Napa and Sonoma Wine Tasting: Tex Wasabi's (3.81)

http://www.texwasabis.com/

Open: Open 7 days per week for lunch and dinner.

Reservation required? No

Last barlinwine.com visit: 2011

Directions:

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The Meal:

We had been to Tex Wasabi's a few years ago and were underwhelmed by the noise and hype. Looking for sushi on the 4th of July in Santa Rosa, this turned out to be our only open option so we made a return trip. Tex Wasabi's is the brain child of chef and Food Network star Guy Fieri. Like Guy Fieri, it is a bit crazy, serving a mix of BBQ and sushi. Since our first trip there they have toned down the rock and roll atmosphere to a positive effect. The setting is now more understated with darker colors and Asian-influenced decor but still with TVs around the place, loud music and the random photo or Guy Fieri cook book.

The menu consists of “California style” sushi and Southern BBQ. Tex Wasabi's also features "Gringo Sushi", non-fish sushi-like creations of using rice paper instead of seaweed and meat (pork, chicken, etc) instead of fish. Both the traditional sushi rolls and gringo rolls are served with a Guy Fieri twist (e.g. the Hog Tied Roll adds bacon to a traditional Philly Roll and is flash fried, and the Jackass Roll features BBQ pork and French Fries). We didn’t try the BBQ on this visit so we can’t comment on that but did enjoy the Garden of Good and Evil Lettuce Wraps and numerous sushi rolls. Our table preferred the non-traditional rolls to the more traditional sushi rolls but both were passable.

After my first visit I wasn’t too excited to return but after my second visit I would come back without too much need for coaxing.