Walking in to Umami Grill & Sushi, diners are instantly transported to a quiet, relaxed atmosphere—a stark difference from the bright, busy FM 1488 road where it is located.

Umami Grill & Sushi offers Magnolia residents fresh, authentic sushi, Korean barbecue, Hibachi and Japanese cuisine in a casual dining atmosphere.

The restaurant, which opened a year ago, includes a sushi bar, a dining room filled with more than two dozen tables and a full-service bar.

Owner Jennifer Zilliox emphasizes high-quality food and elegant plate presentations. The food is prepared with great attention to detail, Zilliox said.

The dishes at Umami are prepared with fresh herbs and vegetables from its garden behind the restaurant. Vegetables in the garden include squash, green onions, red and green lettuce, cilantro and parsley.

"We use fresh ingredients," Zilliox said. "We never pre-make anything. Our vegetables are never soggy. Our sushi is made with top quality ingredients delivered twice a week."

Zilliox said she offers a mix of food to appeal to area residents.

"People are new to sushi, so we offer a variety," she said. "We will gradually put in more Korean food on the menu also."

Zilliox's family helps her at the restaurant, including her brother and cousin who work as sushi chefs, and her mom helped her develop the menu.

"My mom created all the recipes here," Zilliox said. "She's my inspiration."

Zilliox has always wanted to own a restaurant. When a Chinese buffet restaurant was for sale, she decided to buy the business and start her restaurant.

"People still think we're a buffet, but we completely changed it," she said. "We're slowly growing. The word is spreading that we're open."

Customer favorites:

• Kalbi: Sizzling Korean short ribs marinated in a Korean barbecue sauce, served with a bowl of steamed rice. $17
• Umami Roll: Shrimp tempura and snow crab inside, topped with avocado, ebi, salmon, tuna, fresh water eel and tempura crunch topped with unagi sauce. $13, add onion crunch $1
• Mean Green: The inside of the sushi includes tuna, fresh salmon, avocado and cream cheese and is wrapped in fresh cucumber. $11
• Cougar Roll: Spicy tuna and cucumber inside, topped with peppercorn tuna, avocado, wasabi yuzu and spicy sesame oil. $11
• Crunch Roll: Snow crab, avocado and cucumbers topped with crunch and drizzled with unagi sauce. $5.50, add onion crunch $1
• Caterpillar Roll: Unagi and cucumber topped with half an avocado. $11
• Tiger Eye Roll: fried smoked salmon, cream cheese and jalapenos rolled in soy paper with masago. $7

Lunch special:

Bento Box

Umami has a lunch sampler special for $11, called a Bento Box. The box includes an elegant five-item tray of fried rice, shrimp and vegetable tempura, California rolls, salad and a choice of spicy pork, rib-eye beef marinated in Korean barbecue sauce, breaded pork cutlet, or beef, chicken, vegetable, shrimp or salmon teriyaki.

Customer comments:

"They have a beautiful restaurant. It's well designed, and they keep it very clean. They offer a nice diversity of food. Their sushi is fresh. Their Bento boxes are a very good value at lunch."

–Chris Osborne

"I love the ambience. They have a seven-spice calamari that's to die for. It's the best around."

–Berthe Carp

Umami Grill Sushi, 6960 FM 1488, Magnolia 832-934-2649, www.umamigrillandsushi.com, Hours: Sun.–Wed. 11 a.m.–9 p.m., Thurs.–Sat. 11 a.m.–10 p.m.