Sushi in Pflugerville??

I must agree, the new sushi restaurant in P'ville, <a href="http://www.hakata.com">Hakata</a> is fabulous. They ever carry high grade tuna like o-toro and chu-toro which is so difficult to find elsewhere. Their sushi is so good that it calls to me all week until I can get back. The proprietor, Chris, is a super nice guy and his staff is awesome. Help support our local sushi restaurant and come try them out!

I must agree, the new sushi restaurant in P'ville, [url]http://www.hakata.com">Hakata[/url] is fabulous. They ever carry high grade tuna like o-toro and chu-toro which is so difficult to find elsewhere. Their sushi is so good that it calls to me all week until I can get back. The proprietor, Chris, is a super nice guy and his staff is awesome. Help support our local sushi restaurant and come try them out![/url]

Hakata is a wonderful place. My hubby and I have become regulars there and we go at least once or twice per week. It's the only place we can go to and have 6-8 pieces of sushi with miso, rolls, plus an extra something off the sushi menu for under $40. Chris, the owner, often has specials on food and beer. And Chris likes to experiment with new products and foods. He often will give his customers a free cup of hot or cold Sake to try or a sampling of a new appetizer or menu item he's trying out. Generally we have the sushi combos, which have to be the BEST deal in all of the central Texas area. $12 for 6 piece and $14 for 8 piece and come with Miso and either a California or Spicy Tuna roll. THE CALIFORNIA ROLLS HERE ARE THE BEST I HAVE EVER HAD! I normally hate california rolls due to the waxy, rubbery pieces of fake crab most people put in it. Chris uses REAL crab meat in his California Rolls and they are wonderful. I've never had a bad piece of sushi there, and in fact, it's ALWAYS wonderful. The quality there is excellent on a consistant basis, and further more, the quality to customer cost ratio is excellent. Your dollars go further at this restaurant......we always seem to be able to buy more food here for less money. Chris told me he gets his fish flown in from Japan, California, and the Chicago area and indeed the quality and freshness is outstanding. Hakata also has great rolls. The spicy 911 Roll, Orgasm Roll, and the Crazy Boy Roll are becoming signature rolls for Hakata. I always hear someone ordering one of these 3 rolls everytime I go to Hakata. In summary, Hakata's food is art. There is just something about getting really good food for a really good price and is pleasing to all the senses at once. They make a mean sauce there, and usually the dishes come out so pretty looking that you almost hate to tear into it. And the Mo-chi is OUTSTANDING! Hakata is the only place I've every had it before. It's on the menu, but I never tried it until my son's birthday dinner when Chris made us a huge bowl of it. It's ice cream (mango, strawberry, green tea, etc.) inside a sweet rice skin. The only way to describe it is like eating an ice cream peach. What can I say.....it's one of my favorite Sushi places. I love Origami as well and we love to go and visit with Tim while he makes us some great food. However, Hakata has been a pleasant surprise in the last few months and we have found ourselves going to Hakata more and more often. (Honestly, the prices are so reasonable that we can afford to go twice per week for the cost of 1 trip to any of those other pricey, trendy restaurants around Austin.) Hakata also needs all your support right now. It's a new restaurant and they had a hard time during September. October has picked up, but they are still struggling. Chris himself has been stepping behind the Sushi Bar to prepare food to help with costs. So before you go to the usual Austin trendy spot, try something new and help support Pflugerville's only sushi bar. I guarantee that you will like it. It'll be the best $30 you've ever spent on sushi. Best Regards, Marissa E.

I've been eating at Hakata for months now, and it is hands down the best bang for the buck for Round Rock, Pflugerville and NorthEast Austin. Chris is a prince among restauranteers.

After hearing all the wonderful things about Hakata, my boyfriend and I stopped in last Friday night... and we were extremely dissappointed. My first clue that this was going to be a bad experience was trying to order a drink. The waitress took our drink order, disappeared, came back five minutes later and asked us if anyone had taken our drink order. Once we got that settled, we had to wait another 10 minutes for her to come take our order - but the waiting had just begun. Because we we on a time schedule, we just ordered 3 rolls, thinking that would be the quickest way to go. After all, their website does say "to sate your hunger immediately, order a roll", or something very close. It took almost an hour and a half to get our food, which came one roll at a time. Now, I understand that sushi is an art and that it does take time, and that there was only one person making the sushi... but it just got to be ridiculous. I worked in restaurants for 6 years, so I understand that you can't judge a restaurant by one server. I could overlook the horrible service and go back when I had a few hours to spare and wasn't in a hurry. I won't though, because I wasn't the least bit impressed with the food. The first roll was pretty good, the second one was OK, and the third one was bad. The rice was gummy and overcooked, and there was no flavor at all. I've had better sushi from HEB - and it didn't cost me $11 either or take all night either. I don't understand the reviews saying Hakata is reasonably priced. Maybe for other items, but not for the sushi rolls. Overall, I was really disappointed - actually, pretty pissed off - with my experience at Hakata and waiting 90 minutes for mediocre, overpriced food served by inattentive waitstaff.

Went and tried Hakata last Friday after finding that Blue Fin in RR had closed. Was quite impressed by the quality of the sushi and the level of service from both the waitstaff and Chris. For what I ate the price wasn't out of line and the pieces were more than generous. I will be a repeat customer for sure.

:roll: unimpressed, to say the least. yes the owner is very friendly, quite to the point that you want him to leave you alone so you can eat. We were the only ones there at first yet my Wife's sashimi was the last thing out of the kitchen after other tables had been seated and served. Miso soup was quite good. My rainbow roll was OK nothing spectacular. The kids had some noodles that were also OK. The strangest part was the waiter that i can only describe as a really nice chubby neo-nazi that had never waited tables. Dude, if you are reading this trim your beard and hair and put an apron and some nice shoes on, makes a world of difference. When the Sashimi plate came out it was plain and not very appetizing for the eyes. Cost us $77 and the only drink was a single glass of Chardonay. For that much $ i'm going someplace with a hot asian chick as a waiter even if she drops the soup on my head. Oh, place was hot inside. That is all.

Hakata ROCKS. IT is my new favorite place.  Everything is delish!  The sushi iswonderfully fresh and quite yummy.  I would eat there everyday if I could!  My non-sushi eating family members rave about the tempura and miso. I heartily recommend Hakata.  The proprietor, Chris, is the nicest guy ever.  You will really have a great meal and a great time. What are you waiting for? Hit the door and head for Hakata!

I used to love Hakata, so it really pains me to say this. It's just not the same place it was 3-4 yrs ago. He's not open for lunch anymore at all...dinner only. His fish variety is limited & he's frequently out of some types of fish or doesn't bother stocking it at all (like suzuki/sea bass). Sometimes the wait can be long for sushi. For a while, he was pre-cutting sushi in order to help speed things up. This is when I began to get turned off. The pre-cut pieces dried out faster in the cooler & tasted funny or slightly....off. (I'm not sure if he is still doing this....last time I went it seemed like he wasn't.) This place went through a whole bunch of sushi chefs in the first year or two of opening. But when the owner Chris stepped behind the bar, things kind of got...inconsistent. Sometimes he'd be terribly backed up & working frantically, but eventually he found his footing & was doing well. However, it was about this time that I noticed the dishes were getting simpler & simpler. The combos specials stopped changing. The roll of the week vanished. The presentation no longer looked like art. They used to have this purple raspberry type sauce they used in the presentation, an interesting special touch that was unique to Hakata, but that quickly vanished. They also used to use japanese greens/sprouts in the spicy tuna rolls, which was impressively different, but that stopped. And those awesome california rolls, with his special blend of real & imitation crab, aren't the same either. The last few times I was there, it seemed like he's not using the real crab anymore & has jumped on the imitation band wagon. It's just a combination of all these little special things fading away that has really left me unimpressed with them the last 2 years or so. It's nothing against Chris or Hakata. I still try to drop in once & a while just to support Pflugerville's only sushi bar. I've written glowing reviews, (both here & other places) & have recommended it to others before. I just feel like it's changed over the years. What once was a quality little sushi bar that offered some unique little treats & special fare has become, to me, a regular place with run-of-the-mill sushi you could get at any sushi restaurant. A few of the rolls are still unique, they do have some of the best Miso in Austin, and the cooked entrees were wonderful. However, I quickly became bored with the same selections on the sushi combos and sometimes left disappointed in the meal. I wish them the best & hope they can turn things around. Being only open for dinner makes me wonder if Hakata is on the way out???