Best Sushi in Asheville
Asheville, North Carolina — updated August 22, 2026
Six Asheville spots for sushi, ranked by how well the ratings hold up, from a downtown room with more than 1,600 reviews to a Japanese smokehouse building its menu around smoke and raw fish.
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Asheville's sushi is split between downtown rooms within a few blocks of Pack Square and neighborhood spots out on Merrimon and Hendersonville Road, where the sushi bar usually shares a kitchen with a hibachi grill. Two of the strongest options sit on Broadway and Biltmore Avenue, so a downtown dinner is easy to reroute if the wait is long. Below, places are ordered by how settled their ratings look, with review counts as the evidence.
1. Wasabi Japanese Restaurant
The clearest answer in town: 4.6 stars across 1,641 reviews, which is both the highest rating here and the largest sample behind a rating that high. It sits at 19 Broadway Street downtown, serves lunch weekdays from 11:30 am to 2:45 pm, and reopens for dinner at 4:30 pm Monday through Friday, 4:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Weekend closing runs to 10:00 pm Friday and Saturday, 9:30 pm Sunday, so a late downtown dinner is possible but not open-ended. Reservations are accepted, which is worth using on a weekend night given the location.
2. Asheville Sushi & Hibachi
Also a 4.6, from 952 reviews, and the better bet if you want to eat sushi in the middle of the day. The lunch menu is priced by format rather than by piece: a sushi lunch, a sashimi lunch, and combinations of any two or any three rolls, with the two-roll option the cheapest way in. It is south of town at 1636 Hendersonville Road, in a shopping center, and the posted hours run to 10:00 pm on Friday and Saturday and 9:30 pm most other nights. The restaurant's own hours listing skips Tuesday, so call before making that the plan.
3. Zen Sushi
North Asheville's entry, on Merrimon Avenue, holding 4.5 stars from 954 reviews, a sample close enough to the two above to take seriously. The important detail is the schedule: Zen closes every Tuesday, and it splits its service, running lunch from 11:00 am to 3:15 pm and reopening at 4:30 pm. That means no walk-in sushi in the mid-afternoon gap. Friday and Saturday it stays open until 10:30 pm, the latest of its week. Sunday lunch starts at 11:30 am. The sushi bar appetizer list includes a spicy kani salad if you are ordering before the rolls arrive.
4. Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse
On the list because it treats raw fish as one part of a larger Japanese barbecue menu rather than the whole point. The menu is organized into sections including Raw, Crunchy + Munchy, Sharing is Caring, and Big + Bowlsy, and the smoke runs through dishes like salmon sashimi with smoked soy. There is also a tasting menu at $85 per person covering eight to ten dishes, which is the closest thing in this group to a set progression. Ramen, oysters, dumplings, vegan plates and cocktails round it out. It rates 4.5 from 938 reviews, at 121 Biltmore Avenue. Go for the smoked treatments, not for a traditional nigiri counter.
5. Shogun Buffet Hibachi Grill & Sushi
Ranked here for volume rather than precision: 2,806 reviews, by far the biggest sample in this guide, settling at 4.0. It is a straightforward buffet of Japanese and Chinese dishes with sushi and hibachi alongside, plus American options and vegetarian choices, out at 1000 Brevard Road near the mall. The rating tells you what to expect. This is the choice for a group with different appetites or for eating a lot for one price, not for a sushi chef's selection. A separate menu covers made-to-order plates such as moo shu and sweet and sour dishes.
6. Hana Japanese Hibachi & Sushi Bar
The weakest rating in the group, 3.8 from 785 reviews, which is enough reviews that the number is not a fluke. It stays on the list for its location, 5B Biltmore Avenue, and its late hours: the posted schedule runs to 11:00 pm on Friday and 11:30 pm on Saturday, later than anything else here. The sushi bar appetizers include yellowtail jalapeño and a mango tataki. Hibachi dinners come with soup and salad and are reported to be large. Worth knowing about when downtown kitchens are closing and you still want a roll.