Outdoor dining space is really nice so the ambiance was great, all the food and sake was also really good, and it was a very COVID-friendly experience.

As best we could do with outdoor dining.
We felt safe and warm

Pabu Izakaya served some of the best sushi and nigiri that I have ever had. If you are a foodie, the Omakase was absolutely delectable. The sake pairing with the meal was equally extraordinary. The price tag is hefty, but you will not leave dissatisfied.

I understand that we are in a pandemic and outdoor dining is not the same as it once was with indoor dining. However, at these price points, there is an expectation of a higher level of service and working heating lamps. They were completely short staffed. I am disappointed by my experience. The manager working the front of the house was the saving grace for this experience.

Great first visit! In the COVID outdoor dining reality, Pabu did a fantastic job. Comfortable outdoor seating with plenty of heaters. Food and service were outstanding.

Overpriced for what it’s worth. Spend $300 on Omakasa dinner for 2. Waiter didn’t even bring us a spoon for the appetizer. Was not well prepared. Food was OK. Rib was way over cooked.

Pabu has done a great job accommodating guests through the pandemic and winter weather. The tent and heaters worked well in the rain showers during our visit. The food and beverages were AMAZING as usual!!

we love Pabu- the fatty tuna medium and extra is devine. We feel so welcome at Pabu and the outdoor ambience is worth paying extra for. Cant wait to return.

Outstanding customer service and delicious food

Delicious!! Definitely will return one day.

Food was great and the outdoor seating space was great as well. Tables spaced out and the space heaters worked well so being outside was no issue. Really pleasant experience and would definitely go back.

Great weather to be seated outdoor. Heat lamps really helped. Service was awesome.

We love this restaurant the fatty tuna was memorable as was the uni but its the service and ambience that make it worth the money- it is expensive. but we have eaten there quite a few times and the quality is consistent-

Gabriel our server was fantastic. We can't wait to go back and sit in his section again.

The food was delicious, the service was absolutely wonderful! Just a great experience all around. It was so nice to get out and safely have a date night.

This was our second visit here for dinner during the pandemic. Food and service is consistently AWESOME. The heating lamps were working so well, we all had our jackets off soon after being seated. Tables were well-spaced, and staff always had their masks on-- felt very safe. Can't wait to come back again soon!

This is great sushi! Good portions and prices which I love. The atmosphere is awesome so be sure to reserve a good table indoors.

Love the heaters, gorg atmosphere, delish food.

It reminded me of why we never go into the city everything is so overpriced $300 for my husband and I to have two rolls a couple glasses of wine

Excellent EVERYTHING as usual at Pabu. It's definitely a little pricey, but the food is so good, drinks are so good, and the service is absolutely outstanding. This time we especially appreciated the hospitality and expertise of our bartender, Mundo, who shared excellent whiskeys and kept us very, very happy :D

Dinner with my parents, service was great and all food was very fresh. They also had heaters everywhere so it was very comfortable for our dinner on an October evening.

TLDR: expensive Japanese beer on tap, get the miso cod and the chocolate sesame pudding. great service

My partner and I came here for the $65/pp SF Restaurant week tasting, but we ended up liking the options on PABU's "Best of PABU" menu for $88 per person more. My partner and I also ordered some Japanese beer on tap (between ~$12-$14 for a standard pour), of which I recommend the witbier - it has a lovely jasmine tea taste to it. We enjoyed every course in our meal, but the ones that truly stuck out were the miso cod and the chocolate dessert. I recommend having a glass of port with the latter, as it brought out the tasting notes of the choco and sesame! Due to both COVID and grabbing dinner on a rather calm Halloween, the service was spot on and attentive. We dined inside and it almost felt like a private dining experience. As others note, this place just comes with quite a price tag on it that I am not sure I can afford again (with the $88 pp menu we still ended up paying about $350 for the two of us! How?!?!). But for the time, it was very *lavish* and fun!

The quality of food and the presentation of the food was fantastic. Unfortunately we left hungry, we were seated at 7:30pm and waited about 40min to 1 hour between courses. The potions were very very small and were eaten quickly.

Great service, great food and great ambience! I highly recommend for special occasions.

We were excited that the restaurant re-opened for dinner. But the dinner took 2.5 hr and we didn’t even get out last course before we decided we need to grab our check and leave. We don’t usually leave comments but I don’t think a 3hr service should be acceptable.

Friendly service, food is delicious, and clean environment

Completely amazing experience Fromm start to finish. Attention to detail is amazing and the food was delicious! Service was impeccable.

The service is so so slow. The food takes forever to come

Not a very happy experience.

The portions are so small too. Been there before n it is not like that.

A very disappointment experience.

We were there to celebrate 2 persons birthday. Spoiled the whole evening.

Horrible service - timing of the food was super odd. Waiter said sushi bar was backed up, then all my food came out at once and my husbands food came out (a 4 course set meal) about 30 minutes later and then waited 20 minutes in between each course

My fiancé and I went to celebrate our engagement, it was a bit of a surprise from me to her. When we arrived, we were greeted with a hand written card signed by the whole staff, and after being seated, a waiter brought out some sparkling wine. It all started out really nice. After that, though, it felt like we were mostly forgotten about. Over nearly 2 hours, we were only able to order one round of drinks because that’s how many times we saw our waiter (once outside ordering food) and we had to get other waiters’ attention to get the check or get plates cleared etc. The food was delicious and the ambiance is amazing, I just felt a little bit ignored while watching other tables get incredible service (one table, the owner seemed to keep visiting with different bottles of sake) which left us wondering “why not us?” I wanted to write it off as they were understaffed or very busy etc but other tables were getting excellent service all around us and we couldn’t even get a second round of drinks. We were so put off that we skipped dessert and everything and paid the bill and left. What started out seeming like it was going to be a fantastic experience left me very disappointed. I’ll definitely give Pabu another chance as the food and drinks were incredible but this was a really awful experience.

Pabu tried its best, but did not deliver.

We came here during COVID for outdoor dining, and both got the restaurant week menu.

Service was good. Probably the best part of the meal. The host was very kind, and very upbeat. Our server was a little afraid, but in general attentive and wonderful. The remaining staff was courteous and prompt. Cold water glasses were always filled up, but my hot water was never reupped. Also our dessert took about 20-30 mins after we finished our mains to arrive.

This wasn't Pabu's fault, but the sewage truck was on the street right outside draining the sewage the entire time we were having dinner. The smell was AWFUL. And did nothing to contribute to our meal.

Food was quite bad to be honest. The app was a snow crab type salad. It was good, well presented, and a good balance of flavors. The mains were both REALLY bad. The Cod was overseasoned, and tasted a little off. Nothing like spoiled, but tasted the way a random clang of keys sounds. The steak was literally raw in the middle and way over cooked on the side. Almost as if someone has put a frozen steak on a pan and tried to cook it. No only that it was pre-sliced (too thickly) and cold when we received it at our table. No bueno. The sushi was actually good, fresh fish but the nigiri wasn't actually shaped that well, and the rice fell apart when I tried to eat. And the desserts were good, but nothing special.

Overall, I tried to like Pabu, but god it was so bad. I likely won't ever come back here.

Always legit sushi. One of the best in the Bay Area

We had the Omakase and the experience was amazing. We got to try all the best hits and each one was superb. We also tried a few of their cocktails and it was great. Service was always attentive and explained each dish. Overall great experience. It was of course expensive but worth every dollar for the dining experience. Will be coming back

Thanks for a wonderful meal to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. Took all the recommendations from the server...it was delicious!

Great ambiance, Sake sommelier brought a suggested sake then never came back to see what I thought, by the way I didn't like his suggestion. Our rolls only had 6 rolls, rather cheap for the price I thought. The little fried chicken appetizer was super yummy. All in all it was a nice dinner with proper Covid precautions. The food was good, not great. service was good, not great. The ambiance was great.

The service was terrible and most of the food was mediocre. The milk chocolate sesame pudding was the best thing we had the whole night. The spider roll was Pretty good. The $88 tasting menu was unimpressive. A long and not very enjoyable evening.

Fantastic food and service!

What a great place to dine. Lots of energy, great food and beautiful setting.

The M. Bison cocktail was delicious and I love the skull ice cube! Food was perfect as always and the server was attentive. It felt safe to be dining indoors here.

Great food! Excellent service! Nice outdoor seating and setting!