My daughter and I came here for lunch and the lunch specials were super reasonable and every detail was spot on. Clean and fast, friendly service.  My daughter ordered the $13.99 lunch special and got a ton of food. I ordered the Tuna sashimi and the crunch roll and they were perfect.  Beautifully presented and fresh and delicious.  Love this place.  Will come again.

  Incredible sushi the best ive had in southern california. The complete experience miso soup and all.

  Stopped in here to place a to-go order. Staff was very accommodating.  Ordered 2 sushi-(Philly roll with asparagus and a fancy roll - tuna with special chili sauce). and 1 edamame ($25 total).  Kind of expensive for a few items, but they were of good fresh quality and delicious.  The dining atmosphere is appealing.  I will definitely return.

  Great choice for sushi! The service was excellent, the food was great, the drinks were flowing and everything was well priced. Not the cheapest sushi joint out there, but I generally avoid those places anyways. You get what you pay for.

My girlfriend and I went last night and got 2 specialty rolls, one cut roll, 2 miso soups, spicy edamame (which was excellent btw), sake, large beer, and 2 oyster shooters. Total came out to $84 after tax.

Yes, I would recommend DanaKai Sushi. Get the spicy edamame and some sake to start.

  I love great customer service!  They accidentally brought out a chicken dish instead of the delicious Yaki Niku dish I ordered. The staff quickly fixed my order and brought out extra dishes on the house! I wasn't upset or mad.. everyone makes mistakes once in a while but this caught me off guard. Such a blessing!

The food was really delicious and definitely much more quality quality than your usual japanese restaurant. We both came in for lunch and ordered bento boxes. He got the pork Katsu and liked that it wasn't drowned in gravy/sauce. The seared salmon roll sample they comped us with was a mouthful of flavors! I also liked the freshness of my veggies and the light ginger dressing.

Give it a try!

  Ended up here by accident when we forgot to make reservations on a busy Saturday night. I am a sushi snob, and was delighted by the quality of the food. The fish was fresh and very tasty. Had the yellowtail and salmon sashimi which was delish. The seared tuna carpaccio was a wonderful surprise.  Service was spot on. She was extremely polite and attentive.  The chef was a bit quiet but kept his eye on us and kept the order spaced appropriately.  Will definitely go back again.

  Pleasant find in Dana point!! Fresh and delicious! Ordered poke roll, it was spicy but good. And sashimi combination which was $22 and came with 12 pieces of very fresh fish! Came with 2 kids and they were happy too!

  Went there first time last night. I loved it. Decor was great and made me feel like like I was in Japan .  Sushi rolls were delicious and  I can't wait to go back in there and taste more from their menu.

  Hands down the best sushi restaurant in the area, in my opinion. Its prices have recently gone up (my wife and I can easily spend near $100when we go) but you get what you pay for. If you like cheep sushi then don't bother. Go to Ralph's or something. But if you're looking for high quality, fresh fish then you've found your sushi home!

Note: I care way more about the food than the service/ambiance etc. If the food is top of the line, I'll usually give the establishment I'm reviewing high marks, even in spite of its other failings, if any, unless it's extreme.

  I think this is my new favorite sushi place for all the following reasons:

-Sushi was fresh and tasty.
-Generous portion sizes.
-Decent prices.
-Clean restaurant with pleasant decor and warm ambience.
-Wonderful service from a very kind staff. I was also very touched at how sweet they were to our baby who was with us.

My only complaint is that I wish we would've gone there sooner! Will definitely be frequenting this place now that we've been there.

  I've enjoyed sushi for many years. So I've eaten at some of the best sushi houses in LA and Orange County. Last night Dana Kai became my all time favorite!
From the staff, the menu, the decor, an awesome choice of sakes, and of course the fantastic sushi, sashimi, and rolls Dana Kai has it all! Don't waste your time or money going any where else.

  Our favorite spot! My husband and I take our two year old here every week and it is so yummy!!! Jin usually serves us and loves her as much as we love the sushi!
Try the seared salmon sushi special. It's heaven!!!

  Great Restaurant. Food drink, service, ownership. Great chefs , great people, great crowd.

  Had dinner late 8:45 with my daughter last Tuesday night here. She's vegan and they do have a few things she can order that are fresh and tasty. Frankly there aren't a great number of restaurants open late in Laguna Niguel/ Dana Point. Used to go here once a week as my son away in college LOVES sushi. I ordered salmon sashimi, and yellow tail and they were yummy - tender buttery and fresh. Daughter's vegetable roll was too small for the price. Sushi in general is expensive and Dana Kai is higher priced. Service from this family run restaurant is friendly but - had to ask for more water, more ginger ...

  Great atmosphere with great food! My only qualm is the server was a bit weird. She asked us if we were ready to order and when we said yes, she said "ok I'll be right back". We maybe saw her 2 other times the rest of the night. Also the menu was a bit pricey and a bit difficult to understand. I ended up ordering the Dinner Combination Special with BBQ Ribs and Beef Teriyaki. It was literally finger-licking good. I was still hungry though and got the Tuna Roll. Also excellent. Would definitely go again.

  The sushi is amazing! It is always really fresh! The restaurant is very clean and the service is great:) I highly recommend Dana Kai!!

  My girlfriend and I love right around the corner from this place and we love it. The restaurant is full of welcoming staff and they serve you QUICK! You will not need to search for a server because they get to you in a hurry. I would strongly recommend the mountain roll. All of their rolls are really delicious though and frequently they will offer some edamame on the house. If you are looking for a sake bomb, you can get one but you have to buy a miniature carafe of sake and individually order the beers. The effect is the same just a little less straight forward. They have many specials to choose from and the classics as well. They are somewhat pricy but I would say fairly comparable to any other true sushi restaurant.

  My go to sushi spot for dine in or take out. They have a ton of rolls and the fish is good quality. The owner is so sweet & so are the waitresses. My favs here are the fire crunch roll & yaya roll.

  Had an awesome meal here the other night! Under new ownership and the sushi is great ! Snow crab hand roll was beyond!! Had some bluefin tuna sashimi and some salmon. Fresh and delicious. Really happy with all their offerings that night. We will be back for more of that snow crab hand roll for sure !! Hospitality and service was great. Will be back!

  This place is amazing as soon as you walk in they give a warm welcome. They are very attentive, the food was delicious. I would definitely recommended.

  Good prices and decent sushi, very clean and nice place. We not super impressed with the sushi chef that helped us at the bar. We asked what he recommended and he had no suggestions. Prefer a more interactive sushi bar, but maybe that isn't their style? If we go again it will just be a normal table, the table service looked great. Had to ask for more beer then wait for the tab...

  A perennial favorite. Both an amazing sushi bar, and an atmospheric Japanese restaurant, Gen Kao delivers. Fish is always impeccably fresh and delicious, and the restaurant puts out some wonderful Japanese cuisine.

This restaurant has been an institution in Dana Point for decades. They survived a recent fire and rebuilt coming back better than ever.

  Read the reviews and had to give them a visit. Easy access, lots of parking and very nice interior. We thought the menu was excellent, serving size and presentation great. Our waitress was wonderful, explained menu choices, made friendly conversation as this was our first visit.
Finally found the quality sushi we've been searching for!
AC was not up to par this day but can't blame staff for that. We'll be back!

  I have been here now 3 times and I enjoy it! The atmosphere is relaxing and pleasant. Although the sushi is pricey it's a nice place to dine once in awhile. I can say sushi is my favorite food, meaning I have tried many sushi places and this place has great quality sushi! It's not the best I've tried but it is on the list of good sushi joints for sure!

  I don't eat seafood so I can not comment on the Sushi but perhaps my review could be of use to people like vegetarians or picky eaters. There are other options on the menu which is a good thing.

I like the vegetable Udon noodle soup the best and it is probably the healthiest option anyway. Udon, veggies and broth. Simple yet yummy.

The meat dishes I tried were mediocre and a bit artificial tasting, probably due to the sauces. I don't think there was MSG in the food but the sauces seem suspect as they taste highly processed and from a jar/bottle. Unfortunately without them the food was way too bland as it is perhaps the opposite of Thai food, lacking natural spices or flavors to really excite you. While the food is not low quality and not nearly as artificial tasting as in Chinese restaurants, I do think there is room for improvement.

  My husband, little girl and I came here when we visited CA last week! One of the best Japanese restaurants we've been to and we've been to quite a bit! The sushi is so fresh and the food is delicious! The staff is so friendly and very welcoming! The servers kept coming over and playing with our daughter! They're so nice and the restaurant is very clean! Wish we had this restaurant in Chicago, but we will definitely be back when we visit! Thanks for such a wonderful experience!!!!

  We decided to give this restaurant another try and was extremely surprised how good the service we received compared to our last visit!  They have won back our business!

  Chris our sushi chef was awesome!!! He recommended the Dana yellowtail roll to us and it was amazing especially for 14$ we will definitely return

  This is my favorite sushi place in town.  It's in a small strip store area off Del Avion.  
I go here 2-3 times a week for their lunch special.  You get soup, salad, and a choice of 3 rolls off the luncheon menu all for only $14.00.  
We also always add the lemon salmon roll which is amazing and so delicious.  
The waitresses are wonderful and the sushi chefs shout out a welcome when you come thru the door.  
If you're celebrating a birthday at dinner be sure to let them know.  I won't spoil the surprise but it was priceless.

  This is some of the best sushi that I have ever had. We ordered the Tuna Kai Special Rolls, Fire Crunch Rolls, and the Tempura spicy Tuna Rolls. Everything was fresh and presented well.

Kim our waitress was outstanding! She was patient and gave us great recommendations on what to order. Did even have to ask for refills on our drinks.

Absolutely will send all my sushi loving friends here.