Walking the ‘mean streets’ of Santa Cruz, we stumbled into this delightful little sushi spot. Our kids loved the wall art and assortment of knickknacks everywhere. It’s quaint, but charming, flooded with personality. The employee that helped us was super friendly, cordial, and helpful. They have an interesting menu filled with a variety of options! The HoChiro Roll was a standout as it was covered in Hot Cheetos dust and Hot Cheetos. Keep in mind that seating is limited both indoors and outside, so avoid peak times if you want to be seated quickly. Grok says this: Opened about four years ago (around 2021), it’s run by a passionate sushi chef named Tavo, who emphasizes artistic expression through his rolls. The restaurant combines a casual dine-in experience with a market-style to-go section, making it versatile for quick grabs or relaxed meals. It’s celebrated for its inclusivity, offering a wide range of gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and non-vegan options—including a standout “vegan fish” that’s silky and flavorful, mimicking real seafood without the raw fish concerns. The vibe is eclectic: think Dragon Ball Z-inspired decor mixed with contemporary hippie aesthetics, creating a fun, welcoming atmosphere.
The Buzz Sushi
Excerpts
Walking the ‘mean streets’ of Santa Cruz, we stumbled into this delightful little sushi spot. Our kids loved the wall art and assortment of knickknacks everywhere. It’s quaint, but charming, flooded with personality. The employee that helped us was super friendly, cordial, and helpful. They have an interesting menu filled with a variety of options! The HoChiro Roll was a standout as it was covered in Hot Cheetos dust and Hot Cheetos. Keep in mind that seating is limited both indoors and outside, so avoid peak times if you want to be seated quickly. Grok says this: Opened about four years ago (around 2021), it’s run by a passionate sushi chef named Tavo, who emphasizes artistic expression through his rolls. The restaurant combines a casual dine-in experience with a market-style to-go section, making it versatile for quick grabs or relaxed meals. It’s celebrated for its inclusivity, offering a wide range of gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, and non-vegan options—including a standout “vegan fish” that’s silky and flavorful, mimicking real seafood without the raw fish concerns. The vibe is eclectic: think Dragon Ball Z-inspired decor mixed with contemporary hippie aesthetics, creating a fun, welcoming atmosphere.
Great Sushi! This spot has a ton of Vegan options but the fish is also fantastic! Very friendly staff and good vibes over all. This place has a lot of charm and personality come check it out!
Great Sushi! This spot has a ton of Vegan options but the fish is also fantastic! Very friendly staff and good vibes over all. This place has a lot of charm and personality come check it out!
We have a new favorite sushi place in Santa Cruz! One of the best vegan selections of sushi I have ever seen and their other premium rolls are delicious. Plus you can get soy wraps instead of seaweed. Only things that could change is it is quite dark in the restaurant so it was actually hard to read the menu and we called numerous times to check if they were open and they never answered. When we got there the restaurant was literally empty of patrons so its not like they were too busy to answer the phone. The Excellence of the sushi definitely made up for the minor complaints.