Zama Restaurant & Bar

Name: Zama Restaurant & Bar
Address: 467 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA, United States, 92101
Telephone: (619) 915-5789
Price range: $31 to $50
Rating: 4.2

4.2

162 Reviews

$31 to $50

Sushi

Top Tags:

Located in San Diego’s vibrant downtown, Zama brings Latin American cuisine with an Asian infusion in a captivating space inspired by the Amazonian jungle. Brought to you by the group famous for Rusticcuina and Breakfast & Bubbles, Zama will focus on Latin American cuisine with the addition of Peruvian and Mexican dishes like Carpaccio, Agua Chile and Tartar and a Japanese-inspired sushi bar created by Chef Tayuka Kudo (formerly of Nobu and Lumi) against the extravagant backdrop of the lush jungle-inspired space.

Make a reservation

Party Size

2 people

DateTime

Dec 5, 2023

7:00 PM

Booked 11 times today

Dining areas

Additional information

Dining style
Casual Elegant
Price
$31 to $50
Cuisines
Sushi, Latin American, Asian
Hours of operation
Mon–Thu, Sun 5:00 pm–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 5:00 pm–11:00 pm Brunch Sun 11:00 am–3:30 pm
Phone number
(619) 915-5789
Website
https://zamasandiego.com/
Payment options
AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Dress code
Smart Casual
Owned/operated by
Latinx or Hispanic
Private party facilities
Experience an Amazon-San Diego fusion at Zama, where events become unforgettable journeys. Modern design meets rainforest allure for galas, receptions, and more. Our renowned chefs create Amazon-inspired culinary masterpieces. Craft lasting memories with us. Contact event coordinators today.

Location
467 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
Neighborhood
Downtown
Cross street
Island Avenue
Parking details
Street Parking
Additional
Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Dancing, Entertainment, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Happy Hour, Late Night, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Vegan, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access, Wine

What 162 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.2

4.2 based on recent ratings

4.3Food
4.1Service
4.4Ambience
4Value

Noise • Moderate

Loved For

San Diego
Sushi

162 Reviews

C
Cabo
San Francisco
5 reviews
vip
4.0
5 reviews
Dined 2 days ago
overall4food4service3ambience5
Good food and atmosphere but the service was terrible. We waited consistently for a drink and had to chase someone down every time. Considering they tack the gratuity on your bill automatically for even a party of two it’s not surprising.
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DJ
DJM11
San Diego
1 review
vip
1.0
1 review
Dined on November 26, 2023
overall1food1service1ambience1
We had high hopes for this touted spot in San Diego and made a reservation for our party of 4 for a holiday dinner. Unfortunately, we will never return and discourage others from wasting their time and money. As someone with a background in food service, I tend to extend extra grace to servers and restaurant staff… but the service here was beyond horrible. We were ignored for the majority of our experience and made multiple attempts to engage with our waiter before we were finally able to order an initial round of drinks and a few apps. After 45+ minutes of no service and no food, we finally made human contact with a busboy—then watched him alert our server three separate times with no response to our table. At that point, we decided to cut our losses on a few subpar drinks and leave without eating.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
8 reviews
5.0
8 reviews
Dined on November 26, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Great date night experience. Tried the Bison Burger and two sushi rolls. Very worth it and a great value for quality food.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
2 reviews
vip
5.0
2 reviews
Dined on November 25, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Always amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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KK
KevinK
San Diego
23 reviews
vip
5.0
23 reviews
Dined on November 18, 2023
overall5food4service5ambience5
A Lovely experience! Ambience is very Cool. The Jungle Theme is very different and a Fresh look for Downtown. The Food was Delicious! ZAMA Ceviche was Excellente. Salmon Sashimi super tender in a nice Sauce. Branzino withCrab Fried Rice was so good as they deboned it for ease in eating and Spiced well. Service People were all Friendly. We will return!
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Francisco
4 reviews
vip
5.0
4 reviews
Dined on November 13, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
My friend and I had an amazing girls night out! I’ve been raving about Zama for a minute since the last time I went, so naturally I had to bring her here too. The drinks were absolutely well crafted, but it didn’t compare to the ambience and the delicious food that was served to us. Thank you Zama for a lovely evening!!
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VF
VeronicaF
1 review
5.0
1 review
Dined on November 12, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Everything was perfect! The service and the food amazing
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
1 review
3.0
1 review
Dined on November 11, 2023
overall3food4service2ambience4
Service was super slow, from drinks to bringing food, to waiter coming aroud etc.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
Los Angeles
4 reviews
vip
2.0
4 reviews
Dined on November 5, 2023
overall2food3service1ambience4
The service was terrible! The wait for the drinks, food and dessert was way too long! I had to grab the runners on a few occasions because I wanted to order our meal and then again a round of drinks. The place wasn’t even that busy. At the end, they automatically added 20% gratuity. To be honest, the service warranted a 10% and I’m being generous. I was celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday so it was a bummer that we encountered these issues.
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SM
SMSnacker
San Diego
10 reviews
3.0
10 reviews
Dined on November 4, 2023
overall3food5service2ambience4
Food was great but service was meh. Waiter (Francisco or something similar) was hard to get attention and slow. Food was amazing but took about an hour to come out. Salads came out with the meal, when we asked why not before he said he put the orders all in together. All food ordered was really enjoyed (Salmon, Pork chop, and short rib). Waiter added a 20% gratuity even tho there was only 5 of us instead of 6 people as stated on the menu. Pretty sure he did that because he knew he missed the mark in service.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
2 reviews
vip
5.0
2 reviews
Dined on October 31, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
My wife and I booked this last minute. Sheldon was our server and took great care of us. This place is way better than Lumi or cloak and petal, and much more affordable. Thank you for the experience, we will be back - Apollo & Megan
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
4 reviews
4.0
4 reviews
Dined on October 28, 2023
overall4food5service3ambience5
Always fun! Most amazing espresso martinis!! Just wish we had a better table.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
Denver
1 review
vip
3.0
1 review
Dined on October 26, 2023
overall3food3service2ambience5
We came here for happy hour because of the beautiful atmosphere. And while the drinks were yummy, the food was ok but not great. And what really wasn’t cool, is that the server said he’d bring us water. But what he brought was an $8 bottle of still water. We’re not picky and would have been fine with tap water but we weren’t even given the option. So while the atmosphere is gorgeous, don’t accept the water they offer since you’ll be out $$. If that expectation has been set at first, it would have been a different story.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
New York Area
2 reviews
vip
5.0
2 reviews
Dined on October 22, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Great staff, great food, great time. Sat at the bar and had a blast.
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BS
BrianaS
San Diego
2 reviews
1.0
2 reviews
Dined on October 21, 2023
overall1food1service1ambience1
Terrible service,bland food, overpriced, overall horrible experience.
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G
Giovanni
San Diego
45 reviews
vip
3.0
45 reviews
Dined on October 1, 2023
overall3food2service4ambience4
Mediocre food, good service. The hostess Angelina was fabulous!!
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m
michaelz
Tampa
3 reviews
vip
5.0
3 reviews
Dined on September 29, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Great vibe, great food and great service! Junglerita and sushi was amazing.
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NM
NinoM
San Diego
4 reviews
5.0
4 reviews
Dined on September 17, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Fantastic food and energy, thank you for making my birthday 🥳
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AV
AndrezzaV
Orange County
3 reviews
vip
4.0
3 reviews
Dined on September 3, 2023
overall4food3service3ambience5
very nice entertainment! bartenders are amazing! I like the vibe of the staff. food and service are not that good.
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N
Natalia
San Diego
10 reviews
2.0
10 reviews
Dined on August 26, 2023
overall2food3service1ambience3
If you are over 35 and just want to have a nice dinner at upscale place with nice décor and food - that is NOT place to go to, especially if you go at later times during weekend. The place is really more like a lounge with DJ and carnival like performance. Worth mentioning that it is filled with very young adults who are there to look for adventures encouraged by the manager who is going around the place taking shots with girls. By the end of our late dinner there were so many drunk people it was kind of disgusting and trashy vibe. The place is filled with guys with cameras who are filming everything that is going on there. Looks like the management cares more about their social media appearance rather than guests' experiences there. The food was decent thought. We ordered lamb appetizer that was good but very small - just two tiny pieces. Then we had Wagyu Tartare that was good and then we had Sexy Pink Rolls and Zama Leyenda rolls. They were both okay but nothing super special. Our waitress was useless, I asked for her recommendations several times and she could not provide any details or descriptions of the dishes I asked her about. We had Yuzu cheesecake for dessert which was good but very citrusy. I would just say that the food is okay but don't expect much. The décor at the place is cute and it seems like that is the reason most youngsters are there - take a pictures of them living their best life. I will never go back to this place again. It might be okay for late drinks if you are looking for a company of fellow drunk people but if you want to have a nice dinner with your other half - this is not it.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
2 reviews
5.0
2 reviews
Dined on August 19, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
It was awesome, the food was great loved the ambiance.
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I
Isabel
1 review
2.0
1 review
Dined on August 13, 2023
overall2food1service3ambience4
I came here, because they recommended the place. However, the food took about two hours to arrive. The salad and fries came at the very end. The atmosphere was nice and our waiter was patient. The food was the main issue..
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M
Mori
San Diego
5 reviews
vip
3.0
5 reviews
Dined on August 12, 2023
overall3food3service5ambience2
It’s was alright
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c
cleopatrah
Hawaii
12 reviews
vip
5.0
12 reviews
Dined on August 1, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
The food and the service were impeccable. I’ve been 3 or 4 times now and every time is a real treat. The decor, the staff, and especially the menu is amazing.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
Chicago
1 review
3.0
1 review
Dined on July 30, 2023
overall3food3service4ambience5
Beautiful restaurant and I had high hopes. Gave this place the benefit of the doubt based on the absolutely beautiful feeling of the restaurant. The arrival experience was rushed and hurried although we were a bit early. The hostess literally dropped five menus on our table. Menus had several misspellings and plastic covers are diner style. Print a quality menu. Our server, Alex was terrific and apologized and did her best to help us understand the concept and made nice recommendations on the food. Managers were spending most of their time chatting up the hostesses and did not touch our table. At all. This front of house team is well meaning but they desperately need to know what’s expected of them. They need training. The food overall was pretty good. The calamari was lightly fried but lacked flavor. The lamb chop pops were very good. The salmon dish was nice, broccolini was terrific, salmon over cooked a bit and I honestly don’t understand why mashed potatoes are on this dish. The signature side potatoes were very interesting but lacked flavor, seasoning and were not cooked to a specified finish. The ceviche was tasty but needed more than the two chips served with the dish. You get the sense of what’s going on here. Great ambiance but the front of house and back of house leaders are not leading. Ownership needs to quickly get deeply involved or they won’t make it. Another shout out to Alex for her efforts. Wonderful person and a great server.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
1 review
5.0
1 review
Dined on July 16, 2023
overall5food4service4ambience5
Vibes were 100% on point. Great atmosphere. We had a great time.
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h
hjfdka342
Los Angeles
1 review
2.0
1 review
Dined on July 5, 2023
overall2food2service2ambience4
It's one of those places that asks you if you want "flat" or "sparkling" water and you're supposed to respond "tap" or else they charge you $9 for a bottle of water. Ambiance is nice, don't recommend any seafood items.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
3 reviews
vip
4.0
3 reviews
Dined on June 18, 2023
overall4food4service3ambience5
Love the place but didn’t like the drinks don’t have any flavor and are expensive for not tasting good
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HM
HiramM
Baja California
1 review
1.0
1 review
Dined on June 18, 2023
overall1food1service5ambience5
The service and the place was great but food was surprisingly bad
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OT
OpenTable Diner
New York Area
1 review
vip
5.0
1 review
Dined on June 15, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Would go again. Great food relaxed vibe excellent service
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AA
AlexA
San Diego
3 reviews
5.0
3 reviews
Dined on June 10, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Amazing food, amazing drinks and ambiance is incredible. We had a great time, and will def book again.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
2 reviews
vip
5.0
2 reviews
Dined on June 6, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
First time and all I can say is we had a awesome to celebrating my nephews kindergarten graduation 👨🏻‍🎓 The food was delicious the drinks were on points! By far the best drinks in Gaslamp quarter! and the Japanese cheese cake was the bomb 💣 nom nom 😋 Both our waitresses were super nice and attentive Kudos to them! We will Definitely be back ❤️
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OT
OpenTable Diner
Los Angeles
6 reviews
5.0
6 reviews
Dined on May 28, 2023
overall5food5service5ambience5
Excellent Service, food was exquisite too, we have an amazing Time
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JS
JoshuaS
1 review
2.0
1 review
Dined on May 28, 2023
overall2food1service4ambience4
The location and interior experience is awesome. However, the food is over priced, average, hipster sushi and Latino meats that you can get at hundreds of other restaurants for 1/2 the price. I would not recommend this place unless they up their food, drop their ridiculous prices, and much more. Here’s an example of their pretentiousness: When we were sat, we were offered still or sparkling water. No other options. Turns out “still” water is $10. What the? We ain’t in France people…
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A
A8000family
San Diego
23 reviews
vip
2.0
23 reviews
Dined on May 24, 2023
overall2food2service1ambience2
Went with a large party of 10 for a celebration dinner. Our receipt took forever to get, drinks came in incorrect, food was late for a few people, and you all didn’t share the price of a 2nd bottle of rose after being out of the original one. YOU NEED TO TELL THE CUSTOMER IF A BOTTLE IS 300% MORE than the first one. Super disappointed.
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JR
JanethR
Los Angeles
1 review
3.0
1 review
Dined on May 22, 2023
overall3food3service1ambience5
Would recommend it for the ambiance and great drinks. Dinner service was below par, IMO, for the price.
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A
Atlantafoodie
Atlanta Metro
52 reviews
vip
2.0
52 reviews
Dined on May 22, 2023
overall2food1service5ambience4
I ordered a California roll and a roll of the day which contained crab. Both rolls tasted like they were stuffed with canned crab. The rice didn't taste freshly prepared. The sushi bar was not visible; I wonder where the sushi came from. The California roll was very white; it didn't look like a California roll. The service was attentive, but I can't recall having such bad sushi before.
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OT
OpenTable Diner
San Diego
2 reviews
vip
3.0
2 reviews
Dined on May 18, 2023
overall3food2service2ambience3
Beautiful place! Has potential! Food lacks flavor. Service was slow because there was only one waiter when we arrived. Customer at table next to us decided to leave because of how long it took. Bus boys must be new because they didn’t do much. Won’t be back but cute decor
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AB
ABCalrx
Los Angeles
3 reviews
3.0
3 reviews
Dined on May 16, 2023
overall3food1service4ambience4
Over priced for sub-par food. Burger was burnt, sushi rice had been sitting out and tasted old, octopus tasted off.
1 person found this helpful
OT
OpenTable Diner
1 review
1.0
1 review
Dined on May 14, 2023
overall1food1service1ambience3
When I found Zama bar I thought it looked amazing and had a cool ambiance. We got there at 8:30 for our 8:45 reservation we ordered food around 20 min later and we waited for 40-50 min for it to arrive.
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Safety precautions

Cleaning & sanitizing
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Common areas deep-cleaned daily
Physical distancing
- Distancing maintained in common areas

FAQs

Zama Restaurant & Bar is rated 4.2 stars by 162 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

Party Size

2 people

DateTime

Dec 5, 2023

7:00 PM

Booked 11 times today

467 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA 92101

Dining areas

Additional information

Cross street
Island Avenue
Neighborhood
Downtown
Hours of operation
Mon–Thu, Sun 5:00 pm–10:00 pm Fri, Sat 5:00 pm–11:00 pm Brunch Sun 11:00 am–3:30 pm
Price
$31 to $50
Cuisines
Sushi, Latin American, Asian
Dining style
Casual Elegant
Dress code
Smart Casual
Parking details
Street Parking
Payment options
AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Owned/operated by
Latinx or Hispanic
Additional
Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cocktails, Corkage Fee, Dancing, Entertainment, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Happy Hour, Late Night, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Vegan, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access, Wine

Website
https://zamasandiego.com/
Phone number
(619) 915-5789
Private party facilities
Experience an Amazon-San Diego fusion at Zama, where events become unforgettable journeys. Modern design meets rainforest allure for galas, receptions, and more. Our renowned chefs create Amazon-inspired culinary masterpieces. Craft lasting memories with us. Contact event coordinators today.

Zama Restaurant & Bar

Make a reservation

Dining areas

Additional information

Menu

What 162 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Loved For

Safety precautions

Cleaning & sanitizing

Physical distancing

FAQs

How is Zama Restaurant & Bar restaurant rated?

Is Zama Restaurant & Bar currently accepting reservations?

Make a reservation

Dining areas

Additional information