Top Cheap Sushi Restaurants in San Diego

Kalyn Hanna
Mar 12, 2015
5 min read

I love sushi. I eat sushi at least once a week, and crave it more often than that. As an economically-challenged college student with little to no income, I have found some great (but, most importantly cheap) sushi restaurants in San Diego over the last few years. Below, I have listed just a few of my favorites. I live near Mission Valley, so many of these sushi restaurants are located near there. But, occasionally I do venture outside of a 10 mile radius of my home and I have found some great, cheap sushi restaurants all across San Diego. I invite you to list some of your favorite, cheap San Diego sushi restaurants in the comments section or to tweet them to me @kalynhanna. I'm always excited to try new places!

Tabu Sushi Bar and Grill - Santee, Rancho San Diego & Del Mar

Tabu Sushi is a fun sushi environment. They have large flat screens on almost every wall, usually showing a sporting event. Current top hits are played through the restaurant's sound system, at a loud, but still reasonable level. You often see the sushi chefs dancing or singing along to the music. The atmosphere is fun, but the food is what really brings me to Tabu over and over again.

They have a large variety of rolls, so if you go with a large group everyone should be able to find something they will like. Everything I have ever tried has been above average and the prices are not too shabby. The ingredients are fresh and you can tell by the quality of the rolls. Also, they come up with some pretty creative rolls, if you're the adventurous sushi type!

My favorites are: the "Orange Crush" (crab, avocado and cucumber topped with salmon and avocado), the "Sweet Thang" (shrimp tempura, cucumber and avocado topped with eel, avocado and eel sauce) and the "Sexy Roll" (shrimp tempura, spicy crab, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese wrapped in tuna, topped with chopped shrimp tempura mixed in sauce).

"Orange Crush"

Prices here are not the cheapest in San Diego, rolls range from $5.50 to $15. In my experience though, the rolls are much larger than what you would typically expect.

Overall, this is my go-to sushi place when I have a craving because it is consistently good, fresh and reasonably priced.

Chiba Sushi- Mission Valley and Tierrasanta

Chiba is an excellent example of a small sushi restaurant in San Diego that from the outside you would think is nothing special. There are two locations, the one I go to the most is the Mission Valley location near Qualcomm Stadium. There is no fancy showmanship when it comes to the plating, but the sushi is of great quality.

This restaurant is focused on basic sushi rolls, sashimi and nigiri. They do these three things very well. If you are looking for a place that will have more creativity in their roll creations, I would suggest going somewhere else. But, if you feel like sushi and want something quick, good and cheap I would recommend Chiba.

The roll prices range from $3.50 to $13.95. although most of the rolls fall within the $4-$8 dollar range.

Also, according to their website they have been voted Best Sushi Dive Bar by San Diego Magazine. Go Chiba!

Katzra Sushi- Kearny Mesa

Katzra Sushi is a very small sushi restaurant off Convoy St. in Kearny Mesa. The restaurant has approximately 8 tables, not including the sushi bar. When I have gone, it has not been very busy so the small atmosphere was not an issue at all.

They have amazing sushi rolls, which start off a little pricier than I would like. But, they do offer specials and discounts on a majority of their rolls. For example, "house special rolls" are always 20 percent off, and there are 25 different rolls you can choose from that are considered "house special rolls". Also, they offer 50 percent off "new special rolls" and when I went there were 7 different rolls that were considered "new special rolls".

The last time I went, I tried their new "Angry Caterpillar" roll and it has become one of my new favorite rolls. It had shrimp tempura, crab and cucumber inside with avocado and fried onions on the outside. Fried onions?! Yes, fried onions, and they were great (surprisingly). Also, the roll originally started off at $16 and was discounted down to $8, what a score!

When I went with friends, we all shared so I tried the "Dragon" (shrimp tempura, crab, avocado and cucumber inside with eel on the outside), the "Gold Rush" (crab, avocado and cucumber with tuna and garlic butter on the outside), the "Patron" (spicy tuna, cucumber and avocado with yellowtail and jalepeno on the outside), the "Sunny Side Up" (crab, avocado and cucumber with salmon on the outside) and the "Salsa Dance" (spicy crab, red snapper, cucumber and pickled jalapeno with salmon and salsa on the outside). All of these rolls were discounted by at least 20 percent!

From front to back: the "Sunny Side Up", the "Angry Caterpillar" and the "Patron"

My favorite was the "Gold Rush" because besides my love for sushi, I have a love for all things garlic-related. Although, everything we tried was superb. I am not a huge fan of burning my mouth off, so the "Patron" and "Salsa Dance" were not really my thing, but my spice-loving friends were obsessed with them.

Ending thought on Katzra Sushi, they have unique rolls which start off a little steep in price, but they make up for it through their use of discounts and the overall great quality of the rolls.

Sushi Deli- Hillcrest, Downtown &Kearny Mesa

There is a Sushi Deli 1, 2 and 3. Sushi Deli 1 is located in Hillcrest, Sushi Deli 2 is in downtown and Sushi Deli 3 is in Kearny Mesa. I have personally only ever eaten at Sushi Deli 3, but I have heard from friends that the overall experience is the same at all three restaurants.

Sushi Deli has a very fun, lively and young atmosphere. The rolls are ridiculously cheap, the most expensive roll on the menu is $9.50. Not sure how they get away with this because the rolls are very creative and take a lot of artristy on the part of the sushi chef.

Some of my favorites are the: "Mango Punch Roll", the "Ceviche" roll and the "San Diego" roll. Their website does not have the exact ingredients listed for each roll, so I do not want to list the ingredients in case I am wrong.

If you love beer, you have another reason to check out Sushi Deli. You can get a pint of beer from some of San Diego's local breweries for just $4 and $15 for a pitcher! Plus, traditional Japanese beers, such as Sapporo are just $3 a pint and $10.75 for a pitcher.

(photo from sushideliusa.net)

Basically, Sushi Deli is a cool place to spend happy hour with your friends and enjoy some great sushi. If you are looking for a more lively atmosphere while eating sushi, this is your place.