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Main Dining Area - MOTOMOTO Sushi & Izakaya, Phoenix, AZ

MOTOMOTO Sushi & Izakaya

3.5
3.5
79 Reviews
$31 to $50
Japanese
MOTOMOTO is a fun, creative Japanese izakaya-style restaurant & bar with a colorful, modern vibe featuring Japanese small plates, sushi, and grilled skewers - with an emphasis on sharing with friends and family.

Many thanks to our customers as we approach our one year anniversary! You are the reason we are here! We appreciate each and every one of you!

We are a locally-owned and independently operated restaurant located in downtown Phoenix on the ground floor of the historic Hilton Garden Inn. We are conveniently located near all the major event and performance spaces on the corner of Central Avenue and Monroe.

Transportation and Parking - Street parking is metered and limited. As we are not a Hilton-owned restaurant we are not able to utilize the limited hotel valet parking spaces. You will find the most readily available parking on the northeast corner of Monroe and 1st Street, one block to the east, at Ace Parking.

We are easily accessible by Metro Valley light rail.

Not available on OpenTable

Unfortunately, this restaurant is not on the OpenTable reservation network.

If you like, we'll notify you by email if this restaurant joins.


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Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Cuisines
    Japanese, Asian, Creative Japanese
  • Hours of operation
    Mon–Sat 11:30 am–3:00 pm Mon–Thu 5:00 pm–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 4:00 pm–12:00 am Sun 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
  • Phone number
    (480) 868-7981
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Owned/operated by
    Asian and Pacific Islander, Latinx or Hispanic, Persons with Disabilities
  • Private party facilities
    A glass-walled semi-private room for 16 guests.
  • Neighborhood
    Downtown Phoenix
  • Cross street
    Central Avenue & Monroe Street
  • Parking details
    Public Lot
  • Public transit
    Van Buren Avenue Metro Valley Rail
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cocktails, Counter Seating, Full Bar, Happy Hour, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine

What 79 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

3.5
3.5 based on recent ratings
  • 3.5Food
  • 3.3Service
  • 2.9Ambience
  • 3.2Value

NoiseEnergetic

79 Reviews
  1. deanm

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on August 13, 2023

    overall1food1service1ambience1
    THey are permanently closed. so there WAS no reservation

    1 person found this helpful

  2. DrewK

    Phoenix

    2 reviews

    1.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on August 13, 2023

    overall1food1service1ambience1
    Set up a reservation for my wife and I. It was a special date I had planned a week in advance. Received confirmation that my reservation was set and when we arrived the restaurant was closed down for rehab. Not the best way to show a date a good time when you show up. Very poor job that I wasn't informed that it was closed.

    1 person found this helpful

  3. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on July 8, 2023

    overall1food1service1ambience1
    The place looked nice, and the food looked good as I was passing by tables, but the fact is that we never even got seated even though there were plenty of tables open. The host, who was also doing the food running or running the kitchen, and who knows what else never even addressed us for a few minutes and then he finally said it was a 30 minute wait even though there were tables open. We asked about the open tables and he said those were for people with reservations. We were told we could be helped and eat at the bar so we sat down there. The bartender and guy cutting sushi never even made eye contact with us for the longest time which was rude and uncomfortable so we went ahead and looked online and saw there were multiple reservations available so they definitely were not booked. I actually made one of those reservations and then approached the host again and he said he would not honor that for me and my wife. Needless to say we were not happy. I have a feeling they were just understaffed, but they could’ve just told us that and we would’ve understood.

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  4. OpenTable Diner

    Las Vegas

    5 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on June 20, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Perfect . Chris is the best . Always has the best suggestions.

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  5. blair

    Phoenix

    14 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    14 reviews

    Dined on June 16, 2023

    overall5food5service4ambience4
    A friend and I went on a Thursday night, food was great. The crowd was pretty light this night so it was easy to get a table anywhere, even though I had reservations.

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  6. OpenTable Diner

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on May 25, 2023

    overall3food5service2ambience5
    Cute place. The hostess was great. Food was delicious but Our service was not great. The kid was nice but slow, never took empty glass or plates out of the way. I’d definitely still come back cause the food was great and the other servers seemed to be more on top of things .

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  7. TheDoc

    Caribbean

    4 reviews

    5.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on May 21, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    One of the best sushi places i’ve ever been to. Highly recommended.

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  8. OpenTable Diner

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on May 19, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Amazing service, Chris was amazing. Food was incredible!

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  9. LeonardoM

    Phoenix

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on May 7, 2023

    overall3food3service3ambience3
    Just an overall average restaurant. Nothing special about it even tho the decor looks nice.

    1 person found this helpful

  10. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on May 6, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Incredible service and amazing food! Unique sushi and great portions

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  11. Jmsmith

    Chicago

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on April 22, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Sometimes you get blessed when you visit a new city, and don't know where to eat. I went on Yelp and found this restaurant, and I'm so glad I did. We started with drinks that were fabulous, and ended with food that was outstanding. The drinks were perfectly made, and the food was even better. We had the salmon Tamaki and the spicy Tamaki, and both were cooked to perfection. Don’t sleep on the spicy Edamame, get a glass of water and dig in. The service was also excellent, and our waiter was very attentive and helpful. Think Patrick Swayze. Overall, we had a wonderful experience at this restaurant, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting downtown Phoenix. The food is delicious, the drinks are great, and the service is top-notch. What more could you ask for?"

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  12. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    1 review

    2.0

    1 review

    Dined on April 16, 2023

    overall2food2service2ambience5
    The food was mediocre at best for the price. Service was sub par, she was pretty slow and was poorly dressed. She felt very casual for a more upscale looking sushi spot. The restaurant itself was very pretty. I loved the umbrellas and the cherry blossom tree.

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  13. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on April 11, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Great management, extremely accommodating. Loved our time there.

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  14. Tommy

    Phoenix

    6 reviews

    5.0

    6 reviews

    Dined on April 9, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    We had a nice Sat dinner. Great pork miso Ramen! Also had Pork Belly appetizers. Seared salmon sushi was very fresh and tasty. Service all around was great and prompt with the food. Great setting.

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  15. Sunshine

    Phoenix

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on April 9, 2023

    overall3food2service4ambience4
    The pork belly skewers were the best part of the meal. We also ordered the chicken karaage (think I spelled that correctly) and they were grossly undercooked and slimy. I took two bites before I realized something was very wrong with the texture, I thought it was the sauce making it feel that way. We also got the Sashimi platter and while it was great, I personally don't think it's worth $45 alone. The cocktails were just okay, and finally we ordered the honey toast that was harder than a brick on the outside and incredibly hard to eat. I've had honey toast before and it's supposed to be crispy on the outside and not be able to be considered a blunt weapon of opportunity. Service was nice and the pork belly skewers were nice too, but not worth it. I think if they had a much more extensive sushi menu, and put as much thought in it as they did into their appetizers I might return. But as it stands right now, I'd happily wait an hour for Harumi down the street than come here again.

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  16. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    5 reviews

    vip
    4.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on April 6, 2023

    overall4food4service4ambience3
    Food was good and the service was decent. Understaffed the night I was their but the staff did a great job keeping up.

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  17. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on March 31, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Pork Belly Bao was yummy! The gyozu with Ponzu sauce was tasty... And the nigiri platter had amazing variety and great flavor. Service was on point. Thanks!

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  18. Irene

    Phoenix

    1 review

    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on March 20, 2023

    overall1food2service1ambience2
    Food was average and overpriced. The service wasn’t good we waited 40 minutes for 3 sushi rolls while others after us got seated, ordered and received their food and cashed out before we ever got our food. Had really high expectations from this place.

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  19. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    3 reviews

    3.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on March 19, 2023

    overall3food4service2ambience4
    Service was unimpressive. We were seated at an awkwardly placed table, when there were many better options with more comfortable looking chair available in our section. Waitress had to check with the bar twice to see what vodka options were Available. There were a number of other minor disappointment. The food however was very good. At a cheaper restaurant it wouldn’t have bothered me, but at this price point I expected a little more.

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  20. Hatesalt

    Detroit

    15 reviews

    vip
    3.0

    15 reviews

    Dined on March 17, 2023

    overall3food5service3ambience3
    I sat at the bar with a small section called a "sushi bar"; the food was great, though the edamame as an appetizer came before paying the bill. While I was waiting to be seated, a lady came to pick up an order, 4 cups of soup were part of the order, but they did not have bags to bag them, which reduced the risk of dropping the order or spelling the soup and causing a mess. The restaurant needs to be cleaner.

    1 person found this helpful

  21. OpenTable Diner

    San Francisco

    1 review

    vip
    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on March 17, 2023

    overall1food1service3ambience3
    The food was very disappointing, it was not good.

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  22. Bubble

    London

    9 reviews

    3.0

    9 reviews

    Dined on March 15, 2023

    overall3food4service3ambience4
    Food is Good. More than half is empty but it is hard to get waiter’s attention. Some items on menu are out. A bit of over priced.

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  23. MichaelB

    Phoenix

    4 reviews

    3.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on March 12, 2023

    overall3food5service2ambience4
    Great food and location in downtown. However the service was extremely slow, and the restaurant was not full. Our initial drinks took 30 minutes.

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  24. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    20 reviews

    3.0

    20 reviews

    Dined on March 6, 2023

    overall3food3service4ambience4
    Service was great and the ambience was nice. Multiple items on the menu were unavailable, however. Slightly pricey for the value of the food, but a good experience overall.

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  25. OpenTable Diner

    New York Area

    4 reviews

    5.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on March 5, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Great meal. Great everything. Honestly best meal we had while visiting phoenix. We waited to sit for about 20 min but I am happy we did.

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  26. JCKREP

    Los Angeles

    7 reviews

    5.0

    7 reviews

    Dined on March 5, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Great place, we loved everything about this place. The service was above and beyond. Food was done to perfection. I would recommend this place to everyone, even if you don’t like sushi they have so much more. They even had a vegan roll. Try this place and thank me later. Your welcome enjoy.

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  27. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on February 23, 2023

    overall3food5service2ambience2
    The food was great. Service could’ve been better. I came here with my boyfriend, and there were many open tables in the restaurant, but we were sat directly next to a family that was pretty loud. We were never asked about ordering drinks or appetizers. The server didn’t give us a run down of the menu or ask if we’d ever dined with them before (this was our first time). We overheard the server tell another table that they’re out of tuna, but she didn’t mention it to us, so we wondered if we misheard. I ordered a tuna dish, and then she told us that they’re out (instead of letting us know beforehand). She never came back to check in to see how everything was tasting after our food came out. My boyfriend requested a side of sriracha, but it was brought out after we’d finished our dinner. Overall, the food was really great but a little overpriced. We tried the pork bao buns, a couple of hand rolls, and the seared salmon roll.

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  28. AmeliaU

    Phoenix

    3 reviews

    5.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on February 12, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    We had the sashimi plate, spicy edamame, pork belly skewers and black garlic rice. Pork belly skewers were amazing but so was everything else. Great value for the quality of food.

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  29. JuliaF

    San Francisco

    3 reviews

    3.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on February 7, 2023

    overall3food4service3ambience3
    Super expensive. $24 (or more) for four pieces of sashimi. The chairs are all bar stool height so you have to get off to get anything out of your purse. I had to get off, scoot the stool in, then squeeze back on to be at the desired distance from the table. $14 + tip to park. And all the street parking is reserved for the valet so not much choice there. Not that I would change it because if they didn’t save those spaces there would be zero parking. I’m not going back. The price to everything is not commensurate.

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  30. OpenTable Diner

    Phoenix

    4 reviews

    5.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on January 15, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Amazing food paired with great service! Glad we found this gem and will definitely be back again!

    Is this helpful?

  31. OpenTable Diner

    Detroit

    2 reviews

    vip
    2.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on January 14, 2023

    overall2food2service1ambience3
    It was an ok experience. A few menu items were good (pork belly skewers, chicken karaage), but the sushi and nigiri were subpar. The service was disappointing. Multiple staff members instead of one designated server which led to food being forgotten or brought out very late. Drinks were good! Overall an average place that could be worth returning if they improve their disorganized service and take the sushi aspect seriously.

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  32. DAVIDC

    Phoenix

    60 reviews

    vip
    3.0

    60 reviews

    Dined on January 8, 2023

    overall3food3service4ambience3
    PORK BELLY BAO was unique and yummy. SEARED SALMON ROLL was also unusual and good, but not great. SPICY HAMACHI HAND ROLL was good, but very small. Finally, the EGGPLANT KABAYAKI was great. Felt like the menu was too limited. There should have been more options.

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  33. OpenTable Diner

    Milwaukee

    1 review

    vip
    1.0

    1 review

    Dined on January 1, 2023

    overall1food4service1ambience1
    Service was absolutely HORRIBLE. It took 1 hour to get drinks, and by the time we got drinks, we were done with all of our food. Not to mention, it took 25 minutes to even have a server come to our table. When we brought this up to the server and manager, they didn’t seem to care at all. The manager gave us drinks for free but the server made no effort to improve our experience or apologize. They then tried to charge us a 20% large party gratuity which we were not made aware of. We had 6 people at our table - the standard for opentable is that any more than 6 people cannot be made as a reservation in the app and that would be a large party. Even as we were leaving, another waitress was giving my family dirty looks and laughing at us. The food and the kitchen was absolutely amazing, but the service was terrible. I work in hospitality and have worked in restaurants for years as a manager, so I was willing to be patient and understanding. This is one of the first restaurants I feel the need to never come back and write a review.

    2 people found this helpful

  34. Linda

    Phoenix

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on January 1, 2023

    overall5food5service5ambience4
    Maybe the best sushi in Phoenix and a nice ambiance.

    1 person found this helpful

  35. Jason

    Phoenix

    1 review

    2.0

    1 review

    Dined on January 1, 2023

    overall2food2service1ambience4
    Horrible service. Brought out appetizers with our meals blaming kitchen but brought out few minutes after we reminder our waitress several times. SERVICE WAS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. Not a cafe in the world. So many better sushi places to go to. I would not suggest. Sorry

    1 person found this helpful

  36. OpenTable Diner

    Dallas

    6 reviews

    5.0

    6 reviews

    Dined on December 31, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5
    Great food and drinks. Also excellent service!

    Is this helpful?

  37. AMDee

    Seattle

    1 review

    4.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 31, 2022

    overall4food3service3ambience4
    We went for happy hour. The happy hour pricing was awesome, especially for drinks. The food was disappointing. While the pork bao buns were good, the toppings on the chicken karaage were overly salted and the rice used to make the poke roll wasn’t light and fluffy.

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  38. OpenTable Diner

    New York Area

    1 review

    2.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 30, 2022

    overall2food2service5ambience3
    The food was not good. We ordered a deep fried roll that came cold, a chicken teriyaki that was raw, a ramen that the taste was not good. The only food that we liked was the steamed edamame and the miso soup. Never again 😕

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  39. Foodie62

    Phoenix

    20 reviews

    vip
    3.0

    20 reviews

    Dined on December 24, 2022

    overall3food3service5ambience2
    My issue was few choices regarding sushi menu. They didn’t have what I consider basic fish. Service great. Pretty blah atmosphere. Would try again. As reinvent open.

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  40. OpenTable Diner

    San Francisco

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 18, 2022

    overall3food1service3ambience5
    Interesting experience- I recommend the bar, had one of the best drinks ever. Sushi was mediocre and super overpriced… had the chef combo with nigiri and it was super weak. Beautiful looking place- great ambience. So mixed overall

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FAQs

MOTOMOTO Sushi & Izakaya offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (480) 868-7981.

MOTOMOTO Sushi & Izakaya is rated 3.5 stars by 79 OpenTable diners.

Not available on OpenTable

Unfortunately, this restaurant is not on the OpenTable reservation network.

If you like, we'll notify you by email if this restaurant joins.


Is this your restaurant?
Claim this listing

Order delivery or takeout

Google Map for MOTOMOTO Sushi & Izakaya

15 E Monroe St, Phoenix, AZ 85004-2563

Additional information

  • Cross street
    Central Avenue & Monroe Street
  • Neighborhood
    Downtown Phoenix
  • Hours of operation
    Mon–Sat 11:30 am–3:00 pm Mon–Thu 5:00 pm–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 4:00 pm–12:00 am Sun 5:00 pm–9:00 pm
  • Cuisines
    Japanese, Asian, Creative Japanese
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Parking details
    Public Lot
  • Public transit
    Van Buren Avenue Metro Valley Rail
  • Owned/operated by
    Asian and Pacific Islander, Latinx or Hispanic, Persons with Disabilities
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cocktails, Counter Seating, Full Bar, Happy Hour, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Wheelchair Access, Wine
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