No :-( Remi's review (Aug 16th 2006)

I think I can see what the people behind RAW are trying to do. With its newly expanded seating area and contemporary interior, it is fairly obvious they are attempting to take a piece of Bluefish’s action. The intent behind it makes sense. There aren’t too many “hip” places in town, and with its cards played well, a restaurant can easily become a player.

RAW might have had the right idea then, but many problems with the execution prevents it from becoming a contender.

The service, for one, might be friendly, yet it’s completely devoid of professionalism. That it took the server ten minutes to notice us is something I can live with, it’s that she apologized for it each and every time she later passed us that got on my nerves. Yes, she was sorry, great, point taken, now leave us to our conversation. Being constantly interrupted during a meal is one of my pet peeves, even if the waitress was all about the good intentions. Apologize once, return to regular service, and we’re OK.

Even worse than the waitress was the food. This might have been our fault for going with something other than the sushi rolls, but seeing that RAW is giving the impression of being more than just that, I figured why not. The sandwich, which I believe consisted of just pulled pork, was awful. Whatever moistness the meat at one time held had leaked into the bottom bun. Moist bread that falls apart and dry pork without much flavor is not a good combination, and the result was a dinner that was almost inedible.

In RAW’s defense it should be pointed out that they did comp us for the meal, but that really didn’t make the general experience any better. I’m not sure if this was just an off-night or anything, but when both service and food is as lousy as this, then it will be a while until I give them a second chance.

No :-( Paul's review (Sep 9th 2006)

It rare that I will stoop to say it but I cant stress enough that this place BLOWS! We popped in to catch Dirk and Dan playing last night and first couldn’t gain access at all. The hostess looked overwhelmed and at the same time another patron came in and sharply told the hostess that it was exactly 30 minutes, presumably after being told her party would be seated previously. We left and came back after about an hour. This time we were carded and wrist-banded with a bright red tag for no apparent reason. My wife and I are 39, and though we look pretty good for our age, there isn’t much doubt we are of age and I was seriously annoyed at the hard-to-remove bands. I tried to order an Unagi roll, but the server didn’t know what that was. I asked for smoked eel, and that only got me a reply through the server from the kitchen that they had bar-b-qued eel, not smoked eel. Thinking we were already in trouble, I went ahead and ordered the roll and asked about tobiko rolls, to which I never got a reply. The “eel” roll was terrible, poorly executed and generally flavorless but also $9. The scene was decidedly ghetto, with ho’s-a-plenty and thick-necked ex-football types, ex Pub Club/ Blue Spark spill over maybe. Who are the clowns that opened this place, and what on earth makes them think they can make a go of it serving such crap? Don’t waste your time or money at this place.

Yes :-) JD's review (Sep 17th 2006)

First of all, I’m not a sushi expert or snob. I just know what I like.

And I really like the rolls at RAW. The firecracker rolls are addictive and my coworkers and I make special trips during our shift to go get takeout just for those rolls. I’m also a fan of the spider, rainbow and cruchy.

I’ve always had good service at this place. Some people get huge unrealistic expections from wait staff—I don’t. Just don’t suck and I’m happy. I’m there for the food and the conversation, not to judge a waiter’s knowledge.

My friends and coworkers have all enjoyed RAW and we plan to go back. Thumbs up.

No :-( Adrienne's review (Sep 19th 2006)

I will make a very sweeping generalization here, because the last five times that friends have dragged me to this place have all yielded the same reaction from me. The kitchen fare is extremely mediocre and the sushi is questionable. Now, I’ve never been a fan of these stupid for-American-tastes rolls that have about five hundred ingredients, are huge and falling apart, have cream cheese oozing out of them and have been dipped in the fryer. I like my fish simple. And let me tell you—if you want to eat raw fish, do not do it here. The quality of fish is less-than-desirable and I really question the abilities of their “sushi chefs.”

I will probably never go there again.

Yes :-) John's review (Oct 24th 2006)

Raw is actually a great place to eat. Not only is it a great place to eat but also the entertainment is excellent. The transition of resturant into bar at night gives a person good diversity, to A. eat for lunch or dinner and B. having a place to hang out after.

Yes :-) Maynard's review (Jan 11th 2007)

I took my husband to RAW for his birthday and I was pretty impressed with it. I’m not a big seafood fan, so I had the vegetable tempura and miso while my husband had two bowls of curry. All three were excellent. Especially the mushroom tempura. The curry may have been Japanese, but it tasted just like the stuff he had in Korea. Also, the plum wine is definitely something to go for if you like authentic Asian wines.

The place was pretty crowded though. It’s not all that surprising since it’s fairly new and it was college night. The waiters and waitresses were all over the place because of the amount of people present, but we were seated promptly and our waiter was there when we needed him, gave us a tip on buying a bottle of wine when they don’t really let you do that. He also provided us information on getting the curry recipe and we know how restaurants usually don’t let that information leak.

From my experience, this was a pretty good place and my husband and I plan to go back at least once a month.

Yes :-) AKCoug's review (May 29th 2007)

We were visiting out of town and walked down to RAW for drinks and an appetizer on our way to dinner. It was completely spontaneous – as I do not eat sushi. My husband loves sushi though – so in the spirit of being fun – I went along. I was pleasantly surprised with the menu! They made it very easy to see what was raw fish and what was cooked. I was happy with my tempura shrimp roll and hubby had something very spicy and liked it. The bar had very good service and our waitress was nice. I had 2 of their cosmo drinks – and they were made very well! The ONLY thing I did not like was the titles of 7 of their martini glass drinks, “The 7 Deadly Sins”. I’m sorry – but I can’t see ordering a drink called Gluttony, Sloth, or Adultry. It’s WAY too negative and creepy. It was a Monday night and we had a quiet table to ourselves.

Yes :-) James's review (Jun 13th 2007)

I’ve been there two times in the afternoon so can’t speak about the evening, but we feel we had one of the best servers possible. That that made it a great experience.

My daughter is a sushi connoisseur, at least to me and talks the talk, so she did the ordering and we felt it was very good.

Try the afternoon and remember sushi, not hamburgers – so judge it on that fact.

Yes :-) Jenny's review (Sep 17th 2007)

Our birthday dinner in July 2007 was excellent. My husband is a big fan of sushi, and he loved each of the types he tried. I enjoy a good grilled salmon, and my dinner was the best example of that dish I’ve ever had in Spokane. Our appetizer shrimp/prawns were amazing! I’d go back just for them. We had reservations for a Saturday night, we were greeted and seated promptly, and we enjoyed the experience and the food thoroughly. We’ll definitely go back.

No :-( Staci's review (Feb 5th 2008)

Food is fine and dandy, but I recently had a very negative experience with Raw:

We went with a large group of people who had a reservation for 15-20, but we only got seating comfortably for maybe 10-12 people. The staff was negligent to find us more seating, and didn’t seem to care that part of our people were just hanging out to the side of the group. We’d ordered some rolls soon after arriving and got some of them in a reasonable amount of time, but were still waiting for the rest 45 minutes later! Our party continued to arrive, and people ordering food a LONG time after us were getting their food before we finally got the rest of ours! Finally, just as the last of our group was getting their food we were ungraciously notified that we had to get-a-movin’ because they had another reservation waiting! The manager was extremely rude to someone who brought up the negative facts of the night.

I, personally, will happily spend my money and time at Sushi.com, Ichiban, or Suki Yaki from now on!