Sushi Train has a clever premise: a model train winds through the dining room loaded with colorful rolls, and you simply grab whatever looks good as it passes your table. It’s more affordable than most sushi restaurants in Tulsa. That second part is actually where things get dangerous.
We visited on a Saturday evening around 6:30 after a long day at Gathering Place, which means we walked in tired, hungry, and probably not in the best shape to exercise portion control. The wait was only about 10 minutes for a table, which is genuinely impressive for a packed Saturday night. We snagged a good booth seat right by the train, which is absolutely where you want to be.
Service was friendly throughout, just on the slower side — refills took a while to materialize. It didn’t ruin the experience, but when you’ve got a toddler at the table, timing matters more than it otherwise would.
The Train Is the Whole Point
The train is the experience. Watching rolls glide past, picking up plates on impulse, sampling things you’d never think to order off a menu — that’s exactly what draws people here and exactly what keeps them coming back.
It also creates a very convincing illusion that you’re at a buffet. Each plate feels like nothing, so you keep grabbing, and before long you’ve eaten twice what you planned because the price-per-plate made it feel consequence-free.
The plates are color-coded by price, and at the end of the night the server counts your stack — which, if you ate as much as I did, means a fairly impressive tower of evidence staring back at you. It’s still cheaper than most sushi spots around Tulsa, but coming in with that knowledge and then eating like it’s an all-you-can-eat is how a $50 budget turns into a $90 tab. Worth it, just worth knowing going in. The color coding is actually a helpful budgeting tool if you’re paying attention — which I wasn’t.
Our son ordered the grilled cheese and fries, which took over 20 minutes to arrive. By that point, I’d already eaten my fill off the train, the toddler had snacked enough to lose interest in anything resembling a real meal, and my wife was too frazzled to eat much. Timing is everything when small children are involved, and the kitchen timing on that kids’ order didn’t do us any favors.
What We Sample (And What’s Actually Worth It)
We sampled a solid range of rolls over the course of the evening, and the quality varied more than you’d expect.
The Jalapeño Geisha — smoked salmon, mozzarella, pickled jalapeño, deep fried with eel sauce — was one of the better rolls of the night. Just spicy enough without overwhelming the other flavors, and the deep fry gives it a satisfying crunch. Highly recommend.
The Pink Lady was my wife’s favorite, and it’s easy to see why. Shrimp tempura, crab stick, cream cheese, avocado, and cucumber on the inside, wrapped in soy paper with eel sauce. Sweet and well-balanced. I don’t even like cucumber and I still enjoyed it.
The Bomber — smoked salmon, Velveeta, jalapeño, eel sauce, deep fried — was too spicy for my wife but landed solidly in my top picks. There’s something about the Velveeta that sounds ridiculous and works completely.
The Topper probably had the most complex flavor profile of anything we tried. Spicy crab, spicy tuna salad, spicy calamari, shrimp tempura, and cucumber inside, topped with crab noodles and eel sauce, deep fried. It’s got a lot going on and it mostly delivers — but the texture of the tuna on top was off-putting in a way that’s hard to describe other than dry and sandy. Great taste, odd mouthfeel.
The New York — raw tuna, apple, cream cheese — was a pleasant surprise. The apple made me nervous, but the flavor was surprisingly subtle and the cream cheese balanced it nicely. My wife had a hard time getting past the raw tuna, which is a fair reaction.
A recurring theme through the evening was rolls that looked impressive but didn’t deliver much flavor. The Caterpillar (calamari tempura, crab stick, cucumber, avocado, sesame seeds, eel sauce) leaned too sweet and the cucumber dominated without much else coming through. The Krusti Krab (crab cake, shrimp tempura, avocado, crunchies, eel sauce, spicy mayo) was fine but forgettable — same lack of a strong flavor identity.
Don’t Sleep on the Egg Rolls or the Chicken
Tucked in among all the sushi options are egg rolls that are genuinely excellent. No notes. Get them. Same goes for the teriyaki chicken on a stick, which was superb — the kind of thing you grab without much thought and end up wishing you’d grabbed three of.
Save Room for Dessert — But Check Your Budget First
We finished with dessert — I have a second stomach when it comes to sweets, so no matter how full I am, something has to close out the night on a sugary note. The strawberry cheesecake was extraordinary — one of those bites that makes you wish you’d ordered two. The chocolate cake was a disappointment by comparison, though after the strawberry cheesecake it’s possible nothing could have measured up.
Is Sushi Train Worth It?
For the experience alone, yes. There’s nothing else quite like it in Tulsa — the novelty of the train, the variety of rolls, the ability to sample widely without committing to a full order of anything. It’s genuinely fun, especially if you have kids.
Just go in with eyes open. Slow service, kitchen timing that can create chaos if you’re with young kids, and a model train that will cheerfully help you spend well beyond what you planned. None of that disqualifies the place. It just means you should manage expectations and your budget before you sit down.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sushi Train
Where is Sushi Train located?
Sushi Train is at 3300 E 51st St in Tulsa, at the corner of 51st and Harvard.
How does the train work at Sushi Train?
A model train carries plated rolls through the dining room. You grab plates as they pass your table, plates are color-coded by price, and your stack gets counted at the end of the meal. Beyond the train, there’s a full menu available to order directly from the kitchen — more than 70 sushi rolls, plus nigiri, maki, salads, appetizers, soups, a dozen entrees, party trays, a children’s menu, and takeout.
Is Sushi Train good for kids?
Kids’ menu items like grilled cheese and fries are available, but be aware that kitchen timing on those items can lag behind the train. If you have young children, ordering kids’ meals early is a good idea.
Is Sushi Train expensive?
Individual plates are priced reasonably, but the train format makes it easy to rack up a bill faster than you expect. It’s worth tracking your plates as you go if you’re working with a budget.
Sushi Train Info
Address: 3300 E 51st St, Tulsa, OK 74135
Phone: (918) 747-9931
Hours:
Monday–Friday: 11am–3pm and 4:30–9:30pm
Saturday: 11am–9:30pm
Sunday: Closed
Website: sushitraintulsaok.com
