4. Restaurants

Zakuro Japanese Bistro & Sushi Bar

6700 Santa Rita Rd,Ste A, Pleasanton, CA, 94588
  • (925) 469-9060
  • Store is closed

Zakuro Japanese Bistro & Sushi Bar Menu

Sorry, We are updating this restaurant menu details.

Visit below restaurant in Pleasanton for healthy meals suggestion.

Denny’s ( 6455 Owens Dr )
Auntie Anne’s ( Stone Ridge Mall,1212 Stoneridge Mall Rd )

Visit below restaurant in Pleasanton for healthy meals suggestion.

Denny’s ( 6455 Owens Dr )
Auntie Anne’s ( Stone Ridge Mall,1212 Stoneridge Mall Rd )

  • M D.

    Being a sushi chef in my previous life, I have to say this place have the freshest fish in the area. I sat in front of chef Alex at the bar and order hamachi, Saba and uni. It was prepared right away and came out perfectly in term of rice and fish ratio. I also try the prime roll and requested only half the rice they normally put on the roll because I was getting full. It came out just the why I would have made it. The eel on top was hot and toasty. If you are into rolls this is the place to be with great selections. I'm more into simply slice fish on top of a rice, traditional style. Service was top notch and None of my drinks was ever empty. Now that I work at Lexus down the block. You can bet I will be back!

    (5)

  • Rick T.

    I am a big thing on cleaness and this place is tops. Service and interaction was awesome. Jun has provided us great service and knowledge about their venue. Thank you Jun for the dining experience. We will definitely come back.

    (5)

  • Miss V.

    This sushi restaurant has a nice interior. The bar is a bit small looking so we usually sit at a table for more leg room. The fish is fresh and beautifully prepared. The red bean ice cream is fantastic. A definite must try! Staff is friendly. And I'm on my way to eat dinner at this very moment. Can't wait!

    (5)

  • Valerie T.

    I tried this place today for lunch with a friend using a groupon. The meal started off well. The restaurant is clean and well-lit. The waiter was friendly and prompt at the beginning of the meal. We tried several dishes: edamame, tempera vegetables, lincoln roll, ocean 12 roll and killer bee roll. The starters edamame and tempera vegetables were both good and good sized portions. The hot tea was also very good. The rolls however were extremely creamy and had a very mayonnaisey taste to them. The Ocean 12 roll was particularly bad - way too much cream cheese and flavor was off. It had an odd smoked sauce that was not tasty. The rolls were all over sauced and not in a good way. There was no spicy to the rolls. It was frankly hard to eat the last bites because they were so rich. Of the three rolls the lincoln roll was the best and least sauced. The wasabi was also bland. There are several other sushi restaurants in the area that I prefer. If I were to come back here I would try to find rolls without sauce.

    (2)

  • Matt G.

    Sushi was mediocre. I had Hamachi nigiri and it looked off color and smelled fishy. Cooked entrees were reasonable. Service was friendly, but a bit slow even though we were one of three tables.

    (2)

  • Roy C.

    I rarely write a review, but felt it important enough for this restaurant. Tonight was our 5th visit and we couldn't be happier with the service. Each time, our waiter/waitress took the time to discuss the menu and make recommendations. We are conservative sushi connoisseurs always looking for a new taste experience. It is refreshing to experience a sushi restaurant with staff patient enough to welcome and understand your questions. THE FOOD IS GREAT TOO!

    (5)

  • Andrea H.

    Love all their food!! Excellent service and great sushi. My kids favorite is the California rolls with snow crab meat. This place has the best sushi that I've ever tasted and it's always fresh. I recommend this place to all my friends and family

    (5)

  • A M.

    Dining Details: Number in Party/Meal/Reservation/Price 12 pople dinner reservation 18$ Venue: Parking/Easy to find/Cleanliness/Lighting parking is okay, though hard to find the entrance (it's right next to the shell gas station) and 580 on/off ramp Service: Seating speed/food speed/server attitude seating fast reservation) food a lil slow attitude good Dishes: dinner bento 2 item selection Overall comments: the owner gave us some extra stuff. some jalapeno on top of some fish thing? maybe because we brought in such a large group. large seating area, but not that many people. called in and told them we were coming, showed up late and they were like 'oh so you guys actually came'. haha our bad. waiter, though friendly, did not seem like he could speak japanese. probably a second generation or something at least.

    (5)

  • Glenn M.

    Warning, extremely addicting! I ordered the Zakuro Roll and quickly understood why it was a staff recommendation. I also had the Red Bull roll and that was just as good. The place has an modern feel unlike other sushi restaurants in the area but is still casual. I've found my new favorite sushi spot!

    (5)

  • Tanya M.

    They just started .99 cent Saki (1.98 if you order a large)5pm to close Mon-Wed so was a definite bonus to check it out. First we called in to order take out and they convinced us to come in and dine, so glad we did. We loved all the really different flavors that they offer in their sushi rolls and the entire staff was pretty hip. We will definitely keep ordering the "RED BULL" -if you like saucy and spicy it was so flavorful. The "hwy 65" was a favorite as well. The decor was nice, music was hip and would make a nice date spot. The service was great but it wasn't really busy so not sure how they do on busy Fri and Saturday nights. We will keep going Mon-Wed when it is nice and quiet. We tried to stick to the non-crab type rolls and also recommend the Tataki seared perfectly.

    (4)

  • Joey N.

    Nice decor - this place is not cheap, portions are not big - but it packs flavor got a oceans 13 which was probably the best dish. but was pricy. 15 or so. This thing was so amazing that even though my wife has never ate raw sushi - she dug the seared tuna topping. so win. the unsten (basically dragon roll everywhere else.. Was ok. - Prime - wow - jalapeno and goodness zakuro - pretty good - wish their spicey mayo sauce had more spice to it tho The shrimp tempura was less of a shrimp tempura more of a tokatsu bater so that was a trip Sashimi was good - excpect for i beleive snapper - why leave the skin on.. All in all better tasting than most. Lion king - still no comparison to sushi house - so pass o

    (4)

  • Cal P.

    I saw this place open a couple weeks ago, so being aficionado and finding myself too tired to cook one weeknight I decided to relax at Zakuro. The decor of the sushi bar drew me in, allowing me to strike up a conversation with the sushi chef. I asked for suggestions and then chose the Prime roll. YUM! It was so good I decided to try ama ebi. YUM! Finally, he suggested Japanese ice cream, and though I don't eat sweets often, I decided to give it a try. Very nice - a manageable portion and not too sweet. I'll be back to Zakuro again. Friend staff, delicious food and comfortable surroundings. Give it a try!

    (4)

  • Melanie J.

    Love love love this place! Jay, Alex and David are the best! Love the .99 saki but love the guys and Ellen more. They totally make this place so fun. And the food totally rocks. Be sure to try.the prime, crunchmaster and oceans 12 & 13. So so good. Definately a must!!

    (5)

  • Jennifer Y.

    The Zakuro roll is to die for! All the rolls that we ordered had different house sauce and they were all amazing. Very different from ordinary mayo sauce on regular rolls. My husband ordered several nigiri sushi and he said it was very fresh. Great Service. Delightful Ambiance. We will definately go back!

    (5)

  • East Bay R.

    I've only had the nigiri dishes, so this review only focuses on the nigiri. I am very pleased by the quality and selection of fish. I think it is very tender and fresh, and I'm happy that I don't get the usual octopus. The amount of rice the fish rests on is smaller than is the norm but not a big deal to me. The waitress that I had was ok, but the Asian-American host is friendly and gracious. I disagree with some of the other reviewers regarding the decor. It's spacious but somewhat dark and drab--not much ambiance. I've been to many Japanese restaurants that have more attractive, warmer, and/or authentic or cooler decor. Price is par for this region, which is a little higher than I would prefer to pay (I like going to Ray's Sushi in Hayward for large pieces). But given the quality of the fish, it's reasonable.

    (4)

  • Leah A.

    Love this place. Always excellent service and great sushi! My son loves the udon and their salmon is excellent! We usually come here at least once a month.

    (5)

  • Sylvia L.

    This place rocks! We had special rolls, appetizers, LOTS of sake... But best of all was the service! Our servers were awesome! Ellen, David, Henry, and the owner Alex were great and we will definetly tell our friends all about this place! I hope it's here to stay!!!! Woooohooo!!!

    (5)

  • Helen M.

    Decided to give it a try with Groupon and has have been hooked every since. They have a great variety of rolls, entrees and sake. Alex the owner and Jay are always behin the sushi bar and are great! Nice Bistro vibe with a great happy hour til 7pm

    (4)

  • Snoopy D.

    Waiter was sick and serving me. I ended up getting sick and bumps on my tongue. Had the chicken karage and lion king roll. Food contaminated?

    (1)

  • One D.

    Very helpful and friendly staff both times we came in. Waiter was even kind enough to check on special dietary restrictions for us. Sashimi wasn't fishy and rolls decent. Bento with mackerel and salmon was pretty good and udon was pretty good. Loved the raw oysters. Fresh and they r not the overwhelming big ones u use for grilling. And the complimentary soup for our 4 yo was thoughtful, since she always wants it when we go to sushi.

    (5)

  • John W.

    Great place to enjoy good food. Awesome service and great decor! Highly recommended.

    (5)

  • Jazzy S.

    Had the lunch bento box. Tasty and good value for $10. Miso soup was piping hot and shrimp tempura was the best I've had. Portions on small side, but it was lunch. Wait staff super friendly and attentive. Food was slow to come out, but restaurant is new and I'm assuming they are still working the kinks out. Looking forward to trying sushi bar on next visit.

    (4)

  • Alice C.

    simply the best!! been searching for a good japanese restaurant in tri valley for a while. i discovered zakuro through yelp while i was shopping at near by outlet. with their 3 and half star rating, i obviously didnt expect much. Boy, was i WRONG!!! i ordered from their happy hour menu. Yes they do have happy hour!!!! it seemed like a fair deal, so i decided to try a few from the selection. pepper fin was to die for!!! fresh tasting slices of albacore tuna with thin slice of jalapeno just soaked in very, very yummy ponzu sauce and topped with green onion and tobiko!!! i had to order hot sake to pair it with. and what!!!!!! 99 cent for small hot sake?!?!?! at this point my experience is already good. however, of course that wouldn't get me full, so i moved onto rolls!! my server (awesome, very attentive, n friendly) recommended zakuro and prime roll, so i decided to try it. good recommendation....gosh..... probably best tasting roll that i have ever had in my life.... after i finished my meal, i noticed there were additional discount applied to my check. i guess there is additional $2 off of each roll if you order the rolls during the happy hour. happy camper!!! :)))) from the start to finish, it was very pleasant experience!! i am going back for sure!!! soon!!!!

    (5)

  • Katie Y.

    We were there with my 7year old daughter last eveing, we waited 35mins for someone to take our order, but no one ever came and we left hungry and angry, even my daughter says she will never go back again!! I wish there is a zero star option that I can pick.

    (1)

  • D C.

    I noticed this place recently opened, so I decided to give it a try. Even though Pleasanton/Dublin has tons of Japanese restaurants, it never hurts to look at something new. This place has a large variety of specialty rolls, most seemed to be based on the California roll or have tempura shrimp except with different toppings. The list is quite extensive and does take some time to look over, I settled on the Peter Special roll and the spicy tuna and scallop hand roll. The hand rolls were made well and had plenty of fish. The only down side are the prices, there are approximately 8-10 sushi restaurants in the Pleasanton/Dublin area and in comparision the prices are too steep. The food is good, but I wish they would run some "specials," on weekdays. I would say all their sushi rolls are $1 to $3 more on average.

    (3)

  • Sarah K.

    Agree 100% with Amy D below. Not authentic Japanese food. Maybe the sushi is good, but the sukiyaki was ridiculous, and so was my husbands dish... Our tea was barely warm, never got a refill, staff ignored us to enjoy their own food at the bar. The miso soup was barely above room temperature and I've had better flavor from freeze dried packets. My husband is Japanese and I cook Japanese for him.. we know our way around a japanese menu and I've had a lot of the real thing in Japan. I was excited when I read their menu online, but so disappointed when I actually tried it. Really bad service when we went too. Just really really bad, and it made every mistake stand out. Waste of money.

    (1)

  • Ivy C.

    Very hospitable. With Groupon, no discrimination. Food is great and it comes fast. Overall is a pleasant experience. Will come back.

    (5)

  • Hoola H.

    Went for their happy hour the other day. Verdict- creative, interesting, tasty, fresh sushi rolls, but a tad overpriced. Their happy hour has $2, $3, and $4 selections. However, their maki rolls are only $2 off their regular price for happy hour. Not a great deal. We would have tried more of their rolls if the prices were better. Service was good. The servers were friendly. Overall, not a bad place for decent sushi, although a tad overpriced especially for Pleasanton. I'm not giving up my neighborhood sushi joint anytime soon.

    (4)

  • Ben R.

    I was really hopeful about this place. It looked nice from the outside, and looked nice inside when I visited, but I didn't enjoy myself. The service was slow, my soda was flat, and the food didn't taste very good. I had the lunch special and a soda, and my total was about $15. I think if I'm paying $15 for lunch the food should be pretty darn good. However that was not the case. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this place. I know it's a little more expensive, but I would recommend Hana Japan over this place in a heart beat.

    (1)

  • Sasha P.

    Ambience & Service was pretty good; however.. - Tea was lukewarm -Miso soup tasted very bland & not hot enough!!! - Although the presentation was good, teriyaki chicken & saba comb dinner failed to impress ; portions are big, but food tend to be a bit sweet and chicken taste over boiled, then grilled. Saba was not fresh -Salad albacore tuna was just so so. NOT AUTHENTIC!

    (2)

  • Chen D.

    Went there for lunch. Didn't have eating utensils brought to me so I just grabbed them from a neighboring table. I ordered the sashimi salad that came 7 mins after everyone else's food. They obviously forgot my meal. Then to top it off, it was yucky. Never again.

    (1)

  • jenny t.

    Last month, I went in with a Groupon so I got to try a roll, bento and a nigiri sushi meal. The bill came to a gross total (excluding tip) of about $50 for two people and our stomachs were not full as their portions are small overall. Having said that, the service was good (the big restaurant was not busy at all) and the decor is super nice. When it comes down to eating out, we hope the restaurant can work on improving their portion size as the food is what matters most for customers.

    (2)

  • Ginger S.

    Food was delish. Really, really good. Wish the prices weren't so expensive. no miso included in the meal. I think for those prices you should get miso and edamame.

    (3)

  • Ethan C.

    Very small portions, over-priced.. nothing special about this place. Rolls are good but small but I am more a traditionalist when it comes to sushi, I like the nigiri and sashimi over the rolls but this place seems to be catered more towards rolls... but even with that I can think of 5 places better than this place, such as Sushi House in Alameda, and Mijori in Oakland. Sorry, I won't be back unless there's some coupon that makes it worth while.

    (2)

  • Wina B.

    I Love this sushi , as you can see on my past reviews i visited a couple of other sushi places even some i hadn't yet reviewed but I must say I had to hurry home to get on yelp to describe this.......I ordered the Kamakazi Roll, My friend had the Prime Roll...Let me tell you this was the most delicious sushi I ever tasted..Very flavorful, They use REAL crab .and the garlic sauce.. um um good. O my you can taste that in there as well all the wonderful flavors just had my taste buds smiling....It made me even more in love with sushi..the decors was nice and not too pricey ..I thought at first glance it would be very upscale and snooty..but it wasn't ..the environment was laid back with wonderful smooth oldschool music playing...This gets five stars from me!!!....and I'm going back for lunch..:-)

    (5)

  • Kisa Z.

    Came back and was not disappointed! I have two major criterias with dining out - food and service! Both were excellent! The restaurant filled up quickly and there were enough wait staff where customers weren't sitting around waiting. They are ALL very nice as well. This restaurant is on my list of restaurants to frequent regularly.

    (5)

  • Dick N.

    Food has OK but service was horrible. Went there for lunch and waited 45 minutes for sushi. Not a good experience

    (1)

  • Tulus W.

    I can't believe the overall rating of this place. It is one of the worst sushi in the area! My girlfriend and I went in for lunch on a Tuesday and it was only 3 tables full by 12:30pm. We each got the nigri deluxe sushi platter for $16.99 each. First we thought 12 pcs of sushi will be plenty for each of us; however, when the order came, they were the smallest sushi I have ever seen! The fish were not fresh by the appearance. Sure enough, couple of them were so fishy they made me disgusting afterwards. My girlfriend thought the same and she had to swallow some hot tea to cover the bad taste. The sushi rice is terrible too, a little uncooked and tasted like from last night. We won't be going back for sure.

    (1)

  • Amy D.

    I was so disappointed with our dinner at Zakuro on Sunday night. I ordered shrimp tempura. Shrimp was not really tempura but shrimp-katsu which is made with panko. Tempura and katsu are completely different dishes! Actually, their shrimp tasted and looked like store bought, not made from scratch. When I pointed out that they are not tempura, the waiter said, " I know, but that's how we cook here." The sukiyaki my husband ordered had only a couple of tiny tiny slices of beef. He said this was the worst sukiyaki he ever had. BTW, I am Japanese (born and raised in Japan) and my husband lived in Japan for 3 years. My son had a kid's udon. It has nothing else but udon noodle and the soup. I was expecting at least a bit of vegetable in it. Can't believe they charge $5.95 for that. Also, the soup tasted like a store bought (you can buy that at Ranch 99), not made from scratch. What kind of restaurant is this? They are definitely trying to be as cheap as possible. It's hard to believe Yelp reviews were good. Maybe I should have ordered sushi? But we are not going there again. If you want real Japanese food, avoid this place.

    (1)

  • Meghan P.

    This is definitely the most urban and modern looking sushi bar in town. But I suppose you pay for it with their high prices. I've always had good food here and the service is usually good, a little slow at times. However my issue is, i went with my parents so they could try out a sushi place in town where you can actually have real snow crab, which is nice, but as a family they gave us free miso, edamame, and a frequent diner card. My boyfriend and i have been here maybe six times before that experience and we were never treated with the care, or the free appetizers ( which you get at most other sushi joins in town), or received the frequent diner card. It makes me feel as if they discriminate against young people whom are dressed for a casual date. That was a disappointment.

    (2)

  • JImmy L.

    Went to this place for dinner with family. I remember this place when it was Cousins back it the day! As we walked into the door we were pleasantly greeted. The atmosphere of the place was very nice an hip for a japanese bistro. As we sat down are menus were already placed on the table (not sure if it was for aesthetics or just simpler to put it down). i just ordered a dinner combination plate with salmon sashimi and shrimp tempura. Family got a couple of sushi rolls, and my niece got a bowl of udon. The wait time to get the food was typical 10-15 min. Which wasn't that bad compared to a lot of other places. The food was just ok. Maybe its because i didn't really get anything fancy. I didn't get any of the fancy rolls so maybe that is why i didn't give this a higher rating. The food that i got i found odd my shrimp tempura looks like mrs. fridays or like the tempura americanized shrimp compared to that of my vegetables. The cuts of my salmon sashimi were good though. There were a lot of dishes that came to us that we didn't order. Not sure why but maybe the tickets were all messed up. Overall this place was good and does have potential to do well. But with all the competition in Dublin (Tomo, Amakara, etc), it might be hard for it to survive. I'm hoping for the best for them because they are better located than some of the other japanese restaurants in this area. Pros: prices really reasonable very friendly staff Cons: parking lot is terrible if you are joining a large group of friends

    (3)

  • S G.

    Overpriced for poor quality. Service was good but slow. Wouldn't go back for either bento box nor sushi.

    (2)

  • Jade L.

    My 2nd review here and I must say, the staff here are EXCEPTIONAL- esp Henry, Cedric, Jun, Phoebe, owners. We come once a week since the groupon deal and Yelpers: Their happy hours are the BOMB- couple dollars for beer and sake, and food ranges bt 3-6 dollars, all big rolls are $2.00 off. We spend an average of $50.00 for a meal with the family and we are stuffed to the bone, then again, we order like there is no tomorrow. We typically get Cedric and he is one of the best server we have ever had and we eat out 5-6 times a week. He is kind, fast, professional and will get everything we need within mins. Henry is another server that goes out of his way to greet us along with the owner and her wonderful son who is one of the sushi makers. Slight complaint and they will redo our order to perfection. It is rare to out to a local restaurant and all the servers are this top notched! I get tired of Japanese food, but we come mostly for the staff and the great happy hours., plus parking is available!! Please give them a try, Pleasanton can not lose a hidden gem like Zakuro , there are already 10 other Japanese locations up the block, which we tried and they are average. BTW-Sat and weekday lunches are only $10.00 for a bento box.

    (5)

  • Ernie M.

    New favorite in Pleasanton. Lots of sushi restaurants here but this one has the best decor. The service is just outstanding. Fresh tasting rolls. My only issue is that not everyone can eat shell fish but almost every rolls has it in it. HIGHLY recommended.

    (4)

  • Morgan R.

    This place gets 5 stars for service and food! After getting done purchasing a car nearby it was late and I was starving! I called this place 15 minutes before they closed and a very nice man Cedrick answered the phone and told us to come by! He was so kind, was very attentive and even helped me pick out the best roll for me! It had been a long day and having that kind of attention to detail and making sure we enjoyed our food, congratulating me on my new car and overall being an excellent server and representative of this restaurant! I would definitely go eat here again and make sure I got Cedrick as my server because even tho the restaurant was empty and he had been cleaning up... he took the time to help with with a delicious order, chatted us up about where we were from and the new car and was the cherry on top of a long but exciting day!

    (5)

  • Bill T.

    Visited this evening with a groupon deal. Food was good. Service was a little slow. Overall really enjoyed it.

    (4)

  • D L.

    At the end of the day, I rate a restaurant on the quality/taste of the food first then by price/service. With that said, this new neighborhood joint is a keeper for the food but the table service needs some help -- especially tonight on opening weekend dinner service. Decided to do a 'standard' meal consisting of Chicken Udon, a combo plate of Katsu and Gyoza, and some sushi (CA roll, mirugai, and tobiko w/quail egg) -- all tasting fantastic! Pricing was on par for Japanese in the area so we'll call that a wash. Service -- where to begin? Place was fairly busy (I've never seen that end of the parking lot area packed with so many cars). Walked in around 6:30pm on Sat and got seated immediately. And that was it for the next 20+ mins -- no drink service, an occasional glance from the wait staff of the tables around us, but no one taking care of us. Finally got the attention of the host who seated us who ended up stepping in as our server for the rest of the evening (he did apologize profusely). Placed our order, waited 15+ minutes, got our salads, 10 minutes after that we got our miso soup, and 10 minutes after that the combo plate arrived. 5 to 10 minutes later, the sushi order arrived -- with no soy sauce on the table so another 5 mins elapsed! Good thing my daughter enjoys her CA roll without the soy. Finally, a few minutes later, the udon arrived. One thing that did tick me off was that there was a large group of 10 next to us (close friends of the owners I assume) which got impeccable service the minute everyone was seated (15 minutes after us and they had everything hitting the table before we got our sushi)! Is it so unreasonable of me to be only one table away and expecting the same level of service? Our server ended up treating us to the tempura ice cream dessert (too doughy for me but tasted good). We also got a break on the check as our server insisted on 'making it right' for the long wait. He mentioned it was his first table service and they only had 4 servers for the entire restaurant so if anyone is looking for a service gig, give them a shot. I'll definitely be going back for the food for take out but will wait a while before dining in again as they need to get their training wheels off first. If I had the spot on table service as the table next to me, this would have been a 4 star review.

    (3)

  • Shannon K.

    I liked this bistro so much that I went there three times last week! The first thing that I noticed at this restaurant was how kind and pleasant the servers,host,hostess, and sushi chef was. Then I noticed the chic decor around me. It reminded me of cosmopolitan and hip sushi restaurants that I have been to in big cities such as Portland and Seattle. The Gyoza was delicious and the tempura prawns were nice and crunchy. The tempura was stacked and presented in an artful manner. Lastly, I love how Zakuro has a Happy Hour, which is hard to find around here, in a Japanese Restaurant. We will definitely return!

    (4)

  • Michael C.

    We decided to try Zakuro on 3/23 because we saw the grand opening sign a few weeks ago. This is the 3rd time a new owner has occupied that space since we have lived in pleasanton. Arrived friday night at about 6:30 and it was pretty packed but we were able to get a good sized table for all of us. We ordered the bbq tuna, oceans 12, chicken katsu, and a noodle soup. We got everything except the oceans 12 in a pretty reasonable amount of time. Our babies were being fussy so we had to inform the waiter that we needed the oceans 12 to be "to go". He immediately apologized and actually took the sushi order off our bill and gave it to us on the house. Just because it had taken too long and also he wanted to thank us for coming try the restaurant. I thought this was pretty awesome for him to take care of his customers. The sushi roll and food was very good as well. We will definitely be going back for more sushi when we can. All of the staff were extremely friendly and couteous as well.

    (5)

  • Bonnie C.

    Very pleasant dining experience. While the sushi and food quality is mediocre, and on par with the other average sushi places in the area, the exceptional service sets this place apart from the rest. Our waiter was fantastic, knowledgeable about the menu, friendly, kind and attentive. The decor is clean, spacious and modern with (slightly too loud) techno music, and the space is very nice. I was impressed that they had a children's menu, and our child's udon entree was healthy and portioned well. She devoured it! The rolls looked intriguing. We tried the Prime and it was delicious, with jalapeño and unagi. The tempura ice cream's breading was too thick, but the ice cream was delicious. The prices are reasonable (check for the mailer coupons) and the family had a wonderful time here. We will definitely be back!

    (4)

  • L S.

    Came here on a Groupon deal. The decor and atmosphere was nice. Staff were all extremely nice. I really wanted to like this place, but I was thoroughly disappointed. The menu is extensive but there's a difference between having a lot of selection and way too much. I got tired of reading all the different roll descriptions I let someone else order. We had a few rolls and sashimi. The Salmon sashimi was good (not great) and fresh but the hamachi was FROZEN and thin as paper. The rolls were ok, very saucy and not very big. For $13 bucks a roll, I'd expect something more substantial. Overall, prices were steep for what you get. If you want something more satisfying, go elsewhere.

    (2)

  • Mabel Y.

    Food is very good. Price for nigiri is slightly above average. Price for rolls and donburi is good, but portion is very small. I would need 2 orders just for lunch.

    (3)

  • Caitlin O.

    WOW! This is my new favorite sushi restaurant!!! Everyone was so nice, very clean and well kept, we were seated right away, and the sushi is to die for!!! Remodeled inside from last owner and it looks great. There are a lot of sushi places in the area but this one is by far the best. They have a large selection of sake, sushi and other items. Great staff and great food! If you are a sushi fan like me you have to try this place. Some of the items we tried were oceans 11, 49'ers and a couple others all to die for!

    (5)

  • Goldilocks J.

    I kind of want to give this 2 stars because my overwhelming feeling about the food is *meh*. However, it deserves the extra star because the restaurant is very nice inside, service was friendly and attentive (with the exception of never getting our water glasses refilled). I went for dinner with my husband and we had poke salad, tempura appetizer, Ocean's 12 roll, and Super California Roll. The poke salad was way too spicy. I can handle medium spicy, but this was making my mouth burn and overpowered the tuna so much, that it had me wondering if the fish was less than fresh and they were trying to cover that up. For those of us who love raw fish, we want to be able to taste and enjoy the fish, not have our mouths catch fire! The tempura was undercooked and the shrimp were hilarious. While the vegetables looked they had been battered and fried there, the shrimp looked like they'd come out of a box of Gordon's Fish, you know? They were totally different looking than the rest of the items, different batter. Very strange. The maki rolls were just okay, but I agree with another reviewer, way too loosely rolled! They fell apart all over the place. Overall just completely underwhelmed and won't bother going back.

    (3)

  • M L.

    Nice decor. Polite service. Disappointed food quality.

    (2)

  • Ida F.

    I ordered a lunch combo of shrimp tempura and tuna sashimi. I was told that the tempura came with vegetables and had a choice of shrimp only. I chose shrimp only. To my surprise, I got 2 shrimps and 4 small pieces of tuna for $11. Way too little food for the money. In all my years of eating tempura, I have never been served such small portions. Will never return. Plenty of other Japanese eating places in the area to patronize.

    (1)

  • Damiann S.

    This place is the BOMB! HappyHour 3pm to close! The seasoned edamame was #YUMMY. The waitstaff was really good and Did I mention Matt makes #AWESOMESUSHI and he has #DREAMYEYES

    (5)

  • Nora R.

    Very good sushi! Alex was super friendly. We had the 28 piece sashimi, mixed tempura and the 49ners roll.

    (5)

  • Alena W.

    Well this was a pleasant surprise! I met my brother and his girlfriend here for dinner last night and had a really nice time. Zakuro has awesome happy hour specials that go from 3 to 6:30pm. I enjoyed a Garden Salad, Half Dancing Scallop and the Bumble Bee Roll and all were tasty (except please remove the raisins from the salad!). The interior was really nice and our server was friendly. She even turned on the A's game for me which I appreciated. They ended up winning so maybe it's a sign that I need to return to Zakuro?

    (4)

  • Jon L.

    First of all! They open during lunch time, which was great for us because most of the sushi restaurants aren't open during lunch time! Noise level: not bad ( I can be wrong since I went there during lunch time) Food quality: honestly they have some quality sushi here! Service: they are great! All the servers are nice and all the staff are super nice! You feel welcome there Overall I had great experience! Def will be coming back here!

    (4)

  • Sanjit M.

    I have been going here for nearly 3 years and had my most recent experience this past week. Food is always tasty, staff is always very nice and kind. I come here for family celebrations, bring out of town guests, take out for parties, etc. I have purchased their sushi boat about 6 times and my guests LOVE it, just call to arrange or set it up before hand to avoid a long wait. For lunch if you want a quiet spot, this is a great place to go. Don't forget their Monday to Friday Happy Hour, it is an awesome deal!

    (5)

  • Megan N.

    I went here today for the first time and it was really great! The menu had a lot of tasty rolls and pictures to show what they looked like. The waitress was very friendly and constantly check up to see if I needed anything. I got the ocean 11 & the prime roll. The ocean 11 was delicious. As for the prime roll, it is topped with jalapeños then torched. The jalapeños had no taste, and the roll just tasted almost burnt because of the torch. Other than that great place!

    (4)

  • Kimberly F.

    I decided to check out this sushi joint near my house based on these reviews. I ordered a Spider-Man and a Spicy tuna roll to go. The rolls were poorly rolled with very little fish inside. Spent $20 on rolls that were worth $10. You are better off going to Fat Fish. Two stars for the decor and the hostesses for being nice.

    (2)

  • Megan M.

    If you can survive the crazy Trader Joe's parking lot, this is a great sushi restaurant. I like the quality of the sushi--everything tastes really fresh and they have a lot of variety. Some sushi restaurants, their special sauces taste a little musty. These were creamy and cool tasting and really added to the flavor of the rolls. Their happy hour is a great deal, too.

    (4)

  • David L.

    Skip this place. I don't think I've ever had smaller sushi at such a misleading price. I knew something was wrong when the waiter handed me my order; my whole roll probably weighed less than the to-go box it was put in. On top of that, the scallops used for the Sushi on the River roll were miniscule. If you want better quality sushi at a comparable price, try Amakara or one of the many other places in Dublin/ Pleasanton.

    (1)

  • Henry P.

    Great experience. Well made sushi and beautiful decor with a helpful staff. The best kept secret in Pleasanton.

    (5)

  • Jamie H.

    The food and service is always solid and they have a few innovative dishes. The server was knowledgeable about the sake. One thing always bugs me- you need light dimmers. The lighting is a bit white and garish and better quality speakers would be awesome- love the playlist.

    (4)

  • Dean W.

    This is Pleasanton's best kept secret! It may be a little pricey on certain rolls, but remember "good service isn't cheap and cheap service isn't good". My family come here all the time and it is so delicious. Some of the best sushi I have had is from here, and I have had a lot all around the US. The staff is always super polite and provide great service. I hesitated about writing this review because it may end up making more people come here, and I always want there to be a table available for me haha. But I just had to write it because they deserve all the biz they can get. Try it out, you won't be disappointed! Try: the 49er, the red bull, the sunfire, and oceans 12! Just a few to mention, but they are all worth trying over time.

    (5)

  • Jay M.

    Might want to rethink eating here. On Mother's Day my wife and I stop in here for lunch. It was crowded but not packed - many of the smaller tables were empty. We were seated promptly and our server comes over to take our order after 15 mins. I notice he is sweating profusely which kind of grossed me out. We order a chicken teriyaki lunch for her and a couple of rolls for me. It seems like forever before he brought us our food. Her chicken is cold and so is the yakitori I ordered. Chicken isn't supposed to be served cold in my book. There was no way I was going to let her eat cold chicken. I motioned for the server and asked him what happened and he said they had a large party in the private booth area. Sorry, that's no excuse. If you can't serve food hot, I'm staying away!

    (1)

  • D C.

    Great find off the freeway. I arrived at the restaurant at around 730pm and was surprised that I was able to be seated right away. Fish was good and fresh. The dinner combo was fairly priced and came with enough food for two! The Saba shioyaki was so soft and fresh! The service was very good. Our main server was so friendly and not over bearing. He was very attentive and happy. Many other servers came by to check on our table, which was nice, but sometimes too much. Overall, good food and good service, can't complain!

    (5)

  • Lily T.

    I love this place. The rolls are delicious, the fish fresh, the staff is nice, and the Happy Hour is awesome! My favorite rolls are the Oceans 11, Red Bull, and Lincoln. I love the tempura because it's crispy and not soggy. They are on top of their water game. As soon as I finish drinking my water, the servers are there to refill it!

    (5)

  • Hana S.

    i am a picky japanese girl so when i find a decent sushi place i tend to get overly happy, this place fit the bill i got the negihama maki, the 49ers and another roll that i can't remember :( the 49ers one was pretty spicy but good and the negihama showed me that their fish was fresh and tasty. i overestimated my appetite but was able to finish everything because of how tasty it was! the bento box my boyfriend got had the freshest and crispiest tempura i've ever had in a sushi place's lunch-time bento box. usually they serve something that's been sitting under a heat lamp but this time, maybe because we came when it had just opened, it was SUPER fresh and not soggy at all! the bento box came with a ton of food as well, some gyoza, side salad, chicken teriyaki + a good assortment of tempura along with the miso soup and rice! you get to choose two things from their list of options for $10. the service (sweet girl named brittany!) was also helpful in suggesting rolls and also attentive in bringing water and letting us take our time with our order, so i would come back here for sure!

    (4)

  • Kimber T.

    We used to be regulars but it has gone downhill fast. We have given them every chance but have decided to no longer spend our money here. Their specialty rolls are great if they were made with attention to detail they used to be. Now they just fall apart. We have tried to tell the owner, Alex, about the decline but he doesn't seem to care.

    (1)

  • Kaelin N.

    Meh. It was a very nice place, big, clear, and nice interior decoration... It's just the food was not what I paid for. The rolls were tiny and my friend's ahi poke salad was 98% salad. It was $15 for a plate of lettuce, really. She's paying for the smallest piece of tuna ever, and if she was aware of the serving size she would have gotten sashimi or something else. It was my party of two, and a party of 6 in the restaurant at the time. I had to flag down people to get my tea refilled and no one ever came to check on us, and we had to flag people down for the check as well. One star because there's parking and it looks really nice inside, and one star simply because the presentation of the food was nice. If you're looking for quality food as well as a quality price and good service, go somewhere else.

    (2)

  • Brendan L.

    I came here for the first time recently after seeing the great reviews on Yelp, and it was indeed a wonderful meal. Firstly, the happy hour menu is a fantastic deal- you can order items from chicken karage (fried chicken) to a small scallop dish for a very reasonable price and the quality of these items is very good. The sushi tastes fresh and is well prepared. I had also ordered a sashimi platter which was splendid. No complaints whatsoever. Another positive note? The decor and spaciousness of the restaurant is very nice and inviting. I appreciated how open the environment felt and will definitely come back soon. A quick tip would be to sit at the sushi bar! We had nice conversations with our sushi chef and he was very personable.

    (4)

  • Dina R.

    This place had probably the BEST sushi I have ever had in my entire life. It is SO GOOD!!! On the other hand, the wait for said sushi is insanely slow. I think I waited for over half an hour for my two rolls, which, if you're in a hurry because you have only an hour for lunch, is very problematic. That said, those two rolls were SO WORTH IT. I ordered the "Ocean's 12" Maki and the "Lion King" Maki. My taste buds have never been happier. If you're NOT in a hurry and have the time to wait, I highly recommend this place. I'll be back again, no doubt about it. But next time, I'll come here after work instead of during my lunch break.

    (4)

  • Kelsey H.

    I love the sushi here! They have the best sushi in the area! I love sauces on my rolls and their sauces are just fantastic

    (5)

  • J D.

    Thursday Night Happy Hour Oceans 12, 10 pcs sashimi, Sapporo, Creme de Sake - I have had the Oceans 12 several times, it was very good. The 10 pcs sashimi was fresh with the exception of the albacore, my main concern was the server and sushi chef server was unusually sweaty and there was a couple questionable food quality issues. Over all the happy hour is a good deal I do really like this place, and hope that they can address some of the issues that I have brought up with the management so that they can get a 5* rating.

    (3)

  • Kathy Z.

    Came here on an empty day, but it still took a very long time to get the dishes out. Had the pepper fin, which is very spicy and the fish was cut extremely thin. Probably wouldn't order it again based on the cut.

    (3)

  • Molly M.

    I really do like the food here, but sometimes the service is iffy. I went here maybe a week and a half ago, and we had a rather aloof waitress, who didn't really seem to care if she got our order right.... or forgot our waters! We've been here before and never had a problem with good service, but we all have off days, so no biggy. I got the 49er roll and the dragon roll, and it was definitely too much for me to finish all at once :) Made a good snack for later, though! They also have amazing Chicken Katsu, and their happy hour is a great deal.

    (4)

  • L. C.

    We decided to try this place for lunch on a Sunday, as our other favorite Japanese restaurant is only open for dinner on Sunday. We started with a sushi roll. It was basically a CA roll with unagi. It was small and it could have been rolled tighter. They use real crab and everything tasted fresh. Then we shared a 2 item lunch bento box- chose tonkatsu and teriyaki chicken. Chicken didn't taste like it was grilled. But sauce was tasty and chicken was soft. I have had better tonkatsu. This was on the dry side and the batter wasn't that great. Service was fine. I am not sure I would come back though...

    (3)

  • Lindsay C.

    I was interested in this place after it opened because of the size of the restaurant, which is big for a sushi place. My first visit there was at lunch on a Friday, & I was the only customer. Still, the hostess had little to say to me and did nothing more than bring me a water the entire time. I had to ask for everything else. There was a young man behind the sushi bar mopping the floor. I waited patiently for the sushi chef, which turned out to be the same young man who had just put down the mop. Honestly, I was a little bit grossed out by the idea that someone was just cleaning a dirty floor and now going to make my sushi by hand. I only saw him rinse with water, although he did go in the back at some point. Anyway, I ordered the Lincoln Roll, and I found the crab very fishy and chewy (it was real crab), the sauces were too mayonnaisy for my taste, and the rice was dry. I honestly could not finish the whole roll for the fishy taste. I will not come back here, simply for the service (or lack thereof), and my distaste for that one roll that I had.

    (1)

  • Tony P.

    The sushi rice tasted dry and had no flavor. In addition the music made me want to hurry eat and get out. Won't be coming back.

    (2)

  • Shannon L.

    If you're looking for a Japanese restaurant with more ambiance in Pleasanton, it's either Zakuro or Amakara. Zakuro is a lot less busy during lunch hours and if you check in, you get $0.99 sake. Compared to other places, the bento box with 2 main items is reasonably priced at $9.95. My first item was the Saba Shioyaki (broiled mackarel) which was good but as usual, it was overcooked. My second item was California Rolls which is made with fake crab. You get 8 small pieces. Looking at my friends' bento boxes, it does look like they are consistently generous with their portions, particularly the tempura. It practically looks like the size of an individual order. The bar is pretty big with one TV available so I imagine the happy hour must be a bit more lively than lunch was.

    (3)

  • Kat M.

    Boy! Do we love this place!! We would drive here from Oakland. What we always order are the bumble bee, dancing scallops, and a few sashimis. Great customer service, great food, and the restaurant is really spacious. The bar is our spot.

    (5)

  • Kristen L.

    Let me preface this by saying I REALLY wanted this to be our new sushi spot. My husband and I LOVE sushi and we always go to either Meiko or Amakara, but we live right next to Zakuro so it would have been awesome to have such a close spot. Unfortunately, I have to give Zakuro a 2-star rating for the following reasons: 1. The sushi and the sushi chef. -Like the 2-star rating description says "meh, I've experienced better". My husband ordered this one roll with lobster on top and my first reaction after taking a bite of it was "that was not so good and kind of weird". It had this sauce that just didn't seem to jive well with the rest of the roll's flavor. -The first thing I noticed as the chef was preparing our sushi is that he was sweating bullets. Sweat beads were dripping down his forehead and ....likely into our sushi. Ew. -His rice that he prepared wasn't sticky and had no flavor. I've heard that sushi rice is one of the hardest things to get right, but if you can't get it right, it really sucks. -He was also using a dull blade knife; I could tell as he was "sawing" vs slicing the sashimi and he included some skin on some of my sashimi - no one wants to bite into what they think will be a melt-in-your-mouth piece of sashimi and start chewing on skin. 2. The service. It was really bad. We kept trying to get our server's attention, but she kept her head down the whole time. And our plates just kept piling up next to us. The bus boy would come and clear the spots all around us but somehow missed the fact that we had a mountain of dishes surrounding us. 3. Pacing. All of our sushi items kept coming out about 15-20 mins between each other, however I ordered the chirashi dinner which is a dinner item, not a roll. So while my husband was eating his roll, I was waiting for my chirashi bowl, and while I was eating my chirashi bowl, he was waiting for his next roll, which came way after I was already done with my entire bowl. I think it's back to Meiko or Amakara for us for now.

    (2)

  • Jay C.

    First time experience was not that great. I'm actually here Still typing this while it's been almost 50 mins for us to all get our meals. The rolls are semi ok. The place also smells like a person's sweaty armpits (like really strong) the fish does not seem fresh at all despite the flavors tasting "ok". I will definitely not be returning here again. We have also spit out the lion king onto our plates for tasting really sour for some odd reason...... Its hard finding a good sushi place in the dublin pleasanton san ramon livermore area. But if you are near; GO TO FAT FISH AROUND THE CORNER!!!!!!!!

    (2)

  • Stacy C.

    Best sushi in Pleasanton based on what I've eaten so far! Fiancé and I want out to dinner on a Friday night. They do happy hour 3-close on weekdays, which includes reduced appetizer, rolls and drinks. Great tasting rolls and sauces. Customer service was great too!

    (4)

  • Yan L.

    Another Korean run sushi bar/restaurant, this place is actually great. They have a very cheap happy hour and the rolls are all quite good. It's definitely not authentic, but it's good enough that somehow my girlfriend and I always end up stopping here on our way out to the central valley. This is definitely a deepfried sauce on roll kind of place, don't expect to get amazing sashimi that will knock your socks off. That being said, the rolls are all very good, and somewhat inventive at times. I wouldn't rave about it but if you are in the area, it's a solid pick if you like american deep-fried-sauce-heavy style sushi.

    (4)

  • Nick Y.

    My favorite sushi in the tri-valley. Nice hidden gem of the area. Alex and his staff are always friendly and provide excellent service.

    (4)

  • Jaimie D.

    My family and I love this place! We stumbled upon it after visiting a family member at a nearby hospital. This was last summer. I have been trying to remember the name of this place for what seemed like forever! Found it again a couple weeks ago. Everything about this place is great! From their friendly waitstaff to their delicious food! The ambiance was great too. My favorite is the sashimi salad! Yummmm!!

    (5)

  • J D.

    I've visited about 5 times...They used to have really good lunch specials, with visuals at the front hostess station. Disappointed today when they no longer have them and only offer the "typical" 1..2..3 item bento boxes. Also it's always at least an hour from start to finish during lunch hour and its not even busy?? Not good for people who only have an hour lunch break. Food is decent but nothing spectacular now since the lunch specials are no longer. Sadly today I also saw the sushi chef wipe his nose on his arm. Won't be back.

    (2)

  • Merna I.

    I LOVE this sushi place. We come here at least once every month and it's so delicious and fresh. Plus the rolls are pretty big and filling. We always get the grilled edamame and they are beyond spectacular. Highly recommend this place and the King Kong roll and 49ers roll are awesome!

    (4)

  • Michael M.

    Oh man, service alone deserves top notch- it must be required that you are a nice person in order to work here because all the staff seems happy and friendly- every time. The special rolls are unique- and good- real good. The super mike and 49er are staples every time my friends and I go. This is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in the bay area.

    (5)

  • token t.

    Our family loves going here. They have a happy hour menu that we like to order off of. The croquettes are yummy! The bento boxes are also good... large portions. We feel it's comparable to Amakara and a step up from Sozos. Prices are decent as well.

    (5)

  • Michelle L.

    We stumbled here on accident while trying to find a Thai food restaurant but this was a nice surprise! The restaurant was very clean and welcoming. You can either sit at the bar or at the table. There was a flat screen tv too next to the sushi bar! My boyfriend ordered the 15 piece sashimi dinner and I got the deluxe nigiri (12 pieces). The slices of fish were thick and fresh. We also ordered the shrimp and veggie tempura for appetizer and a bottle of sake to share. The food was good but nothing to be WOWed about. Our server was very attentive and friendly. The price for the sushi was a bit pricey compared to the restaurants in San Leandro/Alameda/Oakland. Our total cost for the meal came out to be $74 including tips. This place was decent but I would rather stick to the sushi restaurants in Alameda/San Leandro. For the price of $74, I could order way more food and be stuffed!

    (3)

  • Elsa S.

    My hubby, 14 yr old daughter and I went here tonight for the first time and we loved everything! Great service, great food and the prices were very reasonable. Loved that they had happy hour prices up to closing time. The seaweed salad was so yummy as well as the gyoza. My daughter had the King Kong and she loved it! My hubby had the Lion King roll and he devoured it! I had the highway 65 and it was the best! We absolutely love this place and will definitely come back to try the many different rolls they have.

    (5)

  • Janine S.

    This place rocks! I have 4 kids, so a lot places tend to get inpatient with our table. Where most places handle us with dirty looks, this place brings the kids strawberry yan-yan sticks to the table, and it quiets the kids down every time. The food is excellent, and so is the service. I have only had one other sushi place that even comes close to there sushi, but its all the way in San Diego. Zakuro definitely the best sushi place and well worth the drive. Even if I was 3 hours away, id still come at least once a month. Luckily we live 20 min away, so we go a few times a month. Try the antastic 4, prime roll, & oceans 11. Its the BOMB!!!

    (5)

  • Jenifer R.

    Have eaten here a bunch of times and it has consistently been great. Cedric and the rest of the wait staff is awesome! The important things are that the food is delish and fresh which is super important when you eat at a sushi place. The owner and his wife are really nice and friendly. Although it is in the same parking lot as trader joes it is far enough away that parking has not been an issue. Also happy hour specials are great!!!!

    (5)

  • John L.

    I was very happy with the sushi and sashimi that I ate here. We also had a unique Scallop appetizer that came out on a giant clam shell... I think it was called Dancing Scallop. Definitely a must if you like scallop. The decor is nice and clean and the staff was friendly. The next time I'm in town I'll definitely be eating here again.

    (5)

  • Erik G.

    If you're familiar with the Trader Joe's parking lot off Santa Rita, then you know what a mess it can be. I think that made me avoid Zakuro longer than I should have. I was a little nervous when I visited on a Sunday afternoon, as it was empty, but I blame the 103 degree heat for keeping people away. I liked how the place was set up. Very light and open. Many sushi places I've been to feel cramped, so that was a nice change of pace. Sat at the bar and ordered a beer and few rolls. Was promptly brought some edamame and miso soup. For some reason, the miso soup was tastier than what I'm used to. Again, it might have been the heat that made it so much more refreshing. The rolls I had (Red Bull and Highway 65) I enjoyed quite a bit, and saw several more on the menu that I plan on giving a shot at a later visit. Definitely plan on bringing some friends to try it again soon.

    (4)

  • Amanda S.

    I've been here twice and had mixed experiences: the first was incredible, the second pretty average. So...I'll capture the highlights. They are one of the few sushi spots I've seen advertise a happy hour. $3 wine, $2 seaweed salad, edamame, gyoza all until 630. Yes, please! We ordered the Killer bee, Lincoln, and Oceans 12 without cream cheese. What's interesting is all three of us had a different roll favorite, mine being the Lincoln. Service was also on top of it our first visit, so it was a very pleasant experience. I'd give it a go-the value and taste are a great combo!

    (3)

  • Wanlan X.

    This place is one of the few sushi places open on Sundays for lunch. That get pretty busy but can't seem to have more than 1 waiter during Sunday lunch service. Gets super slow to get any service. We waited 10 mins for plates after our sushi was delivered today. The fish is also hit and miss. Sometimes decent and sometimes not fresh. Today, the amaebi (sweet shrimp) and salmon were not fresh. Only come here if you have no other choice.

    (2)

  • Casey T.

    I went to get lunch for my coworker and myself and decided to try a new spot for sushi. We won't be coming back. My coworker got the Rocky special and the Lion King and most of the roll was avocado with hardly any fish. For what we paid the rolls were extremely small. Their server was very nice while ordering and waiting for the food. Anyway not worth the $46.00 for 4 rolls

    (2)

  • Rose J.

    Great food and a great environment! Love their happy hour! I especially like the yakiniku and that it comes with miso soup and a salad.

    (5)

  • Ed M.

    Awesome place for sushi. Alex and the gang knock it out of the park every time, Konpai!

    (5)

  • Christal C.

    DO NOT GO TO THIS RESTAURANT. Fellow yelpers, I'm disappointed in you. How could you let this place get 4 stars? I came here because my usual places (Amakara, Kaki, and Yanagi) are all closed in the late afternoon and I was hoping to add a new place to my list of sushi restaurants. I came during happy hour and ordered seaweed salad, mixed tempura, agadashi tofu, a lunch bento (beef teriyaki and tonkatsu), and the prime roll. The best thing of the meal was the seaweed salad which isn't saying much because it was probably delivered pre-made. The tempura wasn't bad either. Not great, but not bad and that is why this establishment is awarded with 1 star. The agadashi tofu. It was cut into long triangle pieces and breaded in a strange white gummy coating, I have never had agadashi tofu where it was not crispy, but with a gummy stretchy coating instead. The tonkatsu and the beef teriyaki were both chewy and I needed to use my hand to rip it apart since it was such a strange rubbery texture. Honestly, I stopped eating it after a couple bites. The prime roll. Finally we get to the actual sushi. Oh dear..I wish I only ate the seaweed salad. The roll had white tuna on top...except the white tuna was brownish...I think it was seared? Or torched? The roll had a gas taste and I ended up sending it back. (Note: this is the first dish I have ever sent back at any restaurant). The server was nice about it and recommended that instead, we get the Oceans 12 roll that was topped with salmon and tuna. Another mistake. The fish was gummy and thin and the texture was like someone took a hammer to the fish. It was also covered in a sweet spicy sauce that is similar to the sauce used in Korean bibimbap. I stopped eating it after one piece. Please, don't come here. You'll leave disappointed. The bill was $33 and I honestly wouldn't even pay $10 for this meal. Terrible. Trust me, the rewards card they tried to give me is still sitting on the table. I will not be back.

    (1)

  • Obaid A.

    Great sushi. Sat at the sushi bar and asked for chief special. The chief created an amazing hemachi/tuna roll...and then special salmon nigiri. Will definitely cine back. You should try this place...

    (5)

  • Larissa T.

    I love this place! This is my husbands go-to lunch spot and it would be mine too, if I lived closer. They have a delicious variety of rolls and the owners are so nice. They are more than happy to create any roll you can think of. Last time I had them make me a "Paleo friendly" hand roll with crab, sprouts, avocado, cucumbers and jalapeño. It was so tasty! Can't wait to go back.

    (5)

  • George F.

    Followed the yelp reviews to Zakuro Bistro for dinner. We ordered the 10 pc sashimi, the tender rose, and the salmon skin salad. The 10 pc sashimi was so small 4 pcs of salmon, 3 pcs of tuna and 3 pcs of not so fresh yellowtail $15.95 The salmon skin salad was different with the salmon skin cut in very small pieces and mixed with a teriyaki like sauce. The Tender Rose was a crab and scallop mixture with mayo surrounded with slices of tuna and salmon. Check out the pics. The Tender Rose was good but the other items were a miss. The service was good. I probably need to go back try some other items off the extensive menu to give a fair review. Zakuro has a $5 off for yelp check-ins. The music was loud and the space was very open and empty with only two other occupied tables.

    (3)

  • Chewwa V.

    Came here for lunch around 1:40pm. The waiter was really casually dressed - jeans and a tee shirt, almost couldn't tell he worked there. We were quickly seated. The complimentary miso soup was basic tasting as all miso soups. I liked that it was not too salty as a handful of others that I have had before at other restaurants. We got a Lincoln roll - salmon and thinly sliced lemon on top. It tasted refreshing. The lion king roll had baked salmon on top with sauce & green onions. It tasted mushy as though it was baked a little too long. The pieces were smaller than most sushi rolls. We also got the deep fried soft shell crab. We got miso soups and our rolls. Ate and almost finished them (8-10mins) and then asked about our appetizer (the deep fried soft shell crab) if it's coming. The waiter goes and check, comes back and tells us it's in the deep fryer so it should be a few mins... Maybe they forgot... They had only 3 other tables with small groups (3-5 people at each table). We finished our rolls then they brought out our appetizer but by this time I just felt a bit full already. Of course I still ate it because we were paying for it already. It was really crunchy and well presented though. The soft shell crab tasted good to me: good seasoning and not overpowering, it was not fishy smelling either. Overall, the food was decent and the service could have been better; we didn't even get checked on and didn't get our waters filled at all.

    (3)

  • Sonalika P.

    I want to give this place "0" stars. Decided to do a convenient lunch and this was the only Sushi Restaurant within accessible distance. I really don't like to write reviews when I am upset but it's been about 2 hours and my stomach rumbling has not subsided. My first instinct was to get up and run as the rotting aroma of the wilted salad leaves made me wonder what the Ahi Sashimi will taste so I called the waitress and sent back the plate she barely understood what I said. The spicy ahi hand roll and scallop didn't taste bad but the spicy tuna salad was also a trip. Folks I think this was my worst Sushi Experience ever. Service was off the charts bad.

    (1)

  • Sequoia L.

    My boyfriend and I have been regular customers for over a year and it's our favorite place for sushi. The King Kong is spectacular!

    (5)

  • Sarah D.

    Parking is easy, location is nice, service was great. The food was just ok though. Me and my mom came here for lunch based on yelp reviews. We are usually Sozo girls and wanted to try something new! We started with crazy horse roll - really delicious with chopped up white tuna inside. The we had the 49er roll - also really good but the fish here just tasted soft. We then split the Sydney's Special app and all the fish there was way to soft was well! Happy I went out and tried a new sushi place in Pleasanton but all you guys be super cray for thinking its so amazing.

    (3)

  • Joanna C.

    Been here three times now. Came to try out their Happy Hour (Not sure when it starts, but it lasts till 6:30). They have an excellent Happy hour menu and discounts. Prices are great, especially with $2 off special rolls (special maki). They always give complimentary miso soup, which is beyond wonderful since it's my fav. The customer service is prompt and friendly. We never have to wait to be seated or wait long to get our food. What we've ordered: Large Saki $2 and Sapporo Beer $2 or $3 (the prices are $1 or so off lol) Gyoza $3 (happy hr)- yummy, some were slightly burnt, but just soak it in the tangy sauce and you won't even know. Vegetable Tempura$4 (happy hr)- crunchy, only comes with one shrimp, wish there were more. Yakitori (happy hr)- tender, juicy chicken with tangy sauce. Special Maki: Red Bull, Ocean 13, Prime, 49ers, Kings, Lion King, and Raiders. All rolls were so yummy, we've ordered Prime more than once. Not a big fan of the thick creamy sauce on the Lion King roll, but if you just scrape it off, it's so good. And they will play any sport game if you ask them to put it on, especially great when eating at the bar!

    (5)

  • Matthew W.

    I come here once a month for lunch since I work close by. Alex, the owner, is very friendly and so are his staff. I have tried a lot of the rolls at Zakuro but I cant seem to order anything else but the Prime Roll. I'm not a fan of Unagi, so I asked it to be replaced with Ebi which is no problem. I love the smell of torched jalapeno and the sauces they use for that roll compliment it very well. The fish are fresh and never have that "fishy" smell. I haven't had a bad experience to date and will keep coming back!

    (5)

  • Sarah B.

    Slow service, sushi is mediocre, female server has zero common sense. Just you're typical middle grade sushi spot. Save your money and appetite for satchi in San Ramon..

    (1)

  • Min H.

    We've been here about three times since they opened, and left each time happy and wanting more. Their friendly service makes dining with a 2 year-old a pleasant experience. Not for those who are expecting a traditional authentic Japanese cuisine experience, as the name suggests; Zakuro Japanese BISTRO. Their flavors are bold and creative, with a fusion twist. The ingredients were very fresh and paired with unique house-made sauces that compliment the seafood very well. Came this time for lunch and ordered the Ahi Tuna Poke Salad, Zakuro Spaghetti (made with al dente udon noodles), Ocean's 13 roll and Super Mike roll- our two favorite rolls from their menu so far. The tempura in the rolls are crunchy and tender. The Ahi tuna poke, with shredded seaweed and cabbage was one of the freshest poke salads I've had, all tossed in a (just a tad too much) tangy sauce that was very refreshing on a hot day. I must remember to ask them to go a bit light on the sauce next time. They were very generous with the tuna, which was a delightful surprise given the price of the dish. I love that they use real crab meat, and above all, that all their fish is fresh. Will be back again soon for more!

    (5)

  • Kathy Y.

    Will not come back. Ordered the 'Ocean 12' roll because a huge picture of it was plastered on the menu, and the waitress coaxed us into it. The salmon on top was thin and runny with hot sauce, hiding an almost unnoticeable spread of avocado underneath, and the rice overpowered any flavor from the tuna inside. The heavy cream cheese was unnecessary in my opinion. Next came the sashimi salad - it was honestly the worst sashimi salad imaginable to humankind, that I wondered if the chef even knew how to assemble this dish. The bottom half of the bowl was a heap of cold white rice (looked as if it had been left out overnight), hidden under a layer of dried romaine lettuce. Pieces of stale sashimi was thrown about randomly on top, finished with a disproportionate bed of shredded onions. The hot sauce, which resembled just Korean pepper paste, came on the side. Finally, like a finishing touch to this awfully unappetizing disappointment, the serving bowls looked unwashed and my plate came with old food scraps (complimentary? I didn't ask).

    (1)

  • Joel M.

    I've been to a number of different sushi places - throughout Pleasanton, Dublin, Danville and Alameda. Simply put, if you are in the Dublin, Pleasanton area - this is the best sushi place around! The prices are absolutely reasonable and the serving sizes are larger than most other places too! Absolutely nothing to complain about at all!

    (5)

  • Roxy G.

    Our 1st time to try this place. Our server was excellent Josephine. I ordered Beef Teriyaki Rib Eye steak as printed in the menu. I made sure I asked if it was rib eye and server said yes. I started eating it and it was chewy. So asked the server again and told her to me it was Tri-tip. She then went back to ask the chef if it was tri tip. And she came back taking the blame that she did not know they changed it. The manager did not offer a different meal. But offered a scoop of ice cream. UGGH..A TYPICAL ASIAN RESTAURANT TOO CHEAP TO RECTIFY THEIR MISTAKE!!!! THEY SHOULD ERASE THE RIB EYE DESCRPTION ON THEIR MENU! They just lost a customer who spends $1800.00 a year eating out for Japanese food. I am a foodie and value my meals as per what kind of food I am spending my money on. Bad business practice! Sushi was ok as per my daughter's and husband's opinion. Just the right amount of meat and rice. But definitely, THIS RESTAURANT IS NOT A SECOND TIMER!!!

    (1)

  • Linda N.

    I had an overnight stay in Livermore and wanted to have sushi rolls. I decided to try this place by ordering the most basic roll, California Roll. I also ordered their Kamikaze Roll. It had shrimp tempura and albacore. Both were very disappointing. You know a place can't be good if their California Roll isn't good. The California Roll had no flavor. The Kamikaze Roll tasted weird. The shrimp tempura was stale. The albacore tasted like it was sitting out for awhile. They also put some shaved tuna on the roll and I think that made it taste funky. I'm glad I didn't order any sushi. I won't be coming back to this place.

    (2)

  • Ryan P.

    This place is our go to sushi spot. They now have happy hour mon-fri until close! The owner and sushi chefs are very nice and helpful!

    (5)

  • Elaine F.

    Growing up in the area, I've been though the many iterations of this establishment, with culinary hopes from all over the globe. Unfortunately, Zakuro didn't even live up to the pleasantries of the last incarnation of asian food. We went on a Sunday afternoon for lunch, the restaurant was pretty quiet. The music was loud considering there was only one other party. It made for challenging conversation. While our hostess was friendly, our server was not. We felt rushed to order, and when we asked for a few more minutes, our server rolled her eyes and harumphed away. Hm. Not very promising. True, it took a while to decide because the menu was so extensive, and yes, I had to take a phone call so I went outside. But that phone call, was the determining factor for the size of our party. Which we tried to establish at the beginning of our meal-stay. Even before we ordered, I considered just going somewhere else. But I was too hungry. We ended up order several rolls. None of them were memorable, none of them stood out. In fact, like another reviewer mentioned, it was all very bland. Which, I suppose, is better than tasting bad. The rolls were expensive, and the bill (even for lunch and for sushi) was too steep for our budget. Especially since we had poor service and forgettable food. Won't be back here again (especially because there are so many other Japanese options in the Tri-Valley area). Next time I'm in town, I'll see if there's another flavor of the restaurant rainbow its place.

    (2)

  • Yanni M.

    The only reason why Im giving this place a 2-star review is because this one particular FEMALE asian server, the name on the receipt was JOYCE. Me & my family just left this place and customer service from this girl was HORRIBLE. The rest of the servers were SO nice, but this girl just ruined it all. She was not a people person at all. She interrupted my sister when she was asking for chopsticks, which I find so rude. Not even once did she check up on us. And she was looking down the whole time. You can just tell that she hates her job. I was a server myself and never did I treat my customers this way. The food was good and all, but she seriously ruined our experience. We would go back to this place, but will have to ask for another server since the rest of her coworkers were good and friendly.

    (2)

  • Jake R.

    DONT WASTE your money here! Flavors doesn't mesh well together. I should of listened to another patron about her reviews about this place.

    (1)

  • Chris S.

    I really like this place, although I don't dine in as much as I order takeout on my way home from work. Their rolls are creative, and they've done a good job of being light-handed on the sauces. They have a good variety of very rich sushi rolls, and very light and healthy rolls. The staff is always friendly.

    (4)

  • Dan K.

    Zakuro is super dope. I've been here 4 or 5 times. Price is acceptable seeing that it's a sushi place. The quality of the fish is above average and their rolls are pretty nice. They have fusion spaghetti using udong noodles which is really good/creative. The service here is great both for small and large groups. The ambience of the restaurant is pretty nice too for dinners. Good bar area as well but the location of the shop could be a little better.

    (4)

  • Christina M.

    Eh. I was looking for a snack mid-afternoon & this is one of the only sushi places open. When that craving hits, you'll go anywhere! So I grabbed a friend and off we went. I didn't order much - a tuna/salmon salad and some nigiri (albacore and salmon). The salmon was good for both, so that's why there's three stars. That was actually good enough to return just for that. The albacore, on the other hand, was inedible. Now, I'm pretty picky, but it was like biting on a fishy rubber eraser. Ick! The salad was described as "thinly-sliced" sashimi, & if it was anything, it was NOT thinly-sliced. It was thick and rubbery. Others have told me that they like this place, so I am willing to give it another try, but this experience was really just bad.

    (3)

  • Agda A.

    We have come here a couple times now because this is one of the few places that stay open past 3:00 pm on weekends and holidays. Service seems to be inconsistent and slow. The food is OK. Sushi was very fresh the day we went but they had run out of some items we ordered.

    (3)

  • Frank L.

    Very family-friendly, quite spacious, and with the BEST Japanese food in town. Unlike other Japanese restaurants, their meat are never burnt (burnt=carcinogens), very generous portions on 2 item bentos with reasonable pricing! Very friendly staff and things to keep kids busy. Even our picky toddlers enjoy coming here!

    (5)

  • Danica G.

    Tried this place out cause it was the only sushi place open at 3:00! Luckily for us it was happy hour, the dancing scallops were amazing, rolls were $2 off we had the tempura, Prime roll and Lion King roll. Service was great, rolls were unique. Highly recommend

    (5)

  • Anya C.

    Salad was under season. Friend chicken was not crispy. Udon was good but nothing special. Tempura was great. Roasted fish was just ok - nothing special. The server was nice but spread the noodle soup on my friend.

    (2)

  • Cat G.

    Came here a few weeks ago and had the Zakuro roll - SO AMAZING.

    (5)

  • Shawna P.

    This place is ok.. Ive only tried the bento box.. Everything is fresh and the food comes out quick. The gyoza had really good flavor.

    (3)

  • Steve T.

    We had Cedric for our waiter and he was excellent. This time the food was 4 stars and not 5 as I thought the sukiyaki was too sweet. My wife loved her roll and almost ordered another one. It came with a Zakuro sauce that we tasted but both turned our noses up at it so she didn't use it. She liked her roll with soy sauce and wasabi better. We both enjoyed the tempura shrimp appetizer and loved the tempura sauce it came with.

    (4)

  • Airiana M.

    I went with a group of 5 and we had a great time. I had the Lion King roll which was amazing!!! They had great service and the happy hour special was awesome! Great prices! Our waitress was fabulous! One of our friends didn't know what she wanted, and with only a couple questions our waitress recommended some great sushi my friend loved! Definitely my new favorite sushi place!

    (5)

  • bert s.

    Happy hour is well-named-- the $2 sake puts a smile on my face and wallet. Love the chirashi and the dancing scallops did a happy little limbo right down my taste buds. Seriously de-lish, and only $4. Definitely gotta keep coming back...

    (4)

  • Allistair J.

    Tremendous modern sushi spot that we happened into. Chef Peter was not only skilled but walked us through what he was making and brought a tremendous amount of ambiance. Lots of fun for my foodie self. The Golden Gate and Dancing Scallop dishes were our favorite.

    (4)

  • David L.

    EVERY ROLL HERE IS EFFING AMAAAAZING!! I've had a few meals at Zakuro and each time is a delicious experience. Hot tea comes in a personal vacuum sealed pot and if you love football, the games are always playing mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays!.

    (5)

  • Nathanie T.

    The happy hour extend to 9:30pm!!! A lot of stuff is half price and sake Hama is only 2.95, dancing scallop is 4.95 and sake bomb is 3.95. The quality of the food is good at this price. Our bill is usually around $60 but tonight with 6 dishes we are just paying $30 sth. That's really exciting for us and I highly recommended it!

    (5)

  • Giovanna F.

    This place is my new fave Japanese restaurant. I know the favorite around here is Amakara but give this place a chance you won't regret it. The location isn't the best but that's what makes this a gem! The best thing about it are the owners. They are super friendly and very appreciative of your business. There's always at least one family member there to ask how your table is doing. This kind of hospitality goes a long way. On top of that, the food is really tasty. Not bland, over sauced food. Just good flavors. Their rolls aren't gigantic but each bite is explosively delicious. The fish is very fresh and they don't use a ton of mayo fillers. Big plus. Try the Lincoln roll and the Prime for something different. I ordered the sizzling seafood platter once and was disappointed that everything on there was battered and fried! =( The batter got soggy from the steam of the hot plate. I was expecting sauteed seafood and veggies not soggy battered stuff. Disappointing $16 plate. Spend it on sushi. I'll be back soon!

    (5)

  • S K.

    Poor service despite it not having been busy at all. Came here in a group of three. Our food was brought out one by one as if we were sharing family style, which we eventually ended up doing to keep from having to awkwardly watch one person eat at a time. If our waters had been refilled we could've at least pretended to take sips here and there to take some of the attention off the one eating. But alas, no water until the bill came out. Also, I know it was a slow evening, but the atmosphere here was strangely and overly somber. The sushi men and two servers were gloomy and kind of just ''not there.'' Felt like I was eating at a funeral reception. We didn't even get a good-bye greeting as we left. This was even more awkward because it was a ways to the door and the staff just sort of watched us leave. It was strange, to say the least. That walk to the door felt like a mile.

    (2)

  • Francis N.

    This place was ok. There wasn't really any wow factor that would separate it from other sushi restaurants. Although the ambience of the place is nice and modern, I felt that the portion provided was small for what it's worth. In addition, the sauce on some of the rolls tasted funky ( especially mixing mustard and siracha with a creamy sauce). Rolls also come with a lot of green onion toppings.

    (3)

  • Matthew O.

    This place is wonderful! Being a local from Pleasanton I make sure to try out every Sushi place in town.. and this place really does have it down! I do agree with some other reviews, they could add a little more fish to their rolls! **Although the quality of the fish makes up for the quantity in my opinion!** but aside from that they have delicious options. My most recent time I went I ordered the Prime roll, and the 49ers Roll... both wonderful! The Prime roll has jalapeno on top which are then torched for texture. They do put a lot of sauce on their rolls but I don't think it's a bad thing... at some places it can be very overwhelming but they really pair their sauces well and put just the right amount to balance with the flavors of the fish. The decor is very modern and warm... the walls are painted a dark red with compliments of black and white tree decals on some of the walls. They have two large TV's if you are into that. I came here with a die-hard baseball fun buddy of mine while the giants we're playing, unfortunately we sat in a location which made it difficult to see the game on one of the TV's. We asked the server to put the game on the other TV, and they did, and then also proceeded to point the TV towards our table... ITS THE LITTLE THINGS! I'm telling you, this place is F*CKING great. This is now my go-to spot when I'm craving sushi, which is often! Go check it out, you'll love this place! **For every $20 you spend you get a stamp, after 10 you get $15 off** Not amazing but you'll be spending that money anyways. Too bad I always forget to ask them for stamps. FUCK!

    (5)

  • Mike S.

    Last week one of my coworkers picked up sushi for us from Zakuro Japanese Bistro & Sushi Bar. Not knowing what to expect since I've never been to Zakuro, I quickly looked online for tasty ideas to formulate a game plan on what to order. After reading some reviews and browsing through some pictures, my mouth was salivating with anticipation as I couldn't wait to try this new place. Between a few of us, we ordered: * Zakuro Roll ( s3-media3.ak.yelpcdn.com… ) * Sushi On The River ( s3-media4.ak.yelpcdn.com… ) * Prime ( s3-media1.ak.yelpcdn.com… ) * Ocean 12 ( s3-media1.ak.yelpcdn.com… ) * Edamame *5 Stars: Yum, give me more please!* Zakuro - While I enjoyed all the rolls, this was my favorite out of the bunch. I think my love for lobster is the main reason I held this roll so close to my heart. This tasty treat consisted of crab, cucumber & avocado w/ deep fried lobster on top. Since we ordered to go, we got to add the sauce on top, which made sense to avoid making it soggy. There is good reason this roll gets to share the same name as the restaurant. This is a must order anytime I go back to Zakuro! Mmmm popcorned baby lobster and delicious sauce! Sushi on the river - Another heavenly delicous roll that is filled with crab & fried shrimp w/ salmon,& scallop! The texture from the tempura shrimp gets me hooked every time! Combine it with crab, salmon, scallop, and that ever so tasty sauce and you have a party in your mouth. *4 Stars: Yay, I'm a fan!* Ocean 12 - Seriously, this roll could have easily found itself in my 5 star rating, but I wanted the other two rolls to stand out more. This master piece contains crab, cheese, shrimp & scallop w/ avocado, tuna, and salmon. This roll exposes another weakness I have, cheese! Prime - My co-workers really enjoyed this roll. I probably didn't appreciate it as much as they did but I still liked it. Fried shrimp & crab w/ avocado, hamachi, and unagi. Summary (4.5 Stars): This Fusion Japanese restaurant has won me over. Even though I've only been here once, it defiantly brought the "wow factor" while eating my meal. After reading their menu, there are many more rolls and dishes I want to try. Zakruo might have taken over as my favorite Japanese Restaurant to eat in the East Bay. I can't wait to go back to try this Zakuro Spaghetti I keep reading about! Until next time Zakuro.

    (5)

  • Jolina G.

    This is our weekly ritual. We love this place and we feel like family when we come! Two Zakuro specials you have to try: Zakuro edamame and Zakuro Spaghetti. To die for. Our favorite sushi rolls are: Spicy Killer, Raiders roll, Super Mike, Red Bull, Poki roll, Lincoln, Bumble bee and a MUST HAVE is their sashimi. It's the freshest I've ever had and it literally melts in your mouth. Staff is friendly and I love that the place has lots of room. My ultimate favorite sushi place!!!

    (5)

  • Danielle P.

    My husband and I come here at least 1-2x per week we love it so much! The zakuro roll is my personal favorite along with the yakaniku. All of the staff is very friendly and outgoing. Highly recommend this place if you like sushi!

    (5)

  • Tammy L.

    My boyfriend lives down the street from this sushi restaurant, but he has never heard of it. Since I love trying new places to eat, I decided to give this place a try. Plus I was craving sushi. This place is so modern looking. Nowhere near authentic. Which is not bad because you know these workers can speak English and there's no misunderstanding whatsoever. hopefully. Well, we were seated at a comfy booth and was asked immediately what we would like to drink. As always, water please. The only thing I didnt like about this place is that they take forever to come to your table and take your order. THe waitress was just walking back and forth. We were the only people there.. hello? But then Im not sure if she knew that she kept us waiting because she came by with a bowl of edamme. Is this a free thing or was it an apology dish? haha i dont know. It was nicely cooked and lightly salted. yum. After a good ten minutes, she finally came and took our order. We ordered the King Kong roll and the Zakuro roll because the pictures on the menu look really good. The person who made our rolls looked really young. I love it when he comes by and hand our dish, he would be like "heeerree youuu gooooo. enjooiiiiiieee" so happy! haha. Well. Zakuro roll was a bit disappointing to me because it was drenched with mayo. It smelled really fattening and I couldnt eat it. My boyfriend had to kill that plate for me. It is crab, cucumber & avocado w/ deep fried lobster for $14.95 I should have known that since it said deep fried lobster, it means BAKED. and when they say BAKED...it has mayo. The KING KONG, however, was so delicious. It is fried shrimp crab & spicy tuna w/ tuna, salmon, unagi for $15.95 I love that it tasted nicely smoked but not over cooked. It had the right amount of sauce and the portion was quite big. It it not that typical small rolls. well if you guys still dont know what to order... heres a list of SOME reccommended rolls from them and regular diners: OCEAN 11 crab & fried shrimp w/ avocado, tuna, salmon $9.95 OCEAN 12 crab, cheese, shrimp & scallop w/ avocado, tuna, salmon $12.95 OCEAN 13 crab, fried shrimp, masago & avocado w/ seared tuna, eel $15.95 PRIME fried shrimp & crab w/ avocado, hamachi, unagi $13.95 SUPER MIKE avocado, crab & cucumber w/ grilled scallops $14.95 SPIDER MAN fried soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado & masago $8.95 FANTASTIC 4 crab & fried shrimp inside w/ avocado, tuna $9.95 KING KONG fried shrimp crab & spicy tuna w/ tuna, salmon, unagi $15.95 LION KING kanikama & avocado w/ salmon then baked $9.95 ZAKURO crab, cucumber & avocado w/ deep fried lobster $14.95 SUSHI ON THE RIVER crab & fried shrimp w/ salmon, scallop $9.95

    (3)

  • Alex M.

    Thanks to Henry, our server, we had another great happy hour here. I had the 2 buck Kirin beer with my dancing scallops (yum, rich, so tasty) and my gomae -kind of a guilt order- with all the decadence of the dancing scallops, I thought I should eat a little spinach- but it's quite delicious, and beautifully presented. The Red Bull roll is great, but was too spicy for me(I'm a wimp) so I took it home to my daughter who loved it, and asked me why I didn't take her to happy hour. My husband had the mixed tempura and was very happy. 4:30pm was a great time to be in the restaurant, since it was relatively quiet. Love this place.

    (5)

  • Alma M.

    We came here on a Tuesday around 6. I even made reservations. We go to the restaurant and it was not busy at all. I was happy about that because we had a baby with us and it was going to be a quiet but quick dinner with another couple. Man, I was wrong about the "quick" part. Now, I will have patience for good food but this was ridiculously slow. Did I mention, there were only a couple tables with customers? It nearly took almost 45 minutes for our food. I remember this because it was nearing my baby's bed time, the dinner conversation was turning into a staring contest of where is the food and multiple looks at the sushi bar/kitchen, and my walk to the counter to ask where the food was or how long we still had to wait(Yelpers know this type of a long wait). It felt like they were fishing for the fish that's why it was taking long. The food was just ok. We were given an appetizer for the wait but it was a little late for the gesture. Maybe, it was an off night but all it takes is one very slow service not to come back.

    (2)

  • Nimish B.

    Very very slow service even though the restaurant was empty. Pretty much everything we ordered was tasteless.

    (1)

  • Chris R.

    We order few rolls and they were creative and delish. The fish here tasted fresh and cool kids menu that truly caters to the kiddos. Service sucked here. No water refils? Dudes, we are eating spicy rolls and need water to survive. I suggest you get the refils going so we don't suffer any longer.

    (4)

  • Ray W.

    This place is okay. I really wanted to like it.. Service is great! Our server made great recommendations and was super personable-- Just wasn't down with their roll selection.. Call me a sushi snob or whatnot but some things just lacked creativity. When 70% of your rolls consist of shrimp tempura and you can substitute it for a piece of ebi inside, something is wrong. Granted, I guess it could of been more lame of doing a roll that mainly consists of california rolls with different stuff on top but it's the same concept. We ordered the prime, the oceans 11, i think the oceans 13 etc. but overall we thought it was a ho hum sushi place. Not sure if this will make it into the rotation of restaurants around here. All in all, 2 people, 4 rolls and an appetizer, 2 large beers and 2 sakes for 77 bucks wasn't horrible in the grand scheme of things. I just want to be wowed!!!

    (3)

  • James S.

    What can I say about this place, just fantastic! First off, the sushi is super fresh. "How fresh?", you ask? The first 2 times I came here, they were literally carving up the whole fish behind the bar! The speacialty rolls taste just phenomenal. I personally love the Oceans 13, but every one of the half dozen dishes are phenomenal. The staff is very welcoming, which makes the eating experience fun. You have to try this place!

    (5)

  • Victor G.

    Zakuro has a lot space. the wall-length sushi bar and many tables take up most of the floor space. after seating at the sushi bar, i. was handed only the drink menu, no dining menu given. found lunch menu later on the sushi counter. sushiman took my order music: soul? eats: chirashi (17.95) -3 salmon, 3 tuna, 3 albacore, 3 suzuki, 3 butterfish, 3 tuna, 1 ebi, 2 tamago, wakame. salmon, butterfish very fresh, albacore mushy, tuna had funny taste -miso soup: very sweet tasting-too much msg? -salad: typical spring mix with dressing -sushi rice not vinegared enough. tasted like regular rice. -comped tempera ice cream : interesting pastry/ice cream confection 2.5 stars, not so great a value..quality not consistent temaki: -happy hours, M-F , 3-7 , selected $2, $3, $4 specials, food and drink, $4 most interesting: 1/2 portions of selected appetizers-oysters, pepper fin.... -large "OPEN NOW" sign on front of building indication of slow business? -chairs at sushi bar very uncomfortable -during checkin' by waiter, i informed him i didn't get soup or salad. -menu pricey, weekdays and HH better deal. -service irrantic. -may return for happy hour.....

    (3)

  • Robin H.

    NINJA TURTLE: For a shopping plaza that long needed an injection of flavor and pizazz, Zakuro gets it. Every inch of this restaurant; from the food presentation, to the decor, to the bathroom sinks, manifests thoughtful design of an appetizing experience. GAMERA THE BRAVE: Dare I use "delicious"? Almost... and Zakuro is just at the cusp of getting there. They've taken a great restaurant model and buffed it to a magnificent luster. With just a few shortcomings, Zakuro is the new underdog of the middleweight Japanese restaurant contenders. First off, the selection is excellent; they've curated a dinner menu and roll menu of items that will satiate those who are bent on bentos and those who celebrate sashimi. To everyone's surprise, the food comes out looking just as good the mouthwatering photos in their menus! We ordered the BUMBLE BEE, a warm, baked sushi roll with layered seafood textures and flavors topped with a tangy sauce, practically a meal in a roll! There were multiple sighting of grilled fish: the grilled hamachi came in two big juicy pieces, the biggest portion I've ever seen yet! It's less of an oily fish vs salmon, has a soft-shredded texture and leaves a light, almost airy after taste in your mouth. Definitely try this with a spritz of lemon and soy dipping sauce. The grilled salmon tasted very fresh and tender and didn't leave any lingering heavy fishy taste. The grilled mackerel was just a bit too salty, but still a moist and distinct dish none-the-less. So why not 5 stars? This place certainly has the potential and it's very close, but it's not as if we haven't done this before. Japanese restaurants are popping up everywhere so it seems and Zakuro just might be the most polished of them all. This place is the cinderella that will breathe new life in this dull part of town, but to be truly outstanding, perhaps they could try something different than everyone else. Still in the end, if your dinner plans are uncertain, Zakuro is an easy choice.

    (4)

  • Jeannie W.

    Came here for the first time tonight and had the oceans 12, prime and the super california roll. My regular favorite cold sake is karatamba but zakuros house cold sake, "pure" is extremely smooth and accomodated well with our meal. Our server for the night was ellen, and she fulfilled all our needs. Can't wait to try out their combination dinners.

    (5)

  • Kathryn L.

    Sushi is made well, using great & fresh ingredients - like real snow crab in the rolls that'd normally have the fake stuff. LOVED the prime roll - fried shrimp & crab inside with avocado, hamachi, and unagi on the outside topped with garlic sauce and charred jalapeno slices. The charred jalapenos really gave each bite a smokey depth that was lovely. However, I'd probably ask that they remove the jalapeno seeds and membranes next time because it was just a bit too spicy for me. Ninja loved it though. The Zakuro roll (california topped with deep fried lobster) was disappointingly small. At $15, each piece of sushi was so minuscule that I ate it all in 3 minutes and was still hungry. Unfortunately, the fried lobster pieces were soggy and didn't really add any flavor or richness like expected. However, this roll is semi-salvaged by this luscious, garlicky, miso dipping sauce. This sauce could save anything. I used the sushi to wipe the sauce bowl clean. I make myself feel better by saying that the $15 was all in the sauce. Everything else we ordered had good flavor, but too small for the price. I may drop in again, but would only change my rating if they increased their portion sizes. I don't like dropping $60 for 2 people and still be hungry afterwards.

    (3)

  • Chris M.

    Have been going here for some time now. The staff are friendly. Alex, the owner, is always happy go lucky and wants to please all his customers. Rolls are very good and fresh. Prices are very reasonable. Highly recommend

    (5)

  • Evan K.

    Tucked away in a strip mall on the outskirts of Pleasanton by Interstate 580, you can find Zakuro Japanese Bistro & Sushi Bar. I have an interest in trying every Japanese place in Pleasanton, so I decided to stop on by. I don't order sushi rolls. Clever names, don't entice me. I come for the good stuff. Zakuro looks like a modern bar equipped with flat screen tvs. Seems like a clean new agey dark fusion type style that is becoming popular. Out of ankimo, no oysters. Chef apologized many times. I kinda got the feeling he figured he would be reading this review in the future. Nigiri made a bit sloppy on the presentation. There are specials on the blackboard. This place has a happy hour. Check please. Check is presented in a cocktail glass, along with a punch card which is punched for every order over 30 dollars? That amount could be wrong. Little things like this are rare to see in the east bay. It's SO easy to set yourself apart from anyone else. Come to Zakuro for the happy hour specials, get your punch card punched. The sushi is decent. Zakuro is A-OK in my books.

    (3)

  • Ashley N.

    OMG, so happy they have a restaurant open in the bay area. I have been going to the sister restaurant in Lincoln for years and was so sad when I had to move away. They have always had the best rolls and are always consistent with fresh fish. I have tried many different sushi restaurants throughout the east bay and none have really compared to the variety and fresh taste that Zakuro has been able to provide. I highly recommend the Super Mike for a unique sauce, Tuna Bomb and King Kong II. The red bull has a great spicy flavor if you like that.

    (5)

  • Heidi R.

    My boyfriend, roommate, friends and I try to go to sushi at least every other week so we have our favorite spots but this one has definitely made it to the top of our list! We made a reservation and upon arriving our table was set up with menus, plates, and a little reserved sign, very cute :) We ordered the Sydney appetizer and it was a fantastic way to start. Then the regular starters Goyza and Miso, both were piping hot and very delicious. We also sampled the Sashimi, very fresh and very very yummy. Our rolls... 49er Roll- has a mustard like kick, the boys loved it Super Mike - the tables favorite for sure! Bumble Bee - if you like cream cheese get it and even if you don't it's so subtle it cools the kick of spicy tuna Red Bull - the spice is so addicting, my mouth was on fire but I couldn't get enough :) this was a very close second for me and a tie for the others. The waitress was awesome, the chef/owner came over to deliver our rolls personally and apologized for a wait that we hadn't even noticed because the atmosphere is fun and up beat even the music was great! Yes, it is in a spot of that center that has changed hands quite a few times but this place has staying power! Please try it!! because this is our new local favorite and I would love to see them stick around for awhile!!

    (5)

  • Buddy C.

    Amazing!!

    (5)

  • Sophia Y.

    Their grand opening was on Wednesday! They have a monstrous menu, which might make it harder for the indecisive person (like me) to pick just one item. After much debate, I finally picked the Zakuro spaghetti. It was an interesting but delicious concoction of their slightly spicy house sauce (like the sauce often used on sushi) on top of dry udon noodles. The flavor of the seafood part of the dish could be improved and we made that suggestion to them, so I don't know if they've changed the dish since then. The sauce has a great flavor though and it's a fulfilling dish, recommended for first-timers to this place. We were even offered complimentary hot tea, warm freshly-made edamame, and strawberry/vanilla mochi ice cream. The ice cream might be because of their grand opening though. The service was uber friendly and attentive to our needs. They came back several times to check up on us and was open to suggestions and constructive criticism, probably because we were their first customers. :) A good place for lunch/dinner with family or coworkers.

    (5)

  • Joseph P.

    This is now our regular go-to sushi place! Always greeted with a warm welcome and the servers are friendly with our kids offering crayons and coloring menus. We love to go during happy hour where all their specialty rolls are discounted, and you can get some great deals on saki, beer, and other items for $4 and under! Kids menu is also great! UPDATE...We love this place so much that we just have to recommend out most favorite rolls: Prime, Lincoln, and Rocky Special. If you're into sashimi with a little sauce garnish, the Sydney Special is great. Service is EXCELLENT here and the staff are so friendly!

    (5)

  • Esther Y.

    ((SUMMARY)) Yummy food (try the Zakuro Spaghetti!), great miso soup and ice cream mochi, EXCELLENT service, and very responsive to feedback (so help them out and offer some feedback!) ((DETAILED REVIEW)) I came here for the Grand Opening because my friend found this place was opening by her house and she wanted to be the first to review (yay Sophia Y!)! We were pretty much the first customers. They had someone before us who was just traveling and ordered a quick California roll, so I'd like to think that doesn't really count as enjoying the grand opening. ;) SERVICE We were greeted warmly upon entering, seated immediately in the large dining hall by the window, and presented with freshly laminated menus. We had two waiters serving us who came by frequently to answer any questions and ask how things were going and if we had any suggestions. We thought they were super nice so we gave them several suggestions -- such as less dressing, sear scallops for the Zakuro spaghetti, and peel the shrimp beforehand so the customer doesn't have to. They took our suggestions graciously and even wrote them down. I love seeing enthusiasm like this. :) I know very well what "First Day"s can be like, so any mishaps are quickly forgiven. One thing I like about new restaurants is that they are usually humble and super nice and willing to accept constructive feedback. It makes me want to help them succeed as a small business, to the point of sharing my own secret recipes (I shared my favorite edamame recipe for them to experiment with :D). FOOD Three of us got the Zakuro Spaghetti, which is a dry udon dish with seafood and a slightly spicy, slightly creamy sauce that looks/tastes like it is probably also used on some of their sushi rolls. It's really good, I just made the suggestions as above and also suggested possibly using less of the sauce or putting part of it on the side, or asking the customer how much they'd like. This dish took the longest to make, but it's their first day and they apologized profusely for the wait so I'm sure any kinks will quickly be ironed out as everyone settles into their role and becomes more efficient. The other two got a vegetable tempura and a bento box lunch special, but I think our Zakuro Spaghetti was the best at the table hands down. We all got miso soup and a salad as part of our lunch specials, and complimentary edamame (freshly cooked and warm). The miso soup was super delicious, not too strong or salty, and had very fresh tofu. The salad was swimming in dressing at first and when the waiters asked about the salad, we recommended using less dressing, and they brought out another salad for one person that had a more reasonable quantity of dressing on it. :) They served us complimentary ice cream mochi at the end! I was super pleased about that. Strawberry and vanilla flavors, quartered and with toothpicks, each person gets a whole piece (4 quarters). Delicious! PORTIONS When the Zakuro Spaghetti came, I thought it looked a bit small. By the end of the dish, I was struggling to eat the last 7 or 8 strands of udon. I ended up having to waste 2. :( With the appetizers and dessert, it's definitely enough for the average person. If you're an Olympic swimmer, maybe order double. PRICING As a Japanese restaurant, prices are most often in the $$ range. Prices are listed on their menu so go see for yourself, but the Zakuro Spaghetti was just under $14 if that helps. Will I (we) be back? Definitely. :) Another great place to add to our work lunch rotations! p.s. Check their Facebook page for coupons like $5 off!

    (5)

  • Paula O.

    Arriving at 630 on a Friday night, we were greet by a gentlman that seated us right away. Henry, our waiter, quickly arrives and takes our drinks down. I have to say he was very attentive, polite and was helpful with us trying to pick out our sushi rolls. One of the main reasons why we would revisit is because customer service is good. They have fairly good mixed variety of sushi. We started off with the fried kaki and seaweed salad. Kaki was good, seaweed a little on the sour/tangy side for me but not unedible. We tried the zakuro roll (BF enjoyed this one), oceans 11 (was my favorite), oceans 12 & prime roll are not baked but i think is torched and both had a strange burnt taste to it that we weren't use to so those are okay but we wouldn't order them again and lastly spicy killer (was okay). I will definitely go back because their customer service was very good. There food was okay, nothing AMAZING but good. No complaints. If you're in the neighborhood, you should try it out.

    (4)

  • Rebecca H.

    Very good! It's been redecorated beautifully, a relaxed atmosphere with sophisticated furnishings. The service was fantastic, both by the waiter and the hostess. Very solicitious and attentive. I tried the drops, which is crab meat with a choice of fish on top, we had salmon. It was ok, I'm not really into creamy dressings or mayo with my fish, so I didn't love it, but it wasn't terrible, just not my thing. I ordered nigiri deluxe. It came with miso and salad. I really didn't like the salad dressing either and the lettuce was iceberg blahness. I don't eat miso because of the salt, didn't try it. The nigiri had 15 pieces of generously sized fish or eel. Most of it was very good, the rice was properly made. My only complaint was the tuna had a lot of tendony bits which I find inedible. I wish it had been better cut. Lunch for two with a soda, appetizer, and two entrees came to, with tip, over 50 bucks, so it's not a cheap option. However, it is good and it's a really nice place, especially for a relaxing lunch.

    (4)

  • Leah K.

    SUPER DELiCIOUS! Clean, well decorated interior with friendly service and a large menu. Ordered 2 different kinds of sushi and an appatizer and loved all three choices. I am not normally someone who likes raw fish, more like a california roll person. However, coming here I tried new things and loved each one. Well worth the price.

    (5)

  • Emily O.

    Been here twice now with my boyfriend.. may possibly be my new favorite! I really enjoyed the food and the service is fabulous, everyone is super friendly. Our favorites have been the Zakuro Roll and the Cu Kani (cucumber wrapped instead of rice), but really everything has been good if not great. Also, we tried the croquettes last night and while they are something I'd never normally order, my boyfriend wanted to try them. They were actually very good- loved the sauce. Also, their happy hour has got some great deals. Highly recommend Zakuro!

    (5)

  • Karen A.

    Eventhough the food's a little over priced, it was still of good quality. 4 stars for the great service though!

    (4)

  • Kiyan R.

    I had a fine time at this place with an old friend. Zakuro is the type of place you take that girl that knows what she wants. There are so many frickin' choices on the menu that you feel like you're in a Labyrinth. As in, I know what type of roll I wanted but had to scavenge through hundreds of other choices to get there. The place is nicely decorated and has a sedating vibe. Contrary to many of the sushi places that are bright and have hospital-like lighting, this place had a sexier and more dimmed lighting - which definitely makes it a great place to take a first date. The waitress provided excellent service and truly addressed all of our dining needs. There were a few things that are almost expected at restaurants nowadays like complimentary water when seated, but she fulfilled any requests we made in a timely matter. We ordered two rolls and thought the Ocean's 12 was by far the better one. Very flavorful and original in taste. Also, we received edamame and tempura ice cream on-the-house, so I must also add those were excellent treats we were both very thankful for. Look forward to coming back to this place. Hoping for some free ice cream round two...maybe it was our smiles.

    (4)

  • Thu M.

    I have been to this place several times and brought different group of friends here and they all love the place. It's not pretentious here, food is good, service is attentive and friendly and HAPPY HOUR prices is awesome! My fave is Ocean's 11 and King Kong, I brought my kids here for dinner and they love the chicken teriyaki! This is definitely a place to try and unwind after work, you won't regret it!

    (5)

  • Mike S.

    This place is off the hook delicious! The best Sushi on planet earth! My wife and 4 kids go there regularly. We love, love, love the prime roll, oceans 11, oceans 12, and the Mike Special (not named after me :-) ) The staff is friendly, warm and welcoming. They always have our table ready and waiting for us. Great food, great experience!

    (5)

  • Oanh M.

    Always great service and the ambiance is nice. I have been here with my family at least 5 times. We have ordered their sushi boats for party at our home. Always excellent!

    (5)

  • Alfie F.

    We found this place-cause it happened to be closer to us than heading to walnut creek for sushi...It has been great and at times not so good. Rolls can get pricey -When i would order a plum wine it would come in a wine glass-recently it has starting arriving in a champagne glass.I guess they're trying to save a few bucks? I did not appreciate it and we have started to travel back to walnut creek.

    (3)

  • Tonya F.

    My husband and I were on our way down to southern Cali. Many times we stop in this plaza to get gas at the shell station. I was hungry, but didn't want fast food... So I looked up what was super near us. And this sushi place was right behind me... We walked in about 3:30pm and a young man welcomed us behind the sushi bar. We decided to sit in front of him... Peter is amazing... He explains in more detail about the rolls etc.... He made us some sushi .... Omg ! This is the best sushi place ever! At least for sure with Peter (chef). He is the best ... He is very open and honest, well at least with us he was... We felt we were suppose to meet him.... We will for sure make this a spot to go to when we travel down south... Which is a lot.... Tonya and Dj

    (5)

  • dc l.

    Had dinner with family after spending a day at the outlet mall. We ordered a couple of sushi dishes and dinner combinations. The food was great! And service was good too. Also we had a large warm sake for only $2 (happy hour). All in all an excellent experience!

    (5)

  • Grace Y.

    Try the pepperfin appetizers!!!! I'm a cheap college student who usually doesn't get appetizers... but I ALWAYS get the pepperfin whenever I come. It's in this soy-based sauce and comes with green onions. So. Good. I like this place because the servers are young and hip, and they have good sushi. I don't come that often because it's on the pricier side for the size of the rolls. Sometimes the rolls can be a bit too sauce-y as well. I would, however, come just for the pepperfins. Seriously guys. So good.

    (4)

  • E C.

    My favorite Fusion Japanese Restaurant!! Love the food and servers are always so prompt and friendly!! Recommend Zakuro spagetti and pepper fins!! Dancing scallop is good too. Happy Hour selection is awesome.

    (5)

  • J T.

    I have to agree with the comments on very slow service and odd since only 2 other tables were occupied at the time. Small portions make the prices a bit high. Also they forgot to provide chopsticks, napkins, soy sauce before disappearing for a while in the back, thus I had to go get them myself. Slow service turned into bad service.

    (2)

  • Ethan H.

    Two friends introduced us to Zaguro about 2 months back and we've been thrice since. Very good roll and sushi preparations - we usually just let Alex and his team fix up whatever is freshest and enjoy! I've heard Alex is better than some others, but honestly, we've observed no difference in quality from whomever has prepared for us. Fresh fish, not cheap but not expensive, creative chefs, pleasant atmosphere. I hope the location does ok (strip mall off 580). Much better than any of the 3 or 4 crap sushi places on Main Street - better by a lot!

    (5)

  • Jeffrey K.

    "Zakuro in Pleasanton is everything that's wrong with today's dining - minimum-wage, bored workers, small portions, and management who isn't engaged or plugged in. We ordered our sashimi and spider roll and asked for extra ginger and wasabi. None came. We asked again and it was slowly brought. I asked if rice came with our meal, and was told, "yes." No rice. I asked again and they said, "sorry, we'll get you rice." No rice. I asked again, and it finally came. What was odd was that there was only two other people in the restaurant at the time. I couldn't understand that after screwing up the rice order twice, you'd think they would make some effort to bring rice. I got the feeling that they just didn't care either way; that somehow customers would come and go regardless of the service. Maybe that's true, or maybe customers today put up with a lot and actually expect bad service, high prices, and mediocre food. We certainly do not. The food was OK, but small, and the service was slow and inefficient. Also oddly, the music was blaring! I like my music LOUD, but this was strangely loud. We could barely hear ourselves talk. The bored servers must have thought 'screw it, we're cranking it up to stay awake.' We'll never be back, and I suspect that few others will either. Save your money and time folks, and find someplace else. As we ate, we thought, "Eh, not bad, I suppose" but when we got to the car, we thought, "Boy, that was awful."

    (2)

  • Kelly R.

    Good food, friendly service, great happy hour specials on drinks and appetizers. There's a secret veggie tempura roll that's not on the menu, but very tasty.

    (4)

  • Ed L.

    So far I have been to Zakuro twice with my family. The first time, we just felt like having Japanese and stumbled upon this place and were so pleasantly surprised by both the service and the quality of food! The 2nd time we brought family there and we were still all enjoyed the food very much. With the staff always being friendly, this place has definitely become one of our regular spot!

    (5)

  • Dylan C.

    The croquettes were nice and crispy, the udon had delish broth, and the unagi donburi was also good, I'd a little expensive. A meh was the sea steak as the tuna could have been a bit fresher. Service was okay for being pretty empty.

    (4)

  • Mike G.

    Sticky floor, sticky sake bottle. Ordered the Chicken Katsu and there was lots of Katsu but hardly any chicken... The chicken was all dark meat... No white chicken breast. Gyoza was mediocre. Service was good. Folks next to us kept raving about their sushi though.

    (2)

  • Mark L.

    Zakuro is my favorite Japanese/sushi restaurant in the area. The service has been very good each time I've visited. I love their tuna sashimi, edamame and miso soup. Always outstanding.

    (5)

  • John S.

    Alright, this post is LONG overdue especially since I am there once or twice a week. I have been going to Zakuro since they had been open for about a month. I never knew it was in the plaza until I saw the "Now Open" sign hanging outside. It is tucked away in the corner and most of the people I have talked to have never heard of it. So do yourselves and your friends a favor, spread the word, this place is amazing! I usually sit at the sushi bar so I can't discuss the table service, but everyone there is so friendly and accomodating one way or another. They even went out of their way to send a good friend of mine an email to let him know that I had purchased him a gift certificate for his 40th birthday. The menu is extensive and not pricey compared to other places i have been. There are actually 2 menus to look at, almost so overwhelming that I grabbed a take out menu to bring home so I could mark down what I wanted to try on future visits. My personal faves- Golden Gate Roll- 5 stars- crab, avocado & kobo w/ tuna, kani, kani kama (I sub out salmon for the tuna) has amazing flavor and texture Millenium Roll- 4.5 stars- crab & fried shrimp w/ salmon & scallops topped with a peanut butter sauce. SERIOUSLY!?!? scallops, salmon and a peanut butter sauce? All I have to say is wow! Zakuro Roll- 4.5 stars- crab, cucumber & avocado w/ deep fried lobster. I am not usually a fried lobster fan, but this one is excellent! Lion King Roll- 4 stars- kanikama & avocado w/ salmon then baked. This is a smaller roll and is perfect if you want something to tide you over. All in all, this is hands down my favorite sushi restaurant in the East Bay and quite possibly the entire Bay Area. The people are great & the sushi is fantastic. Go check this place out next time you are in the hunt for good sushi!

    (5)

  • Mishel D.

    My husband and I love this place. We live in Marin and when we're driving down to LA as it's on our way (I'm from there) we always stop at Zakuro. The staff is absolutely amazing and the quality of fish is always great and fresh. I would totally recommend this place to anyone and I will say I'm pretty picky when it comes to sushi.

    (5)

  • Gabrielle B.

    Fairly new spot in Pleasanton near my boyfriends house so we wanted to check it out with some friends for dinner. They seated us pretty promptly and service was really friendly. I think we got the killer bee and oceans 12 or 13. We also ordered a sashimi plate but it took forever to come out so we just canceled it. The killer bee was the one roll we liked. It was pretty good. The other roll was meh. Our waiter was pretty attentive and nice. He apologized for our sashimi plate being so late so he gave us a large house sake on the house. That was in addition to the free small house sake you can get with the yelp deal!! If you do come here make sure you redeem it with your check-in. Aside from the good service, I wouldn't come back here. It is overpriced for the quality of the food. I don't mind forking out money for good food but with this place just doesn't cut it for me.

    (2)

  • Rachel R.

    Good japanese, with a nice Bento box lunch special, reasonably priced. I didn't try the sushi, but other with me did and they liked it. Nice ambiance, bistro type, casual. Good for lunch or dinner. Will definitely go again!

    (4)

  • Anne H.

    First, the PRO's: 1) Clean, updated, roomy and very friendly place. 2) Great lunch specials (usually a bento box and a set of sushi rolls). The CONS: 1) The rolls tastes great BUT there is HARDLY any fish. Rolls are mostly covered with sauce that hides the tiny fish. 2) There are no Bento boxes on the menu. They only have it as a special for lunch. So for one of the dinners we had, we ordered a Dinner plate. Let me tell you... the plate was mostly just plate. There wasn't enough food or even decos or frills to fill the plate. 3) I originally came with my sister after looking at the reviews about the spaghetti. We were excited to try it and it was not as expected - the scallops were bland, the shrimps were too cooked and there was not enough sauce to cover the bland udon. We were quite disappointed. When the server asked how it was, we were honest and basically said that they were very busy that night and apologized for it. I've been here twice for lunch and twice for dinner so I can fairly say that I have given them a chance. It is closer than my usual sushi place so convenience was a plus. After the experience, I will certainly go back to my usual digs - SATO's in Pleasanton. I promise you, you will get at least three times more fish on your rolls!

    (2)

  • brad H.

    Went here today with a Groupon. I was in the area, even though I don't live around Pleasanton I'm cheap enough to get a groupon for good food in the area. So we went for lunch! For two people spending 40 bucks on lunch here was not too easy. We both had a lunch, drink, split an appetizer and split a sushi roll and was still just under the 40 dollar groupon. I was very pleased with the meal. It was not 5 star dining but it was very good food and the service was fast and friendly. My drink was never empty, food came out quick and the staff was very friendly. Only thing I had small issue with was the price of the shrimp tempura.... for as small as it was 8 bucks is a bit much. Add more veggies or lower the price a tad. But then again with the groupon it was half off... but that's it. Small issue. Overall I'd go back if I were in the neighborhood. Even without a groupon.

    (4)

  • Mary Anne B.

    Service was terrible. Do not use their delivery service which is over-priced. The online menu said Miso soup included but instead they sent a salad and refused to do anything about it. Even though I paid a delivery charge and included a tip! Then they fibbed about the rules of their online menu and delivery service. If they fibbed about this, what else are they fibbing about? Safe to eat their raw fish?

    (2)

  • Cathy P.

    Have been here twice and only ordered takeout. The sushi reviews here are pretty good, so I will have to try another time. Had the combo dinner to go. They should tell you that the miso does not come with the to go orders. First time, had the beef teriyaki and gyoza. The beef was lean and grilled to perfection and the gyoza is light and crispy. I thought it was a little expensive ($14)considering the portion size and no miso. Second time, I asked if the chicken katsu was white or dark meat. I was told white meat and ordered the katsu and beef teriyaki. The katsu was mostly dark meat and the beef was fatty and chewy. If that had been my first meal there, I would not have gone back. The servers are very pleasant and very efficient and attentive. I will try the sushi next and report back.

    (3)

  • Oanh N.

    I'm a fan! My husband and I found this restaurant by chance and was delightfully surprised by the food and the service. We came here with our family on a Sunday evening and unfortunately, we caught them on a day when they were short by 2 servers. The wait was a little long, but I didn't have an issue with this because everyone in the restaurant was so incredibly nice. They kept apologizing for the wait and letting us know that they would be right with us. They realized that they were slow and they made we knew that we had not been forgotten. Further, the food was surprisingly really tasty. We ordered a number of rolls, udon, and my husband ordered sukiyaki and teriyaki salmon (as he's not a fan of raw fish) and everything was very good and flavorful. My nephew is an extremely picky eater and he loved the udon and to our disbelief, he even asked for more. The service could have been a bit better, but the overall experience was a pleasant one. We look forward to coming back in the near future. Food: Delicious (and reasonably priced) Ambiance: Kid friendly Service: Could have been faster

    (4)

  • Scotty W.

    I love sushi... and to have a good sushi dinner It must all be good.. The miso, the salad, and the sushi!! Zakuro has it all! I eat there at least once a week. I kept coming back for the sushi but after a few times there it was a combination of the staff the food and the environment that made Zakuro my go to spot! Every time I walk in I'm always greeted with a smile and by my name.... its like my modern day Cheers sushi bar! I highly recommend trying the Zakuro roll!

    (5)

  • Aaron R.

    If possible I would give this place 3.5 stars. My wife, son, and I ordered some sushi, some dinner entrees and some udon. First, the good: Service was fantastic. Very friendly and knowledgeable of the menu. Everything came out fast and hot (where applicable). The tempura was cooked perfectly and the children's chicken teriyaki bowl was made jut right for little eaters (the chicken was already cut into small pieces for easy handling). Now, the bad: we could only try a limited sampling of sushi as my wife is pregnant, but what e had was not impressive. The rice was overdone and all the rolls had the texture and taste of supermarket sushi. My udon was flavorful but a bit on the sweet side. My wife's veggies were not crispy (like they were previously frozen). Overall, an average location with passable but not great food, and very good service.

    (3)

  • mary l.

    What a great find for us. A perfect dinner to finish a great outlet shopping day with daughter and older sister. Love the rocket roll, croquet, tempura. Great food and Jun gave excellent service. Friendly hostess and a happy customer representative for the restaurant. We love the happy hour and will be back for our next outlet trip :). I highly recommend that everyone make it part of your outlet excursion to end with a great dinner and service. Thank you Jun for making our girls trip so pleasant.

    (5)

  • Linda S.

    This is by far the best Japanese restaurant we have tried in the dublin-pleasanton area. I enjoyed every dish we ordered and especially loved their appetizer.

    (5)

  • Christine L.

    The first time I went here, my husband and I didn't think the sushi and rolls were that great. The sushi wasn't very fresh and the rolls were just ok. My sister invited us to dinner a few weeks ago and we enjoyed dinner very much. The staff was friendly and was attentive to us, which isn't easy because we have 4 messy and fussy kids under 4 yrs old who loves to run around. We asked for a little private area which the girl gladly gave us, this made the experience nice because we were comfortable and wasn't embarrassed or worried that the kids would bother others. All restaurants should have this!!! We tried about 10-15 rolls and loved them all and the sushi seemed fresh. Our kids loved the teriyaki chicken and udon. They improved a lot since opening, I'd go back again.

    (4)

  • Jeannette L.

    Yummy food. Real crab in the Cali rolls which is important. Enjoyed it hear. Nice inside. Lunch with my son. Groupon bought for $20 for $40 worth of food. Nice place. Good food.

    (4)

  • Tiffany C.

    Dine here with my family after shopping at Paragon outlet. This place is really big and can accommodate with larger groups. The service was awesome and the waiter was really friendly. They came by to refill our water from time to time. But as for the food, some of the items are a bit misleading by reading the menu and the rolls were just ok. They were also on the small size for the price.

    (3)

  • Michelle A.

    The people are always so friendly here! The food is good and hits the spot every time I'm craving for Japanese food.

    (3)

  • Stephen D.

    Went here on a Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend with the parents and the girlfriend. I find it a find hard to find a good japanese restaurant this side of the bay without having to sacrifice on authenticity. This place does not offer authenticity. However, Zakuro does offer a "fusion" menu that does thrive based on its creativity. We ordered 5 rolls which we've never seen from other places, along with 2 udons. I would skip the fried lobster roll as the frying process seems to have stripped the lobster of any umami tastes you would want in a sushi roll. However, the other choices, one with a nice slice of lemon on top, were fresh, interesting and most importantly, tasty. The udon was pretty run of the mill, but the service was fantastic. This is one of those sushi chef doing sake bombs with customers kinda places. Would I go again? Sure! However, once I've tried the gamut of these fusion offerings, I always seem to go back to the more traditional stuff - which Zakuro has, but I did not try. Docked one star for sub-par lobster rolls and above market-level pricing of their sushi rolls in general.

    (4)

  • K V.

    I ask for ginger several times.. was ignored. My partner finally went up to the bar himself to request for more ginger. My chicken teriyaki was bland. The 2 rolls we got were small and not exciting, mind you these were at least $12 rolls. However, we didn't try any of the raw stuff so can't review that. The table next to us had a bug in their miso. Won't be back =/

    (2)

  • Matt F.

    Really three and a half stars. We came here for lunch today and thought the service was good, but that the food was just okay. One of us had been for dinner and he would have given dinner a solid four stars. Downsides: imitation crab not so noted on menu. Jasmine rice instead of sushi rice on the sushi so the sushi kind of crumbled apart. Good stuff: Everything seemed fresh and well prepared. Nice atmosphere in the restaurant. I'm never down this way at dinner time, but I will come back for lunch and try something else. It they just improved a few things Zakuro could be great.

    (3)

  • Tiffany P.

    I've been to Zakuro twice so far. However, I went there both at around 4 so there was about one other table being waited on. Most recently, we were greeted by an exceptionally upbeat waiter named Cedric. I ordered the Rocky Special while my mother order the Chirashi. I had high expectations for the the Rocky Special, but I didn't feel like it was big enough given the price. The roll itself was pretty good, and there was a very interesting sauce provided on the side; it seemed like it was made out of 1000 island dressing. On the other hand, I thought the Chirashi was quite delicious. Given I only had a few slices of the fish, but the salmon was excellent. I think what makes me write this review is the service. Our waiter Cedric seemed genuinely happy to help us with any questions we had and he made the environment feel a lot more welcoming. Overall, the roll I had was a bit underwhelming due to its size, I'm willing to come back again when I'm tired of visiting Sozo and Amakara. I would've given 3 and 1/2 stars, but the waiter was terrific who had an extremely contagious positive attitude.

    (4)

  • Kathy C.

    We ordered: yakitori - sauce was good but chicken was overcooked sake bomb - good dancing scallop - yum, scallop was perfectly cooked lion king maki - ok king kong maki - ok Other notes: easy to park, clean, spacious and quiet. Overall ok but I still like Amakara better in terms of taste and being more lively.

    (3)

  • Sal E.

    I've been to Zakuro about 5 times and decided I finally had to review it. This place gets better and better with each visit! Staff is always very friendly, especially Henry. The owner/sushi chef Alex is great also, everytime I've visited he's offered a little taste of something on the house. The menu is large and I've only tried the sushi rolls, not the Japanese entrees. The sushi rolls are to die for!! Each one so unique and so perfectly crafted it deserves a picture. My favorite roll is the Tuna Bomb, spicy tuna wrapped only in fresh Ahi. Yummy! The Oceans 12 and Zakuro rolls are also very tasty. I've yet to try anything I wouldn't eat again. I've only been to Amakara once but this place is definitely my favorite Sushi spot in the east bay/ tri valley.

    (5)

  • Sara W.

    Just ate here for the first time today! Came here for lunch with co-workers since I saw (via Yelp!) this "Hot New Business" just opened a week ago so it was great to try something new. Upon arriving, we were promptly greeted by the hostess and offered us a table or a seat at the bar. After taking a booth, the server also quickly greeted us after sitting down and took our drink order...i think he was new bc we only ordered 2 waters, 2 hot teas, and an iced tea, and he still kinda was unsure since he repeated it back to us. no biggie, i appreciate his thoroughness :) i read several reviews that one needs to try the Zakuro Spaghetti, $13.95. So I located it right away on their VAST menu (one for lunch, one solely for Sushi, yum!) So Zakuro spaghtetti is listed on the menu as a customer favorite and described as: udon needles with scallops, shrimp, and green mussells topped with a mildly spicy Zakuro sauce. I was skeptical but figured hey, people on here know what they're talking about!! Tho it was disappointing i could not sub the salad that came with it for a seaweed salad ($3.95)...poop. The other folks in the group went with the $9.99 bento box...and my god, what a DEAL! huuuge plate of food (choice of 2 sides with soup, salad, and choice of rice.) i was realllyyy tempted to get it and almost wish i had for the value! my co worker said the salmon sashimi she had was delicious and fresh. may have to get that next time! Now for my spaghetti...Yelp folks, you've done good. It was outstanding! I was feeling full halfway through so if you want it's perfect for sharing. Even though I should've stopped then, I ate the whoooole plate it was SO good. That sauce is divine, perfect for udon. Though the plate only came with like 3 mussells, 3 shrimp, and about 4-5 scallops, it was still worth it. I wish I could've left some for leftovers but I was skeptical that seafood would hold. Since I followed/liked Zakuro on FB, i got to use the $5 off coupon on our meal...score! FYI, it expires 3/31. So, all in all it was $38 pre-tip for 3 people post coupon...not bad! service was pretty OK, i would describe the server as inconsistent and maybe inexperienced, but he was friendly and helpful so i would gladly return. and with such a HUGE menu, how can i not return with so much delicious sounding food!! good job, hope this places sticks :)

    (4)

  • Jesse P.

    Good sushi = good rice, and their rice is awesome!!! We got the crazy horse, killer bee and the poki. Highly recommended.

    (5)

  • Kenneth H.

    Best sushi restaurant in Pleasanton! Sushi chefs were very professional and friendly =) Interior was very clean, spacious & modern. Great place for family dinners, friends birthday parties. Try the sushi. Very fresh! and also try fire grilled special rolls. Very entertaining and delicious!! I heard Zakuro spaghetti is very good too. I'll try that next time~

    (5)

  • Gabi M.

    went here super early on a Saturday, music was pumping already. Nice new place, our server was great, very nice & on it. Huge selection of maki rolls, temaki, nigiri, sashimi, combo dinners very reasonably priced. We had: Lincoln roll, hirame & ebi nigiri, red bull roll, seaweed salad - all good, real snow crab! not big rolls or pieces of fish but high quality, which I'd rather have any day. flavors were good, and even a free lil dish of ice cream after. - if you are not into listening to loud popular music, maybe not your scene, but we'll check back, happy hour might be happenin! Will be back & check out more.

    (4)

  • Gena T.

    Zakuro is definitely one of the best sushi places in the area. The staff are so nice and welcoming, and the atmosphere is comfortable. Everything is reasonably priced, and the food is absolutely delicious. I love their dinner combination plate. The staff always checked on our table to see how we were doing, and recommended some delicious items. The menu also has suggestions with customer favorites, and staff picks which helped narrow down what we wanted.

    (4)

  • Jen J.

    My lunch order: Agedashi Tofu Zakuro Roll Dancing Scallops Oh my goodness, YUMMY! I sat at the sushi bar, asked for their recommendations, and enjoyed every bite. I can not wait to come back so I can try the Zakuro Spaghetti. The staff is pleasant. Restaurant is comfortable. Location is convenient. Quality of food is great! 2 thumbs up. Zakuro is my new local favorite!

    (5)

  • Sandy W.

    Very happy there is now another good sushi joint option. For a strip mall place, this is a 5-star restaurant if rated purely on the menu selection and the quality of food & service. However, I have to knock off a star for the price. Good portion but pricing is about 15% higher than Kaki Sushi and a bit too expensive. I only had rolls and they were tasty. I'll try entrees next time and see if an upgrade to 5- stars would be warranted. Definitely a keeper and I shall return.

    (3)

  • Aaron K.

    I just went there yesterday evening with my girl friend to try their food for the first time. When I first walked in I loved how the place looked. Great interior design very good place for a dinner date or family gathering. Very large and roomy as well. I've ordered Ocean's 12 / sea steak / 10pc sashimi set / and one other roll with jalepenos on top forgot the name for it. I am not a big eater nor does my girl friend but we couldn't stop eating. Their food is amazing!!!! I loved it so much that I am going to go there every weekend until I try all of their food selections!!!

    (5)

  • Frank E.

    Went to Zakuro for lunch with my wife. I got the Bumble Bee roll and she got the Peter Special roll. Both were great. I also got the Unagi (a la carte) - I like to judge sushi restaurants by the unagi - It was fresh, juicy and very tasty. Also had the tempura ice cream for dessert.....LOVED IT. Wonderful green tea ice cream with a tempura batter 'wrap' topped with whipped cream. It's a moderate drive, but I think we will be going back.

    (4)

  • Julie P.

    Have visited twice and decided to review. I have tried the majority of Japanese restaurants in Pleasanton and this is easily in my top 2. Great menu selection. Fun rolls...one has mustard and it was delicious. We were offered a "free" dessert and I initially passed by my husband said yes. SO GLAD HE DID. It was awesome. I want to check out lunch specials and happy hour as prices are slightly high on "regular" menu but I think pretty standard. Just adds up... since it is hard to limit ordering with such incredible selections. Service was nice. I think the ambiance could be spiced up a bit... you can bring the family (which is good/bad). If you want GOOD sushi, check it out.

    (4)

  • Molly B.

    Chicken teriyaki is excellent!! It's always cooked perfectly and is never fatty!! I also love that they have brown rice as an option!! Great customer service too!!

    (5)

  • Judy P.

    Had two visits to this place in April. One was a homecoming dinner for a girlfriend and the other was my niece's birthday dinner. Both times the service was great. Didn't have any problems with food coming out, refills or expectations of the food. One of their rolls I distinctly remember: Prime. I've never tasted anything like it. I'm not a sushi guru or a roll master but something in that roll got my taste buds dancing! I ordered it for both dinners. Another item is the Zakuro spaghetti. My sister in law had a taste and had to order one for herself. =) Our servers for both dinners were on top of their game. Especially for my niece's bday she was prompt in taking our cupCake into the fridge, setting up the seats and even timing everything for the birthday girl to be surprised with dessert. So friendly with the children to the point where my niece wanted to share cupcakes to the staff. (She's 4..sharing isn't a given talent here right? =) ) But that's how quickly the servers warmed up to them. =) There's a lot of items on their menu but that means all the more reasons to go back and try them. I never got the impression that this place is an authentic Japanese restaurant because of the name. Therefore I wasn't expecting authentic Japanese food when I came in. It's more fusion and contemporary if you ask me. If a restaurant leaves me curious to try additional items, I think that's a winner.

    (5)

  • Kaheana A.

    The service and food here was very pleasant. I had ordered the beef udon. It was nothing that would be recommended while the portion was small in comparison to other locations, but it did taste fine. The girlfriend had ordered the teriyaki chicken. It was very tender and tasted great. It made me wish that I had ordered a lunch special instead of my soup. The modern atmosphere isn't quite to my taste. When I walked in they were playing techno music. Not music I'm looking for when I'm sitting in during a lunch break. I thought they heard my complaints when it changed to an acoustic genre. But then it went back to techno and began alternating between the two. Sounded as though the iPod was on shuffle. Overall it is a decent place although it won't be a place that I prefer

    (3)

  • Gerald P.

    This Place Is To Die For!!!!!! Quality Service, Very attentive wait staff who really care about your experiences as a customer and the food is Japanese food with a slight tweak to a western pallet which is a refreshing take on the experience. The decor is casual you can come here with your family or a afternoon lunch with the coworkers yet I can still come here on a date night and it's always a great experience.( which I've done the ladder and every time it's been phenomenal!) I don't really write yelp reviews but after coming here I had to. I love it so much.

    (5)

  • Jason S.

    This place was great. The food was delicious. We will definitely be going back! The only reason I didn't give them five was because the service was a little slow. Nothing that bad but the place was not packed and we had to ask for a few items (silverware).

    (4)

  • Nicole M.

    Sushi here is amazing! The Oceans 12 and Lincoln are my favorite rolls now... Staff has definitely been much better. Faster service as well as always checking on us and refilling drinks even though it was completely busy. I wish they had a hostess and busser though since the waiters pretty much do everything from seating you to serving you to cleaning off the tables, so it does make the wait longer. Our server helped a lot with recommending rolls and was great. All in all a great place to get my sushi in the future now~

    (5)

  • Diana M.

    First of all - this specific location, Suite A, is cursed. I've been living in Dublin for 6 years now and this is the 3rd or 4th establishment that has come and go. The Korean lady at Arrow dry cleaners (3-4 stores down) said that this place was pretty good. She gave me a $5 coupon to use for my first visit. Hubby and I decided to check this spot out on a Friday night. Decor was nicely done - clean, modern, and spacious. It wasn't busy at all unlike Amakara. Staff was very friendly, especially our server, Cedrick. We ordered: -Adedashi tofu -Tempura udon -Shrimp Tempura plate -Fantastic 4 roll It was very clear to us that the staff was still adjusting to running the business because the service was reealllllllly slow. The quality of food was fine - nothing mind blowing, but it was tasty. I'm really picky on how the rolls are rolled - I like mine nice and tight. These rolls were sloppily made. They either have a fairly new sushi-master still learning his craft or just a real lazy one. Cedrick was very apologetic for having us wait so long for our food. He checked on us several times, refiling our water or tea, making sure we were ok. At the end of the night, he took the initiative in making things right for us which completely took us by surprise. And for that, I will give this spot a 2nd chance and a 3 rating. Thank you, Cedrick.

    (3)

  • Bret F.

    The Millenium and Rocky Special Rolls are great! Very friendly staff. A bit chilly in the restuarant and some of the rolls can have too much sauce on them for our taste. Sometimes good to ask for the sauce on the side.

    (4)

  • greg s.

    The service was very good. The issue was with the food. The chicken bento box had a smallish portion of chicken but the flavor was decent. The salad seemed (I tasted a small bit of it) to just have mayo as the dressing. I am sure there is more to the dressing but it was hard to tell. The CA rolls that came with the bento is what really drove down the rating. These rolls were almost entirely rice with an extremely small amount of avacodo and crab inside. I mean like 95% rice. The next strike was the nigiri saki and hamachi. Both were fresh but the portion size was very small and the rice a bit hard in spots. Maybe I hit it on a bad day but it was not the best food experience.

    (2)

  • Joey C.

    Glad to find out abt this restaurant while amakawa is closed for saturday lunch. Chefs here are japanese. If you are looking for sushi made by japanese chefs rather than korean chefs in pleasanton/ dublin area, you should give it a try.

    (4)

  • Charles C.

    Nice decor. That's it. Overpriced food. NOT authentic Japanese food. Slow service. Kid udon is $5.95. It has only udon and soup. AVOID this place!

    (1)

  • Esther C.

    Ah..love going here with my kids. Lots of room for my 4yr old toddler can walk around. Friendly server and other customers who don't seem to mind my little ones walking by and bother them from time to time...My all time favorite is Oceans 12 roll..yummy!

    (5)

  • Kelly R.

    We heart Zakuro! My BF and I come in so regularly that the chefs know us by name. It's really that kind of a place. Never too crowded and always hits the spot. My favorite place to sit is at the bar. The ingredients are fresh and the sushi is ALWAYS good. They offer their expertise and will custom make any roll to your liking. I recommend the spicy tuna and uni (sea urchin) hand rolls. Delish!

    (5)

  • Vee S.

    I do not even know how to describe my experience, it was so bad I started a few times with better spirit but could not go on, Finally decided to be honest. I was here for lunch today, my parties ordered the lunch specials, i ordered Katsu Donburi (pork chop over rice) all our orders are very basic American Japanese restaurant dishes. First, the miso soup, very light taste, it was OK, not impressive, but maybe the chef likes things lighter, then comes the California rolls, it's basically rice wrapped around avocado, we could not find crab meat, or any hint of it, at first we joke about this may be the new creation. The teriyaki salmon was good, or so did my family said. That earns the first star. Then deep fried pork chop, it was so thin, all one can taste was the deep fried crunchy taste but not the meat taste. We decided not to order the specials in the future, maybe the restaurant has to cut cost to make the special.... Then comes my katsu donburi, if you don't know what that is, for 99.9% of my experience, it has onion and shitake mushroom stir fried in special brown sauce over the rice, then the deep fried pork chop on top of it, then very juicy soft stir-fried eggs over the whole bowl, sometimes almost half done so the heat from the pork chop and the rice will steam it to perfection when it was served from kitchen to you. Yes! It's always this way no matter I order it in San Ramon, San Francisco, New York, LA. Or Tokyo, it's always like this! Today to my shock, under the pork chop, I first taste tofu skin, it was the same color as the pork chop, so I though the chef was just being cheap and try to beef it up the portion, then I dig more, I saw a slice of firm tofu, what? Then I saw broccoli, then pepper, I don't even know how to call this thing, it's not just trying to beef it up, it's bad taste, IT TASTED BAD! All these ingredients do not go together with the sauce. Please do NOT say it's fusion or chef's creativity, please! I also notice other reviews mentioned slow service, so I won't repeat it. The decor was cool, but I went to a restaurant, the taste should be more important than the look, so i won't give more than 1 star for this place.

    (1)

  • Tyree G.

    Since I've been to Zakuro nearly every week since the bf and I discovered this gem, I guess it's about time I share the love. I could reiterate everything that everyone has already reviewed about, but I'll try to keep this original. First, all of the staff here at Zakuro are extremely helpful, friendly, and pleasant to be around, even when they are going through or have just experience a rush of customers. Wow, I don't think I've ever said that about any place before. Next I will say that all of the food I've tried here, which is A LOT (hence why I can't name any rolls specifically), is extremely derishhhhcious (yes I said it). Alex and the rest of the sushi chefs are super awesome and make great rolls, and they all handle the fish with the care it needs. Another big plus is that they have a great selection on sake, which I would recommend trying a few bottles. The Pure sake is pretty darn good because it's so refreshing! I know what you're thinking, "How can sake be refreshing?" Well let me tell you, these types of sake are the ones that you don't waste by dumping it into your beer for a sake bomb, trust me, you will want to savor each taste. If you want a great night out, hit up Zakuro. I know sushi can be pricey but they are decently priced here, and worth every penny. I'm sure you'll see me when you pay them a visit, I'll be the one at the bar...sipping on sake and enjoying some fresh fish!

    (5)

  • Regina S.

    I love places that does Happy Hour especially Sushi spots! Happy hour i think is 3-7pm. Their food is good and they give you a card and stamp it for every 20 dollars you spend then the 10th stamp you'll get something, i forgot what tho! Prices are reasonable. Will be back again!

    (4)

  • Sung A.

    Favorite sushi please in town! Owner is extremely nice and welcoming! I had the most wonderful time enjoying sushi at the sushi bar.

    (5)

  • Peter C.

    Their unique creativity is very great. I also enjoy their food.

    (5)

  • Hari D.

    Went there today with my daughter, little pricey, but good experience. Ordered spicy sashimi salad and it was really good. Quantity was pretty less though, just enough. Didn't like the sake, but miso soup was good. My daughter ordered some under the sea sushi role and it was really really good. Her ice tea was OK. Didn't order dessert, but next time for sure.

    (4)

  • Alise S.

    This is my new favorite sushi place in Dublin/Pleasanton! From the customer service, to the food the overall experience was great. Highly recommended

    (5)

  • Duke D.

    The Good - Fast, courteous and friendly staff, good rolls, nice food presentation on bento style dinner, lot of fresh tuna on dinner bento (for $1 more and well worth it) Not so Good - Small portion and bit pricey for what you get I was HUNGRY having skipped lunch and was tad disappointed (my bad as should've gone to buffet joint) with the portion which was made up by excellent service.

    (4)

  • P E.

    Came on a Sunday night, after 8pm. I wonder if that might have contributed to a little bit slower service than expected, especially considering how it was not too busy. Both our servers were okay though; Cedrick was actually excellent. I used to work for the restaurant industry (corporate), and have always been decent at spotting good servers. Cedrick, keep up the good work. As for the food, my wife and I actually thought it was nice and tasty. It was not anything that stood out from our regular Japanese fave spots, but nothing to prevent us from coming back either. I ordered a bumble bee roll and liked it. It was nice and filling, and definitely flavorful. The only knock on it though was that it didn't hold together as much as I would have liked. Also, would probably be nicer if they fell in line with most everywhere else and served "low sodium" soy sauce in a container with a green cap. lol My wife ordered the Yakiniku and thought that it was a little sweeter than she would have liked. Not sure on the sauce that is used to prepare it. I ordered my usual, chicken katsu and vegetable tempura. I figured if they didn't screw that up, then I could come back and try something different. So far so good, because it was pretty good, and filling too. I also liked how they used asparagus. Nice! Overall, I think it was deserving of at least a 3.5 - 4 stars.

    (4)

  • Robert M.

    My girl friend and I had the Red Bull Roll. It was excellent! The service was great and the place is very clean. I highly recommend this place.

    (5)

  • Justin K.

    I went there on Saturday Night. I was impressed with decoration. After reading some of the reviews, I honest did had a little bit of hesitation. Oh... My... It was a sheer pleasure overall. I ordered Zakuro Spaghetti along with a red bull roll. AWESOME!!! Service was super friendly and my food was served in time. It's a very promising spot (I was told that they were opened for 2 month) I will be back for sure and I'm going to come back with my wife as she is a huge sushi fan.

    (5)

  • S G.

    Seriously one of the BEST, BEST, BEST sushi restaurants I have ever been to! I'm from a beach town, and like to think of myself as a sushi connoisseur! We stopped here on a whim, and left with full tummies and a big smile. Every one of their rolls was done to perfection. The complexity of flavor pairings and very creative presentations. If you are ever in the area- check this place out. Nice open floor plan, very clean and modern. A great experience, we will be back for sure!!

    (5)

  • Samantha D.

    I have been here a few times since it opened. I like it a lot because it is similar to Yanagi in the way that every thing is presented, and they have similar items on the menu but it is a bit cheaper. The service was great and they have happy hour specials.

    (4)

  • Paul B.

    This was our second visit to Zakuro. My last review was 4 stars. This time I am giving them 5 stars. The Zakuro, Crunch Master, and Bumble Bee rolls were very good. Less sauce then before and very fresh. A clean restaurant with a very friendly staff. We will be back!

    (5)

  • Sharona K.

    LOVED the service and food here! You've got to try their namesake sushi roll which has lobster....yummmmmm. I have also had their Saba (grilled mackerel) and tempura which was crispy and fresh. Both were excellent. Our children were well accommodated and the hostess even took time to come by to play with our infant son. The cleanliness is "tops" as well. Looking forward to many more visits :)

    (5)

  • Binh H.

    Had the red bull roll. Very tasty. Portions are a little small so we were still hungry after and went to the McDonald's nearby for some fries. The .99 cent sake deal is awesome though if you just want to share a little drunk with friends.

    (4)

  • Marie P.

    I'm sorry to hear that not everyone has had a good experience at Zakuro because I do like this place a lot. I come here almost weekly. The servers are all very friendly - shout out to Henry, Jun, Ellen, Chris, Sedric, and Joey! I usually always order rolls. My faves are: Ocean's 12, Fantastic 4, Bumble Bee, King Kong, and 49ers. I've ordered other menu items before that didn't really blow me away. But the rolls are pretty dang good and are $2 off during happy hour.

    (4)

  • Taylor J.

    Ordered the Super Rainbow roll, King Kong Roll, and Yosenabe noodles. Total came out to about $43, before tip. Pros: 1. Seated quickly 2. Attentive waitstaff 3. They had a few items on the menu that other restaurants usually don't offer, like Yosenabe and Hamachi Kama 4. The Yosenabe came with a hefty portion of seafood. Cons: 1. Expensive 2. Food was subpar: The Super Rainbow roll was tiny! They nuked the shrimp tempura in the King Kong roll, to the point where it was like (to quote my boyfriend), "eating sand." And the Yosenabe noodles were absolutely tasteless; the ponzu sauce didn't help, just made everything taste like soy sauce. With all the tastier, but cheaper sushi places in the Pleasanton/Dublin area, Zakuro's at the bottom of my list.

    (2)

  • Jennifer B.

    I think they have the best sushi I've ever had. Their tempura was steaming hot and really tasty. Their Prime sushi roll and sake bomb roll were divine. They have awesome happy hour specials. Great service. Will definitely be back!

    (5)

  • Peter L.

    love the lunch specials here. 2 sushi rolls for $10. what a deal. have come here almost every week since they open. this place used to be iPho, they took over and open for about a month now. the bento special is also pretty good deal. i think i will try the nabeyaki udon next. my co-worker try it and it look pretty good as it comes with a side of tempura to boot.

    (5)

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Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :11:00 am - 9:00pm

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : Yes
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : Yes
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Dinner
    Parking : Private Lot
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
    Good for Kids : Yes
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
    Outdoor Seating : No
    Wi-Fi : No
    Has TV : Yes
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : Yes

Zakuro Japanese Bistro & Sushi Bar

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