Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Kintetsu Mall

    4.2 (57 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Kintetsu Mall Photos

    You might also consider

    Recommended Reviews - Kintetsu Mall

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Kintetsu Mall in San Francisco's Japan Town
    Stephen D.

    Kintetsu Mall is the highlight of San Francisco's Japantown. They have really good restaurants in there, purikura (those picture things) for those who like that, creperies, toy stores, a huge bookstore, karaoke bars, and many more. There are a lot of places where visitors can take great pictures and view fine art as well.

    Trying out the Japanese photo booths
    Angie C.

    Japantown or "JTown" as we like to call it affectionately, is home to tons of little restaurants and noodle shops to try. Kintetsu Mall is just a part of this amazing enclave of all things great and Japanese. You can find restaurants like Benihana, Isobune, Mifume and we discovered this room of Japanese photo booths to try our best Asian pop star impressions. Anytime we crave a bowl of noodles after a long day's work, my sister and I drive over to the Kintetsu Mall and find parking easily underground ($1.75 an hour I think, and street parking is doable if you spend a little time looking for it). We like trying the different noodle shops and then wandering thru the cute stores selling kawaii afterward. Granted, the place isn't as shiny as a Westfield Mall, but if you're looking for a friendly ethnic enclave and their good food, you got it. Oh, and the area's many karaoke bars leak the happy sounds into the night and entertain the young masses. How can you not love that?

    Breast cancer awareness
    Lynn C.

    This mall is pretty clean until you get to the bathrooms. Homeless people use it to clean themselves, there is also no ventilation. It's nice that they clean it twice a day but the really need to add ventilation....ventilation in the entire mall. This is an okay Japan center. A lot of things are over priced, the food is definitely not that great. There isn't really a good boba place either. Honestly, Chinatown is much better.

    Restahrant
    Andrew L.

    Awesome mall with a lot of Japanese restaurants and stores. I really enjoy coming to this mall

    Made me feel like I was in Japan even though I haven't been there!
    Mavenice B.

    One of my favorite part in San Francisco is Japantown and their mall. They have awesome products with great price and food food food! I would totally live around the area!

    Sunset in Japantown
    Adrian S.

    Lots of great places to eat. A great place to walk around. There are so many stores with so many tiny things you'll probably never use.

    Jennifer Y.

    I love this place! Incredibly cute and well maintained. Every single store is full of toys :D Daiso, Ichiban Kan, a bookstore, a video store, 2 separate crepe stores, a bunch of restaurants, a purikura place, you know, just all the basics. Just be prepared for a wait if you want to eat anything, but especially crepes.

    See all

    18 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Large selection of store in the Mall, as well as many different types of fast food so you can eat well after shopping.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Mike C.
    257
    96
    23

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 4
    Oh no 0

    16 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Rebecca S.
    329
    468
    61

    17 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dave H.
    65
    51
    18

    12 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jonathon S.
    126
    123
    31

    17 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    18 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jenna M.
    24
    241
    0

    19 years ago

    Love this place! Love love love. All I could ever want in a mall in Japantown.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    18 years ago

    Everything you want in a mall except a theater. Great food to eat. A big book store. A nice anime and dvd store. A sword shop.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Daniel P.
    19
    106
    59

    17 years ago

    I'm going to put this very simply. My favorite place to go....period. Honestly, I wish I had more reasons to go more often.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Tom I.
    161
    1366
    2230

    15 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Great area with so many great shop and restaurant options! Great mall, you should be able to find what you need here.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    I love it here! I love how calm it is and how there are so many cute, and unique stores. A great place to shop for gifts!

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    If you are in search of Cute Things, this is the spot! Be sure to visit the $1.50 store first...it's called Daiso.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 2 of 2

    Ask the Community - Kintetsu Mall

    Review Highlights - Kintetsu Mall

    On the second floor across from the little crepe place is the most playful shop ever - I think called Pinka Pinka.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Shopping Centers 17,126 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    San Francisco Centre - Psychedelic escalators

    San Francisco Centre

    3.7(1.1k reviews)
    1.2 miUnion Square, SoMa
    $$

    Oh man! So I use to perform the Fire Alarm Inspection at the Nordstrom for about 7 years straight…read moretill they closed. Went back to do a job walk foe the entire center and boy was i shocked! I cannot believe how empty this place got. Super sad really. I remember the mall to be packed! One of the most iconic and beautiful Nordstroms. Bloomingdales. The most amazing dome. The upside down Christmas tree under the dome. Man, they use to go all out! And now it's all gone. A literal ghost town inside with scary homeless people running around. Well, at least, Panda is still open and we didn't have to wait in line at all, so that's a plus. I sincerely hope they can salvage this mall and that it would eventually come back to life! I really do hope so!!

    Everything went downhill drastically after the iconic four-story Nordstrom and two-story…read moreBloomingdale's were gone. Even 90% of the food court is gone. The remaining eateries are Panda Express and Shake Shack. The movie theater is gone. Walgreens is gone. One entrance to BART/MUNI remained locked. It's so sad to see what happened post-pandemic. The memories of walking around the spiral escalators to Nordstrom, having frozen yogurt while waiting for my grandmother to arrive, sitting next to a Mexican family while eating food court sushi, and shopping for cute clothes at American Eagle Outfitters as a teen. Long live the past of shopping in the 2010s. The entrances on Market Street still smell like urine, though. The majority of SF residents blame the city officials for letting criminals and homelessness go free, which made most retail stores shut down due to robberies. Less than 28 stores remained in business. The best part is that the public restrooms are still open, and there's access to BART/MUNI near the GNC Store. The best shopping mall in SF is Stonestown Galleria, next to San Francisco State University, where you can take the MUNI train M.

    Photos
    San Francisco Centre - (c) SFGate

    (c) SFGate

    San Francisco Centre - (c) SFGate

    (c) SFGate

    San Francisco Centre - (c) SFGate

    See all

    (c) SFGate

    Union Square - Union Square

    Union Square

    4.2(87 reviews)
    1.2 miUnion Square
    $

    I've been coming to Union square for years, and it never seems to get old. Right in the middle of…read moredowntown surrounded by big stores and busy streets, Union square just feels like a peaceful little spot where you can put a pause on the chaos of the city. The lawn is always green and beautiful, perfect for letting my fur baby run around and play (potty too) and you will always see people enjoying the space, stretched out reading or talking with friends or just soaking up the peaceful space. One of my favorite things about Union square is the art. The giant hearts are iconic in San Francisco and they're always being repainted and reimagined by different artists. So no matter how many times you come here, you will always see something new. I've seen so many versions over the years but I still stop to look at them every time I'm here because there is always something new to. The hearts the statues, the occasional pop-up installations or performances, the square always feels peaceful but alive. There is also always something going on. On my last visit here there were ping pong tables set up everywhere with people playing. I saw juggling classes being offered and arts programs for kids with people gathered around having a good time. There was a reading area and books brought in on carts. They even still had up there holiday backdrop that looks like it was put there just for people to use for the perfect insta shot. There are plenty of tables and benches scattered around so it's easy to grab a seat and stay a while. Even if you're just passing through and you need to rest your dogs for a few minutes, this is the perfect spot. I spent more than a few afternoons here people watching or enjoying a snack from the little stand nearby. It's really a great place to spend some time and a must do if you are in San Francisco. On the weekends you will find people trying to usher you onto bus tours or maybe sell you souvenirs, but you might also witness an event or see straight performers so you never really know what you're going to get. This is a place for visitors and locals with nice surroundings where you can really get a feel for and just to take in the city.

    This is one of my favorite parts of San Francisco; the shopping is high-end. There is so much here…read moreto do and lots of restaurants to choose from. We always stay at St. Francis, a beautiful, perfect location. In winter, they have an ice skating rink and the big Christmas tree, a great holiday spot to get your Christmas celebrations started. As I said, the shopping is fierce! Cheers, my friends SYOY 04/01/26

    Photos
    Union Square - Union Square {4/29/2025}

    Union Square {4/29/2025}

    Union Square - The 2024 Macy's Christmas tree is going up! 11/3/24

    The 2024 Macy's Christmas tree is going up! 11/3/24

    Union Square - San Francisco Union Square

    See all

    San Francisco Union Square

    Stonestown Galleria - Shake Shack

    Stonestown Galleria

    3.3(627 reviews)
    4.7 miStonestown
    $$

    I went to Lowell HS, so I used to walk past Stonestown daily, when it was an outdoor mall with only…read moreMacys taking up a huge indoor space. Today, Stonestown is the hotspot of students as well as families in a city where there are no other malls. With a cinema, food court, bowling, arcade, a escape rooms, along with supermarkets and major stores as well as lots of restaurants, no wonder it's a major shopping attraction. Plus, there's plenty of parking, a rarity in San Francisco!

    The parking and getting there is a bit bizarre since there's an underpass bridge that the mall…read moreitself goes over I think? It reminds me of a smaller Del Amo Fashion Mall if anything. Parking and driving around looked quite busy in the front where you can see that tiny Trader Joe's that's overshadowed by the giga Whole Foods and what I think are protestors against Uniqlo, I think. Never seen protestors for that brand in particular, but it is what it is. There's LOTS of college students (near SFSU apparently) and Zoomers since it was, I suppose it's after school on a Tuesday. Parking the back was no issue. Also a decent selection of shops that I would go to normally, like Daiso or Miniso, as well as a Round 1. Neat that they have a Quickly's that looks like it's untouched by time (portraits of cute Ulzzang style workers enjoying the drinks and food there), there's charging tables, and a good amount of eateries and options to get boba and snacks. Completely incomprehensible unless you're specifically from the 626, but this mall reminds me of a mix between the Santa Anita mall and the West Covina mall (during it's prime). Pretty bustling and lots of businesses that actually interest me. I think my only qualm is that everything is at a smaller scale and smaller store, like their Pop Mart and Miniso are markedly smaller with a smaller stock, so keep that in mind.

    Photos
    Stonestown Galleria - That was Shake Shack out front of the Stonestown

    That was Shake Shack out front of the Stonestown

    Stonestown Galleria
    Stonestown Galleria - Stonestown Galleria

    See all

    Stonestown Galleria

    Japan Center - Cherryblossom Season

    Japan Center

    4.2(180 reviews)
    0.1 miJapantown, Lower Pacific Heights
    $$

    Yep... another reason to LOVE SF. Culture, community, and somehow... magically clean?! Like I don't…read moreknow what spell they cast over Japantown but the usual city "aroma" is nowhere to be found lol. Just good vibes, music, anime, cosplay sightings, and me absolutely losing it over a Japanese vintage shop like it was a life event. Gifts everywhere, manga on manga on manga... I blinked and suddenly I needed everything. You can literally watch fresh udon being made, bounce between ramen spots, sip tea like you have your life together, and yes... plenty of veggie and vegan friendly options so we're all thriving. And the history? Not just cute... it's legit. This is the OLDEST Japantown in the U.S. and one of only three left, built after the 1906 earthquake when Japanese communities relocated here and made it their cultural home (Japantown Cultural District⁠). It was once a booming hub with hundreds of businesses before WWII internment basically wiped it out, and the community had to rebuild from scratch after . So yeah... what you're walking through now is resilience with really good snacks. Hit the mall, the Peace Pagoda, the paper stores (origami, stationery, art... obsessed), and all the Ghibli love. Cute AND historic... we love a neighborhood with depth.

    Just learned that Japan Center is isn't going to house KOHO anymore. JC needed an organization like…read morethat to give it heart & soul. The whole place felt different with KOHO there, better. When I first moved to the SF area over 20 years ago, I felt that JC had a lot of potential. It had some good shops & restaurants, but needed to be reinvigorated. It's improved to a certain degree over the years, in certain ways, but has also lost some good anchor stores that gave it a more authentic Japanese feeling, like Genji Antiques, the Kotobuki ceramics shop, and Sain Saine traditional anma massage. There are so many shops, ideas, and products that could have been brought over from Japan over the years; it made me wonder if any of the JC decision makers have ever been back to the mother country! KOHO gave JC a cultural base, with creative people, which, over time, could have positively influenced the development of the entire mall. I'll be attending KOHO's Obon event in Golden Gate Park next weekend. Having a large space to organize from in the heart of Japantown has made important events like that possible. Before KOHO moved in, there was just another dollar store there. Then it was empty for a long time. I imagine it will be empty for a while after KOHO moves out, so the rent money JC is seeking won't be coming right away. And who will move in? Another uninspiring shop w/ a weak connection to Japan and its culture? Or another Korean cosmetics store? (I'm not against Korean cosmetics, but there are so many interesting Japanese products and brands that could be promoted via JC.) Anyway, money wins out over heart & soul yet again. It's sad.

    Photos
    Japan Center - Yama-chan

    Yama-chan

    Japan Center - Peace Plaza

    Peace Plaza

    Japan Center - Anime, CD and Manga

    See all

    Anime, CD and Manga

    Metreon - Well marked & clean

    Metreon

    3.4(213 reviews)
    1.4 miSoMa, Financial District
    $$

    This is a review for the IMAX theater at the Metreon. We…read morehave been coming to the Metreon since it was built eons ago, but i have to say i appreciate its awesomeness more now when we went to see the Odyssey. This movie used 77mm film and it was totally awesome on this huge imax screen!! Of course the theater was at full capacity for this movie. The ripples of water in the oceans when they were calm, or during the storm were just so vivid!!! The sceneries, the rocks, etc... everything just popped out in front of you. I read somewhere there are only about 40 IMAX theaters capable of showing the 70 mm films, and one is in San Francisco. Totally appreciate it.

    Bait-and-switch pricing. Misleading AMC advertising offers…read more "50% off Tickets on Tuesdays & Wednesdays" with free AMC Stubs. They even mis-state "The 50% off tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays benefit is available anywhere AMC tickets are sold." The AMC Metreon theater doesn't participate. Fine print says "Valid at participating AMC Theatres locations only." Prices are deeply hidden, so much so AI can't find them or misquotes 'em. Similarly, "AMC Stubs A-List Classic" is not valid at this theatre. So the cheapest monthly plan isn't $14.99 as advertised, or $19.99 as advertised, or really even $29.99! It's a minimum of $90, for 3 months, auto-renewing. Also, the AMC cards at Costco are also a bait-and-switch rip-off.

    Photos
    Metreon
    Metreon - A favorite!

    A favorite!

    Metreon - Fancy

    See all

    Fancy

    Embarcadero Center - Embarcadero

    Embarcadero Center

    3.6(98 reviews)
    1.9 miFinancial District
    $$

    Came for a few hours for a meeting. Flew in from out of town. Very minimal instructions were given…read moreto me to get here. Luckily it's all pretty straight forward when you arrive. If you're walking. That's easy. Just pop it into your GPS. If you're taking a cab then I would suggest putting as your destination "Devil Teeth Baking" as getting dropped off at other locations around the area is pretty chaotic (I mean it's already pretty chaotic as it is since you're in the financial district of San Fran). There are many businesses in here. But I came for a business meeting. So if youre going for something like that, you'll want to enter the cement building (no doors just opened entry) and go up one flight of stairs / escalators and head to the lobby. From there, you let them know that you have a meeting and on what floor and give them your name. They'll check in the database for it and then let you into the elevators. You hit the button and off you go. Some of my colleagues found parking around the area but they live here so much more familiar. They suggested to me to not have a car. The meeting space I was in was on the 12th floor and it was a few large meeting spots and some smaller offices that are rented out to different businesses. There's a wellness room and a business center with stationeries. I'm assuming every floor is different. Mine had some color to it. Plants, paintings, art etc. It felt a bit homier than what a generic office would look like. The people were chill too. Good spot. Decent value. Would host a meeting here again!

    Based upon these criteria, I give this event 5 stars based upon :…read more- the ability to meetup & network , - service (mobile bar &Happy Hour) , - site/location (Embarcadero Center) , - value Embarcadero Center Presents Summer Happy Hour Wednesday, July 31 | 4-6pm Urban Patio, Three Embarcadero Center 1) https://embarcaderocenter.com/bar-car-at-embarcadero-center/ 2) https://dothebay.com/events/2024/7/31/summer-happy-hour-at-embarcadero-center-tickets-7-31?fbclid=IwY2xjawEXbtBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQgCExw7wiM5iKRdS0l0itlSr2cAOUW1NDf1kh8GpXP6fZO-iJtpKmDRcA_aem_Rzn27kTXStVBBRFJUEJoLQ

    Photos
    Embarcadero Center - Embarcadero

    Embarcadero

    Embarcadero Center
    Embarcadero Center - Where's the elevator

    See all

    Where's the elevator

    Kintetsu Mall - shoppingcenters - Updated September 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...