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Izumiya
Category: Restaurants Japanese Japanese [Edit]
1581 Webster StSte 290
(between Geary Blvd & Post St)
San Francisco, CA 94115
Neighborhoods: Japantown, Lower Pac Heights, Pacific Heights
(415) 441-6867
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Kassidy P. said: "The sashimi melts in your mouth. The Ikejime Tai, yellow tail, maguro, and fatty tuna was some of the best I have ever had. And the bill came to $70 for 2 people. I was very impressed!! The service is quick and not bothersome. What…" read more »
326 reviews for Izumiya
Review Highlights
"I'd definitely go back for the okonomiyaki."
(in 173 reviews)
"Their Modern-yaki is TO DIE FOR DELICIOUS."
(in 41 reviews)
"It was some of the best Japanese curry I've ever had."
(in 58 reviews)
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326 reviews in English
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Review from Daniel S.
12/8/2011
If you're not Japanese, I'm pretty sure you won't know what an okonomiyaki is.
And if you're not Japanese, and you see the little plastic model of one in the window, I'm guessing you will think it looks like dog puke.
Any maybe it does, just a little. It's kind of like an omelette with veggies and meat and seafood, and after it's plated, it's sprayed down with tonkatsu sauce (a variety of Worcestershire sauce) and stripes of mayo.
Now if you're a non-Asian, that sounds pretty ghastly. And the look is -- well, something to get used to.
NEVERTHELESS, I am now telling the Western World that it is time to expand your horizons. Because here, in SF, you have a chance to have a real okonomiyaki. And as our real Japanese reviewers begrudgingly admit, Izumiya makes a decent okonomiyaki.
But most importantly, it is a delicious okonomiyaki, and a dish that transcends cultural barriers. Everybody I take to get an okonomiyaki here at Izumiya says: that doesn't look I should eat it. And then they try it. And they like it. It's umami, and sweet, and tender in the right ways, and chewy in the other right ways.
So just go and try one, for god's sake. You'll be glad you did. And if you're really hungry, try a modern-yaki, which is essentially the same thing with noodles. It may kill you -- they're more filling then they look.
Also, I wouldn't bother with their sashimi or sushi-like foods, unless you want to be pretend-healthy. The "dons" (rice dishes) are better choices to accompany your okonomiyaki. -
Review from Tiffany V.
San Francisco, CA
1/21/2012
My grandma just moved into the cutest neighborhood in Japantown so my cousin and I went to visit her. We ended up coming here for dinner because we were here once before in the summer and sometimes you just gravitate to what you're familiar with.
The only good thing here is their super deluxe seafood salad whatever its called. The one that has the most seafood in it. Its amazing. Their dressing is just alright though which is strange considering they actually sell bottles of their miso dressing for a ridiculously high price of $8. The salad doesn't look like much upon delivery but its bite after bite of delicious seafood.
Everything else here is rather pathetic looking. Small portions, no taste, etc etc. I would skip this place next time I was in the neighborhood considering all the options. Don't go to Isobune either though. That place sucks even more. -
Review from Cece L.
San Francisco, CA
1/2/2012
Could not hold back the urge on writing this follow up to my friend's review below. Fellow food seekers, be warned!
First time at this restaurant, we were very excited, the food looked good, but we lost our appetite when the waitress/owner showed her real self.
Usually when a restaurant takes down the wrong order, whether they make a correction or not, the owner doesn't come back only to make sure to tell you that it was your fault. But the owner here has a unique sense of how to "keep" her customers, by pointing to her note pad saying "see! it said 'ROLL'! not 'HAND ROLL'!". We were shocked to a point where we didn't know what to say and just said "ok." So to better prepare yourself if this happens to you, here are a few reply options that we thought of afterwards:
1. "but we didn't write that... you did." or
2. "i'm sorry you have really bad handwriting"
Ten minutes later, I decided to order a spicy tuna Hand Roll, I asked the same waitress/owner, enunciating very slowly and clearly: "can I have a spicy tuna Hand Roll please? Hand Roll". She then puts her hands on her waist and said very seriously: "Are you sure you want the handroll? Because your friend ordered the wrong thing. I asked her twice and she didn't want the roll, she wanted the hand roll". I was like, okay.... "yes, I'm sure, I want the hand roll. Spicy tuna hand roll. I said Hand Roll. Hand Roll" Again, I was probably way too nice at the moment. A better come back next time would be to wait for the hand roll to come out and say to her "excuse me, I wanted the Roll, not the Hand Roll." I think she would've flipped out.
Anyhow, was all of this necessary? Absolutely not! Not when it was over a $3 california roll. The other waitress that brought out the order offered to change it for us. If they didn't want to change the order, that's fine, we'll take the roll. But once the restaurant offers to change an order, it is so rude for the owner to come back and scold at her customers.
I live a couple of blocks away, would've really wanted to find a restaurant to be able to come back to, but the horrible service just drove me away. I'd like to keep my appetite when i eat, thank you. -
Review from Cindy C.
San Francisco, CA
1/2/2012
I've been to this place many times before and the service and food were always decent. It was one of our go-to for a consistent meal.
Today's experience with waitress/possible owner was a true turn off and I would never go back again. I usually don't like to write bad reviews because I believe in second chances but she doesn't deserve my business after this incident.
I ordered a california hand roll amongst a bunch of other things and I know I said hand roll. When my food arrives, I realized it was a maki roll so I tell the waitress of the mistake. The owner then comes to me and said, "You said roll, not hand roll. Look at my notepad, that's what it says. But I'll fix it anyway". If it was said nicely, it would've been appropriate. But she scolded me like a 5 year old and wanted to make sure that it was my mistake, not hers. I was trying to be a good sport about it and thinking it was a miscommunication and I should just let it go.
My friend then decides to order a handroll since it looked good. She tried to order with the owner/waitress only to be asked "Are you sure you want the handroll? Because your friend ordered the wrong thing. I asked her twice and she didn't want the roll, she wanted the hand roll", while pointing her finger at me this entire time. She must have asked my friend 3 times the same thing. Really? Is this completely necessary? If you are going to fix something for a customer, just fix it and move on, not to mention it's a $3.00 california roll. Not exactly the most expensive thing on the menu. Really not worth losing your customers over.
She couldn't even come over to our table to ask whether we were done. She yelled from her register in a rude, condescending manner. I didn't know what to do except to be upfront with her and let her know that the food was good but her attitude was really a turn off. She didn't care.
So, food is decent here, but I don't like to be scolded like a 5 year old. There are lots of other good Japanese restaurants in the city to support. -
Review from Shaf K.
San Jose, CA
2/1/2012
Their okonomiyaki is pretty good. For those of you that are looking for something a bit more healthy, they also have a delicious seafood salad. I had the modern yaki without the beef and pork (I'm a pescaterian) on a winter day recently. I had to split it with a friend since it was way too much for me, but damn, was it good. Modern-yaki is okonomiyaki with a pile of yakisoba on it and a big omlette on top of that. Definitely not health food. There are also lots of other items and options on the menu. I don't know about the quality of their sushi, but the raw fish I've had in their seafood salad has been pretty good, so I'm guessing their sushi will be on the same level. If you're looking for tasty Japanese comfort food, visit this place. They also put up some gnarly Christmas decorations. It's like Santa's elves vomited lights and decorations on their store front...Pretty cool.
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Review from Yumi H.
Fremont, CA
1/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
I distinctly remember I liked how they had so many combo options that you could choose. There are so many choices... but if you've never tried okonomiyaki, try one here! We had a Modern Yaki and also a Curry entree. The Modern Yaki was massive!! This restaurant is pretty small so try not to come during peak hours if you don't want to wait. Their Omusoba looks interesting! I'm obsessed with yakisoba... I'll get that next time!
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Review from Pleasant Hill R.
Pleasant Hill, CA
2/6/2012
We ordered some roles and one was served with a dead baby cockroach on top of it in plain site. It looked like they poured unagi sauce over it. To their credit, hey did not attempt to charge us for our meals. Enter at your own risk!
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Review from S G.
Antioch, CA
1/7/2012
Major comfort food. Curry, Okonomiyaki, Yakisoba, Udon, Hamburger Steak, Tonkatsu...wish it was closer to home...I'd be there several times a week.
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Review from M C.
San Francisco, CA
12/12/2011
This little restaurant among all the others is just mediocre.
First of all, the menu looks kinda confusing with so much stuff going on...food names, arrows, parenthesis, pictures...etc.
But because my stomach was calling out, I had an easier time deciding whatI wanted to eat. :-)
I ordered wakame udon, chicken teriyakki and california rolls. My boyfriend ordered sashimi. The sashimi was fairly fresh.. And the udon tasted good... However, if you really wanted udon, id say go to another restaurant down the hallway, mifune.
the service was decent..
Overall, I would rate everything "okay"...not too bad , but nothing great..I probably would not come back for some time. -
Review from Sherry L.
12/2/2011
I have pretty high expectations of Japanese food having been spoiled in NYC but have had to dumb it down since moving to SF. Upon someone's suggestion, I came to Izumiya to test it out.
The plastic models in the window sure looked delicious when I was browsing! All in all, Izumiya is a solid J-restaurant, but lacks the authenticity that I crave.
The set meals are actually a pretty good deal. You get good variety and don't have to pay for 2 entrees. The okonomiyaki was better/more authentic than I expected, but I definitely think it pales in comparison to Otafuku in the East Village (which I don't think is *that* amazing). The sakazuke fish in aluminum foil sounded really promising on the menu... but came off the burner way too early. The fish was cooked just fine, but the alcohol had not evaporated fully from the sake sauce... so all I could taste was cooking wine. =\ The yakisoba omelette was an interesting dish... but could definitely use less noodle and more egg! -
Review from Elle C.
11/2/2011 2 photos
Izumiya hands down is the best okonomiyaki outside of Osaka. I've been on a okomomiyaki hunt and Izumiya hits the bullseye. Set up with the model display on their outside window like the real deal in Japan. It's got the unpretentious vibe, cramped seating and dining area and quick friendly service just like it should.
The menu is decent, can't say much for the other stuff but the set lunch/dinner okomomiyaki is where it's at. Everything was fresh and didn't skimp on the sauce and mayo. Left very full and very satisfied. *thumbs up* -
Review from Grayson K.
San Francisco, CA
Izumiya might have the best okonomiyaki in San Francisco. I tried the Hiroshimafuu Modern-yaki - an okonomiyaki filled with yakisoba, beef, shrimp, chicken, and squid then topped with fried egg, okonomiyaki sauce, cheese, a plum drizzle, and pickled ginger. It was extremely filling and equally good. Washed it down with Yebisu and genmaicha (roasted rice green tea). All in all the Izumiya strikes me as modern-enough japanese lunchery done right.
I tried the tuna and Japanese mountain yam appetizer and it was maa maa. The mountain yam was really sticky like natto, but was lacking "bang" that really fresh veggies deliver. The tuna was clearly not fresh but not spoiled either. I would stick to the lunch items and stay away from the fish. It's the only reason I didn't give a 5 star review.
Based on the rather large menu and from what I've read here on Yelp - I'd say that Izumiya could best serve itself by removing sushi, appetizers, and probably everything else besides the okonomiyaki and curry. A minimal Japanese eatery that only serves curry and okonomiyaki? Sounds amazing.
I'm going to come back and try the original Kansaifuu okonomiyaki. -
Review from Mari N.
San Francisco, CA
12/16/2011
Here's my review, in the form of a comic: http://sfbay.ca/2011/1...
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Review from Julia P.
10/23/2011
Was venturing around the Japantown mall to check out the Sanrio store (why else would I go there really except to hang out with the fobs and sing karaoke?) when I got hungry and needed a food outlet STAT!
Came across this place and since it looked decent went in.
Not going to beat around the bush with this review - it was just okay. Ordered some sushi (5 pieces) which was surprisingly fresh and pretty good. Ordered some teriyaki chicken rice and unagi rice which was also pretty good.
I didn't like the decor of the place and it was rather cramped. If you're in fix for food and can't wait another few minutes, this place will work. Sit at the bar if there's a line. -
Review from LYNX H.
Venice, CA
11/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
I've come to the conclusion that "Japan town" is more like Saigon town or Taiwan Town. I'm talking about the flavors, food, SERVICE, environment, experience, etc.
The utensils were filthy, end of story. -
Review from Sharjah D.
San Francisco, CA
Ok so a friend and I were hungry and we walked most of the restaurants and came back to this place to dine at. It was quite busy on a Friday evening but we only waited for 5 minutes to get seating. The place was awfully loud to talk in but we just wanted to eat. So I ordered a dish with Saba that came with miso soup, rice and salad. like always and my friend ordered the Beef Teriyaki with Calamari Teriyaki. I thought the servings were smaller than the other Japanese places I've been to. But at least its worth the try. =)
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Review from Liz W.
11/20/2011 1 Check-in Here
This is another one of those Sushi restaurants that's actually owned/run by Chinese people lol. Came here a few days ago and ordered the bento box with (A) tempura, (B) chicken teriyaki, and (C) inari, plus had the cream cheese + salmon + avocado Philly roll. The roll was not too shabby, and the salmon and avocado both seemed pretty fresh. The Bento box was a decent size, although I'd say they could have been a little more generous on the portions. Plus, the size of the miso soup bowl was literally enough for 3 sips...
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Review from Leah C.
Rohnert Park, CA
I feel I have to begin this review with a caveat, I only speak a handful of Japanese phrases, so I was just as at fault for this experience as they were, but that said....
Ugh. I love buckwheat noodles "soba." They are heavy bodied, full of flavor, and despite their misleading name, do not contain any wheat, which makes them gluten free...most of the time. The cheap-y noodles cut corners by cutting the high quality buckwheat with wheat flour, and this makes them more like $2 a bundle rather than $9-12.
I asked the waitress if they had soba noodles with just buckwheat, no wheat flour, and she said she thought they did, but she had to check. She came back and said yes they did, and I was so excited! YUM! I love it! I then told her that I was allergic to wheat, and to point me to something I could have. She said the curry, and it looked good.
My dining partner ordered the mixed grill Yakima-soba which is like chow mein, and it smelled SO GOOD. My curry and soba combo came and I was thrilled! Not only did everything look good, AND smelled good, it tasted AMAZING. Uh oh.....that's my cue. Whenever something is supposed to be gluten free and knocks my socks off, I have to panic. Sure enough, the curry THE CURRY??!?!had flour in it, and the noodles were not only flour containing, but mostly flour.
Luckily I had the ability to stop myself from gorging on the delicious food to realize that it tasted too good, and didn't get too sick. That said, I shudder to think of someone having a deadly reaction to an ingredient and being served it here just because of the incompentecy of the staff.
Geez -
Review from LaLa K.
Honolulu, HI
9/14/2011
If I could, I would give this place ZERO stars! We ate here two weekends ago, and it's been awhile since we've eaten at place with service as bad as this place. (IF YOU'RE GOING TO READ ANYTHING ABOUT THIS REVIEW, PLEASE READ THE 5TH PARAGRAPH!)
For starters, we waited ten minutes at the door before any of the waitresses acknowledged us. Even then so, after saying "hello how many" we waited another TEN MINUTES before being seated. Based upon the waitresses running all over the place, we thought they were really busy. Not the case when they finally sat us down.
Our waitress finally took our order, my friend order a combo to share with her husband, my husband ordered another combo to share with our daughter, and I got the curry plate. And we also got edemame for appetizers.
Long story short, our food slowly came out not as a group but one plate at a time. It was probably 20 minutes after we started eating my daughter didn't get her tempura bowl (the other half of my husbands combo order). We told our waitress, she apologized that it was taking so long because they were busy and she would check on it. Another 10 minutes passes by and finally she brings us a bowl of tempura. Not what we expected but we told my FOUR YEAR OLD daughter to go ahead and eat.
She grabbed the tempura shrimp, was just about to put it in her mouth when one of the other waitresses ran over and told her we got the wrong order. We said it was fine we would pay for it any way but she took it away. I thought that was weird so I watched the waitress and she did exactly what I thought she would do. SHE PUT THE BOWL ASIDE, AND NOT LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES LATER SHE SERVED THE SAME BOWL (WHERE MY DAUGHTER MAN-HANDLED THE TEMPURA ) TO THE TABLE BEHIND US!!!
I really wish I was lying but after we all saw that we knew we had to go. "we're busy" is not an excuse for poor service! Nor is serving food touched by another customer to another customer!!!
Worse service ever! I don't care how busy a place is you should never neglect your customers & that's what they did here! This place sucks! -
Review from Sean H.
Pinole, CA
8/29/2011
Kind of have mixed feeling about the restaurant. Been here twice now, with a year's gap in between both experiences.
The first time I came here, I feel in love with their Curry. It was some of the best Japanese curry I've ever had. There was plenty of that bold curry taste, along with plenty of katsu and curry sauce to go along with it. My friend had their okonomiyaki, and she said she really liked it and that it was one of her favorite dishes there. This review would probably be a 5 star one if it was based solely on that one previous visit.
Sadly, I guess one year makes a huge difference in quality. Went back here again this past weekend, hoping to relive some of that prior curry joy. The first thing I noticed when my dish arrived, was that there was barely anything there. It felt like there was only two small spoonfuls of curry on my plate. I finished all my curry sauce without even finishing half of my rice. It wasn't a good ratio of rice to curry. Also, there was only one piece of katsu, about the size of my hand. I remember getting at least 2 pieces that big last time. The taste was nothing special either. Almost felt like a watered down version of what I had once had. My friends ordered the okonomiyaki also, and they said that it was a dish that was good at the start, but became increasingly harder and harder to eat as time went on. They both ended up not finishing their okonomiyaki.
Don't really know what happened here this time around. I guess this restaurant itself could be just a hit and miss kind of place. Only more visits to the restaurant could solve that question, and I'm not sure if I want to invest my time and money into it. -
Review from Monique N.
Westminster, CA
7/2/2011 3 photos
Went here rather late (around 8-9pm) and had the Okonomiyaki and Philadelphia roll. This was a random place to eat since we were exhausted from the entire day.
The phili roll was decent. It wasn't amazing because.. well its a roll. Its not "real" sushi but nonetheless it was OK. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it but it was alright.
The okonomiyaki (I forgot to take a picture because I was starving) was made alright. Although I really hoped they had made the hiroshima style okonomiyaki and not Osaka. The Hiroshima style okonomiyaki has a cracked egg and yakisoba noodles. It also comes with octopus, shrimp and bacon. Osaka style is more of the typical mostly seen around Okonomiyaki.
Also, these tourists have something against other asians or something. Dear family that had a problem with my group drinking and eating. If you had just told us that you were uncomfortable with us being loud you should've said something. Instead of THROWING your stupid trash onto our table.Listed in: Japanese nomz
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Review from Vithiet L.
San Francisco, CA
7/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
This is probably only a 3 star but I add one because I've been coming here for years and it has a bit of sentimental value.
Food is mostly good. I especially like their seafood salad; in fact, I really like the dressing they use on most salad they make so I was not surprised to see that they are selling this dressing so you can bring it home now (I don't know how recent this is).
I've tried almost everything on the menu and like I said, I like most of it so I won't give more details on this.
The big minus is, as others have mentioned, the service.
Mostly done by older ladies that are not very friendly. However, yesterday was my first time back in over 6 months, I was pleasantly surprised by they the dressing you can buy to go as much as by a couple of younger waitresses who were very polite and smiling a lot. Still, there was an older one that killed the nice vibe :p -
Review from Isaac c.
Civic Center/Tenderloin, San Francisco, CA
Came here with a friend during lunch time and had a great lunch time~!
Upon entering, I was warmly greeted and promptly escorted to my table. Looking around, I enjoyed the quaint ambiance with its dim lighting and its Japanese decors.
I ordered bento box #2 and my friend ordered sashimi and the whole meal came out to be around $25. The sushi was fresh and my salad dressing was pleasant. Great food, prompt service, and mouth watering food; what else can you ask for?
Service: A
Food: A
Overall: A
ps. Check your yelp app for special announcements and discounts for this place.
ps2. Parking can be tricky thus, I would recommend street parking couple blocks away.. -
Review from Ray K.
San Mateo, CA
7/31/2011
Great varieties of food, but not a very authentic Japanese dish. Average dish is $10 except sushi. They do have a smaller portion menu that 2 person can share with cost average of $10
Few of the the item I think is great and recommended;
Okonomiyaki, Bento box, soba, udon, udon suki.
Overall their food taste great!! You will not be disappointed if bringing friend to try the Japanese food here. -
Review from Erin E.
Seattle, WA
6/30/2011 1 Check-in Here
Was visiting SF and after walking around for hours, we found this Japanese food court and chose this place because the window menu (which made me so happy, I used to live in Japan) looked the best!
We had a sushi and sashimi combo - very tasty!
I had the donburi - SO GOOD!
We also tried the udon - was okay.
Tried the chicken katsu - yummy.
and last we had calamari - good!
Cheap and delicious! -
Review from Seth G.
San Francisco, CA
8/14/2011
We came for the tempura ice cream. It was just OK, not great.
The bento with pork cutlet and mackerel--cutlet was good (as was all the fried stuff) but the mackerel was borderline send-back material.
Oshitashi was nice. Edamame meh.
Sake-cooked cod made us queasy later.
Super dragon roll (tempura prawn with avocado and eel on the outside) was awful. -
Review from Binh D.
5/9/2011
3.5 stars, but service could have been better and with so many other Japanese restaurants close by, it wasn't good enough to make me only want to go there.
Food: 4 stars for the food. I thought the soft shell crab was better then most places and the sashimi was meaty but still able to melt in my mouth. The spicy tuna roll was nice too.
Ambiance: Older and very small location.
Service: Seated quickly which was nice, but they were a little slow on refilling water and they forgot to bring the food for two members of our group until we reminded them.
Price: Not crazy expensive but not cheap either.
Overall: A great place to go if you're in Japantown. -
Review from Yoon R.
San Jose, CA
7/6/2011
I'm sorry baby, you were the sun & moon to me, i'll never get over you... you'll never get over me.
This place made me love okonomiyaki from back in the 8th grade, and since then i've been visiting here and there just for that. (They're called Izumiya Okonomiyaki on their chopsticks wrapper) However on a very recent visit, they completely changed up the recipe. What was once an rich, flavorful, warm explosion in your mouth became doughy, thick, and uninspiring. It used to be amazing to bite into it and experience all the tastes coming together from the combination of seafood & beef (combination okonomiyaki) but now...... =( It wasnt even warm like it used to be! Must have been sitting out for a while. Terrible.
WHY WHY WHY!!!!! -
Review from Tony W.
Oakland, CA
7/1/2011 2 photos
I ordered an Okonomiyaki with Curry (Beef) Rice.
The Okonomiyaki is so delicious! The Curry Rice is very flavorful. I will come back for the Modern-yaki. 8D -
Review from jeddie k.
San Francisco, CA
7/13/2011
I used to really like this place, but now it's just comfort food, not too much of a wow factor.
I got the udon-suki which was pretty much nabeyaki udon. The seafood was questionable and the BF actually spit out the oyster part, but the rest of the things ( salmon, fishcake, tofu, chicken) were relatively tasty.
Also, fourteen bucks was a little much for it, there are other places in J-Town with cheaper, better nabeyaki udon. -
Review from Wendy X.
San Francisco, CA
5/10/2011
This used to be my go to place in japantown, especially when I worked next door at sophies crepe! I came back recently because I loved their stir fried udon combo with curry on the side for a mere 13 dollars.
Upon entering this small busy establishment on a saturday, I was seated in a small table across these rude glaring girls. If you love me so much, PROPOSE, but don't stare at me as I'm eating cause I like to beast on my food.. (thats not the servers fault because that was the only table opened) So as my boyfriend and I decided on our food, the server comes up, not with tea but with her pen ready to take our order. Heres the fun part:
Me: May I get stir fried udon with beef curry? The combo please.
Her: what?
Me: The stir fried udon with the beef curry combo.
Her: WHAT?!
Me:the udon with the beef curry.
Her:WHAT !? WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT?!
I looked over at my appalled boyfriend. And looked at her like WTF ARE YOU SCREAMING FOR look. Then she finally writes down my order and walks away.
Please take notice as I said this was a small establishment, but this time everyone around us were staring, and those plastic mean girls were shocked and laughing. UMMMM WONDERFUL DATE NIGHT. I was so embarassed I had to pack my food and leave. Im sure those people remember me as well because when my bill came on the tip line I wrote : NO TIPS, CHECK YOUR RUDE SERVERS. And left.
OH AND MAY I MENTION THIS LADY WAS NICE TO EVERY SINGLE TABLE BUT OURS? I saw her smiling to everyone being super attentive, but when it was us she came with a HURRY THE FAWK UP attitude. Crazy how one server can ruin a whole night. -
Review from Edward H.
San Francisco, CA
7/15/2011
This place is not fancy, but comfortable for lunch or dinner. Don't expect the food to be fancy or artistic. Izumiya is good Japanese comfort food. The Okonomiyaki, the Curry Beef Rice or Curry Ebi, and the Grilled Ika are favorites. And take notice of their small salad w/Miso salad dressing... quite tasty.
The sushi/sashimi are fresh, though sometimes the selection is limited. Still, I've never been disappointed. Nor have my family been disappointed
with their selection and quality of sushi rolls.
The service is decent, however can be spotty when the place gets crowded. On one occasion, the waitress was inattentive, but then, it was a Saturday night and the place was packed! If you don't know what to eat, view the window outside the restaurant... Those plastic food displays are very helpful... and can save time for yourself and the waitress when ordering during those busy hours. -
Review from Christina X.
Millbrae, CA
10/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
I think the food here is actually pretty good. The sushi was decent. The udon noodles & soup was really yummy! Don't get the beef tho, it's pretty dry. The portions are good too; not too small, not too big. The service here is OK...it could be better. She messed up my order. I ordered a Dragon A instead of B. So, make sure you enunciate ! -___- the place is a little small and it feels a little squished too. And it's also a bit dim, makes me feel tired. The food took a while to come out too. So....3 stars.
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Review from Andrew K.
San Francisco, CA
2/19/2011
I wouldn't go here for sushi (my friend was disappointed) BUT there are many other options and I ordered well. The edamame looked unappetizingly old.
BUT...
I got a little green salad with KA miso dressing.
Then, I got the tonkatsu prawns over beef curry.
The beef was SO TENDER and the curry VERY DELICIOUS - a touch spicy - very thick. Reminiscent of Arun Pereira's amazing beef vindaloo, which is VERY HIGH PRAISE.
My friend's chicken udon was tasty.
So, it's the kind of place where you just have to order well, but that's totally worth going to. -
Review from Kekumukula N.
San Francisco, CA
9/30/2011 2 Check-ins Here
Good, home-cooked Japanese fare here. My 7 and 4 year old daughters love the boiled chicken w/udon. Each can eat their own bowl. I love getting Bento Box #1 for lunch b/c of the variety I get to choose from. The staff is very nice and our favorites delicious.
-
Review from Cindy W.
1/18/2011
More like 2.75 stars, Izumiya is just a simple homey restaurant. Doesn't tout too much that you can't find elsewhere. In fact everything is about the same, with nothing stand out. Except maybe for the "Modern Yaki" ($12.95). It's a 3 part layered extravaganza - okonomiyaki as the base, yakisoba center, and fried egg on top - all lightly drizzled with some mayo, bonito flakes, and shredded seaweed.
I like the interpretation but the delivery of flavors fell flat. I found myself needing to squirt more Kagome-jan on the entire thing to give it taste. More sauce on top, more flavoring would definitely help.
The Tonkatsu Curry ($10.95) with salad, at least was solid. Nicely crisped with panko breading. Even the curry had chunks of beef which is a rarity. Pretty tasty there.
So set your expectations a little lower and you won't be as disappointed. -
Review from Steven B.
San Francisco, CA
4/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
While this place is not the greatest... it makes decent okonomiyaki. I tried a few different ones here and I would have to say the original is the better one. The modern yaki is just too big and overwhelming in tastes. The original one is simple and your taste buds don't get knocked out like in a boxing match. The salad dressing they have is really tasty and it seems to be popular if they can sell it per bottle at like $8...
The service isn't that great at this place. It's so freaking hard to find a waitress to order additional things. -
Review from Ryan S.
Riverside, CA
4/24/2011
This is probably the only restaurant i know that serves okonomiyaki, which is a japanese "pizza" of sorts, the dish itself isn't for everyone but i like it enough to visit this place.
The restaurant itself is pretty cramped and tiny, the waiters are a hit or miss, i think it's depending on how their day is going, but i remember one of them getting mad at my friend cus she was making sure the bill was correct so we didn't have our money ready by the 3rd time she checked up on us.
Overall if you like japanese food, try any kind of their okonomiyaki's that japanese dish is quite unique. -
Review from Lauren K.
2/28/2011
With a bunch of my favorite shops near by, I really wanted to give this place a shot. Came here for lunch and looked at the lunch menu. The lunch menu didn't look any different than the dinner menu (price wise) and so I decided on getting a Chicken Udon (a little more than $10 with tax and tip).
Service was okay. I mean they didn't exactly come back to see how we were doing.
I don't know why but I wasn't that hungry so I decided to take more than half of it to-go. They were really nice and put it in two containers so that my noodles wouldn't soak up the broth.
This place was OKAY but nothing special considering it's in a pretty prime location. -
Review from Sarina I.
San Francisco, CA
12/11/2010
Decent enough place for me. I was in the area and Fuki Sushi was closed. Came in here. Was in and out within an hour for lunch. I didn't want to try anything new or special, so what else does a person like me get in a Japanese restaurant without feeling adventorous but the Lunch Bento Box.
It filled me and it was priced fair enough.
Wouldn't go out of my way but hey if you're in the area, be my guest.
Service was great. Hardly anyone in there, more came after we were leaving. They were attentive, nice and not pushy.
