The Best Sushi Near Farmstead, by the Record

The fish provenance is printed right on the menu, which tells you something about how seriously this cozy Novato sushi shop takes its sourcing. The chef behind the counter has spent years at serious Bay Area sushi bars, and he brings that same precision here without the reverent hush or the eye-watering bill. Lunch combinations and omakase sets keep things accessible, and you can even buy fish to take home.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. San Francisco Chronicle Best Sushi Restaurants in San Francisco Bay Area
3. San Francisco Chronicle Best restaurants in Marin County: Sausalito, Novato and San Rafael

A cozy bungalow sushi shop tucked into Sausalito that's been part of the local fabric forever, Sushi Ran blends California farm-to-table thinking with straightforward Japanese technique in a way that resists easy categorization. The sake list is well-chosen, the fish is clean and consistent, and something like red curry-roasted cauliflower might show up alongside impeccable nigiri. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. San Francisco Chronicle Best Sushi Restaurants in San Francisco Bay Area
3. San Francisco Chronicle Best restaurants in Marin County: Sausalito, Novato and San Rafael

The blue-painted building with a red neon sign on Shattuck Avenue does not undersell what's inside. This is a sousaku izakaya, meaning the menu leans into New Japanese cooking, the kind you'd find in Tokyo or Osaka right now: hot pot, skewers, fried fish cakes, seasonal sashimi added only because regulars kept asking. The menu rotates constantly, which makes repeat visits feel less like loyalty and more like good sense.

1. Esquire #38 · The Best New Restaurants in America
2. San Francisco Chronicle Best Sushi Restaurants in San Francisco Bay Area
3. San Francisco Chronicle Best Japanese restaurants in the Bay Area

Each day's fish selection goes up on Instagram before you order, which is either the future of sushi or just a very good system. Mujiri is a takeout-only sushi shop in Oakland where the fish comes in from Japan and arrives in a wooden box arranged on bamboo leaves. The nigiri combo is a tight, concise menu done with real care, and the squid is cut to look like a feather boa, which sounds absurd until you see it.

1. San Francisco Chronicle Best Sushi Restaurants in San Francisco Bay Area