Just got back from Sakana. My office is about 50 yards from Sakana Scottsdale so we go there all the time.
I actually have mixed feelings on Sakana. I know it's a great lunch spot but it might be much more than that ???
My main viewpoint on Sakana is a great lunch place with killer specials where you get excellent value for your dollar. The sushi is fresh and good. The cooked meals are great. The salads are great. Hard to beat when you're doing a lunch & want to have some reasonably healthy options. Add in the proximity and it's a no brainer.
The question in my mind has to do with their dinner options and going big on sushi. When we had them cater one of our holiday parties in the past, we had some conversations with them about what they do and got to talking about some less mainstream dishes: ankimo (monkfish liver), amaebi (sweet shrimp), etc. I didn't realize that they focused on these as well.
So a few weeks after that conversation, my wife and I headed into Sakana for dinner at one point and sat with Ray at the sushi bar. We proceeded to have a great meal. Really excellent. I was shocked as I'd always thought of it more as a "lunch spot" and wouldn't have considered it when thinking of going to my favorite spots like Yasu Sushi Bistro, Kampai, etc. Now we haven't been back for dinner since so I don't know if the stars were just aligned or if Ray was taking extra special care of us because of our discussion. So I'm hesitant to expect that we would have a similar experience just wandering in there for dinner. I need to give it another try though to find out.
So with that in mind, I cannot say they don't do great traditional, high quality sushi.
I can definitely say though that the lunches are great and the value is excellent.
From their killer deal of the Sakana lunch to the chirashi to the calimari/jalapeno salad to the chicken cutlet, I've never had a lunch there that I was really disappointed with.
It's probably our number 1 go to lunch spot. Always delivers.