Aji Kiji Review: Takeout Sushi Boxes in San Francisco's FiDi

Aji Kiji’s line has a rhythm to it. The refrigerated case at 359 Kearny St holds the day’s wooden boxes, the lunch crowd works its way down the stack, and by 12:30 the choice is often made for you. We got there at 11:47 on a Wednesday (the receipt is my witness), which is the time I’d tell you to aim for.

Aji Kiji is a takeout-only sushi counter at 359 Kearny St in San Francisco’s Financial District, from a chef with Michelin-starred sushi kitchens on his résumé, and its boxes are the prettiest lunch downtown. It opened on Fillmore Street in Japantown in 2024, drew daily lines almost immediately, and moved to Kearny in fall 2025 with a fix for the crowds: one line for online preorders, one for walk-ins (the SF Standard has the backstory). Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 4pm, and the case tends to sell out well before closing.

What to Order at Aji Kiji

I got the Hosomaki box ($21). Rows of thin rolls, packed like someone alphabetized them: salmon, avocado with sesame, negitoro with scallions, and a glazed eel row. Around the edges, pickled ginger, a knob of wasabi, pea shoots, two wedges of watermelon, and the little fish-shaped bottle of house soy. Everything is cut with the kind of precision that makes you eat slower. It’s really solid sushi and it’s beautiful, which for a $21 lunch you can carry back to a desk is a rare pairing. I know of companies that order team lunch from here, and I understand the strategy completely.

The Infatuation’s advice is to let the box sit about 45 minutes so the fish and rice come up to temperature, if you have that kind of restraint. Preorder through their Toast page if you don’t want to gamble on the walk-in line, and know that there’s no seating: this is a lunch you carry to a bench or a lobby. (We came straight from a matcha at Origin Lab around the corner, 22 minutes earlier by the receipts.)

But My Favorite Sushi in the Bay Area Is Still Tataki

Because I always tell you the truth on this blog: Aji Kiji is excellent at what it is, and my favorite sushi in the Bay Area is still Tataki on California Street. Nothing at Tataki is plated like this. But the fish is really good quality, the happy hour is the best in the city (we’ve done the math, repeatedly), the vegetarian rolls hold their own, and it has the neighborhood-restaurant warmth that a takeout case on Kearny can’t offer. It’s also home to the Extinguisher Roll, which arrives at your table on fire. Aji Kiji is the beautiful desk lunch. Tataki is where I’d take you for dinner.

The Verdict on Aji Kiji

• Best for: A beautiful takeout lunch downtown · office catering that makes you look thoughtful
• My order: The Hosomaki box
• Damage: $27.01 with tax and tip, for one
• Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 11am–4pm (go before 12:30)
• Where: 359 Kearny St, Financial District (Google Maps) · preorder on Toast

The wider map is in my best restaurants in San Francisco guide, where Tataki holds the sushi seat. For the other order-ahead Japanese lunch I love, my Komeya no Bento review has the Marina’s bento-and-matcha answer.

For more of where I actually eat, start with the best restaurants in San Francisco — and subscribe to my newsletter if you want the new reviews (plus my writing life) in your inbox. I spent five years rating restaurants around the world in my travel guides — now the fork points at my own city.