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Tonkatsu cutlet next to mound of shredded cabbage.

Where to Eat Japanese Food in San Diego

From easy-going yakitori joints and izakayas to upscale kaiseki

by Darlene Horn Updated Oct 19, 2021, 9:00am PDT

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by Darlene Horn Updated Oct 19, 2021, 9:00am PDT

EE NAMI Tonkatsu Izakaya/Facebook

Diners don’t have to travel far for Japanese food in San Diego. Sister city to Yokohama since 1957, San Diego has plenty of restaurants specializing in traditional Japanese cuisine, including two sushi bars that were recently awarded with Michelin stars. From fancy outposts to neighborhood strip mall favorites, here’s where to go for Japanese cuisine in the county.

For a deeper dive into more specific Japanese fare, check out Eater’s dedicated ramen and sushi maps.

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; the latest data about the delta variant indicates that it may pose a low-to-moderate risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial transmission. The latest CDC guidance is here; find a COVID-19 vaccination site here.

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Kaito Sushi

This Encinitas spot prepares sushi in the classic Edo-style. With room for only 14 diners, the omakase is always popular and the a la carte menu expansive — think everything from fresh Hokkaido uni to big fin reef squid. Visit the restaurant’s Facebook page for sushi specials.

130-A N El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024

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Plate of assorted sashimi.

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Himitsu

The sushi bar at this cozy La Jolla spot might be one of San Diego’s most intimate dining experiences so reservations are highly recommended to save a spot for one of the eight seats. Expect traditional high-end nigiri, small plates, and an omakase menu at this hidden gem (the restaurant’s name is Japanese for secret).

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1030 Torrey Pines Rd G, La Jolla, CA 92037

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Plate of assorted nigiri.

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EE NAMI Tonkatsu Izakaya

Known for their tonkatsu, this family-owned and operated restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. For those new to the restaurant, order the katsu sando, a Canadian black pork fillet sandwich, only available on the lunch menu. Or taste your way through the small plates like chicken nanban, a deep fried chicken thigh served with tartar sauce and vinegar or any one of the rice dishes.

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4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117

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Meatball katsu surround a mound of cabbage.

Okan Diner

Craving traditional Japanese home cooking? Head to this sister restaurant to Convoy Street’s Wa Dining Okan where kamameshi, a rice dish cooked in an iron pot is a specialty. Standouts include the braised pork belly cooked in tonkotsu broth with poached egg, and chicken with mixed mushrooms, quail egg, and gobo.

Open in Google Maps

5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd G, San Diego, CA 92117

Yakitori Hino

This Japanese spot specializes in traditional yakitori grilled over Japanese bincho charcoal. Choose from skewers featuring chicken wing, heart, liver, and gizzard to beef with wasabi, and pork shiso. Or opt for yakitori sets of chef’s choice of four, seven and ten skewers. Small dishes range from spicy fried chicken and monkfish liver with plum sauce to rice bowls topped with poke.

Open in Google Maps

7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111

Man cooking skewers over smoking grill.

Also featured in:

The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Diego

Yakitori Taisho

This quiet spot is a favorite industry hangout, offering a menu of specialty skewers. Make a meal from from karaage, deep-fried wings, tsukune (meatball) or hatsu (heart) skewers.

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5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117

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Robataya Oton

This Kearny Mesa restaurant offers traditional yakimono (grilled) dishes like marinated black cod with miso and yellowtail cheek, along with hotpot dishes (nabemono). Reserve a private table featuring private tatami screened booths; slippers are provided to all guests so shoes can be removed before entering.

Open in Google Maps

5447 Kearny Villa Rd D, San Diego, CA 92123

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Hidden Fish

This omakase-only sushi bar in the Convoy District has dining space for 12 diners. The 90-minute Omakase Premium meal is $135 and includes 18 pieces. A la carte dishes are available too, including chu-toro, sea bream and cured mackerel.

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4764 Convoy St ste a, San Diego, CA 92111

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Also featured in:

Hinotez

Find classic Japanese dishes like yakitori, ramen, yakisoba, udon, and rice bowls as well as comforting Japanese breakfast at this well-loved low-key joint. Contactless ordering via tablet leaves room to peruse the extensive menu.

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7947 Balboa Ave, San Diego, CA 92111

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Also featured in:

Where to Find Late Night Eats in San Diego

Musashiya

Find Japanese comfort food inside Mitsuwa Marketplace. Hot and cold noodle dishes are popular choices including rice bowls filled with tempura, tonkatsu and egg, or beef and onion. If you’re craving a little bit of everything, order one of the combination sets like teriyaki chicken or mabo tofu. All sets come with cabbage salad, potato salad, egg, pickled veggies, miso soup and rice.

Open in Google Maps

4240 Kearny Mesa Rd, San Diego, CA 92111

Yokohama Yakitori Koubou

With 10 outposts throughout Yokohama, San Diego is host to the only U.S. location. Like the Japanese locations, the restaurant offers traditional kushiyaki skewers grilled over binchō-tan charcoal. Menu standouts are hatsu (chicken heart), gyu kalbi (prime beef short rib), and nasu (Japanese eggplant).

Open in Google Maps

3904 Convoy St #108, San Diego, CA 92111

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Wa Dining OKAN

Nestled next door to Nijiya Market is this intimate spot for Japanese comfort food. Okan dishes are presented on lacquered trays, like the salmon sashimi, which comes with rice, miso soup, and assorted tapas, like seaweed salad. Other favorites here include the pork cheeks, salted mackerel, and grilled duck.

3860 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111

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Sushi Ota

Reservations are highly recommended for chef/owner Yukito Ota’s award-winning strip-mall eatery. If time and budget constraints allow, grab a seat at the sushi bar and go omakase. It includes courses of sashimi, sushi, a cup of chawanmushi (savory egg custard), plus a cooked seasonal dish.

4529 Mission Bay Dr, San Diego, CA 92109

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Kokoro Restaurant

Omakase at this Serra Mesa spot run by chef/owner Akio Ishito requires three days notice for the chef to prepare. Head in on Saturdays for Shiraki Gozen lunch.

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3298 Greyling Dr, San Diego, CA 92123

SOICHI

The 12-seat bar at Soichi Kadoya’s Adams Avenue spot has been a hot reservation since the restaurant opened and even more so since it won a Michelin star. The headliners are the two omakase menus. There’s a nigiri version for $95 and a two-hour experience for $135 that covers seasonal appetizers, grilled fish, sashimi and nigiri using pristine seafood like sweet shrimp, fatty tuna and sea urchin.

Open in Google Maps

2121 Adams Ave, San Diego, CA 92116

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Izakaya Masa

Reservations are a must at this tiny restaurant in Mission Hills. Popular for its ramen and sushi, also try a selection of appetizers and a beer. Dishes include gyoza and agedashi tofu, or more exotic offerings include chuka karage (spicy jellyfish), takowasa (wasabi marinated octopus), and ankimo (monkfish liver with ponzu sauce).

Open in Google Maps

928 Fort Stockton Dr, San Diego, CA 92103

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Also featured in:

Sushi Tadokoro

This Old Town restaurant serves Edomae-style (Tokyo) sushi. Don’t miss out on its uni. Much its seafood, including baby barracuda from the island of Kyushu, gets flown in from Japan. With just ten seats at the sushi bar and seven tables reservations are advised, especially since it’s now a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Open in Google Maps

2244 San Diego Ave, San Diego, CA 92110

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Also featured in:

The 38 Essential Restaurants in San Diego

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Kaito Sushi

130-A N El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024

This Encinitas spot prepares sushi in the classic Edo-style. With room for only 14 diners, the omakase is always popular and the a la carte menu expansive — think everything from fresh Hokkaido uni to big fin reef squid. Visit the restaurant’s Facebook page for sushi specials.

130-A N El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA 92024

Visit Website

Plate of assorted sashimi.

Himitsu

1030 Torrey Pines Rd G, La Jolla, CA 92037

The sushi bar at this cozy La Jolla spot might be one of San Diego’s most intimate dining experiences so reservations are highly recommended to save a spot for one of the eight seats. Expect traditional high-end nigiri, small plates, and an omakase menu at this hidden gem (the restaurant’s name is Japanese for secret).

Open in Google Maps

1030 Torrey Pines Rd G, La Jolla, CA 92037

Visit Website

Plate of assorted nigiri.

EE NAMI Tonkatsu Izakaya

4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117

Known for their tonkatsu, this family-owned and operated restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. For those new to the restaurant, order the katsu sando, a Canadian black pork fillet sandwich, only available on the lunch menu. Or taste your way through the small plates like chicken nanban, a deep fried chicken thigh served with tartar sauce and vinegar or any one of the rice dishes.

Open in Google Maps

4706 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117

Visit Website

Meatball katsu surround a mound of cabbage.

Okan Diner

5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd G, San Diego, CA 92117

Craving traditional Japanese home cooking? Head to this sister restaurant to Convoy Street’s Wa Dining Okan where kamameshi, a rice dish cooked in an iron pot is a specialty. Standouts include the braised pork belly cooked in tonkotsu broth with poached egg, and chicken with mixed mushrooms, quail egg, and gobo.

Open in Google Maps

5430 Clairemont Mesa Blvd G, San Diego, CA 92117

Yakitori Hino

7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111

This Japanese spot specializes in traditional yakitori grilled over Japanese bincho charcoal. Choose from skewers featuring chicken wing, heart, liver, and gizzard to beef with wasabi, and pork shiso. Or opt for yakitori sets of chef’s choice of four, seven and ten skewers. Small dishes range from spicy fried chicken and monkfish liver with plum sauce to rice bowls topped with poke.

Open in Google Maps

7420 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111

Man cooking skewers over smoking grill.

Yakitori Taisho

5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117

This quiet spot is a favorite industry hangout, offering a menu of specialty skewers. Make a meal from from karaage, deep-fried wings, tsukune (meatball) or hatsu (heart) skewers.

Open in Google Maps

5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117

Visit Website

Robataya Oton

5447 Kearny Villa Rd D, San Diego, CA 92123

This Kearny Mesa restaurant offers traditional yakimono (grilled) dishes like marinated black cod with miso and yellowtail cheek, along with hotpot dishes (nabemono). Reserve a private table featuring private tatami screened booths; slippers are provided to all guests so shoes can be removed before entering.

Open in Google Maps

5447 Kearny Villa Rd D, San Diego, CA 92123

Visit Website

Hidden Fish

4764 Convoy St ste a, San Diego, CA 92111

This omakase-only sushi bar in the Convoy District has dining space for 12 diners. The 90-minute Omakase Premium meal is $135 and includes 18 pieces. A la carte dishes are available too, including chu-toro, sea bream and cured mackerel.

Open in Google Maps

4764 Convoy St ste a, San Diego, CA 92111

Visit Website

Hinotez

7947 Balboa Ave, San Diego, CA 92111

Find classic Japanese dishes like yakitori, ramen, yakisoba, udon, and rice bowls as well as comforting Japanese breakfast at this well-loved low-key joint. Contactless ordering via tablet leaves room to peruse the extensive menu.

Open in Google Maps

7947 Balboa Ave, San Diego, CA 92111

Visit Website

Musashiya

4240 Kearny Mesa Rd, San Diego, CA 92111

Find Japanese comfort food inside Mitsuwa Marketplace. Hot and cold noodle dishes are popular choices including rice bowls filled with tempura, tonkatsu and egg, or beef and onion. If you’re craving a little bit of everything, order one of the combination sets like teriyaki chicken or mabo tofu. All sets come with cabbage salad, potato salad, egg, pickled veggies, miso soup and rice.

Open in Google Maps

4240 Kearny Mesa Rd, San Diego, CA 92111

Yokohama Yakitori Koubou

3904 Convoy St #108, San Diego, CA 92111

With 10 outposts throughout Yokohama, San Diego is host to the only U.S. location. Like the Japanese locations, the restaurant offers traditional kushiyaki skewers grilled over binchō-tan charcoal. Menu standouts are hatsu (chicken heart), gyu kalbi (prime beef short rib), and nasu (Japanese eggplant).

Open in Google Maps

3904 Convoy St #108, San Diego, CA 92111

Visit Website

Wa Dining OKAN

3860 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111

Nestled next door to Nijiya Market is this intimate spot for Japanese comfort food. Okan dishes are presented on lacquered trays, like the salmon sashimi, which comes with rice, miso soup, and assorted tapas, like seaweed salad. Other favorites here include the pork cheeks, salted mackerel, and grilled duck.

3860 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111

Visit Website

Sushi Ota

4529 Mission Bay Dr, San Diego, CA 92109

Reservations are highly recommended for chef/owner Yukito Ota’s award-winning strip-mall eatery. If time and budget constraints allow, grab a seat at the sushi bar and go omakase. It includes courses of sashimi, sushi, a cup of chawanmushi (savory egg custard), plus a cooked seasonal dish.

4529 Mission Bay Dr, San Diego, CA 92109

Visit Website

Kokoro Restaurant

3298 Greyling Dr, San Diego, CA 92123

Omakase at this Serra Mesa spot run by chef/owner Akio Ishito requires three days notice for the chef to prepare. Head in on Saturdays for Shiraki Gozen lunch.

Open in Google Maps

3298 Greyling Dr, San Diego, CA 92123

SOICHI

2121 Adams Ave, San Diego, CA 92116

The 12-seat bar at Soichi Kadoya’s Adams Avenue spot has been a hot reservation since the restaurant opened and even more so since it won a Michelin star. The headliners are the two omakase menus. There’s a nigiri version for $95 and a two-hour experience for $135 that covers seasonal appetizers, grilled fish, sashimi and nigiri using pristine seafood like sweet shrimp, fatty tuna and sea urchin.

Open in Google Maps

2121 Adams Ave, San Diego, CA 92116

Visit Website

Related Maps

Izakaya Masa

928 Fort Stockton Dr, San Diego, CA 92103

Reservations are a must at this tiny restaurant in Mission Hills. Popular for its ramen and sushi, also try a selection of appetizers and a beer. Dishes include gyoza and agedashi tofu, or more exotic offerings include chuka karage (spicy jellyfish), takowasa (wasabi marinated octopus), and ankimo (monkfish liver with ponzu sauce).

Open in Google Maps

928 Fort Stockton Dr, San Diego, CA 92103

Visit Website

Sushi Tadokoro

2244 San Diego Ave, San Diego, CA 92110

This Old Town restaurant serves Edomae-style (Tokyo) sushi. Don’t miss out on its uni. Much its seafood, including baby barracuda from the island of Kyushu, gets flown in from Japan. With just ten seats at the sushi bar and seven tables reservations are advised, especially since it’s now a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Open in Google Maps

2244 San Diego Ave, San Diego, CA 92110

Visit Website

Related Maps