Social Profile: 
✔️Dinner ✔️Dine in
… View more
Roppongi Restaurant and Lounge, located in the heart of La Jolla, offers a refined dining experience where culinary artistry meets timeless style. A revival of one of San Diego’s most iconic restaurants, Roppongi returns with the original owner and chef, bringing back the beloved menu favorites alongside bold new additions. The space features a sophisticated, artful design that blends modern elegance with subtle cultural influences. Guests can enjoy Happy Hour on the patio or at the bar from 3–5:30 PM and dinner from 5–9 PM, featuring an extensive wine list, craft cocktails, and premium sake. Roppongi invites guests to linger, sip, and savor the return of a La Jolla legend.
Unique Asian fusion dishes & sushi with revered happy hours & buzzy patio seating around a fire pit.
Hours
| Friday | 3–10 PM |
| Saturday | 3–10 PM |
| Sunday | 3–9 PM |
| Monday | 3–9 PM |
| Tuesday | 3–9 PM |
| Wednesday | 3–9 PM |
| Thursday | 3–9 PM |
Address and Contact Information
Address: 875 Prospect St Ste 102, La Jolla, CA 92037
Phone: (858) 551-5252
Website: https://roppongiusa.net/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
Reservations: opentable.com
Related Web Results
Roppongi Restaurant and Lounge – San Diego, CA | OpenTable
Roppongi Restaurant and Lounge in La Jolla delights diners with its “incredible” ambience and “excellent” service. Guests rave about the “delicious” menu …
Roppongi Restaurant & Lounge | La Jolla by the Sea
Roppongi Restaurant & Lounge welcomes you back into a breathtakingly redesigned space where art and architecture meet culinary excellence.
After 10 Years, Asian-Fusion Spot Roppongi Reopens in La Jolla
But Roppongi Restaurant & Lounge was his shining star, the ambitious project inspired by his travels to Roppongi, Japan.
Reviews
Kimberly Patton
I wanted to enjoy my dinner here, but unfortunately there were too many misses to make it an enjoyable experience.
The food: We asked our waiter for recommendations and based on those recs we ordered the crab stack, chicken wings, pork belly drunken noodles, and the crying tiger steak. The crab in the crab stack did not taste fresh, everyone that tried it felt that it had a fishy flavor. The chicken wings were ok, but lacking flavor. The pork belly drunken noodles were disappointing because the noodles themselves were really hard and the pork did not taste like belly, more like pulled pork. The crying tiger steak was probably the best dish. Others in our party also tried the short ribs and one of the sushi rolls and they said they weren’t very good.
The service: While friendly, there were some issues. We requested 2 orders of the steak and the waiter only put in one. When I asked what the cut of meat was, he didn’t know. We also requested no cilantro on any of our dishes and still received them with cilantro.
I think if you are used to eating tasty, authentic Asian food – then you will be disappointed by this restaurant. Especially for the price point, I expected more delicious and fresh food, but unfortunately that was not the case. My suggestion is to skip this restaurant.
… moreThe food: We asked our waiter for recommendations and based on those recs we ordered the crab stack, chicken wings, pork belly drunken noodles, and the crying tiger steak. The crab in the crab stack did not taste fresh, everyone that tried it felt that it had a fishy flavor. The chicken wings were ok, but lacking flavor. The pork belly drunken noodles were disappointing because the noodles themselves were really hard and the pork did not taste like belly, more like pulled pork. The crying tiger steak was probably the best dish. Others in our party also tried the short ribs and one of the sushi rolls and they said they weren’t very good.
The service: While friendly, there were some issues. We requested 2 orders of the steak and the waiter only put in one. When I asked what the cut of meat was, he didn’t know. We also requested no cilantro on any of our dishes and still received them with cilantro.
I think if you are used to eating tasty, authentic Asian food – then you will be disappointed by this restaurant. Especially for the price point, I expected more delicious and fresh food, but unfortunately that was not the case. My suggestion is to skip this restaurant.
Sue Duong
02/14/2026
We came here to celebrate our 33rd anniversary. Completely enjoyed our experience!
Ordered:
All dishes we ordered were 50% off during Happy Hour (daily 2-5 pm)
-Crab Stack $17- refreshing veggies, perfectly toasted toast and yummy crab
-Japanese Hot Rock $17- tender delicious
-Dynamite Shrimp $8- jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab. Must order!
-Buttermilk Onion Rings $6- Wasabi sauce that came with it gives you a good kick lol
-Edamame $3.75- a bit salty
Drinks:
-Tsingtao $6.50 HH
We enjoyed Aliyah as our server: pleasant, sweet and attentive
… moreWe came here to celebrate our 33rd anniversary. Completely enjoyed our experience!
Ordered:
All dishes we ordered were 50% off during Happy Hour (daily 2-5 pm)
-Crab Stack $17- refreshing veggies, perfectly toasted toast and yummy crab
-Japanese Hot Rock $17- tender delicious
-Dynamite Shrimp $8- jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab. Must order!
-Buttermilk Onion Rings $6- Wasabi sauce that came with it gives you a good kick lol
-Edamame $3.75- a bit salty
Drinks:
-Tsingtao $6.50 HH
We enjoyed Aliyah as our server: pleasant, sweet and attentive
Ngọc Châu Nguyễn Đăng
We sincerely wish Roppongi all the best. It used to be our favorite restaurant in La Jolla, and we were very excited when it reopened. The décor is elegant and cozy. However, both the management and the food need immediate improvement for the restaurant to survive.
The fried onions and their sauce are not as good as before. The food was not served hot, and the Japanese beef was chewy, cold, and undercooked. It felt as though a large batch may have been prepared in advance, or the heat was not high enough during cooking.
We are ready to support Roppongi’s comeback. Perhaps offering fewer menu items and focusing on doing them well would help.
… moreThe fried onions and their sauce are not as good as before. The food was not served hot, and the Japanese beef was chewy, cold, and undercooked. It felt as though a large batch may have been prepared in advance, or the heat was not high enough during cooking.
We are ready to support Roppongi’s comeback. Perhaps offering fewer menu items and focusing on doing them well would help.
Eric Otterson
TLDR: 1) Totally understaffed, poor management, burned 40 minutes before ordering; 2) Unsafe for Celiacs, BEWARE “GF” listing is flat wrong 3) $25 for the famous Sunday? Say it isn’t so!!
Details: We made a reservation for 8, three weeks in advance (plenty of time to plan with staffing OR, to limit reservations to match kitchen/staffing levels)
1) 7PM reservation on a Saturday, super excited to revisit the glory of Sammy Ladeki, who graced us with Sammy’s pizza (remember the salads?) and Roppongi I… great successes. Were our goals set too high?
We were seated promptly (by 7:10ish) and the waitress (reserving her name as she was pleasant but completely oversubscribed) set us up with mineral water and chill pails for our champagne. We were on a good path…
7:50: However, I assume due to overcommitment, we didn’t get our drink orders in until a full 40 minutes later! What?
A very odd night with regards to timing. Once ordered, drinks came in an acceptable amount of time, but on the food side it was a little bit of a jam session, as in “jam it in”…it basically came in a tidal wave for the first bunch, with my main course coming with our tapas course (you can’t set courses, the menu clearly states “Food is served when ready”…to which I respond – FIX your throughput processes to meet customer satisfaction! Even PF Chang can do that!?!!). The waitress informed us that the sushi was backed up (acceptable and appreciated communication).
Sadly, the ‘off’ nature of the evening had us wanting to leave as soon as possible… but we didn’t get out until 10pm.
It makes you wonder; the ‘served when ready’ suggests a policy for a popular restaurant that needs to push throughput (1:30 time at table) to get at least two to three turns of a table in a night. We witnessed and experienced absurdity. No service followed by an avalanche of food and then slow process for dessert and check. Whew.
2) There were only six ‘GF’ listed items on the menu excluding the soups and salads:
1) Edamame – meh!
2) Shishito peppers – meh!
3) Hot & Spicy Cucumber – WARNING! Is the rice vinegar free from malt?
4) Dynamite shrimp – bravo!
5) Jidori Chicken – they were out of it by 8:10PM, when we ordered.
6) Boneless Beef Short Rip – WARNING: see photo for deep fried (cross contaminated) “potato pancakes. Celiac violation, no-go.
7) [Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi is shown online but is NOT on the menu]
Sadly, the menu is poorly labeled, two items are NOT GF, two were NOT available, two lack protein, leaving you with shrimp.
We didn’t realize the error on the menu until we received the Short Rib order, which was clearly cross-contaminated (See photo).
3) prices are expensive everywhere….the $25 Sunday is a bummer (for price), but I can appreciate that they have to compensate as it is so large, many may share it (leading to lower overall table spend).
Result? While we were grateful to our server’s demeanor, she was not empowered to serve us well both from a timeliness and a food experience.
Sammy, I have great respect for you, and hope that your success is supported by better staffing and corrections to your menu (or ingredients: Tamari? Or See our friends at Queenstown, who have a separate, GF fryer…) to support the celiac foodies (many of whom were not diagnosed when you started your restaurant empire!)
Peace.
… moreDetails: We made a reservation for 8, three weeks in advance (plenty of time to plan with staffing OR, to limit reservations to match kitchen/staffing levels)
1) 7PM reservation on a Saturday, super excited to revisit the glory of Sammy Ladeki, who graced us with Sammy’s pizza (remember the salads?) and Roppongi I… great successes. Were our goals set too high?
We were seated promptly (by 7:10ish) and the waitress (reserving her name as she was pleasant but completely oversubscribed) set us up with mineral water and chill pails for our champagne. We were on a good path…
7:50: However, I assume due to overcommitment, we didn’t get our drink orders in until a full 40 minutes later! What?
A very odd night with regards to timing. Once ordered, drinks came in an acceptable amount of time, but on the food side it was a little bit of a jam session, as in “jam it in”…it basically came in a tidal wave for the first bunch, with my main course coming with our tapas course (you can’t set courses, the menu clearly states “Food is served when ready”…to which I respond – FIX your throughput processes to meet customer satisfaction! Even PF Chang can do that!?!!). The waitress informed us that the sushi was backed up (acceptable and appreciated communication).
Sadly, the ‘off’ nature of the evening had us wanting to leave as soon as possible… but we didn’t get out until 10pm.
It makes you wonder; the ‘served when ready’ suggests a policy for a popular restaurant that needs to push throughput (1:30 time at table) to get at least two to three turns of a table in a night. We witnessed and experienced absurdity. No service followed by an avalanche of food and then slow process for dessert and check. Whew.
2) There were only six ‘GF’ listed items on the menu excluding the soups and salads:
1) Edamame – meh!
2) Shishito peppers – meh!
3) Hot & Spicy Cucumber – WARNING! Is the rice vinegar free from malt?
4) Dynamite shrimp – bravo!
5) Jidori Chicken – they were out of it by 8:10PM, when we ordered.
6) Boneless Beef Short Rip – WARNING: see photo for deep fried (cross contaminated) “potato pancakes. Celiac violation, no-go.
7) [Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi is shown online but is NOT on the menu]
Sadly, the menu is poorly labeled, two items are NOT GF, two were NOT available, two lack protein, leaving you with shrimp.
We didn’t realize the error on the menu until we received the Short Rib order, which was clearly cross-contaminated (See photo).
3) prices are expensive everywhere….the $25 Sunday is a bummer (for price), but I can appreciate that they have to compensate as it is so large, many may share it (leading to lower overall table spend).
Result? While we were grateful to our server’s demeanor, she was not empowered to serve us well both from a timeliness and a food experience.
Sammy, I have great respect for you, and hope that your success is supported by better staffing and corrections to your menu (or ingredients: Tamari? Or See our friends at Queenstown, who have a separate, GF fryer…) to support the celiac foodies (many of whom were not diagnosed when you started your restaurant empire!)
Peace.
Paige Boyd
Food was mediocre at best. Service poor. Nice decor. Prices high. The crab stack was salty, steak & lobster roll had no taste, offered no tamari/gluten free soy sauce, lamb chop tapas good. The service was poor. Hostess barely acknowledged us and seemed bothered when approached. The waiter was focused and challenged on entering our order, didn’t listen well, didn’t clear plates timely, hurried us to leave, didn’t offer dessert for birthday dinner. The prices high. Asked us to pay bill without showing receipt. Asked for receipt so we knew what we were paying for. It was over $265 including tip for 1 cocktail, 1 glass of wine, $50 corkage, 2 tapas and one sushi roll. Payment system automatically showed 22% tip, didn’t even want to pay 20%. They were vacuuming the restaurant as we were leaving. We were not the last to leave but seemed as though the staff wanted to leave. Bummed as we loved Roppongi back in the day. Won’t be back.
… moreBarbara Sheridan
Was thrilled to have Roppongi back in La Jolla. Went in for Happy Hour to try it out and as the other reviewer wrote, we wanted to sit at the bar and have some food. No food served at the bar. We took a table outside in the patio. Server Jimena was very nice and attentive. We ordered 2 cocktails. My Black Manhattan came without a cherry. I mentioned it to the owner and then asked a waiter to please get me a cherry, which he quickly took care of for me. Cocktail was nice. Crab stack as great as I remembered it from years ago, satay was tough, pork spring rolls were delicious and the beef skewers were too chewy to eat. The potato chips that came with it were delightful. Will give it another try and order some different Asian tapas. Happy to have Sammy back at Roppongi La Jolla!
… moreJanet Shanks
I used to go to Rappongi regularly for happy hour before they closed. I recently returned after the reopening. The service was good, and the atmosphere was friendly and pleasant. Prices have increased significantly, but that seems to be the case at many restaurants.
My favorite tapas has always been the crab stack, so we ordered two along with several other tapas. Unfortunately, the crab stack was extremely salty and difficult to eat, which was disappointing. I hope this was just an off night and not a regular issue. I plan to give Rappongi another try and hope the crab stack returns to how it used to be.
… moreMy favorite tapas has always been the crab stack, so we ordered two along with several other tapas. Unfortunately, the crab stack was extremely salty and difficult to eat, which was disappointing. I hope this was just an off night and not a regular issue. I plan to give Rappongi another try and hope the crab stack returns to how it used to be.
Leslie Bridges
Wonderful, delicious trendy asian fusion restaurant is back! We had a cozy table along the walk for a girls bday gathering. Food is still delicious. Cocktails were fun, flavorful and enjoyed. Shrimp Pad Thai was really good and fresh and hot! Sushi rolls were enjoyed by all and perfect. I was a happy vibe on a Monday night! Full and energetic but you could still talk. Pretty holiday decor and the same awesome fireplace table! Thank you to everyone working so hard to make these first few weeks memorable.
… moreBruce Kornfeld
First weekend opened. Very low score. Will adjust after another try. Went early on Sunday so only menu was Tapas/Happy Hour. Very expensive – even for La Jolla. 8 small plate dishes, $215 before tip (would have been $430 without the 50% off happy hour pricing). (We were 3 people and left hungry).
Kung pao calamari and Vietnamese shrimp lettuce wraps were our favorites.
Some dishes were way over salted – couldn’t even eat one of them.
Servers were not very experienced or well trained. For a 20% tip – we’d expect better.
We live in the area so we’ll give it a few months and go back to try the full dinner menu. (And bring a stack of $100 bills : )
… moreKung pao calamari and Vietnamese shrimp lettuce wraps were our favorites.
Some dishes were way over salted – couldn’t even eat one of them.
Servers were not very experienced or well trained. For a 20% tip – we’d expect better.
We live in the area so we’ll give it a few months and go back to try the full dinner menu. (And bring a stack of $100 bills : )
Josiah Vivona
Really wanted to like this place, walking in the decor was great and service was friendly.
Food was a little over priced for the quality of what was served. What really killed it was our lamb chops came out practically raw. I ate my piece and it was cold raw meat in the center, my wife was very turned off after taking her first bite. Waiter acknowledged that it was very under cooked. But then came back and said since too much was eaten that there was nothing they could do. I still believe this was on the kitchen and then bad customer service on top. We ended our meal on that sour note. We will not be coming back. There are many other great places to eat in the village.
… moreFood was a little over priced for the quality of what was served. What really killed it was our lamb chops came out practically raw. I ate my piece and it was cold raw meat in the center, my wife was very turned off after taking her first bite. Waiter acknowledged that it was very under cooked. But then came back and said since too much was eaten that there was nothing they could do. I still believe this was on the kitchen and then bad customer service on top. We ended our meal on that sour note. We will not be coming back. There are many other great places to eat in the village.