I've polled people online (via Twitter and Facebook) to get their thoughts on this question: what are the top 5 restaurants in Greenville? After hearing (and occasionally groaning at) the suggestions, I've decided to publish my personal list. I'm rating restaurants subjectively on three different criteria: value (cost vs. quality), food (in particular, taste and plating), and service (which starts before the table). This post is part of the Greenville's Best Restaurants series. Check out #5 here, #4 here, and #3 here.

Seemingly overnight, Greenville has sprouted numerous sushi restaurants here in town, including Tokyo Japan and Japan Inn. While I agree that those two sister restaurants are decent and value-priced, they seem to be the overwhelming favorites here in town...to my dismay. First of all, Thai Kitchen has better sushi than each of those two restaurants...but there is an option that is head and shoulders above the rest: Wasabi 88. At W88, the sushi rolls are freshly made with quality ingredients (I'm talking chunks of fish, not the rice sized pieces you get at other sushi-restaurants here in town). I personally have never had an entree from there (I'm a huge sushi fan), but my wife and others have had them and have had nothing bad to say about them at all. The sushi chefs roll two specials out every week, so the menu is always changing.

As a go-to spot for date night with my wife, I can tell you what we order from heart. We start with the crab wonton appetizer, crunchy packets of fried wontons containing a cream cheese-blue crab meat mixture and comes with an awesome sweet chili sauce, which we retain for sushi dipping pleasure. Unless my wife wants an entree (rare), we order a plethora of sushi, usually including the 88 roll (including seared filet steak), the Volcano roll (oven-baked creamy goodness), and the Sunset roll (topped with lemon for a bit of sourness the complements the fish well). We're also huge fans of the Red Velvet roll which is spicy mayo on top of spicy fish on top of fish and drizzled with sweet chili sauce. Yum.

Don't take my word for it, either. Our State Magazine named Wasabi 88 as the restaurant to eat at in Greenville, NC. That's right. Above B's BBQ, above aTavola, above all the other local 'staples', Wasabi 88 is Pitt County's go-to spot. So what are you waiting for? Head to W88 now. Right now. And ignore the people on Urbanspoon who say their food is bland.  They have no clue what they're talking about. See here: