Mobo Sushi

Been going there for 25+ years. Best sushi ever.

You really cant beat it especially because they are dog friendly at the outside tables.

1. Worth the wait. If you insist upon being served immediately or always having an order available "on time", pick a less popular sushi restaurant (or at least a less busy time). 2. In 25+ years I have never had a bad meal at Mobo. It is impossible to be 100% perfect and I'm not saying they are -- but they will 100% make it right if you are not satisfied and you politely make them aware of what needs to be be corrected. (Exception: see #1 -- they're working as hard and as fast as they can to deliver quality. Quality takes Time) 3. Mobo continues to be a good value for the money, especially for sushi. Because of this, Mobo continues to be very, very popular -- especially on weekends!

This is definitely a sushi place I would cautiously come back to based on previous reviews. The service was a little slow. The space was great considering that it was in a Trader Joe’s strip mall parking lot. The rolls & nigiri we had were very good. The Oshi Tashi was lacking flavor. There were several things I wanted to try so I’ll be back.

Denese Conners

Been going there for 25+ years. Best sushi ever.

Gryphon M

1. Worth the wait. If you insist upon being served immediately or always having an order available "on time", pick a less popular sushi restaurant (or at least a less busy time). 2. In 25+ years I have never had a bad meal at Mobo. It is impossible to be 100% perfect and I'm not saying they are -- but they will 100% make it right if you are not satisfied and you politely make them aware of what needs to be be corrected. (Exception: see #1 -- they're working as hard and as fast as they can to deliver quality. Quality takes Time) 3. Mobo continues to be a good value for the money, especially for sushi. Because of this, Mobo continues to be very, very popular -- especially on weekends!

Joyce Turner

This is definitely a sushi place I would cautiously come back to based on previous reviews. The service was a little slow. The space was great considering that it was in a Trader Joe’s strip mall parking lot. The rolls & nigiri we had were very good. The Oshi Tashi was lacking flavor. There were several things I wanted to try so I’ll be back.

Really nice ambience here with both indoor and outdoor seating. Went for dinner and tried the Udon and a couple of sushi rolls. The sushi was solid — I had the Land Shark and Tropi Maki, both pretty tasty. The Udon soup was just okay for me, but it might be because it was my first time trying it. Overall, a good spot to check out.

They have a great variety of rolls at Mobo. The vegetarian gyoza was also good. We got our food in just a few minutes

RAHUL H

Really nice ambience here with both indoor and outdoor seating. Went for dinner and tried the Udon and a couple of sushi rolls. The sushi was solid — I had the Land Shark and Tropi Maki, both pretty tasty. The Udon soup was just okay for me, but it might be because it was my first time trying it. Overall, a good spot to check out.

Sean D'Souza

They have a great variety of rolls at Mobo. The vegetarian gyoza was also good. We got our food in just a few minutes

Phuong Phuong

Not a fan of the udon though. Too much going on in that bowl 😬 the rolls are pretty good.

John Hawklyn

[Edit 2/2025 - Mobo Sushi is no more. Closed] The food was excellent. Not so the speed of service. TLDR: Slow service on all you can eat. Elaboration: We had a reservation for a party of eight at noon on a Friday (6/14/19). We arrived, were seated and after a modest wait, menus were provided. After ordering some of our party ordered menu meals, and some the 'all you can eat' sushi special. After a reasonable amount of time the regular meal items arrived, but the sushi arrived at slow intervals. One person didn't get served his FIRST sushi order until an hour after we had ordered (and the folks - myself included) that had ordered meals were done eating. The second round on the sushi orders followed the same pattern. - We were there for over two and a half hours. Mostly waiting. Since we were group that enjoyed each others company and were not in a hurry, it wasn't a real problem for us, but I'm not a fan of waiting...

We ordered via telephone with the intention of picking up our order. The nice woman said our order would be ready in 45 minutes. When we arrived in 50 minutes it was not ready. We were told it's not ready. Long story short, we came back 3 times and finally got our order after 2 hours. It was apparent orders were not being completed in the order in which they were received. If you didn't take a table, your order will be kicked to the curb. Another to-go group also had an extended wait time. They said they talked to the manager and received a $20 gift card. Based on my observations of the manager and hostess, I'm certain the manager knew about my situation. When I expressed my frustration to the nice hostess lady, she suggested I speak to the manager who was eyeing me from the bar but did not take the initiative to walk over to a disadvantaged customer. I declined to approach the manager because the thought of a gift card to an establishment that I have no urge to return to did not appeal to me. I pre-paid during the wait on a $100 bill with a 20% tip. Note to self: Don't tip until the full experience is fully realized.

I should be giving less than a 2, however, some of their food is good. I have given this place 4 tries now to see if it gets any better and it is just no good. Their food is decent, but definitely nothing to rave about and their service is terrible! It is sometimes mediocre, but last night was even worse than usual. Not friendly, walking away before we are done talking to the server, and at 2 different points in the night we couldn't find our server and had to ask someone else to get her for us. There were tons of servers walking around and the place was definitely not full so I'm not even going to give them a benefit of the doubt and say that they were just really busy. This was a Monday night. Then they added gratuity, so I guess there is no reason to have good service if they are getting their % either way. I am always disappointed when I go here and I will not try it again. No matter how good the food is at a place, we need to have the experience with it. Don't waste your time or money. There is a reason that it is less expensive than a lot of other sushi places. You get what you pay for. Spend the extra money and go somewhere that treats you right.

F Bauer

We ordered via telephone with the intention of picking up our order. The nice woman said our order would be ready in 45 minutes. When we arrived in 50 minutes it was not ready. We were told it's not ready. Long story short, we came back 3 times and finally got our order after 2 hours. It was apparent orders were not being completed in the order in which they were received. If you didn't take a table, your order will be kicked to the curb. Another to-go group also had an extended wait time. They said they talked to the manager and received a $20 gift card. Based on my observations of the manager and hostess, I'm certain the manager knew about my situation. When I expressed my frustration to the nice hostess lady, she suggested I speak to the manager who was eyeing me from the bar but did not take the initiative to walk over to a disadvantaged customer. I declined to approach the manager because the thought of a gift card to an establishment that I have no urge to return to did not appeal to me. I pre-paid during the wait on a $100 bill with a 20% tip. Note to self: Don't tip until the full experience is fully realized.

SKM Music (Sara Marsalis)

I should be giving less than a 2, however, some of their food is good. I have given this place 4 tries now to see if it gets any better and it is just no good. Their food is decent, but definitely nothing to rave about and their service is terrible! It is sometimes mediocre, but last night was even worse than usual. Not friendly, walking away before we are done talking to the server, and at 2 different points in the night we couldn't find our server and had to ask someone else to get her for us. There were tons of servers walking around and the place was definitely not full so I'm not even going to give them a benefit of the doubt and say that they were just really busy. This was a Monday night. Then they added gratuity, so I guess there is no reason to have good service if they are getting their % either way. I am always disappointed when I go here and I will not try it again. No matter how good the food is at a place, we need to have the experience with it. Don't waste your time or money. There is a reason that it is less expensive than a lot of other sushi places. You get what you pay for. Spend the extra money and go somewhere that treats you right.

Very disappointing. As a single female diner, I was directed to sit in an isolated corner, which smelled strongly of cleaning agent. I was ignored or forgotten about for 20 minutes after being seated. The restaurant was not very full, but the servers were largely absent from the side of the restaurant I was placed in. When i did get to order, the wait was around 30 min. My server did help move things along for me, and provided a complimentary miso to tide me over, so that did really help. The first roll was good, but the second roll tasted funny and my tongue had a burning sensation after I ate some of it. It was not Wasabi. O.o Maybe it was an accident because the chef was hurrying? Ultimately, I think they were busy assisting larger groups of wealthy people that were likely to spend more on alcohol. As I left, two patrol guys got busy harassing an old homeless man to leave the parking lot. He wasn't bothering anyone, just had found a place to rest. If you're looking for a quick bite of sushi, and not trying to break the bank or in a big group, you'll probably have better luck elsewhere. I tipped well because the sever was ultimately helpful and I was hopeful it would encourage him and other servers to treat solo diners well. But...I feel a little foolish for thinking that. Time will tell.

Zebra Patterns

Very disappointing. As a single female diner, I was directed to sit in an isolated corner, which smelled strongly of cleaning agent. I was ignored or forgotten about for 20 minutes after being seated. The restaurant was not very full, but the servers were largely absent from the side of the restaurant I was placed in. When i did get to order, the wait was around 30 min. My server did help move things along for me, and provided a complimentary miso to tide me over, so that did really help. The first roll was good, but the second roll tasted funny and my tongue had a burning sensation after I ate some of it. It was not Wasabi. O.o Maybe it was an accident because the chef was hurrying? Ultimately, I think they were busy assisting larger groups of wealthy people that were likely to spend more on alcohol. As I left, two patrol guys got busy harassing an old homeless man to leave the parking lot. He wasn't bothering anyone, just had found a place to rest. If you're looking for a quick bite of sushi, and not trying to break the bank or in a big group, you'll probably have better luck elsewhere. I tipped well because the sever was ultimately helpful and I was hopeful it would encourage him and other servers to treat solo diners well. But...I feel a little foolish for thinking that. Time will tell.

Mobo Sushi is an absolute joke. Out experience was horrible. Our waitress, an older woman seemed to be upset that we brought our two kids with us, and was just rude and in a bad mood in general. The kids bento box was mediocre with overcooked chicken and soggy tempura. The $80 banana slug roll that we ordered was complete garbage. First off the inside of the whole roll was filled avocado and imitation crab. It was topped with fishy salmon and maguro. No sauce, no tobiko, no excitement whatsoever. Like I said complete garbage. I have never felt so ripped off. I could have gotten better sushi from the supermarket right next door. I would not recommend this restaurant to anybody. Don’t waste your time or money. Tge only reason I gave 1 star is because you can’t do a review with 0 stars.

Bad service. Party of three seated at a two person table. Entree served to one person 15 minutes before two other people got there food. Probably wont be going back.

Overall disappointing finish to a very nice day in Santa Cruz. This place charges premium prices for below average food and service. There must be better options in town.

Distracted waiter, cold miso soup with uncooked tofu, missed serve tempura and over priced rolls , what else can I say ?! 😒

I was quite surprised by the cost of our meal at this sushi spot—$60 for a modest serving for two felt steep, especially since we left still feeling half hungry. The sushi itself was, at best, slightly below average. Unfortunately, the experience took a turn for the worse about an hour later when both my wife and I developed severe stomach cramps after having the salmon avocado and eel avocado sushi. Upon checking other reviews, I noticed we weren’t the only ones who had issues with “food poisoning.” Based on our experience, I’d recommend exploring other dining options in Santa Cruz where both the quality and the value are likely to be better.

Arrived at 8:30 pm for our first visit as we are visiting Santa Cruz from out of state. Mobo had diners actively eating and their door open and sign indicated closing at 9 pm as I knew. The hostess told me they are closed. I asked why not 9 pm close as I was getting rolls for take-out. The hostess said “we close” and I asked if they are closing early for some reason and I didn’t get any feedback as her English was limited. She then walked away and I headed for the door. Dull ambience, it turns out. Reviews looked good enough so I drove 8 miles to get there. Really disappointing to waste a trip , but I moved to I Love Sushi down the road and they could not be nicer and the sushi looks great. They explained that Mobo is very inconsistent but it works for I Love Sushi to pick up extra business.

Ana Melissa

Bad service. Party of three seated at a two person table. Entree served to one person 15 minutes before two other people got there food. Probably wont be going back.

james wang

Overall disappointing finish to a very nice day in Santa Cruz. This place charges premium prices for below average food and service. There must be better options in town.

Arno Rogg

I was quite surprised by the cost of our meal at this sushi spot—$60 for a modest serving for two felt steep, especially since we left still feeling half hungry. The sushi itself was, at best, slightly below average. Unfortunately, the experience took a turn for the worse about an hour later when both my wife and I developed severe stomach cramps after having the salmon avocado and eel avocado sushi. Upon checking other reviews, I noticed we weren’t the only ones who had issues with “food poisoning.” Based on our experience, I’d recommend exploring other dining options in Santa Cruz where both the quality and the value are likely to be better.

Brian MacDonald

Arrived at 8:30 pm for our first visit as we are visiting Santa Cruz from out of state. Mobo had diners actively eating and their door open and sign indicated closing at 9 pm as I knew. The hostess told me they are closed. I asked why not 9 pm close as I was getting rolls for take-out. The hostess said “we close” and I asked if they are closing early for some reason and I didn’t get any feedback as her English was limited. She then walked away and I headed for the door. Dull ambience, it turns out. Reviews looked good enough so I drove 8 miles to get there. Really disappointing to waste a trip , but I moved to I Love Sushi down the road and they could not be nicer and the sushi looks great. They explained that Mobo is very inconsistent but it works for I Love Sushi to pick up extra business.

Lexie Ingraham

This is the WORST sushi place I have ever been too. The waitress did not have special awareness when serving food. Felt rushed when ordering. Took very long to refill water and only did it once. Food is very overpriced for quality. The sushi rolls were honestly just gross. Fish was slimy and presentation of food was terrible. Took extremely long to get check. I would honestly never recommend this to my worst enemy.