Sushi Masa on South Phillips Avenue is the answer to a question Sioux Falls used to shrug at: where do you go for serious Japanese sushi downtown? Not a pan-Asian grab-bag. A focused, intimate sushi restaurant that means it.
They roll, slice, and plate nigiri, sashimi, and specialty sushi rolls with the kind of precision that reminds you this cuisine has actual technique behind it. The menu leans traditional Japanese while leaving room for creative combinations. It fits the downtown lunch crowd, the unhurried dinner date, and anyone who has been burned by mediocre fish elsewhere and wants something worth the order.
Locals pick Sushi Masa because the dining room earns its reputation without a lot of noise. The South Phillips location puts it squarely in the middle of Sioux Falls' dining district, but the experience inside feels deliberate and unrushed. Good sushi made carefully — that's the whole pitch, and it holds up.