Departed Business
 This entry refers to a departed business that has closed or left town. All information here is for historical reference only. |
| Location |
| 213 G Street |
| Hours |
| Daily Lunch 11:00AM-2:00PM, Dinner 5:00PM-9:00PM |
| Price Range |
| Lunch $13.95, Dinner $17.95 |
| Phone |
| (530) 753-3888 |
| Owners |
| Lam family |
Fuji Chef offered a lunch-time sushi buffet for $13.95, more for the dinner buffet. They were closed down as of November 2018. It's worth it to go occasionally if you like sushi and buffets. But remember to get there at least half an hour or so before lunch, otherwise you'll have to wait in a heinously long line. Sometimes the line starts forming as early as 10:00AM and by 11:30AM there will be upwards of 50 people waiting. On the other hand, because of the bar, even when the restaurant is busy, this is a solo dining friendly spot to eat.
Since March 8, 2008 Fuji Chef also offers a dinner buffet. It's $17.95 and includes either tea or a soda and miso soup. Also, for dinner you can get grilled salmon, fried oysters, fried squid, and other items.
Sushi, pickled cucumbers, occasional fried items, and edamame are pre-made and placed on boats, which float in a "circular" horseshoe fashion around the bar. They don't tell you this at the door, but you can also request any other (sushi) menu item by directly asking the chefs. This includes all of their specialty rolls (such as Davis roll), fried soft shell crab, sashimi, fried oysters, and fried bananas. Remember to tip. They're extra nice to regulars, too.
Unfortunately Fuji Chef was featured on channel 3's expose on sushi restaurants who do not serve the species of fish they advertise. Fuji's snapper nigiri was genetically analyzed to be tilapia, a fish that is at a minimum one sixth the price of red snapper. If you want to avoid this trickery at a buffet you are out of luck, Nobu Hiro was also caught doing the same.
Also remember to use the bathroom before going there. The single women's bathroom toilet isn't exactly stable.
Visa and Mastercard accepted. They do not allow split checks. Well, good news is "NOW THEY DO!"
Definitely not the best sushi in town during the buffet. Everything tastes like its been sitting out for a while, because it has been. If you are going for sheer quantity over quality this is place to go, even though Nobu Hiro has a better quality sushi and no wait for about the same price. —AshleyOrsaba
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Actually, Nobu Hiro is cheaper than Fuji Chef. It costs $8.99 for all-you-can-eat while Fuji's costs $1.00 more from Mon-Thurs and $2.00 more from Fri-Sun. —RobertBaron
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Fuji seems to have a larger variety of sushi though. I got bored eating the same things at Nobu after a while.
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2005-05-18 17:10:10 It always amazes me that this place has such a long line! It's not even close to being the best sushi available in Davis, though at least they must turn over their sushi pretty quickly. Having grown up eating sushi and being something of a purist, I have to admit that I'm always wary of all-you-can-eat sushi... sushi is about freshness and quality, not quantity. Anyway, before you sell your soul to Fuji, try almost any other sushi place in town for about the same price and better quality food. —AlphaDog
2005-06-25 17:21:20 Although I can understand that it's not for the sushi gourmet, it's definitely tasty. I highly recommend the Davis Roll (think everything in one sushi roll...mmm), along with the Fried Ebi. Honestly, if you're willing to come earlier in the morning (rather than closer to when they close), there is an excellent variety and everything has just been made. —JulieEickhof
2005-07-27 23:07:41 This place is not nearly as good as Nobu. Nobu has very fresh meat, and the staff there are very friendly. Fuji's meat is just a tiny bit tougher, and their prices are more expensive than Nobu's. I like how Fuji's offers sashimi, while Nobu does not (they actually charge more for that I think). —MindyYang
2005-07-28 11:00:17 Well, I always get a red rash when I eat here. Maybe I have a sensitivity to something they use? Don't get this at Moshi Moshi, my favorite place in town. —JaimeRaba
2005-09-04 16:09:57 The red rash you say you're getting (JaimeRaba) is probably an allergy to MSG. It probably won't be in the raw fish stuff, but you should really look online for more information about MSG (and other sneakily-named things like "hydrolyzed vegetable protein"). I'm not very sensitive to it, so it takes a lot to make me notice. (Additionally, I wouldn't recommend Jusco for that reason; again, I'm not that sensitive to MSG and my eyes were all puffy the next day.) —JulieEickhof
2005-08-16 20:25:33 Can't say the cheap toaster oven they apparently use to reheat stuff on the sushi island makes the place very high class. Expect a thin film of yuck on the boat fish after normal lunch and dinner hours. —ApolloStumpy
2005-12-14 10:16:53 Way to crowded at lunch as much as I want to eat there I haven't had the chance to stand in that fun huge line! —LorenFinazzo
hehe, got there at 10 in the morning and there was a boy there saying his dad left him in line at 8, said he would be back for lunch, those lines are crazy
2006-02-07 14:42:27 This sushi place ties for last on my list of favorite sushi restaurants in Davis. I never take advantage of the sushi buffet because I could never eat enough sushi to make it worth it, and when I order the rolls, they are nothing special. The rice and the fish doesn't taste very fresh, and I'm not a fan of the sauces they put over the rolls. Once again, this place ties with Jusco's across the street, and I would only eat here if I were starving and didn't care about the quality of the sushi. —LauraChan
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Are you kidding me? Jusco is the absolute worst sushi place I've ever been to. I must admit that I've was given some very iffy fish once at Fuji and I don't care for the sauces either, but it's usually not that bad. You can also ask them to not put the sauces on.
2006-02-20 02:29:28 This place opened up back when I was a freshman. After four years, the quality of the sushi has noticeably declined (tuna, salmon, hamachi, snapper) or I've become pickier. There's a very noticeable 'fishy' taste, a sign that they might be using leftover fish from the previous dinner. Still, the gyoza (potstickers), honey-glazed skewered chicken, shrimp tempura, and soft-shelled crab are good cooked items. Especially the soft-shelled crab, it's almost a unique Fuji specialty. Even if they've increased their prices a bit, it's still a great deal. —CurtisLim
2006-04-02 21:29:18 Wait an hour (or more) for bad sushi in a crowded restaurant - I don't get it ... —HarrySpanglet
2006-04-09 02:27:15 I enjoyed their sweet potato sushi, however, they behaved shadily when it came to charging me. They gave me one of my 1.95~ pieces of sushi on a 2.45~ plate, and proceded to bill me at the higher amount. Having gone there with a very tight budget, I didn't let them slip that by me, but I worry about how many other people they might do that to. I don't see any other comments about that here, so it might have been a random error. Still, keep your eyes open. —JosephBleckman
2006-07-21 13:00:19 i really enjoy the selection at fujis. when i go to nobu the sushi makers have attitude and their water always tastes bad. fujis is a good place and i have been eating sushi ever since i could eat solid food. nobu's quality hasn't always been consistent and the other "good" places just dunk their sushi in a tub full of sauce. —RiyoKwong
2006-08-14 12:46:55 Okay, the funny thing is, to all you "sushi conniseurs" who act like you're above the sushi buffet that's provided at Fuji's, I'm willing to bet 80% of you got your first taste of sushi at Fuji's. Most of you would probably have never touched sushi unless you were in a buffet enviornment. The sushi here is not as fresh as Nobu Hiro or Mikuni's, but what do you expect, it's a sushi buffet for like $11. The variety is excellent, and as far as I am concerned, the sushi tastes great. P.S.: I don't work at Fuji's or anything, I'm just sick of people acting cool and saying this or that is better than Fuji's, when fuji's is clearly the most popular sushi joint in town. —ArlenKwong
2006-09-14 16:07:25 Fuji's has made me very sick the two times I have been there. Their food is not fresh and the rice in the rolls I had was undercooked. I'm not allergic to MSG or anything— it was food poisoning, plain and simple. —RathyMarie
2006-09-15 11:02:59 I've been to Fujis _several_ times in the last 4 years or so, and I've been there with _lots_ of friends. Not one of us has ever gotten sick. Ever. Its a fun place to eat and maybe the best sushi buffet you'll ever encounter, especially for the price! If you hit them up during buffet hours their stuff is fairly fresh (not sure how anything can get that old considering how high the turnover is) With this said and done, you'd be kidding yourself if you said their sushi was comparable with nicer sushi places. This should be obvious, does your $7 steak from Denny's taste as good as something from a place like Black Angus? Try ordering some nigiri from MoshiMoshi or Zen Toro and see the difference yourself. —TheodoreSuryapurnama
2006-09-15 12:56:31 I'm in Wisconsin and I miss this place! There are tons of drunks in Milwaukee but no cheap sushi! The only times I've ever gotten sick after eating here were times when I was already sick before. —MarieHuynh
2006-09-24 21:30:21 I love this place, but I think I would get sick of it if I went everyday. I suppose being far from Davis has it's advantages because it just makes me crave the sushi buffet even more. Boy I wish it were Christmas Break or something so I could go up there for this place. —SteveNgo
2006-10-17 15:16:07 Granted Fuji is popular because it is a great Japanese "value" but if you want great Japanese FOOD go to Mirai. —KevinRobinson
2006-11-26 22:14:59 Went to their lunch buffet for the first time a few weeks ago. Have to say that it's a lot better than the one at Nobu Hiro. I wouldn't eat any sashimi though. who knows how long its been sitting out. —PorkFoo
2006-12-13 21:11:35 I love the roatating boats. It reminds me of the sushi buffets in Japan (if you can call them buffets, you have to pay for each dish). The food here is not great quality, but the quantity of course is outstanding. They are very apt to please here and will make you basically any roll or nigiri your heart desires. The line is daunting, but once you get in its really a great place to eat. —JohnHumperdinkle
2007-01-07 19:45:09 Just an fyi, I went today and saw this fat white dude standing outside basically trying to sneak in the line while everyone moved in. I told him to go to the back of the line, he just smiled like an idiot but somehow he still got in later on. Be wary of people like him... And I wonder why no one in line bothered to tell him to get the fuck out. —ArlenKwong
2007-01-21 12:59:24 This place is always super cracking, it's amazing how long the line is 45 minutes before they open —StevenDaubert
2007-02-02 03:24:04 Food is decent, if not outstanding. The long lines are bearable but if you are seated near or facing the entrance prepare to recieve piercing glares from impatient patrons-in-line. You would do well to avoid the sashimi or just the fish itself, but in combo's like the Dragon or Davis rolls it could be quite tastey. I live within walking distance of Moshi Moshi (fabulous place) in south Davis but rarely dine there because budgetary concerns. At Fujis, it is really a matter of quantity over quality but, a budget conscious student like me would do well to appreciate the value at Fuji Chef's. —JasonVien
2007-02-02 09:34:55 Does anyone have any insight about which days of the week are better than others, or their delivery schedule? I've found the fish to be good on Mondays and Fridays, but especially bad on Thursdays. —CraigBrozinsky
2007-02-06 13:40:25 Can not believe people wait in such long lines to eat here. Blah. I guess it's the quantity of sushi you get for your money. Save up your money and eat some GOOD sushi at Moshi Moshi. —SueJones
2007-03-15 14:15:32 Only thing i hate about Fuji's is the line. I'd rate Nobu's higher then Fujis though. —DonaldJaye
2007-03-16 16:01:49 fuji is NOT sushi! it's an american crappy version of sushi. the rolls are full of mayonaise, and nothing is fresh. the line is long, and you're eating food that has been floating around in front of a bunch of college student's bacteria ridden hands. this is seriously the worst sushi option in town! —JossieDiel
2007-03-30 16:00:02 I haven't tried the buffet yet but the sushi is excellent. I have heard rave reviews about the buffet, although there is a bit of a wait. —GreenThing
2007-04-11 21:34:02 It's pretty good for a buffet restaurant, even though you just end up eating the same stuff over and over. The services isn't so good. But what do you expect from a buffet. —jes
2007-04-15 12:15:26 Totally at a loss regarding the popularity of the place. I've lived in Davis 6 years, and my analysis of the situation is: #1) These students must have FAT bank accounts. $11-12? Nice. FYI - check out one of the taquerias for a $5 burrito that will get you farther, or if you're hell bent on sushi, there's better quality sushi in town. Not sure if I EVER spent that much on lunch when I was a student, and I would certainly not deal with annoying crowds to pay that amount. How much sushi can you really eat? NICE. #2) OK, I get it. It's cool. Yeah, meaning, it's cool to hang in the line, be seen there, etc. After all, your friends are going there, you better go too. #3) Thanks for the entertainment. —KeithJose
2007-04-15 18:16:57 The buffets are great if you want to eat lots of sushi. You definitely get more for your money here than other sushi places. I agree that sometimes the quality of the fish is questionable. Good service though! —GoAggies!
2007-05-02 12:51:06 not the best in town, but you pay for what you get, therefore the only good time for Fuji's is their lunchtime buffet. Otherwise there are better locations for dinner such as Osaka, Moshi Moshi, or Nobu Hiro =) —trambajuice
2007-05-02 20:36:08 Apparently, everyone goes here for the "all you can eat" sushi? My partner and I went here for an ordinary meal, but was not impressed by the service (which was terrible; dishes were forgotten, and then forgotten again) or the food. One sushi ordered was clearly premade some time ago. The teriyaki sauce was flavorless; meat was low quality. We are unlikely to return. —CovertProfessor
2007-05-19 12:01:48 I hadn't been here in about 3 years and finally tried the Lunch buffet again. After eating here I remember why I haven't been in 3 years. The fish is really low quality and nothing tastes fresh. While other sushi places in Davis are not stellar, I'd go to Nobu's buffet or Moshi Moshi any day over Fuji's. One plus is that the staff at the bar was very nice and took orders quickly and checked up on my table. Regardless of that factor, I cannot eat here again. —MissBelomy
2007-05-28 10:29:26 Look everyone, sushi is not cheap. Everytime I go to eat sushi either lunch or dinner I pay like from 45-50 dollars for two people. To have so much sushi for only 10 dollars a pop is so much better. Quit complaining. Im gonna be sad when i graduate and move away from davis and not have fuji buffet anymore. —PorkFoo
2007-07-11 17:12:08 I think their sushi is delicious and for 11.95 all you can eat, I dont know what else u could ask for. If you go before they open its usually a pretty long line but I usually go at about 1:00 where the 2nd wave of sushi goers have finished and there isn't any wait. —JoeLow
2007-08-05 12:14:43 I've gone here dozens of times for the sushi buffet and I have never been disappointed. It is true that the line is insane, and it is no one's cup of tea to go stand out there at 10 and wait an hour and a half to eat first, but I've always been satisfied. The chefs are super quick and responsive to your orders and water is always kept filled. The rolls are delicious and beautiful looking. Although the sashimi is not the finest quality, it is plentiful and enjoyable. I recommend the Spider Roll and the Davis Roll. The shrimp tempura is also delicious and amazing. There is a roll they make with tuna, mayo, spicy sauce, and green onions that I do not know the name off, but it is also wonderful. There is a reason why the line stretches the entire block, because Fuji Chef is the Davis restaurant to eat at. —CoreyPham
2007-08-19 00:03:34 the place rox! —davisrox
2007-08-19 21:04:02 pretty good sushi for the price, but line waiting is lame. Don't want to be seen there but I still go —KaiWan
2007-09-18 22:52:53 O_o my god I went to Fuji for the first time and nearly died from eating so much. if you are bothered by the food being 'old' then ask for something to be made up for you. Or wait until they put it out and get it then. ...I wasn't sure HOW to tip tho...i wanted to tip to the lady that was getting my special orders...but she was handling food...would it have been ok to give her cash??... —ArianeMetz
2007-09-20 22:39:39 The workers can be very rude. I will not eat there again. —customer
2007-10-09 16:47:13 I went to Fuji's buffet for the first time over the past week and it was incredible. The sushi wasn't better than the sushi you can get elsewhere (eg. Moshi Moshi, or Sushi Nobu for buffet), but it was good, the variety was simply incredible. The line was ridiculously long — we got there at 11 and we didn't get in to eat until 12:15 or 12:30. But I now understand why this place is so popular. I can't wait to go back and try more new stuff. —AlexPomeranz
2007-10-10 21:20:56 Well, if you are an Asian and I mean those grew up in Asia, you are definitely not gonna appreciate it.. it's just Another Americanized Sushi House... Yea, it's cheap, but doesn't worth to line up and wait for it...I would rather drive 45mins-1hr to some Sushi restaurants out of Davis —JanetAu
2007-10-11 18:33:42 Janet, judging by your name, you're probably Chinese. Unless you've eaten a substantial amount of sushi in Japan, any kind of Sushi you ate in China or whatever is not authentic sushi, either. —BlackHamster
2007-10-26 18:19:05 I went to Fuji's for the first time about a month ago. It was pretty tasty for being a little over $10; the only exceptions were the sashimi and nigiri, which were still half frozen. I felt optimistic though, and passed it off with an "I guess it's good to know the fish hasn't been sitting out for that long? Sort of?" In any event, I spent that night puking. :[ Despite negative reviews, for cheapo buffet sushi I actually prefer Jusco over Fuji Chef. —ScarlettYing
2007-11-03 20:27:17 Ate here for the first time this morning. My friends and I signed in on about 11:15, and were not able to actually get seated until 1:55...minutes before the buffet price ended. The wait is INSANE, and the sushi was not exactly worth it to be honest although it wasn't bad. For a 2+ hour wait, I expected it to be treated to some damn magical sushi, but it was just okay. I'd come here again, I guess, but not if I find something better. —kthrnngo
2007-12-04 15:35:46 The Sushi here isn't exactly the BEST in the world but for the price it's pretty good. Once you get a hang on how long the waits are its not really a problem, just go somewhere else while you wait and chill with some friends. —NCSaephanh
2008-02-10 16:42:04 went to fujis yesterday. had a good experience and i think we will come back here again. their dragon and especially their y2k rolls were awesome. we had their udon soup and that was delicious too, a bit too salty though. the service was great. its a bit pricey, but then so is everything else in davis. might as well pay a bit more for good sushi. —jentruong
2008-02-23 00:15:31 That added comment in the description that Fuji doesn't serve red snapper is kind of minor. Should we be upset that we are being "fooled"? Maybe. But I don't know many people who wake up and go "Today I am going to a sushi buffet (doesn't matter which restaurant) and I want to eat red snapper!" I order it sometimes, and maybe the reason why it is so flavorless is because it wasn't red snapper all along. That doesn't detract Fuji from being a great place to get all you can eat buffet. They have many other great things to eat there, well worth what you pay. Fuji also recently won Best Sushi in Davis for the second consecutive year I think. So go check it out, and try their tilapia! —CoreyPham
2008-03-16 19:03:08 They now serve dinner buffet which is great because it means less crowds. The sushi is good but it can get tiredsome sometimes. The eel sauce they put on a lot of their dragon rolls becomes very tiring, overpowering, and strong. Also, I wish they have more different kinds of rolls! Overall, its good place to eat sushi once in a while and moneys worth. —AlexN
2008-03-24 13:36:16 given my moniker, i should not admit that i've been to fuji's buffet at least 4 times, twice for lunch and twice for dinner. they serve pretty much the same food at both, with dinner also offering crab legs (not bad, but a grade below top quality), fried salmon (regrettably dry), and clam salad (not very well executed). The sake and maguro sashimi are usually pretty decent, not #1 grade but still eatable as sashimi. However, sometimes the maguro is just old tuna. In any event, it is usually better than the tuna served at Nobu Hiro — which seems to use the pinkish frozen tuna from vietnam available at $5.99 at groceries. However, Fuji's Hamachi (or yellowtail) is absolutely gross. Consistently bad—they may have bought a bad batch a while ago and are still trying to pawn it off. Shelled oysters are a treat but come seasoned only with a lemon wedge. They will also fry you up some soft shelled crabs and salmon skins. They offered hamachi collars at the dinner buffet, but looking at the hamachi, i shuddered and passed. The rolls, like a lot of rolls made in northern California come ladened with a sort of teriyaki/unagi sauce that gets very, very tiresome. By themselves, the rolls too become tiresome. The shrimp tempura by itself was bland and too doughy. Not too greasy though. The sushi is, for the most part, better here than at Nobu Hiro in my opinon. At nobu, they give you about a 1/2 slice of fish atop a mountain of rice, with the sushi warden watching to ensure that the rice is eaten. At Fuji, average amount of rice and a large slice of fish. I would go back, because the price is not beatable if I like raw oysters, soft shell crab, and lots of sake and maguro sashimi. Service was very spotty; very friendly one day and not so friendly another. For food quality, I would have to say C+/B-. For value, i would have to say an "A." —1pickyeater
2008-04-02 20:19:32 The salmon sushi ranges from not so fresh to quite fresh (and chilly - apparently recently out of a freezer). The salmon is not particularly flavorful. The unagi seems reasonably fresh, but again rather bland. This place is definitely much better for quantity rather than quality. —IDoNotExist
2008-04-08 14:49:46 Does anyone know anything about the recent change in management/ownership? —CoreyPham
2008-04-14 16:57:54 We just went to Fuji's last night for the dinner buffet. It was just like the lunch buffet but without the long line. They even had grilled salmon which I've never seen at the lunch buffet. As for the change in ownership, they said that the new owners (a Taiwanese family/firm) will be taking over next month. Most of the crew will stay on for a couple of months to transition, but most likely will not stay to work for the new owners. I'm sad to see them go (the family, not the business), as I've been going to them as long as I've lived in Davis ('97). Hopefully the new owners can make Fuji's better rather than worse. —Aaron.Curtin
2008-04-17 00:10:00 There's a billion reviews already written for this so I'll be brief. Nigiri is of lower quality than Nobu, but still much better than Jusco. I don't like the rolls, because they add too much sauce, cut them too thick, and their temperature makes them not feel very fresh. The selection is easily the largest out of the three buffets. One big plus it has over Nobu is that you can order sashimi - you can potentially walk out of the restaurant without eating a single grain of rice! Some people don't like that the sashimi is sometimes still a little frozen - a problem, yes, but at least you know it hasn't been sitting out for a while.
[EDIT]: I wrote that the nigiri is higher quality than Nobu, when I meant lower. —BrandonWong
2008-04-17 00:33:37 a lot people told me the fuji's buffet has very good food, peoples waiting for hours to have lunch, so i went there give a try ,they had more different food to choose, even sashimi you ask for, but fish are sucks , the sushi nobu has the best fish in town and better price. it is waste money for this kind sushi. the ownership of fuji's will be changed pretty soon, the new owner(from Chinese restaurant) never had experience how to make sushi, still need old employee for training new guys, do you trust this place can make better sushi, i don't think so. —bob25
2008-04-20 18:51:19 Definitely not all its cracked up to be. The quality was pretty good, but they didn't have much variety and the overall means of getting food is awkward. I prefer juscos (across the street) mainly because you get to order and they serve so its more organized (but the quality is not as good). Having to crowd over people or stand at a corner while waiting is quite tiresome, and makes the food much less enjoyable. Its harder to talk to a group of friends when every five minutes someone has to get up to get more food. Then again their food is pretty good...but definitely not worth more than a ten minute wait. —ASQWIK
2008-05-02 16:30:10 I have been here three times now, twice for lunch and once for dinner, and all three times I have been blown away by the sushi. I'm a bit spoiled by the sushi I get at home, but this is the best sushi for your money here in Davis. —CGall
2008-05-14 23:08:25 it's scary that so many people are willing to risk food poisoning or an upset stomach for a cheap buffet..it's quality is no better than any other type of buffet...they will even gove u a plate of sashimi still frozen when it's busy...pretty gross. better off trying nobu's buffet, much better quality, and better cuts of fish —foodexpert
2008-06-02 23:22:49 I wrote a review not too long ago, but I must note now that Fuji's has been on a decline for the past few months. The nigiri has way too much rice added, and the fish aren't cut very well. You can particularly tell the poor cutting if you order the sashimi during lunch hours. —BrandonWong
2008-06-07 16:17:57 It's alright. Way overpriced for dinner and the wait for lunch is ridiculous and not worth it. Decent sushi though. —Kicker
2008-06-21 17:52:27 For $17 I think their dinner sushi all you can eat buffett is totally worth it. We don't normally get anything from the boats but rather order off the menu. Its good sushi that you can stuff yourself with but if you are looking for a high-end experience I wouldn't reccomend here. —Zeeba
2008-08-04 23:11:04 hate this palce...the worst sushi ever and not sanitary in the establishment. check the article about fuji chef substituting hamachi with tilapia.... do not recommend —islandboy12
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you mean snapper with tilapia :)
2008-08-06 22:11:55 Soooo good. they even have several choices for vegetarians. it's great! my personal fav: veggie tempura drangon roll =) —PalakKapasi
2008-09-05 12:31:41 I used to come here once a week for a bowl of miso soup, a side of age gyoza, an order of hamachi kama, and then 2 random items. Best stuff ever...those were the days... —SunjeetBaadkar
2008-10-28 15:52:12 I haven't tried all the sushi joints in Davis yet but this is not the best. I've been here approximately four or five times and I have to say the quality of the sushi/sashimi is low but you can't expect much quality from buffets. If you like ungodly sushi creations topped with mounds of sickly sweet sauces then this place is for you. If you like your sashimi semi-frozen or worse, warm and doughy, then this place is for you. Everything else is pretty much standard decent tasting food. Not worth the price unless you're furiously hungry for quasi-Japanese food. —AnonymousStudent
2008-11-17 19:48:44 They DEFINITELY have upgraded to the better! Its wonderful here now, the rolls are nicely made and more variety on the sushi boats. Nothing is sitting around, its delicious :D —MissAmyQ
2008-12-04 15:34:28 AMAZING!! I love FUJI! This place is great. I love how you can grab anything off the boat and also order off the menu. They have the best Miso soup as well. I am a big fan of the spider roll and the y2k roll. The gyoza are great and the short ribs are even better. It just sucks my stomach can't handle eating there everyday, cause the price is super affordable and the food is really good. —hazeleyes16
2008-12-07 02:55:18 Fuji's was the original sushi buffet in Davis...Then Davis Sushi tried to steal the show. For a while, Fuji's was going downhill but I'm glad to say that I think it's back on top of the sushi world in Davis. When Davis Sushi Buffet arrived, it was clearly better than Fuji's. Exactly the same, just done better. Cleaner, variety etc. However, I think Fuji's got the message, and one upped them yet again. They now have a a little more variety with the help of some new items on the menu and have cleaned the place up a bit. Prices are now 12.95 no matter what day of the week you eat for lunch.
After 3.5 years of eating Fuji's, I was sad to see it go down and get passed up by Davis Sushi Buffet....But after maybe 1/2 a year of being a fan of Davis Sushi Buffet, I'm back on track with Fuji's...too bad I won't be there anymore. =(
It's gotten better and it's THE original. The former owner retired and the new owner seemed really nice and chatted it up a bit before lunch. Why support the idea of Davis Sushi Buffet when it was only a replica of Fuji's and simply stole their ideas? That's just my opinion. I almost miss the good old days where you had to line up all the way past Ground Zero for Fuji's an hour before it opened. It was a little ridiculous but that was all part of the deal.
Stick to the original and don't support the "biters."
2009-02-14 11:30:17 So I have been going to Fuji's for years and years!! I grew up around Davis, and my family would make the trip to go. I was even part of the crowd that got there at the crack of dawn and brought my lawn chair. :)
Now that it is open all of the time with a buffet, my hubby and I go once-twice a week. The staff are awesome!! They know us well! Whenever I sit down, they automatically give me two plates of my squid salad :) and two cucumber/tuna hand rolls.
I will continue to go there as long as they are open. My loyalties are to Fujis and I will not attend any of those copycats! mmmm maybe I will go tonite, all of this writing about Fuji's is making me hungry!!!
2009-03-15 11:03:29 This is a great place for people who eat a lot. Comparably, the sushi itself is lower quality for you purists out there, but I'm not one of those. It's still tasty and fresh enough for a starving student like me. Don't like the lines? Pay up the extra $4 and come later on. It wont hurt that bad, I promise. I come in with a $20, sit at the bar, and eat like the pig I am. There are some really good rolls, some that are just okay, and some that I honestly don't like (I'm not much for the spicy sauce, for example. It sorta lacks flavor to match the heat.). If you're new or a quick/massive eater, head for the bar. Newbies should come with friends. Pull one plate at a time and split it up, find out what you like. Keep an eye on the chefs, too. If one asks you if you want something, tell them what you like! They'll put out more of it or make you a plate. I'm a fan of tamago rolls for no reason in particular, and my best friend is addicted to the cream cheese wontons. They make great supplements to all that sushi.
To kinda sum it up, if you're looking for posh, high-quality eats? Try elsewhere. But if you want something affordable, filling, and still tasty, this is great.
Another big plus? No waiting for service. I usually come around 8pm and there are no lines, even for the bar, and you get to just sit down and EAT. —KBathory
2009-03-15 13:52:49 I should preface this by saying i saw the owner at costco buying 20 gallons of mayo, and a big box of foodservice brand toilet paper. Do sockpuppets eat at Fuji Chef? 
sock puppet food —BlueDot
Answer: No, Idiot. Sockpuppets don't eat food. Go back to Kindergarten.
Out of idle curiosity, what makes you think there is sockpuppetry on this page? What I've read here is pretty much consistent with the my opinions of the place and my friends. —wl
think this answers the question "what do sockpuppets eat?"
sockpuppets have no teeth>>>sockpuppets dont eat OR sockpuppets eat soft foods
IMO sockpuppets positively review and thus eat here, so sockpuppets do eat and IME this place goes through an excessive amount of mayo implying that
mayo is at least palatable if not preferred sockpuppet food. also, the only other socially acceptable reason for rolling with 50 lbs of mayo is some sort of
mayo wrestling event, because i have no personal experience at fuji's i have to assume the mayo is food related, the last time i was there it was a kinkos.
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The five reviews from accounts with about 5 posts, all love this place. begs the question whether photo caption applies.
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You can always click on the account name, and look at "user info" to see where else they've commented and how often. The only close link I can see is one from Hazeleyes and one from sushi (out of a few) suggesting they perhaps share some connection. But of Sushi's three comments, the first one about the other sushi place is negative, and the second says it's better than Fuji's. So I guess we can take it with a grain of salt.
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2009-05-02 23:55:38 i love the lunch buffet here. their tamago is one of the best i've tasted. the spicy scallop hand roll is very spicy but very good =) —Vi
2009-05-04 16:30:30 Good sushi buffet, you can't beat that kind of price with the quality like that elsewhere, pretty much like Davis Sushi Buffet. —thtly
2009-06-24 20:37:45 After going back tonight, I was highly disappointed by the sushi dinner. I felt like the sushi rolls had been sitting out for quite some time and everything that was fried seemed to had lost its crispness. I didn't like the taste of their sashimi, it tasted kind of slimy. =/ I remember when I came here in high school in 2004, and had better food preparation. —MissAmyQ
2009-08-15 22:27:40 I ate there only once, and there is good reason for this. If you like the atmosphere of a sub-basement industrial break room, this is the place for you. Harsh lighting, no windows to speak of, and mediocre food. —Darren22
2009-09-06 21:51:50 what happened to their oysters and green tea ice cream ): —GuavaLava
2009-11-17 02:02:54 I always saw the lines and wanted to eat here. I was unforgivably poor the only time I went so I just kept my girlfriend and her friend company. They kicked me out for not ordering anything (I didn't sample off of anyone's plate, I just talked with them). Now that I have money I will never eat here. Unless they were planning on seating some stranger at the table there was no reason for them to be rude and as far as I'm concerned I hope their sushi boats sink. —GreatRyan
2009-12-19 21:27:21 Please enlighten me, folks. Rumor said that Fuji was closed down, because they were sued by providing unfresh sushi which leads to food poison during the dinner time. Is this true? —thebigshow500
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You are right. I went there and it is still open. My friend tricked me! :p
2010-01-20 09:59:03 This is one of the great restaurants in Davis and always delicious. Yes, for sushi purists, you can probably do better elsewhere and also pay 2-4x as much, but value for the dollar is excellent here.
The chefs are friendly and will literally make anything on the menu for you on demand. —rfrazier
2010-01-26 21:24:37 I used to eat here every monday one particular semester for lunch. The more I ate here the less I liked their food! Yet somehow crappy sushi was SOOO much more appealing than the class I had scheduled at 11 it almost didn't matter. Here's my breakdown of the quality:
Top Notch Japanese Restaurant in NYC: 4 pieces sashimi, 8.99
best I've ever had, grade A+ cuts of fish & fresh Hole in the Wall place in San Diego: large sampler platter, $20
incredibly good, grade A cut, very fresh Mikuni's / any other authentic place not close to the water
pricey, but very good, grade A cut, but not so fresh Store bought sushi (nugget) - $6-8 for 9 pieces or so
grade B cut, fresh Fuji
12.99 for unlimited
grade C cut AND not fresh.
PS I've heard all non grade A sushi fish is treated with carbon monoxide & frozen so that it won't in fact, give you food poisoning.
2010-01-29 22:53:23 Though the interior is a little run down they seem to have some of the better sushi in Davis. They also have a pretty good variety and happily and quickly make you anything off of the menu. If you're hungry it's cheaper than purchasing multiple rolls at Mikuni or Moshi Moshi. —5thAve
2010-02-19 12:34:36 For whatever reason I always leave Fuji's with a strong feeling of noxiousness or nausea. Not my first choice but then you get what you pay for I suppose. —blastoff
2010-03-22 22:03:41 mayonnaise. and lots of it. —Vero
2010-05-30 23:09:49 everytime I order Sashimi from Fuji's it's always half frozen still, and that's disgusting. Have you ever tried to eat a half frozen piece of fish, it makes you gag a little... This has been every single time I've come here, so at least 9 times. —ThUn
2010-06-03 16:40:03 i love fuji! it's delicious.. my housemates and i crave this all the time. I think the last time we went was on a SAT and i believe it's the same price everyday —Hollen
2010-08-16 15:09:56 I went here recently, and was rather disappointed. $12.95 is at the high end for a lunchtime sushi buffet, and being shoehorned into the bar was not ideal. We were not provided with a menu, and had to forage for one on our own. It wasn't worth the effort, however, since all the specialty rolls were variations on the crab/shrimp/cucumber/avocado/salmon theme, and even those with different ingredients tasted the same. In addition, when I requested inari (tofu skins on rice), I was informed that this is not available during lunch. This surprised me, since inari is relatively inexpensive. Beyond that we tried their crab-cheese wontons, which I usually enjoy quite a bit (at other restaurants). Unfortunately, theirs were oddly sweet and tasted strongly of butter. All in all, this place was a large amount of small disappointments, which added up to my conclusion not to go back in the future. —JoePomidor
2011-02-28 00:53:30 I LOVE FUJI's!!! If I want to spend money on sushi I splurge here, not only is their sushi delicious, especially when its made fresh, but their service is SUPERB! they actually WANT to serve you and will guys who make the sushi are more than happy to take any order you give them with a smile on their face. as opposed to Davis sushi where you have to pretty much flash someone to get your order taken lol, I feel so welcome here and I know the workers by name and they know me! they make it a point to have my favorite dishes waiting for me at my table before I even sit down at the sushi bar! now thats service! I love Fuji's and they should keep doing what they are doing! :D —jennadedios
2011-03-27 22:25:24 this was the first sushi place I've been to in Davis. The nigari/sashimi here is just whatevers since I went to the buffet during lunch. Many people rave about the sushi here but I just don't see it. Something about boats of raw fish floating around for who knows how long on a bed of water just irks me. Eat here if you're on a budget and don't really have a taste for sushi because there are better options else where, mainly outside of Davis. If you want good sushi suggestions and are visiting the LA area, i can direct you to some good places. —C.Ling
2011-04-01 15:09:48 Great, especially for the price. I have never ordered something they couldn't make. This place competes in quality with non-buffet sushi places. Whenever I have relatives or friends from out of town I bring them here. I hope this place sticks around for a long time. —SeanPatch
2011-07-06 18:36:06 I love this place! I go to the Saturday lunch buffet. I definitely try to get there right when it opens cuz there's a line and like others have said, sometimes the food has been sitting out for a little while and I dont like my sushi warm. Have not gotten sick here and love that you can order things from the chefs in the middle. I just need to remember to ask for a menu so I know what I can order. —KathrynAzarvand
2011-08-06 16:41:24 BEWARE: I went to eat with my friends at fuji today and found baby cockroaches roaming at the Bar! My friend and I caught two of the roaches and showed the waitress our discovery. The waitress was like “Oh” and squished the bugs with her bare fingers and I don’t think she washed her hand afterward. She told us the pest control just came by last week, which is questionable since they were running around ALIVE right in front of us. The funny part was when she asked me what I wanted her to do about it…. as if I brought in the cockroaches for a free meal. I forgot to add that the sushi chefs do wash their hands frequently!
The bill came to 45 dollars and they decide to take a “discount” of 15 dollars off our final bill. I have been going here since I have started school at UC Davis and I am not going to be coming back to this place anytime soon. This is really saddening since this was my favorite sushi place to eat in Davis…
-Kevin
2011-08-06 17:11:01 *UPDATE* I went to post my experience on yelp and found that many other users had lowered their ratings due to problems with their cleanliness and poor management(link below).
I grew up in Asia and had my share of eating in dirty places/street food. Cleanliness is not a usual problem for me.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/fuji-sushi-boat-and-buffet-davis —kkha91
2011-08-10 16:05:34 ate here for the first time a week ago. servers and chefs were very friendly and helpful! but the food was average and right at the end of my meal i saw a cockroach skuttling down the little wooden shelf net to the tables... definitely won't be coming back —jaleh
2011-08-16 16:36:19 The food is decent compared to the other sushi buffets in Davis. For the price that I am paying, I would expect better customer service (but I suppose working all day with fish and demanding customers can be tiring).
One of the few things I do not like about this restaurant are the flies. Maybe I just attract flies because I'm ugly, but every time I go to Fuji's, there are always these nasty little black flies. :(
The Latino employee guy there is hot. kthxbai. —PaulV
2012-04-09 15:04:35 Had lunch there yesterday. My friends mother wanted to go there and I decided to comply even though my husband and I haven't gone there in over a year. We had stopped eating there because the quality of the fish was REALLY low and because the amount of small gnat/flies really creeped us out. Anyways, I carefully selected a pre-made small shrimp tempura roll, philadelphia roll, seaweed salad, and ordered vegetable tempura. After I took the first bite of the philadelphia roll, I tasted something very hard and plasticy. I very politely used my napkin to spit out the hard contents, and found what looked like pieces of a plastic fork. (Like on of the spikes cut in half). I'm not one to make a big deal out of something but I figured the waitress/owner should know that plastic is ending up inside their rolls. They apologized and comped my meal and the waitress let me know that the Chef's don't use plastic forks when making their rolls. (which wasn't reassuring).
Also; for the people who think you can order fresh rolls: my husband went to order a "fresh" shrimp tempura roll with green onion on top but the Chef seemed really annoyed and grabbed one off the top counter and sprinkled some green onion on it. I think if you're paying so much money for sushi you should be able to order a roll fresh.
We stopped going here last year and opted to budget out money for quality sushi, aka Mikuni. —jenb
2012-07-30 11:07:14 I have been consistently impressed by how friendly and solicitous the staff here is. (We needed extra napkins, and someone just appeared with them without us even having to ask). —BlytheDurbinJohnson
2012-08-16 15:04:31 Look people always come here saying its the best sushi in davis... This couldnt be further from the truth. I have been here too many times. The chefs give zero fucks and ordering from them is such a hassle but the worst part is the sashimi fish. It smeells like garbage from improper care in the freezer. Next time you go there smell your sashimi and you'll know what I am talking about. Davis Sushi has friendlier staff and better quality fish
2012-08-29 12:51:39 THIS PLACE IS HORRIBLE, The sushi that rotates on the boat is cold, well everything on the boats are cold. IF you do go, best advice is to always order from the chef. Their were fruit flies flying around all over the bar and in the sushi, I had to blow at them just to keep them away and they would come back. The Avocado you can tell has been old due to the brown color, and what finally called it quit for me was the tempura. It still had the sh*t inside them and was not taken out. I understand its a buffet but if your paying the same price as those top places like Mikunis and Sushi unlimited, you SHOULD JUST GO THERE INSTEAD. I will never eat here again. Only thing positive I cna say is that the chef was eager to serve and paid attention to us, but of course he did when there were maybe 5 other people in the whole building. —ShadiKanaan
2012-10-30 09:44:09 We ate here in September, for the first time in about five years. We came for a weekday buffet lunch, and I couldn't tell if it got worse, or if we just had good memories eating here with friends between '02 and '07.
Coming on a non-crowded weekday may have been a mistake, because I am positive there was a LOT less variety on the boats than what was usual (from weekends of years past, at least). A lot of the sushi temperatures were 'off,' which was a little off putting. Temperature affects texture. I did order one plate of sashami, which was a mistake - stick to the rolls here. We asked for unagi, and despite being told they had run out for the day, they put out dragon rolls topped with it about fifteen minutes later. I can't tell if they got worse, or I learned better, but after thinking about it for a few weeks I think it's both cases. Service wasn't too friendly either, it involved a lot of pointing and mumbling.
All in all, I'm glad we went back just to revisit the place, since it brings back a lot of fond college memories. If we didn't have those, we wouldn't be coming back for the food. —EdWins
2012-11-03 20:15:51 All the rolls have some disgusting white mayonnaise stuff. Everything has crab salad in it. Like fake crab with mayonnaise. You try to order something fresh and they pretend like they don't understand what you are saying. No variety, low quality fish, terrible service. I will never go here again. Not even if you paid me to go. I felt sick the rest of the day after eating here. —TJLanoue
2012-11-08 16:24:37 If you want your sushi relatively fresh, come right at opening. If you want dry sushi that has been sitting around for hours, come near closing! In all honesty, their rolls are just smothered in heavy, flavorless sauces. What I do love Fujis for is their Sashimi. Ask for a large plate of sashimi, and they give you a LARGE plate of LARGE cuts of fresh fish. Not quite as fresh and high quality as Nobu's puny cuts of sashimi, but who cares when you have a platter of the stuff? Awesome. Absolutely worst rolls in Davis... But fantastic portion size for salmon sashimi. —SeanOtt
2012-11-20 13:05:41 This is pretty much our go-to sushi buffet restaurant in Davis. The sushi and the service are both "good." Plus my daughter loves to sit by the counter and watch the sushi boats pass by. If you have unlimited funds and are looking for better quality sushi, there are better places to visit in Davis. But for the quantity and price, you can't beat this place. —BrianPakpour
2013-12-11 13:19:42 I would like to start this review by saying, I LOVE SUSHI! I lived in Modesto for two years and I tried every sushi place there multiple times. I am from Woodland and recently moved back, and was excited to try all of the sushi places in Davis since I've heard such great things about Davis Sushi. Well, this was the first place I tried, and sad to say, I was very disappointed. Firstly, on a good note, it is all you can eat, so you can walk away full. Now that we have all the good out of the way, everything else...You could order rolls, and they'd come out within seconds. They were cold and premade, and almost every roll tasted identical but with a different mystery sauce on it. The sake nigiri (one of my favorite things) was decent, although it was starting to get a little slimy. The rice also had too much vinegar. I was really disappointed, considering I read such good reviews about this place. After leaving, I developed a strange red rash on my arm that lasted a few hours and itched like hell! I didn't try any new fish that I hadn't eaten before so I don't know what could have caused it (unless one of the fish I ate wasn't what I thought it was...) That being said, I look forward to trying the rest of Davis Sushi out, but I doubt i'll be giving this place a second chance. —SamuelMonteon
2014-06-02 17:34:34 We went there today and there was not much standard fish in the sushi. We had a few plates of fish roe and shrimp and one spicy maki roll. Other than that we had mostly chicken and vegetarian plates. The fancy rolls were more confusing than exciting. This wasn't really sushi, it was "sushi". They said that you could special order the nigiri, but there was only one server popping in and out from the kitchen and she looked pretty busy. This restaurant is hardly any fun compared to what it was 10 years ago. The only positive is that there is no longer any wait to get in. —GregKuperberg
2014-09-14 12:19:17 Many years ago, there use to be long lines for the buffet during this time of year. The food was better and it was a few dollars cheaper. Even the owners know how unappetizing the food is nowadays. The lights are so dim in there that you can barely see anything. I kinda lost it when I saw that my roll had more mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce than rice. The problem is in the assembly line or rather the owners who decided to sacrifice poor sushi craftsmanship and low with even lower quality sushi. This is the bottom of the barrel for sushi buffets. I heard the quality is much better during non-buffet hours, but IMO a buffet really says a lot of the business, it says: how low are you willing to go? —JacobMall
2015-06-28 15:01:23 I usually get there to go boxes for $10. Haven't been in a while though because they always forget something like the avocado or the spicey sause on my spicey roll. So annoying. And one time I ordered it and the chef came out to stare at the menu because he couldn't remember what was in the rolls I ordered. —Foxismydog
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