On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Mon-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
"This is my favorite place to get sushi, hands down. The owner is a great host, always attentive and generous. All the sushi chefs have a…" read more »
Loading...
GOOD:
- Noodles are decent. They make them in house afterall.
- Sophie's Crepes is nearby for dessert.
- The beer ($6 for a large bottle) and sake ($8.50 for a large bottle) prices are pretty reasonable.
BAD:
- The charshu ramen broth was very bland and uninspiring. It is a shame that their broth was so boring because it seems their noodles are decent.
CONCLUSION: Sapporo-Ya is another average-at-best ramen place in San Francisco. Within J-town, Tampopo and Suzu have better ramen but those two places aren't exactly great either.
Back in tha Day by Brian Chang
-------------------------------------------
Back in tha day when I use to hang in J-town with my boys, Bean, Keyo, Fat Omori, Steven Edwards, and Republican Mike, this was our place for a late night ramen fix. We get loaded, go to a club, catch a movie, play poker, bust some hoops or whatever and grab a bite to eat here afterwords.
How did we discover it? One of the dudes use to come here a lot (probably Fat Omori) Lol! As I recall, I starting to frequent this joint when I noticed that there was always a good mix of locals / regulars, tourists, and old Japanese ladies. Now let me tell you dude, based on my experience, old Japanese ladies do not play when it comes to ramen or soba....they take their noodles as serious as a heart attack (which probably isn't too far away!) lol.
But I always thought the food was just alright. Back in the day when there weren't as many ramen noodle houses, this was considered more of a 4 star. Now its 3. I'd much prefer going to Tanpopo for ramen, or Shabusen for sukiyaki now. It's good for late night, but not my thing anymore. Haven't been here in a while but when you are 18, working as a waiter or in retail, saving your dough for the weekend. and going out eating ramen or katsu curry was your form of splurging,,,,you go all out, I mean, I'm talking ordering gyoza! Lol. All good though. Those were great times. :)
First time eat there.
Food was okay
Expensive
Lousy service, they gave my bill when I was still enjoying my meal, no thank you, nothing. The waitress just put the bill on my table and walked pretending she didn't do anything
The waitress didn't even check up on my table.
No "thank you"
Dislike.
If you're craving for ramen. Suzu Noodle House is way better!
Haven't EVER had soul-shaking ramen in SF like I've had in LA and I'm BITTER about it. When is Ramenya coming??!! Service was nice, space was cozy, but food was a tad overpriced. Avocado in avocado maki was fresh and plentiful.
New Year's Day and for those that were due for a movie but didn't want to dine inside the Kabuki Theater, the choices were limited. On the Bridge closed. Dosa on Fillmore closed. Bushi-Tei Bistro closed. Sapporo-Ya was open and packed as one of the only choices and the flour-dusted hand-cranked machine and pail promised handmade noodles.
The light is cafeteria-dingy and it makes the old furniture look even older. The space is cramped and even the floor-to-ceiling mirror along the back wall doesn't help, if anything it needs a good polishing.
Those noodles everyone was slurping up looked so appetizing. We ended up ordering the tempura ramen, vegetable gyoza, and shrimp okonomiyaki.
The ramen noodles were so disappointing. Somehow it tasted just the same as fresh flour noodles you can get in Chinese supermarkets. A little overcooked. The broth was bland and as we looked around, everyone was liberally dusting their ramen with the 7-spice to try to jazz it up.
The shrimp okonomiyaki was fluffy and had decent little chunks of shrimp in it, the whole thing came served on a metal platter and topped with kewpie mayo, okonomiyaki sauce, shaved bonito, alongside slivered pickled ginger and... chinese hot mustard?
The vegetable gyoza were with delicate thin skins and rather yummy, but they completely broke apart when we tried to unstick them from each other.
Service was prompt and they were good at refilling water and tea throughout the meal, but the food... we both left feeling bloated and full, but not in a satisfied way.
Came here on a very busy weekend (during a convention of some sort). We were seated immediately which was nice. I ordered the plain ramen which was actually pretty decent, but it was a little on the pricey side for plain noodles. The staff were pleasant and the ambiance was very nice. I just can't justify paying over 7 dollars for plain noodles. I'm not a ramen guru or anything like that, but a few of my friends who are more knowledgeable than I on the subject said it was decent but not great.
A tiny little joint in the middle of the mall that impresses guests with ramen noodle making equipment by the entrance. Though I tend to focus more on the merits of the broth, it is nice to know the noodles aren't coming from a dehydrated block.
Pork Okonomiyaki: It definitely had enough toppings with purple colored sauce, orange colored mayo, bonito flakes and other spices. The bonito flakes were too squished down for my tastes, perhaps they should have put them on last so they wouldn't buckle under the weight of the sauces. The pancake base itself was nice and doughy, but light on the pork.
Chashu Miso Ramen: Yes, the noodles are nice because they are fresh. The pork itself is tender with just the right amount of fat. The miso broth was savory without being too salty. I wish they gave a bigger bowl with more broth though because I felt like the broth ratio was a bit too sparse.
I don't think I can recommend this place when there are other much better places around the mall. This place is simply disappointing to my taste.
I got a ramen with soy sauce base soup. From the first look, I could tell the chasu is not up to par just based on the texture, color, and thickness. Soy sauce soup was different from my past experience, but it was okay, I think. Although noodle was claimed to be homemade, I think it was average at best. It was lacking the usual bouncy texture and was softened probably by being overcooked or soaked in water for a long period of time. They probably have to add more eggs in making the noodles, in my opinion.
My final thought is: If you like great Japanese ramen, don't bother to come to this place because you will probably be disappointed, as I did.
Average ramen place that doesn't really inspire. The noodles and gyoza are proudly declared to be homemade, but the noodles are thick and flavorless, the broth is not hearty and flavorful, and the giant pieces of pork are not tender and don't taste like they've been stewing for hours in a tasty broth. I had the shio (salt) ramen and I can say this compared to Santouka's shio ramen is like hot cocoa made from powder and water versus hot cocoa made with steamed milk, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.
The gyoza is not bad, and you can definitely tell it's homemade, but it doesn't really taste 'Japanese.' Maybe Chinese or Korean.
Slow service too, and rather dismissive. Meh.
It seems like 50% Japo, 50% Chinese.
The noodle is home made but it was over cooked.
The noodle was over cooked, Goddammit!
We came here only because Suzu was packed.
So, it's not too bad but it's not too good either.
It's SO "A-OK" PLACE.
You know what I mean.
A-OK.
"No more, No less, give me a ramen and let me out of here" kind of place.
The Super-duper A-OK, So-So, not too good not too bad but lame, don't take your date, over cooked Ramen with Old but sweet Asian waitress place that you should not be thinking about it.
But the old Asian waitresses were pretty sweet and gave us good service.
Suzu maybe smaller than Sapporo-ya but Suzu has twice more young Asian waitresses.
I think it's because they are too-old so they may not like the place become too busy like Suzu is.
I know Suzu has better Ramen.
I know Suzu is cleaner.
I know Suzu has younger waitresses.
But, I like to say out loud to support old people have a job!
So, the waitress might saying :
"don't take the job away from us
don't you leave our life in misery
if you go "Suzu" we'll be broke
'cause losing job is hard to do
Remember when we were the only one
Only one Ramen shop at the J-town
But now Suzu took over
Losing business is hard to do
They all say losing job is hard to do.
Now we know, we know that it's true
Don't say that this is the end
Instead of losing the business we wish that you can come back again."
........................
I understand that.
BUT DON'T OVER COOK THE NOODLE!!!
The truth is that the only reason I came here because the Suzu was very busy.
Natto-Ramen!
12.50 bucks!
Is this gross-out or what?
When I saw it in the menu, I said to myself that…
Read more »
Ordered shio ramen. Broth was bland. Noodles were overcooked, bloated, and mushy. Chashu was dry and tasteless. I took a few bites and then pushed the bowl away. There goes $9.
The waitstaff was perfectly nice though. If I'm ever forced to go there again I'll just order katsukare.
This is not authentic ramen. Do not let the name fool you. The noodles were mushy. My miso broth was overly sweet AKA MSG. Gyoza were too salty. Ugh.
I went in super hungry. I took the first few bits of ramen and had one gyoza. Suddenly, I was magically full. The food completely ruined my appetite.
I've been a longtime Yelp reader, but never felt the need to sign up for my own account until my wife and I had lunch today at Sapporo-Ya. We absolutely love Japanese food -- sushi, cooked food, noodles, etc. -- and eat ramen pretty often, but Sapporo-Ya offered the WORST food we've had in several months.
The ramen had no "koshi", the broth was a thick muck, the cha shu came in overcooked slabs, and the waitstaff didn't even seem to notice that we took only a couple of slurps before we asked for the bill. And at $10 a bowl... an absolute disaster. You couldn't pay me $10 to eat another bowl of ramen at this place.
Avoid like the plague.
I ordered a take out. the lady who was writing down our order walked away to help someone else for a minute without saying anything when I was gonna tell her the last thing I was going to order. It was really rude. My mind was telling me to leave the place, but I didn't~ I totally regretted that.
When she came back, she asked, "can you pay now please?" after i asked her "how long will it take for the food to be ready?"
walked out of the restaurant and came back 15 minutes later, asked her for another bag so we can separate an order that I am planning to give to a friend, she helped, but in the end, she didn't really help all the way. well, I don't really mind about that, but she actually said.."here, i'll double this and you can separate it later" me and my boyfriend was going to separate the order on an empty table, but the way she talked to us sounded like she wanted us to leave immediately. wow just rude.. and when we got home, tried the food.. it sucks... the ramen was overcooked and there wasn't enough noodles or meat for the price! the okonomiyaki doesn't taste authentic--very plain. seems like homemade food that has gone wrong.
not coming back.
employees there suck, service sucks, food sucks.
pretty generic
also, not to be all racist or w/e but they seem to give more service to white people haha =/
I heart this place!
HOMEMADE noodles... pickled cabbage as a small appetizer (I heard to clean you palate) equals yums in my tums!! It is about 11.00/bowl but it is worth each slurp!
I always get the kimchee ramen... comes with veggies, pork, and kimchee. Homemade gyoza is always a hit too.
Probably my number 1 or 2 ramen spot in the city.
Honestly the Ramen here is quite good - 4 stars in my book. It's good, fresh, plentiful and relatively economical.The problem with this restaurant is that the interior decorator has just awoken from 1975. By 70's standards, this place rocks. By this century's standards...well let's just say that it's not much to "yelp" about.
Great homemade ramen on a rainy day. I loved going there after a massage, or after a movie in Japantowne. But, the kimchi side dish they provide is NOT the kimchi I'm used to. All in all- VERY SATISFYING!
Walked by here plenty of times but never ate here. On Sundays a lot of restaurants are closed in SOMA so we had to drive around to find a place to eat. Originally we were going to try the other ramen place downstairs but the wait was 45 minutes. Yikes! Not waiting that long for anywhere except for Santa Ramen.
I had the kimchee ramen and the shrimp okonomiyaki. The kimchee ramen is pretty good. The kimchee is the the pickled sour kind and makes the broth sour. I happen to love vinegar so it works for me but maybe not for everyone. The broth was ok... but the noodles were decent. It's suppose to be handmade noodles but it wasn't super impressive. The okonomiyaki was ok... the restaurant across the way has a much better one with noodles in between it.
Won't be first up on my ramen list to eat/try but it's a decent quick dinner for a limited selection on Sunday.
Love the handmade noodles. Tried the miso ramen and thought it was decent. I would pass on the veggie gyoza next time- ridiculously over priced compared to rest of menu. I would come back for the ramen again, if i had a craving, but I wasn't too impressed with the service or decor.
The boyfriend and I ate here after checking out the brand new addition to Japantown, the New People building. I ordered the Kimchi Ramen, because the menu claimed that it was spicy, and the bf ordered the Cold Ramen.
My Kimchi Ramen wasn't spicy at all, but it was definitely the saltiest ramen I have ever had. I felt like I was just ingesting pure sodium. I probably drank about 4 glasses of water during my meal. I tried to just eat the noodles at least since I was starving, but even that led to a massive headache and severe bloating from water retention after our meal. If you slapped some ears on my head, I might have been the spitting image of Totoro.
Keep your $10 and just boil some noodles in pure soy sauce and salt if you want the Sapporo-Ya experience. I'm surprised my body didn't go into toxic shock.
I did try some of my bf's Cold Ramen, which was actually very good, so if you do decide to eat here (I definitely do not recommend it though), go for the Cold Ramen. That is safe to eat.
This is the best Ramen I've had in the Bay Area and is definitely my favourite. There are many different combinations to choose from: plain, chasew, kimchi, cold, natto, butter, salt, and more.
The gyoza and service are average, but again the ramen is great.
I always eat here when I visit Japan Town.
FOOD:
1.) Miso Cha-sew Ramen = Kinda thicker than I expected, tasted good, but didn't come out hot enough?
2.) Cha-sew Ramen = Their ramen has everything! Bamboo shoot, egg, spinach, and lots of meat
Anyway this was the place I remember I ate and really liked. Better than all the other places I've gone to. Lots of meat, they slice the eggs, and it comes out very presentably. But I guess they should, since their ramen is like $3.5 more than average. And their noodles aren't just yellow egg noodles like some places.
SERVICE:
Pretty good, helped us pour our leftover soup / noodle into the containers.
ATMOSPHERE:
Japanesey, kinda casual, it's in that Japanese mall, across from Sophie's Crepes
suzu had a line and we didn't feel like waiting, so we came here.
the noodle was soggy and overcooked. the broth was kind of meh.
overkill on the pork in my chashu order, it wouldn't have been a problem except the pork didn't really have any flavor.
as, i was leaving, i said to my gf that if only tanpopo can at least get their health inspection score to 80, i would go back.
sigh.
Real, homemade noodles, with an old fashioned noodle machine out front to prove it.
My meal here was actually breakfast. After wandering around till 11 am trying to decide what to breakfast on, we wandered into Sapporo-Ya to get... brunch, haha.
I ordered the yaki soba, and also got to try the vegetable ramen. There is nothing more exciting than starting your day with homemade noodles. If I lived in SF (or if Sapporo-Ya was in LA), I would be in there more than once a week.
I first came here based on a recommendation from a friend. I have to say that it was just "okay" - I'll go there if someone else wants to (and I feel bad declining), but I'd rather not. My main problem with the place is that the broth was heavily MSG-ed. I have a decent MSG tolerance so usually I'll forgive the use of MSG if I find the experience worthwhile, but their broth totally making me thirsty throughout the meal and after! The only pro that I could see is that their chashu came in big slabs (based on what I saw from my husband's bowl), but I cannot say to whether the slab was good or not.
Ate here after watching a movie at Kabuki, and I was thoroughly under-impressed. I'm no ramen connoisseur, but I can tell that the broth lacked that complexity of awesome flavors that makes a bowl of ramen so satisfying. Service was perfectly friendly, and the prices aren't outrageous, but I will probably head elsewhere in Japantown.
I ordered Kimchi Ramen and it was not hot at all. They skimped on the pork but I was impressed with the amount of noodles I received.
Damn, the Japanese ramen place where nobody CARES what's your name...
It seems true as everyone is saying, this place has gone downhill from its stellar years. The servers are lackadaisical, and so is the food, unfortunately. Had gyoza for appetizers: they tasted store-bought, and were not fried/steamed the proper way with one side nicely crisped up, and the rest gently steamed. Each piece came looking lumpy in its own unique way. The vegetable-pork filling did not taste fresh, either.
On to the ramen: the noodles are NOT homemade (or if they are, it certainly escaped me), and the broth, from judging my miso broth, was pretty mediocre. Tasted like miso broth from miso soup. It would have been much better if they did as other ramen shops do, and use miso as BASE for a more complex broth miso'd enough to brand miso, instead of simply dumping miso soup in with ramen noodles. HALF-ASSED, too bad I couldn't give them a HALF-ASSED PRICE!
The chashu (pork) also wasn't that great. I can't find enough inspiration to continue writing here; but you get the message, this place is MEDIOCRE MEDIOCRE, MEDIOCRE. About as a good as a random place in a Tokyo subway, yeah, not even.
Big bowl of homemade noodles and soup. What more can you NOT ask for?
a whole hell of a lot.
1) trash pork
2) unsavory, thick noodles completely overcooked
3) uncared for boiled egg
4) spinach, i mean really?
5) how can shoyu have absolutely no flavor, is that even possible?
pure unadulterated hot dog hell
any place you walk into in the east village is far and away better than this, even a bullshit new-wave veggie ramen joint.
sad.
indeed.
The food was okay but by no means good. We were there late on a Monday night, and service was slllloooooowwwwwwww. Really slow. As in we had to flag someone anytime anything was needed.
For a place that is supposed to be a good Ramen place (which if you make your own noodles you should be), it's mediocre.
I had:
Gyoza - Decently crispy on outside and chewy on inside. I liked it.
Japanese pancake - I haven't had this too often so I am by no means a connoisseur. Tasty though.
Chashu ramen - Forgettable especially compared to better Ramen places.
After reading many posts on my favorite ramen house, I'm shocked it's getting the negativity and the low ratings. People need to understand that this place is a one-trick pony.... RAMEN! The noodles ARE homemade. Allbeit I've been coming here for over ten years and have only seen the chef making noodles just this year. You can taste the freshness and the texture of the homemade goodness. I've been on a endless search for a ramen house that can even compare to Sapporo-ya. Shy of Japan, I've been to many on the west coast: Santa Ramen, Maru Ichi, Daikokuya (LA), Ramen Nakamura (Hawaii)... and the search continues!! Now I must say that some points in the 1-star ratings are true unfortunately... service is lacking. I recommend going on Sundays when both the chef who's Japanese and the old mama-san at the front are working. And my usual is the Miso Ramen with corn and extra bamboo! YUM!
Freshly made homemade noodles seemed promising and since Suzu is closed on Tuesdays, this seemed like a good option. While the service was very good, the ramen is just okay. Noodles were good and tasted fresh. Unfortunately, the broth lacked flavor and the pork was somewhat dry. For me, while the noodles are important, a good broth is even more so.
Was I supposed to be impressed? Because I wasn't.
The gyoza wasn't anything special, and the miso cashew ramen with homemade noodles wasn't either. It wasn't as infused with magic like Katana-ya or Santa Ramen. I was hoping that when I put it in my mouth I'd get some special pizazz and a heavenly flavor but all I got was disappointment.
The service wasn't fantastic either. No, "Hi and welcome, would you like to start off with something to drink?" It was more, "Hi. Ready yet? No? Ok I walk away now"
The place wasn't horrible. But like I've said before, with other competing restaurants literally meters away, how can you possibly get it wrong the first time?
went back for the ramen... i just found out it was hand made... ordered the pork chasu soy ramen.... huge portions here.... the ramen was just good enough.... go here for ramen and nothing else....
I had the shrimp okonomiyaki... I didn't enjoy it.... I could've made something better....
Meh...…
Read more »
They make their own ramen, so I highly recommend the ramen. I'm from Japan and I think the ramen here is good.
BUT, maybe only go here for the ramen. The other meal choices have not looked as good as other restaurants when I've seen other people order.
That said, the cha-shu ramen is good. Kimchi ramen doesn't have nearly as much kimchi as a kimchi ramen in Japan would, but the flavor was still good.
I've been coming here for....well since i can remember. I've always got the same thing, Miso ramen. The noodles are made on site and are the best noddle in town. The broth, well I guess it depends on who's making it. If the owner is making the bowl, its the best darn thing ever. If it's someone else, its still good, just not 5 stars worth.
For more than 10 years we've been having ramen at this low key restaurant in Japan town. Last night yet again (are we boring?) we ate miso ramen (with extra vegetables) and okonomiyaki (a Japanese pancake with vegetables and mayonaise and other yummy stuff), and it was fantastic! What a great place to eat before going to the Kabuki Theatre (Sundance) to see a movie. We LOVE it. My husband has been to Japan several times and said the ramen wasn't as good.
Pretty good yakisoba. not quite as good as mom's home style, but nonetheless pretty tasty. Girlfriend got kimchi ramen, which she did not recommend, as it apparently did not have enough kimchi. A little pricey, but it is J-Town.
Wow... pretty disappointed with my last visit. They use to make the thin, egg-noodles that were yellow and had some bite to them. And their broth was rich and full-flavored. They've switched to this nasty white noodle with no texture or flavor. And their broth fell among average group of ramen places. Okonomiyaki was still good but that's too hard to mess up.
Recommendations: Okonomiyaki
Conclusion: Clean up your act, or you'll lose all your business to the ramen places downstairs.
These Japanese noodles are for mid-westerners, bland and seasoned with salt.
Sweetheart Deal for…
Neighborhood: Civic…
We validate for Japan Center…
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
Category: Japanese
My top faves that cause me to gorge out, obsess &…
all the noodle soup places i've been to, the…
Ramen is my favorite Japanese food. It's probably…
A list of 'Tondemonai' (super bad) Ramen places.…
Oooh I wanna be there-ay-e-ere!!!! In my…
...or looking for my roots around J-Town. I'm…
flip side of highbrow dining, of course! While I…
Cheap eats to fill your belly or when you're…
