The Yasai: Vegan Japanese Experience at Little Italy

Nice experience and great variety of vegan food. They were very busy and were rushing through a bit, which is why I am rating service as low.

RAMEN! Loved it - as they have both Vegan and non -vegetarian options available as well. Reservation not required but highly recommending for reservations if you don't want to wait for seating.

Not bad, but far from the best vegan sushi I’ve had. Be aware that they do have a non vegan sushi menu. I tried the miso soup, bao bun, and one sushi roll. The sushi was pretty good but the other items were just ok. Would definitely do the job if you are in the mood for Japanese food and in the area though! Updated from previous review on 2026-01-17

Incredible vegan ramen and sushi! Updated from previous review on 2026-01-06

I tried the Triple Tomato. BEST-RAMEN-EVER! The sushi rolls were also amazing! I'd put this place up there with the likes of Au Lac: top-class vegan restaurant that gets very creative, nails every taste flavor and texture. Delicious!

They were great at accommodating our large birthday party and they were so cooperative when I asked to pre order some food for the tables!

Awesome menu so hard to settle on one thing. The ramen was super and we would love to go back and try some of the sushi. On a Wednesday night fairly early we had no problem being seated. Updated from previous review on 2025-12-18

Soooo good; I went to the yasai twice (once at each location) and had the sushi rolls, miso soup, karaage bao, karaage, and tomato ramen (with garlic add on). Each one was amazing. If you’re ever looking to expand, pleaseee consider Boston! XD I would eat here every week.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Vegan Bao Buns, Stressed Out Roll, Queen Dragon Roll

As an Indian vegetarian, finding truly satisfying sushi options can be tricky but Yasai completely exceeded my expectations. I ordered the Stress Roll, edamame, Brussels sprouts, and a few other sushi rolls, and honestly everything tasted so fresh and thoughtfully made. My favorites were stress rollout and Brussels sprouts

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Stressed Out Roll, Brussels Sprouts

Let's go!
Reservations and ample time to find parking

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

What a great surprise, the food here was wonderful. We were visiting San Diego and this ended up becoming our highlight of the trip.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Delicious vegan Japanese experience. Must try food at excellent price.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Our experience in this restaurant was a pleasant surprise. I came here with a friend who is vegetarian and wanted to try vegetarian sushi. I made a reservation but honestly, we would have been ok without it because the restaurant wasn't too busy. Parking is a pain because it is all street parking or $20 garage parking. We drove around the area for 10-15 mins but managed to get a street spot. The ambiance of the restaurant is elegant and modern. You'd do well in casual and dressed up attire. The service is ok. They only had one server on when we were here and she seemed a teeny bit overworked.

For food, we ordered the vegan bao buns, the prophecy and believer rolls, and the original chicken karaage. The food was excellent! I might become a vegan sushi concert now lol! We were really full from the rolls and the bao buns, so we didn't have the karaage. I ate the karaage next day and it was good. I should have ordered the spicy one because the original karaage was pretty plain and needed some hot sauce.

The restaurant can get a little pricey but with the limited vegan options in the sushi world, this is a good spot to consider.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Vegan Bao Buns

So my trip to San Diego was with a few other girls and between us, we had ALL the religious dietary restrictions. Two vegetarians, a chicketarian, and a no piggies please. One thing that we could all agree on, surprisingly, was sushi. This was the first time I realized how vegetarian friendly most sushi restaurants were. This one in particular was VEGAN. yes. The other V word.
It still turned out to be some of the best food I've had and one of the most memorable meals from the trip! And also - aren't they too pretty to eat?!

Delicious & unique vegan Japanese! My spouse had the non-veg ramen & loved it. The vegan bao buns were excellent. Delicious and unexpected food-find.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 3