Sanppo Restaurant

I got food poisoning from their pork ramen. Additionally, staff was unfriendly. Overall, a pretty negative experience.

Terrible sushi quality. Their fish is obviously not fresh at all. Nigiri was okay, but the rainbow roll was the worst I’ve had. The color of the dishes were not right.
Service is alright. I expected a little bit better quality and service for Japantown. I’m not coming back to this restaurant though.

This is one of those spots where you come late at night after some hanging and drinking with friends. Service was okay with waiters quick to assist & the quality of food was okay too. The Ika Fry (calamari) was the chef’s special. More like the chef needed to get rid of it (way too chewy). My lady and I had ordered 2 bento boxes + Ika Fry, damaging in roughly $ 35 total. I live in NY, so i wont be coming back.
:)

The only great thing is that it is open until late. Ika fry was chewy. Bento box price was okay, taste was nothing to rave about. Service was nice, welcoming.

My friends and I were looking around Japan Town for something to eat and decided to check this little restaurant out. The wait for the food wasn’t so bad (there was 8 of us altogether) and they got the food out to us around 15mins. The sushi rolls are good! I saw some reviews that said it wasn’t that great but honestly I can say I’d go back for their sushi again. The waitress are polite too and that’s a plus. The ramen was kinda bland but maybe that’s just me I have high expectations. [Noodle lover here]

Staff is friendly, fish was fresh, service was quick, and the beer was cold. This place seems severely under rated. Yum!

Thoroughly adequate Japanese food in a cozy (read: small and crowded) setting that is comfy enough, conveniently right across from the J-​Town Mall. Service was pleasant if a bit absent-​minded, food was okay, this place is not really a destination but fine if you’re hungry and in the area.

Our server was helpful enough and the food came out fast. We ordered the rainbow roll and the K-​pop roll, saba sioyaki and soba with chicken; complimentary tea, miso shiru, and salad were served before. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with most everything we got. The tea, soup, and salad were not bad, but they weren’t good, either. The crab salad in the rainbow maki was okay, but none of the fish in either roll seemed very fresh or flavorful; the soba was lackluster as well. The one reasonably tasty item was the saba; it was grilled nicely, with a crisp skin but not overdone.
We were hungry and ate what we were served, but regretted spending money ($ 50 plus tip) on a meal that I enjoyed about as much as I would have a Subway sandwich; it was that mediocre. Maybe some of their other menu items are good, but we won’t be going back to find out. Two stars for the saba and the service, Sanppo.

This is one of the few Japanese places that open until midnight or 1am (except Sundays where it’s 10am). So my friend and I stopped in for a very late dinner. We had miso soup, rainbow roll, and a baked salmon roll.
The miso soup and rainbow roll are what you’d expect at any restaurant. Both tasted pretty good. The Lionking (baked salmon) roll was outstanding and unexpected. I definitely would recommend this roll if you want something different. There’s just something about the way the salmon baked in foil wrap combined with the avocado, crab meat, and tobiko that made it quite appetizing.
Our only complaint is that the soup spoons that came with the miso soup tasted like detergent. but the staff quickly replaced it. The smell of the kitchen at the time was also heavy with detergent but hopefully this isn’t an ongoing problem.

The miso soup is great. Don’t know what they do with it, but it goes in the hatch very well. As for the sushi, don’t expect much. This is just another of those, «hey lets go get sushi» but have no idea where the good stuff is at. That being said, the catapillar-​like rolls I want to say was very good. They choose pretty heavy avocados or those were nicely slap with unagi and sauce and went really well in my tummy. The other which I believe was lion king was meh to say the least. Nothing special, but if ur hungry, try rolls with avocado. They don’t hold back as other places do.

This place is terrible!
First off, the older lady host/​waitress is beyond rude, there’s no air conditioning in the restaurant whatsoever, and the food is incredibly disgusting.
My sisters and I came here only because we were shopping in Japantown, and wow, was it a big mistake. We walked in, no greeting and we actually sat ourselves. I ordered the bento box and my sisters ordered the dynamite roll, my food came out first and was not very appetizing, the gyoza was super tiny and my grilled salmon roll was mushy. Almost like 15 mins later, my sisters finally got their rolls and what was upsetting was the sushi was soggy and mushy, it was so disgusting that they barely touched the rolls. To make matters worse, we sat and waited almost 40mins for our check, we politely asked the lady twice for it and come on, it doesn’t take that long to input the damn check. Sorry not sorry. Will not be returning and will never recommend this place. If you’re in Japantown, get sushi or ramen elsewhere.

Had lunch sushi special on a Friday. One piece of fish was a little tough. The snapper? The rest seemed ok. Five hours later having had nothing else to eat since lunch I got food poisoning and couldn’t hold anything down. My guys were twisted in knots. Had to cancel a date I’d just arrived for. Actually had to run to the bathroom of the restaurant where I met her. And it was not a pretty scene in there. Apologized and went straight home. Haven’t had food poisoning in many years. Don’t want to again. Won’t be going back there.

I’ve been to this place more then a handful of times. We make the drive out there (1 hour or so) and we get great tasting sushi. Hence the only reason we return. But we have yet to receive good service. The most recent times we have been to this place we had odd seating or a inattentive server. Not too sure if we will be returning…

Was a little skeptic about the restaurant due to the ratings but the place is great and deserves 5 stars.
Great food, fresh fish, large choice and top service. The waitresses were very attentive to detail and arranged a custom order for us free of charge. I will go again!

You would think in Japantown, you can’t go wrong with a sushi restaurant. My friend was visiting out of town and we came in here around 8 on a weekday and it was pretty empty, so we were glad not to have a wait (but that’s what I get for not Unilocaling places first…). I was hoping to show him quality sushi (he’s from rural Pittsburgh where sushi is rare), but in general, we left pretty disappointed. The meal came with miso soup and a house salad which was great. However, the sushi wasn’t very fresh and was kind of chewy. The fish that sat on top of the rolls was bare and thin. The rolls were priced ok, but the quality didn’t keep up. I was disappointed that I promised my friend great sushi and it didn’t live up to expectations :(
On a different note, the rolls were very spicy, and we got great service as the girls kept refilling my empty cup of water.

Just an average japanese restaurant in Japan Town… The bento box for lunch was a good deal and decently priced, so I would recommend getting that.

As anyone knows, I’m a HUGE fan of sushi. Right after we landed in SF for our girls weekend, we checked into our rental house — in Japantown. Of course after all that traveling, a happy hour and fresh sushi was in order! A friend found this little place and we noshed there. Here are the takeaways:
1. The service is poor. the tiny restaurant was busy, but we were able to find a table for 5 of us just fine. our server came to us after about 10 minutes, and ordered water, as we looked at the menu. she didn’t return for a good 20 minutes and left half way through our sushi order. she said to «push the button» if we needed her… which we did many times, yet we rarely saw her.
2. Food is amazing and fresh. we ordered a handful of different rolls to share amongst us and it was delicious. spicy tuna, avacado, veggie, unagi and more fill our plates and our bellies. SO GOOD.
3. Prices are pretty decent. the ones we ordered were much cheaper than their fancy rolls, yet just as good. they do offer bento boxes and full meals as well, for a good price too. only downside? NO HAPPY HOUR. sad day.
4. It’s located right in the heart of Japantown and walking distance from our house!
Overall — this place was decent. i wouldn’t return if i’m ever back in the city, but it was a great introduction to the cities selection of fresh fish :)

Just like other Unilocalers commented, AVOID this place! Worse customer service, table next to us was sitted way after us and got their food before us…
We ordered a bento box, 1 sushi roll and a tempura soba noodle. The sushi came and only the tempuras came… We had to catch one of the servers attention for the rest of the food and she brings the check showing us exactly what we ordered and giving us the attitude as we were wrong asking for the rest of our food… No sorries were given and all they kept saying in an angry manner: its coming its coming!!! Ok? Ok?
Not coming back here anymore!

Yay, Sushi!
To be completely honest, it was one of the first places we saw, and we decided to try it out right then and there. We were feeling rather adventurous. It wasn’t busy at all considering it was 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and there was only 1 other family in the restaurant besides us.
The prices were quite a bit better than the other place around the corner, so we were just happy to find a place after all that walking. My friend got some udon, and I got a bento. The price was definitely right!
Her udon was about $ 7 and my bento was about $ 10.
The only reason I’m giving 4 stars is because of the fantastic deal. For a $ 10 bento, you could order two small rolls as your entrée, or some other choice of food. WHAT. I was so full I couldn’t eat anymore, even though I tried desperately lol. Service was good, but the bathroom was pretty gross. We had to walk to the shopping center to find a bathroom. (Please clean your bathrooms :-()
As good as Sanppo was, I probably won’t be back soon; I would like to try the other restaurants in this area.

Nope, nope, nope.
The only reason we ended up here was because we were being indecisive and decided to walk into the first restaurant we saw. #terribledecision
I ordered the chirashi and while it looked okay, the quality of the fish was terrible. The texture was weird, and the taste was suspicious. Honestly, it was hard to stomach and I’m not sure if I’ll be sick later. My head also started hurting half way through the dinner although that could have been entirely unrelated…
The miso soup was decent and the salad was fine but a bizarre tasting tomato did find its way into my bowl.
Avoid.