San Francisco's Best Japanese Restaurants

San Francisco’s hipster sushi destination. Where many of San Francisco’s sushi havens are hard-core, intimate and Japan-reminiscent, Robin is hip, funky, sleek ans memorable with an excellent sake selection and hip-hop attitude married to superb cuts of fish.

New Akikos is better than ever.

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Since re-opening in it’s gorgeous new space in January 2023, 1987 family classic, Akikos, has evolved into a world class sushi bar… the elegant and striking new space, along with consummate service and sushi, make it one of SF’s sushi destinations.

Exceptional service, nigiri, sake pairings and a long, sleek counter.

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SF is home to many Michelin-starred, Tokyo/edomae-style sushi bars, but one of my newer favorites since 2018 is The Shota. Exceptional service, nigiri, sake pairings and a long, sleek counter feel upscale and elegant compared to more traditional, wood-lined sushi bars (which I also love). No wonder it also gained a Michelin star in 2021.

Tiny Oma San Francisco Station feels like eating sushi in a Tokyo subway station.

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Oma's eight-seat sushi counter has a Tokyo subway station vibe tucked away in a corner of SF's charming Japantown mall. It's casual, with a top-notch fish selection to a small sake collection. It’s an omakase-only (tasting menu) format and a quirky, fun experience with quality nigiri.

The Japanese tasting menu by David Yoshimura is full of incredible surprises. This one is destined for awards. Nisei just passed the year mark as it opened last year. It is very Japanese with tasting menu only, but the chef, second generation Japanese-American David Yoshimura, calls his food Cal Japanese. The flavours are bold and fascinating - they are traditional Japanese ethos, but absolutely not traditional in flavour. This one is destined for awards and other accolades. The tasting menu is full of incredible surprises, like the signature dish Dorayaki, little Japanese pancakes that are stuffed traditionally with red beans, but he stuffs them with banana and tops them with caviar. They're incredibly playful and decadent and this dish epitomises the direction Yoshimura is going, with a tasting menu always full of surprises. They also serve a saké pairing and a sake and wine combo adds even more layers.

Tiny, intimate sushi bar transports to Japan on SF's Divisadero St. Chef Ken Ngai took over tiny KEN early 2021 after over 15 years working closely with Mitsunori Kusakabe at SF's Michelin-starred Kusakabe. Quality is high with his nigiri (think Hokkaido bafun uni) and items like hand rolls wrapped in first-harvest Ariake nori seaweed.

On a short trip to San Francisco, we were really craving some good sushi, and more specifically, a good omakase at the counter. We found Ju-Ni which offers an omakase, where one chef serves a maximum of four guests, and they have three chefs total, offering 12 seats total, hence the name Ju-Ni that means twelve. We got served by Geoffrey Lee, the executive chef, and little did we know, this was going to be one of our best omakase to date. The restaurant is beautiful, and the sushi was spectacular, traditional but at the same time incorporating some modern nigiri like a frozen and shaved ankimo over ikura nigiri. It's no wonder they have one Michelin star.Some of our favorite pieces were:-Akami (lean bluefin tuna)-Frozen and shaved ankimo (monkfish liver) over ikura (salmon roe).-White soy cured king salmon.-Shirako (Cod Milt)

SF to Japan in Kusakabe's Intimate Sushi Bar.I am transported back to Japan with the sleek, blond-wood lines of the intimate sushi bar offering only omakase/chef’s choice menus at Kusakabe, from Mitsunori (aka Nori) Kusakabe whose sushi I’ve long loved at legendary Sushi Ran in Sausalito. He’s taken things up another level here with nigiri and a few cooked dishes.

My "secret" more affordable, casual but still quality sushi spot in SF.

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Hidden upstairs in SF's charming Japantown mall, casual Sasa strikes a fine balance of exquisite fish from Japan’s legendary Toyosu Market (formerly Tsukiji) in proper nigiri and maki (rolls), but a midpoint price below many of the city’s tiny Michelin-starred sushi bars.

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Must try: divine scallops from Hokkaido in a scallop roll with snow crab and cucumber, creamy with Kyoto white miso aioli.

An intimate, Michelin-starred, Edomae-style sushi restaurant/bar in SF.

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Omakase opened mid-2015, garnering a Michelin star in its first year, truly an Edomae-style restaurant with only 14 seats at the sushi bar, fish flown in from Tsukiji Fish Market and gracious chef Jackson Yu explaining each course.SF's Michelin-starred Omakase serves only omakase tasting menus with saké pairings and custom Japanese plating, including antique plates from Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912). Chef Jackson Yu sources fish from Japan and is happy to explain technique and provenance along the way.