Onigilly Japanese Rice Balls - San Francisco (Kearny)

A wonderful little grab and go spot. Food is affordable and filling. Great selection of fillings. You're guaranteed to find something you'll love. St. Mary's square is right around the corner if you want somewhere pleasant to eat.

This onigiri is one of the best!! Large size with gracious portion of fillings! We ordered with screen, paid with ApplePay, received the number, and order was ready within 5 minutes.

Best fast casual Japanese food in the city! Ever since visiting Japan at the beginning of last year, I haven’t been able to find any casual Japanese food I really like in California until this place. I got the custom bowl with eel, imitation crab, and teriyaki tofu for protein and a mixed base of salad and rice. It was super satisfying for dinner on a rainy day, and I felt full but not heavy. The portion size was just right, and the ingredients were fresh and yummy.

Sooo tasty! Loved the baked salmon, the tuna was good too. It’s takeout only, no inside seating.

I was looking for a quick snack and I found the perfect one at Onigilly. The tuna and salmon Onigiri are absolutely delicious. You're not able to eat inside however, which is a pity. Nevertheless, 5 stars for the amazing food!

Nice place to grab food for the go. Not really a sit down and savor place. Delicious, fresh, and served fast. LOVED the binto boxes!

Food was trash, I honestly hate giving a bad review like that, but everything i ordered sucked. And I absolutely love ongiri!!! The service was given with unfriendly faces and terrible attitudes. Also, it's dimly lit, and there is no seating. The only plus was there was a park around the corner where we went to eat. Do not recommend this place at all. Way too overhyped.

My husband and I stop for dinner and it did not disappoint. I got the bento box and my husband customize his bowl. The ingredients were fresh and filling. We will be back!

Delicious takeout only spot with plentiful vegan options!! I got 3 onigiri for $13, I would say a fair price - it was certainly filling. I was starving and downed all 3 before I could take photos, and was pleased by the quality and freshness of the rice. If I worked in the area I would come here all the time for a lunch bite! I got the eggplant, seaweed (more of a dried seaweed than a kelp), and mushroom. The seaweed was the best, but I enjoyed the other two as well. Cheers to vegan variety!

Love all the choices. Yummy, easy to eat and tasty. Best "fast food" I know. Love that it's a franchise, we will be looking for more!

Environment 8/10 Service 10/10 Food 9/10 Onigilly is a fantastic spot for a quick and satisfying bite. The self-serve kiosk made ordering a breeze, and the speedy service meant I was out the door in no time. Despite being a grab-and-go place, the food quality was impressive. I tried the spam and unagi rice balls, and they were both delicious and generously portioned. The flavors were spot on, making for a delightful snack. If you're in a rush and need something tasty on the go, Onigilly is the perfect choice. Highly recommend for a quick and flavorful meal!

Headed over for a late lunch around 2:30 pm and we ordered from the kiosk on the side. There isn't any indoor seating but we waited inside for our order. It came out pretty fast and they were nice asking us if we wanted utensils since we planned to eat nearby. Baked Salmon and Unagi Onigiri - It's always difficult finding an onigiri that has a balanced filling to rice ratio and this one was perfect. They had a whole layer of fish inside sandwiched between the rice, each with a lot of savory and rich flavor. Karaage Curry - It looked like it was pre packaged so it wasn't hot. It tasted fine, had a decent curry flavor but nothing stood out about it and the chicken karaage pieces weren't crisp. Next time, I would go back for the onigiris and try the other fish options they have!

Came during a quiet Saturday afternoon for lunch. It was already pretty late for lunch so I wanted something light. Got the two onigiri bento set with a side order of karaage. This store is primarily a takeout spot. There is no inside or outside seats for eating which I found interesting that they even had bentos because it's hard to eat a bento while walking around. The service was quick. Once I put in my order on the screen, my order came out in about 5-10 minutes. The onigiri tasted like they were freshly made. The ume onirigi was nicely tart and the tuna salad onigiri was warm. The only negatives were the karaage and edamame. The karaage was dry and the edamame I could tell by taste that it had been sitting for a while in a fridge or freezer. Ambiance...is what you would expect for a takeout spot.

If you are ever craving onigiri this is a really solid option. It's a takeout only place so you'll need to find somewhere else to eat. I got the set with two onigiri and wakame salad. Also got an order of edamame on the side. For the onigiri I got the crab salad and the ponzu salmon. Both of the flavors on the onigiri were sooo good. Normally crab salad is whatever but the onigiri was so flavorful and well seasoned. They really filled it too. The salmon one was also delicious and I liked that they had some onions and whatnot to add some texture. My only gripe is that they were super skimpy on the salmon pieces, especially for a $1 upcharge. The wakame salad was also great and different than the standard bright green, slimier variety at other places. This one felt more natural and less sweet. Overall would definitely come back and try more flavors.

Surprisingly the workers are fast at prepping your order in less than 10 minutes right after you hit order now on the kiosk screen. I ordered several items to share with my friend for lunch. Edamame set in Soboro Ginger Beef & Snow Crab- both onigiri were fresh and warm and I'm glad we got the right flavors Signature Poke Bowl (Shio-Koji Tuna, Sweet Soy Salmon, and Ginger Ponzu Salmon)- the fish is set so there's no option to choose a different one and generous on the rice, salad, and toppings. I couldn't finish the whole bowl myself so I had to give half of it to my friend. Matcha Cheesecake- not enough matcha flavor, but tasted like regular cheesecake Yuzu Cheesecake- this one is better and I could taste a bit of the yuzu Matcha Lemonade- had a good amount of matcha and lemonade Strawberry Lemonade- sweeter than matcha Some Onigiri flavors charge an extra $0.50-$1.00 in Onigilly sets, which I wonder why. When choosing an onigiri, I would avoid the salmon ones, including the one with pollack roe. Instead, I recommend getting their poke bowl. This location is small with no seating area at all. You can only take out on a picnic, to work, or eat at home.

The shrimp onigilly was about the length of 1/2 a pinky finger size. The rice was and sauce was ok for this one. The unagi onigilly didn't taste right, so I threw it out. Nice concept and I used to have these in Japan and in stores in Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, etc

Was pleasantly surprised! I had two onigiris and a meat complete bowl. The onigiri tasted fresh and had enough moisture which I feel is an issue for other places. It's made pretty structurally sound and did not fall apart while eating it. The meat bowl was fresh and tasty as well. They offer a good selection of veggies and customizations. Food came out pretty fast considering it was lunch hour. Overall a fairly healthy and tasty meal.

Wow these rice balls are amazing. ahh it melted in the mouth. Had the teriyaki and baked salmon rolls. Was so good!

A fast takeout spot for onigiri! We tried the Edamame Set which comes with 3 onigiris, some pickles and edamame. We ordered the Chicken Teriyaki, Snow Crab and Tarako. The food is made fresh and was ready very quickly. There is signage in the store that tells you you cannot eat inside so we walked a few minutes to the outdoor tables on Maiden Lane. The food was good but I did feel like the seaweed got soggy and hard to bite without getting messy - perhaps a combo of the warm rice and walk to find seating.

This is my new favorite spot for affordable and quality poke in the city. The online ordering process is easy and efficient. We ordered online, paid online, and could select a time for pick up. Our order was ready at the time we selected, even with the busy lunch time crowd. We had the ginger ponzu salmon poke bowl, spicy tuna poke bowl, and shiitake mushroom onigilly. The $14.25 poke bowls are definitely worth it for the price. The ingredients (and most importantly the fish) are fresh and plentiful. The $3.65 soy braised mushroom onigilly may sound simple but it was packed with flavor. Highly recommend visiting this place, whether it be for lunch, dinner, or snack. I'll definitely be going back and am excited to try their other items.

No sitting area, so there is no place to eat. Where should we eat - right on the street?

Quick and amazing food to get you going! Came a little after 2:30pm after the lunch rushes and there was no wait. There are 2 kiosk where you order off of which is super convenient. The onigiri is also made on the spot! I ordered the seaweed/plum and spicy miso beef and they are definitely worth a try! Dice this place a taste if you're ever near! Will definitely be back to try the others!

Convenient, quick and easy. I've had the bento set with 3 onigiri: Ume - Pickled plum (way too salty) Unagi - Braised eel (the best) Spicy Bacon - sweet and spicy (just okay) The bento set also comes with little bit edamame and a slice of tamago egg and a tiny container of sweet condiment. all together with tax and tip = $22.50 Ambiance is fast food and quick service, good for those of you having a lunch rush and on the way to the airport. (Well, unless if you're heading to Hawaii or Japan. I would advice you to be patient and wait until you get there instead).

I found this place online and was excited to try it.....SO DISAPPOINTED!! First, the three people that worked there spoke very little English and had no clue what their product was. I tried asking questions but unfortunately all of them sounded like programmed robots on repeat and the food was only ok at best. Too bad, but I won't be returning.....EVER!!!!

We got the Snow Crab and California! They were both amazing! Got them within minutes too!

delicious simple modern iteration of Japanese origini rice ball - a quick meal great for busy working professionals. Love the mayo sauce.

Onigilly is a great snack/quick lunch choice! I'm a huge fan of onigiris and this place offers a good amount of options. I appreciate that the price is not too steep. Not the best onigiris I've had, but for the price, I would say it was pretty good!

You order from a kiosk and the food comes out fairly quick. I got two onigiris since I wasn't too hungry for lunch, and both of them were good! They were fresh, tasty, and had enough filling. I would definitely be back to try more!

The packaging is secure for delivery. The onigilly filling to rice ratio is very disappointing. More expensive than the average spam musubi. I'd get it if the contents were reasonable. At least spam isn't broken into bits and overwhelmed by the rice. I got chicken, too. That's dry.

Very refreshing rich ball that you can select fillings such as fish, beef, port, shrimps, and etc.... Don't let the tiny rice ball fools you, it is very filling and the favors of the meats are delicious. It's totally contactless transaction, order your food in the kiosk and wait for them to prep your meal and have it ready freshly made to go. No seating and its all take out.

Went back and tried the mushroom one and now we have ordered it multiple times in the past few weeks!!! Sooooooo good!

Yum! We got 7 different ones to try and all were tasty-- liked the shiitake mushroom and unagi the most. Could probably use more filling though as the other reviews mentioned. What was really mind blowing was the yuzu cheesecake-- one of the best most flavorful slices of cheesecake I've had! Highly recommend for a light dessert.

Overall Experience: 4 Food: 4 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 4 Value: 4 Pros: This place is great to order from if you plan on taking a picnic anytime soon! The food is so adorable and easy to eat on the go. Cons: The fillings were a bit on the salty side and the price was a bit high for what it is. The sides were also a little bland in my opinion (karaage, egg, etc) Tips: you can get a discount on your first order if you scan their QR code and order through your phone!

I really like Onigilly. I've gone here a couple of times, including for a virtual Yelp Elite event during the height of pandemic. The owners are a married couple who really put a lot of thought and care into their food. The onigiri here is different from what you'll find elsewhere, but it's still delicious. My favorites are the shrimp tempura, salmon, and the shiitake mushroom. I usually get them in a bento combo, which comes with edamame. If I'm really hungry, I'll get the combo that comes with a side of chicken karaage, tamago, and edamame. Curry was recently added to their menu, so I had to check it out. And I went during the middle of the thunderstorm, too. Worth it! Most Japanese curries are beef based, but theirs is vegan made with fruits and veggies. And it's really dark, which I've never seen before. The curry is slightly sweet, yet savory. I don't think it has the depth that you would get with meat curries, but I really appreciate that it is vegan. Many a times vegan substitutes aren't great, so it's nice to be able to get a vegan curry that doesn't skimp on the flavor. I would totally order it again. Frankly, I prefer this one over the Japanese curry place a few stores down. This location still does takeout orders only. I like to order ahead on their website for pickup.

When I tell you I've been DREAMING about these onigiri ever since I got to try them on an SF visit 5 ish years ago, I'm not even kidding. And they still lived up to my expectations! Such a unique fun spot, terrific for folks who are gluten free, vegan, sesame free, or all of the above like me. I just hope you bring back the spicy wasabi as a side for takeout orders...from memory, it was incredible!

Worth the try: Bento Set with your choice of 3 Onigily--comes with edamame, 2 large pieces of karaage, AND a small tamago. Absolutely filling. Tip: There's currently no indoor dining, so you'll have to take this to-go. Bonus tip: Order ahead online to skip the wait. They're currently offering 20% off your first order when you order online. Unagi: good amount of eel with just the right amount of sauce Shrimp Tempura: large piece of crispy shrimp tempura! Snow Crab: generous amounts of flavorful crab PARKING: Located in the busy Finance District, limited street parking and paid garages available. SERVICE: There are two self-service kiosks available for you to order from. My order was made quickly after being submitted. ATMOSPHERE: Small shop, currently no indoor dining as mentioned. I was craving rice balls and found this place nearby on Yelp. What makes Onigily different is that they use brown rice without the usual sugar or vinegar that come in sushi rice. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the sauce they use make up for the flavor. Love that you can get just 1 or 2 rice balls if you want a snack or you can get a whole bento set that comes with other things that make you feel like you arent just eating a ton of rice. Worth checking out, especially if you're looking for a quick meal downtown!

I went to Onigilly for lunch with two workers on Thursday and it was delish!! The service was amazing, I told the person organizing the orders that I'd ordered on Yelp and didn't receive an order number, and he said they'd make it right away. So kind. The food was absolutely delicious. I got a poke bowl with two scoops of ahi tuna with everything on it. The only slight issue was that I ordered it without corn and it came with corn on it. But that was fine! Overall, great experience and super awesome little lunch spot conveniently located right by my office. Very much looking forward to coming back and trying some new things!

I needed food last minute for a work event with 120 people. The manager of Onigilly spent time going over the menu to accommodate gluten free and vegan options. He not only took my request but offered free delivery since his location didn't have enough. The South Bay location made up the difference and delivered. The food was incredible and my team was appreciative of the last minute request!

Got Ubereats, so cannot comment on the Service and ambiance. Got bento set with 3 onigiri, miso soup and matcha cheesecake. Everything is very well packaged. Unagi Onigiri (4/5) - typical unagi chopped with unagi sauce. It's not too sweet but do have a good amount of small fish bones so be careful if you are feeding young children's Spicy Shrimp onigiri (3/5) The chili sauce is like the one used as dipping sauce for spring rolls. Shrimp is crunchy but doesn't match well with the sauce. the Snow Crab onigiri (5/5) Best out of all, the snow crab salad taste good with the rice. LoL wish we can add avocado in it

I loved the food. it was a bit confusing ordering, and I may have ordered too much. I had the bento that had 3 "rolls" and then also ordered the wasabi slaw cup. Everything was delicious, and I'd go back again. Spicy beef was just spicy enough without being overpowering. Loved the unagi as well. What a great surprise found while walking down the street.

Came by here on a whim today on our way back to our hotel. Ordered the Zosui soup, tempura shrimp onigiri, snow crab onigiri, spicy bacon onigiri, and unagi eel onigiri. Use kiosk inside to order. Parking on the street. Done. Everything was decent, but nothing to rave about.

Fast, fresh, and tasty. My entire family loves getting onigilly here. They mill their own brown rice and it is light and delicious. The fillings are all good. Great for gluten free, vegetarian, pescatarian diets.

Worth the price! It's cheap if you just want to grab a single onigiri (around $3.75) however it quickly adds up once you buy more. The total for 3 onigiris + a Bento 2 onigiri box was approximately $30. I ordered the Bento 2 onigiri box with karaage which came with Tamago and Edamame. The Karaage tasted great but I wish they included a piece of lime with it. The tamago was delicious as well, and tasted super sweet and soft. As for the onigiri, the tempura shrimp was absolutely delicious, and there was very good rice to filling ratio. The spicy miso beef was a little too sweet for my taste, with a slight twang of spiciness. The chicken teriyaki was definitely my favorite, but the salmon was a close second. It was a tad salty and dry, but still pretty good. I wish they had a spicy mayo salmon option! Service was pretty fast, you order at the kiosk and they'll make it for you, it's usually pretty fast unless you order the karaage and anything else that needs to be fried. There is no indoor seating allowed, pretty much a "grab and go" spot.

Great poke bowls!! They're huge and affordable for a Fidi lunch spot. Great topping options and clearly labeled what is gluten free!

I recently went to Japan and saw some onigiri at the grocery stores but did not have an opportunity to eat one. So, I looked for a place to have onigiri after coming back to the Bay Area and found this place. The place was small, without eat-in space. So, I went to a park near-by to eat what I bought. I purchased a seaweed salad set, including two onigiris, ume and hijiki. The rice was cooked well, and the ingredients were fresh. I especially liked the hijiki. But the set was not enough for lunch. I should have ordered 3 onigiris.

Ordered pickup from here since it's in Fidi and super close to work. Ordering online was fairly easy, and my food was ready for pickup when I arrived. I ordered a bento set with 3 onigilly and a custom set with 3 onigilly and an add-on of half a portion of edamame. Unfortunately, the custom set didn't come with the edamame, which was really disappointing since I paid for the edamame and why I'm docking off some stars. The onigilly itself was pretty good. For the custom set, I got the spicy beef, spicy shrimp, and teriyaki chicken. My personal fav was the spicy beef. I think the food is pretty solid for its price point, especially in Fidi. It's a shame that this location is only open for lunch too! Would've loved to pick this up later in the evening for dinner. EDIT: Aki, the business owner, quickly reached out to me in regards to the missing edamame from my order. Personally, this shows how much the business cares for its customers and demonstrates great customer service. Bumped up my review to 4 stars (from 3) because of this!

Love the food from here. I have tried a wide variety of Onigilly from here and I have not been disappointed yet. It's also all at a great price especially in San Francisco which is super hard to come by nowadays. Service is also fast which is appreciated for folks working in the city so they don't have to waste their whole break in line getting food. Such a great spot to come to if you're craving it! Highly recommend.

Pretty gross. Got poke and one of ingredients was salmon. Not sure what was wrong with it, but it tasted like it came from a can. The rice was also pretty bad mushy and clumpy - not good for a place that is all about rice. I almost never get heartburn, but I did after this place.

I made a pick up order which was easy to get. It was very crowded inside during the lunch hour and the space is very small but it got the job done. We didn't eat at the restaurant. We went to Union Square and were able to eat these pretty easily seeing as they are a on the go type of food. I tried the tuna, salmon, and shrimp. This was my first time having Onigilly so I don't know what it should taste like, but I do know that overall the rice and filling were good but not great. There was a little bit of flavor missing honestly, I think if they just added a pinch of salt to each each one it could've brought the flavor out but again this is my first time having this type of dish so I can't really read it based off of authenticity. The side of edamame was underwhelming. It felt like they could've just given that to me for free seeing at as it was barely a handful. I do wish they offered some type of salt for the edamame as opposed to just plain edamame.

Fish was not fresh, seaweed salad was also almost brown colored. In the picture, you can see the salmon and how the coloring is off. The one in the front had warm fish (we picked it up just 10 mins before eating) & fish was tough and not fresh with no flavoring.

There wasn't much filling inside and fillings were all very mediocre. Def taste more rice than filling. I understand that's how onigiri is generally made but this was too stingy to me. Rice was kind of mushy too. - Unagi - was maybe my fav but there was only a sliver of fish lol was mostly sauce. - Eggplant - absolutely not from someone who generally likes eggplant. gummy and slimey. - Shiitake - was ok but minced too fine - Tarako - don't enjoy it warm and cooked like that. tasted more mayo than tarako - Shrimp tempura - SKINNIEST shrimp I ever had. More batter than shrimp. - Kobacha croquette - actually pretty good - Fried chicken - dry and hard

I have tried Onigilly once a few years back and they have grown their menu to add more vegetarian options. I was in the area and wanted to get some decently priced lunch (under $10) with is kind of rare in the Fi-Di area. I ordered 2 onigiri's a la carte. I wanted to try the ume plum version & teriyaki tofu. They are decent but not amazing. Plum is one of my favorite fruits. I found the ume to be very sour and not enjoyable. The teriyaki tofu wasn't really memorable for me.

Rice bowl with three items is my favorite for lunch. Delicious and healthy. Easy ordering kiosk, fast and efficient

So good. They stayed together very well. The snow crab was underwhelming but the mushroom one was to die for. Salmon was very good as well. I ordered them via DoorDash and everything was great.

I haven't been here in years and trying it again now did not disappoint :) The teriyaki chicken and unagi was the most flavorful out of the 6 that I got. Everything was very fresh and yummy. Will be coming here more often for a quick lunch!

I absolutely love Onigilly! I used to go here a lot when I worked in the area. I got the 3 rice ball, edamame, and fried chicken bento. I chose the chicken teriyaki, shiitake mushroom, and krab salad. Everything was so good! The shiitake mushroom was a bit too salty but I didn't mind. It was surprisingly really flavorful. The fried chicken was perfectly crispy and not overly greasy.

Ordered the Signature Poke Bowl. The best part was the specially pre-dressed salmon and tuna poke that paired well with the flavor and texture of the fish! Fresh veggie sides with good variety that went well with the fish, the hybrid rice grain tasted healthy and delicious. My new go-to place for poke bowls!