Prices are slightly on the expensive side, but oh my, the salmon sashimi is off the hook! We were craving some good old soba noodles & sashimi. And Ranch 99's sashimi are slightly questionable. I decided to check out this little grocery store for their sashimi and other munchies. Salmon sashimi is interestingly sliced, but price is right. $5.50 a big ass piece. I also got some green tea soba noodle, green onion, ponzu sauce, shredded seaweed, a huge ass bottle of sake (to make cleaning time funner), and some BOURBON gift set cookies for ourselves :) The salmon was sliced so smoothly when i got home. Super fresh! You can definitely tell how fresh the sashimi was. Their other sashimi combo prices are just right. I also got $3.99 sashimi combo (9 small pieces) for the bf to try out different fishes. Others sashimi were okay, we'll just stick with the salmon. read more

Cheap, yummy japanese food! Their sashimi and sushi bentos are more affordable than elsewhere. Most of their stuff are also cheaper than other supermarkets such as Ranch 99. I always hit up Yaoya-san when I'm in the area. Besides sashimi and sushi, be sure to try their Japanese cakes, ramens, odens, and all sorts of delicious Japanese stacks! Another plus - plenty of parking right outside the store. read more

Before the days of the Asian megamarts (ie. 99 Ranch, Seafood City, etc.), tiny little ethnic grocery stores in strip malls were the mainstays of not only grocery but community. Yaoya-san is a wonderful throwback to those days. It's a teeny little mom and pop store, crammed full of Japanese goodies and dry goods. You'll more easily find stuff here that you might not find at non-Japanese centered Asian markets, like various brands/styles of furikake and ochazuke, as well as a good selection of Hawaiian foods. The refrigerated case near the registers is full of freshly prepared, locally made bento lunches and Japanese style French pastries. Check the shelf right next to the register for rice balls. Quickie, authentic Japanese style lunch with no fuss! This is my first stop in the area whenever I want Japanese food. The selection is good, the staff is friendly, and it carries all of my favorite stuff. But more importantly, it's very obvious that this is still an important part of the Japanese community with the Japanese language magazines and other Japanese businesses and organizations that post their flyers and what not. I could buy some of the same items at 99 Ranch, but I think supporting the small businesses that are obvious mainstays of their community is far more important. read more

Pick up sushi boxes for lunch. If you are there slightly before noon look for the shrimp-tempura-rice-triangle things at the register. Great savory snack! In the refrigerated shelf (where they keep the sushi) find the "cheesecake". Trust me!!! It's a light butter poundcake type bread that is to die for. I like to buy loose leaf/brown rice green tea here too. A plethera of japanese candies and snacks. Looks like a decent Sake selection too. read more

Since I was attending Asian Snack Party but thought I did not have enough snacks, I decided to go there to fill my share. The store size is mid-size comparing with other Japanese supermarkets in Bay Area. The store may look clammy and old, but you cannot expect every store to be totally clean like Mitsuwa in Torrance. Thankfully I was able to find enough snacks to bring to the party. That shows that they have a pretty good variety despite its limited size. Stuffs here are a little more expensive than what you find at stores in South Bay, but given the rarity of this place in North East Bay, that is to be expected. Hell, they had tororo konbu udon (udon with grated yam/kelp soup) on sale, so I sure cannot complain too much! read more

I think that I have found my Mitsuwa-away-from-home. YAY! Finally a close Japanese market where I can get umeboshi, curry croquettes, and sashimi. I have been looking for a store just like this. I would go here to find the Japanese items that I can't find at the usual 99 Ranch market. But for all the common Japanese items I will still buy at 99 Ranch b/c its in close proximity and some items are a bit pricey at Yaoya. I followed a fellow yelper's advice in getting sashimi. It was great! I bought Hamachi and Sake sashimi totalling a pound in weight for 10 bucks. I wish they didn't charge $1.75 for Hi-chew but I still like it here! read more

I cannot live without them. they keep me real. but do not buy Enoki mushrooms from here. never...please don't... read more

People can comment about the cosmetics of the place and the smell, but it is a grocery store that carry many products not found in your typical Asian stores like the Ranch. If you walk into any other Asian market, you will smell fish and that's NORMAL. Sure, it can be a bit more pricey, but I like the convenience of not having to venture to a bigger store when I know they have what I want. I'm all about supporting the mom and pop's when I can. I am a bit discouraged by the "out dated" products, but if you have a problem with it, then don't buy it. How do you think Grocery Outlet came about? Chill out people. read more

i think there are 3 generations of japanese folks at the helm of this lil japanese and hawaiian food store. There is a kitchen in the back, so they make daily fresh and authentic bentos and quick meal makers that sell out by the end of the day. the veg selection is limited to the basics of japanese cooking, so while it is stuff you cannot get at other produce places, like japanese green onion, burdock root, dandelion greens, lotus and bamboo root and other basics, that is all they have. they offer great variety of tofu, fishcake, pickles, fresh noodles, as well as seasonings, dressings, dried stuff, frozen stuff, that you will need to make your japa waian bbq picnic luau family gathering complete. also they have some japanese toiletries and lots of good sake and japanese beers. Also they have raw pork and beef cut thin for shabu or even pho, or whatever,chicken, as well as fish and seafood for eating raw, or cooking. thanks for reading! read more

best place around here to get decent sashimi for cheap. They are generally very fresh and the cuts are nice. I have ordered Yao-ya San's sashimi for my parties 2x already, and they were great. You can ask him to pre-slice the fish for you. He also has very good teriyaki chicken - he grills them in the back of the shop. We ordered his teriyaki chicken for our last party and it was a hit. Another notable item is that they now carry pastries from some place that starts with "no..." something. It's a japanese name, the label is a gold seal ... Just buy those if you see them on the shelf, we have tried countless items from that same chef and we have not been disappointed with any of them. If you need to buy beef or pork for your Japanese dishes, get them from Yao-ya san. At american market they trim all the fat for lean meats, at Yao-ya san they leave all that glorious fat on for an authentic dinning experience. Good thing they come in small sizes. Occasionally I saw small cubes of beef fat sold there for hot plate bbq-ing as well. They carry some free range chicken eggs that have Kanji characters (chinese characters) on the carton, 4 characters I think, can't remember what they are, but if you see those, buy them. The price is cheaper than Tokyo Fish's, and the eggs have bright orange yolks that are very rich in flavor. fresh prepackaged ramen in the refrigerated section are also good. Sometimes I try to buy from Yaoya-San as much as I can before I hit Ranch99 for my Asian stuffs, just because I want him to be in business forever. read more

I love this little market. If I need Japanese items, I come here. I'd rather give my $$ to a mom&pop run store than a chain like Ranch 99. If I come early enuf, I pick up their pre-made food (sushi, grilled fish, donburi) before they sell out. They pack a lot into this tiny store and surprisingly have a nice selection of meats & sushi quality fish. They are packaged in the back of the store but super fresh. I've made a lot of nigiri with their fish and never got sick. Great selection of snacks&treats. A gem of a place!! read more

Either I don't look Japanese enough, or there's some other reason why they didn't speak Japanese to me until I spoke to them first. Aside from that moment of lameness, Yaoya-San is a halfway decent attempt at running a Japanese grocery store, given how ridiculously cramped their building is. It reminds me of the days when Marukai (in Gardena, CA) used to be in a tiny building, too, before they moved to their large building. Yaoya-San has a nice selection of foodstuffs, including: - Pasta mix. Seriously, this stuff is the greatest for lazy people. Just boil some pasta, add the sauce packet, and toss. - Sliced meats and fish for Japanese dishes, like spiced cod roe (mentaiko) and sukiyaki beef. - An entire aisle of crackers, candies, and other snacks. Yes, even in the most cramped Japanese market I've ever visited, there's a large section devoted to snacks. Good times. The prices are actually reasonable, but there's bound to be some surprises. Like $10 for a pack of frozen meatballs. And $7(!) for a lousy-looking bento meal. It's really annoying that they're right in the middle of the El Cerrito Plaza and El Cerrito del Norte BART stations, since it means it's going to be a long trip for me from/to Berkeley regardless of my method of travel. I usually just go once a month and stock up on everything I need. read more

TERRIBLE! Small, dingy like a garage. EVERYTHING was overpriced. Ridiculously! (what was mildly affordable was up to two years past date! is that legal? one hi chew was early 2008 expiry) Most if not all of it was dusty. The staff was rude. I do not understand why anyone would like this place. I'd rather drive to mitsuwa, marukai or nijiya HELL I'd rather fly back to Japan than shop here again. My jGrandma would say this place is stuff salvaged from the garbage and not worthy of being bought! Disgusting! read more

Yaoya-san has the best selection of weird Japanese candy outside of San Francisco (though the Ranch Market in the Pacific East Mall, and the Tokyo Fish Market on San Pablo in Berkeley are possible contenders). Where else can you get: gummi cola sours, black black caffeinated gum, lemon sours that are so powerful, they taste like the electrical contacts on a car battery, HYPER-MINT XYLITOL GUM that first tastes like a mint and pepper explosion, and then, when you think the taste is going to fade, it turns to lemon -- how cool is that? Enter here and you will leave with a large bag and a lighter wallet. Months later, your dentist will thank you for putting his children through college. The store also has great instant curries, premade sushi to go, mochi ice cream treats, Japanese health care products (nothing spa-like, just the what the Tokyo version of Walgreens would stock), and all sorts of crackers, sauces, and squid-derived foodstuffs. The staff here is very friendly, too. read more

We always get fresh sashimi here to eat at home. Cook some rice, cut up the sashimi into little pieces, make some miso soup and it makes a great meal at home. Much cheaper than going to a sushi restaurant. They have cute little snacks and other assorted Japanese products as well. I also get odeng (fried fish cake) to make odeng gook (soup) here too. I wish they were open longer. =) read more

This store smells weird. I can't identify what it is, and it faded as I stood there, but at first I thought, "Wow, this stinks!" They have lots of Japanese food stuffs, not the most varied selection or best prices, but if you think of it like a specialty market, it makes sense that it's not cheap. My husband really wanted a tshirt but they don't have XL, even though the lady really spent some time looking for him. When we head back that way we'll drop in and see if they have more tshirts. I hope it doesn't still smell weird. read more

Has all the main Japanese food staples: has a rice selection, snacks, miso, tofu products, frozen and refrigerated items and some bento choices. It's a tiny market-- so be prepared to touch elbows if there's other folks around. They have a small sashimi section, for those times you don't want to head out to Tokyo Fish Market. Have always loved this little market and hope they stay around for a while more! read more

Ever since we moved to out of the area, I miss this little market! I used to live a few blocks away, and loved picking up croquettes, furikake, rice crackers, and Pocky. So much easier than going to 99 Ranch. read more

Great little Japanese stop for those of you who are lazy to go all the way to the Nijiya market in SF. However, as usual, a bit pricy and deceiving. Wish there was a cheaper Japanese shop in the area. Fish in abundance though, which is awesome. But again expensive. read more

I love this place so much I want it all for myself. So Ill keep this review short. Sushi. Sashimi. Fruits. Vegetables. Candy. Appliances. What else do you need thats Japanese? Everything is here. read more

This is a simple Japanese grocery with a good selection of cheap take-out sushi and other classic dishes like seaweed salad and korokke. This is not the best sushi in town, but it's way cheaper than sit-down restaurants, and way tastier and fresher than the take-out sushi from Trader Joes or Costco. read more

I love this place! Great selection for a great price! Plenty of parking and no long lines! Great service and love the food here!

Staffs are really courteous. I went there to get ingredients for my dinner party I was hosting one day. They didn't have exactly what I needed, but one of the staffs walked around the store to try to get me alternatives. How nice! Like other Yelpers are saying, the prices are bit higher. But I think this place has far more better selections than Tokyo Fish Market while saving you a trip to Nijiya Market in San Francisco. Yaoya-san has fresh veggies and that's great, but I'd shop at Tokyo Fish Market for my fish needs just because they have wider varieties there. read more

This is a fantastic Japanese grocery store - Yaoya san has everything you could need! Natto, konnyaku, fresh shiso, etc... They sell lovely pre-sliced sashimi and sushi and have a nice selection of green teas. They also have a limited selection of Japanese toiletries and cooking accoutrement. read more

Fresh fish, authentic ingredients great prices! A definite must stop for your Japanese grocery needs! I got the their toro( fatty tuna ) tako and tuna pieces. All fresh and properly priced. Definitely a small store but packed full of Japanese goodness read more

A lot of authentic Japanese snacks here! I always spent way too much time and money browsing over all the products! During the Christmas time and new year time, they will have special products ! The boss also make some fresh chatsu pork slice and bento box for people to grab and go! Def recommend to visit if you are around the area! read more

Recently I moved to the east bay... knowing I would miss the japanese market in japan town. I searched up local japanese markets to roam around in. Coming here expecting it to be a Local japanese super market with a little bit more stuff to pick at. But the moment I stepped in the store I realize this ain't nothing like the Japanese markets in the city. Didn't really find the snacks/food I was looking for... so I ended up grabbing a couple of things anyways. The variety of sashimi was soso... they have some meat prepped for shabu.. will try another japanese market in the area read more

This place has fresh sushi of all kinds ,and the beer to go along with it. Including ORION, which is sometimes hard to find. The 12 packs of Asahi,Sopporo,and Kirin are actually cheaper than at the supermarket. A VERY extended selection of Sake Also. read more

This place does have a large selection of Japanese goods. I had a small abalone salad today (pre-made) and nearly died from the saltiness of it. I think it was drowning in salt! They also don't take credit card/ATM cards for anything under five dollars. read more

My place to buy my Gatsby hair products. A little more expensive than Najiya Market in SF, but it saves me the drive. You can find all other goodies here too (Hawaiian food goodies, hint, hint), if you cannot it at Tokyo Fish Market. But it is the Gatsby product that draws me here. read more

This is such a randomly placed Japanese grocery store. It's right around the corner from Ranch 99 on San Pablo. It's not very big, but we still managed to buy things that we weren't able to find at Ranch 99, like fresh, preservative-free ramen noodles and Asahi Black beer. Prices weren't bad. My friend bought the same kind of ramen in San Mateo for $5 and it was only $3.50 here. They have a small section of fresh produce and ready-to-eat goods. If you're looking for a semi-obscure Japanese food item, you might be able to find it here. read more

This place compliments the Ichibankan store next door. This place focuses more on foods. Along with Tokyo Fish market in Albany, I can get all of my Japanese items in this little mall. read more

Yaoya-san is a very small Japanese market on San Pablo Ave. With a moderate selection of sashimi and bento boxes, I can see that it is more of a convenience store for the locals who don't feel like driving the distance outside of the neighborhood. They carry a variety of Japanese ingredients that other Asian grocers don't carry. It can be a life saver for those situations when you are missing that one key ingredient you have planned to cook for dinner. read more

I love this place for the culture. Family run and good, Japanese culture for the Area. Why only 3 stars? I would shop here more, except EVERYTHING had too much plastic wrapping and all the sweets were made with palm oil. Both big no no's for the environment. Got to keep that in mind when running a business in the Bay Area. read more

I really do miss living in El Cerrito because of this store... Once I step into this store, I can get lost for an hour or two if I don't watch the clock... I just get caught up in all the different food items that I've never noticed in Ranch 99 or other asian supermarkets since they tend to be a plethora of items... At Yaoya-San, I can easily spot specialty items as well as brands that other stores do not offer... I first fell in love with this place because I can purchase really good Uni (sea urchin) here as well as cheaply priced thin sliced meats for my hotpot, quail eggs and ground chicken . Their premade bento boxes are also really good, and rather than having to stop by a larger chain store I can also pick up the more important vegetables here. Asides from food, they also sell housewares and soaps and stuff... The staff is extremely courteous too! read more

I had just been to Tokyo Fish Market 10 minutes before coming here by accident (I was going to Ichiban Kan and happened to see this Japanese market next door). It's about 1/3 the size, so it's pretty small and packed, but it does have quite a selection. I mean, who else has guava jam!!! Again, like all Japanese markets, prices are on the high side. But for some things you can't get anywhere else, this is a good place to check out. read more

Wonderful little mom n pop market... Had a day in the east bay and realllly didn't feel like heading to jtown on a Sunday afternoon (and paying for parking, blah blah) so we kinda drove out of the way to the yaoya-san. Sad me, that they aren't closer to SF. Amazingly large selection of miso (avoid the cheap hikari miso, BTW. Trust me.) Small but useful selection of fresh vegetables (ironically small, considering the name of the shop.) Literally a wall full of noodles. New years assorted goodies for osechi, all reasonably priced. Only place where I have found the requisite rice flour for a recipe I have in mind. Fabulous. Great prices on most items, for Japanese products, this is rare. Nijiya is highway robbery. Friendly service. The woman there insisted that they had daikon when they clearly didn't, and then she pointed to something that looked like daikon. I took it and then asked if it tasted the same, and said she didn't know. LOL. At least she was honest!!! (this all happened in Japanese so it was actually a funny exchange.) Next time I'm in the area, I will be dropping in! read more

This place is easily missed, but definitely stop by if you're looking for some specific Japanese ingredients! I haven't been to the bigger Japanese grocery stores around, but this one is walkable from my house (and also has the Daiso-type store right next to it). This place is tiny. While I shopped, there were about 8 other customers there, and we were constantly trying to walk around one another. But I'm definitely happy to find a place for authentic things. I intentionally came here to get mentaiko; however, they weren't the bright orange type and were just so expensive. I also saw they had tobiko roe but I've seen cheaper at Berkeley Bowl. Regardless, they did have quite a selection of sashimi-grade raw fish as well as sushi rolls and bentos around $5-8. I also saw onigiris, but they were almost out at around 1pm. Also if you're looking for sauces, I noted oyster-*flavored sauce, hoisin sauce, hot sauce, curry powder and blocks, miso/sesame dressing, sesame oil, Japanese and Korean BBQ sauces, Ponzu, Kewpie-brand mayo...just to give you an idea of their selections. Things I walked out with: Curry powder, curry sauce blocks, Calpico concentrate, coconut milk, sesame oil. Nice place, will be back. read more

I love this place. It seems smaller than Tokyo Fish down the road in Berkeley, but has a lot more selection and better pricing. (come to think of it, Yaoya-San may be bigger).....They had some nice looking Salmon Sashimi for $10 lb in the fresh food section. I did notice a lot of items on sale which was a plus, the many times I have been to Toyko Fish it does not appear that they put many items on sale. Big Minus, they are closed Mondays. read more

This is like a little corner market in Japan. It doesn't carry everything, but it should meet the needs of almost everyone. The prices aren't as cheap as they are in Japan, but there are shipping and taxes, so it still beats flying to Japan for the items. I've been going to this store, even when they were at there old location a few blocks away. The staff makes me forget that I'm in the USA. with their cheerful and sincere smiles. A great place to get your Japanese items, and ingredients, to make you smile. read more