Japanese food is where the Bay Area gets interesting once you stop looking at sushi counters. These are the rooms I go back to — yakitori cooked properly, a nabe pot worth the drive, and one place in Santa Cruz that beats everything closer to home.
By Edmund · Updated 2026-08-24
← See all 31 places on the mapDeliberate. I don't like most of the sushi in San Francisco, and none of it is worth what it costs — you are paying Tokyo prices for fish that has been on a plane. I would rather send you to a grill or a pot, where the cooking is the point and the value is real.
The best yakitori you'll find in the whole area. My photos are from the pop-up days — they have a brick-and-mortar space now. Order everything: all the yakitori is great, and I always ask for the omakase.
Yakitori and izakaya — the best in SF. Order every yakitori cut, get the homemade udon, and finish with the panna cotta with Hokkaido syrup. Their tasting menu covers most of it.
The best Japanese-style hotpot (shabu shabu) in SF. Clean and tasty — I love it because it won't make you thirsty or leave a bitter flavour afterwards. I get the Yose Nabe pot and the homemade gyoza.
For yakitori, Rintaro in the city and Toriman in Santa Cruz — Toriman is the best yakitori in the whole area. Potto for a yose nabe pot.
Because I don't rate it here. I don't like most of the sushi in SF and none of it justifies the price, so I've left the category off rather than pad the list.