This Is the Best Buffet in Kansas, Known for Its Sushi

Hey, Kansans (or Kansasians, Kansanses, people who live in Kansas and are tired of being corrected), here’s a suggestion that sounds wrong until it’s right: go to a buffet for the holidays. I mean it. One of the best Christmas Eves of my adult life happened at an Asian buffet. No kids in the house for the first time, no chaos, no one crying over wrapping paper. Just that strange silence where everyone keeps wandering into the kitchen for no reason. Then my comedian friend Big Tim called and said, “Hey, baby, wanna go to a buffet?” Big Tim has a nose for food that borders on spiritual, so I said yes. I ended that night full of sushi, noodles, and dessert, feeling like I had accidentally cracked some kind of grown-up code.

Mizu Sushi in Topeka, Kansas, hits that same nerve. It’s clean, it’s calm, it smells like someone cares, and it immediately makes you relax. Have you been? If yes, I’m curious what you grab first. If no, let me introduce you to a buffet that doesn’t look like a buffet but acts like the good kind: abundant, fast, and vaguely miraculous.

Here’s the thing: this isn’t a traditional buffet. No steam tables where people hover over half-filled plates, no awkward jostling for the last piece of sushi. Mizu Sushi does what I call a “tableside buffet.” You get a paper order sheet, check off what you want, hand it to a human, and then—magic!—food comes to you. Sushi, rolls, appetizers, teriyaki, noodles, and even hibachi. You can eat as much as you want without ever standing up or making small talk with the stranger next to you. This is the superior "buffet" style, in my opinion.

The menu feels like it was designed by someone who eats for joy. Shrimp and vegetable tempura hit the table hot and crunchy, tofu skin sushi has this soft, almost buttery chew, and eel sushi brings the rich, satisfying flavor people chase. Hand rolls like salmon skin and crabmeat are steady, reliable, like a good friend. Chef’s special rolls (including rainbow, submarine, ocean view, and more)arrive looking like a party someone spent way too much time decorating. Then there’s dessert: ice cream or fried cheesecake, which is less a dessert and more a personal congratulations.

And yes, someone put deep-fried banana in a roll. Sounds like a joke, tastes like genius. Easter and Topeka rolls feel intentional, not random experiments. Hibachi options cover chicken, steak, shrimp, or vegetables, tangled up with yaki soba noodles that vanish faster than anyone admits. The whole thing works together without being fussy or trying too hard.

Mizu Sushi sits near the corner of Huntoon Street and Ashworth Place, across from the Baymont Inn & Suites and near Home Depot, Sam’s Club, and Walmart Supercenter. The neighborhood is practical, lived-in, the kind of place where errands melt into dinner. Topeka itself has this calm, unpretentious rhythm that grows on you. Nearby, the Mulvane Art Museum offers a little culture, and Gage Park gives you trees, paths, and room to work up an appetite before you even think about sitting down.

So visit Kansas. Visit Topeka. Walk around Gage Park, peek into the Mulvane Art Museum, and then sit down at Mizu Sushi for a tableside buffet that actually makes sense. Big Tim would nod, grab another roll, and say, “Yeah, baby, this works.” And honestly, his approval is all the endorsement you need.

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