Omakase Near Me: Why Ijji's Divisadero Address No Longer Appears

At 5:00 PM on a Tuesday in February 2016, Billy Kong and Kua Chuang opened the doors at 252 Divisadero Street in Lower Haight and began serving nigiri to the first seven guests seated at a hinoki cypress counter. For nearly a decade, Ijji ran two nightly seatings with fish sourced ninety percent from Japan, charging $135 for a nineteen-course progression that began with five appetizers and closed with house-made green tea ice cream. The restaurant permanently closed in 2026, but the search for neighborhood omakase near that price point continues.

The Karpo app tracks which omakase counters accept walk-ins tonight and which require advance reservations, plus current pricing for multi-course progressions across San Francisco neighborhoods.

Many searchers type omakase near me while standing in Inner Richmond and find old results for Ijji. The restaurant never operated in that neighborhood. It stood at 252 Divisadero Street in Lower Haight, several miles east of the Richmond. This confusion stems from outdated listings that failed to update when the venue closed or misattributed the location during its operating years. Ijji opened in February 2016 under chefs Billy Kong, formerly of Saru Sushi, and Kua Chuang, who had worked at Seiya in San Carlos.

The restaurant ran until 2026, but no official announcement or archived coverage explains the closure. Search engines still surface the address in omakase queries, leading diners to a shuttered storefront. If you are looking for omakase in Inner Richmond specifically, you will need to search beyond this defunct Divisadero address.

Ijji began with an eight-course menu priced between forty-eight and eighty dollars, then switched to a nineteen-course format in November 2016. The new progression included five appetizers, soup, and thirteen pieces of nigiri for $135, excluding beverages, tax, and gratuity. Individual nigiri ran six to ten dollars per piece for guests who ordered à la carte. The restaurant imported much of its plateware from Japan and sourced ninety percent of its fish from Japanese markets.

Unlike typical sushi bars, Ijji did not display fish in a cold case at the counter. Chefs Kong and Chuang prepared Spanish mackerel with quick-fired skin, Kagoshima snapper in soy-vinegar, and Hokkaido scallop as the nigiri procession unfolded. The chilled appetizer menu included nasu nibitashi, braised eggplant served cold. The beverage program listed a dozen carefully selected sakés alongside Japanese beer; no wine or cocktails appeared on the menu. Green tea ice cream with red bean paste closed each omakase.

The restaurant held fifteen to seventeen seats total. Seven seats lined the hinoki cypress sushi bar, available by reservation only. The remaining tables accepted walk-ins exclusively. Two nightly seatings ran from opening at 5:00 PM until close at 10:00 PM Tuesday through Sunday; the restaurant stayed dark on Mondays. On a typical Friday at 7:00 PM, walk-in guests waited approximately fifteen minutes for a table.

The reservation-only bar policy meant guests who wanted to watch the chefs work had to book ahead. The small capacity made advance reservations essential even for table seating during peak hours. The dual system allowed the kitchen to pace omakase service at the counter while serving à la carte orders to walk-in diners at tables.

Ijji switched from the eight-course format to nineteen courses in November 2016, citing customer feedback about sophisticated palates. The original menu ran from February through October of that year. The expanded progression added more appetizers and nearly doubled the nigiri count, raising the fixed price from a range of forty-eight to eighty dollars to a flat $135. The change reflected the restaurant's read on its clientele: diners willing to commit to a longer, more structured tasting rather than a shorter sampler.

The move also standardized the omakase experience. Every guest at the counter received the same nineteen dishes in the same order, simplifying kitchen timing and ingredient purchasing. The shift positioned Ijji above casual neighborhood sushi spots but below the two-hundred-dollar-plus omakase tier that dominates downtown San Francisco.

With Ijji closed, omakase seekers in Lower Haight and the broader Divisadero corridor need to expand their search radius. Inner Richmond, the neighborhood mistakenly associated with Ijji in some searches, does host several sushi restaurants, though not all offer full omakase service. The mid-tier pricing that Ijji occupied—above fifty dollars, below two hundred—remains a narrow band in San Francisco, where most omakase venues cluster at either casual counters or high-ticket tasting menus.

The Karpo app filters omakase options by neighborhood, price bracket, and walk-in availability, showing which counters have open seats tonight and which require reservations days in advance. Live status updates prevent wasted trips to closed venues or overbooked bars.

Ijji permanently closed in 2026 and no longer serves guests. When it operated, the restaurant stood at 252 Divisadero Street in Lower Haight, not Inner Richmond. It opened Tuesday through Sunday from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM, closing Mondays. The nineteen-course omakase cost $135 before beverages, tax, and gratuity; individual nigiri ranged from six to ten dollars. The seven-seat hinoki cypress bar required reservations; tables accepted walk-ins only. Friday evening walk-ins typically waited fifteen minutes. The restaurant ran two nightly seatings. No public transit details were documented in archived sources. The venue is not accessible to current diners.

• Address: 252 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117 (Lower Haight)
• Hours: Permanently closed as of 2026
• Price: Formerly $135 for 19-course omakase (excluding beverages, tax, gratuity); individual nigiri $6-$10
• Booking: Sushi bar required reservations; tables walk-in only (when operational)
• Getting there: Located in Lower Haight, not Inner Richmond; no verified transit information available

Tags: #OmakaseNearMe #SanFranciscoOmakase #LowerHaight #DivisaderoStreet #SushiBar #NigiriSushi #JapaneseDining #SFRestaurants #OmakaseSF #ClosedRestaurants #SanFranciscoFood #SushiCounter #InnerRichmond #SFDining #OmakaseTasting

Sources

• sf.eater.com
• wanderlog.com
• gayot.com
• food96.com

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Before heading out for omakase in San Francisco, ask Karpo which counters have availability tonight, what the current pricing is for multi-course progressions, and whether reservations are required or walk-ins accepted. Karpo shows live status for sushi bars across Lower Haight, Inner Richmond, and neighboring areas, plus a route that strings together sake shops, Japanese groceries, and after-dinner dessert stops within walking distance of any omakase counter you choose.