“ Wish i would have known sooner that this place was closing as I have had some good dishes here! They seemed to be a thriving buffet but as with most things it seems that Covid-19 caused them to close their doors after years of business. Hopefully I will find another location as they had unique japanese dishes that I usually dont find! I enjoyed their sushi and fried rice the most! Makino you will be missed ”

“ For the money, great value! Lots of sushi, ramen, tempuras ect. I enjoy coming here because of their good selection and variety. Taste good! This place gets busy! The service is pretty good but they are under staffed at times but workers are hustling! Enjoy ”

“ I thought that All-You-Can-Eat buffets had gone the way of the dinosaurs, but on my last trip to Irvine, CA I was taken to Makino Sushi, and I'm glad I did. It was apparently a rare night when there wasn't a line, and we were seated immediately. The layout was pretty standard and everyone did a good job wearing their masks. The food was good: fresh sushi, tightly fried tempura, lots of vegetable side dishes, and plenty of dessert. I made about 4 trips to the buffet before I had my fill. If they were out of something I wanted, it appeared by the time I ventured up to the buffet, so I eventually got everything I wanted. This is a good place to go for AYCE with good, filling food. I'm glad to see that All-You-Can-Eat Asian buffets are still alive and well, and Makino does it well. ”

“ This was the first buffet we've been to post Covid so we were pretty excited to try this place during our trip to Irvine. They are only open for dinner on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights ($34.99) But they are open for lunch every day. They provide disposable gloves which I've always thought was a good idea because I never liked touching buffet serving utensils. This is a seafood and sushi buffet but they also have lots of other options to choose from. There is a wide variety of fresh sushi. You can also order hand rolls made to order. There is fresh sashimi, raw oysters, steamed clams, baked mussels, and shrimp cocktail. Sadly there are no crab legs. They also have several types of ramen made to order, My favorites were the California roll sushi, shrimp shumai, kalbi ribs, seafood dynamite and the tempura. For dessert my favorite were the thin almond cookies. We left feeling sooo full. We definitely ate our money's worth! ”

“ This was the best buffet experience in OC I've had in a while. There's something so nostalgic about handpicking food at a sushi buffet versus being served AYCE sushi. The nigiri here is better than the majority of Asian buffets in OC as well as AYCE sushi places we've been to. The fish was fresh, and though there wasn't as huge a selection as say, a Las Vegas buffet, Makino really nails what they serve. You can tell they strive for quality over quantity, and I can respect that. The whole atmosphere was deeply pleasant with the 80s/90s Japanese bops (please send us the playlist!). It was also surprisingly, instantaneously fun. Makino taught us there's a visceral difference between handpicking your desired goodies onto your plate versus filling out a form and waiting for AYCE sushi staff to serve your food. It made us reminisce for a simpler time, whether it was the days before Covid or as a kid, eating out at Asian buffets with family. Service was stellar. The salmon was going quick thanks to us, and the chefs were prompt with restocking the plate. You can also make personal orders for ramen, udon, and hand rolls, which will be brought to your table. The wait staff were kind and went above and beyond to make our meal that day special. As we fought for the check, my partner revealed it was my birthday, and one of the waitresses brought a tiramisu (which wasn't being served during lunch). Though I don't usually like cakes (more of a pie person myself), I thoroughly appreciated the dessert as well as the thoughtfulness of the gesture. I'd say it's worth the price ($25), as it's what we'd be spending at AYCE sushi joints anyway. There was no line during lunch, and we were immediately served. Can't wait to come back on for Friday or Saturday dinner; the waitress told me they serve sashimi then. ”

“ AYCE for $25. Actually love love love this kind of restaurant system waayyyyy better than the buffet style! Kind of like ramen houses or other sushi places, you are given a sheet and allowed to order as much as you want per round. Go with a group so you can taste a little bit of everything! There were 5 in my party and we only lasted two rounds hahahahaha! Food was so fresh and super delicious! Will definitely come back if they stay like this! ^_^ Thanks Makino for a lovely Sunday brunch to celebrate my aunt's birthday!!! ”

“ Makino used to be an extremely popular sushi buffet near John Wayne Airport, with hundreds of different sushi, hot plate items, and some desserts. Since COVID-19 happened, many businesses have had to adapt. Especially hard hit have been buffet restaurants. So Makino got rid of that business model and instead changed to a made to order buffet option, with a maximum of 3 rounds. The setup some outdoor seating as well as spaced out tables inside their restaurant. The capacity indoors is about a 1/4 of what it used to be. I visited with a buddy for a weekday lunch. Sushi Buffet ($22 weekday) - The buffet consists of a variety of rolls, nigiri, salads, appetizers, and hot entrees. Drinks are not included. However, ice cream is included at the end, which consisted of a choice of vanilla or strawberry. We tried the following items: Great: Tiger roll, Philadelphia roll, Beef short ribs, takoyaki (these were so good, reminded me of the ones I had in Tokyo at Gindaco), calamari, shrimp tempura, salmon nigiri, shrimp nigiri, miso soup Ok: Tuna nigiri, yellow tail nigiri, albacore nigiri, octopus nigiri, seared salmon nigiri, crab stick nigiri Overall, the sushi wasn't bad, there were definitely some items we enjoyed here. They don't have as much variety as the original buffet nor some other Japanese AYCE. Service seemed to be spotty at times. Our server never brought back our paper to order for the 3rd round. However that wasn't really that big of a deal as we were full by the time we finished our 2nd round. The sushi was prepared quickly by the time the order did go in. ”