Izumi Kaiten Sushi

I was overwhelmed with the number of sushi restaurants in Japantown. After a day of roaming around town, we stopped by for some gifts in the mall. While shopping, we decided to stop in for a "snack" before our dinner reservations elsewhere. We randomly picked a restaurant that looked to be fast. We figured we would order a few pieces of nigiri but after the first few, we couldn't stop pulling them from the belt! Everything we had was so fresh, including the salmon sashimi! I am not sure what the 3.5 stars are about but I loved the quality of their sushi, especially from a conveyor belt! We especially enjoyed the sweet shrimp with tobiko roe on top, the uni nigiri's, torched scallop nigiri topped w/uni, and the torched clam nigiri. Some of the nigiri were nicely dressed. The prices were decent, had a total of 10 plates for $68, not bad considering the fresh quality of the sushi. The four star is for the lack of service. Granted it was mid-day at 3 PM but after getting seated with drinks, we never had a server or chef ask us for anything until we asked for the check. We noted that they checked on some customers around us but never stopped by our section. Aside from the service, I thought the food was really good. I like the ambiance, just a sushi bar with seats around the bar in an oval shape, appears to be able to seat 30 or more people. This is by far my favorite sushi from a conveyor belt. I will definitely make this a stop the next time I'm visiting in San Francisco.

12/26/24Yelp... you can't always trust. 3.5 stars for this place right now, but I'm telling you--there is no better "conveyor belt" sushi in NorCal. Period. And if I hear Kura in the same sentence as this place, I shall barf on the author. Not even the same league. The sushi here easily is better than 95% of traditional sushi restaurants all over California.They have all kinds of rare stuff too--2 kinds of shrimp (NO, not the cooked crap)... so "crunchy" and fresh. Amazing. Hell, they even have buttery foie gras-like uni IN THE TRAY for $15!!!!!!--that's cheaper than if you get it at the Japanese or Korean market!Today I tried a new one--not sure what it was. Some kind of clam I think, but it had a tail hanging out. Very odd. But I LOVED it! Was crunchy, and buttery, and just so different from everything else.All the sushi they dashed with a torch are all absolutely delicious too--so flavorful. Always get a few of those.As for prices, no, not the very cheapest, but given $15 will get you a WOODEN TRAY of uni, well... clearly they are well within the bargain territory given you are getting very fresh, high-grade sushi.5/5#japantown #sushi #japanesefood #conveyorbelt

Izumi Kaiten Sushi is a fun sushi restaurant because the sushi is served along a moving conveyor belt. As the plates of sushi move along the belt, you grab the plates that you want to eat. The price of each plate is determined by the color of each plate. The plates range from $3.50 to $8.50. I've dined here a couple times and the fish was pretty good. The sashimi plates were really good and the rolls were not bad. I really enjoyed the toro sashimi. The only downside of eating at a conveyor belt sushi is that you can have your eye on a plate and anticipate its arrival, only to have the plate snatched by someone else sitting before you along the belt. Which is exactly what happened to me and the yellowtail nigiri. Usually there should be more coming, however, during that last meal, I didn't see another yellowtail nigiri coming. It's okay though because there were other options. The small restaurant gets busy during weekends and evenings, but it wasn't busy when I went on a weekday afternoon. The waitress was pretty nice, but not much interaction from the sushi chefs. Izumi Kaiten Sushi is located inside the Japantown Plaza and a good place for a fun meal. Be careful, the plates add up quickly.

Fun conveyor belt sushi place! Came here on a Thursday at 7:30 PM and while it was crowded, my friend and I were able to be seated immediately. What's nice about conveyor belt sushi is that you get to eat immediately as soon as you find something you like, which we liked because we came hungry.We got a couple of plates to start with, and they were decent rolls. You really pay for the novelty of the restaurant though; you only get ~3 pieces per plate, and if you were to get the amount of pieces for a full roll it's likely more than if you just ordered a roll in its entirety at another place. I know it's also a business decision, but many of the simple rolls (salmon, California, etc.) had very few plates -- I maybe saw 3 plates total, which was sad because they were the cheaper plates. I would have appreciated seeing more of those conveniently on the belt rather than having to order it.Overall, I had a good time with my friend, but I would more come back for the novelty rather than the sushi.

Wanted to try this place out since we were staying in Japan town. I wanted a light meal so ended up trying only the 49er roll which was really good. I was eying the conveyor belt and there was nothing else that caught my eye... the nigiri and sashimi does look pretty fresh just judging by the color. During off hours like when i went the food stays on the belt pretty long so I didnt want to risk trying it outMiso soup was bland and not hot enough though which is a bummer

Me and my girlfriend come here when we can we live about 10-15 minutes away. My dad use to take me here when I was a little kid and he and would always order the unagi and kani which were my favorite. The service here is they're super friendly and the wait is about 5 minutes for sushi if it's not on the conveyor belt. Ambiance feels like I'm in Japan super futuristic with the conveyor belt.

It's decent. I was in and out for lunch in less than 15 minutes. The sushi is okay, and they have some varietyThe pricing is quite high, for some cucumbers, spicy tuna roll and 2 pieces of nigiri it was $20. Would potentially return again if I needed a quick lunch.

One of the biggest draws to the Japantown mall is the conveyor-belt sushi options offered and Izumi Kaiten is one of them. To be honest this spot and Tenroku are basically identical. It is definitely worth experiencing if you haven't been to Japantown before. I came by on a busy day and I saw a huge line in front of the store. I thought oh it must be pretty busy here, but it turns out it was just for the bathroom. Welp, we were able to be seated immediately. The service is pretty good and the inside is nice enough although it can be cramped when it is at full capacity. The biggest downside is that the chefs that are cutting the fish are not the most experienced and sometimes the selections circling around could have potentially sat for long periods of time. My visit was pretty quick and I just nabbed the seared salmon nigiri which is always my favorite. It melts in your mouth with each bite. These get taken pretty quickly so usually they are fresh. I then got duped into thinking one of the green plates was a raw salmon nigiri, but it was actually smoked salmon which surprised me. Not gonna lie smoked salmon does not go great as a nigiri. The pieces aren't cut evenly, but honestly you shouldn't have high expectations when it comes to a touristy spot like this.It's not bad at all and it is nice to come just for that experience sitting in front of plates of sushi moving past you. It's always nostalgic coming to Japantown for a meal here or at Tenroku. Just don't expect it to be the best compared to the higher tier Japanese restaurants in the Bay.

Idk why this place only has 3.5 stars on Yelp. I've been here 3x and we're always impressed by how fresh the fish is! Being Japanese and from Hawaii, I grew up on a lot of sashimi and sushi. I feel like the people who are leaving bad reviews just don't know what sushi to order!! We got the hotate, salmon belly, amaebi, jellyfish, clam, and some special that was like hotate with minced toro and uni on top. Everything we got was so good!! I think you just have to be attentive to how fresh the fish looks as it goes around and choose accordingly. Also love that you can just eat til you're full and make it as small or as big a meal as you like.

idk why this place is ranked so low but the fish quality here is really good! for conveyer belt sushi, i'm always impressed! it's also one of the only places i know that sell raw blue shrimp, expensive but my family's favorite. i've been coming here for a few years and the food has been consistent & staff is always attentive. my fav conveyer belt sushi location in the bay area