i really wanted to love umi, but a few things made it fall short to me. first, the portions were very small and the value was not there for me. the sashimi pieces were extremely small and each roll piece was so small it was almost a joke. the caterpillar roll had eel and the eel piece was super thin and barely noticeable. second, the rolls were very basic and not very inventive. lastly, the flavors were a bit lacking -- the misoyaki (miso cod) was very subtly flavored and could have been marinated for longer. the yaki nasu (miso eggplant) had great miso sauce on it but the actual eggplant was underseasoned, could have used some more salt or something! i felt that overall the restaurant was a bit stingy with portions, servings, and service. there were only 2 servers in a busy small space, and they did not refill water unless asked. read more

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Umi offers sushi with high-quality fresh fish. I enjoyed my Potrero Roll ($18), which came with spicy tuna and salmon. The restaurant is pretty small and was just the right amount of crowded on a Friday night. The waitresses were very attentive and kind. Overall a solid sushi spot! read more

Umi - Potrero Roll ($18) - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

This small neighborhood gem is a favorite of ours. The restaurant is a casual mom and pop joint with indoor and outdoor seating. Very authentic Japanese food with sustainable fish that is always fresh. Their agedashi tofu is exactly how it should be made - silken tofu with a very light coating of batter. The reviews that mention subpar agedashi tofu from take out orders miss the point of agedashi! It is a dish that is supposed to be eaten as soon as it is made, so not an ideal thing to order to go. The hamachi Kama is also excellent! Highly recommend any of the sashimi as well. read more

Came here for a work lunch and wanted to try something new and near the job site. This Potrero Hill area is quaint and varied in their restaurant choices. From the outside, Umi isn't much to look at; kinda drab and dark. Inside, there is a covered outdoor patio, where we sat, and a dining room to the right. I had the bento with beef teriyaki and maguro. Coworkers had the Saba bento and the chefs 9-piece sashimi. Our food came out and looked good but on the smaller side portion-wise. My beef had lots of flavor, miso soup was slightly salty. Tuna sashimi was fresh, but again, on the smaller size. Service was ok, not good, not bad. I asked for hot tea but was told they don't have it. I'd like to rate it as 3.5 but there's no option for it. read more

Umi - Bento with beef teriyaki and maguro - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Came here on a Friday evening with no reservation and was quickly seated. There is tons of parking nearby and a great bar Nextdoor for a post dinner drink. Got 4 sushi rolls to share and bottle of cold sake. The fish here is easily the best quality on San Francisco, cannot recommend this enough! read more

Umi - sushi - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Cute neighborhood sushi spot! Came here around 6:00 PM for dinner, and there were plenty of seats available. We got seated in the little outdoor patio, which was lovely and still quiet despite being so close to the street. The staff were very fast with getting our food out too which was great. I got the nigiri combination meal, which came with miso soup and a tuna roll. It's not too big of a portion and a bit pricey, but the fish was great quality! Love how tender each piece of fish was, and the freshness was so apparent. The whole combination meal was a great light dinner, really enjoyed my meal here. read more

Umi - Outside - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Went in for lunch and was very impressed. Super cute place which actually hasn't changed that much since this space was occupied by Thai BBQ about a million years ago. Service was good (nobody else was there) and food came out pretty quickly. The food was all really good homestyle Japanese, and portions were large. Daughter liked the chirashi (combo A) a lot. Husband got the bento box with saba, teriyaki chicken and tempura. He scarfed it all down. He commented that the saba is better at Gombei in San Jose but nobody could verify that as it had already disappeared...lol. I had niku donburi-the portion was extra huge and the quality of the beef was better than I'm used to... I think next time we will order one less thing. I would expect that dinner is very good but for my family the draw is homestyle food which is only available at lunch T-F. read more

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Came with my friend to try out a new sushi restaurant before trivia! We ordered two rolls to share, and it was very good! The pieces were on the smaller side though. The fish was very fresh, and the rolls were both quite delicious - a solid 8/10! I would definitely come back for a quick bite in the future! The service was very fast and the servers were attentive! Moreover, I also enjoyed the ambiance. The seating area is a bit on the smaller side, but I enjoyed the decor and the vibes :) read more

Umi - Golden dragon Shrimp tempura rainbow - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

We waited 30 mins for someone to take our order . And more than 1 hour to get our food , Place is nice but just took too long . read more

Ordered as a to go pick up order. I don't live too far so the quality of the food, like temperatures, texture, etc didn't go down as it sometimes does with some to go orders from other restaurants that might take 20-30 min to deliver. Pick up service was friendly and quick. Tuna poke - personally wasn't a huge fan of the poke. For the price, the portion seemed a bit small. Weighed it out to about 3oz. Smaller and a bit pricier than a couple other spots I know for a similar dish. Tuna tasted fresh though which was good. A sauce or shoyu I think might complement nicely. Agedashi tofu - well made, classic agedashi tofu. Definitely recommend having this order in house vs to go because of the soup container. All the bonito is at the top, due to the narrowness of the container, so my first bite was just a big clump of bonito. I should have mixed it (but I didn't want to break the tofu). Not on the restaurant but just my observation that it's a tasty dish that would be better enjoyed in house. read more

Umi - Tuna poke - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Umi is a sweet and welcoming place in a great San Francisco neighborhood! The service was friendly and helpful, the food was fresh & delicious with a reasonable cost. I would easily go back & highly recommend! read more

In contrast to the crowds lining outside popular neighboring restaurants, Umi seems like a quiet place at a quick glance but upon entering it has a lively and bustling atmosphere. The kitchen is immediately to the right of the entrance and the staff greet you warmly. Their menu isn't extensive but it feels curated to focus on quality, not quantity. I ordered the nigiri sampler which was one serving each of their special nigiri that night. I will definitely order this again, whatever they list as a special I will get next time. The quality was excellent and the fish was exceptional. I also ordered uni, which - for the price point, was a reasonably generous size and was a luscious burst of delicate brininess tinged with sweetness. For our small group of 3 people we ordered a couple of small plates to share: Katsu Asparagus Maki and Beef Enoki Maki. Don't miss out on these. The katsu was a perfect blend of texture and flavor combination with the crunchy breading outside and tender asparagus rolled inside. The beef was served in nine bite-size pieces that almost melt in your mouth. I love that they also had two of my favorite Japanese beers on their menu - Coedo and Echigo - along with a third beer option (Orion) and a couple of sakes. Although they have a covered patio, it's part of the restaurant itself and not one of the sidewalk structures. I don't think dogs are allowed here and that's okay. The tables are a decent size that we didn't feel cramped and it looks like a group of 6 or 8 could probably be accommodated in the main dining room. Good place for happy hour and casual dinner. I'll be back soon. read more

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We have been to this location before when it was the buffet, but this is way better... New owners took over and the place is amazing. The service was incredible. Our waiter. Ozzie was polite helpful for $36 per person. You can try everything on the menu. I highly recommend UMI sushi in Naples.FL read more

Came here on a date and it was a pleasant experience! The place was not packed at all on a Sunday night at 6 pm and we got seated right away. Good: - Super nice servers and the food comes out really fast - The prices are great here - The sushi rolls were all solid - I had the dragon roll and the portreo roll - it was pretty filling as well - Nice clean simple aesthetic Bad: - The sushi wasn't the best I've had, but for the price, it was a great steal! Overall, a great bang for buck place, I'd recommend it for a fast date activity! read more

Umi - Sushi roll - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Well, we have been waiting for 45 minutes and still have no sushi. Not completely full, and I do not understand why it is taking sooooo long to make 5 sushi rolls. When my sister asked about her hand roll 50 minutes after we arrived, she was told that it was being made right now. Had to cancel it an hour in. Will not be returning. Terrible management- I feel bad for the servers. Stay away unless you like super slow service!! read more

Came during a weekday lunch for their lunch special. I got the beef teriyaki and salmon avocado roll for $17! The price is pretty good and the food comes fast so I can get back to work! The lunch special comes with miso soup, salad and rice. read more

Umi - Beef teriyaki lunch plate - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

The food was delicious and reasonably priced. I got the lunch sashimi. There seemed to be a lot of regulars there, which is a good sign I was mainly there to pick up my Too Good To Go order. There is one other person who gave this place 1 star for their TGTG order because it was all head and bones. And yeah. That's what it is. This is a delicacy, and it is a skill issue if you can't even make broth out of it. I got FOUR heads (generously packed with meat) and an entire backside of a fish! I'm gonna be eating grilled fish and soup for a week! I won't post a picture here cause I don't think most people looking in the reviews WANT to see it, but know that it was a generous amount and super fresh. I can see why it sells out so quickly read more

Umi - Sushi Moriawase - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Small neighborhood sushi place that hits the spot and doesn't drain the wallet. Sure the rice could use a bit of work but the fish is fresh and tasty, I can always get a table, and service is friendly. There's usually enough parking in the area so it is rarely a problem but you could also take the Muni and hike up the hill. I've tried a variety of items here including the sushi combination and sashimi combination. They also have specials of the day that change with the season. The sashimi combination set comes with rice and miso soup and is good value for the amount of fish they include! Since the sushi selection changes with the season, it's hard to say what will be available but I've found that hamachi is always a good bet. I also like their gari-saba roll (Saba with sushi ginger) which is very refreshing and has a good texture to the sushi. The rice they use is long grain rather than short grain sushi rice so it's a little underwhelming in that regard. Or they might mix in long grain as well to keep costs down. They also don't use fresh wasabi but I wouldn't expect that for the prices. There is a decent selection of sake if that's your thing, and offer them in different sizes as well so you can consume as much or as little as you like. read more

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I really like this restaurant and was able to meet with my old high school friend for lunch. I had the Hamachi Kama Misoyaki lunch special. It was charred wonderfully: full of miso flavor. It came with miso soup, a small salad and rice. The service was very nice and the server was attentive. I really liked the fact that the fish and sushi served are fresh. Umi is my go to Japanese restaurant. read more

Umi - Hamachi Kama - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Small & quiet restaurant in Potrero Hill! I came in on a Wednesday night and got seated immediately. We ordered Golden Dragon, Crunchy Spider, and Hamachi Sashimi. I liked how all of the rolls were a set price ($17) but each piece was definitely smaller than I expected. I feel like it wasn't the worst I've ever had or the best especially since there's so many sushi restaurants in SF. For the average value and quality, I probably wouldn't come here again. read more

Umi - Golden Dragon Roll, Hamachi Sashimi, and Crunchy Spider Roll - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Nice little Japanese food joint with plenty of table in two rooms. Street parking is ok. Relatively quiet since I have dinner early at 6 pm. Hostesses are good and attentive. Food is quick and tasty and fresh. Portion is small. They have many house special. Life is a box of chocolate or in this case a chef special combination, you get whatever available at the chef's hands wish for the best. Give them a try. read more

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We stumbled upon this cute little Japanese restaurant and decided to give it a try since it looks pretty authentic. We were seated right away on an early Sunday evening, street parking wasn't too bad either. They have indoor seating and also a semi-outdoor seating area. They have a separate menu for the specials. The uni and ikura Don was from the specials menu. Uni was very fresh but portion was on the smaller/delicate end. We also tried crunchy spider and Potrero rolls. Rolls were decent with fresh fish. Overall, we had a great experience with the place and would come back again. read more

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Really delicious! Great quality food. Restaurant is a small and cozy hole in the wall. Friendly staff but slow service-there was only one person working. Also gets busy, but for good reason! Highly recommend! read more

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We came hungry... The seaweed salad is standard. The agedashi tofu is cut in large pieces that fall apart and is barely fried. The underwhelming Golden Dragon and Potrero rolls were similar and not particularly tasty, just average. The grilled Japanese butterfish was exquisite and worth trying! The server was kind and efficient. The place is a bit drab, nothing special, but ok. read more

Great place to get Japanese food! The asparagus wrapped in pork was tender. The black sole was melt-in-your-mouth. The dragon and tiger rolls were just enough. The service was great too! The server greeted us with a smile and checked on us often to make sure we were ok. The place was small, intimate, and cozy. read more

We ordered takeout tonight and truly hoped it would be one of our new favorite places in the neighborhood, but it was so so disappointing. To start, we ordered a Caterpillar roll for 17 dollars and it was tiny. The entire roll fit inside a 6x6 takeout box and it was only slightly bigger than the size of my iPhone. Moreover, the roll had barely any eel, wasn't completely cut through, and fell apart when we tried to pick it up. The flavor was mediocre at best. We also had the 41 dollar Sashimi Deluxe. The sashimi was tough, dull, and bland. Although the slices weren't tiny, it was still on the small side. The miso soup and rice that came with the set were completely uninspiring. And lastly, the shiso leafs had black spots on it. For over 70 dollars (including tip), we ended up so hungry that we had to supplement our dinner with leftovers. Take your money somewhere else. read more

Our absolute favorite neighborhood sushi spot and hidden local gem! Delicious, fresh sushi with many other excellent dishes. We especially love the impeccably prepared agedashi tofu and butterfish among others. The service is attentive, and the ambiance is cozy and quaint. There is both an indoor and enclosed outdoor patio area for seating that is dog friendly. read more

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Omg, sooo yummy. Umi hit the spot. All of their dishes tasted very fresh, yummy, and well considered. We ordered the tofu and poke appetizer, spider crab, and the Potrero roll. They have an option for people to sit inside or at the semi-outdoor patio space. We sat inside, but I'm open to sitting outside when it's a bit warmer! The restaurant's ambiance during the evening was relaxed, somewhat romantic, but also could be considered platonic. Also, bonus! The service was very speedy. The staff was attentive and we got seated on a Friday night right away. I would recommend Umi if you're in the Potrero Hill area for sushi! read more

Umi - Spider Crab + Potrero Roll - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Puzzled at the other bad reviews. Maybe the chefs changed? Or maybe I lucked out on my choices? This is a hidden gem in my neighborhood. - Bincho otoro: fresh, "creamy" but holy cow it was $25. I'd probably skip it tbh. - Salmon sashimi: fresh, the cut was just the right size. Good! - Dragon roll: I'm a fan of uni so I got this roll. The tempura was well done, combined with the uni on top. It's so good. 5/5 - Golden Dragon roll: I like this too. They put a tiny slide of yuzu on top of I'm not wrong. - Hotate nigiri: very good - Hotate maki: it's spicy in the middle, gave the dish a good kick. 4.5/5 - California maki: I like how they use fresh crab meat instead of fake one here. Love it. The rolls were quite "skinny" on the rice but it's totally fine by me. I actually love it since I don't need so much carbs. Even though this isn't the most value for money sushi spot, I love the food & vibe here and will definitely come back for other dishes :) read more

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Service was excellent, friendly and attentive. Slightly bigger than a hole in the wall yet elegant and comfy. Delicious sushi and one of the smooths sakes( wish I remembered the name. Believe is had peach or pear notes, my daughter picked it out.) I've even had. Highly recommend. read more

Small cute sushi restaurant in Potrero hill with fresh sushi. This would be a cute date spot. Everything was good but I wasn't a fan of one roll, I think it was the Union. The other two were good. But the stand outs were the sweet scallop and the seared red snapper nigiris! Those were soo good!!! read more

Umi - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Ordered for takeout! The shop is small and easy to miss. It also has a tiny outdoor dining area embedded next to the restaurant. I got the nigiri deluxe, which comes with eight pieces of nigiri, six pieces of their California roll, and miso soup. The slices of fish for each piece of nigiri was comically longer than the rice underneath it, but hey I'm not complaining about getting more fish! Some of the nigiri were hit or miss as some slices of fish were cut thicker or were more fresh than others. There was one piece that didn't really do it for me, it was oddly sweet? The miso soup was powdery with a few slices of seafood and tofu, and the California rolls looked a bit sad. The rice could've been packed better for each of the sushi pieces. Overall it was good, slightly overpriced, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come here again. read more

Umi - Nigiri Deluxe - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

This is our neighborhood sushi spot, and it's great! Umi is super cozy & quaint, and we have never had to wait to be seated. All of their fish is super fresh, and we have never had a bad food experience here. My husband is gluten free, and they actually have a separate printed gluten free menu (and gluten free soy sauce), which is amazing! If you're in Potrero Hill, this is a great option for dinner! read more

We went to Umi for diner. We wanted to seat outside to enjoy the warm weather, unfortunately, their patio was full. We were about to leave for another restaurant, the owner quickly offered to seat us on the sidewalk by bringing a table and chairs - we loved the idea! A friend of ours had described Umi as an expensive place with small portions. We did not think so. Items were reasonably priced and the quality was on point. It is no the best sushi I ever had but I definitely enjoyed my meal! The service was very friendly and fast. The waitress made sure we had everything we needed, promptly refilling my partner's glass of water before she could finish it. I had the Sashimi Deluxe, 18 pieces of chef's choice raw fish with a side of rice. My partner had the Potrero rolls, spicy tuna topped with salmon, and avocado served with spicy garlic chili sauce. Everything was tasty. I had a Japanese beer, Coedo "Shiro" beer, a first-time for me, it was a nice discovery. Umi is a solid Sushi place, not something to cross San Francisco for, but definitely a place to go if you are around. read more

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The sashimi combo I ordered was amazing! The cuts of fish were thick and fresh. The rice was warm and had good texture. The service was great and very friendly, kept refilling our waters. :) 10/10!! read more

Umi - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Delicious fresh sushi; the / Beef Enoki & Asparagus Maki is a must try for lovers of a balanced taste between beef and Vegetables. Their Sake selection is sure to welcome Sake connoisseurs read more

Went here just before Christmas at lunchtime. What a treat this place is. The food is delicious and the service is excellent. I felt a lot of love by the people that run this place. Plus it's on wonderful 18th in Potrero Hill. read more

Umi - Their outdoor patio. We almost had the place to ourselves, which I am sure is unusual! The sun was hitting just right that day. - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Quaint and cozy -- everything that I look for during a night out for sushi. The agedashi tofu was delicate, with a subtle smokiness from the bonito flakes. The sashimi deluxe platter was fresh and the natural flavors of the fish shined through. One of the things that I find compelling about Umi is that you can completely walk past it, which I have unfortunately done on several occasions. This, however, allows the quality of the food and the experience to speak for themselves rather than being reliant on "the hype." This understated nature of Umi also helps maintain the local, neighborhood vibes of a homey, go-to sushi spot. read more

Umi - Agedashi Tofu - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Their sushi is a cut above, and i really appreciate their dedicated vegan and gf menus! The specialty rolls could be a little bigger for the price. Even though I'm surrounded by sushi places in the Mission, I make the pilgrimage to Umi for the quality and creativity of their food. read more

We ordered takeout tonight and truly hoped it would be one of our new favorite places in the neighborhood, but it was so so disappointing. To start, we ordered a Caterpillar roll for 17 dollars and it was tiny. The entire roll fit inside a 6x6 takeout box and it was only slightly bigger than the size of my iPhone. Moreover, the roll had barely any eel, wasn't completely cut through, and fell apart when we tried to pick it up. The flavor was mediocre at best. We also had the 41 dollar Sashimi Deluxe. The sashimi was tough, dull, and bland. Although the slices weren't tiny, it was still on the small side. The miso soup and rice that came with the set were completely uninspiring. And lastly, the shiso leafs had black spots on it. For over 70 dollars (including tip), we ended up so hungry that we had to supplement our dinner with leftovers. Take your money somewhere else. read more