When it first went in the food was great, staff was really nice and the prices were fair. Now for the most part it's all buisness as others have said sushi is ok but there are so many options in the area that are much more pleasant Fujian for example. I'm sad this place changed so dramaticaly but oh well. The one thing I will say for it is their fish is fresh and the garlic rice and the ginger salad are awesome but not enough to overcome everything else. read more

Very tiny and busy, I try to go early or mid week. The place is clean and cute. Their sushi is very good and I love their cold spinach salad. Their roll menu is very limited although they can usually make something for you if you tell them what you want. Their specials board usually has the same thing on it for weeks at a time. By the time I get there after a long day at work my brain is fried and it would be helpful to see different rolls up on the board. Their service has improved measurably in the last couple of years and I have had no problems getting fed, getting a fresh hot sake, or getting a check paid. Parking is easy. My only complaint is that about half the time I go I leave because it's too crowded. That's not their fault. New yogurt place is next door for dessert! read more

Cozy, casual place to hang out and get some good sushi. waitstaff are warm and personable, always promptly filling up your tea or water no matter how busy it gets there. read more

See all

Great Spot!!!! Hit the sushi Bar and watch Ben'G' work his magic!! Great location and decor~ I'll be back ;-) read more

We had the volcano roll, the golden gate, and a third that I'm not recalling the name of right now. The service was very friendly and fast, grannted we were only two of the six customers in when they first opened lol. The fish was fresh and came out within a few minutes of oredering. The only reason I knocked a star was because the selection was a bit smaller then other places I've been but I will definitely be adding this to my son's and my sushi outings. read more

The best Japanese restaurant in town!!! You must order the Diablo roll. I wish I could eat here everyday!

I've eaten a lot of good and expensive sushi. Blue Gingko is not world class, but it is easily top tier in the east bay. I always find yelp ratings of sushi places to be totally unhelpful. People are so clueless when it comes to good sushi. You'll read reviews like "We got a roll and one of their salmon meals and to be honest it was something quite forgettable and a bit over priced," that bring the star ratings down and then the same person will go to some hole in the wall place with cheap fish and say "Loved the terriyaki chicken!" and rate it 5 stars. Blue Gingko uses high quality fish, prepared well. It's on the expensive side but you get what you pay for. If you're looking for a terriyaki bowl there are cheaper options. read more

It was nice to sit outside although a bit noisy with people wheeling the garbages out. The sushi is ok the rolls are small and bland. No real flavor. The price is very high on both the rolls and drinks. Service was very good and nice. read more

Servers there are totally rude and useless. The worst experience of eating out ever!!! Look from the ouside seems like it's friendly family sushi restaurant, but they don't even have a high chair for my child. I'm a sushi lover, I have tried sushi everywhere I go, and I can tell this is the worst sushi place ever!!! I ordered "Uni" and they serveed me the old nasty sushi, anyway that wasn't a case. The server looked at me and asked "Do you know? This is Uni. It's not Unagi." How lame!!! I had "Uni" more than 1,000 times if I have to count. Then she turned around and said someting in Chinese which I was unexpected. This place is a NO NO NO! Even if someone hired me to eat there I would say NO NO NO! read more

This is my absolute favorite sushi restaurant! Sushi being my favorite food, I take it very seriously. The fish from this restaurant is always super fresh and is the kind that melts in your mouth. Some rolls I recommend are the Alaska roll and rainbow roll, which are some of my favorites! The rainbow roll is an assortment of crab rolls with different fish and shrimp on the tops. The service is also very fast and the food always comes out in record time! I definitely recommend this amazing sushi place and you should give it try! read more

RACIST RACIST RACIST RACIST RACIST RACIST! As a fellow Asian, you're restaurant's behavior makes me sick to my stomach. Not only did you ignore my party and myself all while kneeling down at the table full of white folks right next to us, you even ignored my boyfriend and I the next time we went in and one of your waitresses even made a comment about us being a interracial couple! What business are you running? My whole family showed up for dinner at this place, and we waited patiently for a table, not only did you pretend like we weren't there, you allowed three WHITE parties that came 10-15 minutes after us, to be seated ahead of us before we started to bitch and complain, and for your staff to roll their eyes at us and act as if we were just trouble for them! That we would get over, but then your staff continues to ignore us! The tables around us have already gotten their waters, menus, and orders in. We sat there for a good 45 minutes to just get water and menus! Our waitress then starts to "forget" our table and doesn't show up for another 15 minutes to finally take our order! She gives us a snarky attitude but all the while kissing ass to the other tables around us. Mind you, we were the only Asian family at this place that time! If you're doing this to fellow Asians, imagine what they would do to a Hispanic or African American family! read more

All around great spot! Please, please, please don't be deterred from the "group think" negative reviews because we come out from Oakland 1x p/wk for their sushi! It's unassuming, great service, fresh sushi, easy ambiance, and oh so so so goooood!!!!! Stop by and enjoy this little hidden gem! read more

I don't like giving bad reviews but some restaurant needs to know they need some major improvements. Very expensive for mediocre sushi. Will not go back. read more

Ordered diablo roll, white dragon roll, and some kind of eel roll. Tasted great, but then I got food poisoning! Not pretty. Not sure which roll contained the culprit. I won't be going back. read more

This is a really good local sushi place. Try the volcano roll, it's a treat of spicy white tuna explosion!

I really liked this place - sushi was tasty as well as beautiful to look at! I usually go to House of Sake in Walnut Creek (which I also recommend) but now I have a place close to home that I will frequent in the future. read more

I ordered takeout from Blue Gingko on a Friday night, and the experience was pretty dissatisfying all around. When I called, I was left on hold twice while the person taking the order found a pen and then some paper on which to write my order. And I was on hold for awhile--long enough that I was pretty certain they'd forgotten about me. When I picked up my order, I waited in a cramped line just inside the door, while the two servers rushed around past us without much acknowledgement. When I did finally get my order, it was over $30 for teriyaki chicken and gyoza. Having lived in Seattle, where every neighborhood has delicious and cheap teriyaki, I found the price pretty outrageous. And then the food itself! The gyoza was tasty--really, that's what the two stars are for. But the teriyaki chicken was a huge letdown. It was a (dry) chicken breast with a side of (pretty bland) teriyaki sauce. The chicken wasn't even cooked IN the sauce! The rice was okay, and the side of broccoli was okay, but nothing to get excited about, and certainly not worth $30+! All in all, it was a disappointment. read more

Have tried the one in Blackhawk several times with great results. Have been waiting for 20 minutes at this one with no sign of food and no explanation or any type of feedback from the ONE server. Won't be coming back here. read more

I love this place. I come here all the time. One suggestion that I am sure EVERYONE would love is that the management adopt a " SIGN IN" sheet for people waiting. It is not comfortable when you are eating to have a row of people standing in the aisle. It makes both the sushi bar and the tables feel like people are hovering over them. I can't blame them; they don't want to miss their turn- a sign in sheet would solve that ! Please change this and start having people wait outside. Like I said, " I LOVE THIS PLACE" ....GREAT FOOD ! Change that and I will change my rating to 5 stars ! read more

The food here is great!!! All the rolls are super delicious. Been here many times and definitely coming back here again!! After reading most of these reviews on yelp, I find that there are many good and some bad reviews. Here's the thing, I've been a long customer at this great Sushi place; there were few times the restaurant was really busy and the customer service level went down a bit, but the awesome food makes up for it. For those people that are complaining this restaurant. -If you think the foods there is too expensive? then don't eat there. Make your own Sushi -For those complaining about the service? Don't like the service? Well then Get The F*ck Out , give these Chefs and Waitresses some respect, they try to give you their best service under intense pressure. You're pretty ignorant for thinking only about you or your family's time. -For those that complains about the waiting time... Learn to read time, it only takes them 25 minutes max to serve after you order. Be patient, you'll get your food. read more

Hands down some of the best sushi in the Bay Area, SF included. Contrary to prior reviews, I've only had the best service here during my three recent visits. The sushi was fresh and delicious. The hamachi nigiri was out of this world - tasted like the freshest toro. Try their cherry blossom roll (not on the menu), and the crouching tiger-hidden dragon roll. The chefs are super nice and contribute to the overall awesome experience. read more

Fish quality is good. Too bad the last two times I have gotten take out from them, they have failed to give me part of my order...after charging me for it. Both times were large orders but it seems pretty ridiculous to forget to put in two full rolls in an entire order. I didn't notice until I got home (note to self, if I ever return (unlikely) better double check my order before leaving!) and they always refunded me when I called but it is really irritating. Plus, they were not apologetic at all and really didn't seem to care they had made a mistake. I feel like they are definitely on the expensive side of sushi for the area and between that and the lousy service, I will not be a repeat customer. read more

Yum yum yum four season and spicy crunchy yellow tail are our go-to rolls but tried the Alaskan last time and that one was great too. Price is what you'd expect for lafayette but this is a great take out treat that is fresh and healthy. read more

love this place!! We're here at least once a week. The sushi is so fresh and all the servers and sushi chefs are incredibly nice. It's a neighborhood favorite! read more

What in the world did these other reviewers smoke? Did the restaurant proprietors bribe them for good reviews, or have they simply never had sushi elsewhere? The food at Blue Ginkgo was way overpriced for its quality and quantity (I paid almost forty bucks for two tiny rolls of far-from-fresh fish and "crab") and the service was spotty. And to top it all off, the key to the bathroom-which is located several shops down from the actual restaurant-didn't work. On the whole, a really disappointing experience. read more

Pretty good sushi for the burbs and prices are average. We had a lot of their sashimi and rolls and everything was pretty fresh. Definitely go here again for a mid week sushi craving. Nothing extremely life changing or creative on their menu but that's okay for a middle of the week dinner. Service was a bit lacking but four stars for the consistently good food read more

We've been coming here almost weekly for years. The sushi is so fresh and butter soft. You MUST try the salmon skin handroll; I've tried this at six different places and Blue Gingko makes it best, hands down. So yummy!! read more

To summarize-overpriced and greedy pricing. I have eaten here 5 times for lunch. I agree with the other reviews-the sushi is decent, portions are small, the service fair, the restaurant cramped (except there are very few people in there, so it doesn't feel bad.) Today we ate there for the last time. Husband & I each ordered a lunch special. He ordered a 3 item special with tempura, salmon teriyaki, and some sushi, which costs $16 I ordered tonkatsu and a handroll for $11. No rice came with either dish. When we asked, we were told it cost extra. REALLY? For a bowl of RICE? Who ever heard of having to buy rice with a Japanese lunch? When I asked the waitress, she said it was a new combo, and that rice came with all of the lunch specials, but not this one. You think maybe, just maybe she might have offered a small bowl on the house, since that was not at all clear on the menu. But no. Way, way overpriced lunch specials. With 2 spinach appetizers, the bill came to $41 before the tip. I could have gotten the same lunch at any number of places in Berkeley/ Oakland for about half the price-and it would have included a salad and rice. read more

I went to the Blue Gingko for the first time a few weeks back with some friends. We called to make a reservation for 7:15 because we had passed by a few times and knew it tended to be crowded. Our experience started off pretty negative because when we arrived (on time) we let the waitress know we had a reservation and she hardly acknowledged us. She said okay and walked away without giving any eye contact. We just brushed it off and waited to be seated. We waited for about 15 minutes without the waitress saying anything. We didn't even know if she was preparing a table so one of us reminded her that we were waiting. She was polite enough, and said it would only be a few more minutes. Well, it turned out we didn't get seated until about 7:50, 35 minutes after our reservation time. We had quickly realized while waiting that we were not waiting for the waitress to set up a table, but for customers to leave so there would be a table available. It was frustrating because they took our reservation and lead us to believe that we would be sitting down at or around 7:15. I understand that restaurants get busy, but do not accept reservations if you do not plan on setting a table aside. Hoping to turn our experience around, we sat down and figured out our order. The waitress was not very helpful. Three people wanted water and once we told her that, she walked away and didn't bother to ask the other three people what they wanted. I guess she just assumed we all wanted water, which was not the case. She came back and one person managed to quickly tell her their drink order before she left again, still ignoring the other two people. It took one more time of her returning to the table to get all of the drink orders in. We then placed our food orders. Two of my friends and I ordered Godzilla rolls plus I ordered the yakitori (chicken on a skewer). My other friends ordered various things and one wanted to change up one of the rolls a little bit. At this point we had a new waitress (who was definitely warmer than the first) and she was accommodating and helped him figure out exactly what he wanted. We waited for about ten minutes before our food began to come out. Some soups and edamame were the first to arrive. Then my chicken came and it was delicious. The sauce it was in tasted amazing. Then various sushi rolls came out. The custom roll was fantastic. We were all enjoying our food but as time went on we realized none of the three Godzilla rolls that were ordered had come out yet. We continued to wait until it got to a point where we didn't really want them anymore. We had finished the rest of our food about 20 minutes before at this point and we were trying to flag down the waitress to cancel the order. We then saw her bringing them to us so we just decided to eat them and not trouble her. They were alright. A little hard to bite into because they were so hard from being fried, but they were good enough to finish eating. A friend ended up asking the waitress why it took so long for them to come out, and she told us that they are PRE-MADE and then FROZEN, so it takes them a while to thaw and fry. We were pretty upset at hearing this. I definitely would not have chosen the Godzilla roll and would have opted for something freshly made had I known this before. It was unclear as to whether they made them there before freezing or if they bought them from another location, but either way it's not fun to hear you are eating sushi from frozen. Another thing that frustrated us was that she did not mention to us the Godzilla roll would take significantly longer to come out than the rest of what we ordered. None of us would have ordered it for that reason alone. Overall our experience was sub-par. The customer service was horrible, some of the food was from frozen, and at the end, one of my friends found out there are no free refills on sodas. What was supposed to be a fun night out, turned out to be a frustrating battle. The (fresh) food was good, but all of the negatives of the night overshadowed this. Unfortunately, I don't think I will go back and would not recommend it to friends. read more

I stopped by for lunch. I had two of the maki rolls. Both very served very nicely and both were composed of high quality and fresh fish. Service was good and very friendly. They have both indoor and outdoor seating. A nice stop in Lafayette just to the left of Whole Foods. Free parking in the lot. The other two locations are Danville and Blackhawk. read more

Overpriced sushi and terrible service. You will never get a water refill. The best saki on the menu isn't cold and the recommended best halibut ever is so garlicky and salty it's not edible. The bonus for eating here is that it is close to where we live but the food and service is making us go to a different sushi restaurant l. read more

It is hard for me to believe the angry reviews of this place. I will say that I usually sit at the bar as I enjoy Philip and Alice, the owners, very much. The wait staff are generally very polite, but perhaps a little scattered sometimes, but the ones that recognize me as a regular are very friendly. The thing is, if you are going to a restaurant in a shopping mall, and you are expecting white linen service, you are bound to disappoint yourself. Generally, if you grow angry as a result of your disappointment, your relationship to wait staff will falter. I am not sure I can fault a restaurant for that. It never happens to me. Also my priority when eating sushi is the quality of the sushi. Philip and Alice pay more attention to this than any sushi restaurant I have been to, expensive or cheap. The place has been truly amazing and for a very long time. I choose this place over fancy sushi places without any hesitation for the quality. I also noticed someone complained about the portions and I thoroughly disagree. They are very generous with the sashimi in a way that real Japanese restaurants would not be, and this with wonderful fish. A tell tale litmus test is the Uni. My son loves it. Philip will only buy it if it is really good. He searches for it from Oregon, Southern California and Japan and tries it before buying it and again when it is time to serve it. He will not serve it even after pleas if he does not think it is perfect. It is not possible to buy that kind of integrity. I say go there, cherish it as a neighborhood goldmine and sit at the bar if you are in a hurry for service! You will not be sorry. The best sushi I have ever had. read more

We love Blue Gingko. They are always busy, but we never have to wait long for a table. The sushi is fresh and flavorful.

I read all the great reviews and I was eager to try the Blue Ginko! We got there early, a little bit after 5pm, only one other table was taken. They don't have high chairs. I found this strange in Lafayette, but whatever, let's wash our hands and eat! They don't have a restroom. The waitress explained to me that they have one outside, but I would need a key to use that (does not offered the key), or there is a restroom in Whole Foods as well... hmmm I wonder how happy the Whole Foods people are about this. Two of us got one menu. Ok, we can share, I guess... We got to order and the food was ready pretty quickly. The chicken satay was plain and the roll we ordered had too much paprika in it. It was disappointing. My water glass never got refilled. We spent about 15 minutes inside. This was my experience. Not a good one. read more

Blue Gingko is the best. I have been here many times and it has never failed me and I love it so much. The service is great and the sushi is delicious. If you are a sushi lover, I recommend this place! read more

I dont live in Lafayette anymore but when I am in town hell yeah I love this place.... always great food and the quality is 2nd to none...

Fresh fish, good portions, and nice service! Good assortment of options on the menu, and a cute little place to meet friends :)

This is my second review ever. Waited a solid 45 minutes for two rolls. A regular came in, ordered after me, and is now finished with his plate. There's more but I dont care to vent anymore. Also, 2 rolls = 50 dollars. Cheers, yelp read more

Small place with friendly service. Best age dashi tofu and grilled rice balls ever! They will make custom sushi rolls and their ingredients always taste so fresh. I do wish they had beef teriyaki but only chicken (which can be dry) and salmon are available and their menu is a bit limited. read more

I don't eat sushi, but love everything else, teriyaki, tempura, gyoza, gyoza, gyoza...and this is my fav japanese restaurant in the area. DELICIOUS salads, to die for gyoza....love everything I've tried (no sushi!) Have always received great service. Never experienced the rude staff others are posting about, but I will definitely post back if that changes. I will admit the food is very pricey, so eating here is a treat for me. read more