The LA Handroll Bar Power Rankings

LA has embraced (and ruined) many food trends, but we hope handroll bars are here to say. They don’t require waiting in long lines, they’re perfect for a quick lunch, and eating a few won’t make you feel like an overstuffed Build-A-Bear. And sure, a lot of them might look the same, but connoisseurs know that the small differences are key. Here’s how the city’s handroll many specialists measure up.

Iki Nori

We never thought we’d see the day KazuNori was dethroned, but here we are: The best handrolls are at Iki Nori. This sleek Hollywood sushi bar offers delicious and filling temaki in a fun setting where you can get in and out quickly. Whether you’re dropping in for a quick lunch or coming for pre-show snacks and cocktails, the 4-handroll set for $28 should be your baseline order. It comes with one toro handroll, one spicy tuna, one salmon, and one crab. It’s enough food to fill you up and still have room to sneak in a few daily special nigiri.

KazuNori

When KazuNori opened in 2014, the concept felt revolutionary: walk in, sit at the sleek bar, and pick a predetermined handroll set off the menu. The rolls are quickly assembled in front of you while you sip iced green tea, and in less than 30 minutes, you’re paid and out the door. These days, the Sugarfish spin-off might have 11 locations across LA and NYC, but it’s still the standard for great temaki. The food here is as consistent as an atomic clock: expect crisp nori sheets packed with an expert balance of fish and warm seasoned rice. There’s also a well-oiled to-go operation with cut rolls, sashimi, and DIY handroll kits that feed up to five.

Temaki Society

Spicy tuna and blue crab are great, but we also appreciate a handroll that gets a little wild. And that’s what Temaki Society does best. The tiny counter-service spot in Downtown has 12 rolls on its menu and each is dressed with more flair than a member of KISS. There’s soy-marinated shrimp with kimchi and a “banh mi” roll with a thick, diamond-shaped cut of albacore coated in fish sauce and crunchy garlic. The “bossam” arrives with a pickled perilla leaf stuffed with mackerel and fermented bean paste (it looks like someone put dolma on a nori sheet). These rolls are on the pricier side, but you’re paying for a touch of excitement—not unlike KISS.

Sogo Roll Bar

Sogo Roll Bar in Los Feliz offers the same fast-casual convenience as any proper handroll bar, but as with Temaki Society, what sets this sunny pink spot from the Sushi Note people apart is its creative use of fillings beyond the usual suspects: brandy-soaked albacore, sweet scallops in masago mayo, and spicy salmon tossed with yuzu-infused hot sauce. Those fun twists do come at a cost, though—sets tend to be a few dollars more than Kazunori, and there are fewer a la carte options, too.

The HRB Experience

No, this isn’t a VR activation or an escape room where you have to fight virtual sushi chefs before a bomb goes off. It’s just a decent handroll bar next door to the Century City mall food court. Their $22 four-roll set, which comes with albacore, salmon, yellowtail, and their “signature” spicy tuna dabbed with yuzu kosho, makes for a solid lunch. You can also look forward to each one arriving in a long black wooden box, which we assume are just unused doll coffins from the nearby American Girl store.

Norikaya

Norikaya’s short menu is split between creative handrolls and izakaya dishes, and we’re team izakaya. The recessed lighting in this dark U-shaped bar sets the mood for a date, and the temaki looks like sushi you’d eat at a Vegas birthday party: a lobster “dynamite” roll heavy on spicy mayo, salmon with miso-mustard and baked eel topped with guac and strawberries for some reason. The abundance of roe, yuzu, and mayo do a decent job of masking the fact that Norikaya’s sashimi is slightly too cold, but we prefer hot dishes like fried squid with sweet cocktail sauce and spicy tuna crispy rice with chicharrón-like crunch. Use this spot for small bites, chit-chat, and drinking sake to Kygo and Norikaya is good fun.

Lima Nikkei

At Lima Nikkei you’ll find high-quality sushi rolls with Peruvian influence—though you’ll literally have to find them first. This crescent-shaped handroll bar is located in the easy-to-miss upstairs food court of 99 Ranch Market in Westwood, which is consistently a ghost town. That’s a shame because the open-faced temaki here are unique as they are tasty: grilled shrimp with aji amarillo, buttery tuna, and crispy quinoa seasoned with a ponzu kiss, and king crab in leche de tigre. The sushi isn’t cheap, so come during the weekday Happy Hour from 2-6pm when the filling three-piece handroll set is discounted to $25. And make sure to flash your receipt and get 90 minutes of validated parking in the market’s underground garage.

Uoichiba Handroll Bar

Uoichiba is run by the owner of Joint Seafood, a fish market in Sherman Oaks known for dry-aging seafood in big cold cases. The same dry-aged fish shows up in the handrolls here, and while it tastes like great thick-cut sashimi, the difference is subtle. The temaki sets stick to fish-focused fillings, but we prefer cheeky a la carte options like the toasted lox roll. Our main quibble is that the sushi rice could use more seasoning, but overall these are solid rolls priced a few bucks above KazuNori. Seating is mostly limited to stools at their locations in Sherman Oaks and Culver City’s Citizen Public Market, so your lower back says don’t plan on lingering.

Yunomi Handroll

If you’re hanging out in the Arts District and want simple handrolls, Yunomi is your best option. The sleek, modern sushi bar (with newer locations in Culver City and Toluca Lake) doesn’t get too wild with its fillings, but they do offer a sizable selection of other dishes like rock shrimp tempura and roasted shishitos. We like the fish at KazuNori better, but in a pinch, this spot works for lunch hour or a quick bite before a show.

Azai Hand Roll

The Grove must pump something into the air (besides fake snow during the holidays) because whenever we leave Rick Caruso land, we crave handrolls. Luckily, Azai isn’t far. The small, sparsely decorated bar on West 3rd is rarely full, making it a reliable walk-in option after overspending at Nordstrom. The menu features 14 temaki with standard fillings like spicy tuna to shrimp tempura, none of which are available as a set—so prepare to order them one by one. These aren’t rolls to cross town for, but if you’re craving some blue crab in a serene setting, Azai gets the job done.

The Bar by Sea Butter

The best part about this Studio City temaki spot from the Seabutter team is that sitting at its giant circular bar makes you feel like a real Knight of the Round Table. We just wish the temperatures of the rice and fish didn’t damper the fun. Some rolls arrived warm, others lukewarm, and every cut of fish could have used a little more time to defrost. If The Bar was more budget-friendly, that might be forgivable, but for the same price, we’d rather go to the nearest KazuNori.

Sushi Rush

This casual sushi counter in Grand Central Market sounds like a game your mom won’t quit playing on her phone, except the food here is nowhere near as addictive. The open-faced temaki involve standard fillings like blue crab and salmon and are on par with what you’d find at local Japanese supermarkets—decent, but not worth the restaurant price. The handrolls come sheathed in plastic wrappers to keep the nori crisp, which is probably unnecessary if you’re dining in. The six-handroll set costs $28. We’d rather spend the same amount for six superior rolls at KazuNori, or walk a half-block and splurge at Temaki Society.