Sushi Jo Courtenay Japanese Restaurant

Stopped here for a takeout sushi craving. I have not had food here before, as it's not local for us. Ordered the oyster fry appy, which was freaking DELICIOUS, and the Crazy Jo California roll, as well as Tiger and.well, everything was gone so fast, I didn't even take pictures. THAT is saying something, considering it had to drive an hour to get home, and it was still fabulous. There was a 40 minute wait at 6pm on a Sunday evening, and when I stepped back in a 6: 30 to pick up the order which was ready on time, there was a lineup of people waiting to dine in. I can see why. There is parking on the side street, which is where I waited, so I wouldn't be taking up space in their busy establishment. The server was lovely, greeted immediately at the door and immediately provided a menu and took my takeout order within moments, as well as answered the few questions I had regarding items without issue. She also recognized me immediately when I returned for the order, and I would highly recommend this place based on this first impression. If you call in your order for pickup, you can avoid the wait and review the entire menu online, which is what I'll do next time we're in town. The food was fresh and the presentation even in a takeout box was worth the stop. I'll be back.:)

I've dined in, ordered take out, and every time, I have not been disappointed.
Love the professionalism, quality of service, food, and environment.

This was our second time here and man it was even better than the first. Helen was our server again and she is awesome. We started with the tempura prawns. Hands down the best prawns we have ever had. Amazing tempura skills and cooked in obviously the cleanest deep fryer on the planet. A must order if you dine here.

We then ordered a beef teriyaki platter and 2 sets of rolls, the red dragon and the firework. The flavors and freshness on all of these dishes were incredible. The amazing textures and sauces highens the dining experience here. 5 star food for a very reasonable price. This place rivals Tojo's in Vancouver. Well done
Keep up the killer work.

Very good sushi. Portions were large too. Service was friendly, but a bit slow as some other reviews mentioned.

Dividers so your table is its own experience, introverts paradise.
The food is absolutely incredible! Even the California roll as basic as it may be had way more flavour then all the other California rolls I ever had. This is a sushi lovers dream. 11/10 not joking. Oh and get the tiger roll! I want to go back and get another.

No idea why this place is so highly rated. The restaurant is well laid out and I really like the individual dining nooks. Besides that it was a complete let down. Bad fish, rolls, and miso. Will not be returning.

Update: Why you would passive aggressively reply to my review 9 months later I have no idea.
First of all I ate only a couple pieces of my roll, a single nagiri (of the 4 I ordered) and about half my miso. I took the rest of the sushi in a to go box (that I threw out back at the Air bnb) as I did not want to be rude. Second I did tell the waitress that the fish tasted off. Beyond that I don't know what exactly you want people to do?

Wow what a place! We absolutely loved everything.especially the oshi! Service was also outstanding:)

Miso soup was hot and strong. Sushi was fresh, rice was great, fish was soft and delicious. Amazing place.

Thanks for your replies but I still have a few points to make. First, there were not many people around four o'clock in the afternoon. We didn't order a lot of food, but it took nearly an hour to cook. We were in a hurry on our way back to Victoria which greatly delayed our trip. Second, the service from the waiter was very slow, we tried to ask the waiter to add some water, but no one bothered us. They didn't tell us no entry until we went there ourselves. Third, regarding tipping, we were very unhappy so we didn’t tip a lot, but the waiter actually watched us swiping the card. When she saw that we gave a small tip, she took the card machine away and asked us to pay again. Tipping is for customers' freedom, I don't think anyone in the restaurant can interfere with our choices. Finally, although your food is very delicious, I hope you can improve, thank you!

We waited in the restaurant for an hour before serving. Only one waitress. That's terrible!

So nice to support a family run business here in Courtenay. Always a pleasure to stop here - great service, great food.

Service was friendly and fast, food was delicious and wonderful atmosphere. Will definitely be coming back, by far the best sushi in the valley!

Great lunch with family, delicious hot foods and great service with wide range of selections.

My brother and nephew and I went to Vancouver Isl.to visit our brother who lives in Union Bay. We decided to go out for lunch so my brother suggested Sushi Jo in Courteney. It was located in a quaint little area with a lot of locally owned businesses. One thing was parking is very hard to find because the area was bustling with shoppers. When we went in it was very nice inside. Newly renovated because my brother said they suffered a fire. It is a family runned business. We sat in a booth and was quickly served. We got tea and water and ordered. I had a Beef Udon and my brothers had other dishes. The food was really good and the price was very reasonable. Totally will go here again when I visit my brother again.

Definitely the best sushi spot I had in the whole island. It is a bit of a drive from where I live but it is so worth the drive! The waitress was super friendly, the atmosphere was great + private and everything I ordered was fantastic!

I highly recommend the toro nigiri/sashimi, red dragon roll and the beef oshi which was nicely torched.

Will definitely be coming back anytime I'm feeling sushi or just great food in general!