I've been here 3 times. First Visit: Lunch break, sat at the bar, ordered a deep fried CA Roll, which was not on the menu, and they were nice enough to attempt to make it, but it just tasted like tempura.. ehh. Second Visit: Lunch with a friend, nothing outstanding about the rolls and bento box we ordered. Third Visit: Lunch break again, sat at a table this time, ordered a bento box with CA Roll, Chicken Katsu, and Tempura. It was alright, until a little fly wouldn't leave my rice alone, and made me lose my appetite. I just shooed it away and left the rice there. Again, nothing special about it, so another "ehh". The staff is very attentive and nice, but honestly, the food I've tried so far is not so great. It's pretty plain, and the past 3 visits kinda left me with no inspiration to go back. Maybe I'll give it another try someday when I'm really hungry, and I'll order something that a fellow yelper has recommended. read more

We used to come here a lot when we lived in the center of Sunnyvale. At one point we came and the experience was mediocre, so we had not come back for a couple of years. However, our go-to sushi place was booked solid tonight so we decided to give Seto another opportunity. What a great decision! The sushi was simply amazing. Fresh, generous of portion, and traditional. Everything we look for in sushi. To top it off, they had fresh uni in the shell from Japan. Wow!!! This was by far the best uni we have ever had. Sweet tasting, beautiful presentation, reasonably priced. The waiter was fantastic, recommended a delicious bottle of sake, and delivered great service. Once again, we will be repeat customers. Highly recommend. read more

I was on the 3-4 star fence. Ended up giving a four star because the food is pretty delicious and the wait staff are super friendly... Service is just usually a bit slow and it smells a little funny inside. Highly recommend the skewered scallops and their raw fish. So fresh and delicious! read more

Wow - customer service here is just AMAZING Prices - great for lunch! A 3 portion Bento is about $13 and the 2 portion is $10 (NOTE: on MONDAYS there is a $3 off special for those woot woot!) Food - Very fresh & tasty-- I got the 3 portion with salmon teriyaki, tuna & veggie tempura. All were delicious & good portions. Service - Amazing! They gave us Green tea, ice cream and the manager checked on us and was friendly. Really seemed to care about his customers. When we left we forgot out to-go boxes and he ran out after us with them... amazing :) Don't let the outside fool you - the inside is very nice, clean, open and the food is great. This is a great spot for business lunches as they have those fun rooms where the floor is hallowed out and the table is close to the ground. Highly recommend for group lunch or even a mid-sized/large family dinner. read more

Booooo !!!! Arrived at 515 to no sign of life... on a Wednesday. Don't advertise that you open at 5 when you are a ghost town at 5-5. Really baaaad form. read more

I have been here twice. During week days, both time i experienced very slow service and wrong orders. I sat at the sushi bar ordered few hand roll and sashimi. Rolls came with a lot of rice and packed. Defeats the purpose of ordering hand rolls. Sashimi was ok. Over price though. Took me a long time to get my tea. I just gave up and wanted to get a check and it took about 30 min. Seems like always under staffed read more

Visited for lunch. Not too crowded and was seated immediately and ordered the shirashi suchi. Taste was not up to par. Rice was too soft and fish was cut too big. Quality was much better when I visited a year ago. read more

Don't bother. I hadn't been to Seto in about ten years, and ended up here with a friend somewhat by accident. I had the Bento dinner box. I decided on the salmon teriyaki and tuna sashimi. The teriyaki was at best average from my experience at Japanese restaurants. The sashimi tasted rather funny to me, and I suppose I should have said something about it. Sashimi with a funny taste can potentially be a serious problem, and I probably shouldn't have eaten it. Fortunately, I had only a mild problem later on. That in itself is a reason not to return. The service was abysmal. There were only two or three other tables occupied, but our server disappeared after bringing our meals. We had to ask the sushi chef three times for our check, and even he seemed to have trouble locating her. There are better places to go. Why waste your money (and risk getting sick) at this place? read more

Great place, great staff. We'v ebeen going there for years. The best tatami room is the one in the back.

Slow Slow Slow. I came during the lunch rush so I expected a bit of a wait, but 48 minutes from the time I ordered seems a bit long. When I first walked in there was no one to greet me, the staff was buzzing around but none of them will even look at you let alone greet and seat you. After 7or 8 minutes finally someone seats me. While waiting 48 minutes I watched the waitress bring 4 people the wrong food. They are clearly unorganized. The saving grace for this place is the food is pretty good, but to be clear, it's not great, but still good. Had I waited 5 minutes for my food I'd be telling a more positive story. read more

I've been here a couple of times. The food is good (not extraordinary, though) and the price is reasonable. The space is tight and noisy, especially at lunch time. Get there early well before noon or expect to get in line. I personally enjoy Japanese in a quieter environment and that's why I'm only giving a 3-star. read more

My husband and I love Seto restaurant! Like I said in my review of Seto Deli, this is the only place we go to eat sushi. We usually go there for dinner and service and food are excellent. I am Japanese (born and grew up in Japan till I turned to 22 years old) and have a family who owns a Japanese restaurant. So I am very picky about Japanese food. We highly recommend the restaurant! read more

Went for lunch and found out that they stopped having lunch special and had to order from the menu. She ordered chirashi sushi and I had grilled fish. My order was served first and the waitress stated that it would be about five minutes for her order. Mean while, the waitress kept filling our tea cups and apologizing to her. After 20 minutes, I went to the sushi bar and found the so called sushi chef reading the recipe for preparing the chirashi sushi. She decided to have bento box instead. Since the ownership change, the prices have increased while the quality and the services has diminished. read more

Very Disappointing. Came here with a coworker. Won't bother going back, not even on somebody else's dime. Ordered the Chicken Teryaki Donburi. The chicken was cold and the rice warm. The Miso was, surprisingly, pretty good - and I'm not a miso person. The waitress was too quick to be called courteous - she took the menu out of my hands before I was finished placing my order. Lastly, for the quality of food we received, the cost was too high. Again, I won't go back. read more

I used to Seto often as it's close to my company. Haven't been there for a while so I decide to enjoy my lunch at Seto as usual like before. First, the food is not as good as before anymore. Sushi is just ok, wassabi is not so good (fresh, spicy), saba smells bad and not fresh, and the beef steak is amazing bad. You can easily find anyone cook like BBQ at your backyard and beat theirs, and it costs $15 with only one small piece beef, few sala w/o any sauce, and one rice. That's it! Second, the order comes slower like others complained. We arrived at 11:50 and not so many people there. However, it takes us 10 minutes to get sala and soup, and another 10 minutes to get beef steak in such bad quality and expensive price. Third, the service is bad now. The waitress never cares about you for tea or any request. After I finish my tea, I specially put it near my payment and ask for more tea, but it didn't come and the waitress just left. Definitely, I will NEVER come back again!!!!!! read more

Recent Order take out. We were very disappointed. Food poorly presented and cold even though I was there before order was completed. Only live 3 minutes away. Very pricey for salmon teriyaki & sashimi. Worst sashimi I've ever had..grissly. It was a flimsy portion of salmon for the price too. I do not plan to try take out dinner again. I do not recommend it. Waitress making personal inane comments which was irritating. I do not recommend teriyaki and sashimi combo. The other order was salmon teriaki dinner, also cold, poorly presented. Eating in, I also noticed a decrease in food taste and quality. It's a shame. No other Japanese restaurant near by. read more

The quality of the sashimi is good. However, the salad, the chicken teriyaki, the tempura, and the gyoza are OK to bland. The portions are small. For dinner, the price is high, and therefore the value is low. I suggest spending your money elsewhere. read more

We love this place! Our entire family has been coming for ages now! We are now really good friends with the owners, and every time we come the food is delicious! The food is fresh, and presentation is beautiful! We went last night, and received a beautiful fish and amazing food. Thank you to James (the owner) and his wife for such an amazing dinner. Always amazing, always will love it! read more

This place has good ambience, but the food is mediocre. Miso soup - 5/5 - excellent! great taste, not too salty Seaweed salad - 3/5 - soso Gindara appetizer - 2/5 - stiff, strange taste; not melt in your mouth like at Kirala Crazy roll - 2/5 - rainbow roll inside out; fish not fresh - stiff Dragon roll - 5/5 - great taste! shrimp tempura just fried, still warm Lobster roll - 3/5 read more

The sushi and tempura were good. The rice in the dinner set was not good at all--it was mushy and smelled. The service wasn't bad though. I've only been here once, but I didn't get such a great first impression--and so I may not give it another shot. It's a bit pricey to try again. I'd say this place is average. It's worth going at least once to see for yourself though. read more

Outside didn't appeal to me at all but the food and service was fab! I had the seafood skewer and it was very tasty and fresh. Being from Alaska I know fresh salmon! If you like Japanese food, this place is for you. read more

We sat the sushi bar & the sushi was delightful! The sushi chefs did a great job but they were very quiet! The waitress was attentive, but very busy and could probably use some additional help. Overall, it was OK. read more

I've lived in Sunnyvale for 96% of my life - the other 4% was spent in SF being born and whatnot. During the last 57% of my life, I have driven by and been curious about this establishment. It's not much to look at from the outside (even after the renovation years ago), but it's been around forever, so I was sure it offered some good stuff (or was a front for some Japanese mobster). Well, I was correct (not sure about the mobster thing, though). Stellar service, very welcoming, understated decor, and good food. We had the chef's special, and loved half of the platter (the other half was just okay). We especially liked the kampachi, and ordered another platter of just that. We also had the crazy roll, which my sister didn't think looked or tasted too crazy. I really enjoyed that. I agree with Amanda that the miso-glazed hamachi was too salty, and wished we had ordered another roll, instead. We also got a plate of uni, which I didn't care too much about. The plum wine was fabulous and did what wine should do. ;) Overall, a great experience. A little under $200 for 4 adults. read more

Humiliating treatment by waitress. I have been coming for almost 2 years. Today they decided to not to serve to vegetarian people. Denied to make avocado roll in Bento lunch special. So she made me order separately. See how bad they are in ripping customers. If I pay extra money, they don't mind making a veg. special. She did not bring veg. tempura sauce, did not bother to bring salad which I had asked for. She even did not apologize for her misbehavior. Be careful, if you are vegetarian, they will disrespect you. read more

is this place still in business? i couldnt tell when i drive pass it. the outside looks so beat up and where is the front door? i see this place alll the time as i am either going to or leaving gombei after a delicious meal there. anways is this place still in business? read more

I have never been here every since they have changed the owner. Also, many people used to work here (e.g., kitchen chef and sushi chef) left. So, the grade of the food have not been as good anymore... read more

This place is great! Fresh food, very good fish quality, and such great/nice people. Ask for James; he's the man. Definitely recommend!

I thought most sushi was similar and hard to deliver sub par sushi. I've been proven wrong, first bite was obvious and would not return back. read more

It has been few years since I last had lunch at Seto where the food and service had been good. I don't know if the owners had changed, but the the food and service was bad, plus the restaurant was not crowded on a Friday lunch. I had tempura soba for about $10.50, and it was just a bowl of plain, overcooked soba noodles with two small shrimp tempura on the side. That was it! Service was very slow, and they brought us complementary ice cream as we were leaving the restaurant. I was very disappointed and don't plan on going back. read more

Wonderful authentic Japanese cuisine. On my last visit, I tried some teriyaki meat, tempura vegetables, sashimi, miso soup, and green tea ice cream. For such a large venue, it still maintained a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. I can't wait to go back. read more

Ate here a few nights ago with family. Staff was friendly and kind. The fresh toro was amazing as it melted away in your mouth. Gyoza was tasty and the various sashimi was wonderful. If I lived nearby, I would throw away my oven and fridge and come here every night! read more

This is the real deal! Harry, our very favorite sushi chef is a real kick. Both an excellent sushi maestro and a great guy with a rockin' sense of humor. Buy him a beer or a sake and hold on to your hat!! Oh, by the way, the sushi and sashimi is fantastic! read more

This used to be one of our favorite lunch spots - good food, quick service. Sadly it seems to have changed hands. The service is slow and the food is definitely not as good - the tempura in particular is not as crisp as it used to be. We waited 90 minutes for everyone in our party to get served, on a day which didn't look especially busy. And when I mentioned that the service was slow, the waiter started arguing with me. Definitely won't be going back. read more

Came here for my mothers day. The area is a bit sketch and I was kinda freaked out since the place looked empty. We didn't even need reservations and we got to sit in the Tatami room. I love sushi, as well as the rest of my family and this palce did a great job. It wasn't cheap but we ate very well for about $100. We got the usual squid appetizer, sushi, chicken karrage, stuff like that. I had a great time here and thnking about it makes me so hungry. read more

This place deserves four stars! Tasty sushi and udon soup. Fast and friendly service.

The menu says it's a "Tempura" restaurant. However, i wasn't in the mood and decided to go with the chirashi rice box. Quantity was good even though the box looked extremely small. Scallop, shrimp, tuna, chuu-toro (it appeared), egg, mackerel, salmon. I must say the fish was of great quality (and i've eaten a lot of fish before both here and in Japan, so i'd say my taste is pretty good). Definitely surprised me for a place hidden in an area of Sunnyvale that's poorly lit, where you'd never expect a quality japanese restaurant to reside in. Anyways, service was also good, not great. Waitress only came at the end to refill our tea, and during our meal, there weren't many people left anyways (~8:30 pm on a Tuesday night), so i'd expect more prompt service. I also decided to get the gyuutan shioyaki (grilled cow tongue), which i'm a big fan of, unfortunately, Seto's was the WORST gyuutan i've ever had. It was extremely thick (should be thin), rubbery, looked like crap, and they gave you the smallest slice of lemon possible. One word: wow. It was extremely disappointing, but then again, with "Tempura house" in their name and as their specialty, i should not have expected much from their grilled dishes, but i definitely didn't expect such crap. As such, i give it a 4. Stay away from the tapas-type foods and stick with either the fish or the tempura. read more

I've been to this place twice and most recently with my wife just a couple of days ago. The place is definitely authentic with many Japanese customers. Great rolls. I enjoyed the rolls and small Japanes dishes very much. My wife and I had grilled squid with miso sauce and grilled beef marinated in miso sauce. Both were excellent. My wife is a Unagi person, so we did order Unagi Ju. The Unagi Ju was not the best we've had in the Bay area. Also, Nigiri and sashimi was just above average IMO. I was a little disappointed that the Hamachi Kama was sold out, so didn't get a chance to enjoy this Japanese delicacy. In general, I think this is a great places for rolls and other authentic Japanes dishes, but not the best place for nigiri sushi or sashimi, and not the best place to have grill unagi. read more

Their staff is not friendly at all, but their sushi is yummy great place to go for lunch....prices are decent... It does get pretty crowded for lunch so go early or late... They do have a deli right next door for to go orders.... read more

From the outside, Seto doesn't look like much. It's a somewhat drab-looking gray building located on a corner next to a gas station. If you're trying to find Seto for the first time, you'll be hard-pressed to spot it from your car even if you're just driving 35 mph. Yes, there is a sign --- but the name "SETO" is written rather artistically, and the "O" in the name "SETO" appears as a rising sun. (See photos.) If you're meeting friends here for the first time, be sure to tell them that you're meeting at the restaurant, and NOT the Seto Deli that is located about 100 yards away. Anyway, my 4-star rating is primarily for the consistently fresh and delicious sashimi. The buttery salmon literally melts in your mouth and is absolutely amazing! The rest of the food on the menu is very good, but it's the sushi and sashimi that really stands out in my mind. Seto is a great place to meet friends for lunch, and their Bento Boxes are reasonably priced. But if you really want to experience Seto, I recommend coming on a weeknight when they're not too busy, and finding yourself a comfortable spot at the sushi bar. Get to know the guys working behind the counter, and if you're not already a sushi expert, feel free to ask lots of questions. I've been to Seto many times over the years, and I always look forward to my next visit! read more

The Itamae-san, Ogawa-san, and the owner, Watanabe-san, were fantastic hosts. I was so fortunate to find this place on a Monday without a wait and surrounded by talkative regulars. I had a Hotate, Hamach nigiri and Umekyu maki for starters. Then Ogawa-san brought out his yet to be named new roll with jalepeno, thick soy and siracha.. Finally Ogawa-san suggested salmon belly and hirame. We had a great time exchanging stories from our times working around Mita-ku and discussing the sad state of immigration policy in Japan. Ogawa-san is a triple threat bangledeshi, English and Japanese speaker who was well trained in Japan. This place has a heart and anyone who had poor service during lunch should try enjoying an evening. Look forward to visiting again. read more