Hive Sushi Lounge

Never going back! My boyfriend and I went here for dinner the other night. The server was nice, she took our drink and food order. We ended up sitting and waiting for our food for almost half an hour, which we never received. The sushi guy was just sitting and talking to his buddy and making all of his food. There was only 2 tables including ours and nobody was getting their food. He rearranged his fish and then left he counter for a couple of minutes and came back to stand around and talk more with his friend. Come to find out he was just killing time before the next sushi came in! He wasn’t planning on making anyone’s food. He was waiting to go home!

Love sundays nights ! Happy hour all night bobby chill AF girl always keeps it 100% awsome place to come down and have a drink or 5 and eat some bomb sushi! (Hot mess) for those spicy food fans.

This place was amazing!!! The sushi (the yellowtail sashimi was one of the best we’ve ever had) was outstanding, the atmosphere was super cool and the waitress was fantastic. Highly recommend and cannot wait to go back!

Hands down the best sushi I’ve yet to find downtown. Not to expensive and has great happy hour specials as well as a late night happy hour for an extra bonus. It’s a very chill atmosphere away from the craziness of the tourist traps of the city.

4 stars for now since I only did a quick call in take out 1 hour before closing. Lady on phone was polite, cool, and I just went with her quick suggestions. Tiger Roll and Japanese fries on the side. Long story short, this is my new spot, Ra Sushi ain’t got nothing on this place. I will dine in next time, the place is nice. Very cool peoples.

Bobby was our server she was awesome an it was my besties first time having sushi… service was A+.. one side quite an the other side louder… Sushi was really good (fresh Cuz I didn’t get sick) nice presentation… We had orchid an a candle at our table very pretty place.

Bobbi and her staff were amazing when we came here for dinner the other night. Granted, it was super early and there weren’t a lot of other people, but we were given amazing recommendations for food and drinks.
Our bartender /​server Kaitlin recommended the San Diego’s cup for a cocktail and it was delicious! For food, we ended up ordering the GFR roll, the blue fin Toro nigiri, the tsunami roll and the tiger eye. We also tried the Geisha and the hummingbird cocktails.
Everything was spectacular! If you’ve never been here, I would totally suggest that you come check it out because the ambiance, food and staff are all awesome, despite being slightly out of the way.

Came here yesterday for a bite to eat with my girlfriend since she wanted sushi and this was the only place open late so we gave it a shot. We walked into «The hive» and went ahead to seat ourselves when a waitress told us seating was on the other side so we went to «the nectar room» which is connected to the hive and we thought it was strange since it wasn’t full and the other side was a bar, so we ended up sitting at this little bench and waited for a good 10 min to even be acknowledged and we where honestly going to leave but right when we decided on going somewhere else the bartender/​waitress handed us a menu and some water so we stayed. The food was good and I enjoyed it but the service really ruined it for me. Which is why I’m giving it 3 stars. Hopefully if we decided to stop by again for late night sushi it’ll be much better service.

Alright I’ll admit it– I’m totally chopsticks incompetent. I’ve read countless packet instructions, had many people try to teach me, and even used the plastic, kiddie cheats. Nothing helps and I should probably never go to Japan because I would be a national embarrassment. That being said, I still love eating sushi, even if i have to resort to using my hands, and the food at Hive was pretty great. Very fresh fish, we had sashimi that was excellent and a few specialty rolls that absolutely impressed– especially the Thai roll, which they were kind enough to make gluten free for me! Also had my first experience with sake, which was a lot better than I expected it to be and I was surprised at how smooth it was to drink. Definitely more of an upscale sushi restaurant, the food’s a little pricey, and it’s kind of far out on C Street but I would still recommend a visit!

Very good happy hour! Prices are great!
Sushi is good too (:
Only giving 4 stars because the mochi balls melted too fast and were three small ones that were $ 5.50. I can get 6 for $ 3.99 at vons, so i’ll stick to my vons mochi balls.
But i will return

So let’s be clear: this isn’t a high end Sushi bar. If you’re looking for that in San Diego, don’t go downtown.
Hive is a combo sushi bar and dive bar. It is near City College, which is probably where it gets most of its business. It’s happy hour specials, which are the typical 5 to 7 and the atypical 10 to midnight, are decent. I especially like the Avocado Hand Roll, which comes with fried avocado and fresh cucumber. The salmon nigiri is my favorite happy hour offering. You can eat a handsome and varied sushi meal for $ 15 without alcohol.
To that end, it has the same feeling you’d get if you went to the sushi bar closest to your campus. One key difference: Hive serves more sophisticated drinks from its sister bar Nectar. Sure you can get a cheap domestic beer here. But they have craft beer and great mixed drinks.
So stop by here if you’re in the area, perhaps before you go to the Symphony or Cignet theatre in Balboa. Just don’t come from the other side of San Diego county just to come to this restaurant.

It has been a long time since I have been here. I remember not thinking much about this place the first time I ate here. This time I showed up with a bunch of friends and we ordered a number of different rolls to share. Everything was pretty good. I enjoyed my usual order of a rainbow roll and sashimi sampler. The other rolls were good also. Sashimi was good. The drink menu was pretty good. The drinks come next door from the nectar room which is attached. I like that they are open late and far enough from the gaslamp so it is more of a local then tourist crowd. Parking is typical downtown parking. It is located across the street from City college so I am not sure how busy this place would be when school is in session. Overall a cool place to chill, enjoy some sushi, or have a cocktail.

Never judge a book by its cover. This place is a little hole in the wall but was a treasure that hides behind those front doors! We ordered the «I know the chef» sushi boat and I only have one word — MOUTH-​GASM!!! If you have a palette for good sashimi, this is the place! Everything was so fresh and the shrimp was still on the boat moving!!! After we topped off the entire boat (it feeds 2 plentifully), the chef fried the shrimp head for us and we sucked that thing dry! Haha. Every single piece of sashimi was delectable and the prices are great. They even have this fun «bar game» with a nut on a string. I couldn’t leave until I conquered it. Lol. I will be back again, this place was AMAZING!!!

I never eat sushi on Sundays because it’s not fresh but I was so craving it today and I got everything I was craving plus it was happy hour on drinks and the music in this spot is great and super calm like i like my spots that I eat at and the sushi is pretty good for being a Sunday

Came back. Bad service. So bad, I’ll never go again. Someone in my party received their dessert before their meal.

I had a mean craving for sushi while I was visiting San Diego; however, found it frustrating to find parking whenever hunger strikes. After my 3^rd sushi-​less week in San Diego, I was determined to muster up the patience to find parking on a busy weekend night.
After a quick scroll through Unilocal,I decided on Hive due to location (not to far) and price (not to expensive). The atmosphere is set similar to a dance club. Dark, musty, loud hip hop music playing. The waitress was very kind to help me out with the menu, and after a few probing questions, I decided on two specialty rolls, one spice and one fresh roll:
— The Stinger (spicy scallops, serrano chillies, cucumber, topped w/​avocado, albacore tuna and ponzu)
— Rio Roll (tuna, yellowtail, salmon, sprouts wrapped in cucumber)
It was after these rolls that I definitively decided that I am not a specialty roll kind of gal. Perhaps I’m more of a minimal traditionalist; but I like simplistic rolls, nagiri, and sashimi. The Stinger was good and packed a good spice punch; however, the more I ate, the less appetizing the roll was. Similarly, the Rio Roll was «fresh»; however I thought the cucumber wrap was overwhelming.
Ingredients tasted fresh; I just didn’t enjoy the amalgam of ingredients that constituted the rolls that I chose.

Best Sushi in downtown San Diego! Amazing in house infused sake flavors, the miso del diablo was spicy and amazing, nectar style sashimi was to die for.
Sushi chef Tim was one of the most entertaining and educational sushi chefs we’ve ever been served by. Freshly back from Japan, he had new toys techniques to show off.
Coupled with a great party ambiance, fantastic music and amazing art on the walls by great local artists this was a one of a kind Sushi experience.

I went here for happy hour lastnight because I’ve been meaning to try this based on my coworkers & friends recommendations.
It’s too bad I have to write this review because the quality of sushi was excellent & the prices ‘listed on the menu’ were great, even the bartender was cool.
When it came to pay the check, the total came out to what sounded a lot higher than expected. We sat at the bar so we didn’t get a check, she just verbally told us the price. Since my boyfriend was paying and knew the bartender I didn’t question it. But I took a copy of the menu home & calculated it and even if our 2 beers were $ 10 each (which they just can’t be) we were overcharged $ 12. Although it may not be a big difference, the fact that we were overcharged just made me distrust the bartender. And it sucks because the food was great and now I can never return.

Hive feels like a well-​kept secret for parties. It’s like that slightly eccentric hipster kid in your class that you’re not sure if you should hang with because your other friends don’t know anything about him, but then you go out with him and he’s so cool and fun you’re like, wow, how are we not already friends?
I never knew about Hive, as it’s in the outskirts of downtown near San Diego City College as I usually stay more centric to Gaslamp/​East Village/​Marina (isn’t C Street just for bail bonds?). But a friend recently celebrated her birthday here. We had one long table for two dozen people in the Nectar Room. It’s the large room, with a bar, separate from the main dining room. She apparently uses it a lot because it’s essentially your own private space without paying a hefty rental fee!
According to Hive’s Web site, you can have up to 50 people and it’s essentially free to rent if you pre-​order your food. In our case we didn’t pre-​order and ordered at the restaurant, having multiple tabs as people wandered in and out — but we totally had that room to ourselves! The birthday girl even put out necklaces on a belly bar that we could all take – that’s how private a space it was! You could wander through into the back dining room to get to the restrooms.
Food was fusion-​style sushi, reasonably priced (most specialty rolls around $ 10 – 11, and fancier ones $ 15 – 16) with some tasty and unique flavors. Cocktails were fresh and creative — my dining companion had something with green tea and I had something similar to a mule and they were both refreshing and well-​balanced. We had the firecracker roll (crab, spicy tuna & cucumber, topped w/​tuna, avocado & spicy soy reduction) which we were told was one of the most popular here and the ninja roll (shrimp tempura roll topped w/​albacore, masago, green onions & ponzu) among other items. They weren’t huge but definitely filled my sushi craving and were perfect for the price.
I will definitely have to explore «renting» this stellar space for future parties!

Sunday Dinner — Happy Hour!
THE AMBIANCE:
This was my second time at Hive. The entrance into Hive is a balcony with stairs that leads you into the main dining area that has a bar, high tops, and some booths. I noticed that they also have a larger dining are to the right but it is kind of hidden. We usually sit at the bar but decided to grab a high top this time. I am 5’2″ and I felt that the stool was kind of low for my liking.
THE FOOD:
For an appetizer we had the Spicy Garlic Edamame. In my opinion they were too salty and I did not taste anything spicy (I think Hot Cheetos are spicy). I just tasted salt. For our sushi we tried the Stingray Roll (shrimp tempura, crab, spicy tuna, asparagus, topped w/​tuna, jalapenos, avocados, torched sriracha aioli, spicy ponzu & micro cilantro — $ 14.00) the Yo! Roll (shrimp tempura, crab, spicy tuna, cucumbers, topped w/​salmon & sliced lemons — $ 10.00), and the Caterpillar Roll (eel, cucumber, crab, topped w/​avocado & eel sauce — $ 9.50). All three (3) of these rolls are NOT happy hour price. The sushi is good. Not amazing, but fresh enough to give Hive four (4) stars. For dessert we tried the Monkey Butt (tempura fried banana w/​vanilla ice cream, cinnamon and sugar). It was a miss. Would not order again.
HAPPY HOUR DRINKS:
Domestic Beers
pint $ 2.50 /​20oz $ 3.50
Imports & Micro Brews
pint $ 4.00 /​20oz $ 5.00
Hot Sake
small $ 1.99 /​large $ 2.99
Well Drinks $ 3.50
THE TIPS:
Happy Hour is from 5pm –7pm & 10pm-​12am, and all night on Sunday. Dine in only.