I ate here long time ago pre pandemic and haven't been back but meaning to try back the happy hour but I know the price went up but I do think about the shitto peppers and hand rolls that I didn't get to eat the first time around becuse I was sharing with a group of 4 people l. But the menu looks pretty much the same just went up few dollars . HAPPY HOUR Sun-Thu until 6:30PM Eat-In Customers Only Temaki - Hand Rolls California Spicy Tuna Dynamite Maguro & Avocado Rock & Roll Shrimp Tempura Hamachi & Avocado Salmon & Avocado Appetizers Goma Ae Salad Stuffed Jalapeno Marinated Artichoke Wakame Salad Godzzila Tofu Drinks Draft Beer on Tap Large Sapporo Beer Large Kirin Beer Large House Sake White Wine - Pinot Grigio Red Wine - Merlot The last photos we had edamame, 3 hand Rolls I think were spicy Tuna, salmon Avacado and forgot the 3rd one. Yes don't try cutting it in half just eat on and don't try to share as it got messy. We also tried Goma Ae Salad Stuffed Jalapeños and Godzzila Tofu. The must get is the Stuffed Jalapeños. We had ordered sushi rolls off the regular menu and had the fried ice cream made a nice conversation about. My friend recommended this place and the sushi was fresh and the Great to get a least once is the Spoonful of happiness, expensive but very tasty and you wish you could get another bite, since it was only a spoon ! lol Will I be back sure, just need to find free time on Sunday to do a quick stop by. read more

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I'm pretty surprised that this place has so many good reviews. I've had better grocery store sushi. Fish was not fresh. We ordered 4 rolls- I enjoyed one and disliked two. Seaweed salad was good though! Pros: no reservation required, fast and friendly service read more

Koo - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Went on a weekday dinner, no wait for a table. Found a new go-to spot! The sushi was fresh and flavorful. The service was so so friendly and fast. Friendly ambiance. All other parties there looked really happy too. Still dreaming about the eggplant dengaku. I want to try everything here! read more

Koo - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Would only go for the unagi and the rolls listed, nothing else. Dishes: -Irving Roll: crab, unagi, and hamachi -J&L Roll (half dragon, half rainbow roll) -Rock 'n Roll: 6 large pcs of unagi -Nigiri (salmon, salmon belly, tuna, and hamachi yellowtail): would skip. Had a scale on it. Logistics: -accepts cc -accepts reservations -street parking but near muni line read more

Really well made sushi. This is their primary menu with your classic Japanese dishes as sides. I love the decor of this place. It's very intimate with booths and closed off tables. Service has always been friendly and attentive from host, waiters, servers and sushi chefs! read more

I hope this place never closes. We've been going here for over 15 years. Great food. Love the curry smelt and hand rolls. Restaurants like this are the heart of every neighborhood and community. read more

Much appreciate that restaurant able to accommodate large b-day dinner on short notice. Staff and hostess very welcoming. Our server Tyler was exceptional - unflappable, responsive, and organized. Delicious food. Nice ambiance. Excellent dining experience for a special occasion. read more

The spoonful of happiness is amazing. Came here on a whim and just wanted to sample a few items. We ordered the spoon full of happiness, amaebi, and hamachi toro. Service was quick and server was friendly. This restaurant seems family friendly too as there were tables with families and little kids. Atmosphere seems like a blend between casual and fancy? Overall, the nigiri were fine and the seafood was fresh. Didn't feel very "wow'd" but it was good. I did notice the pieces were smaller than other establishments I've been to and the prices are a bit higher here too. The star is definitely the spoonful of happiness. The sake pairing was smooth, refreshing, and delightful. My wish is that they will have happy hour one day. read more

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The staff is attentive and quick! I only ordered one thing on the menu, the Lion King Roll. It was very good. The Sushi was made quickly and presented well. I found the prices to be fair, not expensive or cheap. I would recommend coming here! read more

4.5* I think I may have found my regular go-to sushi place based on convenience and balance of quality to price! The $30 sushi combo is always very satisfying --a variety of 5 nirigi + the California roll that comes with it is substantial and tasty (wish there was less Mayo but I'm in the minority on Mayo) + the wakame salad has a good "crunch" texture to it + miso soup! The amaebi nigiri $12 was decent, the shrimp heads had good crunch. The hotategai nigiri $9 was delicious! Compared to Amami SF, the quality here is bit better though you get less sushi for the same price. It works out though because with delivery fees from Amani the price evens out. (It was the last straw when Ubereats delivered me fast food instead and refused to refund or replace.) If dining in, ambiance is also classy at Koo vs hole in the wall. *Their online ordering system from their website did not work for me. I was charged but Koo said they did not receive the order. Call in for take out. read more

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We walked into the restaurant being super hungry. So, we ordered Godzilla tofu, salmon w/avo, Kumamoto oysters, spoonfuls of happiness, Aztec, green tea, black cod, baked scallop, steamed rice. My favorite bites were the spoonfuls of happiness! They seriously made me happy. The rich, luxurious bite of the Uni with the raw quail egg just involves joy! I would eat 5 more spoonfuls of that if I could afford it. Every thing else that we ate was unmemorable and lacked true flavor unless the flavor was just salt. My group was not impressed, but I'm still glad that I tried the spoonful of happiness. read more

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Was literally craving for their spoonful of happiness and man it did not disappoint! Had to get the sweet shrimp and one of their specials while I was at it! Service was nice and quick and we beat the rush so we didn't have to wait long! read more

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The ambience and service are comfortable and unpretentious and the food is delicious - highly recommend.

We love koo! So glad to have them in our neighborhood. Great fish, rolls, and hot food.

Koo is located on the bustling streets of Irving & 5th Ave in the Inner Sunset. I've been here a handful of times with friends and we always get the same thing - the Koo omakase. There is street parking here and the N(?) muni stop is right across the street. Service here is good, as the wait staff is always checking in and the sushi chefs are fun to interact with. The Koo omakase menu includes a starter from the chef, Spoonful of Happiness, goma ae, assorted sashimi, miso soup, and nigiri. The thing we always look forward to is the Spoonful of Happiness - it's quail egg w/ uni and monkfish liver. It's soo good. I think the goma ae dish was spinach w/ sesame sauce for us. The assorted sashimi was amberjack, tuna, and scallop. My favorite nigiris are the red eye snapper, king mackerel, hamachi toro, and bluefin toro as part of the omakase menu. The chef surprised us with a couple dishes including fried cod and a fried shiso leaf w/ spicy salmon and avocado and they were both so delish! I wish it was on the menu. At the end of your meal, if he asks if you want his spiciest roll - don't do it! unless you're up for the challenge... but be warned, this is like Thai spicy! Always a great experience coming here when I'm at the sushi bar. I would say Koo is one of the best bang for your buck omakase (~$100 but not 100% sure cause my bf pays haha) and reminds me closest to Japan sometimes. Check out my Tiktok/IG on it - demandyingfood :) read more

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Great neighborhood sushi spot. Amazing service, great fish and rolls. This is a wonderful spot for dates, family meals and friend gatherings. The menu is inventive and the owner Mike creates a welcoming atmosphere. Been going here for over 9 years and it is the westside Sushi spot. read more

3.5 stars, rounding up to be generous. Food was good but nothing special. Hand rolls pictured are part of happy hour. $7 each and pretty good and big! The nigiri were not part of happy hour. Quality was great but slices felt thin. Overall quality of everything we got was good but something was missing for me. TLDR; Came here for happy hour to save money but I have realized that happy hour anywhere rarely ever saves money lol, especially at a sushi spot and you have a larger than average appetite read more

Koo - Nigiri and the happy hour hand rolls - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Came here for the first time for dinner and it's a a pretty standard sushi restaurant. Would come here for the happy hour menu if I were to come back. Not too fancy, not too casual. The shrimp tempura are smaller than I anticipated. read more

Koo - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Cane here for my cousins bday and we all had a blast. Food is fresh and delicious . Service is awesome and fast. I definitely recommend this place if haven't tried. They been here for years even before pandemic. It's a yummy hidden gem. My favorite was the spoon of happiness since it comes with a shot of sake. Happy Face. Overall we all had fun and loved the place. read more

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Magicians. Sit at the sushi bar, prepare to be amazed. So, I'm biased. This is my local sushi joint. But every single time I pop in, I leave happy, full, and content. Could any of us really ask for more? The team behind the counter is exceptional and the rest of the house is caring and attentive. Eat in, dine out. I promise you will be one happy camper. read more

Food: spoon full of happiness, crawfish hand roll (my fav), duck salad, spicy tuna, and koo roll Service: quick attentive Ambiance: romantic, dark, intimate Cost: ~80 for just me Parking: a bit hard to find parking on Irving but park on the side streets usually 2 hour parking Overall: love coming here and will continue, dine in and take out read more

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My friend lives so close to Koo so I've been a few times. Clean and inviting establishment. Every time I've gone, the staff have been kind and the food is always high quality and fresh. I'm surprised more people don't talk about Koo outside of it being a neighborhood staple. read more

Azteca Roll: fantastic roll, ordered it as it was the server's favorite roll. I forget his exact words but described it as a super California roll which I completely agree with Flying Kamikaze Roll: a bit plain in terms of texture and flavor complexity Maguro Nigiri and Sake Nigiri were decent. Service was great! read more

Koo - Azteca (bottom), Flying Kamikaze (top) - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

I can't believe I never Yelped this place! Have been coming here for 20 years!! When I was single, then married, and now with kids. We love their Spoonful of Happiness, Hamachi Kama, Rolls, Gome Ae, Hamachi carpacio. Everything is delicious and service is always top notch. The only thing is the there is only one bathroom! It's okay, the food and service make up for it. The place also has a nice ambiance and very warm. read more

Koo - Spoonful of Happiness - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Have been to Koo numerous times for Covid takeouts, it is indeed my favorite go-to sushi restaurant! Freshly prepared daily picks always offer a variety of great quality fatty bellies: otoro, sake belly, uni, eel... Accompanied by s grilled goodies and other small plate choices, koo is truly a crowd pleaser. read more

Excellent food, unpretentious atmosphere and attentive and friendly service. What's not to like? All good and recommended. read more

To understand how simple but perfect a good piece of sushi is, is too understand the art of food! The energy and thought that goes into giving you the best possible experience you can have in one bite of food, is what Mike and Sue are trying to do at Koo! Serving the inner Sunset! Cheers read more

Koo - Hamachi Toro - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Did take out with my sister. It's so hard to find parking in SF so I went with my sister to pick up the food. This place is on a block with all residential. It is the only restaurant on this side of the block. The street before has out door dinning all over the place. For a second I thought I missed the place but we saw it. When I ordered the food for dinner it was going to be ready in 15 minutes so that was nice. I got the deluxe mixed sushi. It was fresh and tasted great. My sister just got a California roll. I think they used real crab in it or at least it tasted close to it . We enjoyed it and probably go there again. I was so hungry when we got to my Mom's that I forgot to take a picture or check it. Oh well . read more

Food was pretty good, definitely hit the spot for the sushi craving I had. The service was quick, and the atmosphere and vibe of the place was also nice and cozy. I walked in around 5:30 on a Monday and the receipt indicated I was customer #5 of the day so people were in and out pretty fast. The place was decently busy considering the time of the day and how they just opened in the past half hour, but I didn't have to wait long I came for Happy Hour, as I was curious about the menu changes since it wasn't updated in the past couple of years. It went up a couple of dollars, which is still reasonable. My favorite was probably the BEST roll (actual name) -- I was worried the lemon would be too zesty or sour but it was just the right amount. I enjoyed the freshness of the salmon on top, along with the tempura on the inside 8/10 The Dynamite hand roll was also delicious, although the rice to filling ratio wasn't my preferred amount. I haven't had a restaurant hand roll before, so hard to say if this is typical, but it was definitely more rice heavy towards the end of the cone. The spicy mayo mix wasn't very noticeable, but the scallops were good. 6.75/10 I saw a lot of people order and mention the Godzilla tofu, so I had to try it given I'm typically a bigger fan of tofu compared to my friends. The tofu itself was okay, but I wasn't as much of a fan when it came to the topping which was a bit too strong for my tastes. Garlic and miso are strong though, so it makes sense. I couldn't tell exactly that i was garlic miso without looking it up either honestly. The crispiness and toppings were also not exactly evenly distributed, so each bite was kinda different which wasn't my favorite. 5.75/10 Overall, pretty good and would come back again to try other stuff. Some unique items and the fish quality were also highlights! read more

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Recently eaten at Koo! We sat at the sushi bar where we could watch the chefs prepare rolls as we ate. The food was delicious! We had the "Best" roll which is the one topped with lemon, as well as the "J & L" roll and the spicy tuna roll. Everything was . The Best roll was very unique, with a strong lemony flavor. The J & L roll was very good, and a great way to try the dragon roll and the kamikaze roll in one go. The shrimp tempura on the inside honestly blew me away, the fried crust's flavor was very apparent but blends in well with the rest of the roll. Finally the spicy tuna roll (my personal way of telling is a sushi restaurant is good or not) had great flavor and was in fact - spicy. Overall a great experience with great service, and the house sake (warm) pared great with the rolls we had. Would definitely recommend Koo if you're looking for a higher tier of sushi without completely breaking the bank! Ambiance was relaxed but high end. read more

Koo - Spicy Tuna - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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My friend took me to here one time and it was so good that I had to take my boyfriend here! I love their sampler set because we got to taste a little bit of everything and their spoon of happiness is so good! I highly recommend their sampler set because their fish was so fresh and it tasted so good! I want to come back here again to try their sushi! It looks so good read more

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Ordered from Koo for Mother's Day and to be honest I was very surprised how fresh the fish was! The toros were MELTING IN YOUR MOUTH good. I would honestly recommend all the sashimis- scallop, sashimi trio, amaebi, salmon toro, hamachi toro and toro. The rolls were mediocre to me which is why I took away a star. Staff was super nice. Easy to order and pick up. read more

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I think this is one of the few restaurants that take reservation over Google Forms... I wasn't too sure if I would get a response, but I got an email confirming my reservation request within a day. I don't think it was necessary, since there was a good amount of seating available when I arrived. I think the food is solid, but nothing was particularly impressive. The fish is fresh, and you're guaranteed quality, but I don't think anything differentiates this spot from other sushi restaurants I've been to. We ordered: Spoonfuls of Happiness ($17) - This was fun, though for $17, the pleasure is gone pretty quickly. We each got a shotglass of sake, which we sipped on between spoonfuls. There were definitely a lot of flavors on each spoon, though if you don't focus, you'll swallow it too fast to really gauge them all. Ankimo ($12) - I wasn't sure about this one, but it was super fresh. Baked mussels ($10) - Creamy baked mussels. How can you go wrong with these? Flying Kamikaze Roll ($16) - I barely remember what this tasted like. Spicy Tuna Roll ($11) - Pretty basic roll, nothing special. Rock N Roll ($12) - I liked this one. The creamy avocado and sweet unagi were a good combination. read more

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Nice atmosphere and very good customer service. However I ordered two baked rolls and they weren't as hot as I was expecting. I'm used to baked rolls coming out in foil, these did not. The customer service however was great. For those with sensitive ears, there is a humming noise in the restaurant coming from a fan or something. read more

I have to say, I had high expectations for this place. I have walked by this restaurant for over 10 years never trying it but hearing only good things about it. Well... we finally tried it and I was happy with the meal.The Sushi was nothing special but it did taste good and come out correct. Was not super impressed by anything to push it to 5 stars. read more

Ordered take out many times during covid. Online app is convenient. It texted your phone to confirm the order and texted again when food is ready. Wakame is always good. Sushi roll and Sashimi nice and fresh. Staff is efficient. Will ordered again if want Japanese food. Also easy to park outside to do quick pickup. read more

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The fish and uni at Koo were amazingly fresh. From their starters to their omakase, everything was delicious. The hamachi carpaccio was super fresh, and the jalapeno added a fiery kick to each bite. The spoonfuls of happiness came with two different spoons but I extremely fell in love with the one with uni in it. The rice and fish on the nigiris for the omakase were perfectly proportioned. The toro and chu-toro literally melted in my mouth like butter, and I really enjoyed this one nigiri that tasted like smoked bacon (sorry, don't know the name). Just when I thought the uni from the spoonful of happiness (Santa Barbara) was good, the uni on the nigiri (Hokkaido) was even better. It was a lot sweeter and tastier. Service was impeccable with my tea always being filled before it hits the end of the cup. Our waiter was also very knowledgable about the fish in our omakase and he gave us good recommendations on what to try (like the hamachi carpaccio). Overall, great place and would love to be back to get my omakase fixes! read more

Koo - Hamachi carpaccio - Japanese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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sushi here is really good. The inside decor is also the dim light setting and would be perfect for dates and hangouts. The sushi rice is made very well and I can tell the fish is pretty good quality. Service is also good and attentive. Parking is a bit hard to find since it's very busy around the area. read more

I am writing to update my review of Koo, from 2012. The reason is of course everything changed with the pandemic. Our lives are demarcated by the pandemic: the past; the prolonged anxiety of COVID-19, a fever dream experienced by everyone; and now the uncertain future, in a world divided and fraught, between the optimism of rebuilding for the better and the realities of climate change and war. So a respite for dinner, a place to dine with family and friends, to enjoy the food and the conversation, is all the more vital and to be appreciated. But anyone with an opinion should confirm the facts which form the foundation for that impression remain true enough. I can do that from a recent visit with my wife. The waiter even recognized from before. It must have been a good two years since the last time he saw us. The main point of my original review is the unostentatious decor belies the outstanding fare. That remains true. The interior is plain and simple. The food is excellent. The chef is playing with Japanese themes. S/he is skilled. Too many fanciful rolls have debased sushi elsewhere. The changes are subtle here. We have tried most dishes. Our regulars among the small plates include the godzilla tofu, which is crispy tofu; eggplant dengaku, which is traditional; baked mussels, agedashi tofu, green beans, tempura, and deep fried whole smelt, all of which are all more conventional (and superb). The goma ae vegetables, stuffed jalapenos, fried calamari, and black cod are worthwhile as well. Among the main dishes, the handrolls are all tastefully creative: the dynamite with scallop; the crawfish; and the king crab. My wife has enjoyed several other rolls. They are not "my thing." I would say they have higher quality ingredients than at the Japanese restaurants that have earned the ire of the would-be guardians of washoku standards. We usually sit at a table. They have a funny little one in an awkward space, for two. The bar is off to the side. It offers the convivial feel of sushi bars around the world. The service is obliging. They are welcoming to families, and if you show up early the crowd includes youngsters. There are multiple Japanese restaurants in the Inner Sunset, probably a higher ratio of superlative choices than any other neighborhood, even Japantown. They are all in the middle bracket of prices, not the bargain deals that might make you anxious about the risk noted on menus, of consuming raw fish, nor the asking prices so dear only those with more money than judgment would pay the rate. We live within walking distance (uphill afterward from Koo, so we typically drive). That makes us lucky. The Inner Sunset itself is in vogue. That is not as fortunate for anyone looking for parking. Koo is worth a drive. Bring a date who will value the evening. read more

The quality of the food is back. Both cold and hot dishes were well executed and tasty. It is not a fancy restaurant but a local gem if you like Japanese. Excellent selection of sake with one of my favorites, "born gold." Courteous staff and attentive when needed. read more