Sapporo Rock-N-Roll Sushi is a hit in San Mateo

Outside of downtown San Mateo’s concentrated gastronomic scene, lies an unsuspecting and upbeat flavorful find just off 25th Avenue — Sapporo Rock-N-Roll Sushi.

San Mateo, a city with more than 100 years of Japanese American history, is a well-known hot spot for all things Japanese cuisine. In August of 2021, two childhood best friends, Will Li and Kim Wu, wanted to expand on this culinary rich area, and bring exciting flair to traditional high-quality sushi. Prior to opening Sapporo, Will and Kim worked many years together at high-end sushi restaurants in San Francisco. Here they attribute learning many different styles and skills, but as the pandemic hit hard on restaurants, and particularly those in the city, they knew it was time to make something of their own.

Looking to the future down the Peninsula, they heard about a location that had been available for over a year and soon began calling San Mateo home. An eponym to the famous beer brand and capital of Hokkaido, Japan, Sapporo brings the same youthful atmosphere and modern innovation to traditional Japanese fare.

“We want Sapporo to be a place where friends and family can come unwind and have fun,” co-owner Will Li said.

Li and Wu truly embrace just that, and in addition to serving high quality dishes, you can find them both working behind the sushi bar in between dancing to their favorite tunes and connecting with customers.

“I knew San Mateo was good for sushi, but what stood out to me about Sapporo was that they had aburi. I’ve had so much fun at the bar tonight that I made a reservation to bring my friends next week,” first-time customer Tin Ramos said.

Two styles that make Sapporo a true standout is its Japanese influenced tapas and aburi-style nigiri. From a unique take on Japanese “tater tot,” croquettes to more traditional items like hamachi kama (grilled yellowtail collar), the tapas are just as colorful as the flavor.

When experiencing the dilemma on which to try, have no fear. As amazing as they are alone, ordering a combination can make a full meal. One new special that comes highly recommended is the gold toast. As in the name, the gold toast is a thin toast stacked with toro (Japanese term for the belly cut of tuna), ikura (Japanese term for salmon roe) that is intricately cured in house, and uni (Japanese term for sea urchin) from the Santa Barbara Channel, dressed with homemade soy sauce, and garnished with edible gold petals.

In addition to the tapas, some sushi seekers find Sapporo in search of aburi-style nigiri. Aburi, referring to nigiri sushi that is partially grilled or seared, is a technique growing in popularity where flavor and texture intersect by means of flame. At Sapporo, chefs take a particular focus on slightly flame searing each piece with a blow torch to bring out the natural oil and flavors. An order of aburi nigiri comes with two pieces of your choice of either sake toro (salmon belly) topped with scallop and black truffle salt, scallop topped with spicy aioli and pickled wasabi, blue fin toro (bluefin tuna belly) drizzled with special aged soy and topped with fried onion, hamachi toro with daikon oroshi (yellowtail tuna belly with Japanese radish), or the wagyu beef. Every option incorporates the perfect fish/meat to rice ratio and will leave a melt-in-your-mouth experience. For those interested in trying them all, omakase is the way to go. Translating to “I leave it up to you,” the Sapporo omakase is eight pieces of chef’s daily choice.

Other must try items include the black truffle edamame sautéed in a mixture of black truffle sesame, the OMG Sapporo signature roll combining tuna, avocado and almond, topped with real crab meat, seared Hokkaido scallop, fresh pineapple, toasted coconut flakes and drizzled with spicy aioli, and the Kumi oyster special topped with quail egg, uni, tobiko and a truffle ponzu sauce. Happy hour is 5-6 p.m. when mixed sashimi orders are 50% off and a wide selection of tapas and rolls are discounted.

In addition to the signature Sapporo beer, there is a premium selection of sake. Crisp and dry or fruity and creamy? Anna, a fan favorite waitress, can recommend the best. You may even get lucky and find her visiting your table with Choya. She recommends this sweet and fruity yuzu as a dessert drink. Plans for the future are simple, “for now, we just want to master our craft and focus on making what we do here at Sapporo perfect,” Li said.

Located at 2456 S. El Camino Real, at 25th Avenue in San Mateo, it is open Monday through Sunday from 5-9:30 p.m., closed on Tuesday, and available on Doordash and Uber Eats.