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Minako Organic Japanese Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Japanese Restaurants Sushi Bars Restaurants Vegan Japanese, Sushi Bars, Vegan [Edit]
2154 Mission St(between 18th St & Clarion Aly)
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission
(415) 864-1888
- Hours:
Wed-Sun 5:30 pm - 9 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
360 reviews for Minako Organic Japanese Restaurant
Review Highlights
"The brown rice was a really refreshing touch."
(in 31 reviews)
"Judy the owner has an incredible memory."
(in 52 reviews)
"The miso soup was light and not overbearing."
(in 29 reviews)
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360 reviews in English
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Review from JoAnn G.
San Francisco, CA
1/12/2012
Just had dinner here. We had a vegan in our party of 4 and ordered a variety of veg and fish dishes... The gyoza alone is worthy of 5 stars. I've never seen anything like it- it's a crispy crepe that has gyoza underneath. Order it. Also the fresh corn tempura is soooo good. We also ordered almond-rolled tofu that was good. Didn't blow me away like the first 2 apps I mentioned.
We ordered a few rolls- my favorites were the saba (mackerel) and the moki (sp?) roll. The fish was fresh and the brown rice was a tasty surprise! Really soft and flavorful, not that oatmealy multi-textured stuff that ruins everything. Shots/ sips of the creme nigori accompanied our dishes- mmm.
Yeah, there are signs to not seat yourself so just don't do it. If you're impatient enough to care, go to a quickie mediocre sushi place. I like that it's a give and take. Respect the hand that feeds you. I love the eccentric menu, love the direct and lovely waitress, and the food is finger-licking good. Love this joint. -
Review from Tiffany S.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2012
food is decent, however for the price it not at all worth it. I had the following,
4 chicken gyoza
1 crab tempura/unagi/avocado roll
price $35.00
I remember seeing on the poorly handwritten "specials" board that 4 chicken gyoza was $5.00
Did not make sense.
However if you take time to read the other reviews you'll find that the waitress that has been there since the dawn of time is a very pushy, overbearing woman. While you order your food from her you must slow down how fast you speak for god forbid you speak faster than she writes down on her pad of paper. Don't worry, she will tell you to slow down. She also seemed to be proud of the fact that the restaurant never catered to "hipsters" but if you ask me a yuppie is just another hipster at a later point in their life. & that is all I saw in there.
They do use brown rice so that is cool, but that is about it. -
Review from Allison H.
Berkeley, CA
1/20/2012
Let me start by saying the food is phenomenal. No complaints there. I had a couple of the vegetarian rolls including a special, and my friend had ramen. We were both very pleased.
What we were not pleased about is how expensive the place is! $16 for a bowl of noodle soup. $6.50 for a side salad. The craziest thing I saw on the menu had to be one of the vegan "sashimi" options. $4.50 for 2 pieces of marinated carrot. Did I read that right???? I don't care how amazing those two pieces (I'm assuming sashimi size, which is not big) of carrot are, I'm not paying nearly 5 bucks for them. Word to the wise- don't get anything ala carte, go for a dinner or stick with a sushi roll or two. Adding soup or salad to that will make the bill preposterous quick.
I read yelp reviews before I came so was aware of the price issues as well as the potential for strange service. At 7pm on a rainy Thursday night the service was perfectly fine, it wasn't too busy, and was overall a lovely atmosphere. -
Review from Ibai G.
San Francisco, CA
1/14/2012
A little pricey but it's totally worth it. Nice sushi and rolls in a quiet and comfortable environment.
Bonus: Plenty of gluten free options. -
Review from Joel U.
San Francisco, CA
1/22/2012
Best sushi ever. The staff was friendly and extremely knowledgeable about gluten free restrictions. I've been to Japan and had lots of sushi in my life -- this is by far the best.
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Review from Lauren R.
San Francisco, CA
12/7/2011
I'd say this was a terrible dining experience, but we couldn't even make it to the eating part....
I called for a reservation at 8:30 on a Friday night for 6 people. They told me that they close at 9 but we would have plenty of time to eat. We got there early just in case and saw an empty table that was clearly ours. As we were sitting down, the waitress scolded us and pointed to a ridiculously small sign up front about waiting to be seated. She then shuffled us back up to the front of the restaurant only to lead us to the same table we initially went to sit at.
As she handed us the menus she told us that she would only take our order once all of them were closed. This task was made virtually impossible by the illegible hand-written items and missing prices.
With the approaching closing time in mind, we figured out what we thought we wanted as quickly as possible. Despite this, she continued to ignore us for the next twenty minutes and even after a friend got up to go get her. By 8:55 we realized that we were not going to get fed and walked out.
It doesn't really matter how good the food is if you can't even eat it. Trying to eat here was remarkably similar to what I picture juvie to be like. -
Review from Jessica O.
Glenview, IL
12/15/2011
I love secrets.
I love when you have to know a password, or do something just right in order to get in with the staff.
Minako is that kind of place. If you want to be waited on hand and foot and bowed down to upon arrival, don't go here.
However! If you want amazing flippin' sushi and sashimi, delicious lotus soup, yellowtail sashimi in delicious sauce topped with black caviar, and are willing to walk your tuchus to the back of the restaurant in order to get seated? Well then by all means! Go. Cuz' it is worth the trip. -
Review from Mike J.
San Francisco, CA
1/21/2012
Aweful. Bad customer service...waitresses were totally clueless. We waited for 30 minutes (they told us 15-20). The place is a hole-in-the-wall (not necessarily a good sign for a sushi restaurant). And the price rank for this place should be listed as $$$$! $19 for udon soup? Tasting menu $80-100 pp?!?? That's fine for a clean restaurant with good food, but at a little hole in the wall with dirty menus and poor service, I'm never going back.
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Review from A C.
1/12/2012
Vegan Japanese food? Yes, please. Their entire menu is not vegan, so carnivores, don't be scared away. But many, if not most, of the menu is vegan, which really equates to vegetarian since Japanese food isn't known for using dairy or eggs anyways.
Based on Yelp reviews, we didn't know what to expect from the service, but couldn't pass up a chance for vegan Japanese food, so we decided to give it a try. Yelpers talk about the "rules", but really, it comes down to 2: head to the back to put your name on the list, and close your menu when you're ready to order. There's a sign as soon as you come in telling you to go to the back, and the waitress instructs you on the "closing your menu" rule, so anyone who claims these rules are difficult to follow is just being oblivious. Oh, an also, be courteous! We were polite to the waitress and she was extremely friendly back.
We had corn fritters/tempura to start, and you could definitely taste the fresh corn - not frozen like most places would use. For the main course, my husband had Ramen, and I had tofu teriyaki. The tofu came out on a sizzling fajita-like plate - 2 tofu patties mixed with what I assume were thin strips of seaweed. I absolutely hate seaweed, but this did not bother me at all. I could barely taste that it was seaweed. It was sitting on a delicious teriyaki sauce. Very tasty.
My husband had the Ramen, and all I can really say about it was that it was amazing.
My advice: Go here, be nice, and enjoy some delicious Japanese food, preferably vegan :) -
Review from TM m.
San Francisco, CA
1/9/2012
The most original, fresh, and innovative offerings I've ever had in a Japanese Restaurant.
The Fish is ALWAYS fresh and delicious. There are several vegetarian choices including an amazing "corn fritter" like dish...I love this place.
This is a family restaurant, the service is not always speedy, but it is friendly.
If you enjoy good food and have the capacity to appreciate "quirky" creativity, you MUST try this restaurant -
Review from Sarah B.
San Francisco, CA
11/15/2011
I am perhaps slightly biased because we come here ALL the time and as a result have made friends with Judy, but I love Minako. I admit that it's quirky and possibly not for everyone, but it is certainly for me! I don't find the "rules" to be particularly onerous -- there are at least THREE prominently placed signs by the door asking you to go to the counter at the back to put yourself on the list. It's really not that hard to comply. And isn't it pretty normal practice to close your menu when you're ready to order? It is true, however, that you should not come here if you want a fast meal -- when it's busy, it's REALLY busy, and even when it's not busy it takes a while to win possession of the specials board. (I'm not sure why they only have one board, but I'll take it on faith that there's a reason.)
I think we've gotten down the perfect order for two: corn fritters, spider roll, Minako's version of a rainbow roll (I forget what it's called right now), sake toro nigiri and unagi nigiri. I particularly recommend the corn fritters (ADDICTIVE) and the sake toro. But everything I've ever had from the specials board has been great. If you've brought someone who doesn't like fish, the chicken katsu is allegedly very good (I don't eat meat so cannot speak from personal experience there).
Judy is totally awesome, btw -- it's always nice to catch up with her, and she really takes time to get to know her regulars, unlike a lot of Mission restaurants (*cough* Kiji *cough*). Her mother runs the kitchen and Judy runs the front of the restaurant. They are very involved in the local community -- know all the other local restaurateurs, etc. And the regulars are definitely something of a community. It's pretty much a Mission institution.
Oh, as other reviews have noted, no white rice here -- it's all brown. Sushi purists might be sad. Personally, I prefer white rice but am happy to change it up every so often. Particularly if it means I also get corn fritters. Mmmmm. -
Review from Sage S.
San Francisco, CA
12/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
I'm sure the food is good. Service was super slow, saw other people ordering after they were probably waiting there way longer than us. When we saw the menu tho...we decided to leave. $25 for a donburi? $25 for udon? Who does that? It didnt even have expensive stuff in it. How can anyone charge this much for a donburi or udon and live with themselves?
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Review from Marc T.
Eugene, OR
11/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
The sushi we had was amazing, hands down. Fresh and delectable. I daresay it's the best I've ever had. It remains to be seen if Minako can repeat that performance. If so, this might become a regular visit whenever I'm in SF.
Yes, the service was a little slow. We lucked out in getting a table right away, but the time spent waiting to order and for our food to arrive was...a while. The waitstaff was very apologetic, however, and they even brought us a persimmon salad while we waited. We also received a complimentary slice of green tea angel food cake while waiting for our check.
We tasted a few rolls, some nigiri, one of the specials (yakisoba stuffed squid), and some sashimi. All excellent. We also ordered the tamago, and that's what sold me on this place, making any waiting completely negligible. I have never had freshly-prepared, hot tamago before. It's always been the version that's cold and prepared ahead of time. The difference is like night and day. I would go back for that alone.
As others have stated, they have a plethora of alternative options if you're vegetarian or vegan. They also can point out what's available if you have a gluten sensitivity. -
Review from Nancy C.
Burlingame, CA
1/4/2012
Great sushi, great fish, great find! Molasses soaked sushi rice - delish! Menu doodles are fun. Judy, the chef's daughter, is extremely knowledgeable and proud.
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Review from Ren L.
11/5/2011 1 Check-in Here
I was warned that the wait to get in and then sit down was pretty bad. Luckily I was fortunate to get the last empty table and didn't experience a long wait as expected.
I'm a total carnivore, so I tend to have my veggies on the side as opposed to being on the main course. That said, I actually enjoyed the meal. I grabbed a couple of sushi rolls, one being the veggie eel and cucumber, and a tempura asparagus roll. Both were excellent, and I like the use of brown rice. I had this assumption that I was going to kill those two rolls and grab something else. Lo and behold, the portions were larger than expected, which was a pretty awesome thing.
The prices were actually fair for the sushi rolls, as was the service. Overall, I'd go back, though if I had to wait for a table, I might go somewhere else. -
Review from Lisa Q.
8/29/2011 1 Check-in Here
Man, the totally weird/insane service totally drives down whatever tastiness we had from the place.
The dishes aren't good enough to go thru what you have to: wacky rules, slow service, and a sense of guilt knowing it's owned by a well-meaning Japanese grandma-type.
Our server was a woman in her 30s and she was just so pushy and creepy I had to stand outside of the resto while my fiance paid. We didn't eat the wilted greens underneath our toro and she refused to take the plate off the table and instead returned with a dish of ginger dressing for us to dip "the greens" in. Ohmygod. My fiance ate them out of fear. She was somehow really bad at conveying jokes or something.
There was a chopped up yellowtail dish that was too raw oniony and garnished with ?uncooked noodles? We sent it back and our server said,
"I took it off the check."
"Thank you."
"Is that okay?"
"Yes! Thank you."
And then... she hoovered around....
And that's when I got out of my seat to stand outside.
Our check was $80. This included no alcohol, one tea, and three dishes. Not a great value. I know organic produce is expensive, but I've definitely eaten at organic cafes for less. -
Review from Yan P.
San Francisco, CA
12/15/2011
My favorite local sushi joint for sure. The fish here is cut super fat and is really tasty. Recently the pieces of hamachi we got were so huge I had trouble taking them down in one gulp (that's what she said). The waitress often gives you attitude but it's part of the fun :) She's never mean outright, she'll just put you in your place nicely. Respect the signage, walk to the back to get seated, close your menus, and be patient and you'll have a great time.
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Review from Alane T.
Eugene, OR
1/22/2012
My absolute favorite restaurant. My husband and I can't get enough of this place! They have the most original, refreshing take on Japanese cuisine.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is amazing. Small, intimate, beautiful Japanese decorations and artful lighting. They ARE currently closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so make sure you go when they are open.
The staff is amazingly personable, polite, and tends to your needs. It can get really busy in there, so it is true that you may have to wait a bit for time with the server or for a table. I also read complaints on here about not being "allowed" to speak to or order from people who are not the designated server. We asked one of the girls (not our designated server) about ordering something once, but she didn't want to take our order because she was not well prepared to answer our questions. This is because it is not her job, so she doesn't know the material or have a pad to write on. Please don't expect someone to take your order when that's not what they are there for. She has her own work to tend to. Also, I think her English wasn't as good as our servers. It was absolutely no problem though, she let our server know we needed something.
Best place to go if you are gluten free, hands down. I have very, very strict standards about gluten. I am very sensitive and will get sick from the smallest amount of cross contamination. They are very careful about cross contamination and use different surfaces, clean utensils, etc. to prepare the gluten free foods. I also can't have dairy. This restaurant is incredible for gluten free! I've learned SO much about what is gluten free in the sushi world in general, and our server (the same woman every time, the daughter of the owner), is so, so, so knowledgable about gluten free items. She even shared a list with us of gluten free restaurants in the city that other Celiac/gluten free people recommend. The soy sauce on every table is gluten free, so there's no worry about getting the wrong kind. Just let them know when you order that you are gluten free, and they can help you out. Only a few things aren't gluten free, and almost everything on the menu can be made gluten free if t's not already. I have not once felt bad from eating here.
One time we ate here, the service was very slow. We weren't worried about it though, because we were just having a great time chatting and enjoying ourselves. Because our server felt bad about our wait, she brought us a free and incredible salad with homemade pickled plums, scallops, and a to-die-for sauce. She also brought us a free piece of cake.
They often have gluten free cookies that they will bring you just because they are nice (when they know you are gluten free, and for no other reason). They do have butter in them though, so if you are dairy free, you can't have the ones they have offered us recently. My husband ate them though and says they are incredible.
Ok. So the food itself. The fish melts in your mouth. The sauces are divine. The sake choices are fantastic. Everything is cooked/served/proportioned to perfection. You will not believe it until you try it. My husband has been to Japan twice, and I've been once. Minako's food is the best we've ever tasted. We couldn't have imagined something to taste so good!
I am always shocked when we get our bill. I can't believe the prices are so low. We ate at another sushi restaurant once and we got the smallest/cheapest sake, and a tiny sampler with 3 pieces of sushi each and the total was $40. They also claimed to be gluten friendly, but didn't really know that much about what they were doing. Even their rice wasn't gluten free because of some cheap vinegar they douse it with. Anyways, at Minako, we got way more than twice the amount of food (a full meal plus twice as much sake) for the same price, and the food is actually high quality.
We will never eat at another sushi restaurant again! We can only hope they will be a successful business for the rest of our lives :) Don't waste your time going anywhere else! -
Review from Sarah H.
San Francisco, CA
8/26/2011 3 photos
I have to say I don't understand all the bitchy reviews about this restaurant here on Yelp, Lol! It was fabulous!
I arrived at 5:30pm on a Thursday just as they were opening. I payed special attention to the "rules" since the reviews here say they are so strict. They weren't strict when I got there. I was the first person there and was seated straight away. I got the table by the window, yay. My friend arrived shortly after. We thought the menu of daily specials they put on our table was adorable (see photo). I especially liked the rubber ducky magnet, Lol.
We were greeted by a polite, friendly waitress. She gave us plenty of time to go over the menu which is quite extensive. It is true they won't come take your order until you close your menu. I actually think it's a polite way of doing things, ie, instead of having a waiter/waitress try to take your order one second after you open they menu, they actually give you time to make your choices.
I also noticed the waitress would approach the table and if we were talking she would step back and wait until we stopped talking. I think this is incredibly polite, unlike typical service where your conversation is constantly rudely interrupted.
We did think it was funny when we ordered the food and the waitress said, "that's a lot of food," because she should have said, "that's a lot of alcohol, are you sure you're that thirsty?" :) We ordered sake and being inexperienced in sake we each ordered a different kind but decided we could have easily shared one. My friend got the sweet unfiltered one which was quite tasty and easy to drink. Mine on the other hand was the organic unpasteurized one which tasted very alcohol-y -- this is what I always imagined sake tasted like! Yes, this was my first ever sake experience! Anyway, I wasn't able to finish mine, in fact, I didn't even drink half of it, so I brought it home.
Oh, yes, the food!
We loved our food. I got the vegan vegetable tempura roll and spicy vegan ramen. I enquired about the vegan ramen before ordering as they had vegan ramen and spicy vegan ramen. The waitress said the vegan ramen was full of vegetables -- I disagree. Don't get me wrong it was very good, the thing is I don't like mushrooms and it was full of them. Also in the ramen was cabbage and scallions. Like I said it was wonderful but I don't consider that "a lot of vegetables."
My friend got some sort of fishy roll with salmon eggs on top (yuck! but she loved it), and she also got a fishy tempura roll. She said both were very good but she favored the salmon eggs one.
After paying for our meal they brought us a complimentary dessert. It was this weird lemon jello-y thing -- weird but we ate it up! Lol.
We enjoyed our experience at this restaurant very much and plan to return to taste other dishes on the menu. I was quite impressed with the vegan options on the menu, and it's organic! So, it's a big big yay in my book! :) :) :)
Oh and I feel I must comment on the prices as many people here on Yelp complain about how expensive it is. I don't think it's expensive. If you want cheap, low quality food then don't dine at organic restaurants! My friend and I really thought the prices were quite reasonable and average.
Our meal for two people with alcohol was $70 -- and we've been out before and spent more than that on dinner, definitely! -
Review from Joe B.
San Francisco, CA
8/3/2011
Worst. Dining Experience. Ever.
Go to Cha-Ya -- it's a thousand times better. I cannot understand how Minako is in business. They are extremely rude (the daughter especially) and the food is awful -- our fish was fatty and stringy and our sake was stale. I felt sick that night and next morning.
It's an oppressive atmosphere, dare I say fascist. There are rules posted everywhere; my favorite being that you have to close your menu before they will serve you (also, they only have 2 menus for the whole restaurant). I really felt bad for the other server/expediter, who shied away every time we attempted to speak to her -- you are only allowed to speak to and order from the daughter. I hope asking for water didn't get her in trouble.
Bottom line: if you're going to treat your customers like dirt you better have some pretty good food. The food here is at best mediocre. And it's EXPENSIVE. When we told our server that we weren't happy with the food, she asked, "why didn't you tell the kitchen?" Huh? I was supposed to march up to the kitchen? Anyways, she didn't care or do anything about it. Very unprofessional.
Save yourself a hurt in the stomach and pocketbook, and skip this stinky place (there's an overpowering smell of piss inside). -
Review from Tuesday C.
San Francisco, CA
9/4/2011
I'm really not sure where to start with this review.
Ill just try to accurately recall our experience step by step.
It was my friends birthday and she had picked this place for dinner. We were arriving separately so my boyfriend and I were the first to arrive out of six. There are no reservations so you put your name on a list. We were told that they couldn't do 6 only 4. If someone in front of us didn't come back then they could do 6 otherwise no. It was also going to be an hour and a half wait. Not wanting to make changes with out the rest of the group we said ok and crossed our fingers that someone would cancel.
We went to a near by bar for a drink while we waited. After an hour and a half we all went back to the restaurant to see if they were going to be able to seat us or not. They said that someone in front of us had not come back so they were going to be able to seat our group but it would be a few minutes. OK AWESOME we thought! But, 30 minutes later when we were finally seated we were starving.
As soon as we sat down we got yelled at. The waitress came over and told my friend she was talking to loud. No introduction nothing just "You are too loud I can not hear!" then walked away. We were stunned. I honestly thought it was maybe a joke because we had just sat down hadn't really said much of anything... This is where it gets interesting.
The menus are entertaining in the sense that there is several pages of drawings done by customers and what not in there along with a large selection of options for sushi. It wasn't long before we all had an idea of what we wanted and where ready to order. My boyfriend had read about the close your menu deal so we did. The waitress still didn't come take our orders for a long time. We thought we were being punished! Finally, when she came she brought a "specials" board. That was fun and kinda cute but had no prices or descriptions.
When the waitress was taking our orders again we got in trouble because we didn't order correctly. Instead of going person to person she wanted us to tell her all our appetizers first THEN go person to person for main course. While she was ripping out the order sheet and re-writing everything she was shaking our head and mumbling at us! We were flabbergasted! Also we wanted to order some Sake and asked her about the options. She told us she knows nothing about Sake sorry. Um---ok.
After she left our table she went to another table that had been seated after us. They had never gotten menus and we lent one to them after we knew what we wanted. We heard her say to them "Where did you get the menu? I didn't give that to you! You are messing up the flow!" Is she serious?!?!
At this point we thought her attitude was kinda comical. But, we wanted water and where afraid to ask. Eventually, when she came back we did though. And the strangest thing happened she switched to her new personality and became sweet as a pea. Tried to laugh and joke with us. Again, we were stunned. It was like she was a totally different person. She was nice and asked how everything was and what we thought of the food and the sake. Which were good. Not amazing but good. We didn't stay long after we finished our food and she told us she wished we would come back again as we walked out the door!!
So the longest story short: Food is good, service is bipolar. -
Review from Douglas P.
San Francisco, CA
7/30/2011
There are two experiences you can have here, and it's really your choice which one you end up having. My experiences have been of the 5 star variety.
The food is great. It's a mixture of vegetarian/vegan and meat dishes (both types of people have ample options), but made with a strong modern California vibe. They use organic ingredients, brown rice (unusual for a sushi place), and try to avoid a bunch of common allergens.
There's the most adorable board that is given to your table with the menus, and lists the current selection of new or seasonal dishes. I'd recommend trying something from here. This is where a lot of the action happens, and where Minako sets itself apart from other places. The rest of the menu is great, but is relatively static.
There is a "tasting menu" (like a prix fixe, but without a fixed price). This is my usual approach. If two people share this, it is a pretty complete meal. If I were to steer you away from something, it would be the entree dinners (teriyaki this or that). They may appeal to people how are less fond of Japanese restaurants, but I think this restaurant has better food to offer.
Do try the curry salt tempura mushrooms. They are on the ever-changing food board right now. Don't question me. Just get them. You won't be sorry.
So, why do people give this bad reviews? From reading the reviews and being there many times before, it really comes down to whether you like Minako (Judy) or not. Or, perhaps more importantly, whether she likes you. This isn't your typical service-oriented restaurant. Be polite. Don't demand things. Treat this restaurant as if you're going to a friend's place for dinner. Your life will be a lot happier. At least half the times I've been there, Minako and I have spent some time chatting about how rude some people can be. Rudeness will not be tolerated.
This restaurant gets better every time I go. Arigato gozaimasu! -
Review from Ryan W.
San Francisco, CA
8/4/2011
It's like the twilight zone in there. There's no joy at all. No one looks at anyone or speaks, they just silently play with their phone and wait to be seated. The server is inexplicably miserable to some people while all hug-y and chatty with others.
I had to read some of these 5 star reviews... Douglas P writes that it's because some people are rude to her (Judy) and, I guess, she just dishes it back. My experience was the exact opposite. If you're silent and submit to her will, there's a better chance that Judy will be nice. But no guarantee. We were extremely polite and followed each of the ridiculous rule signs. But she just made the whole experience miserable that by the end, yeah, we were unhappy and probably rude back. It definitely ruined our night. But we didn't "choose" that, as Douglas says. We were friendly and looking forward to trying a new place. I left feeling miserable. Not sure we deserved that. Thanks, Minako. But that's crazy that she then goes to other tables (like this tool Douglas's) to bad mouth one guest with another. Insane!! -
Review from Jacob G.
San Francisco, CA
12/4/2011
the owner's less than candid dealings and overall distaste for the local hipster foodie, is more than worth the trip....she's amazing. This place isn't for the pretentious, but rather reserved for those who just appreciate good food served by good people. No need to mask the obvious with over stylized lingo and jargon. "It be Goooood"
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Review from Derek B.
San Francisco, CA
12/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
I knew this place was gonna be good when, upon meeting Judy the Japanese-American owner of the place, she said "Fuck" and "Hell" about 2 or 3 times jokingly talking about prior experiences with negative customers.
my friend and i went with an open mind and were open to vegan suggestions. she delivered! everything she brought out was amazing. the spicy vegan noodle udon was hella good. the green seaweed salad was good, as was the spicy tuna roll.
the Menus were amazing with little notes and hand-drawn pictures from raving customers. i would definitely go here again. very unassuming from the outside. you gotta be open minded and follow directions once you step inside, but after that, it's such a fun delectable adventure! -
Review from Alik B.
Denver, CO
12/3/2011
Minako is my new favorite place in San Francisco! It's eclectic, authentic, AMAZING menu and selection, and wonderful for vegans and gluten-free folks. Judy, the owner, is really awesome and fun and made our night really great. We really enjoyed it - I'll definitely be back!!!
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Review from Brian C.
San Francisco, CA
8/6/2011
I just ate here and hopped on Yelp to read the reviews, and I'm surprised by how polarized the opinions are. The food was excellent, and the head waitress Judy was a sweet heart. To hear that she treats some customers like shit, and others like gold, kind of makes me love her even more. It feels vindicating after the (::cough:: not-Asian) waitresses at Mission Chinese treated me and my friends like garbage just a few days ago.
I had a good laugh at the superfluous number of signs dictating the rules of the restaurant. There are three signs on the front telling you not to seat yourself, and to approach the kitchen counter to ask for a table. Another sign at your table tells you to close your menu before you're ready to order. If it were socially acceptable to put up a sign that says "Don't be a douchebag," Judy probably would do it - the people posting one-star reviews here could probably use this advice. Anyway, OCD people are hilarious.
Amy and I ordered some chicken wings and a salmon nigiri off the special menu, and the spicy tuna roll off the regular one. All-around delicious and fresh sushi -- possibly the best I've had in the city so far. The brown rice was a really refreshing touch.
Don't worry, Judy. We get you. -
Review from Alan G.
West Tisbury, MA
12/4/2011
Clearly the best sushi we've ever had. Period! When we came the first time last week, we found it was well worth the friendly and helpful wait. Must come back... and so we did, bringing family with us. Every dish we had was superb, from the miso and cucumber to the udon and the best ever nigiri and rolls. Our 14 month old grandson adored the hamachi cheek and we all are anxious to return. Minako herself (AKA Judy) is charming, helpful and delightful! Her mom's cooking is amazing. Minako is worth a trip (even from Martha's Vineyard) and more than worth any wait for this great experience.
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Review from Rowie R.
San Francisco, CA
11/26/2011
First time at the restaurant and it won't be my last. A very cute, cozy, quaint restaurant in the Mission. The menu is unique with a wide vegetarian selection. I was quite please with the Randy Roll and Grilled Hamachi. I'd pass on the miso soup because its a bit price for not a large portion. However, I over look that minor detail because the overall food selections were delicious. Would I go back? Hell ya, to try other dishes because the flavors tonight were consistently fantastic.
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Review from Tbone M.
San Francisco, CA
7/25/2011
4.5 Stars (I only give 5's for best ever type places).
Pros:
-very cool, intimate setting
-friendly but not overly formal service
-amazing and inventive food, with lots of interesting options
-cool presentation
-very friendly for veggies, vegans
Cons:
-Might have to wait a bit for a table
-Big groups definitely a no-no
-a little pricey
I thought it was excellent quality ingredients, presented in simple yet inventive ways. I had some mixed veggie/traditional sushi and loved it. -
Review from Christina L.
San Francisco, CA
7/13/2011
Minako and Minakos are by no means anything related to even the slightest idea of average. This place has seduced my taste buds with the homemade miso soup and won my undying devotion with homemade ume and heavenly homemade aga dofu.
For those that complain about Minakos being pricey, I feel that they deserve every penny of it. Have you tried making tofu? I have and it is an artisan skill a.k.a hard to get right.
They have earned it by providing amazing food. Ryoko, the head chef, even makes her own ume! =drool= Please take a look at their vintage ume from 1964 and 1970 in their pantry! It really quite a sight to see it all. The quality is top notch. She puts such care and detail into the dishes and it shows in a big way.
Rules: Follow them.....
1) Do NOT seat your self. Go up to the counter in the back and nicely check in. You should be able to get an estimate of the time , but ask nicely.
2) When you are ready to order, close the menus. Otherwise they can safely assume that you are not ready.
3) No outside food and/or drinks.
To those that complain about the rules, please remember that you are a guest in their kitchen. Respect is key. Leave that entitled BS attitude at the door.
Do not go if you intend to have a quick dinner. The place does not seat many and demand is high.
If you are feeling adventurous feel free to ask for Chef's choice :) -
Review from tracy n.
Berkeley, CA
11/8/2011
They soak their white rice in molasses, which gives it that dark brown color. But you can also call an hour ahead and request brown rice. Everything on the menu is fantastic. I feel like you could throw blind darts at their menu board, and get something good. All the hamachi dishes options are fantastic - my favorite being the hamachi mint. The fried yam appetizer with cucumber is also very good. The place is quirky and fun; a touch of California cuisine fused with a Kansai (country) aesthetic - but without the pretension! Rubber Duckies everywhere!
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Review from so c.
Cupertino, CA
7/15/2011 1 Check-in Here
Do NOT sit by the window, it smells like piss.
The dishes I ordered made me think this was almost a Korean restaurant rather than a Japanese, and I'm pretty sure one of the waitresses (I think Judy) is Korean by the way she said 'ramen'. (she said 'ramyun' which is Korean).. but nonetheless.
The food is alright, and don't expect good service here. I know the waitress was I guess, trying to be friendly when she (half-)jokingly told us it was a hassle when we ordered tea after we ordered our food, but seriously? If you want to earn your tip after making all your customers respect you, we need respect back. Every time we asked questions about the menu the waitress kept raising her voice at us. WTF?
We ordered for an appetizer a spicy the vegan Udon, the spicy ramen, and one of the expensive veggie rolls. I don't remember any of the dish names, sorry. The ramen was from the wooden panel menu, not the booklet one.
All their food was definitely unique-- you'd probably never have a similar dish anywhere else. However they definitely take advantage of this fact as well as the fact that they're vegetarian/vegan/organic, so their prices are very very high.
We were a group of 3 and we ended up spending about $50.
Overall, no matter how good the food was, because where I was sitting smelled like piss and their service was exquisite IN BEING TERRIBLE, so I would not eat here again. -
Review from Michelle C.
San Francisco, CA
5/17/2011
Yes, the mama-san is gonna yell at you. But you probably deserve it!
The service was quirky and I would have hated the bitch if she hadn't really really liked my friend. I could just tell, we would not have gotten along had I been there alone or with anyone else. I'm not exceptionally easy going and don't generally care for avant garde dining experiences, so this place sounded like a nightmare to me, having read all of the criticisms. But, call me a glutton for punishment, I wanted to go anyway--I was dying to go.
The food was all outstanding. Literally, spectacular:
Toro yellowtail and tuna sashimi
Cucumber and octopus salad
Cucumber and eel salad
Cucumber and seaweed salad
Yellowtail with caviar and mint
Tempura uni in shiso
Agadashi Tofu
Frezzik roll
Some crazy shrimp roll
Spicy tuna roll
Catapillar roll
Yea we ate a lot...and it was all exceptional, some of the most delicious and most inventive food I've had in San Francisco.
That all said, follow the rules. That is one crazy bitch. -
Review from Jeremy N.
San Francisco, CA
7/10/2011
First thing that I noticed about this place is that is small and homey. First good sign. Second was the menu. Excellent Options for Vegatarians and Meat Eaters alike. And many items that I never see at typical Sushi places.
So being my first time: I had a little bit of everything
Spicy Vegan Ramen
Dofu and poached green onion
Negi Hamichi Roll - This is my go to item at most Japanese places and usually my measuring stick.
My vegan pal had a bunch of other stuff that I tried:
Fried Faux-Eel
Pickled thingys - Burddock Root, other pickled veggies
Natto - Fermented soy bean
At first this place didn't start off strong:
- Natto was't great. Lacked a lot of flavor.
- Fried Faux-Eel tasted like fried banana batter.
That being said; I probably should have known that those were not the best choices. I never liked Natto - but i am always hoping that its good. Second, Fake meat product is never that good unless its from a Buddhist Temple place.
Moving toward the classics: Negi-Hama Roll was amazing. Made with soft savory brown rice, and fresh big chunks of Hamachi, and the onion was rolled in a diced finely.
Ramen was also excellent. Served hot and noodles had a nice chewy springyness to it.
For me the Ramen and Negi-Hama would be a five star meal.
Moral of story for me is: If you are going to a nice simple good ingredients place, stick to the simple and classic dishes that emphasizes the good ingredients. And that is what I am going to do next time i come here. -
Review from Amy N.
6/20/2011
This is not your standard Japanese restaurant.
There's an extensive menu (with lots of drawings independent of the food listings) and also a stand on the table telling you all of the specials, and there are a lot. My friend and I were happy to see housemade mackerel on the menu and got a couple different rolls.
A lot of reviews tell you they use brown rice, but it's just flavored sushi rice, not brown as in the healthy brown rice. The rice in the rolls is flavored really well. Different rolls had some extras in there, like ginger and scallion, I think. The tamari sauce on the table isn't necessary. The rolls were really good. I don't remember the name of the mackerel roll I got, but it was several large pieces of fish on a ball of tasty rice.
I also got the ika ume shiso nigiri. It was delicious! Unfortunately, it was 12 bucks for 2 pieces. They make their own umeboshi, but I wasn't expecting it to cost so much. I found out later that the specials on the board are what you should order, which we did. The downside is there are no prices on it.
I would definitely return. Next time I'll try something other than sushi.
If you come for an early dinner you won't have a problem getting a table. -
Review from Kat F.
San Francisco, CA
12/23/2011
A bit pricy overall, food not so great and it took a while to get it. My roll had some funky almost fermented-sour-like tasting rice in it and brown avocado. Tempura was too greasy. Salad had too much dressing. A bit disappointing based on all the good reviews. I will not be going back. Service was friendly though...
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Review from Cindy F.
San Francisco, CA
3/27/2011
Despite the negative reviews about the service here, decided to try Minako out Friday night. At 8:00 it was still pretty busy and we waited 20 minutes. We were the last party to be seated.
They have a lot of vegan sushi rolls. We tried three rolls - veggie roll, eggplant roll, and "eel" roll. All were good, but priced $8-10 (a little $$ for veggie rolls). The "eel" was made out of fried potato/tofu with eel-bbq sauce. It was pretty unique. We also ordered almond encrusted tofu (good), miso soup (ordinary). I enjoyed all of it.
Took 30+ minutes to be served water. The tea I ordered never arrived. The waitress/owner apologized and tried to make up for it by taking the miso soup off of the bill and giving us tea to bring home. I think the service here is a little quirky, but fine.
Cute joint, worth trying out. Good for vegetarians really craving sushi rolls. They seem to take the effort to separate the cutting boards, knives, oil/pots that have touched meat/fish... something to consider.
Three stars if you're not seeking out veggie rolls. Four stars if you're vegetarian/vegan! :) -
Review from Mission S.
Mountain View, CA
Updated - 2/15/2011
Oh for fuck's sake - why do you ladies even run a restaurant if it's only to passively-aggressively channel anger to your customers?
But seriously- go ahead, keep up with the Kafkan rules, the mercurial attitudes and watch as the door swings less and less until you are reenacting a J-Horror scene with your last customer who wants to eat but who can never be seated, who wants to order but will never have their order taken, the three of you in your grim little restaurant: mother, daughter, and last, sad supporter.
boo.Listed in: OMG! don't go
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/13/2008
Well I was pretty grumpy until I got my food. The restaurant was about half full and I was by… Read more »
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Review from Jill D.
San Francisco, CA
2/14/2011
This is a strange place.
4 stars for the food. Authentic Japanese that is organic/ sustainable.
2 stars for the cleanliness of the kitchen. I saw the head cook pick something out of her teeth with her fingernail, and then start cooking again.
1 star for the plethora of rules that don't make any sense.
SELECTION OF RULES
1. You cannot under any circumstances seat yourself You must put your name on the list, even if this means waiting for 10 minutes for the waitress to take your name, and waiting another 10 minutes for her to seat you. Even if all the tables are empty you must be on the list or you will not receive service.
2. Close your menus for the waitress to come back to your table. If you re-open your menu she will leave. You must ask permission to open your menu while ordering (I am not making this up).
3. You can only look at the special board when the waitress gives it to you, after your menus are closed. If you look at the specials board beforehand you will be reprimanded!
4. No "outside" drinks allowed, not even a bottle/ canteen of water.
Despite all this nonsense, the food is OK. If we even venture here again I think we will stick to take out and delivery. Just not worth the headache.
