Sushi in Palo Alto

Palo Alto has more places to eat sushi than most cities its size. A family sushi house has served the same shopping center since 1988. Two former Nobu chefs run a sushi bar on California Avenue. Nobu itself has a dining room downtown. There are tatami rooms on El Camino Real, hand rolls at the mall, vegan nigiri on Emerson Street and sushi wrapped like a burrito on University Avenue.

This page sorts them by format, since the right sushi spot depends on the occasion. Our Japanese food guide covers the broader cuisine and our ramen guide covers noodle soup. Every place below was confirmed through its own website or a verified page in our business directory in October 2026.

Choosing a format

Sushi bars and sit-down restaurants

Jin Sho, California Avenue

Jin Sho is a family-owned restaurant founded by Noriomi Kaneko and Ichiro Takahashi, two former Nobu executive chefs. The menu is organized the way a sushi bar thinks, with fish grouped by family and a list of the day's recommendations. Omakase, cooked kitchen dishes, udon and soba fill out the rest. Sake and shochu are the drinks to try. Jin Sho takes reservations by phone during business hours only and closes on Sunday and Monday.

Fuki Sushi, El Camino Real

Fuki Sushi is a full-service Japanese restaurant in south Palo Alto with several distinct dining spaces. Diners can sit at the sushi bar, in a skylit sun room, in a western-style main room or in private tatami rooms that hold groups from about 4 to 20. It also runs catering and sushi-making workshops. The restaurant says reservations are highly recommended, by phone, text or online.

Sushi House, Town & Country Village

Sushi House opened in 1988. It is family-owned and was founded by Kenji Ueki and Masahiro Nagamine. Nigiri, sashimi, maki and lettered combination plates sit next to chirashi and other donburi bowls, udon, soba, teriyaki and tonkatsu. That mix makes it the easiest choice when not everyone at the table eats raw fish. It sits across El Camino Real from Stanford. See our Town & Country guide for the rest of the center.

Big names: Nobu and Sushi Roku

Two restaurant brands with national reputations have Palo Alto dining rooms.

• Nobu Palo Alto is the restaurant inside the Nobu Hotel at 180 Hamilton Avenue. The hotel describes it as serving chef Nobu Matsuhisa's signature dishes along with local specialties. It suits a celebration or a client dinner downtown. Book through the Nobu Hotel Palo Alto site.
• Sushi Roku at Stanford Shopping Center serves a contemporary menu that runs from a sushi bar list and chef's combinations to signature rolls and cooked dishes. Its Palo Alto page lists a happy hour. Being in the mall makes it convenient for a shopping day.

Sushi without fish: Tane

Tane Vegan Izakaya on Emerson Street is fully plant-based. Nigiri come two pieces to an order and use enoki, eggplant, gobo, inari, shiitake, okra, mango and tomato in place of fish. Rolls are made with gluten-free flour, although some other dishes contain gluten. Co-founder and chef Kin Lui earlier helped open the San Francisco sushi restaurants Tataki and Shizen. Tane serves dinner only and is closed Mondays. Our vegetarian and vegan guide lists more meat-free options.

Quick sushi and hand rolls

Go Fish Poke Bar, Stanford Shopping Center

Go Fish is a counter led by co-founder Jerome Ito, who trained under sushi master Andy Matsuda and later ran a sushi bar at Google. Half the menu is poke bowls. The other half is temaki, hand rolls wrapped to order, which should be eaten right away while the seaweed is still crisp.

Sushirrito, University Avenue

Sushirrito has wrapped sushi into burrito-size rolls on University Avenue since 2015. The fillings mix Japanese ingredients with Latin flavors. Bentos, hand rolls and a vegan roll are also on the menu.

Genji Sushi at Whole Foods

The Whole Foods Market on Emerson Street has a Genji Sushi counter that rolls sushi in the store with seafood the company says is sustainably sourced. It is the simplest grab-and-go option downtown.

Yutori market, El Camino Real

Yutori is a Japanese cafe and market by day and a restaurant at night. Its konbini sells bentos, sandos, onigiri and sushi made by hand in small batches each morning. Go early for the widest choice.

Pacific Catch and Taro San

Two Stanford Shopping Center restaurants put sushi rolls on a wider menu. Pacific Catch is a West Coast fish house with poke, bowls and rolls. It says it serves no seafood rated Red by Seafood Watch, with lobster as the one exception. Taro San is an udon bar that also lists sushi and donburi.

How to order at a sushi bar

1. Sit at the bar if you can. You can ask the chef what is good that day and order a few pieces at a time.
2. Start light. White fish and shellfish first, then richer fish such as salmon and fatty tuna, then rolls.
3. Go easy on soy sauce. Dip the fish side, not the rice, so the rice does not fall apart.
4. Use your hands for nigiri. It is traditional and perfectly polite. Chopsticks are fine too.
5. Eat ginger between pieces. Pickled ginger cleans the palate. It is not a topping.
6. Tell the chef about allergies before omakase. The chef plans the sequence and cannot easily change it halfway through.

Fish, sourcing and safety

Most sushi fish reaches restaurants through seafood wholesalers. Some is flown in from Japan. A few Palo Alto places make sourcing part of their pitch. Pacific Catch follows Seafood Watch guidance and Whole Foods says its Genji counter uses sustainably sourced seafood. If sustainability matters to you, ask what is local that day. California halibut, rock cod and Dungeness crab in season are common local catches. Our seafood guide covers restaurants that focus on fish.

Every sushi menu carries a warning about raw and undercooked food. Children, pregnant diners and anyone with a weakened immune system can order cooked rolls, tempura, teriyaki or noodles at most of the places above. Sushi House and Fuki Sushi both list plenty of cooked dishes.

Matching the place to the plan

• Business dinner. Fuki Sushi's tatami rooms or Nobu Palo Alto downtown.
• Date night. Two seats at the bar at Jin Sho.
• Family with picky eaters. Sushi House, where teriyaki and noodles share the menu.
• Mixed group with vegans. Tane, where every dish is plant-based.
• Lunch at your desk. Genji Sushi at Whole Foods or a Sushirrito roll.
• Shopping day. Sushi Roku, Go Fish or Pacific Catch at Stanford Shopping Center.

Frequently asked questions