Pasadena diners hunting for sushi deals have no shortage of options right now. At least five restaurants along East Colorado Boulevard and East Foothill Boulevard are running happy-hour specials, buy-one-get-one deals, and all-you-can-eat offers that Local News Pasadena food columnist Peter Dills compared to old-fashioned gas-station price wars.

"One gas station drops prices, and the station across the street responds," Dills wrote in a June 23 column. "Only this time it's spicy tuna rolls and Sapporo Beer instead of unleaded."

Here's what's on the table:

Tomikawa Sushi, 3539 E. Foothill Blvd., offers all-you-can-eat lunch for $23.95, including unlimited appetizers, rolls, and premium rolls, Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Diners are timed and doggie bags are not allowed. Owner Jae Chang, who also founded the 30-location GEN Korean BBQ chain, opened the Pasadena location in the former Kabuki space on Foothill.

Haruka Sake & Sushi, 3500 E. Colorado Blvd., runs half off a second order on select drinks and rolls from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily, according to the restaurant's Instagram page. The deal covers sushi rolls, nigiri, draft pints, wine, and soju.

Sushi Roku, 33 Miller Alley in Old Pasadena's One Colorado complex, offers happy hour Monday through Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., with discounted rolls and drinks, plus half-priced sake every Monday night. Weekend lunch specials run Friday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Kabuki Japanese Restaurant, 2675 E. Colorado Blvd., runs happy hour Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., plus a late-night window. Dills noted the restaurant raised its happy-hour Sapporo from $2 to $3. Kabuki is part of the Kaizen Dining Group, founded by Joan and David Lee.

At the higher end, Panda Inn, 3488 E. Foothill Blvd., added a sushi bar and omakase experience during a 2024 renovation. Its 15- or 20-course omakase runs $98 per person under executive chef Sun Fu Huang, available Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m.

The deals coincide with rising labor costs. Pasadena's minimum wage increases from $18.04 to $18.57 per hour on Wednesday, July 1, affecting all businesses regardless of size, according to the city manager's office. No restaurant owner has publicly linked the promotions to the wage increase, but the squeeze is real: the rate adjusts annually based on the Consumer Price Index, with the next update set for July 1, 2027.