Live Sushi Bar

I had such a good time here! Be sure to make reservations, as it gets packed soon. It’s tucked away in a very chill neighborhood, pretty easy to get to, and easy to find parking. The ONLY reason I didn’t give it a full 5 star rating was because there was no dessert… and I have a sweet tooth always, especially after rolls on rolls on rolls.
Service: excellent!!! The server was very friendly. Our server was awesome as well, genuinely friendly and helpful, and attentive to us, from cheating empty dishes to refilling our sake glasses. She was sure to share with us her best suggestions on meal choices. Entrees and beverages arrived quickly, never leaving us waiting too long not crowding the table. Loved her professional and friendly service.
Atmosphere: nestled in a very chill neighborhood, it was mixed with families, young professionals, Locals, to new people stumbling in to try this place. Enough room to talk with your company. When waiting, staff is so awesome and asks if you’d like something to drink while waiting for your table. Again, make reservations ahead of time, especially on weekends. I truly enjoyed dining here on a date, but could be versatile for casual get together a, big groups or just take out!
Food: I was swimming in FRESHNESS! We ordered the Crazy Monkey Roll, which was delicious. We went outside the box a bit and ordered the Behind The Green Door roll (it was ehhhh ok), and the #1 Hand Roll (with quail egg it was a burst of big flavor wrapped in seaweed!). My favorite was the 16pc assorted sashimi… our server suggested getting the «fatty fish», and she did not disappoint, because the «fatty fish» sashimi was to-​die-​for. I could’ve devoured the entire plate… so freaking fresh!
A friend suggested to sit at the sushi bar, so can’t wait to try again and sit at the sushi bar!

TLDR — standard sushi that will satisfy your cravings but nothing that special or different
For a restaurant tucked away in Potrero, not even around the main strip of restaurants, this place was pretty busy for a Friday night. Wouldn’t hurt to make a reservation.
The menu here has a pretty good variety of Japanese food: sushi, skewers, bento boxes, noodles. My friend and I got some rolls to share, and while they weren’t bad, they certainly didn’t leave much of an impression. Pretty standard as far as sushi rolls go.
–CHICKEN KARAAGE ($ 8.95) — ⁴⁄₅
Pretty good. Chicken was tender and juicy, and not overly fried or greasy. I liked adding a squeeze of lemon to cut into some of the oil and brighten it up.
–CUCUMBER SASHIMI ROLL ($ 13.95) — ⁴⁄₅
[hamachi, maguro, sake, avocado inside wrapped in a thin cucumber slice]
I’m always a fan of rice-​less rolls, so this one definitely left more of an impression with me. Light and healthy with that extra crunch from the cucumber.
–DRAGON ROLL ($ 14.95) — ³⁄₅
[shrimp tempura and cucumber, topped with unagi and avocado]
Generic dragon roll. It’s what you’d expect it to be.
–ROMEO & JULIET ROLL ($ 14.95) — ³⁄₅
[sake, avocado, and shrimp tempura topped with hamachi and spicy unagi sauce]
Can’t go wrong with it but nothing special.

fairly good quality raw fish here
my girlfriend and i had the omakase which i think is the way to go as the sushi chef’s get a bit more creative with it
ive tried ordering from the menu — typical amaebi (with fried shrimp heads), ikura, sake, and a few other ones
sake menu could be better but it is a neighborhood sushi joint nothing crazy here…

I come here for lunch quite often. both take out and dine in! I’m definitely a huge fan of Live Sushi!
The service here is great! The chefs always welcome us as soon as we step foot inside. Also, thank you Cindy for being such a great waitress every time! :)
The food here is really yummy! The bento box is a steal and it’s perfect for a take-​out lunch! I’ve tried a lot of things on their menu and several of their rolls which are all great. But the sashimi is the true winner here! Everything always tastes fresh & the special oysters are unreal! Get in there ye girl ye!!!

very confused as to why its 4 stars…
my girlfriend and I were expecting some decent quality sushi since the reviews were awesome. NOPE.
we both ordered the sushi combo with the 7 piece nigiri and salmon roll.
quality of the fish was not good. didn’t seem fresh and had the stringy grossness.
rice was not good either. flavor and texture totally off. i think i can make better rice than they did. we sat at the bar and watched as they made sloppy looking rolls and nigiri.
soft shell crab was good, though, hence the 2 stars because their other appetizers might be good?
Service was terrible. Had to ask 4x for refilling tea twice.
Chef insisted that we try their mochi, so we caved and said yes. But the waiter did not know the price of it when we asked (how do you not know the price of 1 out of the only 2 desserts you serve?!) and ended up telling us they ran out like 10 minutes later while we were waiting for it.
we looked around and there were people drinking wine to their sushi at this place. Maybe the alcohol skews their tastebuds and leads them to believe that this sushi is bangin.
Anyway, Will not come back. Very disappointed.

I figured out that this place is only a 15 minute walk from my house… I will definitely be coming back here again!
As the name might indicate, Live Sushi also serves LIVE fish. The night I went, the live fish was Uni… which made me nervous so I did not eat it. Of everything else I tried, though (salmon, tuna, yellowtail sashimi/​nigiri, and SFPD and cucumber sashimi roll), was delicious and fresh.
The outside isn’t horribly impressive, but I was engrossed in a pretty intense conversation with my aunt during dinner and didn’t have much time to evaluate the interior or the service. Great local spot!

Here is my biggest issue with this place: the service.
Twice I’ve been here and twice I’ve had the same waitress. She is nasty rude and pretty terrible at her job. Not only did she make a snarky comment about the amount I ordered but instead of coming over and checking on us, she would disappear into the back with her cellphone. I CAN SEE YOU FROM WHERE WE SAT GIRL.
At one point I considered getting up to find someone because my husband’s food didn’t even come out after 45mins to an hour of ordering and I was almost done with all my food. All the while I can see this waitress on her phone, going in and out of the back and the restroom, still on her phone, not even coming by or looking up.
The second time she was my waitress, she didn’t come by until the very end to give me my check. I almost died of thirst. And every time I tried to flag her down to get some water, she just ignored me or was nowhere to be found. Arghhhh!!!
I genuinely enjoyed the food here. The sushi is fresh and delicious. I’ve never had live lobster sashimi, live uni, or live amaebi and this place was AMAZING to have that kind of experience. Hands down my favorite sushi in SF so far.
But I’m just concerned that I’m spending all this money and the service is THAT bad. Maybe next time I’ll request to be not seated in her section but who knows what will happen if they’re particularly busy.

came here for the 2^nd time last night with my parents. i remembered it as SUPER DUPER busy, but it was fairly quiet on tuesday evening. we made reservations and were seated right away. i’d totally come here more often if it wasnt super far from everything elseee (but close to my client in da mission)
we got seaweed salad and gomae to start. my mom doesnt eat a lot of raw items, so she got the udon with beef. dad and i went to town on the nigiri selections though (plus the romeo and juliet roll on the waiter’s recommendation). everything was pretty delicious — walu, hirame, otoro, albacore toro, uni, unagi, etc. a few pieces didnt shine as much, but thas expected. the sweet shrimp was stellar, and the mini scallop burger super cute and tasty. prices are very reasonable for the value you get i feel like. would come back here again!

I have a bachelor’s degree in sushi making. (I used to work as a sushi chef in Santa Cruz at shoguns restaurant). And if I wanted to get my Masters degree is come work here. Their sushi menu and their deliveries of seafood is diverse and plentiful.
Most people order rolls. But true sushi lovers know that sashimi nigiri is really the mark of a true Japanese restaurant.
I sat at the sushi bar so I could talk to the chef and see his technique. While I sat their I saw him serve their specials for that day: copper river salmon and trumpet fish (the long skinny ocean fish). Both fresh and both delicious. Sashimi is best served with little garnish so that it doesn’t hide the natural flavor of the fish, he added just the right amount.
He told me he received the salmon from Alaska and the trumpet fish from the Philippines. That is also the mark of a good chef if he knows where each of his fish are coming from.
I also had a bier and sake.
While I was there they received a delivery of live lobsters. I wanted to order sashimi, but I needed to catch my train.
The waitress service was great. I recommend coming here and sitting at the bar, the chefs know their stuff. I’ll be back to earn credits for my Sushi Master degree.

Gosh, I really wish you had 4.5 Unilocal. Come on; help us out!
I’ve been here twice. Once had a very simple nigiri that was super fresh and melty and all the good things that fresh delicious fish has to offer. Live Sushi Bar won’t serve anything less than the freshest toppest notch fish. which is why it truly deserves this rating.
Another day, I came here after watching Straight Outta Compton. I was pumped on Gangta Rap and ready to go HAM on sushi. We put in for a table and they said the wait was about 20 minutes. It ended up being closer to an hour. It gets REALLY busy on the weekends. By 6pm on the weekends, there are always groups of folks on the waiting on the corner.
By the end of the night I had sushi coming out of my ears and it was amazing:
I went for one of the Chef’s Rolls and one of the regular ones.
DJ Roll — $ 16 avocado, cucumber, and shrimp tempura inside, topped with walu and jalapeño seared with creamy sauce. Really, really delicious. The jalapeño was unusual, but still worked. Not gonna lie, I had to take one of two of them off my pieces because my mouth was a little on fire. I loved it.
Crazy Monkey Roll — $ 10 Also really fresh and tasty fish. Huge pieces. The hot sauce on this wasn’t that spicy, but really awesome overall.
App — Grilled tiger prawns. So delicious and went perfectly with the sauce. Wish there had been more pieces though.
An irrelevant sidenote: on the night I came, there was an incident with a homeless person walking into the restaurant and while I won’t elaborate on this here review, it was handled exceptionally well with respect and class.
I find this restaurant a little pricey, but it’s not money wasted for sure. Try it out!

Ermergerd the sushi here was deelicious. We got quite a bit of dishes here since everything sounded so good!
Chef’s Special Oysters — Must get this! The uni, oyster, and quail egg combo was heaven. A regular order comes with 6 but if you get 2, they just divide the price. Everything tasted super fresh! If I was still hungry I would’ve ordered more of these!
Mini Scallop Burgers — I wasn’t sure this would be great but my bf wanted to try it. I was wrong and they were really good too!
Crab Napoleon — We ordered this after finding out they didn’t have the live uni we wanted. It came with loots of crab! Tasted great with the salmon and avocado :) I don’t think I would get it again since I would rather spend my money on more sashimi but it was still a good dish!
Chu Toro — The only disappointing thing here. The pieces we got were too chewy :(Much regret ordering this.
We also got two of their rolls and they were both really good and filling! They each came with 7 pieces. Sadly I forgot their names but I think one of them was the Romeo & Juliet Roll :) We also ordered Live Uni but they didn’t have it that night! Next time we will definitely try that :)

I’m sorry to say but as I am Japanese, the rice is too soft and the fish does not taste well.
They as you could see the picture I take they should separate the fish by kind. I won’t come back to this place.

3.5 stars
I might have just ordered the wrong items but that was also because of the confusing menu. :(
I was really wanting some good sushi, maybe some sashimi, mostly some gooood satisfying rolls. About $ 60 later, we ended up getting a few pieces of fish liver (sounded more elegant than that on the menu), 5 pieces of tasty but not filling sashimi, and 5 pieces of sushi roll consisting of a cucumber slice, salmon, and scallop + yummy sauce. It was all pretty decent, not amazing… Small portions which is pretty standard I guess for Japanese food. But usually those small portions are damn amazing so you can’t complain. Not exactly the case this time around :(
We shared a small bottle of sake as well which opened my eyes to the world of sake deliciousness. So thank you for that!
Otherwise this place had a good vibe and the food was rather inventive but not OMG good. Kinda pricey for the amount of food. Maybe it’s just a matter of ordering the right items, but unfortunately I doubt I will be back here anytime soon…

Yes I’ve been frequenting this place for quite some time now and it’s still great!
Sometimes you do get neglected during busy lunch hours but that’s kind of expected due to the mass of people all dining at the same time.
Favorites include: the sunrise (hard to eat) DELICIOUS! Salmon wrapped around a ball of rice and topped w tobiko and quail egg yolk. Japanese hamachi toro, fatty melt in your yellowtail and the chefs special oysters. Oyster, quail egg yolk, ikura, tobiko and ponzu.
Live sushi also offers omakase if you just want to have the freshest of the fresh ;)

Amazingly delicious and fresh sushi.
Went here yesterday with the boyfriend for a dinner date. We didn’t have to wait for a table but it looked really busy because a lot of people were waiting for their to-​go order.
We ordered the live uni, 16 piece special combo sashimi, crunchy spicy tuna roll, and the romeo and juliet roll. they were all REALLY GOOD, and I especially liked the presentation of all the food.
the con was that we had to wait a good while for the food, we would finish one thing, wait for 20~ minutes, finish another thing, wait 20 more minutes, etc. But it was still definitely worth it.

B and I found this cute little gem on Unilocal and LOVED this spot for some really fresh sushi! It was some seriously good eats, really friendly service, and they had omakase at their small 10-​person sushi bar.
Lots of seating in the restaurant itself, but we like being front and center when they serve up each bite. Not to mention, we liked chatting with headchef Jerry and chef Rico!
Even though I LOVE nigiri, it’s always fun to try the new, more interesting stuff on the menu. In this case, we basically had everything listed under their seasonal chef specials and like. 9 different kinds of nigiri!
Highlights of the night.
Live uni — this sucker was STILL MOVING even though they had cracked it open and pulled all the uni out of it!.. They were not joking about the «live» part of the description, it kind of freaked me out a little bit because I felt so guilty for eating it…
Chefs special oysters — Oysters topped with quail egg, uni, and roe. this was so good that we had to order TWO.
Live scallop — This was some seriously good scallop. We came at the end of the night so I was so pleasantly surprised with how fresh everything was and how they hadn’t run out of everything. The scallop was clean tasting and the perfect firm texture. not chewy or smushy.
Amaebi — Raw shrimp. these were super fresh and served with the decapitated heads on a bed of ice. It was also unnerving to eat the raw bodies of the shrimp with the antennae still moving around on the heads. When we finished the shrimp, they took the heads back and deep fried them.meepsface.
Nigiri — My FAVORITES of the night
Snapper — This was super chewy and fresh tasting. None of the fish they served were overly fishy or tasted like shoe. It was all fresh and generously sized
Chu Toro — One of two types of toro they gave us. LOVED both, but the blue fin toro was definitely better.
Butterfish
Blue fin Toro (fattier) — Absolute FAVORITE of the night. The toro literally melts in your mouth. Gahh.
Helpful tip: They said they have more exotic fish on the weekends, so be sure to make a reservation for some fresh imported japanese fish!

The food at Live Sushi is good but not great. This is coming from someone who has gone on multiple occasions and have gone on both spectrums of ordering $ 100+ for two people as well as just do their $ 20 lunch and dinner combos.
The presentation of the food is done very well, but none of their appetizers or rolls ever really stood out to me.
The nigiri was good but not prepared very well; I could not really taste the fish many times.
I would come back for their lunch and dinner combinations as you get pretty decent value out of it! Their salmon teriyaki and saba teriyaki is cooked and dressed with the right sauces.
Pros:
— Lunch and Dinner combos have good value
— Nice venue for a date
Potential Improvements:
— Test out different ways of preparing the nigiri
— Reevaluate the price point on some of your menu items

Sad to report this isn’t and won’t become my favorite sushi spot after a friend recommended me trying this place out.
The nice thing is it’s located in a quiet neighborhood away from the hustle and bustle in the FiDi, which could be a good thing if you’re looking for a quiet night out. If you’re coming on a Friday night (or any weekend for that matter), make a reservation if you want to avoid a long wait!
We ended up trying a bunch of rolls, from what I recall the SFPD Roll, Spider Roll, Romeo & Juliet Roll and some nigiri sashimi including sake, uni, and a few others. The special of the night was live uni which definitely was interesting! I opted to just have a small taste of it (not a huge uni fan) and the best I can describe it… it was… extremely fishy lol.
The one thing that I’m knocking it down to 3 stars (considered 2 stars but felt that was a little harsh) was that after we had paid for our meals and tipped, one of the servers (or hostess?) approached our table and asked us «Was there anything wrong with the service tonight? Was the food not good?» At that point, all of us just looked at each other with the «We thought everything was fine and why are we being asked this» kind of look…
After we said everything was okay the server just left us back to the front. Is 18% tip these days considered under-​tipping at sushi establishments? Really can’t think of any other reason the hostess would ask us that with the bill in her hand…

Not exactly known for ramen rather its creative rolls but difficult to pass up ramen when on menu. Nothing special just feels like instant ramen.
First, the rolls were great but expensive all ranging 12 – 18.
The ramen however was disappointing which was kinda expected. And instead of soft boiled egg which we asked for we got fried egg
Very strange… And not impressed.
The atmosphere was fun and the place was packed
Value 2.5÷5
Atmosphere ⁴⁄₅
Service ⁴⁄₅
Quality ⁴⁄₅
14.5÷20

This was a mediocre sushi place. Sat at the bar and it was nice to see the chefs do their thing. One thing I really didn’t like about the sushi was how loosely the rolls were packed. Loose sushi = looshi. There was so much gap between the pieces of salmon and avocado in some of the rolls that I felt that when i picked them up with my chopsticks I was literally squeezing the air, and the life, out of my sushi. The salmon wasn’t that great either, it tasted like a lazy salmon that refused to swim upstream and stayed to lounge around some warm shallow water its whole life, knowing full well this behavior would one day rob some unsuspecting patron of some good quality salmon.
The rolls were all too large to comfortably fit in mouth that I ended up having to contort my head in odd ways just to make sure half the roll didn’t fall apart before I got it to my mouth. Even the rolls that weren’t oversized kind of fell apart or had the seaweed wrapping peel off as I picked them up.
Overall it was barely 3 stars because of the poorly made sushi but the service was attentive and it had a nice ambience, but I would not come back.