If you’re ever in the mood to have sushi every day of the week and not break the bank, this quick guide to sushi specials in Grand Rapids is for you.

Osaka

Located at 4977 28th St SE., Osaka is next to the Applebees on 28th St., approximately a ten minute drive from FHC. Every Monday and Wednesday, Osaka offers all sushi rolls at 50% off. This means I can get a California roll for $2, Philadelphia roll for $2.50, and specialty rolls such as my favorite Spider roll for about $4. Be wary; this deal is for dine-in only. If you do want to take the sushi home, you can do as I did once and order your rolls for dine-in, eat a couple, then ask for a box and take the rest back home. The service is great enough to do so; a hostess will seat you immediately and your server will be at your table within minutes ready to take your drink orders. After sushi orders are placed, you can expect your meal to arrive within 10 minutes or so, depending on how busy the restaurant happens to be. The sushi itself is standard: nothing that will make you close your eyes in delight as you pop each one into your mouth, but it is good enough to satisfy my sushi cravings on a high-school student’s budget.

Location: 5/5

Quality of food: 3/5

Service: 5/5

Maru

Located at 927 Cherry St SE., Maru sushi is highest quality of sushi of the three local restaurants. It is located in Easttown, about a 15 minute drive from FHC. Although it is a longer drive than Osaka, Maru’s building is characterized with wall-length windows that juxtapose the dark-wood interior and dim lighting in the evening. Maru offers a variety of specials that include mid-day Sushi specials Monday-Saturday 2:30pm-5:30pm and Sundays 11:30am-3pm. During these intervals, all signature and speciality rolls are discounted 25%. Maru’s sushi is my personal favorite of the three restaurants, but also the most expensive. Signature rolls, such as the California and Philadelphia, will come to a total between $7-$10 each. In the evening, there is often a wait-time to be seated; but for the mid-day specials, I was always able to get a table fairly quickly. Maru tends to be eternally busy, so the server will take longer to get your order, but someone is always around to refill your drinks. Depending on how big of an order you placed and how busy Maru is, it can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes to get your meal. This might not be the place to go every week after school, but it is the place to take that girl out on a date without having to beg your parents for more money or having to work an extra shift in order to be able to afford it.

Location: 4/5

Quality of food: 5/5

Service: 4/5

XO

Located at 58 Monroe Center St NW., XO is the furthest of the mentioned restaurants. It is in the heart of downtown, amidst the tall buildings and cobblestone that characterize Monroe Center St. XO offers outdoor seating in addition to indoor during the warmer months and on the sporadic days of warm weather during the fall and winter. All day every Tuesday, all signature and special sushi rolls are 50% off. This attracts a large crowd, but you are usually still able to be seated within 20 minutes. Signature rolls come to a total between $3-5, while specialty rolls are more expensive but still a great deal at around $5-9 per roll. Once you are seated, a server will be over within minutes to take drink orders. Once the sushi order is placed, it usually takes approximately 10-15 minutes to prepare your food- a pleasant surprise considering how busy XO is. XO is about 20 minutes away depending on traffic, but has great priced, high-quality sushi that is worth a trip out.

Location: 4/5

Quality of food: 4/5

Service: 5/5