Everything about this place is fantastic. The decor and ambience are beautiful and peaceful. The sushi is flavor full. The service is friendly and attentive. read more

We came here as a party of 8 to celebrate a birthday. The space was large enough to easily accommodate despite a booked evening. We ordered a variety of sushi and skewers that were all pretty good, but some skewers lacked a little flavor or were a little too tough and chewy. I think there's plenty of better izakaya and sushi spots throughout the bay, but this was decent and definitely not a bad choice if you're in the area. read more

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One of my absolute favorite Japanese comfort food neighborhood spots in the city. Whether ordering to go or dining in, this place never misses. FOOD: 8/10 Every roll I've ordered has been good. I love getting their nigiri or sashimi combo and enoki mushroom skewers. I believe the nigiri combo with spicy tuna roll is only for takeout orders. SERVICE: 10/10 The staff is always kind, attentive, and welcoming. I appreciate how, for the most part, service is always quick here as well. AMBIANCE: 9/10 The atmosphere is cozy, calm, and inviting. It has that relaxed neighborhood feel that makes it easy to settle in and enjoy your meal without feeling rushed. It's perfect for a casual dinner or even a low-key solo meal. My only small note is that I wish the tables were slightly bigger, especially for a table for two. Overall, I absolutely love dining here or even grabbing it to go. Shokudou is one of those places I'll keep coming back to whenever I want comforting Japanese food done reliably well. read more

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My son loves coming here. He loves the chicken wings. I love the fresh fish and rolls. Everything is so tasty. Lots of two top and four top seating as well as sitting at the bar. Tables can be pushed together for larger parties. Service is always on point. read more

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Delicious rolls around here! Sushi is fresh and I think their wasabi is fresh made as well. Price range is similar to what you'd find at any decent sushi restaurant around the area. My favorite was surprisingly the cod though, SO delicious and buttery. The marinade on tha was incredible, highly recommend. We went in pretty late, close to closing, but they were super nice and helpful still. Nice local spot ! read more

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Honestly, wanted to like this more but was disappointed, given the high ratings on Yelp. Felt that the food was mostly average for the price, although service and ambiance were good for this charming local neighborhood restaurant. We had a party of 9 so we were able to sample quite a few dishes, including various appetizers like the tuna poke and several rolls, skewers, and the omakase...however, nothing really stood out. read more

There was nobody at lunch on a Friday, which should've been a deterrent for me to check out a new restaurant but I didn't listen to my instincts. Anyway, the place is spacious and the service is fast. Food is mediocre. The butterfish is too cooked which made it lose its tenderness. The glasses were not clean and or had big water marks. There were 2-3 small pieces of seaweed and two tiny pieces of tofu in the miso soup. One lunch bento box and one lunch plate cost over $60. read more

Great lunch menu. The Nigiri's are fresh and tasty. The Tofu Agedashi was crunchy outside and soft inside. The Hokkaido Uni was really delicious. The service from Shaun was amazing and friendly. The Chef was really nice and attentive. The place is big and spacious. and the place is accessible with the public transport. Please visit them for delicious food and great service. read more

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Cute tasty lil spot. I wouldn't quite call it an izakaya bc the atmosphere needs a little more charm. The food was great! The walu was a standout for my partner and me and we both really enjoyed the enoki beef rolls too. Would happily come back. Service was really great. read more

Been waiting for a good neighborhood takeout sushi spot and I found it. Their rolls are reasonably priced and have a good size and flavor. Their takeout and dine-in quality are consistent for the few times I've had shokudou. When we dined in, they were super accommodating to the two toddlers we had giving them toys and practice chop sticks. It's great service and I hope this business thrives. read more

Came here on a Thursday night. Got the enoki wrapped in beef and the sushi omakase. Everything was very tasty and reasonably priced. Service was quick and attentive. Would definitely go again when in the neighborhood. read more

Shokudou - Omakase sushi and Beef Enoki - Izakaya Near Me - San Francisco, California

The dragon roll was great. The salmon tasted fatty and smooth. The chicken karaage was also perfectly crispy and had good flavor. The butter edamame was very flavorful and good. The tofu had a good crisp and in a sauce that was pretty good. The restaurant is not huge but there is plenty of seating. The service was also very friendly and attentive. The parking is difficult and there is only street parking. The price was also reasonable. read more

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Friends and I came here after watching the Valkyries game on a Sunday night. Many places in the Dogpatch area was closed by 9pm and we were hungry so we found this place opened till 9:30pm so we called to see if they'll still take us in if we get there by 9:15pm which they did! They had the table set up for us 6 and we ordered right away. They have a variety of skewers, nigiri, sashimi, and other assortments like chicken karaage etc for you to try. We also had some uni nigiri and it was sooooo good! We had some sake & beer as well. The only downside is parking is not easy in the area so definitely give some time for that. read more

Came here Friday night with some friends to try a new sushi place. Street parking is difficult and hard depending on when you go, the spot itself was cozy and there was a good amount of people in there. The service was informative - they were helpful in choosing some rolls and sake. The food was tasty but felt like it was slightly overpriced and portion was small (-ish?) compared to other places I've been too. We ordered about 8 rolls for a group of 4 and the bill was quite high while we still felt hungry afterwards. read more

We were walking the neighborhood and we found this cute little place as soon as you come in guided to a table you sit down and it's the typical fair cold on warm server. Kind of rushing you to place your order even though you sat down. When the food came out, it was pretty good. I was happy with the food a bento box in a roll. The miso soup was OK. The hot tea was just tea. It's just basic nothing really impressive here. Well, I'll be back probably not. I tried it once I didn't feel welcome so I won't be back. Is the food OK yes food is fine. I just didn't feel welcome. read more

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Cute neighborhood sushi place in Bernal Heights. I came on a Tuesday evening and it wasn't very busy inside. Street parking is tight but not impossible. The tables are spaced out so it feels very comfortable. I got the chirashi bowl. It had thick cuts of fish and the portions met my expectations for the price. Service was efficient and friendly. It's not "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" but I would categorize Shokudou as a great spot to hit up if you're in the immediate area. read more

We randomly came to Shokudou on a Friday night since we were craving sushi. The ambiance is pretty simple; we were one of the only tables that late in the evening but still had a good experience. In terms of the food, I would say that their sushi is much better than their appetizers. We ordered the Cucumber Salad, Cortland Roll, Kani Rainbow Roll, Chirashi, and Chicken Karaage. I would actively avoid the cucumber salad; the sauce was strange and the cucumbers felt very limp. The chicken karaage was also just okay--it felt kind of fatty and oily. The sushi was yummy! I really enjoyed both of the rolls that we ordered. The fish in the chirashi was also great. The service was standard, and the prices seemed very reasonable. In general, I think it's a solid sushi spot if you're in the area! read more

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4.6 stars is crazy. Don't think locals have been to the sone of the best spots in the city. Definitely chose this place for the stars but ya you'll get burnt from time to time -fooood- Chicken karage: yeah can't really go wrong with that. 4/5 Hamachi Kama: not much flavor, was really just fried fish. 2/5 Chicken skin skewer: this is the first izakaya ive been to where this dish was bad. Wasn't too crispy and wayyyyyyy too salty. .5/5 Chicken gizzard: good , cooked well but a little lacking in flavor. 3/5 Beef enoki: their most popular dish was a let down. There's a certain ratio you need to achieve with this or it just doesn't capitalize ingenuity of this simple dish. beef was also a little over cooked. 1.5/5 Toro gunkan: sounded better on paper. Just not the same without the saltiness from caviar. 2.5/5 A5 wagyu: just a couple of seconds to sear but no, overcooked. 1/5 Forgot that last one but wasn't great either way. Sushi is usually astounding for me so this was a big let down. Overall staff was nice, organized inside and nice restaurant with plenty of street parking, just the food was not there at all. Reading other reviews, does seem like a lack of flavor so heed my warning! read more

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5 star food! The Kushiyaki is outstanding!!! Especially the beef enoki. I'll have to come back just to try them all. And the nigiri was amazing as well- we love when the fish is served at room temperature and you can really taste the flavor and feel the texture of the fish. Although it seems like we've skimped on Ambiance. I like the barn door that blocks out a rather windy street but it seemed unfinished- kind of like the 'one piece' decor thrown on the wall. Don't get me wrong- I love anime and everything- it's that something cozy was missing to me for some reason. And it wasn't the staff because they were so sincere and thankful and obviously chef Chen knows what he's doing. read more

Sushi didn't taste very fresh / good. We got a variety of rolls, appetizers, and a nigiri sampler. Service and ambiance were good.

It's great! I love getting a bento box for lunch. Fast and friendly service. Cool wall art too. Thank you. read more

Walked into Shokudou without a reservation on Saturday night and it was no issue. The ambiance was upscale but with a rustic vibe. I quite liked the sliding barn door for entry - it reminded me of restaurants in Japan. Looking over the menu, it covers the gamut of popular Japanese fare from small bites to nigiri and sushi to donburi. Surely, you'll find something to suit your wants! My friend and I shared several small plates and a roll and it was just right for the two of us! My favorites included the beef rolled enoki, the agedashi tofu, and the Flame Otoro roll. The beef rolled enoki was composed of two skewers, each with three servings of marinated beef wrapped around a cluster of enoki mushrooms. It was super flavorful and juicy! Also a very generous portion for an izakaya skewer. The agedashi tofu featured the perfect juxtaposition between a crisp battered exterior and a soft silky interior. The bonito flakes added a nice salty touch which balanced the sweet tsuyu sauce. The roll featured generous cubes of otoro with even more tuna laid on top. The tuna on top is seared and then topped with some peppers and puffed rice. It was a fun mix of buttery, spicy, and crispy. Shokudo's ginger, specifically, was deliciously sweet and tangy. Dishes bringing up the back included the nigiri and the pork belly. For the nigiri, I felt like the rice was underseasoned across the board. The cuts of fish were generous though. I liked the Itoyori best which was a new fish for me to try. It was delicate but sweet. The king salmon was buttery as expected and the Hobo fish (another new bite for me) was a little too meaty for my liking. The pork belly skewer was flavorful but I expect my pork belly to be a little more unctuous and require a little less work to bite through. Dinner for 2 came to just about $80 before tip. I could see myself returning if I'm in the Bernal area! read more

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The atmosphere inside, as the evening closes it's wonderful since the giant window gets a nice bit of sunlight, it's calm inside which is offset by three One Piece wall prints. One of them decided to splice one piece into "onep" "iece" which I found very avant garde. The takoyaki was great, hard to get it wrong but obvious when so Edamame was plentiful and garlicky, exactly what I expected from garlic butter edamame Our rolls were excellent, you can taste the quality is definitely above average Service was attentive, I enjoyed eating here and would be back if in the area, prices are a little up there but understandable read more

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Best restaurant in Bernal heights in my opinion. Nice clean place with big windows and a nice bar. I've only been for lunch, but they have a great lunch menu and affordable prices read more

No wait on a Sunday evening. Hamachi Kama was large and really well cooked , I highly recommend this place for a hidden casual vibe. Edit: came back again on Valentine's Day. Very busy but luckily they had a spot open up for us. DELICIOUS!! Note to self: get the grilled miso eggplant again, that ish fireeeee read more

Shokudou - Izakaya Near Me - San Francisco, California

The rolls and miso eggplant were yummy! We were excited to see butterfish since we don't see it often, it was alright, but will pass next time since it was quite small and not as flaky and plump with how we like it at other places we've tried. Came in and got seated quickly since we came at opening, more groups came in shortly and the staff was really friendly. Side note: not on the staff, but a table across from us had a young kid who kept licking the cap of the soy sauce and putting it back on. But parents.... Please do better at helping your kids understand why that's not okay. if anything to take for that, I do hope that the restaurant takes notice and is frequent with cleaning things, we did also tell them as we left. read more

Cute neighborhood spot, but nothing truly stood out. Pros: + Service is friendly + Spacious seating + Parking was no trouble on a Tuesday evening What We Ordered: - 8 piece omakase; 3/5 + Tori Karaage; 5/5 + Buta Bara; 4/5 We all ordered a set of the 8 piece omakase. The two boys are not foodies so as long as they're fed, we're good. For me, however, the selection of fish was impressive, but taste was not there. Not awful, just didn't stand out. Lacking in flair. We also thought there would be a larger variety of skewers. It was heavily chicken and bacon wrapped skewers. Luckily, we found the pork belly skewer (BUTA BARA), which is under the HOT section of the menu, not under the skewers section. That along with the chicken karaage (TORI KARAAGE) was delicious. Good place if you're in the neighborhood. Otherwise, not worth trekking to. I'm glad I tried a new spot, but will not be returning. read more

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Summary: Tasty izakaya with great value Details: I've been meaning to go to Shokudou for a couple years now, but wasn't really about the indoor dining scene during the midst (or even tail end) of COVID. Now that I've loosened up a bit about this, it was finally time to stop on by! I was pretty surprised to grab a table as easily as we did during prime dinner time, and wasn't sure if it was due to the crowds having died down over time, or just the location being a little tougher to get to, but not having a wait is always a huge plus. That said, a lesson I've learned the hard way is that reservations anywhere are always recommended if you can get one! Like Taniku, the thing you want to stick to here are their more standard izakaya fare: appetizers, skewers, grilled things, etc, which are all quite tasty, though every single grilled item we get was burnt to varying degrees, some more so than others. Fortunately, most didn't actually taste as burnt as they looked, but the bitterness was noticeable in some dishes. Sushi, on the other hand, I'd suggest skipping: it's fresh, so certainly not bad, and like the other eats, you're getting good value, but most of the pieces we got in our omakase weren't particularly noteworthy. Accessibility: While the neighborhood is less accessible with all the steep hills, Shokudou itself is at least on a fairly flat street, with plenty of space and accessible tables inside. read more

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4.3 stars Friend and I stopped by on a Saturday afternoon to have their lunch specials. My friend ordered the Katsu Don (tonkatsu over rice) and I ordered the 2-item bento box with my choice of chicken teriyaki and saba shioyaki (fish). We were the only patrons inside the restaurant and service was minimal, but sufficient. The food took some time to come out but I presumed the dishes were made to order. The katsu don was a generous bowl, and my friend was very full. The bento box itself was not the typical bento boxes you see, but rather, it was divided in 3 compartments in which each one held the chicken, fish, and salad. Saba shioyaki was salted well and the teriyaki chicken was moist and flavorful. Overall, this was a good place to consider for lunch if you are in the area. Otherwise, the food was good, but not so much to go out of my way for. read more

Based on the stars and a few of the reviews I was hopeful the food was going to be yum but I was wrong. Service was not good. There were only 2 servers and the place was busy. The sashimi and rolls were nothing special - flavorless. The Grilled Butterfish had a good sauce but not worth the $. The Hamachi Kama was the only thing we enjoyed. Our order: Double Hamachi roll Spider Rainbow roll Grilled Butterfish Hamachi Don Hamachi Kama Miso soup *Finding parking is difficult. The ambience was nice and simple. Unisex bathroom was clean. read more

Shokudou - Izakaya Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Shokudou is known for their skewers. The enoki and asparagus were good and decent sized servings. The karaage, was light and crunchy. The katsu was dry. I suggest order the more expensive rolls like the Flamed Toro instead of the less expensive NegiToro Rolls. Overall, it was a great meal but can get pricey. Be sure to check your receipts because they charged my table for miso soup but never brought it out. They can split cards (up to 3). They auto-grat for larger groups. When they did this, my tip amount was higher than my other friend even though my bill was smaller. read more

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Awesome one piece cutout on the wall! Great sushi selection, loved the otoro and the maguro sashimi and the skewers were great as well buta bara was tender and flavorful. Always gotta get the hamachi kama that was tender and melts in your mouth! Good selection of sake as well! read more

Stopped by this place for lunch over the weekend and the food exceeded my expectations. I saw they had a lunch special so we went to check it out and I picked their lunch set that came with a mini chirashi and butterfish misoyaki. The star of this meal was the butter fish misoyaki, it was soooo good. Perfectly seasoned and cooked, the fish was so buttery and flaky, probably the best cooked fish I've ever had lol. The chirashi was also really yummy too. Definitely will come back just to get the butterfish misoyaki. read more

Shokudou - Chirashi and Butterfish Misoyaki - Izakaya Near Me - San Francisco, California

We got the sashimi special, nigiri (cannot think of the fish at the moment), chicken skin skewer, beef skewer and enoki wrapped with beef skewer. The nigiri was not very good, the sashimi was okay, but the main food that stole the show was the yakitori. My partner absolutely loves yakitori and the food was all so fresh, tender, flavorful and I wanted to order another ten skewers of the enoki wrapped with beef.... It's a beautiful restaurant in the quite side of the neighborhood. I like that there is an additional door so the door to enter/exit is not repeatedly blasting cold wind into the place. The grand pieces of One Piece art was a nice touch as well. read more

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I have been wanting to try this restaurant for a while and I'm glad that I did. What was the most comforting to me was being able to eat a variety of meats with rice. The Gindara Misoyaki was my favorite dish because it was so tender and flavorful in the most perfect way. We also really liked the chicken wings and chicken skin. My favorite part about eating here is that you can either choose to eat a variety of skewers or order a larger meat to eat with rice. Portions are pretty generous, and it's nice, cozy, and smells good inside. I was pleasantly surprised and am excited to come back. read more

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This is a hidden gem in Bernal heights! We had a wonderful dinner experience with great food. We will be back! First off. The staff was extremely friendly and had the right level of interaction and helpfulness. Second, the food is just great. We didn't dislike a single item we ordered. Its a very easy restaurant to for group sharing. They have multiple options for small plates, hot, cold, raw and cooked. They also have bigger plates if that is your preference. We ordered and loved all of these: grilled squid, pork Katsu, king mushroom, crispy chicken skin, beef ebook and chicken yuzo skewers, grilled asparagus, and fried tofu. Topped off with a house hot sake. We also had a toddler with us, and they were very nice about it (and had high chairs), with some easy food options for kids too. read more

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For the freshness of the fish, I would have expected higher prices. This spot was a great find for what it offered. Super fresh fish at decent prices especially for SF. We got the best deals from ordering sashimi platters and chirashi bowls. All the fish was fresh and not frozen. Also lots of different sake to try! Great spot read more

I enjoyed a few of the unique rolls including the flame toro roll recommended by the waitress. And I appreciated the quick and polite service. There were a combination of families (including babies and teens), and adult two tops, and overall feel is a casual local community restaurant. A mixture of Asian and Caucasian costumers. And a very young-looking but clearly skilled Asian sushi chef. Nice amount of light comes through the large windows in the summer evening. I was there with a friend and we were having a private conversation. Although the restaurant is all open, it wasn't so crowded where I felt uncomfortable having that conversation. Enough ambient (not too loud) noise helped keep it private. And the waiters were quick and too the point. This was my first time here although I live in the neighborhood. I will definitely come back again. read more

Amazing! The fish was SO fresh, we felt guilty adding soy sauce. We had the Tuna Poke appetizer, Daikon salad with sweet chili dressing, a roll with salmon on top, and bacon wrapped mushrooms. All were fantastic. The presentation of each plate was lovely. My apologies for not taking pictures until after we started eating. LOL. We had never been to the Bernal Heights neighborhood in San Francisco. (We live in San Jose.) We would definitely come back for Shokudou! Great service. Family friendly, locals vibe. read more

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This place is perfect for parties of any sizes. The staff were able to rearrange tables and got us seated fast-- surprisingly, we all fit comfortably! Both the rainbow and double hamachi rolls tastes fresh and were refreshing to eat. However, they felt pretty small and didn't come with much flavor besides the raw fish. The rice also tasted unseasoned and dry. It was quite disappointing. Although the rolls lacked in some qualities, I would come back (for sashimi)! If you're looking for a place that serves good appetizers and quality fish, I would recommend Shokudou. Hope this was helpful! read more

Shokudou - Kani rainbow roll & Double Hamachi Roll - Izakaya Near Me - San Francisco, California