Grey Whale Sushi and Grill offers wide variety of Japanese dining options | L Magazine

Guo emphasizes that through his experiences in the food industry, he has developed some close contacts on both coasts, which has yielded the restaurant overnight shipments of the necessary food items the Grey Whale requires to produce good Japanese food. “Fresh food is the most important thing for a restaurant,” he said.

The restaurant’s interior is crisp and simplistic – polished wood floors accented by large windows and dark wood trim – mirroring Guo’s preference to have his culinary creations impress his customers.

The Grey Whale’s lunch crowd usually consists of business and office professionals, vacationers from area hotels and downtown apartment dwellers. In the evening, it is “all kinds of people from young adults and college students to families.”

According to Guo, the Grey Whale menu is updated regularly, with Guo bringing in new menu items and asking staff members and patrons for feedback on the offerings’ quality and taste.

With an exhaustive menu, Guo likes to highlight the restaurant’s Happy Hour bargains – a component that underscores his desire to provide quality, good tasting food at an affordable price. Grey Whale’s Happy Hour times are all day on Tuesday and Sunday; 4-6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 3-6:30 p.m. Saturday; and late night after 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Most Happy Hour menus offer up a limited number of choices, and that is also, in a way, the case with Grey Whale. However, given the copious number of regular menu Grey Whale items, its Happy Hour menu is much larger than most.

With 19 options, Group One of Maki rolls range from $3.50 to $5.50 and include offerings such as Spicy Yellowtail, California Roll, New York Roll and Hamachi Jalapeno Roll. Group Two is a ditherer’s nightmare with a total of 32 roll choices with costs ranging from $4.50 to $13.95 and including such choices as Monkey Jump Roll (shrimp tempura and crab, topped with eel sauce, spicy mayo and green onion), Corn Huskers Roll (tempura-style eel, asparagus and salmon with eel sauce, spicy mayo and sriracha), Rainbow Roll (crab, cucumber and avocado topped with tuna, salmon, white fish and shrimp) and Mango Tango (shrimp tempura, cream cheese avocado topped with spicy salmon and mango).

Appetizers on the Happy Hour menu include Edamame ($4), Crab Rangoon ($4.50), Gyoza ($4.50), Seaweed Salad ($4.50), Curry Gyoza ($6), SUMO Crunch Sushirrito ($12.50), Latin Ninja Sushirrito ($12.50) and Flaming Hot “Cheetorito” ($12.95). Beer, cocktails and Sake also have special Happy Hour prices.

Grey Whale’s regular menu is quite large with several categories. There are nine Sushi Bar Appetizers ($6.95-$10.95); 13 Kitchen Appetizers ($5.75-$9.95); two soups ($2.50); eight salads ($4.50-$8.95); 19 Cooked Maki Roll or Hand Roll [maki – cylindrical and cut in pieces; hand – cone shaped and eaten with hands] ($5-$7.95); 10 Raw Maki Roll or Hand Roll ($6.50-$7.95); eight Vegetable Maki Roll or Hand Roll ($4.50-$5.95); 42 Sushi Chef Special Roll ($8.50-$13.88); four Fire Roll ($13.50); 29 Ala Carte Sushi and Sashimi ($4-$14); seven Kitchen Entree ($9.95-$13.88); 13 Hibachi Choices ($11.99-$20.99); eight Bento Boxes ($10.95-$16.95) and four Yakisoba [stir-fried noodles with vegetable and protein] ($10.95-$13.95).

Liquid refreshments include soda, tea, domestic, imported and craft beers, white and red wine, a variety of sake and cocktails.