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My boyfriend and I went to SF for the day, our usual food place closed and we wanted to try out this place since they had pretty cheap hand rolls Vibes: 9/10 The place itself is pretty cozy, a little small but isn't all places in SF SMALL. There are a few tables, and a Bar. The restaurant is in a pretty nice area with a lot of food and dessert places. Service: 8/10 It was nothing crazy! Workers seemed a little tired haha and didn't check up on us except when bringing out the food, I don't usually mind that at all but with a required 18% gratuity, I did expect a little more! One person did check on us twice, But I think he was the owner? I'm not sure. He was super nice and recommended some things to us. Some angry guy came in for his TO GO order during our visit and honestly, everyone handled it pretty good. But damn... crazy upset over Ginger and wasabi Food: 6/10 I was definitely a little disappointed :(. The food itself was such a good cheap price, especially in SF, but it wasn't that good. We've been to a lot of hand-roll places, from NorCal to SoCal and unfortunately this place wasn't as good as we were hoping it to be. We ordered, 4 handrolls, 4 Tostada, 1 order of Karage, and this Steamed egg cup thingy with Uni and salmon Roe. Hand rolls: 6/10 It was a good amount of fish for the price, but the Nori was really chewy, not crunchy, the fish was just, really mushy, and the avocado made it a little more mushier. It was still good! Tostada: 4/10 Honestly, it was so nice to look at, but the amount of avocado was honestly a little overwhelming. Again, this is just my personal opinion, I'm sure some people would love this, but personally for me, it's too mushy for my liking. Karage 9/10: It was just Karage, pretty good, wasnt crunchy but outer shell was pretty seasoned! The Steamed egg cup (sorry, I forgot what it was called ) 4/10: PERSONAL OPINION!!! I didn't like it, it was too much of a "seafood" taste, and a little too bland for my liking. We honestly really liked the portioning, especially for the price. But there IS a mandatory 18% charge as tips as well as a 6% mandated SF charge. Personally, we usually tip around 15-20% anyways so I really didn't mind much. But the total REQUIRED percentage is 24%... almost 1/4 of our meal . I'm sure a lot of people would find this place a really nice place to go to, service is nice, food is cheap, a lot of protein, and a really cozy area!
My friend and i came to dine here and had a great experience. Service was very friendly, fast and nice! In all honesty we may have ordered a bit too much... we were very interested in specifically the crispy bubus (we were craving nobus spicy tuna crispy rice). We ordered the spicy tuna, spicy salmon and spicy hamachi. I would say that they are a way lower tier than nobu... and if you waited too long to eat them they got mushy and soggy... not sure how to prevent that though! May have just been an us problem since we were also yapping and drinking! Their other rolls and fish quality were also pretty average.. overall i would come back but just order less at once! I also heard they have a great happy hour too!
Due to people's reviews here, I felt like I had to try it! I think their good reviews are just for happy hour. We ordered a - negitoro hand roll - Two Items Bento (Salmon Avocado Roll and California Roll) - lion king roll - dragon roll and they were not good. The california roll had low-quality fake crab. The only ones we finished were the salmon avocado roll, the hand roll, and the dragon roll. We threw out most of the lion king roll (described as a cooked roll filled with avocado and imitation crab, topped with baked salmon, creamy spicy aioli, unagi sauce, and tobiko.) I think it's just lower-quality fish (you get what you pay for) and too much sauce.
My friend and I came for BUBU's later weekday happy hour, which was roughly from 8-9PM. We ordered many different small dishes, and my personal favorites were their salmon nigiri, takoyaki, and their Crispy Bubu. The Crispy Bubu had a satisfying crunch and was the first dish handed out to us that really proved to us how hungry we were. The salmon nigiri was fresh, and the takoyaki had a crispy exterior with a soft, flavorful center.
The happy hour here is great. Make sure you get here about 30 minutes early for the line. They've expanded the happy hour menu since I've been here. Quality is decent for the price of the fish. Sake isn't the best quality, but it's so cheap that you can't find too much fault in it. Everything comes out quickly. Space was a bit tight, but I believe they've moved to a bigger location to accommodate more people.
Went for happy hour at Bubu. This happy hour has a variety of sushi, handrolls, drinks and appetizers to choose from. However you are only allowed to order one round and what ever you do not finish you cannot take home! My friend and I did not see this small prompt on the menu about taking happy hour food home so we had to leave quite a bit of food. The handrolls were amazing-- good size and great quality. Crispy rice was a pleasant surprise and not too oily. The kimchi udon was from the regular menu and was a bit too salty. This place gets busy for happy hour so best to come right at the start. Minimal seating indoors. No outdoor seating. Service was quick and friendly. Ambiance is cozy and casual.
I have mixed feelings about this place. I came here for happy hour after hearing good things, but unfortunately, I didn't find it to be anything special. The service was just okay. The toro was not melty and had a very fishy taste, which immediately lowered my expectations. We also ordered the truffle Wagyu hand roll, but it felt like it was 90% rice and 10% ground beef. It definitely lacked the truffle flavor as well. Overall, we spent around $175 and left not even feeling full.
Came here on a Sunday at 4:30pm and was seated upon opening. Surprisingly no wait, maybe bc it was windy/chilly today. This is my first time coming back since they changed locations, and it looks like they have about 3-4x more seating to accommodate the popularity. There is also a limit of 2 order rounds and 60 min limit (not strictly enforced). The quality of the handrolls and HH sashimi is still very fresh and delicious. Everything off the happy hour menu remains a good deal for the quality & value, even though it's now up $3-6 per. My favorite is the 5pc salmon sashimi-- thick & smooth cuts. I went off the HH menu for the 8pc omakase for the dose of uni + sparkling grapefruit drink. The omakase fish was okay and the sparkling drink wasn't really fizzy, so my carbonation craving wasn't fixed. My lady's part of the bill was $9 while mine was $100 haha (total $145 for 2 people)--I'd skip the omakase next time. When I come back I'd probably just stick with the happy hour menu & handrolls.
Tonight I ordered my usual rainbow roll along with the spicy salmon roll tonight. Both were fine, but neither left much of an impression. The spicy salmon roll wasn't spicy at all. I ended up adding soy sauce and wasabi to compensate, which helped but also masked whatever sauce they had on top, so you lose either way. The rainbow roll was decent, though one of the fish pieces tasted a little off and the avocado was firmer than it should've been. Pricing is actually reasonable by SF standards. $7 for the spicy salmon and $14 for the rainbow roll is pretty rare in this city. I had a DoorDash discount which made it an easy call, but at full price I'm not sure the quality justifies it. A solid option if you catch a deal, but I wouldn't rush back otherwise.
Great deal for happy hour. My advice is to go for the hand rolls vs other things like dumplings, karaage etc. We enjoyed everything we tried but the fresh fish items like hand rolls and sashimi were most memorable.
Finally went to checkout Bubu for their HH deal! Luckily went early to get a table. Glad to have scratched this off my bucket list and hope to give it another chance in the near future...... great quality sushi / hand rolls (deal now is $3 for one instead of 2 for $5). Maybe my next visit will be different but nonetheless, great value, food, vibes, but disorganized. I wanted to justify the relocation of Bubu being a prime factor but it was really just the service overall. You'll be handed a checklist for two rounds of ordering your happy hour deals; what I wish they did differently was mark off things that the table had received because.... Everything cameout very quickly besides the sashimi. For the sashimi; we waited nearly 30 minutes with about 4 staff members following up if we're ready for the next round; seems like there was no communication with the kitchen as we kept constantly saying we're missing things still. After getting the sashimi (10/10 stars though haha), it kinda didn't want us to order more for round 2... so we wrapped up and tried to get the bill but couldn't flag anyone down after getting the sashimi. Baked Lion King roll (5/10) was almost good; it wasn't baked fully, center was still cold, maybe leave it in the oven for a good 10 more minutes. Handrolls (10/10!!) high quality goodness with very generous slices of buttery avocado, i hope that one they do a fresh sashimi variant. The sauciness is delicious but something plain to really taste the fresh fish would be great! Bubus (6/10) felt more like an appetizer akin to shrimp toast but make it on crispy rice. You're better off getting two more hand rolls to fill you up.
Nice sushi restaurant for happy hour near Japantown in SF. There was no actual sign at the restaurant that said Bubu. The signs outside and inside said the restaurant was called No No. Since "Bu" means "No" in Chinese, I guess it makes sense. Plenty of small tables inside and a sushi bar area. Good deals on hand rolls during happy hour. Many hand rolls were 2 for $6 (spicy salmon and spicy tuna) and some were 2 for $12 (baby lobster and truffle wagyu). We ordered spicy salmon avocado hand rolls, spicy tuna avocado hand roll, baby lobster hand rolls, truffle wagyu hand rolls. You can request the spicy salmon to be not spicy, but you they cannot make the spicy tuna not spicy as it's already premixed. Our favorite was the salmon and avocado hand rolls (minus the spicy mayo). The truffle wagyu was good too, mostly because of the truffle flavor. The baby lobster was okay...the taste of the lobster is covered by the rice and seaweed. I didn't try the spicy tuna roll. It would have been nice if they had a raw fish option that wasn't spicy. We also ordered several sashimi specials during happy hour, each were $8 - 3 pieces of bluefin toro, 3 pieces of salmon toro, and 5 pieces of salmon sashimi. We liked all of the sashimi, but the salmon sashimi the most. The bluefin toro was seared and a bit stringy. Service was average and sometimes a bit below average. We were sitting at a table near the back and at times, weren't attended to. We had to wait awhile to flag someone down and some times items were slow to come. Overall, we were glad we had a chance to try the handrolls during happy hour. There was no wait for a table on a rainy Tuesday. Happy hour is everyday from 4:30-6pm and 8-9:30pm. A surcharge is applied to your bill.
4 months ago
The happy hour here is absolutely amazing. We wildly underestimated the proportion sizes, it's such a great deal. Everything was delicious, and the flexibility is much appreciated. The filled meats were flavorful, the raw fish fresh. The service was good, but they would not allow takeout boxes. The restaurant is cute with lots of decorations and the receipt coming in a miniature barrel. Would definitely come again. There was a wait but nothing too crazy considering it was a super crowded weekend at Japantown. read more
9 days ago
Overall service were Okie ,Staff were nice . Service :4/5 The FOH react fast , and get my order with in 10 mins. Food : I get hamachi don , the hamachi is fresh , but missing Shiso. The vibes overall is alright . read more
the vibes already felt kinda disorganized from the moment i walked in. Got seated quickly you could say, we got assisted by 1 guy who said to wait, and he will take us to the table. Then another guy comes and ask us for how many, i tell him that we have been helped, already and they another guy is getting our table ready. He then tells me to just follow him instead, so ok me and my friend did. There was so many empty seats, but we were seated right beside 2 old men who wouldn't stop listening to my conversation and staring at me and my friend. Food wise, we got the hamachi carpaccio, some hand rolls and regular roll and their fried rice ball "crispy bubu" Now here what sort of threw me off. I really wanted just hand rolls, cause thats what they are known for. I wanted a fancy roll, it said on the menu they can make any roll into a handroll, mind you i was willing to pay $18 for 1 handroll. I wanted the truffle hamachi and the big bang. And the waiter then tells me, he doesn't suggest i get it as a handroll, but just to get it as a regular roll.m, due to the fact that it has too many toppings and it would fall apart... So then this is a restaurant/chef error? Because why advertise you can make any roll into a handroll, and then tell me i shouldn't... i really wanted the truffle hamachi, so i decided to LISTEN and get it as a regular roll, i then went and did not get the big bang, and got a regular spicy tuna handroll. Everything comes and what not, and this is funny but their crispy bubu is advertised as a fried crispy BALL. It was a square, and all the toppings just kept falling. I had to eat the fish and crispy "ball" separately. Their truffle hamachi, did not have any truffle taste or anything, and it was advertised as "truffle sauce" which my roll did not have any sauce at all. Overall food was good, and fish taste fresh. But generally menu is confusing and disappointing from the restaurant itself for those kinds of suggestions to not get something on their menu. I appreciated the suggestion, but really threw me off. read more
My boyfriend and I went to SF for the day, our usual food place closed and we wanted to try out this place since they had pretty cheap hand rolls Vibes: 9/10 The place itself is pretty cozy, a little small but isn't all places in SF SMALL. There are a few tables, and a Bar. The restaurant is in a pretty nice area with a lot of food and dessert places. Service: 8/10 It was nothing crazy! Workers seemed a little tired haha and didn't check up on us except when bringing out the food, I don't usually mind that at all but with a required 18% gratuity, I did expect a little more! One person did check on us twice, But I think he was the owner? I'm not sure. He was super nice and recommended some things to us. Some angry guy came in for his TO GO order during our visit and honestly, everyone handled it pretty good. But damn... crazy upset over Ginger and wasabi Food: 6/10 I was definitely a little disappointed :(. The food itself was such a good cheap price, especially in SF, but it wasn't that good. We've been to a lot of hand-roll places, from NorCal to SoCal and unfortunately this place wasn't as good as we were hoping it to be. We ordered, 4 handrolls, 4 Tostada, 1 order of Karage, and this Steamed egg cup thingy with Uni and salmon Roe. Hand rolls: 6/10 It was a good amount of fish for the price, but the Nori was really chewy, not crunchy, the fish was just, really mushy, and the avocado made it a little more mushier. It was still good! Tostada: 4/10 Honestly, it was so nice to look at, but the amount of avocado was honestly a little overwhelming. Again, this is just my personal opinion, I'm sure some people would love this, but personally for me, it's too mushy for my liking. Karage 9/10: It was just Karage, pretty good, wasnt crunchy but outer shell was pretty seasoned! The Steamed egg cup (sorry, I forgot what it was called ) 4/10: PERSONAL OPINION!!! I didn't like it, it was too much of a "seafood" taste, and a little too bland for my liking. We honestly really liked the portioning, especially for the price. But there IS a mandatory 18% charge as tips as well as a 6% mandated SF charge. Personally, we usually tip around 15-20% anyways so I really didn't mind much. But the total REQUIRED percentage is 24%... almost 1/4 of our meal . I'm sure a lot of people would find this place a really nice place to go to, service is nice, food is cheap, a lot of protein, and a really cozy area! read more
My friend and i came to dine here and had a great experience. Service was very friendly, fast and nice! In all honesty we may have ordered a bit too much... we were very interested in specifically the crispy bubus (we were craving nobus spicy tuna crispy rice). We ordered the spicy tuna, spicy salmon and spicy hamachi. I would say that they are a way lower tier than nobu... and if you waited too long to eat them they got mushy and soggy... not sure how to prevent that though! May have just been an us problem since we were also yapping and drinking! Their other rolls and fish quality were also pretty average.. overall i would come back but just order less at once! I also heard they have a great happy hour too! read more
Due to people's reviews here, I felt like I had to try it! I think their good reviews are just for happy hour. We ordered a - negitoro hand roll - Two Items Bento (Salmon Avocado Roll and California Roll) - lion king roll - dragon roll and they were not good. The california roll had low-quality fake crab. The only ones we finished were the salmon avocado roll, the hand roll, and the dragon roll. We threw out most of the lion king roll (described as a cooked roll filled with avocado and imitation crab, topped with baked salmon, creamy spicy aioli, unagi sauce, and tobiko.) I think it's just lower-quality fish (you get what you pay for) and too much sauce. read more
My friend and I came for BUBU's later weekday happy hour, which was roughly from 8-9PM. We ordered many different small dishes, and my personal favorites were their salmon nigiri, takoyaki, and their Crispy Bubu. The Crispy Bubu had a satisfying crunch and was the first dish handed out to us that really proved to us how hungry we were. The salmon nigiri was fresh, and the takoyaki had a crispy exterior with a soft, flavorful center. read more
1 day ago
I ordered from Dordash and they sent me some left overs, didn't even look like they made the sushi Didn't even bother to add soy sauce. Unbelievable, Can't believe this can happen read more
1 month ago
The happy hour here is great. Make sure you get here about 30 minutes early for the line. They've expanded the happy hour menu since I've been here. Quality is decent for the price of the fish. Sake isn't the best quality, but it's so cheap that you can't find too much fault in it. Everything comes out quickly. Space was a bit tight, but I believe they've moved to a bigger location to accommodate more people. read more
Went for happy hour at Bubu. This happy hour has a variety of sushi, handrolls, drinks and appetizers to choose from. However you are only allowed to order one round and what ever you do not finish you cannot take home! My friend and I did not see this small prompt on the menu about taking happy hour food home so we had to leave quite a bit of food. The handrolls were amazing-- good size and great quality. Crispy rice was a pleasant surprise and not too oily. The kimchi udon was from the regular menu and was a bit too salty. This place gets busy for happy hour so best to come right at the start. Minimal seating indoors. No outdoor seating. Service was quick and friendly. Ambiance is cozy and casual. read more
I have mixed feelings about this place. I came here for happy hour after hearing good things, but unfortunately, I didn't find it to be anything special. The service was just okay. The toro was not melty and had a very fishy taste, which immediately lowered my expectations. We also ordered the truffle Wagyu hand roll, but it felt like it was 90% rice and 10% ground beef. It definitely lacked the truffle flavor as well. Overall, we spent around $175 and left not even feeling full. read more
Came here on a Sunday at 4:30pm and was seated upon opening. Surprisingly no wait, maybe bc it was windy/chilly today. This is my first time coming back since they changed locations, and it looks like they have about 3-4x more seating to accommodate the popularity. There is also a limit of 2 order rounds and 60 min limit (not strictly enforced). The quality of the handrolls and HH sashimi is still very fresh and delicious. Everything off the happy hour menu remains a good deal for the quality & value, even though it's now up $3-6 per. My favorite is the 5pc salmon sashimi-- thick & smooth cuts. I went off the HH menu for the 8pc omakase for the dose of uni + sparkling grapefruit drink. The omakase fish was okay and the sparkling drink wasn't really fizzy, so my carbonation craving wasn't fixed. My lady's part of the bill was $9 while mine was $100 haha (total $145 for 2 people)--I'd skip the omakase next time. When I come back I'd probably just stick with the happy hour menu & handrolls. read more
Tonight I ordered my usual rainbow roll along with the spicy salmon roll tonight. Both were fine, but neither left much of an impression. The spicy salmon roll wasn't spicy at all. I ended up adding soy sauce and wasabi to compensate, which helped but also masked whatever sauce they had on top, so you lose either way. The rainbow roll was decent, though one of the fish pieces tasted a little off and the avocado was firmer than it should've been. Pricing is actually reasonable by SF standards. $7 for the spicy salmon and $14 for the rainbow roll is pretty rare in this city. I had a DoorDash discount which made it an easy call, but at full price I'm not sure the quality justifies it. A solid option if you catch a deal, but I wouldn't rush back otherwise. read more
Finally went to checkout Bubu for their HH deal! Luckily went early to get a table. Glad to have scratched this off my bucket list and hope to give it another chance in the near future...... great quality sushi / hand rolls (deal now is $3 for one instead of 2 for $5). Maybe my next visit will be different but nonetheless, great value, food, vibes, but disorganized. I wanted to justify the relocation of Bubu being a prime factor but it was really just the service overall. You'll be handed a checklist for two rounds of ordering your happy hour deals; what I wish they did differently was mark off things that the table had received because.... Everything cameout very quickly besides the sashimi. For the sashimi; we waited nearly 30 minutes with about 4 staff members following up if we're ready for the next round; seems like there was no communication with the kitchen as we kept constantly saying we're missing things still. After getting the sashimi (10/10 stars though haha), it kinda didn't want us to order more for round 2... so we wrapped up and tried to get the bill but couldn't flag anyone down after getting the sashimi. Baked Lion King roll (5/10) was almost good; it wasn't baked fully, center was still cold, maybe leave it in the oven for a good 10 more minutes. Handrolls (10/10!!) high quality goodness with very generous slices of buttery avocado, i hope that one they do a fresh sashimi variant. The sauciness is delicious but something plain to really taste the fresh fish would be great! Bubus (6/10) felt more like an appetizer akin to shrimp toast but make it on crispy rice. You're better off getting two more hand rolls to fill you up. read more
Nice sushi restaurant for happy hour near Japantown in SF. There was no actual sign at the restaurant that said Bubu. The signs outside and inside said the restaurant was called No No. Since "Bu" means "No" in Chinese, I guess it makes sense. Plenty of small tables inside and a sushi bar area. Good deals on hand rolls during happy hour. Many hand rolls were 2 for $6 (spicy salmon and spicy tuna) and some were 2 for $12 (baby lobster and truffle wagyu). We ordered spicy salmon avocado hand rolls, spicy tuna avocado hand roll, baby lobster hand rolls, truffle wagyu hand rolls. You can request the spicy salmon to be not spicy, but you they cannot make the spicy tuna not spicy as it's already premixed. Our favorite was the salmon and avocado hand rolls (minus the spicy mayo). The truffle wagyu was good too, mostly because of the truffle flavor. The baby lobster was okay...the taste of the lobster is covered by the rice and seaweed. I didn't try the spicy tuna roll. It would have been nice if they had a raw fish option that wasn't spicy. We also ordered several sashimi specials during happy hour, each were $8 - 3 pieces of bluefin toro, 3 pieces of salmon toro, and 5 pieces of salmon sashimi. We liked all of the sashimi, but the salmon sashimi the most. The bluefin toro was seared and a bit stringy. Service was average and sometimes a bit below average. We were sitting at a table near the back and at times, weren't attended to. We had to wait awhile to flag someone down and some times items were slow to come. Overall, we were glad we had a chance to try the handrolls during happy hour. There was no wait for a table on a rainy Tuesday. Happy hour is everyday from 4:30-6pm and 8-9:30pm. A surcharge is applied to your bill. read more
Pretty good sushi spot near Japan Town. I thought this place had another name, but I guess not? Good quality sushi for a fair price in the Bay. Not saying it's cheap, but fair. Did take forever to get my sale. Overall a nice spot worth the visit. read more
2 months ago
Can't go wrong with $3 handrolls (in this economy??)! Came here for the happy hour, and was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of the menu and quality of sushi/handrolls. I also enjoyed the agedashi tofu, chicken karaage, and takoyaki, but not too much to write home about. I particularly loved the salmon avo + unagi handrolls as well as the crispy salmon bubu--the fish was so smooth and quite fresh. Could probably down at least a few of each...will be back!! read more
Was in the area and came in about 10 minutes before the end of happy hour so we got one round in. The happy hour menu looks updated when compared to previous pictures and they also seem to go by Nono now?? The new HH menu that we were given had a lot more options besides the popular hand rolls. We ordered mostly nigiri and sashimi even though those were pricier but we were so happy with the quality of the fish and flavor pairings of the nigiri. Also, most pieces had a great fish to rice ratio. Favorites from the HH menu were the seared toro nigiri and Hokkaido uni nigiri and we also loved the wagyu nigiri which was recommended by staff and not on HH menu. Will definitely be back! read more
A good selection of food and sake for happy hour -- I came when everything was $5 on the menu at 8pm on a weekday. Get here early! I got here 30 min early to line up and just made the first wave cutoff (felt bad for the people after because it was dark and cold outside and many of the seats were outdoors). My favorite on the menu were the handrolls and the crispy bubus (which were the star of the night imo -- the fish on top or crispy rice with a nice creamy sauce was so good.). Overall, our party of 2 ended up spending $40-50 per person anyways so it wasn't thaaat cheap if you want to get a full dinner out of the happy hour, but it was a fun experience to just order a lot of small plates. read more
2 months ago
Had to come here for their happy hour deals. We were a party of 2 and got seated at the bar immediately. $6 drinks, $3 hand rolls and $6 fancy hand rolls, $3 for tostada and $6 for fancy tostada. We got the ume sparkling wine and asahi draft beer, spicy salmon, spicy salmon skin, spicy tuna, negi toro, truffle wagyu, takoyaki, and chicken thigh skewers. Was very disappointed with the truffle Wagyu, it came out as ground beef. I would get more tostada to get your money's worth since the rice from the hand rolls is more filling. Service was fast, and for a very reasonable price! read more
5 months ago
Solid happy hour place as you can't really beat $3-6 handrolls! Came by on a Thursday night for happy hour (runs from 4:30 to 6pm on weekdays), and was happy to see there wasn't really a wait! They typically seat you when your whole party arrives, but since there wasn't a line, they allowed us to go to our table and wait for our straggler to show. You're allowed to order 2 rounds only for happy hour, but it turned out to be enough for us. We initially just did handrolls, takoyaki, the bubu crispy rice cakes, and sashimi. However, for the second round, we were a bit more adventurous and ordered the tostadas. I thought majority of the handrolls were decent! It wasn't super heavy on the rice and the ratio of filling to rice was good. The seaweed wasn't as crispy as typical omakase/handroll places since they're making the entire order at once (expected, but I do love that first initial crunch when you bite into it! ASMR!). I thought the sashimi wasn't the best, but I mean, for the price, it's acceptable. read more
Had a perfect evening here. Their happy hour is a great deal!!! High quality sushi with wonderful service. Sushi came out quickly after ordering. Everything was fresh and flavorful! Would come back. Can get busy but lots of seating. Mostly inside (maybe 2 tables not indoors). read more
I FINALLY made it to BuBu. I had the day off and wanted to go to a restaurant that I usually have difficulty getting to. Out of the two I had in mind, I decided to go to BuBu for happy hour. Most of the items on their HH menu used to be $5, but it's now $6. Still a good deal for the city. I got the salmon avo hand roll and the spicy negi toro hand roll, which were $6 total. I also got the salmon kama (collar) and chicken gyoza. And I had to get their crispy rice rolls, which I got with spicy salmon. Everything was fresh and delicious! It's no wonder they're popular. The hand rolls were stuffed with fish. I especially enjoyed the silky texture of the toro. The salmon collar was juicy and piping hot. Looks were deceiving as the whole dish started steaming when I cut into it. It was kinda cool to see that. The chicken gyoza was fine. It was juicy with a nice crisp on the wrapper. I enjoyed it with the dipping sauce and its slightly sweet and slightly acidic taste. The crispy rice rolls, or bubus as reflected in the menu, had nice contrasting textures. The rice was crispy as advertised and went well with the silky salmon. I'm not that sensitive to spice, but I was surprised to not get any heat from the dishes that were advertised as spicy. But the were still yummy. Also, I dined alone. I normally don't care as I dine solo often, but the space was small and it was full of couples (and not just because it was Valentine's Day as I've seen it usually full of couples or groups). So I felt a little awkward, especially when I had to pick bones out of my mouth from the salmon collar. I'm sure no one was paying attention to me, other than the waitstaff, so it's just all in my head. But next time I'm bringing a friend. Happy hour is from 4:30pm-6pm Monday through Thursday (closed Tuesday), and 3:30pm-5:30pm Friday through Sunday. And their late happy hour is from 8:30pm-9:30pm. But get there 30 minutes prior to add your name on the wait list. read more
3 months ago
Almost don't want to write a review cuz this place is so fire and underrated. Great happy hour deal, super fresh fish, the only thing I'd offer constructive criticism for is the Wagyu is basically ground beef lol but I like ground beef so I'm not complaining, but some people may be caught off guard. Everything else we ordered was fire. The service is pretty attentive and quick. Excited to have this on the Japantown sushi rotation. read more
Decent value for sushi prices in the city - for a price ref it ended up being ~30pp for a group of 4 and we got a few rolls, handrolls, bubus, plus an app Happy Hour is now $6 for 2 handrolls as of Jan 2026. A bit of a wait so try to get there a little early to put your name down in time Fish quality / flavoring they had was decent too, nothin off. Salmon sashimi was favorite out of all fishes Great to snack or satisfy sushi cravings if you're local / have easy access to this spot read more
Seems like the Bubu hype has died down, but the deals are as good as ever, which makes for an even more amazing experience. We came a bit early before opening because we'd heard there were so many crowds for happy hour, but there was only one group in front of us and even after we got seated, there were plenty of spots for people to sit at. The deals truly can't be beat. $5 for two whole hand rolls ? No one does it better. We got many rolls, but I would definitely recommend the ones with full pieces of fish instead of any of the spicy variations. The full fish is incredibly fresh and tender, and the spicy mixes are very mashed and don't really taste like fish. The signature bubus are also really good, nice and crispy and not too oily. I definitely can't wait to bring more people to the Bubu happy hour. Such a great way to try multiple kinds of sushi on a budget. read more
8 months ago
My husband and I stopped by on a random Monday we both had off and lined up at 3:45 to make happy hour. We were the second couple in line and it started filling up around 4:00 (they open at 4:30). We were seated right away and the servers greeted us with warm towels and a paper menu to select our items. You get two rounds and 60 minutes total which was more than enough time for us. We focused on the hand rolls, and my favorite was the salmon skin hand roll. The salmon kama dish was actually the best thing we ordered IMO - so flavorful, especially the fatty parts. They even brought us a second order for free because they felt the first didn't have enough meat. I thought that was really nice of them especially because we didn't even say anything about it. Overall, everything was pretty good. I'm not sure if I'd come back outside of happy hour but it was still a solid experience. read more
9 months ago
I came to Bubu for happy hour with my partner and we decided to try out their sashimi as well as multiple hand rolls. Luckily we did not have to wait for too long and were seated within about 10 minutes and were able to order instantly. Sadly the table seated next to us was not served as fast and only got their food after being seated for 20 minutes. The sashimi was quite fresh and tasty and my favorite was the salmon sashimi, and the hand rolls were tasty and filling being wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with minced spicy tuna and salmon. I have had fresher hand rolls but these were definitely solid, especially for the $5 happy hour pricing! read more
I've seen a lot of videos about Bubu and their happy hour. My friend and I got an early dinner here and made it in time for happy hour. Surprisingly there wasn't a long wait for a Saturday night but it was a little early for dinner. You write your name down on a piece of paper and just wait for your turn. There is seating inside and outside. It is a small restaurant. You can order off the regular menu during this time if you want. When the happy hour is almost over, they'll ask for last orders. You get 2 rounds of happy hour ordering. My friend and I tried almost all of the handrolls. Her favorite was the salmon avo handroll and mine was the negi toro handroll. The fish quality was pretty good for the price. Not fishy at all. We ordered all of the crispy bubu just to try it and it was pretty much whatever fish on top of crispy rice. We didn't realize how filling it would be. Good to try but we probably wouldn't order it again next time or if we did, maybe just one. Each order comes with 2 pieces. We loved the sashimi. The salmon and hamachi were the favorites. It came with a small side of seaweed salad too so that was a good addition. We got the peach bomb and lychee mojito for $7 off the happy hour menu too. We didn't order any of the hot foods or premium handrolls but maybe next time. Would definitely come back! It was a pleasant experience and the service was good. They gave us a warm towelette before our meal which was lovely. read more
2 months ago
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. Went for the $5 happy hour, which is a fantastic deal. You get 60 minutes and can order up to 2 rounds. We went right at opening on a weekday and had no trouble getting a table. A couple of items we were excited for were crossed off the menu, including the spicy scallop and uni ikura handrolls. Not sure if they are gone for good or just out, but I did notice the uni handroll listed at $8 on their board, so perhaps it's leaving happy hour. Handrolls are listed as 2 for $5, which confused us at first. Turns out you can order singles for $2.50. We tried spicy salmon, spicy tuna, negi toro, and jalapeño hamachi. Each was generous with fish and very filling. 3 handrolls was more than enough for me. The premium baby lobster handroll (1 for $5) wasn't my fave. The lobster was minced and not very sweet. The crispy bubu (2 pieces for $5) was pretty good. This is crispy rice topped with sashimi. Hamachi was solid, but butterfish was super smooth and flavorful. We also tried butterfish and salmon sashimi (3 pieces for $5), both were fresh. Overall, a solid happy hour with friendly service. Street parking is metered but not too hard to find a spot. read more
Looking for one of the best happy hours in SF, Bubu is your place. The happy menu is insane with many items available and the value you get is pretty unbeatable. Only downside is that you are limited to only two rounds you can order but there is no limit of what you can order in each round. Food is incredible especially the Orange Karaage and the Waygu Beef Avocado Tostadas. Perfectly crispy chicken with a citrus kick, and Waygu tostadas will blow your mind with its melt in your mouth goodness. I was blown away by the speedy service, even when crazy packed the staff is firing on all cylinders and you can expect your food at your table almost immediately. It's the perfect spot for a high quality casual meal that won't break the bank. Just get here early because the secret about this happy hour is already out. read more
This review is specifically for their happy hour, which ended up being a great value overall. We started with the hand rolls, which were the highlight of the meal. The uni and ikura roll was the clear winner. The piece of uni was small and the roll leaned heavy on rice, but at the price point it still felt worth it. The other premium rolls - crab and lobster - were fine, but not memorable. If I come back, I'd skip the other premium rolls and just order 5 uni and ikura because that one was the best. Next was the sashimi. The fish was fresh and the pieces were nicely sized, so another winner for good value. They offered walu, salmon, and hamachi, which worked perfectly for us. I'm not a big tuna person anyway, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything. For the cooked items, the fried bubus were just okay and not something I'd order again. The grilled fish was also just so so and a bit confusing since it wasn't a familiar cut like salmon or hamachi. It seems to be whatever fish the chef chooses that day, so YMMV. A quick note on the pricing. Parts of the menu was confusing because some rolls were two for $5 and others were two for $10. We def misread it, but it worked out in the end since we just ordered more of the items we liked and took the extra rolls as they came. If you're trying to be healthy, know that there aren't really any greens on the happy hour menu. They do have shishito peppers, but the batch we got was surprisingly too spicy so I couldn't eat them. The dipping sauce was great though, a dark soy that paired really well. Our total bill for 3 ppl was about $180 which was really good given how much we ordered. There was a line when we arrived but it moved quickly. We ended up sitting outdoors, which was totally fine since the weather was nice read more
This has become our go to place in the city for happy hour. Food is great, happy hour menu has a wide selection. For 5.00 well worth it. Service is good but it gets full quick, so get your name on the wait list asap. We sat outside this time so it was a bit cold but they have heaters. read more
$5 sushi during happy hour? Incredible and unheard of until Bubu! We came on a weekday for happy hour and were so lucky that most other parties (who were on the long waiting list) didn't show up, so we got seated pretty shortly. I would recommend coming early on any day to make sure you arrive before the 6pm cut off for happy hour pricing. We ordered a variety of hand rolls and some crispy bubu. Everything was good, not the best sushi I've ever had, but you can't beat the pricing. I really liked the crispy bubu since it was unique! The sushi rice seemed slightly grilled to get crispy, but still kept its chewiness. So good! Service is ok here. It seemed like they often forgot to come back and check on us, while we were trying to place our orders before the cutoff. read more
We came for their $5 happy hour which is from 4:30-6 pm on weekdays. Their selection is pretty big, they offer 2 handrolls for $5, or 2 pieces of crispy Bubu for $5, or 2 piece of fish and crab roll for $5. There's also 3 pc sashimi for $5, and select appetizers for $5. Service & wait time : We arrived at 4:34 PM and they had a full house with a waitlist on a Monday. We noticed the staff are mainly young people and they had seated 2 people at 4 person table. Their waitlist was pretty long and had over 5 parties waiting by 4:45 PM. The organization was lacking and definitely extended the wait time. We were seated outside by 5:15 PM. The happy hour has a limit of 2 rounds, on the second round we ordered a spicy scallop roll and they had forgotten it and came out with a scallop hand roll and salmon crab roll instead of what we ordered. At that point we were at this restaurant for nearly 2 hours and just wanted to leave. Food: luckily the food is delicious! The rolls are big and plentiful and the fish is fresh and generous. We also ordered lemon highballs which were great for $7. The crispy bubus were amazing, we ordered at least 4 of them. read more
6 months ago
Ordered delivery so can't speak to service nor ambiance. i see how they manage a $5 happy hour this is terrible. fish is limp, one has crazy miware it's basically two pieces, rice is half-cooked. karaage and hamachi collar are mid. unwilling to revisit read more
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Bubu - sushi - Updated September 2026
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