How to find good sushi

I  (Tucker, that is) was thinking today about what makes for great sushi..  We recently had a great sushi experience in New Mexico (ah yes, in the seaside community of Albuquerque), and this after a one-year hiatus after having a bad sushi experience (and having a bad sushi experience isn't like having a bad hair-day, but more like having a bad root canal experience).  But I was hoping to share with the masses how to avoid such a haunting experience:

• Avoid strip-mall sushi; instead, go for the free-standing-building sushi.  The great thing for strip malls is that they have cheap rent for stores that don't do a ton of business.  Free-standing sushi tells you that they have been there for a while, plan on being there for a while, and that other people like it.
• There is no such thing as good "discount" or "buffet" sushi.  It should be expensive (unless you live in Japan) because it means that they actually are using fresh fish that they bought that day.
• Avoid places with "Mr." in the title.  "Mr. Sushi" or "Mr. Tokyo" are just trying to dress up their bad sushi with fancy-sounding surnames.  Now, "Dr. Sushi" might be worth trying...
• It's okay if the sushi place has terrible decoration (like Christmas lights that are hanging up all year round)...it just means that they're spending more money on their food and less on their decoration, which is not a bad thing at all
• I think you need to get a recommendation for a sushi place before you go there.  There's so much room for error, it's in a different category than normal restaurants.  Would you go to a brain surgeon without getting a recommendation?  I hope not...otherwise, you're crazy, and should maybe think about getting brain surgery...hmmm...talk about a Catch 22...

Okay, no more sushi advice.  If I think of anything else, I'll add it to the list.  Next time, I'll try to get Rebecca to make a list about how to spot a good nail salon...I think you'll be surprised with how similar it is to finding a good sushi place...odd...