After many a post about Blackstone, our favorite up and coming neighborhood, i’m moving over to Benson for this one! Many of our favorite sushi spots in Omaha are concentrated in the old market, but this new joint moves the spotlight over to Benson, the diverse, hipster, eclectic neighborhood of Omaha. Nice! Lets go!

Yoshimoto just opened up last fall, headed by local chef David Utterbeck, former corporate executive chef for Blue Sushi in Omaha. He wanted to start a restaurant that served high quality sushi and also had a space for Omasake dinners – where the chef chooses a menu for the customers in an elaborate dining experience. The actual restaurant is very small – which is actually nice! It doesn’t feel like a big chain production – it feels like a local restaurant.

Both times I visited, I came for Sunday All Day Happy Hour. I’m not sure who came up with this concept, or if its a silent agreement amongst Omaha sushi restaurants – but its honestly fantastic. At Yoshitomo, the maki rolls are mostly $5.5 each – including the vegan rolls!

Let’s t a l k about the vegan rolls! My mom and sister are vegetarian, and often come to sushi restaurants with me and my dad. All thats offered to them are usually the cucumber or avocado rolls, or some stir fry dishes that are clearly not the specialty of the restaurant. We all loved that Yoshitomo took the time to come up with creative and diverse offerings of vegan sushi. I (of course) forgot to make a note of which ones we tried – but they were fantastic!

On my most recent visit (and the one with better pictures!) Zach got the Asahi, and I got a white wine. It was a Riesling which was pretty sweet, but their generic 4$ happy hour price is hard to beat. Unfortunately, they had no Miso Soup to start out – which is honestly my biggest downside from this meal. I’m no Japanese culinary expert, but this is a pretty standard starter from what i’ve experienced and was sad that it was not available. We got the salted edamame instead, which was oversalted in my opinion.

Our rolls included the umo shiso, primo, 3 kings, and omaha crunch. The ume shiso, a vegan roll with pickled plum, cucumber, and mint. This roll was so fascinating – the plum gave it a lot of sour/sweet flavor. I think it needed some avocado or mayo to balance it out – but a cool vegan roll nonetheless. The other three were great, the 3 kings was clean and fresh, and the other two were crunchy and complex with the eel sauce and various toppings. Our initial order didn’t come with ginger and wasabi – which we had to ask for. Once we got it – we could tell both were very fresh!

The service was a little slow at times – but the waiters were very nice on both occasions. Along with the actual chefs, they seem to care about the restaurant and pay attention to the experience of patrons. After being open for 4-5 months, they also need to get their website fully updated – its looking a tad bare bones right now.

I will definitely be back to Yoshitomo – and will bring more friends! These are cool, unique rolls at really good prices, away from the crowded spots in downtown Omaha.

The Bottom Line

Chill ambiance with cheap 5.5$ rolls? Count us in all the time! All day!

Cone Rating: 4.5 Cones

Price: $$ (15-20 for a two rolls and a drink per person)

Location: Benson, Omaha, NE

On the Internet: Yoshitomo website, Facebook page, and Yelp Page