Pretty authentic Japanese izakaya / yakitori restaurant tucked away in Los Altos. Opens for lunch with a good lunch menu (donburi and bento sets). We got a few skewers and snacks. The tsukune, pork belly, and mune ume are very good. Agedashi tofu is also delicious. Skip the yaki onigiri. read more

See all

A cozy little izakaya with yummy yakitori and some other delicious dishes as well! We got started with the negitoro roll, which was simple but so good because the tuna + green onion was so fresh. We splurged on the skewers e.g. momo with green onion, knee cartilage, chicken heart, beef tongue, wagyu, and they were all super tender and savory, nicely charred. We also got the squid steak, which was so succulent, slightly smoky and paired perfectly with the sauce. Service and the ambience of the restaurant is very nice, but it is on the pricey end so get ready to spend read more

Sumika - Negitoro Roll - Japanese Near Me - Los Altos, California

See all

My friends and I had fun at Sumika. The foods are overall good. We were sitting outside and they provided heaters and cute lightings but I recommend sitting inside because the foods can get cold pretty quick. The servers recognized my friends being very nice to us because they we're pretty regular at this place. The skewers are overall evenly well seasoned, not too salty which I liked and the agedashi tofu was on the point. Even though the foods were all good, I'm not sure if this still worths the driving all the from the SF city because there are pretty good yakitori places in/ close to the city too. If you happen to be around Los Altos, try this place. I won't drive all the way just to try this place tho. read more

See all

Food is amazing. First time trying their american wagyu beef steak. 8oz for $22 is great value! Juicy, flavorful and umami in your mouth. Must order! Their skewers are always tasty and well marinated. Ask for their specials! Our specials were heart, liver, and tongue. For their regular items, chicken skin, cartilage, pork belly are all great. Their shishito peppers are pretty spicy. Their staples oyakodon (can ask for how runny you want for the egg) and agedashi tofu are kid friendly and taste homy. Frozen custard dessert is super good and unique. The burnt caramel at the top is amazing and the right egginess. Yuzu ice cream is good too, not too milky. Their service is slow since they are short on servers. They only had 3 servers for handling 40+ customers. read more

See all

Highly recommend making a reservation to ensure you get a table as it can get pretty busy during dinner time or on the weekends. Small restaurant so very intimate; not too great if you have a large party. There's parking lots and street parking available around. Service was a-okay. Our table piled up and was not cleared timely.. I had to ask the servers to remove all the empty plates and bowls to make room for other food items. Plus had to ask for our water cups to be refilled often. Overall, the food was good but not great. Most of the skewers were not as seasoned compared to other places. Presentation of the food were good; it looked more appetizing than it actually tasted - I was slightly underwhelmed. The dessert, frozen custard pudding, took a long while to arrive and it was overly burnt. read more

See all

Very dark, moody, hip Izakaya spot in Los Altos. Came here by chance when getting into Ramen Nagi was becoming too much of a chore. Lines aren't always a thrill... to my very pleasant surprise, Sumika ranks up there as best new spot. Service was exceptional and the offerings were top notch. Best cuts of Tuna. Lots of special sashimi choices. The Izakaya is always fun. I ordered hearts and gizzards. Ordered saki and when it came I was super tickled by the way it was served. An over pour that ran into the box that held the sake glass. How fun! One of the stars of this show was the Karaage Chicken, done well. Oh man. This is the best stuff. Nicely marinated and coated with potato starch. Fried to perfection and over in this neck of the woods it's always served with a gochujang style sauce. Looking forward to next visit. For the time being I'll just sit here in my Sumika T-shirt and dream... read more

See all

Food is fresh. They have standard, limited options but they make it really well. The dessert was great! Quantity is reasonable. read more

See all

I took my team here for a going away lunch, and every single one of us finished everything on our plates! We all had the beef bowl (beef Don), it came with miso soup, small cabbage salad, Japanese pickles, and a little side appetizer of miso veggies. Everything was excellent but that beef bowl was out of this world. The rice was nice and fluffy, and you could tell high quality. The beef was tender with a lemon garlic pepper type drizzle. There was also thinly sliced red onion and I think mizuna on top. I could eat that weekly if I lived closer. They sat us promptly (we had a reservation), and the service was great. Quickly took our order and was quick to bring the check when I asked (it was a work lunch so slightly in a hurry). 10/10 on flavor. Highly recommend! read more

Like others have said, *service charge* included in your total bill. But they still list tip/gratuity amounts on the receipt. I know many restaurants in SF have the service charge for health benefits but here it's only added gratuity no matter how many people are in your table. I should've checked their website before. The service charge is 18% added to the bill. As for the food, don't expect a lot of sushi on the menu. Sumika is more of a skewer/yakitori restaurant. That being said, everything was just ok. Oyako Don which was basically rice, egg and chicken. But it was very sweet. Karaage was good and fried well Agedashi tofu again was sweet The skewers American wagyu was sweet with the accompanied sauce, the pork belly was tough. The asparagus and chicken were ok. Service was good but the disguised service charge won't have a return visit. read more

See all

Food is amazing but service does indeed take quite awhile! For some reason, the area does not get much signal so like other Yelpers mentioned in their review, it would be best to know what you'd like to order beforehand if you're curious about portions and what not. Came to celebrate my dad's birthday since he loves Japanese skewers and I wanted to take him here since we've never been. We've been to different skewer places in Santa Clara mostly. We made a reservation at 6:30pm for 5 people. I was pleasantly surprised to find Obaitori in Milpitas is one of their sister restaurants. The place was pretty busy and it seemed a bit understaffed since it would take a while for staff to check on us. They had takowasa here just like at Obaitori so we definitely ordered that. We also ordered the calamari steak, sirloin 8oz, medium uni sashimi, the fried onigiris, and a bunch of skewers. Everything tasted great. Food came out a lot faster than expected. At other skewer places, they do take a while for the skewers to cook but these came pretty quick. The squid and the sirloin were cooked perfectly. The uni was delicious and came with seaweed paper to enjoy with. The fried onigiris were fried on each side perfectly and came with pickled plums. I liked how they would explain which each skewer was to us which was very helpful to identify. We ended the night with yuzu ice cream, ume ice cream, and a black sesame panna cotta. These were all amazing. So flavorful and addicting! It was perfect for ending the night. If you pay with cash, you get a little discount off of the bill which is what we went with. Overall good experience but just be understanding that service is a bit on the slower side. read more

Great food, we came here for a Saturday date night. It was filled but not overcrowded as they take reservations (so make reservations!). Price point is Los Altos prices. But again, the kitchen is pretty good. I feel like a Japanese carefully made these dishes or somebody well-trained as opposed to somebody just cranking this out. We ordered: Sumika salad, eel tamago, some skewers (chicken meatballs, chicken and green onion, shitake mushrooms, hotate, pork belly, chicken thighs with balasmic sauce - all the chicken skewers were amazing, you can pass on the mushrooms if you're looking to scale out), salmon sashimi, tako wasa, grilled whole squid . read more

See all

Everything was delicious. Good does take some time to come. They are not exactly fast but everything we ordered from appetizers to skewers and dessert were perfect. Skewers: chicken heart, beef tongue, Momo, chicken wing, sori, hiza nankotsu Salad is refreshing Chicken karaage is not greasy or too dry. Very good. Agedashi tofu Negitoro sushi - love it! Service is not the best but ok. I recommend they switch to a bigger size tea cup so we don't feel like we need to ask many times for tea refills. If you order Oyako Don, expect a long wait. Both tables on my left and right side of us waited a long time for it to co Black sesame Panna cotta (must get) Overall we had a wonderful dinner. Many mentioned that tips of 18%is included so we expected but if you pay cash there is read more

See all

Came prepared bc i'd already read all the reviews so had the right expectations (or lack of them loll). Had a reservation at 6:40pm and arrived a little after but had to wait a bit for the host to be available anyway (who also ended up being our waiter). Thankfully we requested indoor for the reservation so we got the last indoor spot. Another couple weren't as lucky and selected outdoor but the host accommodated by making a counter seat for them which seemed nice. It is so cold out these days who wants to freeze outside?! The service is spotty so u kind of got to be ready to order or wait a long time for them to come back to the table. Our order of appetizers came out fairly quickly, i loved the Agedashi-Tofu, the dipping sauce is so flavorful and the tofu is well marinated and cooked. I enjoyed the fresh salad as well.. more of a cold slaw, i would have subbed for tofu tho. The chicken was fine. Our order of meats came out a good time after which i liked. They were well cooked, not salty so adding the chili flake condiment was good. I dont have alot of experience with yakitori so nothing to compare but i think it was legit. Heard this place got a Michelin star or something at one point. We ordered green tea but never got it and dunno if it made it on the bill. Alot of people complained in the reviews about the automatic 18% gratuity added and the bad service. I think i tip 18% anyway and i felt the service was fine maybe cos i already knew how it would be. I enjoyed the dinner experience and the food. read more

See all

Ive been here for lunch and have had very good experiences. However I just went for dinner and the menu is completely different. They serve a variety of skewered items which we ordered but all the chicken ones we tried were overcooked and overpriced and they had very little flavor. We also ordered hamachi sashmi, Sumika Salad, egg omlette with unagi and oyakudon which were all pretty good. Service was great but I think we like the food better at lunch especially for the price. read more

First time trying Japanese skewers and WOW Sumika knocked it out of the park! My boyfriend and I already can't wait to revisit to try more of the menu :D We came here to celebrate my birthday earlier this month on a weekday, and we were seated right on time with a 6:30pm reservation. Once we placed our order, the food did take a while to start coming out (25-30 minutes) but everything was so good that we didn't mind the wait at all. Karaage with spicy mayo: This appetizer came with 6 pieces of fried chicken paired with a delicious spicy mayo for an extra $1. They definitely don't skimp on the chicken and each piece was crispy and flavorful. Oyako don: We decided to order this since I saw so many reviewers rave about it, and it truly was amazing! This rice bowl comes with pieces of tender chicken paired with runny eggs, and everything was somehow light yet packed with flavor. I honestly wanted more after we had finished the entire bowl because it was that good :) Skewers: We tried 5 different skewers and they were all solid choices! My favorites would have to be the pork belly with garlic sauce and the American wagyu beef with apple onion steak sauce. read more

See all

Located in the heart of Los Altos, by the parking lot, this area already exudes joy even on the walk there. At lunchtime, they serve skewers, each with unique flavors. The restaurant was nearly full, so the wait for food was a bit longer, and the water/tea refills weren't immediate. The overall experience was wonderful, thanks to the welcoming staff. read more

See all

The first thing I noticed, when I walked in the door is that the menus by the door were very dirty, crusted with black gunk-dirty, then I noticed the carpeting was dirty, I got there at 11:30 AM. They open at 11:30 AM, no excuse for dirty carpet. The bar was dirty-dusty and spiderwebs. The whole place struck me as...dirty. There's old, and then there's old-clean versus old-dirty. I was meeting people here so I did not leave, I ordered food. The food was delicious. Marguro Don pretty good. Clam miso soup was just OK, clams did not taste fresh. The miso soup had an interesting taste. That's what made the whole thing OK, not sure if there's usually tofu in the clam miso soup, but there was no tofu. Granted it is a tiny little bowl perhaps 4 ounces maybe 6 ounces. I believed it had cilantro. I personally love cilantro. I can't verify that though.. I got the bill. The price was good, very reasonable almost even a good deal. Bill fold dirty. read more

Quality has been going down for years (similar to their previous ramen store in Santa Clara). The staff are also not friendly. Too bad it was a gem years ago and it was our go-to places all the time. read more

Sumika was once a very good restaurant, however, it was barely a shadow of its former self. When they closed down Iroriya, I thought they would make Sumika a better place, but hell no. - Food quality drops. The chicken skewers were on the dryer side, tasteless. Did they run out of salt? They were also much smaller now, tsukune was barely enough to wrap around the stock. - Boring selection. The part selections shrink every time I visit. They don't even have any organs. - Oyako-don was probably their most famous dish, but it was also a let down. The egg was cooked to perfection as expected, however, the chicken thigh was more like a minced chicken, and the tare was mostly sweet without enough savoriness to carry the dish. - Service sucks. The place was empty when I got there. Besides from the time they took the order and dropping off food, they never ever come back to check on customers, or were anywhere near by. It's impossible to order extra dishes, or ask for the check. - The price went up A LOT. Yes, they have never been cheap, but now you would expect to pay $80++. read more

#taste - 3/5 #portion size - 3/5 #service - 4/5 #value - 3/5 #recommendation(s) - spicy karaage...I love fried chicken and this was tender with large pieces of chicken and a nice spicy kick. #tip - look into making online reservations as seating can be limited. #like - I appreciated the variety of appetizers from veggie to seafood to meat. #dislike - I was not a big fan of the grilled skewer items even though I love meat. They weren't that flavorful so it was underwhelming for me. read more

SKEWER it and come feast with me @sumikagrill ! So excited that I came across this little gem after finding out (accidentally) that all the other Japanese places in the Peninsula were closed on Mondays. I've heard a lot of good things about @sumikagrill , and I definitely think it's worth the hype (as well as the higher price point)! Here's what I tried: maguro sashimi (bluefin tuna): was super impressed with the freshness, quality and cut of the sashimi, especially considering this place is known for Yakitori! clam miso soup: a bit too savory for me but the clams were cleaned well and super fresh! wagyu skewer: my favorite! scallop skewer chicken thighs + green onion skewer: a bit flavorless for me chicken breast + wasabi: my favorite! beef tongue skewer: my favorite! grape shochu sour cocktail: highly recommend! Reminds me of Japanese grape candies grilled rice ball Definitely make sure to make a reservation (unless you're arriving early for dinner) as this place is a bit small and tends to fill up very quickly. Service was a bit disorganized/understaffed and forgot the chicken karaage + one clam miso soup that we ordered, but the waiters are definitely nice and check on your order when you make requests. Nevertheless, I would've expected better attention to detail and service considering the high price point and dedication to authenticity here. read more

Sumika - Maguro -Don (tuna) tray - Japanese Near Me - Los Altos, California

Food 5/5 Oyako chicken don 5/5 best I had; smoked chicken flavor Grilled mackerel bento 5/5 cooked perfectly Service 4/5 Take out was easy enough. Pick up was ready at the door. No waiter came by to greet. Had to hunt someone down. Ambiance 4/5 Small intimate place read more

This was our first time eating here, we came for lunch. The food was just OK, service OK, but it felt very dirty, the carpet was dirty, the walls were dirty and scuffed up and the music had a very annoying, thumping base. Music is so important in a restaurant, I can't believe they don't hear the overwhelming base. It was all we could hear, the music part was almost non existent. We couldn't wait to leave. We were surprised because if you've ever of Japan, you know that everything is pristine and quiet. They would never have had music like that or allowed their restaurant to be so dirty so I have to believe that it's not really run by a Japanese owner. It's probably Chinese owned, as so many are these days. read more

SOOOOOPERRRB What can I say about this tiny, always packed Japanese marvel. the Agadashi Tofu and Eggplant are standouts. The SUMIKA salad is astonishing. The fried rice cakes were unusual. The taste is delicate, refined and very pleasing on the palate. our group of 3 wee blown away with the quality and flavour of each dish. planning on visiting more than once. reservations HIGHLY recommended read more

I frequent this restaurant often because they have the best karage chicken but the food doesn't have consistent quality anymore and the wait staff needs training on customer service. Most of the time the food is good but today the karage chicken was very oily and some parts of the chicken looked pink. I told the waiter the chicken looked undercooked and it's way too oily and doesn't taste good as it usually does. Instead of saying they will remake it, the waiter tried to tell me it looks fine and he will show it to the chef ?? I said it doesn't taste good and it's way too oily. I don't think it was fried at the correct temperature. I'm also thinking how many times did they reuse the oil to fry this chicken? Then he says what do you want me to do? Seriously?? Isn't it common sense when a customer says the food doesn't taste right to say they will remake it? I told him I come here often and know exactly how the karage chicken is supposed to taste like. Then he proceeds to question me like when were you here? Then he tells me nothing has changed. The chef is the same, the oil temperature is the same. Really? So you are telling me the chef cooks the food exactly the same day in and day out and never has an off day or messes up so I should just eat this oily chicken since there is nothing wrong with the food. Next time stop arguing with the customer and just say you will remake it. I'm not giving you feedback on food because I have nothing better else to do but I'm paying money to eat at your establishment and I expect the food to taste good and the quality to be consistent every time. And while I'm giving feedback. Please clean the bathrooms! It's so disgusting with stains inside the toilet bowl. It doesn't look like anybody scrubbed the toilet for a very long time. read more

This restaurant had excellent service and ambiance. The food was presented very beautifully, I loved the miso soup but the salad was a little bitter. We ordered the Oyako-don tray, which was tasty and unique, but heavy on the rice. Even though it was good, I feel like it just wasn't anything super crazy. read more

Sumika - Oyako-Don Tray - Japanese Near Me - Los Altos, California

Came here for a friend's birthday on a Friday evening - we made a reservation for 11 people and were seated 10-15 minutes after arriving. The waiter recommended we get 3-5 skewers with rice/appetizers to feel full. Overall, the food and service were great! I tried the following: -Chicken Karaage w/ Spicy Mayo (4/5): This was pretty solid - would definitely recommend getting the spicy mayo on the side. There's a spicy version of this dish, which my friends' got - that tasted even better (with a nice kick), so I'd probably get that next time. -Momo (4.5/5) - Cooked perfectly and was exactly what I was expecting! -Premium Momo (5/5) - This was bigger and juicier than the regular momo. Though it's a bit pricier, I'd recommend this over the regular momo! -Momo with Plum Sauce (4/5) - The plum sauce was pretty strong and a bit sweeter than I expected. It had a great flavor, but I prefer more savory sauces rather than sweet sauces. -Rice Ball (4/5) - This tasted a bit too fishy for my personal taste, but everyone else at my table really liked these! I preferred regular rice with my skewers. We were planning on getting the scallop skewer, but it was $10 for 4 scallops due to the market price, so we passed on that. With each additional skewer, this place can get pricey, so just be aware of that! Otherwise, I'd definitely recommend this restaurant! read more

See all

Came here for lunch for a date and got a reservation ahead of time so would recommend doing that just in case. Good: I liked that the service was pretty quick! The waiters were really nice and quick to come back with our plates. The ambiance is nice for a date too. The portion sizes here are decent for the price too. I also liked that some of the dishes came with little side dishes like miso soup and small veggies. Bad: I found that the oyaku don didn't have that much flavor - it was pretty bland to me, but the chicken was good. I didn't really taste the egg - I got it runny so might try for the medium next time. I thought the karaage was pretty average too - it was crispy but only came with the lemon and the mayo was an extra charge. Overall average experience - might want to come back and see if dinner is different, but felt pretty expensive for a standard experience. read more

Sumika - Karaage appetizer - Japanese Near Me - Los Altos, California

See all

The evening we came, it was bustling. We didn't have to wait too long to get a table for a party of two, but staff were hurrying around to serve the many guests and several times walked into me, banged my chair, and it sounded like there was another crash with some dishes that broke. We got the omakase and each piece was delightful. I might try going back when it's less busy. read more

Dry skewers.. flavorless. Ambience is old, outdated, not well taken care of. Was super excited. Won't return.

High quality food, courteous service, and understated aesthetic. One of my favorite restaurants in Downtown Los Altos. read more

Sumika - Chicken karaage - solid, simple, crispy - Japanese Near Me - Los Altos, California

See all

Overall: Sumika wasn't bad, but considering we were visiting from the city and had done some research to make sure we got one good meal on our excursion down to the South Bay, it wasn't quite what I hoped for! This place was recommended by both Eater as well as a reliable friend, so I was quite excited to try their yakitori. Ended up trying the following: Momo - Larger chunks of chicken thigh than I usually see, but unfortunately the flavor didn't similarly penetrate Teba - Nice char! But again, perhaps the caramelization didn't add as much flavor as I hoped Tsukune - this was probably my favorite among the ones I tried! Pork Belly - Decent, but again flavor was a bit lacking Chicken Karaage - this wasn't cheap (and they charge you for extra mayo, blasphemy!), but the five pieces were decently large and tasty. It looked like most of the tables went for bento boxes / rice sets instead. Compared to the yakitori, those definitely seem like better value. My friend enjoyed his katsu set! But he also tried the momo with yuzukosho, which is usually delicious but this one was waaaay too salty (the yuzukosho). read more

Sumika - Half eaten order of Chicken Karaage appetizer - Japanese Near Me - Los Altos, California

See all

We made a reservation to celebrate a family birthday the Saturday over Memorial Day weekend. We ordered a lot of different dishes: Sumika salad, an order of rolls, yakitori, grilled squid, 2 orders of chicken karaage, grilled onigiri, shishito, and grilled eggplant. Our favorites were the squid, karaage, and eggplant. This was our 4th time in about 10+ years and have always eaten the Sumika salad. That day the chicken was tough and hard to eat since pieces were quite chunky. Overall, nice atmosphere with service that is about 7/10. Quick order taking, food comes out hot and in a timely manner. read more

I've been twice- once on a date and once with coworkers. Vibes are good but food is average for the price.

Amazing! We loved the food and service. I would definitely recommend making a reservation as the restaurant itself is small and doesn't have much seating. Parking can be easily found outside the downtown area! Everything was absolutely delicious and would definitely go back. read more

Sumika - Japanese Near Me - Los Altos, California

See all

I've been here multiple times - but kind of forgot it existed during pandemic. Returned today & was reminded how delicious everything is! Every grilled item wAs perfection- just the right balance of char & tender. We ordered more after polishing off first set. Probably the beef was our favorite but everything good. The Sumika salad is amazing as ever. Service was excellent- multiple people working together. Walk down the hall to tidy restroom. Parking in the back lot is reduced due to park keys/ tables but found street parking just a block away. Didn't order it tonight but I was drooling at someone's frozen custard- I recall loving that dessert. So glad to keep this in our recommended favorites rotation again. read more

See all

5/25/2022 Sumika Grill 236 Central Plz Los Altos, CA 94022 My wife and I went there for lunch on a hot Wednesday and sat outside. This is a grill and yakitori specialty place, they do not offer sushi or ramen, they do offer warm udon for at least one of their selections. The wife had the Charcoal Grilled Chicken bento box and I wasn't very hungry so I ordered the Sumika Salad with the tofu option. The waiter suggested I order the half size because he said the full order would be huge, he was right. Our order arrived shortly and my salad was in a big mound on a small plate, a little larger plate would have been better to prevent the salad from feeding the table. The protein was chicken instead of tofu but poultry was fine with me. The dressing was a tasty light sesame oil vinaigrette. The bento box was generous which included Tsukemono and julienned gobo and carrot Sanbaizuke, both authentic and very good. The restaurant is in downtown Los Altos with plenty of free city parking. Service was very good and definitely repeatable, especially for yakitori. read more

See all

came here for a quick lunch togo after checking yelp their photos. I did order an oyakodon a la carte, $18 plus tax , which the waiter specifically told me it is a la carte. I picked my order 10min later without realizing there is a service charge, which I can't believe. so I went back and got the service charge voided and the waiter did apologize that he didn't explain about the service charge even for a take out order. anyway, I am very disappointed about the oyakodon a la carte. according to the photo, it was a set meal which included soup, salad,  2 side dishes, and oyakodon. however, all I got was just an oyakodon. food was good. but without all the side dishes, it was such an overpriced chicken with egg (egg is not even runny) over rice. Terrible read more

Absolutely one of my favorite spots in Los Altos! You can't go wrong with Sumika. The meat is amazing, donburi and vegetable tempura. Definetly recommend trying a bit of everything. Perfect to take out-of-towners as well since it is definitely a unique restaurant with bites for everyone on the table, since they even have sushi on the menu. read more

See all

I really love the food here. Esp the hidden menu - beef tongue, chicken thighs and tofu soup. My go-to place for bite-size Japanese dishes!