{"id":434252,"date":"2026-08-16T03:06:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T03:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/434252\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T03:06:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T03:06:36","slug":"zuma-san-diego-is-the-citys-new-modern-japanese-izakaya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/434252\/","title":{"rendered":"Zuma San Diego is the City&#8217;s New Modern Japanese Izakaya"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zuma has spent nearly 25 years taking over the world \u2013 Hong Kong, Istanbul, Rome, Miami, Madrid, and more. Now they\u2019re open in San Diego, and it\u2019s their first California location. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 12,000-square-foot space in downtown seats around 220, with a garden terrace, wraparound bar, and a dedicated DJ booth. Safe to say San Diego won this round.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Zuma-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"Zuma san diego\" class=\"wp-image-91509\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Black Cod in Hoba Leaf, Chu-Toro With Oscietra Caviar, and Norwegian King Crab<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The menu was shaped by Zuma creator and co-founder Rainer Becker, built around the brand\u2019s izakaya-style sharing format \u2013 which means you order a lot, share everything, and somehow still wish you\u2019d ordered more. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the robata grill: gin-dara no saikyo yaki, marinated black cod wrapped in hoba leaf. From the sushi counter: Arjun\u2019s chu-toro maki, prime tuna with finely diced spring onion and Oscietra caviar. From the kitchen: yaki taraba gani, Norwegian king crab with ponzu. Start there and keep going.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"737\" data-id=\"91512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Zuma-1-1024x737.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-91512\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"91510\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Zuma-2-2-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"zuma san diego\" class=\"wp-image-91510\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"737\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Zuma-2-1024x737.jpeg\" alt=\"zuma san diego\" class=\"wp-image-91511\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Forty Varieties of Sake and a Cocktail Smoked Over a Barrel Stave<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bar is not messing around. Over 40 varieties of sake, premium Japanese spirits, and a cocktail menu that deserves its own visit. The Burning History blends Suntory Toki whisky, Lagavulin 16-year-old, yuzu, honey, ginger, and egg white, smoked over a barrel stave. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Zuma Paloma goes tequila, clarified yuzu and hibiscus cordial, and a grapefruit Himalayan solution. The Osaka Spritz \u2013 strawberry and basil-infused Aperol, prosecco, tonic \u2013 is the one for the patio.<\/p>\n<p>Monolithic Boulder Walls, Timber Screens Made in Indonesia, and a Courtyard That Feels Like a Secret<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zuma\u2019s in-house design team drew from the Baja California landscape, and it shows. Large-scale stone elements, monolithic boulder walls, woven glass handcrafted in Munich, and timber screens made in Indonesia that reference both Japanese motifs and the Balboa Park Botanical Building\u2019s iconic wood lath structure. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Handmade ceramic faces, Japanese washi paper, a resin bar front with suspended bubbles. The secluded courtyard terrace feels like a retreat someone forgot to put on the map. It\u2019s going to be the best seat in the house.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"923\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"91514\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Zuma-4-1-923x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-91514\"  \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"853\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"91513\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Zuma-4-853x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-91513\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>See you there!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The doors are open, the bar is stocked with 40 varieties of sake, and the courtyard is waiting. Make a reservation and go.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udccd 500 W Broadway, San Diego<br \/>\ud83c\udf9f\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zumarestaurant.com\/en\/san-diego\/book-a-table\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Book now<\/a><br \/>\u2139\ufe0f See what\u2019s in store for you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zumarestaurant.com\/en\/san-diego\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">See you there, San Diego!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zuma has spent nearly 25 years taking over the world \u2013 Hong Kong, Istanbul, Rome, Miami, Madrid, and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[74,76,75],"class_list":["post-434252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}