MJ Menlo Park INC — Restaurant in Menlo Park

I love this place! I’m so glad it opened in Menlo Park. We usually go to the one in Palo Alto but decided to check out this place that just opened in Menlo Park and it’s just as good!

The service is fast. They seated us pretty much when we walked in, took our order quickly, and we didn’t have to wait too long for our appetizers or sushi to arrive. The downside is they don’t open as late as the Palo Alto one.

Also since they just opened there were free drinks, but don’t know how long they will keep that up since that’s just an opening thing (when we went in November).

The food is great as usual. It’s the same level of quality as the Palo Alto location which is great. They have relatively affordable sushi and the rolls are very flavorful.

The inside is nice. It has pretty standard Japanese decorations. It is small like the Palo Alto one, but still has plenty of tables to seat everyone.

I also like how it’s located next to Safeway. It’s very convenient to get dinner and then also get your grocery shopping in as well.

The parking was also not a problem since it’s located in the same plaza as Safeway. We just parked in the lot outside and...

I eat here at least twice a month, and last week, a group of us took a coworker here for his birthday. I told the waitress that it was our coworker's birthday and asked if they did something special for birthdays, and she said they didn't. This certainly wasn't a deal breaker, so we all ordered.

As we were finishing our lunches, we heard 'happy birthday' start playing, and the waitress and another staff member brought out a sushi cake made up of two layers of rice with orange sauce in the middle and on top, and salmon layed out in a circle on top. It was far better than anything we would have imagined from a sushi restaurant. I asked if they'd made this kind of birthday cake before, and they said - never. Everything was excellent, and they took the time to set up the 'happy birthday' song and create a...

Pros: Wonderfully friendly staff. You ladies rock! Reasonably priced for Japanese food Sashimi, tempura and some simple rolls decent. Complimentary bottle of Sapporo beer much appreciated

Cons: DO NOT order the tamago (omelette)nigiri. Contents are unknown. Inari sushi is not much better :-( (Come on, these are the most basic sushi.) Salmon skin handroll is definitely underwhelming at best.

Maybe they've expanded too quickly with 5 locations. Good sushi is not easy to make. WARNING: Don't eat sushi in JAPAN 日本 and then come here. Quality is absolutely lower than cheapest boat (JPY150) sushi place in Tokyo. If you haven’t eaten sushi in Japan, this place could impress you (OK, you can call me a sushi snob, but I’m really not that picky, as long as it’s fresh and resembles...