Geta — Restaurant in Oakland

Normally, I consider eating at a hole-in-the-wall sushi place a death wish. This is a wonderful exception to my usual rule-of-thumb.

Food: You seriously can't go wrong with anything here and their prices can't be beat. The freshness and selection of their fish is equal to, if not better than, some of the most upscale/expensive sushi restaurants in the SF Bay Area. The salmon sashimi appetizer ($10) has become a standard part of my order. If you're into fancier rolls, my friends and I have sat there licking the plate after finishing the Lion King roll ($7). If you're not feeling the fish items, they have tempura, bentos, donburis...etc that are also delicious. Honestly, I can go through the menu line-by-line in this review and rave about every single item....but that's just excessive.

Atmosphere: This restaurant is TINY. I wasn't exaggerating when I called it a hole-in-the-wall. If you're not the first 5 parties there when they open, have fun standing in line. Don't even attempt to dine in if there's 5+ people in your group. Eating in gets pretty cramped and they'll often try to squeeze 2 parties of two in a small four person table. I highly recommend ordering out.

Service: The staff definitely manages the craziness well. Takes a while to get a table but once you're in, the food comes quick. Similarly, it's not a long wait when you order for takeout, and you can always call in your order ahead of time. The staff is always very friendly and will give you some free Pokki or other Japanese snacks whenever they think they served you too slowly.

Geta is hands down my favorite sushi place in the Bay Area. No...

A tiny "hole in the wall" with a take out spot vibe, Geta's humble environs downplay what is the best sushi in Oakland. This is not a spot with an expansive roll menu that dazzles with sauces and fire, but more of a place committed to the craft and quality of the best possible nigiri and sashimi (plus some classic rolls like a real crab California) -- all at extremely reasonable prices.

Tremendous quality, and a variety of fish not often seen, Geta sources the best local and Japanese seafood products. Coming here for me is exciting!

This isn't a fancy restaurant, nor is it large. There are three tables that hold 4 people. And a bar that seats 4. The majority come here for takeout -- even though they shun doing business with food delivery apps. You gotta call, or show up in person to place an order.

My strong recommendation is to dine in alone (making seating at the bar easier) or with one friend who loves quality like you do, or to come to the restaurant before placing your take out order so that you can select from the "curtain" of hand drawn specials cards. Where the standard and take out menus only showcase a basic selection of classics, one of Geta's secrets is the list of special items on offer -- a list almost as long as the standard menu.

The other secret, barely advertised, is the omakase menu of either 10 or 15 pieces. It makes for a very special and relatively quick meal -- would be awesome to come here before a movie or a concert. The service is very efficient yet pleasant -- they know what they have here and how small it is. They want you to eat, and really enjoy it, but then move...

The reviews I've read about this place were pretty good. Inexpensive good sushi = SCORE in my book. Unfortunately, it only lived up to the inexpensive part. Don't get me wrong, the sushi wasn't bad. It just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. We ordered a boat load of stuffs and the bill was pretty reasonable, so I can't complain there, but the sushi/shashimi was about what I would expect to received based on the price.

We started off with toro. Toro...mmmm...[drool], but I've had better...much better. In fact, the toro here wasn't THAT soft and buttery. It was more flavorful, but more in a ribeye way and not the kobe beef that you expect from toro and above grades. I've had toro that melts in your mouth...mmmmm..[drool]. We also tried the salmon cheeks. It was good. It was the first time I tried fish cheeks so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was good. Also had the uni. I thought it was ok. It wasn't funky like some uni can be, but it wasn't really soft either. It was a little firmer than I was expecting, so I don't know if it wasn't served during its prime (which contradicts the lack of funky smells) or if uni I've had in the past was just mushy. In terms of rolls, we had the lion king, spicy tuna, dragon and rainbow. None were very outstanding.

On other visits I've had the chicken karaage. If you like twice and crispy fried chicken pieces then this is the item for you. It's like tonkatsu on steroids and very filling.

Overall, the food was decent but not wow. For the price, it was pretty good. If it was priced similarly to other sushi joints, it would...