanada — this was a huge empanada and it was good, but it would have been better if they mixed in other things with the beef. It gets boring after awhile when every bite is just beef, especially since the empanada is really huge.
Overall, I think Suba’s fusion of Japanese and Spanish needs more work. They need to combine these two in a better way, so that each flavor does not contrast with the other. If you pick the right fusion flavors, then the flavors will unite and blend very well.

This place had major appeal outside and inside. It looked exotic and unique. That it was. The ambiance was fabulous accompanied by warm hearted staff. I did not know what Tapas meant and our waitress, Melina, was very helpful. The staff was nothing but smiles and demonstrated excellent customer service. My boyfriend and I randomly came here on Cinco De Mayo. The white wine Sangaria was fabulous leaving us with a nice buzz. We had the Closer sushi roll, spanish influenced mac and cheese, and the chicken and charizo skewer over mango salsa. The sushi roll was delicious and portioned nice. It had just enough rice and plenty inside the roll so each bite had an equal amount of ingredients! The mac and cheese was simply made for perfection. Simple but had an abundance of flavor. The chicken and charizo skewers were yum but the chicken was a little on the dry side and the charizo was tough. My boyfriend tried to cut the charizo with a knife and it flew off the table and landed on the floor.
Overall, this place is beautiful. There were paintings on the wall that were geisha inspired with spanish characteristics intertwined. A very nice, diverse place to enjoy company, drinks, and food. We just missed happy hour and I’m sure the bf and I will come back!

Busy Friday night so glad we had reservations, many others waited for quite some time. Not sure it would be worth the wait.
The food was very good but not great. We tried mostly from the sushi menu with a couple of items from the tapas menu. Tried the specialty Crouching Tiger, xxx, and xxx rolls. Somewhat inventive but they seemed more focused on presentation. Same thing with a sampler platter of sashimi. We got the (tapas) which was also good but not worthy of the price.
Nice atmosphere but be prepared for noise and close quarters with you neighbors.
Finally, servers (and one great bus guy) tried really hard but were spread way, way, way too thin. We had been forewarned about service so put our order in with drinks, thank goodness. After that it was very hard to get attention. Dinner took 2 hours when they could have flipped our table in 1.25.
So try it, but go in with realistic expectations.

This restaurant kind of confuses me. It kind of seems to be two different restaurants sharing one kitchen. My friend and I were in the mood for some tapas and along with those, sangria. The sangria was very good and reasonably priced. I felt that the tapas were expensive, but that’s usually my experience with tapas.
We ordered three tapas to share, the meatless choices are limited. The pan con tomate was good, very garlicky and simple. The cheese empanadas were a nice serving, but kind of boring. I would prefer that they were filled with cheese and something else, also the side of salsa was pretty dainty. The pastry was flaky and delicious though. The patatas bravas were extremely paprika-​y, yet somehow lacking in flavor. It was enough food for the two of us, but not a balanced meal.
I wish they combined the japanese and spanish elements in a better way. It would be really nice if they did some tapa-​style small plates with the japanese food, edamame or dumplings, etc.

All my coworkers have been wondering about this place across the street since it replaced the sushi place that was there before. and we had to give it a try. We had some Groupons that we wanted to use, so we figured we’d take a chance. They had just started the ‘lunch special’ menu, so we all ordered one of those, as well as a couple of appetizers.
Man. where to start. I felt like everything was just off somehow. My ‘coca de cochinito’ sandwich was drowning in dressing. it was dripping out of the sandwich and down my hand. what a mess! When I could actually get a bite of the sandwich where there was less dressing, it tasted good, but 90% of my bites tasted like dressing and nothing else. The fries were fine.
We ordered the Serrano ham croquettes, and they were this bizzare bright yellow color on the outside. I expect croquettes to have some crispy coating on the outside but these didn’t at all, it was just fried potato balls. They didn’t taste like much. I expected to be able to taste the ham in there somewhere? They were resting on a bed of some green sauce that we were not able to identify. it didn’t seem to be guacamole-​ish but we couldn’t figure it out.
Our other tapas order was the ‘Dates stuffed with Cabrales wrapped in Applewood smoked bacon’ — and oddly. the only thing I could taste was sweet sweet date. I saw bacon. but for some reason, the only thing I could taste was date. Bizzare.
Some of my coworkers got the tuna bowl for their lunch special and they said it was pretty good. My coworker that got actual sushi for lunch said that it was not horrible, but that it was ‘supermarket quality’.
Service was a little unorganized despite the restaurant not being crowded. The crowning moment of the meal was when our Groupons were initially refused due to our lunches being ‘special’. We showed the groupon at the beginning and then all ordered the lunch special. if our groupon wouldn’t have covered that, we would have ordered other stuff, of course! Anyway, they ended up taking the groupon after all but we felt like they were condescending about it.
I feel like all the dishes I had could have been yummy but something happened along the way and they just weren’t. They were all good ideas, but each had some bizzarly glaring thing wrong. Add the unfortunate way our groupons were handled and I am not willing to return here.

Hey, guess what? They have some pretty cool lunch specials here too! Michael P and I decided to try them for lunch and we were not disappointed. There are sandwiches (all accompanied by garlic fries and a small salad), pastas (with bread and salad), and sushi bowl specials (comes with miso soup) – all for $ 7.95. It’s quite a bargain, especially considering the generous portions. I got their basil pesto linguine special and saved half for later. I did also get an order of their Boquerones (white anchovy on toast with garlicky tomato spread and truffle oil) too, but still! Michael P got the eel sushi bowl special, which looked pretty hefty as well. Yeah they use krab but get over it – the eel and avocado sure looked good. Nice to know it’s a good option for lunch as well (except for Mondays – they’re closed on Mondays!). Next time I’m trying a sandwich with some of those garlic fries.

Met my Unilocal Pal and Partner in Dine Steph H. and I went here for lunch and after our last adventure in finding out Suba is dark on Mondays and, because my curiosity of Spanish and Asian Cuisine intrigued me first and for most.
Also, being an AYCE Sushi person I’m very picky about going to anyplace that doesn’t offer up that fare or has rules (not here but other places) about how many rolls you can order etc.
So my Spanish side and my AYCE Sushi preference came with an open mind since like Steph I’ll give anything a try or, second chance to see what a place is all about.
Steph had already gotten started with an order of Boquerones-​$ 8:
White (very large) Anchovies with truffle oil; something like sliced pizza (4 in all) but served chilled and I snagged a piece of these tasty delights… next time two orders just for me please!
After my Baja Sonora UYE the night prior I wanted something light yet flavorful so I opted for one of there many lunch specials:
f“EEL of Joy– A Sushi Bowl with Fresh Water Eel, Crab, sliced Avocado served on a bed of Steamed White Rice along with a small cone of Wassabi and White Ginger-​Perfect-​$ 7.95!
Steph went in another direction and ordered up:
Almendra Albacha Linguini-​Basil Pesto Sauce made with toasted Almonds (an order of this next time please) and she didn’t finish it as it was a nice portion too-​$ 7.95.
Very nice ambiance and decorum with low music and very attentive, friendly staff. Also, I had the pleasure of meeting the owner too (nice guy).
Next time a dinner for sure and, I hear they have a great Happy Hour too.
Yes this type of fusion is definitely 4 stars for me right out the gate and, I liked this place so much I’m gonna be this in regards to you Suba:

Holy cow… was our bill correct? Was our happy hour beers really $ 2!!! Um yes. Yep just like that tacky popular song… I’m letting the dogs out. $ 2 LARGE ASAHI. That’s all you really need to know and it will get you through the afternoon slump.
Happy Hour Tuesday-​Friday 4PM — 7PM.
HALF OFF homemade sangria, wine, sake, beer & soju cocktails …
Of the happy hour menu, I tried the poke — a bit watered down? But fresh tasting and large cubes of ahi. $ 7
Tostones Relleno de Camaron $ 7 — was a popular dish, definitely try this as the serving is ample and tasted great. was in a tomato kind of sauce?
Albacore Onion Herb roll — Albacore tataki, spicy tuna and crab with fried onions and aioli. DELISH!
On top of this, the décor is really nice, servers very attentive as they were dealing of our table of 12 ppl. Located in a strip mall, kind of a weird L-​shaped parking lot.

Ok, first things first– yes… this place serves Spanish tapas, AND Sushi. Get over it, try it, and embrace it.
The owner is ALWAYS there… he is the bald chef you see behind the counter in the kitchen. One time my shrimp was sort of undercooked, he personally recooked my meal, carried it over to my table, apologized profusely, took it off my bill, and came by a few minutes later to check to make sure it was cooked well. That was enough to bring tears to my eyes… As a LA/​LB foodie… I am used to the places where the owner doesn’t give a shit, and you have to nearly elbow your way to the front of some ungodly line to hopefully get some crappy service, and preferably– not get shot. Moving on…
The sushi is made by a MASTER sushi chef, the specialty rolls are HUGE and delicious. They have some of the most interesting and delicious combs I have ever seen… Case in point? The Rosemary Roll… Why in God’s Name would you place filet mignon in sushi? Cause its delicious… that’s why.
The Tapas menu has no photos… which annoys me because I like to see what I am getting before I order… call me a product of IN-​N-​Outs 1, 2, or 3 ordering style… However, pick something that sounds delicious, and go with it.
The good news is that the Tapas plates are pretty reasonably priced and big enough for an appetizer for two to split or as a meal… unless your a big eater… and then you may need two!
So, let me just say that there really are a few things here that are OUTSTANDING:
1) Aguacata y Camaron– Delicious shrimp cooked in a marinara sauce over guacamole.
What? You don’t like sounding like an idiot when you try to pronounce this one? Well… lucky for you the name means AVOCADO and SHRIMP. If you like me are uncomfortable rolling your Spanish R’s just ask for Avocado and Shrimp, and save everyone the embarrassment.
2) Mac N’ Cheese– I don’t remember the Spanish name… again, ask for Mac n’ cheese, then thank the gods when it arrives… delicious? Check! Cheesy ooey gooey deliciousness? Check again.
3) Bixby Roll– Not a fan of raw fish? Like your meal with a side of MACHO? Order the Bixby Roll… It is Filet Mignon, no joke… delicious tender Filet Mignon… cooked to perfection inside a roll with rice, and some other deliciousness.
Style: Cool Lounge/​Sushi Bar
Crowd: Actually– Seems to be filled with Families
Price: About $ 20 a person, or less if you only order one thing
Rating: 4 Stars… it would be 5 if the crowd was a little hipper…

I was thrilled to see something NEW in Bixby Knolls in the Grunion. And happy that something was going into the old Delius location. But, pretty disappointing I have to say. The fact that it has 4 stars on Unilocal is making me:
1) Question the credibity of Unilocal and how many of their best friends logged on to give them such rave reviews or
2) Wonder if I just had a bad night.
My sangria was like a sweet fruit punch with prediced apples from Ralphs (all apple and no citrus). Not terribly authentic.
Although the East (sushi) meets West (tapas) didn’t sound all that alluring of a combination, I embraced the concept. I started with Pan Con Tomate. Terrible. White bread shoved in a panini maker with cold, canned diced tomatoes (a bit blended) and smeared on top. No seasoning (lacking salt and no essence of garlic). Not sure exactly what that was all about.
I moved on to something highly recommended by the waitress: Albacore Onion Herb Roll. Not bad. Flavor was mediocre … not exactly making my taste buds burst. It was first disappointing that the fried onions were not crunchy to give it some added texture. They probably had it rolled for a while and it had gotten a bit soggy. And, not sure where the whole «herb» thing came into it. Never got any essense of that.
Atmosphere on Friday night was all Bixby Knolls families. Odd.
I won’t be rushing back to Suba anytime soon.

Service was very SLOW! We started with the chile lime edamame which were tasty but could have been spicier. We ordered the potato tapa and it was very delicious. It came with a spicy sauce on top. As vegetarians there were a few sushi options for us and they were accommodating to changes. We also ordered the light my fire roll with avocado instead of tuna. The visual presentation of the roll was spectacular. We want to come back again to enjoy their happy hour. It’s 4 – 7 t-​f and includes tapas and drink specials. We also really enjoyed the atmosphere of the entire restaurant it is beautifully decorated and sophisticated looking. There is a great lounge area in the back of the restaurant.

If I could give less than one star I would.
We used to come here when it was Arashi, and the service was indifferent but the quality of the sushi made up for it. Here’s the deal: we’re willing to put up with a lot of nonsense just to have a decent meal in our neighborhood.
No longer… at least at this joint.
We went last night (we’ve gone to the rebranded «Suba Sushi and Tapas Lounge» four times now… never tried the tapas but still order sushi as the fish continues to be prepared quite well) and the service was not only incompetent but rude as well. The restaurant was busy, but at least two four tops were clearly available. The hostess, however, stated that we could not sit there as it would confuse their wait staff (who apparently work on a system of strict table assignments). Moreover, we were told that as we were a party of two we could not occupy a four-​top.
We thought the wait staff would be capable of figuring it out if we simply took a seat at an available table. Like I said, we have been here a few times, we’re pleasant folk and we tip generously. Not a peep. Apparently it really was too much for the staff to handle. And a manager? Clearly snickering about the situation with his waiters and waitresses at the front of the restaurant.
Ridiculous. I’ll never be back. Please, don’t ever give this restaurant business, ever.

Poor service. Arrived at 7:30 pm on a Friday, was told that it would be a 25 min wait. We told waitress that we would wait outside. Additional parties arrived after us. After waiting outside in plain site, I watched her completely ignore us and seat a couple that arrived after us. Frustrated, I went inside and made eye contact with the waitress who continued to ignore me and proceeded to seat another couple that also arrived after us.
After she sat the second couple, I informed her of her mistake and she said that she could seat us now. We never received an apology. When we were seated, my party of 2 was left with a single menu to share. While at our table, we continued to wait. We were never greeted by our server or told who he or she was. No one took our drink order.
After 25 minutes of waiting at our table and not being acknowledged by the server or the manager of this unacceptable delay, we left which also went apparently unnoticed by the staff. This is the worst experience I have ever had. As we were on our way out, we heard a table request their check as they had to get out of there.
The service staff is completely inexperienced and should have been able to handle less than 20 table dining room. We will never go back and would not recommend this place. I would have given this place no stars.

Been here twice since it became Suba. I loved Arashi and was very sad to see Jim the sushi chef leave BUT this place is great.
I was very against the concept of Spanish tapas and sushi together at last BUT again it works very well here. We tried the sushi the first time and the fish was super fresh and very tasty. Sat at the sushi bar which is our normal spot and really enjoyed the whole experience. We tried just about everything and sat there for a little over two hours and never felt rushed. We sampled one of the sushi chefs stacks and it tasted soooo good.
Second time we sat at a table and tried their tapas. First thing I noticed was the servers were so much better than the old place. We made it for happy hour and the servers were always ready to help. The sangria was really tasty and we got two glasses on the house because they accidentally messed up on an order. (not a big deal at all). All of the tapas were outstanding. We are so excited to have tapas within walking distance.
Overall we are super stoked to have sushi and tapas so close. I hope more people come and make Suba a wild success. The chef seems like he really knows his stuff and I am excited to have such a high quality restaurant in my neighborhood.