Oh El's, how I've missed you!
There are some places in town that you go to - not for the service, not for the ambience, and certainly not for the prices. You go there in spite of everything because the food is consistently SO good. El's is definitely one of those places.
When you've actually made it to El's, get their makis. Makis, makis, makis. It's a little bit on the greasier side, true (mostly fried/tempura-based); but trust me when I say that these makis are filling and absolutely delicious. My favorite is the Unagi Cheese. El's prides itself as a "fusion" place, so you'll have a lot of creative items on the menu to choose from. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised.
The best time to go is between noon-5. You'll have to call beforehand, though, to make sure they're open (skip the reservations, it probably won't be kept). I've seated 8-10 people at El's before (so it's not impossible), but it was for lunch, and as you can imagine, we took up half the space. The good thing is since we were the only customers at that time, we didn't have to wait, and we had great service to boot. It's all about the timing, see.
(They also have meal cards! I lost mine, but I imagine I would've had two free meals already had I not lost it.)
There was actually a time when my friends and I would handpick the people that we recommended El's to (we had to show them the place personally, and we fondly referred to it as "Secret Sushi"). We did it because we didn't want it to get too well-known or too busy. A little selfish of us, I know. Anyway, I've since brought a Vancouverite foodie, a Japanese national, and a former not-sushi-fan to this place (among others). You'd be happy to know that all of them love the food (and vow to come back).
I should really get commission for every person that I refer to this place. Seriously.