Joy Sushi

Our server was attentive, friendly, and seriously awesome.
Their prices were reasonable. Next time we are back in San Mateo we will be returning. Hoping our family there makes this their new sushi spot.

This business needs to stop playing games. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. For my 27^th birthday I decided to come here for dinner. I have a large family and this place is good for large parties. So I called them and made a reservation. When we went there, we showed up on time and it was nearly impossible to get the hostess attention. I wave at her and walk towards her direction, she sees me and turns around. I felt like a second class citizen. After 20 minuets of waiting, I finally was able to get someone’s attention about my reservation. They tell me that they never got the call. They kept telling me that the reservation was never made because I didn’t call them. I then, pulled out my phone and showed them the call history. They were unapologetic and straight up rude. We ended up going somewhere else. This incident happened a few months ago.
Last night we decided to come here. We wanted to give them another chance. Maybe the worker was new and messed up… but the same thing freaking happened. My sister called to make the reservation. We get there and was greeted, when we asked about our reservation, his faced immediately dropped and he went to the back to speak to a manager. They lied and said we never called but they had a small table available. We go up there and saw that there was a larger table of ten who was seated a little before us… obviously they gave our table away to someone else, lied about it, and said we never made the reservation. Even though our phone records show otherwise. The staff is incredibly unprofessional. There is no customer service it’s ridiculous.
The food itself is subpar. I had better sushi elsewhere. The fish was not very fresh.

I ordered delivery, which I accept is often not to par with a places in house food, but this order was atrocious. The tempura was over cooked, over battered, and had hair and other black things on it that didn’t look like pepper. The chicken teriyaki had barely any teriyaki sauce on it and wasn’t trimmed properly at all– tons of fat and gross gristly bits.
The egg rolls were greasy and over cooked, and the volcano roll was an absolute disaster. Greasy, mushy, and over stuffed, i barely could stomach a bite. The vegetable tempura roll was decent, but also over greasy.
I have had much better orders from here before, perhaps it was an off day, but suffice to say if this was my place of business I wouldn’t have let this meal out of the door.

I want to give this place a 3 and a half! Why Unilocal!Why?!?
Anyways, getting back to the review… This place has been around for a while, and rightfully so. It’s food is overall, above average! There was nothing here that was absolutely terrible that made me yak my guts up, but there was nothing here that made me go on an entire speech on Unilocal praising it’s very being… It’s just good food. I feel like I’m criticizing it in that way, but I’m not! It’s a very consistent place. One where I can go to and know that I’m going to get some good food.
Service here is pretty good as well… Me and my family can be pretty annoying to serve (We eat an ungodly amount of ginger) and the servers here take it pretty well. Occasionally it feels like the service could use and extra person, but that is only when you come during peak hours.
Bottom line: A consist place where anyone can come to eat… Nothing here is going make you explode with either joy or anger… But it will get the job done.

They don’t have enough servers so they don’t come around often enough and are forgetful because they are slammed. I asked for lemon twice and never got it! Expect to spend a long time waiting, especially on a Saturday night.
The chicken teriyaki was overcooked and sauce was too sugary. The salad dressing was a bit sweet and the hamachi sashimi was sub-​standard. I ordered brown rice and received white!
Too many rolls to choose from so that it was confusing for us– which can be a good or bad thing for people.
The miso soup, scallop roll, first roll, and green tea ice cream were tasty but I wouldn’t say stellar.

I ordered Togo and got the Chirashi. The only positive was that the slices of fish are large. The salmon and hamachi were alright but the tuna was terrible. Definitely not fresh. So far the 3 sushi places I’ve tried in San Mateo sucked. To pay $ 20+ for 1 mediocre sushi item is disappointing. I guess I’ll have to try the place that’s $ 85 a person n see how it is. I will possibly come back and try dining in… We shall see!

I honestly and thoroughly enjoy Joy sushi. It’s one of my favorite spots to eat at when in town. I used to order all of those fat rolls with all of the sauces and what not but haven’t done so in over a year or so. I order a lot of the veggie rolls or bento boxes. I like the fact that you can kind of add/​change a roll. For example, they don’t have a tekka/​avocado roll and that’s like, one of my moms favorites but she asks and they deliver. She also requests for a shiitake mushroom/​asparagus roll to be made and they do it. Because I no long order those fat, saucey, delicious, sometimes fries rolls, I find myself ordering the same things:
–Kappa rolls
–the two rolls mentioned above
–veggie mix roll — tempura squash, asparagus and one more vegetable I can’t remember wrap in rice and tuna.
— Spicy tuna handroll
I appreciate the rolls are big because of the contents inside and not because it’s overpowered with rice.
Jean! Jean! Jean! I haven’t seen her the past 2 times I’ve dined in BUT if you decide to visit, sit in Jean’s section. She pays attention to detail and is very efficient. She knows the little side orders my mom and I order and how we order (I.e lemon on the side for the seaweed salad, no miso for mom, side of sriracha for me and salad dressings on the side) she brings all of that out every time we sit in. It’s pretty awesome that she remembers little things like that.
The service with her is amazing! So we’re always a little bummed when she’s not there. There’s been a few times where the service was a little slow and you can tell the waiters were getting flustered and got our orders wrong a few times.
Lunch and dinner you get a complementary side salad and miso soup. So there’s that.

What took me so long to come here??? So good. So fresh. We came here and only waited ~10 minutes.
The services was great. The food came out extremely fast which was great for us cause we were kinda in a hurry. We ordered the deluxe sushi dinner for two which was only 26.00! Such a deal. Came with 4 pieces of California rolls, 9 sashimi which came with 3 salmon, 3 tuna and 3 albacore tuna. It also came with a mix of nigiri sushi. All of it was so good! We also ate the samurai roll which was great. Too much food though. :)
We’ll be back here for sure. Might be my new favorite sushi place in San Mateo.

Wow I totally forgot to review Joy Sushi from my dinner looooong time ago. In general, this place does a decent job in terms of delivering a decent Japanese cuisine experience. The place is two stories so with tall ceilings means there’s a bit of an echo effect. From a food selection standpoint, I distinctly remember that they had toro (fatty tuna) and a white tuna special that night. I also clearly remember that I enjoyed the fatty tuna immensely. After getting additional rolls to supplement our initial indulgent order, my friend and I felt full and satisfied.
Prices were fair for downtown San Mateo and it’s not too crowded on weekday nights. You’re probably not going to find street parking and most likely parking in the lot near the movie theater.
Will try again when I’m back around this part of town again.

3.5 stars but rounding up. Joy Sushi is still one of the better places to go to if you’re looking for sushi rolls. I came for lunch with coworkers, and it was busy, but we were seated right away. I think they need to get the carpets cleaned though, since it smells pretty musty/​stinky when you first walk in. At least we got to sit in the upstairs area, so it wasn’t that bad. We tried:
–Complimentary Miso Soup & Small Green Salad: You get both when you come for lunch, which is awesome since I love their miso dressing for their salads– one of the best miso dressings I’ve had!
–Hamachi Kama (Lightly Salted Charbroiled Yellowtail Neck, $ 10.95): Yum, this was charbroiled perfectly and had good seasoning. They also gave you a good sized piece– recommended!
–Joy King Roll (Crab Meat & Avocado Topped w/​Baked Salmon, Joy Special Sauce, $ 10.95): This is one of my favorite rolls since I love their joy special sauce– highly recommended if you like Lion King rolls/​California rolls.
–Ninja Roll (Spicy Tuna, Cucumber, Unagi Topped w/​Crunch, Unagi Sauce, $ 11.95): Good, but not my favorite. I love crunch on any rolls though, so that part was my favorite.
–Lambada Roll (Tuna, Salmon, Tobiko & Avocado, Topped w/​Spicy Joy Special Sauce, $ 11.95) & Cherry Blossom (Salmon, Avocado, Tuna, Tobiko, $ 11.95)[
: Yum, both of these rolls were also really good, and among my favorites when I go to Joy– highly recommended!
Service was fine, and we got our food pretty quickly. I will definitely be back when I’m in the mood for rolls! Parking is always a nightmare during the lunch and dinner rushes, but there is street parking and lots available, but it’s always easier to find if you come earlier for lunch or dinner.

The best thing about Joy Sushi is their rolls. The rolls are pretty large and they have a large selection. The dragon roll is always a good choice, but you really can’t go wrong with any of them.
The meal comes with miso soup and salad so you can have something to eat immediately if you’re super hungry.
The sake nigiri is usually quite fresh.
Weird thing: I came here with my boyfriend and they gave him a glass of cold water but gave me a cup of hot tea — without asking our drink preferences.

I come here once in a while whenever my boyfriend and I are around San Mateo. Their special rolls are great and we always have to get the joy scallop roll. It’s so delicious and just melts in your mouth. The dinner bento box comes with mixed tempura, but the rice serving is a bit too small to go with the other entrees.
Service is mostly a hit and barely a miss. Our waiter, Sungjin, served us last time we was here and he was super friendly and attentive. I was really satisfied with his great customer service.

They give big portions and the quality of the fish is good.
The only bad thing is the service is S.L.O.W. It is pricey during dinner. I ordered a $ 14 bento, which came with tempura, salmon teriyaki, and sashimi. They give a tiny scoop of rice which I wish was a little bigger.
I go here if Old Town Sushi is packed, there is never a long wait here

Cute little sushi spot in the heart of downtown San Mateo.
It’s a little rice heavy, but I’ve noticed a lot of places doing that lately, so I guess it’s to be expected. They offer some great lunch and dinner specials, though, along with some creative cucumber-​based rolls!
I don’t really make it out here that often, but the quality is quite good!

Came here on a Friday night, no wait !
Had a groupon deal — pay $ 20 for $ 30 dollars worth of food. I’ve only been here once a very long time ago so had to come try it again.
Ordered 3 different rolls… the lambada, dragon, and joy king roll! The rolls came out within 10 minutes. The rolls were presented beautifully.
The lambada roll consisted of tuna, salmon, tobiko & avocado topped with their spicy special sauce. This was rated their #2 on their menu and I also noticed that this was one of the top rolls reviewed on Unilocal,so I definitely wanted to try. This roll was really good. The sashimi was fresh and the spicy sauce gave the roll the perfect kick.
The dragon roll consisted of shrimp tempura cucumber roll topped with uangi, crab meat, avocado, tobiko and their special sauce. The dragon roll was rated #1 on their menu and so we decided to give it a try. However, I thought it was just decent and did not differ from all the dragon rolls I’ve tried at other places.
And lastly, the joy king roll consisted of crab meat & avocado topped with baked salmon and Joy special sauce. The joy king is the «lion king» roll most places would call. The salmon was cooked pefectly and was moist. I thought the sauce was a tad too sweet for my liking. The sauce had a more BBQ flavor to it and differed a little bit from most lion king rolls I’ve tried.
Overall, the 3 rolls were pretty good. My favorite was the lambada roll!

I love this place .
The food is very fresh and the customer service is great.
I got nothing but great smiles and warm attitudes here.
I felt very welcome.
Me and my friends were all happy with how clean the place is.
We were the only ones here but not long after this place filled up quick.
Just like a lot of places they have the niner roll which I enjoyed.
My favorite is the heart attack roll.
They really bring you a lot of stuff with your meal to fill you up too.
The salad is more then wonderful here.
The sake is very good here.
I had a couple bottles and then also one bottle of the strawberry sake which I really enjoyed.
I’ve never tried flavored sake before .
I am very impressed with this place.
The parking is great here.
I parked actually right out front.
As the place got busier they still maintained the same great excellent customer service.
Its a great place for groups of friends and your whole family.

Not worth the wait
This place is super popular, probably because there aren’t enough good sushi places in the downtown san mateo area – for some reason all the sushi places have long wait lines in downtown san mateo. People just can’t get enough of sushi!
In any case, this place is definitely not a good place for sushi. The wait time is crazy long, and the wait staff who work there are not very bright – often time a lot of tables are empty, and the wait staff are very bad at bringing the folks waiting outside and putting them onto the empty tables. After you sit down, again it takes them very long to get to each table to take orders. Not the brightest folks working there. The whole place in general is very dis-​organized so a lot of frustration, like long wait times, is more a matter of the wait staff not being smart about running the place, as opposed to things like the lack of space which would have been more understandable.
The food is also average. We tried to order the spanish mackerel – they said they ran out (it was 6pm, not even past dinner time yet), so we had to order something else. When the food arrive, the quality was ok – the scollap roll was pretty good, with the warm scallop mixing very well with the sushi rice. The nigiri and the cherry blossom roll on the other hand was just OK – the temperature of the sushi was warm, and did not taste very fresh
The price was also not low, especially given the quality of the sushi
Definitely not worth the wait.

The one star is for the service and for the decent miso soup and brown rice.
Hmm. We ordered the $ 75 boat and basically they put a a lot of the cheap sashimi on it. It was a lot of fish but, a lot of the cheap stuff. Snappers galore and I don’t mean it in a yummy way, there were tons of it. «filler» as how I see it. No Tuna (except for the super white tuna — no thanks) nor Uni as shown in other pictures. Got some mushy Amebi but, no deep fried shrimp head. I asked and they said that the boat gets headless shrimp. But, I did see it on other people’s posting. Maybe they are their friends and I’m just there with my 10 year old who can eat sashimi every day if she could. So, for us to leave more than ²⁄₃ of it for the flies to rest on them should tell you the quality of the sashimi served.

I went to Joy Sushi for the first time with a coworker for lunch. Upon arriving, I could tell that this place is pretty popular so I was eager to try it out. We were immediately seated since we arrived at around 11:45am on a Tuesday.
After looking at the menu, I decided to order their 3 item bento box. I ordered their salmon teriyaki, chicken katsu, and mixed tempura. Their bento box came with miso soup and salad. The chicken katsu and mixed tempura came extremely breaded for my taste. The amount of rice was perfect for me. Usually other places give me way too much and I never finish.
Their service was extremely slow. Although we arrived early and ordered right away, our food took forever to arrive. Once our food arrived, our waiter was no where to be found. No one asked if we needed anything, how everything was, or if I wanted anymore water. We had to hunt someone down to bring the check and then charge our card.

Wow! First time here at 11am when it opens on Saturday. The take out menu is great, not only with cute fish logo, but clear, color photos of their sushi rolls and other dishes just so amazing variety that my friends and I couldn’t decide. My friend frequents this restaurant often and said their fried and cream cheese items are not as good as other places. So we ended up ordering the Hawaiian Roll $ 11.95, customer favorite #3 the Joy King Sushi Roll baked $ 10.95, Customer favorite #5 49er’s Roll $ 12.95 and the customer favorite #8 Samurai Roll $ 11.95. So that’s four rolls for 3 people which is more than enough. :-) Very yummy and fresh in our tummies.
For me the best flavors were with the Samurai Roll and 49er rolls. The Hawaiian roll I found to be the weakest in mango taste and flavor. The crunch in middle of roll, I didn’t like very much. I never had a baked roll before to compare with, but it was very fulfilling, but the flavor was very mild, so it didn’t stand out.
I was impressed by the wealth of ingredients in each roll and how big the pieces were. I would definitely come back to San Mateo to try other rolls like the Cherry Blossom and Dragon roll.