Café Japengo

San Diego, United States

4.4

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 858-450-3355
Website:
www.cafejapengo.com
Address:
8960 University Center Ln, San Diego, CA, 92122
b/t Caminito Plaza Ctr & Lebon Dr
University City
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.4 miNobel Drive
0.4 miVA Medical Center
0.4 miLa Jolla Villlage and Regents, San Diego
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Valet
Bike Parking
No
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Trendy
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Open now
Local time (San Diego) 13:43 Thursday, 28 November 2024

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
4:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Saturday 4:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Savor the exquisite culinary delights of Asia and the Pacific Rim, without leaving La Jolla! Consistently ranked among the best restaurants in San Diego, California, Café Japengo is a haven for adventurers seeking exotic creations and new taste sensations. Honored by San Diego Magazine for serving the area’s «Best Sushi» and «Best Pacific Rim Cuisine,» we showcase awe-​inspiring «fusion» menus, a dynamic presentation kitchen with world-​class chefs, a renowned sushi bar, and an energized, sophisticated ambiance.

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20 reviews of Café Japengo

No registration required
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Probably my favorite sushi bar in town as far as food quality and environment goes. I’ve been coming here every year for my birthday for the past 3 or 4 years because it’s always consistently delicious, and consistently fun! Karen in the bar has been a huge reason why I keep coming back. Super friendly, very welcome and energetic, always has the best recommendations, and makes me and my friends/​family feel like family! I also love coming to Japengo’s for business lunches because of the upscale environment and central location. Thank you Café Japengo and thank you Karen!!!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
We love Café Japengo! Ask for Karen at the bar, she is the best in the business! She delivers the best service anyone could ever ask for. Professional, yet personal and an all around charming person. The food is great, sushi is fresh, happy hour is always a good deal, and with a bartender like Karen, the drinks are always cold and to perfection.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Best Sushi in the country. Always catering to what you want and gets it right. Jerry Warner is the best! I will eat only Sushi there, always fresh and just right. You have to to go… sit at the sushi bar for the best experience. General seating is great too.
Place rating: 2
Del Mar, CA
Came here with a colleague of mine for a quick lunch. Big mistake. I ordered a chicken salad, he ordered the Kobe burger. It was 1:10 when the server took our orders, we didn’t get our food until 1:40. Never again.
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
Good sushi, decent portions, and wonderful service. So why only 3 stars? Two reasons. The prices are ridiculous. It’s just too hard for me to pay twice as much for a sushi roll than almost anywhere else and the quality was not twice as good. I guess it’s just a la Jolla thing. Also a real pet peeve of mine is a small wine pour. I can stomach paying a higher price for sushi if the glass of wine is halfway reasonable, but it was not. I had one of the cheapest rolls, one nigiri, and one glass of wine and my bill was $ 30 before tip. I pay 15 for that in so many other sushi bars.
Place rating: 2
San Diego, CA
Just ate the sushi here with the girlfriend. Sadly, horribly disappointed. We ordered a salmon belly sushi to start, and I kept thinking they found a way to dye a cheaper fish salmon colored. It had no flavor, didn’t seem that fresh, and was just not good. Same story for the roll. Same story for the hand roll.
On the plus side, the service was excellent.
Place rating: 5
Carlsbad, CA
Love Café Japengo.
Lots! Great sushi bar, dining section and lounge bar.
Not to miss a night sitting across the bar with the infamous Karen, who is definitely a well seasoned bartender. She knows her drinks, and makes excellent food and libation recommendations. She is very personable and a true professional at her craft. I always make a point of sitting at the bar with her.
If you sit at the sushi bar, ask for Jerry. He made the Cabo-​Wabo Roll famous!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
It’s been almost five years since I was last there for happy hour. The quality hasn’t changed. The food was delicious and our server, Jessie, was excellent. She made sure we were never wanting for food or a beer without being overbearing. Definitely recommend for a happy hour with friends.
Place rating: 5
Oceanside, CA
Popped in for a couple cocktails at the bar and had a wonderful experience! Our bartender (Karen) was a delight. Although we did not dine our service was so enjoyable it was review worthy. Karen was friendly, funny and attentive even though her bar was quite busy. She said she’s only in one or two nights a week and I will definitely be back to say hello and perhaps sit with her and dine there on my next visit.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Karen is the best bartender ever! Amazing drinks, cool personality, always a fun time sitting at the bar here. All of the staff at the bar is cool and friendly and the ambience and decorations are awesome, as well. Heading back tonight!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
One of the main reasons I’m giving five stars is the service. Jesse and Christina are the best, they never fail to make us feel welcomed and always remember our regular order. As regulars, there’s no better feeling than having the staff remember you by name and remembering your drink.
As for food, I highly recommend their happy hour, they have a great selection of sushi and appetizers.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
The service at the Café Japengo was genuinely the best I’ve experienced during our recent dinner visit. Jessie, in particular was superb – she knew what drink or tasty appetizer I would want before I could even anticipate it. The ambience felt hip without being pretentious.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
If you want amazing sushi, this is the place to go! The sushi is always fresh and delicious! Cocktails are out of this world, and the service is outstanding! Jessie is our favorite cocktail/​server there– she always takes such good care of us!
Place rating: 5
La Jolla, CA
Love Japengo… super delicious food and awesome happy hour and the waitress Jessie rocks :)
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Really good food! oysters trio are fabulous! Our waitress Jessica was really amazing!
Place rating: 4
Saint Croix Falls, WI
If you are looking for a fun atmosphere great drinks and very good service, this is the place. If you are strictly going for the sushi you may want to consider some of the other tastier items on the menu. The sushi was meh… The roasted oysters however we’re excellent.
Place rating: 3
Solana Beach, CA
I’ve been here a lot over the years. I think they have a great happy hour but feel the quality has changed. Today the «krab» seemed off and the fish not as fresh. Not my go to lunch spot anymore in the UTC area.
Place rating: 4
North Park, San Diego, CA
I don’t understand how this joint has only 3.5 stars! I’m giving it a solid 4 because their sushi is super fresh, and very very good. My coworkers and I come here a few times a year to indulge. We usually order a ton of sushi so I’ve basically have tried everything here. My favorite is probably the Carne Asada Roll, which does not have beef in it, it’s seared tuna. I’m not gonna get into describing all of the different sushi, but I will say that if you like sushi and alcohol, try Café Japengos. I love it and my boss who is a sushi snob loves it.
Check it out.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
This is for HH, which apparently isn’t just 5 – 7 every day, but ALL night on Saturday! We ordered beef yakatori, calamari, oyster trio, hawaiian roll, and crunchy roll (about $ 6 or so each). We also ordered, off the regular menu, the hamachi karma (the collarbone of fish). And with my Unilocal check in, we got nori fries for free! The food was really good and generous portions.
Our server was Jessie was very helpful, friendly, and professional. She was great as far as making sure our drinks were filled and if we needed anything. And when we told her we were going to catch a movie, she made sure our food was prompt and that our bill was ready when we wanted to leave.
We sat outside about 6 – 7:30pm for HH and while busy, it wasn’t super crowded inside or outside.
We’re definitely coming back!
Place rating: 4
Redondo Beach, CA
I can’t believe this is only rated a few stars. Every single thing we ordered was excellent – wish we had one in LA. Nice elegant/​cool interior, terrific server, and really good pan-​Asian cuisine.
We had the seafood salad, some very good quality sushi, and the furikake and truffle fries, which were hot, crispy and tasty. But we were really impressed by the duck, served nice and lean on a bed of thinly sliced grilled veggies. We also loved the udon noodles with shrimp, which they offer as a half order – and trust me, that’s plenty.
In my view, they only lose a star because their wine list leaves A LOT to be desired. Several low rent value wine choices, with a couple of the more common higher-​end suspects they can jack up the price on (Rombauer, Opus One, yawn). A place this attractive and food this good deserves better. We opted for cocktails and cold sake, which served us well.