Love the Chicken and Salmon Teriyaki!!! Also, the sushi I have eaten there is all very tasty and fresh. My only wish was that they would be open all day. If you are looking for a nice meal out or take home during a Netflix binge this is one of my favorite go to places. read more

Service has gone downhill at this place. Came here when I got off late class and was thinking this would be a nice dinner before bed. Nope. Walked in and there was a table of two in the middle and a table of 4 at the corner. I asked to sit there and the waiter basically made a bunch of excuses to say No blah blah save for a bigger party. Didnt even apologize or anything. Rude. Next thing you know he gave it to two people....that came in after us. So rude. The table we were seated at is extremely wobbly. I felt Iike i was eatting in an earthquake the whole time... As we read the menu the waitress kept harassing me to be ready. I said to her... I just sat down and I just opened the menu..... But as I was still reading 20 seconds later I get harassed again...I didn't want any of their over heavily sauced rolls so thought I would go with the dinner chirashi. NO DoNt DO IT. Fish tasted so nasty unfresh and gross. I feel like I'm eatting dead fish from the floor after being left there for days. YUCK! Never again will I order sashimi here ew wth so bad. Back to the rocking table things were literally spilling left and right while I tried to eat my nasty fish pieces...this place isn't even cheap. The fish grade and quality is worse than buffet. Way over charged for crap. You lost one customer and her friends and family. Shame shame read more

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It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight Risin' up to the challenge of our rival And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night And he's watchin' us all...at JOY SUSHI! - Survivor (Eye of the Tiger) You want to come here for one thing, everything else is second fiddle to this sushi roll. It is called...The Joy Scallop Roll...aka the best roll in the house (crab meat and avocado topped with baked scallops and special house sauce). I would say forget about the sashimi and order one or two Joy scallop rolls (yea its THAT good)...and try some other rolls on the side (eel is always a good option). Food: 2.5 stars --- Service: 2.5 stars --- Atmosphere: 2.5 stars --- Price: 3 stars read more

Joy Sushi is a poor version of Sushi House in San Mateo. I've been here multiple times with my family, friends, and even had my birthday party here with my family of 14. Their rolls are tasty but expensive. I always bring a restaurant.com gift certificate to use because it's just not worth it if you don't have some sort of discount. The Joy King Roll (aka the Lion King Roll) is a favorite of mine. The service here leaves much to be desired. I usually end up sitting upstairs and the waiters rarely come up to check up on you there unless they're bringing food. Overall, an ok, but expensive, place for sushi rolls. Might I suggest Old Town Sushi across the street? read more

I've heard much about this place, and read many a review. I must say I was a bit misled and disappointed. I understand that rolls here are gigantic but I can't see what the hype is all about. The 49er roll was pretty good, can't really go wrong with shrimp tempura, soft shell crab, crab meat, avocado, and unagi. It has basically what I usually order in a dragon and spider roll. All smothered with "Joy special sauce." Thunder storm was huge, but thats because they fried the sucker. Asparagus, spicy tuna and unagi roll deep fried and served with Joy special sauce and I guess sriracha. It was enjoyable simply because frying it changed textures a bit and left something to think about while eating it. It's simply different. Baked lobster roll was alright. Basically a california roll (literally), topped with "lobster" aka crawfish, and then covered in "Joy special sauce" and baked. Wasn't really what I expected and didn't wow me. And finally the Giant roll, aside from the size, nothing worth mentioning. I don't know if anyone notices, but the rolls, although numerous in number, and almost all the same. They all just vary in terms of whether or not they have soft shell crab, spicy tuna, or unagi. They're all essentially a california roll start, and then something or everything gets tossed in and then covered in Joy Special Sauce, which I really don't see what is so special about teriyaki mixed with unagi sauce. It's good if you like huge portions and excessive sauce, but if you want real sushi, find another place around the 3rd Ave. area. read more

I went here today based on the reviews from Yelp. I agree with everyone that the sushi rolls are huge. I also agree that unless you can unhinge your jaw like one of those unhingy-jaw snakes (maybe all snakes can do that, I never did well in biology), you can't fit it all into your mouth at once. This leaves you with two problems 1) it doesn't taste as good, since you don't get the melding of all of the flavor, which is kind of what a roll is all about 2) it pretty much explodes food all over the place when you bite it in half, meaning you're left with a bunch of scraps to eat bit by bit. I'm hardly one to complain about too much food, for the money, when it is good food, but this was really just okay. We had a rainbow roll, which was good, but see above about unhinging jaws, a philadelphia roll, which had gigantic "chunks" of salmon in it and kind of melty cream cheese which was a little weird, and chicken karragee (no idea how to spell this), which was gigantic chunks of breaded chicken deep fried. The chicken pieces were almost as big as a chicken thigh, and they were served with tonkatsu sauce, which was completely overwhelming. The plus was that the server was very nice and very attentive, and that they give you salad and soup even with a sushi order, but, having said that, the soup was way too salty and the salad dressing was too plain. Basically, if you're really looking for a lot of food, and you're a roll person, this is the place for you. But if you want more quality over quantity, there are a number of places within a few blocks where you'll probably do better. read more

I am not big in Sushi but when I do go with my friends. Joy is the only place I enjoy. It's always consistent and has a good atmosphere. I love to sit upstairs. Tonight I had Avocado roll, edamame gyoza roll, fried spring rolls, edamame gyoza and salad. Yum read more

I came with a party of 4 for dinner. We did not have to wait at all and were lead upstairs to a booth. It was stuffy to the max, I could not breathe up there. Do they not have AC? What made it worse was the waiters did not re-fill our water, nobody came to check on us, and we had to get the attention of a waiter to get our check. Minus one star. The rolls weren't spectacular. Gah! Maybe it was b/c I took the route of dessert before dinner that day and greedy me had to chose the MED size for fro-yo. San Mateo roll was something different with cucumber wrapped around the outer layer of the roll, but I felt some thin bones from the unagi (It's edible, but I hate it when they have bones). Two other rolls, but nothing spectacular. Seaweed salad portion was generous compared to other places. P.S. A mini salad and miso soup came for everyone after we all ordered. read more

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! Joy Sushi is my love for American style bastardization of all rolls.... Of course it's not authentic, but it's tasty! Loads of different combinations for the indecisive American, always with either shrimp tempura, shredded imitation crab meat, or avocado, or better yet, DEEP FRIED. And what's more American than sauce?! Americans love dipping everything in sauce - ketchup, bbq, mayo etc....so all rolls either come with a mayo sauce or a teriyaki kind....super tasty! We got the crispy roll, crunchy, 1st ave, rainbow, and 49ers with a large Sapporo. Unfortunately, the wait staff started to get in the weeds and we never got the 49ers roll...but everything else was fan-freakin tastic. I didn't know folks get free soup/salad...sure it's instant and the cheap salad ingredients, but keyword: FREE. And though we had to wait a while for the beer, it came with a nice sample of edamame. 1st ave roll : we totally dug it. So good, different explosion of flavors in that pink and dark brown sauce...mmmm...... Crispy roll - deep fried roll of tuna and avocado..i actually really liked it b/c it tasted really fresh, even with a cooked fish inside..i loved it. the ends are the best parts.... crunchy - ahhhh crunchy tempura bits rolled with imitation crab meat and something else, covered in sauce, with a slight sriacha kick. Yums! Rainbow roll - it was ok. Very basic CA roll with 4 types of protein on the top, tuna, white fish, salmon, and one flattened shrimp. Supposedly it's supposed to be 7 kinds, but I saw only 4. Surprisingly the place was pretty happening on a weekday evening. So much that our muchly anticipated 49ers roll (shrimp tempura! fried soft shell crab!) was forgotten. but a great staff man - they promptly "comped" us for it....something we didn't get, we got comped...WOW. Anyhow, solid food, solid place, we will definitely be back to try that elusive 49ers roll. read more

I'm really surprised how astray Yelp has lead me on this one. I love sushi. I'd probably die of mercury poisoning if I could afford all that tuna. And I've been doing my very own tour of San Mateo's sushi restaurants so of course, it was only time before I hit up Joy Sushi. Before writing this review, I had to double check this was the same place before starting it. Maybe it was because I had the sushi to go, they felt that the quality of the rolls go also. We ordered edamame, the vegi mix roll, spicy tuna roll, gyoza, tempura roll, spider roll, Lava Flow and Joy King. So we had a mix of all types of horrible. If it were just one rolls, or the gyoza was cold, I'd shrug it off and let it go but each and every item was off in it's very own way. The rolls collectively were sloppily smushed together to start off. Some of the rolls didn't even have an even clumping of rice outside the seaweed wrap. For shame. The quality of fish was kind of sub par and I'm pretty happy we ordered a couple that were deep fried to mask the awful in each bite. Did I mention the Joy King wasn't even real crab? They didn't mention fake crab in the menu description whatsoever. Normally, I would have just skipped a so so meal and opted for something else but today was a special exception that left me stranded with nothing else to eat. Each bite was a brief but lasting look into mediocrity. Oh well, back to the drawing board for me then. read more

Supposedly I read other reviews and this is the sister shop of Alameda's infamous Sushi House, which by all standards is delicious, but a ridiculously long wait and way to far for me to get to from where I currently reside. So being that I was at the Maker Faire, and close by anyway, I figured this would be the perfect time to go there. My partner in crime for the day agreed, and we called up Henry L. and Cindy C. to meet us there. It took no time at all to get seated, but getting tea refills took a little longer, and getting the plates and soy sauce dishes after the delicious looking rolls came out was like man, this place is empty, how are we not getting our stuff? Nevertheless I was still excited to try a new place. We ordered the Tiger Woods roll (I wouldn't recommend it, the only thing good about this was the seaweed), the Island Roll (not bad), Joy Scallop (YUM) and one other roll which I can't remember. Overall it was ok. I think in their rice they add slightly too much vinegar, which makes the roll extremely sour. Still it was decent eats, but Sushi House remains king of the huge sushi roll fad. read more

Pretty average on new years eve, the fish was not very fresh, and tasted like a mushy lump in my mouth. I guess this means nothing can really be consistent. my tongue is totally fried from their tea, which is usually poured medium warm and not molten lava hot, I unfortunately took a big gulp and am waiting for my tastebuds to forgive me and come back. I feel bad for the waitresses because honeyB and I try to eat like we did in Reno at the all you can eat bars, and they look at us like we are the biggest hog-o's ever. our last order took 10-15 minutes for just four pieces of sushi. I will still come back, but that night was a particular suck night read more

Your typical sushi restaurant might have 5-20 'house special' rolls that make you come back for, but Joy Sushi has about 50 of them, and with accompanying photos. I cannot stress enough that restaurants need to place photos on their windows and photos on their menu so people know what their order will look like. I'm pretty sure some study out there will show this leads to better meals and happier customers and more revenue. Joy Sushi does it, and does it right. I chose the calamari salmon roll and a cream cheese Philadelphia like roll that had roe and other deliciousness on top. I loved them both. I'll come back when I'm in the area. For the $9-12 price range, you get a huge portion too. read more

This place deserves 5 stars for their food, but I took one star off b/c of service. The rolls are gi-normous!! I'm not saying that they are packed w/ rice, but it's packed w/ ingredients!! they don't go cheap there. Their sauce is heaven and the rolls are just amazing. I've been wanting to try this place for awhile, and when I finally got here, I was not disappointed at all. The rolls were so great that I did not need to order any nigiri sushi to hit the spot, and I usually do in most japanese restaurants. YUM!! read more

After going to Sushi House in Alameda my wife and I thought we would never find another sushi place that could compare. We were wrong. After trying out several Japanese places we bumped into Joy Sushi in San Mateo. Before I go on I have to mention that I eat at these places strictly for the sushi rolls, not the bento boxes or anything else. At Joy Sushi the rolls were not only diverse, made with fresh ingredients and appetizing to look at, but they were delicious. My personal favorites are the "1st Avenue" and the "Drunken Dragon". The "Crunchy" roll is a great choice for the smaller rolls, but I'm sure you will find your favorite after some time. A lot of the special rolls are HUGE in size, except for the $5/6 ones, which are smaller but just as tasty. With your order you will get the usual salad with miso dressing, miso soup, and hot tea. The prices are extremely affordable, and with the quality of the food I believe it to be a bargain. It's hard to argue with ingredients delivered fresh from the Half Moon Bay area. A meal for two can be had for under $25. The wait staff are attentive and friendly, and at one point they served complimentary green tea ice cream just because we waited a little longer when they were busy with lots of customers. What's also great is that Joy Sushi is not well-known, so you can pretty much go in and find a seat whenever you want. Just make sure you check on the business hours. As for the atmosphere, the place is clean and well lit, with different music styles playing unintrusively, and friendly, enthusiastic staff that greet you and smile. Recently (Jan' 08), with the hire of new staff, things can get a little hairy/disorganized with large customer crowds, but they always maintain a friendly approach. The setting is more casual/semi-formal, however, rather than lavish or elaborate. With the driving distance to Sushi House, and they're declining quality of service, I make Joy Sushi my favorite Japanese place. read more

On my endless search to find a phenomenal sushi place, I happened to walk into Joy Sushi. The scene here is simple and spacious. Its not by any means tacky, the restaurant is a great area for big groups or a quick lunch as they have counter space as well. As I looked up, I also noticed there was a huge television screen playing Asian videos, which is entertaining, I guess if I understood what the videos meant. The restaurant had plenty of staff and all of which were approachable and friendly. The food we ordered were very delicious. The fish tasted fresh and not too salty. The tempura batter was not too oily either. They also had complimentary miso soup and tea. My experience at Joy Sushi was overall a good one from the food to the service. For the prices at Joy Sushi, I feel it was reasonable, however, I still believe there are other Sushi restaurants with just as good if not better tasting food with comparable prices. But this will not deter me from coming back to Joy Sushi, as I still left a satisfied customer! =) read more

Overall: 2.5 (rounded up). Unfortunately I was underwhelmed by Joy Sushi. Is it crazy to say the rolls are too big? They were much too big to eat in one bite, but too messy to eat in 2.. Also - the flavors just didn't seem to jive together. Price was good, service was good, space was clean, roll selection was immense... it just didn't live up to yelp review expectations. Rounding up to 3 stars because it's still better than Kisaku, Hotaru and Ni-Mo (all in San Mateo, and each about 2 stars). read more

This was the second time to Joy Sushi with my daddy, we usually go to California Roll on 4th or Narita in Belmont. We walked in and everyone greeted us and our waitress was really nice. I was starving so i ate the salad and miso soup as fast as possible. I ordered the 1st ave and shrimp tempura roll. Let me just say, i have NEVER tasted such an amazing shrimp tempura roll. it was excellent. i loved the sauce too. and the 1st ave was realllly good too. that was one of the first times i've eaten raw fish like that [i'm usually a cucumber roll/california roll type of girl]. so it was quite a change, a good change in fact. It took a little time before i could finally stuff a whole piece into my mouth without choking so i could taste all the good flavors at once. And it was excellent for the price, but i'm speaking for my dad since i wasn't the one who paid [:. I thought it was quite enough food for my little stomach to take, if only the two rolls were warm, it would have been better. but i won't complain anymore. I'm never going back to california roll. ever. read more

I can't believe after all the times I've been to this place, I haven't written a review yet! This is hands down from here to L.A. the best Sushi I've ever had. Joy Sushi serves huge rolls and they give a generous portion of sushi in each roll. The flavor combination here are really good. My favorite roll is the Lava roll. It's a fried roll topped with fresh salmon. It takes me about 25 minutes to get to Joy Sushi, but it's definitely worth the drive. Trust me on this one guys, you won't be disappointed. Best sushi/ sashimi/ rolls around. read more

Dropped by for lunch today. Had Bento box..... One was katsu chicken/salmon The other one was tonkatsu/calif. roll Miso soup.... Tea....... Great service Great Food.......... read more

I hate to admit it, but Yelpers are always right. At least about this place. Food:eh. Portions: YEAH! Price: YEAH! And you'll still find me eating here, because I work right across the street, and sometimes you just *need* a giant spicy tuna roll topped with seaweed salad. read more

At least the service was great? Maki: We had the Joy Scallop and Ichiban rolls. Joy Scallop could have been good, but it was DROWNED in sauce. Ichiban was a weird mixture of flavors: avocado, eel, yellowtail (sounded good on paper, but not executed well. If you're into size, the rolls are huge. Nigiri: hamachi, ika, sake, maguro, suzuki -- fish was mediocre, my favorite was the salmon, everything else was just OK. Pieces were medium-sized. Sushi was nothing to write home about. I really felt it was 2 stars, but the 3rd star is for the great service. Joy Sushi is a good casual eatery if you're not looking for stellar fish. Prices are also reasonable. read more

There's a reason why this place gets so many good reviews (not to mention they even know it since they have a sign outside that says "Yelp loves us!") This place is great! The rolls are so good and it's totally affordable. I particularly LOVE the Samurai Roll (okay, this was the only thing I ended up trying). You know a place is good if you're still thinking about your dinner there a day later. They have great rolls that will fill you up and induce food coma. And the affordable prices allows you to order up to 2-3 (for a very huge food coma) If I'm ever in the area, I'd come here again with out question. read more

Huge Sushi, Awesome prices but you get what you pay for. If you really care about what you eat, then you'll probably agree that the sushi is just ok. they cover up alot of the unfresh fish with sauces and cremes, about 1/2 of the sushi on the menu had either fried ingredients or "secret sauce" which looked alot to be like a dulled down thousand island. And the dinner plates were average at best. But the price is definately the best i've seen for sushi. I think safeway might charge more....... read more

There's REAL authentic omakase super simple japanese sushi - and then there's saucy spicy a million different rolls korean owned sushi. Joy sushi is the latter, and when i feel like special sauces and being able to point to a picture to order my food joy is the spot. The rolls are big and joy spicy sauce is awesome! They use alot of fish and fresh ingredients and their tempura was also crunchy and light. One downfall was their toro - it wasn't good at all unfortunately. go there for their rolls! read more

I hate it when these innovative sushi places use TOO MUCH RICE in their rolls. It's a waste of stomach space... let the "stuff inside" speak for itself. Aside from that... the rolls were good. To avoid the possibility of me being rolled out of the place, I ended up taking off a majority of the rice on each piece I ate. Ask for "less rice". That works a little, but still, they use too much rice. read more

I'd give it zero stars if I could. I have friends who swear by it though, so go figure. People seem to love or hate it. I went in for a quick to-go meal (which I ate in the car right away, so no chance it went bad on my time). After tasting the Tekka-maki I threw it out & vowed never to go back. My beef: #1 The rice tastes AWFUL (too much rice vinegar). It was sour, not slightly sweet, which ruins just about everything that comes with rice. #2 The tuna was cut in thick hunks. A good sushi chef knows how to work with the grain of the fish & cut it such that it enhances the experience of it melting in your mouth. No such love here - it was like cubed stew beef. #3 Sure the rolls were huge, but they were falling apart & besides, they weren't even filling because I tossed them. #4 Can you say expensive? I paid more here than at Sushi Sam's (great rice there, by the way). Granted, portions at Joy were bigger, but that only does you any good if you can choke it down. read more

When you first walk in you are instantly greeted by the sushi chefs behind the counter. This place has high ceilings and plenty of space or so it appear that way. It looks like an old building that they remodeled and I think they did a pretty good job. I thought the portions here are fairly sized. I ordered a 2 item bento ($13.95) with beef teriyaki and saba shioyaki and it also came with tempura, miso soup, salad and rice. The beef teriyaki here is actually rib eye steak which is cooked medium and is sliced at an angle then spread out on a bed of cabbage to make it appear like its more meat. But I must note that even though they made a spread of the meat I was still stuffed and I even had food to take home. The tempura was crispy and the piece of mackerel I had was pretty big and it wasn't too dry or too oily. The menu is pretty extensive as they have a large variety of sashimi dinners and/or combinations. To tell you the truth the menu is a little overwhelming. They have a pretty extensive sushi menu so I was having a hard time deciding what I should order. My friend and I decided to share the thunder storm roll but I thought the roll was just so/so. This is one of those deep fried rolls but I'm not sure what it was that was in the batter that was really hard and chewy. I'm thinking some pieces of rice got mixed in with the batter on the outside and when they fry it the small pieces of rice gets over fried and in turn becomes really hard. It not that great of a feeling getting those hard fried pieces of rice stuck in the grooves of your teeth. It appears the rolls here are pretty big and are fairly average priced for sushi $5-$11 per roll. Overall the service was great, the atmosphere was inviting and I left the restaurant stuffed. read more

IRASHAIAMSE! Joy Sushi, so appropriately named, in San Mateo over the years has become my go to spot for delicious and scrumptious Japanese cuisine. You may ask, "But Messiah, what separates this amazing food depository, from the many others?" Well my fellow Yelper, Joy Sushi has a combination, or rather a bento box, of attributes that no other establishment can offer. I have never been to Japan, but I'd like to imagine that this is what some Japanese sushi house would look like. You are JOYfully greeted by the chefs, you are JOYously escorted to your seat which can be upstairs or downstairs, and you get to enJOY some soup and salad before you choose what to eat. On top of the decor and service being great, the food is remarkable and amazing. The sushi rolls are huge! They seem to suffer from elephantiasis and resemble large burritos. The dragon roll is a must; it is like ordering hash browns at Denny's, YOU HAVE TOO! Surprisingly, the bento box here isn't that good. Don't get me wrong size is great, it also seems to suffer from elephantiasis, the taste however leaves much to desire. This point should be moot anyways because their sushi is the way to go. One of the few things downsides of Joy Sushi is parking. It is bad; you usually end up parking in some residential area a few blocks down. Also this isn't the most wallet friendly establishment. Certain items can be pricey, but the quality makes up for it so I can't be too mad. There are numerous Japanese restaurants in the San Mateo area, from Masu to Mutsu, all of which offer a little Japan in each visit. Where Joy Sushi stands apart from the competition is the combination of great portions and remarkable taste. Eating Japanese food here in San Francisco is like having 50 girls line up in front of you and you get to pick one. There will be some ugly girls, but for the most part they are all good looking. Joy Sushi is just the girl with the biggest breasts. read more

Was very curious about this place after I saw so many reviews and a 4/5 star average rating! Went on a Sunday evening; made reservations just in case thinking I probably didn't need to, but it was pretty packed! While we were deciding on what to order, we got some miso soup and salad (yay for free things!) ... ended up ordering some of their special rolls and the nigiri platter. My favorite was the Monster Roll (spicy tuna roll deep fried, with a yummy sauce on top and spicy crab). The rolls were very filling, the four of us had 3 rolls and the nigiri and were plenty full. Good selection of Japanese beer and sake (cheap Asahi.. $3.25 a glass). Service was prompt and friendly. Will definitely hit up this place again. read more

Haven't been to this place in a really long time only cause we found sushi joints close to our home for a lot cheaper. How I miss you though, Joy?!?! I must come back one of these days. I remember coming here years ago all the time when my hubby and I were still in the dating phase. Sushi rolls here are a nice size, so they definitely don't skimp on the rolls, fa sho!. I love, love their Island and Dragon Roll. The Island Roll is perfect with pieces of thinly sliced lemon on top of the salmon, just perfect! Even tried the Mango Roll once and it was legit, nothing special though! The Lion King Roll isn't bad either, if you want something simple! I've also tried their Beef Udon here, which I enjoyed! We also like ordering the shrimp and broccoli tempura to start. I would like to come here more often if it didn't break my pockets so much. Service can be a bit slow at times, which of course can be annoying. I know the owner has changed also since when we came orignally back years ago. Still great food! Great for group events in their upstairs area. read more

Cooked Food Only Miso soup and miso salad is complimentary. Baked Lobster Roll Baked Scallop Roll Hurt Attack - Deep fried, spicy tuna, stuffed Jalepeno appetizer Ordered the salmon sashimi and the fish didn't taste as fresh,. will only recommend the cooked dishes and not the raw! Service is slow, but price is decent, they also take reservations,.. I will be back! read more

Came here on a weekday for lunch. Wasn't too crowded as my friend and I got seated right away. Service was quick and attentive. This place has so many rolls to choose from. And what's also a plus in my books is the menu contains pictures! I opted for the lambada roll. But there were always a couple other good rolls I was debating on too that I'll definitely have to try next time. Order of Rolls came with a miso soup and salad. They brought the food out fairly quickly. Rolls were real good, had chopped up salmon and tuna, and it almost reminded me of an ahi poke. And I loveeeee poke! Only complaint was the table and chairs felt a bit sticky.. Other than that, I wouldn't mind coming back to try the other rolls here! read more

Joy Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Mateo, California

best sushi ever PERIOD. baked oysters? DELISH joy special sauce = heaven x 70 it can get packed on certain nights screw fondue head over to joys sushi :] they even have valet parking LOL read more

I am all about quantity and quality, but if you're looking for quality rolls/sushi here, you wil not find it. Yes, the rolls are huge and at a great price, but each roll is saturated by either huge chunks of avocado, or some type of "special sauce". If you want something cheap and some generic japanese food, this is the place. Don't let the prices and the ginormous rolls fool you. Ordered-Mango Paradise-Taste like mango with rice, with a morsel of hamachi stuck inside. 2nd Avenue-not bad--you can't really go wrong with shrimp tempura. Lava Flow-get lost in deep fried batter and some spicy mayo. Not worth the calories to me. Soba-dry and overcooked. Surprsingly small portion in comparison to their rolls. read more

Joy Sushi is the first Sushi place I came to when I moved to San Mateo and at first I thought this place was so good. We used to come here every other week for Lunch on Fridays. They have a massive selection of special rolls which are tasty. Since then I have come to realize that they cater to the typical person that will love the deep fried sauce engulfed goodness of most Americanized dishes. I used to always go through choosing different special rolls and I was no different than anyone else. now i stay away from these attractive looking rolls on their picture menu of glory. When i make my way to Joy the last few times we have set sail on the sushi boat or the cruise ship of sushi filled with several variations of sashimi accompanied with the usual miso and rice. this is a fine choice if you want a nice veriety of Sashimi although you can also choose to go with Nigeri or a mix of the two. I personally stick with mainly sashimi now and Joy has a decent cuts of sashimi. I have had better by far but this is no where near bad or not fresh. The staff here is polite and i have never had to wait for a seat anytime I have been to Joy, this is always a plus for me as I hate waiting around to eat. We almost always sit up stairs due to usually coming in groups of 4 or more. The service is decent upstairs but there have been times where they have "forgotten" about our table and missed bringing our drinks or pre-meal items(miso, salad etc). That does not happen often so i can let it go from time to time as long as the main dish meats my standards. Overall I am always down to go to Joy but I am more open to trying some new places as i am rally limited to only wanting to order Sashimi when I come here now and usually do not go with ordering drinks or coming here for my Saki tasking as the prices are somewhat pricey for the true cost of Saki. I know they usually double the price from the store which is expected for going out but when a bottle of Saki is 4x - 5x more than what I paid for it the week prior makes hold off from ordering. And on my last note the bathrooms here are kept clean and I have never had to wait for the bathroom which should say something good for the food here since no one is lining up to escape its true flavor. read more

This is where I go, any time I have a craving for sushi. I'm "old school" and this place does old-school sushi as good as you'll ever find, anywhere. I don't know about the custom rolls because that's not what I'm interested in. Brought my (Issei) father to this place and he kept wanting to come back. The best, best, best -- bar-none -- old-school sushi you will ever find on the peninsula (or in SJ or SF, for that matter -- for the absurdly reasonable price, at least). I'm not interested in new-school rolls, so I wouldn't know and please do not ask. read more

Restaurant seems clean, customer service never fails at excellent, right when you walk in you're greeted. Parking is eh to me. Now with the real review, I've ate here 3 times. And I'm not gonna lie their sushi is DELICIOUS! BUT within those 3 times I ate here, I've had food poisoning. The reason I kept coming back was just to prove my mind that I was wrong and it had to be something else that caused my stomach to go in pain. The first time I ate their, I had the Phili roll, which is beyond my favorite! But later that night I was constantly vomiting to where I had to be sent to ER. Doctors asked me what I ate, and I said sushi. Clearly it makes sense, raw fish is the first thing my doctor pointed out. Let's be real, not all places are 100% clean. So I said to myself maybe I shouldn't eat their anymore. However the 2nd time I thought to myself I'll try a different type of sushi so I tried the monster roll with my boyfriend and the baked lobster roll. By the time I got home that night, my stomach began to act up AGAIN! And i again had food poisoning. So that pushed it and I told myself I will never eat sushi ever again nor at this spot. So lately I've been just eating mixed tempura or don buris at different restaurants but not at this spot. Now this is yesterday, I had their mixed tempura which is prawns and vegetables. Remember, I eat tempura and don buris at different restaraunts, and never once had my stomach reacted the way mine did last night. I felt stomach pains constantly and my stomach clearly digested. Thank god I didn't throw up. But that's to show you something. They said you can eat sushi at spots like this, but it all depends if it's clean. And I clearly don't agree this place is the spot at all But I do give 3 stars for excellent customer service because now and days restaraunts don't bother for it, but because this place never fails at it they receive 3 stars. But will I come back? Nope. read more

The worst customer service ever... I have a pick up order and have been waiting for almost 20mins of waiting before starting this post. I am only waitinf on e items. The woman who's working has only talk to me once. 4 other people have already come in and left. Spend your money elsewhere. read more

Why? Why Joy? I love sushi and i know good sushi when i taste it...and this wasn't it. The traditional way of eating sushi is with your hands and in one bite, kinda crazy i know but its the way...ok now back to this review. I ordered the tempura roll, dragon roll and spider roll. The rice is so sticky if i had held it with my fingers the roll would stuck to my hand. The seaweed they used was stale and some of the rolls were to large or not made the right way, so if I had to take two bites the whole roll would fall apart, fail. This place sucks I ate there twice and both times I was disappointed, two stars only because of the price. read more