Tenroku Sushi Reviews

The food is good. We tried entrees and specialty rolls. Overall the location and ambiance is not great. If the location is convenient for you, then it is a good spot to grab a quick bite. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

The entire family loves sushi, dreams of Osaka, and often has expectations that are higher than perhaps reasonable for most locations. Daughter and I stopped here for lunch, selected a few items and were sufficiently filled. Hardly high dining but acceptable for the very reasonable prices.

Tenroku offers a wide variety of fresh and tasty sushi. At 3pm on a Sunday, the restaurant was packed and the chefs were constantly making more sushi. The atmosphere is pretty close to that of a classic conveyor belt sushi place in Japan. Everything tasted good. It was really expensive, with most plates of nigiri being almost $6 each. Definitely worth visiting if you're already in the area checking out Japan Town.

I've eaten conveyor belt sushi in Japan and was excited to try it in Japantown. It was pretty authentic, but they have Americanized it by having rolls and things most Japanese places don't serve. I wanted to see a bit more raw options.

Busy and we had to wait about 20 minutes, but on a Saturday for dinner, that was understandable. I miss Isobune with the sushi boats, but Tenroku is the next best thing. The food is in a circle on little train like cars. A great variety of sushi, sashimi and desserts. Well worth a trip to Japantown

My wife and I travel frequently and we always like to try sushi restaurants. We were frequent visitors of Japan town when we lived in Northern California so we know Kinokuniya mall well. I was surprised to come across this kaiten sushi but we thought that we would give it a try. We were not disappointed. The quality of the fish was excellent. We had both sashimi and sushi. The rice was properly done (not always the case in a number of sushi restaurants). As the restaurant was full, the fish moved off quickly which is not always the case with kaiten sushi. We actually went back the second night because everything was so good and we weren't disappoint. We actually ate at an outstanding kaiten sushi in Tokyo that our friends, who are local (and we lived in Japan), took us to and I would have to say Tenroku was comparable. I thought the price was decent, especially considering it is in San Francisco. Well worth the visit.

My husband and I love sushi and this was by far the best find out of the three we went to in Japantown during our recent visit. It had the largest freshest pieces of blue fin tuna, yellowtail and salmon (OMG!) at a much better price than the other two places we went to. Try and go when it's busy too when the plates on the conveyor are freshest. Highly recommended!

I'm going to Tenroku twice this week :) I love sushi and this place serve nice sushi my favorite is Uni nigiri and Unagi nigiri also Akimo (fish liver) so gooooood. Oyster also fresh. This place has many different dishes on the carousel. If you looking for sushi boat this is good place to go. Little pricey but worth it.

Sushi was so great I had salmon, tuna and Harring fish I love how they covered dish with the lid to keep some moist for the rice even it’s on the plate for long time it’s still taste so good

Having lived in Japan and enjoying great sushi there I have usually been disappointed with North American Kaiten or conveyor belt sushi. Tenroku is as close to the quality of what you can get in Japan as there is. The sushi is fresh and the prices are reasonable. I wish I lived in San Francisco so I could eat there more often. Also unlike in Japan the sushi is hand made which is great!

Went here before a show at the FIllmore. The inside is pretty small and not wheelchair accessible, but they made accommodations for us to eat outside in the mall. My friend and I got two rolls, both had the freshest fish I had ever had. Wait staff was prompt and friendly.

Great selection with fresh fish. Service is quick and friendly. I sat at the bar and was able to pick what I wanted off the conveyor as it came by. There are certain things on the menu I didn't see on the conveyer that I ordered direct. And to be honest, I'd suggest ordering straight from the chefs for the freshest stuff. Price is per plate ranging from as low around $2.50 up to $10. That may seem a bit high but thats really to be expected with quality and/or expensive fish. It was a fun experience, reminiscent of my time in Tokyo. Easy to get to if you're on mass transit or driving. This place is a bit of a hidden gem. I will come back and hopefully bring a few friends.

We have been there tonight...!!! It was sooooo good!! Best sushis and makis ever!!! And I really am an expert ;-) It was great to see the chefs preparing the dishes right in front of you and we were able to tell the chef to prepare a sushi specially for us! Service was really nice and ingredients really fresh!!! Make a reservation as otherwise you have to wait... but to be honest as they prepare so many different plates, guests do not stay too long! So wait time shouldn’t be that long!

Traveled to SF from San Diego. I eat sushi at least once per week. Went here thinking it would be good based on Google reviews. No Japanese staff. Sushi was not fresh based on smell and texture. Below average at best and not cheap for the low quality. However, I did not get sick.

Great Place. Quick Service. Hungry 24, 30, & 34 year old plus mom. Recommend!! Other places had 45-70 minute wait. This place was a quick turn-over. Sit at the revolving food conveyer bar.

Loved the sushi here and had a great time people watching and also observing the sushi masters work their magic! I really enjoyed eating at this restaurant and it was a highlight of my trip. The plates are colour coded, they go round on a conveyor belt and the prices start from around $3 a plate. Disagree with the other reviews who say it is expensive... Anyway, I highly recommend if you're in the area!

There’s no problem with the food at all. It’s delicious and the service was very good. It’s quite pricy; partly because it is SF. It’s a sushi bar so people come to eat and not to chat with friends and family while eating. The place is always busy so come early for you will queue outside the restaurant.

While looking for our sushi fix decided to give Tenroku Sushi in Japan town shopping center a try. It was early 5pm but already it was pretty busy a good sign. patrons sit at the sushi bar and pick freshly made sushi trays off the rotating rail. Prices range from $3-4 to $8-9 per dish. If you don't quite see what you want just ask and the sushi chefs will happily make it for for you or create extra dishes of what you like. Tea is complementary hot and tasty mix of green and rice tea leaves. Ended up visiting twice in a week. Really enjoyed, good value, good atmosphere and very fresh easy dishes.

The place was small but we loved it. The service was good and not bad for waiting time, for us about 15-20 mins. Sushi was fresh, sushi rolls are delicious 😋, and you can order from the menu too that was nice. A lot of selection sushi, sushi rolls and Rome noodles too. We definitely coming back when we are in Japan town again 👍👍👍

This place is great! We ate here 3 out of 4dinners in the area. Miguel was our favorite cook, very attentive and friendly! We'll definitely be back next time we're in town.

We were told that Tenroku Sushi was the best sushi in San Francisco. Given that this was located in Japantown, we thought that we couldn't go wrong. Firstly, it took an hour of walking in circles using GPS because the restaurant is located on the 2nd floor of a mall! After driving to Japantown for this restaurant, we nearly gave up a number of times. It's too bad we didn't. We are used to eating sushi often in Toronto. We are used to high quality food, with good service, at reasonable prices, all-you-can-eat and in a clean environment, often served by Asians. This place had none of the above!!! This place was a small room with tacky, old décor. It has a trolley-style service with non-Asian chefs turning out sushi plates on various coloured dishes indicating different prices. The plates are overly expensive and add up quickly for those with big appetites. We are used to so much better quality sushi in Toronto at ANY restaurant, let alone one in the heart of Japantown. San Francisco must have very low sushi standards.

This is my new go-to sushi place. It has a conveyor belt for sushi which makes it quick. They also offer a variety of desserts including sesame balls and cheesecake.

Sushi is just OK. Waitress offered my son more tea, and warned that it was very hot. As she held his cup and poured the tea, the cup shattered from the heat. As a result, the ultra hot tea spilled all over his jeans. Essentially no apology; they brought us the full bill and we left as soon as possible.

Not so good. Some of the sushi didn't seem fresh. Nothing really stood out except the sushi chef who looked more like a Brooklyn cab driver from the 50s (even though we may have heard him speak Japanese so I don't know what to think). The prices were fair.

We decided to the Tenroku Sushi in Japantown because we had been told that the purchase freshly caught fish every day and the sushi subsequently is fresh. We tried nine different sushi. From simple, succulent salmon to great oysters. Tenroku Sushi is a a traditional small sushi "hole-in-the-wall" place. They don't take reservations but the wait is never long. It's busy and it's fun to watch the sushi prepared and placed on a conveyor that passes in from of all the guests who help themselves. Each sushi is charges according to the colour of the plates. Recommended.

We are taking our teenage son to San Francisco for his first trip there and wanted to find a boat sushi place. The one on Trip Advisor didn’t have the best reviews. Yelp had an entire category for “surveyor belt sushi”. Found Tenkoru there and it has the added benefit of being in Japan Center with lots of Japanese stores, boutiques, restaurants, etc. as well as the iconic Peace Pagoda. Tenkoru has a few regular tables but the real action is in the center. Imagine 4 men in the center of a rectangle making all kinds of exotic sushi creations. The outer perimeter of the rectangle is the conveyor belt that goes round and round. There is a counter with high chairs such that you are looking at the men as they cook and at the other people sitting around the rectangle. There are 8 different plate colors used to determine cost. You sit and pick up whatever plates suit your fancy. You can eat as much or as little as you want. At the end of your meal, the waitress counts the numbers of your various colored plates to determine your bill. There were some very basic standbys like salmon roll, spicy tuna roll, and edamame. But there were some amazing and fanciful concoctions I’d never seen before including red juicy looking octopus tentacles. The prices were very reasonable and the sushi was solidly good. This was a really fun meal and great entertainment for older kids. Don’t miss this little gem!

I have always had this bias against sushi boat restaurant serving mediocre sushi circling around with not so fresh fish. However, Tenroku changed my perception. It has lots of choices and options including unique menu options and sushi fresh, rolls are delicious and you get instant gratification getting what you want right off the sushi boat. They also have individual covers for the sushi plate for hygiene while the conveyor belt circulates. Not bargain prices but best value for the food

After eating here about a half dozen times I've come to love this place. The fish is always fresh and the Uni is top notch. From the maki rolls to the nigiri and sashimi selections the menu is always changing. The sushi chefs (artists) work in the center of the bar where you can easily watch them work. Always a wonderful meal.

The sushi was good. However, service was very slow -- had to inquire twice about where the rest of our order was, and where our beer was. And the plates they brought us were not clean at all, we had to send them back and ask for clean plates. And gnats were a problem. Will not be back.

Having to prepare for our departure early the next morning and tight for time, at the recommendation of the hotel clerk we thought we would experience "conveyer belt" sushi ? Situated in a shopping mall in Japantown, "Tenroku Sushi" was easy to find, with no line ups we were quickly seated. The restaurant space is small and the seating surrounds a literal conveyor belt carrying varied sushi and rolls, there appeared to be no selection of sashimi. A lot of sushi remained "un-touched" and depending where the patrons like us were seated would greatly determine "selection" and "freshness" of the sushi. A lesson learned in quality dining.

Low key and very friendly. Off the beating track. Many locals. Great first experience with the conveyor sushi belt. Delicious sushi, and lots of options.

Got recommended by a local. Wonderful sushi which you pick yourself from a moving trail. And the sushi was amazing (close to japanese standard) but there could have been more options.

While roaming around Japantown, I was pleased to see a few convery-belt sushi options. If you're not familiar with the conveyor-belt sushi concept, check out my photo. It's a brilliant idea for a casual sushi experience - the sushi chef will prepare a variety of sushi/sashimi "bites" on colored plates with clear plastic coverings. The plates get placed on a moving conveyor belt. You simply grab plates that you want as they go by. Your bill is tallied up by the number of plates you've stacked up. The fish quality was excellent. I'm judging this as an East Coaster (NYC) that eats sushi a lot. While NYC has some great sushi restaurants, I've always felt fish quality in California to be much better. My only minor gripe with Tenroku was that a few of the top-end ($6) plates I got, specifically - a toro/fatty tuna - was way too cold (almost frozen.) As a result, you miss out on the experience of the natural oils in the fish giving you that ultra creamy and velvety mouth-feel and texture. I suspect that since this sushi isn't made on demand, it needs to be a bit colder to endure a few potential trips around the conveyor belt. Despite that, the toro quality was superb. I just missed that tactile experience you get from a perfect piece of fish that is served and timed specifically for your pleasure. Other than that, the ambiance of the restaurant is casual and modern. It was a pleasant place to eat alone or with a few people.

We walked in and sat at the bar of this "carrousel sushi" kind of restaurant. The amount of options was amazing, yes a little pricey, but definetely and amazing place I would recommend to anyone. The cooks are constantly suggesting, and helping you try new dishes and giving you very fresh options and creating new dishes on the go. This place was highly recommended and I can confirm it's a place anyone who likes sushi should try if in the area.

The best sushi and sashimi you can eat, exceptional fish quality, most of the clients are Japanese who patiently wait for the best piece to taste ! A sushi expert place !

We were really excited about dining here. I would stick to the fish plates. The marinated items were bland. Our favorite was actually the cheapest plate - the fried shrimp heads. We were drawn in by the $10 Uni box. But when I asked for it, they said they are out of it. Yet they had two piece Uni plates on the sushi belt for $7. Hmmmmmm. Bait and switch?!! Overall the sushi plates were hit and miss. the waitress kept forgetting to bring us water. So dropped a star for poor customer service. Especially since it is self serve and the waitress doesn't have to remember much. Three people, 19 plates. About $75.

Recently opened in Japantown, I've eaten here 3 times and like the tasty sushi. Prices are higher than most "floating" sushi bars---but everything is high quality and worth the cost. So, I pick up fewer plates, particularly the lowest cost nigirii sushi. Color-coded plates, with plastic caps, rotate on stainless steel conveyer---stylish without those fake boats on water. Prices start from $2, $3, $3.50,, $4 and up. Decor is Japanese-modern and trendy. Also, there are a few tables, including outside along the Japantown mall. Specialty is tuna ($6 sushi). A nice show when chefs cut whole tuna in front of customers. Although I'm a big fan of qantity for a low price, this quality for a higher price is worthy---when the food experience is memorable.

This small out of the way sushi bar is tucked into the Japan Center. It has great sushi at a great price. The sushi passes ion front of you on a conveyor and in addition, you can order from the sushi chefs. The sushi chefs are very accommodating in making special items or standard items with an ingredient missing. Our go-to sushi place.

This place offers consistently good sushi -- even though it moves at a steady pace in front of you. The chefs and servers are friendly and responsive. Good for parties of 1 to 4.