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Japanese gastropub with an easygoing contemporary vibe serving grilled yakitori meats & sake.
Hours
| Friday | 4–9 PM |
| Saturday | 4–9 PM |
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday | 4–9 PM |
| Tuesday | 4–9 PM |
| Wednesday | 4–9 PM |
| Thursday | 4–9 PM |
Address and Contact Information
Address: 301 E 4th Ave E, San Mateo, CA 94401
Phone: (650) 348-1110
Website: https://izakayaginji.com/
Menu Photos
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Izakaya Ginji
“Awesome food, great service. Little gem at the heart of San Mateo. This small restaurant is…” …
Izakaya Ginji Restaurant – San Mateo, CA – OpenTable
Izakaya Ginji, located in downtown San Mateo, is a Japanese gastropub specializing in Yakitori and tapas style dishes.
Izakaya Ginji (@izakaya_ginji) · San Mateo, CA – Instagram
Photo by Izakaya Ginji in Izakaya Ginji. May be an image of roe, sushi. #izakayaginji #sanmateo #chawanmushi.
Reviews
Kat
Friendly and attentive service! The atmosphere is cozy and has a sense of place, with Japanese art decorating the walls and food served in Japanese pottery. The food came out quickly and tasted fresh.
Detailed food notes below:
I ordered skewers with shishito peppers, petite tomatoes, and shiitake mushrooms, all with salt. I wish they had seafood options (e.g. salmon or scallops) and more vegetables.
* The tomatoes were juicy and flavorful. There were 4 grape tomatoes per skewer.
* The shiitake mushrooms tasted a little dry, and I wish I had ordered them with tare instead of salted. There were 2 mushrooms cut in half (4 halves total) per skewer.
* The shishito peppers were solid but didn’t stand out.
* My partner ordered the chicken thigh with tare and said it was the best he had ever had. I even gave them some of my rice so that they could scoop up the last bits of sauce/chicken grease. Truly outstanding!
Kakiage tamago don – rice bowl with scrambled eggs and vegetable tempura
* This rice bowl was delightfully filling although I wish it had more non-rice items. The rice filled perhaps 80% of the bowl, was covered with a modest layer of scrambled eggs, and topped with two pieces of vegetable tempura. It also came with a bowl of miso soup.
* The vegetable tempura was the highlight of this dish – it was lightly fried and delicately greasy. Each piece was quite large – perhaps 3 inches in diameter and contained onions and other veggies I couldn’t identify. I wish I could have eaten more than 2 pieces. I’m still thinking about that tempura a day later.
* The scrambled eggs were enjoyable but had too many scallion pieces for my taste. The scallions overwhelmed the eggy flavor.
* The miso soup was solid but didn’t stand out.
Overall, the food was enjoyable and the service made us feel well cared for. The prices are steeper, but I suppose this is downtown San Mateo in 2026. If they offered more seafood and vegetable skewer options, I’d be more likely to return!
… moreDetailed food notes below:
I ordered skewers with shishito peppers, petite tomatoes, and shiitake mushrooms, all with salt. I wish they had seafood options (e.g. salmon or scallops) and more vegetables.
* The tomatoes were juicy and flavorful. There were 4 grape tomatoes per skewer.
* The shiitake mushrooms tasted a little dry, and I wish I had ordered them with tare instead of salted. There were 2 mushrooms cut in half (4 halves total) per skewer.
* The shishito peppers were solid but didn’t stand out.
* My partner ordered the chicken thigh with tare and said it was the best he had ever had. I even gave them some of my rice so that they could scoop up the last bits of sauce/chicken grease. Truly outstanding!
Kakiage tamago don – rice bowl with scrambled eggs and vegetable tempura
* This rice bowl was delightfully filling although I wish it had more non-rice items. The rice filled perhaps 80% of the bowl, was covered with a modest layer of scrambled eggs, and topped with two pieces of vegetable tempura. It also came with a bowl of miso soup.
* The vegetable tempura was the highlight of this dish – it was lightly fried and delicately greasy. Each piece was quite large – perhaps 3 inches in diameter and contained onions and other veggies I couldn’t identify. I wish I could have eaten more than 2 pieces. I’m still thinking about that tempura a day later.
* The scrambled eggs were enjoyable but had too many scallion pieces for my taste. The scallions overwhelmed the eggy flavor.
* The miso soup was solid but didn’t stand out.
Overall, the food was enjoyable and the service made us feel well cared for. The prices are steeper, but I suppose this is downtown San Mateo in 2026. If they offered more seafood and vegetable skewer options, I’d be more likely to return!
Sir Kumamon
It is a nice izakaya food place. The staff there are very kind and attentive. We were able to get a table and order easily. Came during happy hour so wasn’t too busy either. The ordering was quite quick as you can order the happy hour dishes through the online menu. The skewers you order through the paper. Once we ordered the food came quickly. The skewers were pretty tasty. I liked the chicken skewers and the sausage skewer. We also tried the carbonara udon, and it was nice. The curry fries though, it was really tasty. Almost taste like a poutine. Overall a lot of yummy stuff.
… moreEugenie Ooi
Skewers were juicy, well seasoned and overall yummy. The beef finger and lamb were my favorites.
We ordered a lot of the tapa plates and enjoyed most of them, the pork cheeks were very crispy and reminiscent of chicharrones, the karaage chicken comes in very large chunks, and the eggplant(miso nasu dengaku) was nice and saucy.
I enjoy pork belly but the buta bara miso glaze was okay. I wish it was more tender.
The ika maruyaki or grilled squid is a go to for me, as well as the ankimo. The fried hotate or scallops were nice and crispy with yummy slightly chewy scallops inside.
The chuhais were fruity and very easy to drink.
… moreWe ordered a lot of the tapa plates and enjoyed most of them, the pork cheeks were very crispy and reminiscent of chicharrones, the karaage chicken comes in very large chunks, and the eggplant(miso nasu dengaku) was nice and saucy.
I enjoy pork belly but the buta bara miso glaze was okay. I wish it was more tender.
The ika maruyaki or grilled squid is a go to for me, as well as the ankimo. The fried hotate or scallops were nice and crispy with yummy slightly chewy scallops inside.
The chuhais were fruity and very easy to drink.
Steven Calhoun
Went out with some coworkers while visiting the area and was blown away with the food. We wended up ordering a lot of dishes which all had their own amazing flavors. My favorite was the Ebbi Chile, but the chicken karaage was a close second. Very cheap beer plus mouth watering food made for a very memorable outing. Friendly staff as well! Thanks y’all!
… moreS Duan
I really enjoyed the udon and the skewers!
The udon is very basic but very flavorful, the seaweed taste very good!
The beef skewer is a must try! The meat is so juicy and perfectly done. I also love the chicken thigh and the scallop. Just simple salt seasoning but very flavorful! The staffs were very helpful and kind. I am 100% coming back again.
March-2024
I tried the miso katsu chicken! Very crispy on the outside and very tender chicken with flavorful sauce! I will try this again.
April-2024
Beef tongue: must try!
May-2024
Beef tongue and miso curry chicken katsu
June-2024
Beef finger, sushi and shrimp!
July-2024
Beef udon and oyster and lunch special beef bowel!
Kaisen don and beef udon!
… moreThe udon is very basic but very flavorful, the seaweed taste very good!
The beef skewer is a must try! The meat is so juicy and perfectly done. I also love the chicken thigh and the scallop. Just simple salt seasoning but very flavorful! The staffs were very helpful and kind. I am 100% coming back again.
March-2024
I tried the miso katsu chicken! Very crispy on the outside and very tender chicken with flavorful sauce! I will try this again.
April-2024
Beef tongue: must try!
May-2024
Beef tongue and miso curry chicken katsu
June-2024
Beef finger, sushi and shrimp!
July-2024
Beef udon and oyster and lunch special beef bowel!
Kaisen don and beef udon!
Urvashi B
Reserved a table here for our first visit. Ordered a combination of yakitori, udon and tempura along with beer. Food was quite underwhelming but service was good . The yakitori was almost too charred and I have had far better ones. The grilled shishito pepper were some of the driest vegetable yakitoris I have had. The tamago udon was better than yakitori but on the saltier side. The renkon/lotus chips were tasteless and the ebi/shrimp tempura was not truly Japanese style and had too much thick batter. They have a huge menu, so I am not sure if we ended up ordering the weaker items. i felt it was too pricey for the quality of the food but then this is the bay area. If I am in the area I may give them a second try but would definitely avoid their yakitori or tempura items.
… moreDaniel Xue
Popular Japanese Izakaya with a variety of yakitori skewer options.
This place is always crowded so advanced bookings are recommended. Food is of good quality and a bit high price. Expect $75 pp if ordering mainly skewers.
… moreThis place is always crowded so advanced bookings are recommended. Food is of good quality and a bit high price. Expect $75 pp if ordering mainly skewers.
Wei-Ai Tai
Tasty meat skewers grilled over a charcoal fire, along with a decent selection of beer and sake. Some skewers can sell out quickly, though. Service was subpar, starting with the check-in process that was very disorganized. Tables are small so the plates will fill up quickly if you order too much food.
… moreJudy Margaret Chen
One of the best place to get Japanese food. The restaurant’s inside is decorated in Japanese style culture. It’s very nice, and we instantly fell in love with the decor.
The place is always busy, so sometimes the order is a little slow but they always try their beat to attend to the customers. One other things I like about this place is the effort they put in to serve the little customers. See that cute little tiger plate? My baby likes it very much.
The yakitori, or skewers, is very tasty, and they have 2 different flavors for you to try. During peak hours, the yakitori might be served a little slow due to high demands of orders. Besides that, the udon also is good, but the don is just so so, but it’s not bad. The desserts are yummy, but it’s too sweet to my liking.
… moreThe place is always busy, so sometimes the order is a little slow but they always try their beat to attend to the customers. One other things I like about this place is the effort they put in to serve the little customers. See that cute little tiger plate? My baby likes it very much.
The yakitori, or skewers, is very tasty, and they have 2 different flavors for you to try. During peak hours, the yakitori might be served a little slow due to high demands of orders. Besides that, the udon also is good, but the don is just so so, but it’s not bad. The desserts are yummy, but it’s too sweet to my liking.
Melinda Ng
Loved the vibes of this place and that you can see the lead chef grilling up the yakitori right up at the front. We came on a week night right at dinner time and it was quite busy but got lucky with a seat right away. The waitress was very nice and helped to explain how the menu works.
We tried a variety of yakitori, meat and veggie, and a couple items from the full menu. The yakitori was very good, melt in your mouth level and with nice flavoring. It did skew on the smaller size for its price, it only comes with 1 skewer per order. I’m glad we also tried some of the other non-yakitori offerings as well and highly recommend doing so for more variety of food.
… moreWe tried a variety of yakitori, meat and veggie, and a couple items from the full menu. The yakitori was very good, melt in your mouth level and with nice flavoring. It did skew on the smaller size for its price, it only comes with 1 skewer per order. I’m glad we also tried some of the other non-yakitori offerings as well and highly recommend doing so for more variety of food.