Sumo Grub

No longer there.
Now its just a burger shop… I guess. They have rice plates and stuff.
I went there expecting indulgence and ended up with a blank stare when I asked what was fried. I quickly retreated out the door when I didn’t get the appropriate response.
SUMO GRUB IS DEAD! Don’t waste the gas.

Awww I really want to try this place… open up another one… San Leandro this time…

I’d give this place 5 stars for how it tastes. However, I’d give it 1 star based on how sick I feel almost immediately after I finish eating there. I’ll split the difference and give them 3 stars overall.
Everything is fried here, and everything tastes amazing. It’s just too much fat and grease though to eat a full meal worth of fried food. If you want to stop in with a friend and share a rich dessert like a fried snickers or fried brownie, this is the perfect place.

drove by Sumo Grub and saw a new tenant here.
«Mix it Up» seem to be the name.
just grabbed a generic root beer float (2.25)

This place fries anything and everything you can think of, including oreos, twinkies, cake, and ice cream. I tried to avoid the fried and got this pork rice plate that was alright. It was better than what my friends were getting which was the Sumo Challenge. My friend did the dessert challenge which had freshly fried oreos and twinkies. Watching him trying to down that was pretty disturbing and it just wouldnt go awayyy. They also have the Six Feet Under burger with a billion patties and Im not sure how you finish two patties. Sumo Grub is a fun place if someone is doing the challenge but you wouldnt go here just to have lunch. It is more for show than for an actual meal.
**TIPS**
1) Dont do the challenge. You wont finish and it will cost you anywhere from $ 25-​$ 50.

Finally came here after my friend kept on telling me how amazing the deep fried food here is! And it did not disappoint!
It’s a rather small place, but the unmistakable sumo wrestler sign is hard to miss on the street! Inside they have a couple tables and booths, and a wide screen connected to a computer and music playing in te back. Because I was already full from lunch, we ended up only ordering the deep fried Oreo ($ 2) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top (~$ 7) and man it was delicious! Oreos were soft and fried in tempera batter (as is all their items) and its just SO GOOD. It surprisingly did not feel like such a heart attack that I was expecting… I dropped half of one of my Oreos on the ground and nearly cried at the loss.
The staff is also friendly and very willing to talk! I’d love to come back late at night for some drunchies; I can feel that it would just be amazing. Til next time!

This place has such a creative and fun menu! They have food like fried mac and cheese, deep fried ice cream, fried twinkies, fried oreos, etc. I think they even have fried pizza! So far, I’ve had their kim-​chee burger (it was very tasty and different), their tacos (also very good) and their fries.
The owner of the place Jason, is very nice and friendly in a genuine way.
If you haven’t tried this place, it would be a fun place to check out. They also have a small area in the back where you can eat outside.

I tried to come here for dinner one night, during the week in December. According to Unilocal,and their website, they should’ve been open, but they weren’t. And, they still had their summer hours on the door. Nothing else.
Will I ever be able to try Sumo Grub? I’m not sure and I don’t think I even want to put in the effort.

Cute little spot.
if you’re into dieting, health, and fitness… forget about coming here!
fried. fried. frrrried desserts!
My cousin took me here and we shared «The Heart Attack».
Yes…its fried everything galore dessert!
It consisted of:
deep fried tempura battered ice cream, oreos, twinkies, with whipped cream and chocolate syrup.
I definitely went to the gym the following morning.

Not worth it. Don’t waste your time.
The owner of the place appears to be a super asshole. My friend and I wanted to try a challenge, but we thought about hitting the gym first so we’d be hungrier by the time we tried. The owner just kept pressuring us and pushing us to eat at this instant, as if he really wanted our money or something. I think he steered us to try the challenges he knew we couldn’t finish, just so we wouldn’t be eating for free either.
Also, one of his employees appeared to have just started working there, and when he couldn’t explain the challenge to us (he appeared nervous!), the owner just yelled at him in front of the customers. He also openly told us that he didn’t trust the guy alone with the cash register.
My friend and I decided to try out the Triple Bypass Challenge, after much pushing from the owner for us to do it. The rules for the challenge are:
1. must finish everything in 15 minutes
2. once you throw up, you lose.
3. you cannot get up and walk around in that time.
4. you are allowed only one bottle of water.
Within 10 minutes, I was starting the third burger, but either the sodium content or something was off balance and I started getting dizzy. The water didn’t really help, and everything just tasted gross. Needless to say, neither of us finished the challenge successfully, and are now part of the «Wall of Shame.»
We took the leftovers and just gave it to a hobo. It’s really overhyped and I’m not coming back. To this day I have issues eating tempura.

Are you ready to start a diet? Cause Sumo Grub is a great place to get your deep fried foods overkill on! You just may swear off fried foods and you’ll be ready for some leafy greens and fiber enriched foods…
Sumo Grub is more of a 3-​star place, but since I’m all about desserts it gets 4-​stars for their Tempura desserts galore! You can get any candy bar such as Snickers, Twix and Reeses, cookies, cakes and ice cream tempura battered and deep fried.
The Heart Attack or Suicide, includes scoops of ice cream tempura battered and deep fried. Oreos, tempura battered and deep fried. Twinkies, yup, tempura battered… *sigh*… deep fried. Topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup. As if that wasn’t enough, we added deep fried Reeses! Definitely a good dessert for sharing with a group!
Also good for sharing is the Banana Split. Deep fried bananas and plain ice cream topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Can cure a deep fried goodness with ice cream dessert craving for me quick!
Tempura Burger —
You can choose this tempura or regular, with a choice of toppings. We chose bacon and cheddar, tempura’d. I liked the crunch to it.
Chicken WIngs —
Sooo extra juicy with your choice of dipping sauces, we chose ranch and the Wasabi Mayo. Out of everything, this one had the grease!
Tempura Polish —
We chose it tempura style and they ran out of hot dog buns so you’re seeing it on a burger bun. We chose chili and cheese for toppings.
Tempura Pizza —

I liked it! Fried bread with a hint of pizza sauce and cheese– how could I not?
Tempura Mac & Cheese —
Not a fan! Only cause I’m not a fan of processed cheeses, and this tasted like boxed mac n cheese all the waaay. Of course I wasn’t expecting gourmet mac n cheese, but the Sumo Grub dipping sauce helped freshen up the flavor. The Sumo Grub sauce is similar to pesto in flavor.
What I love about Sumo Grub is it’s great for groups and it’s fun! You can get anything deep fried, it’s not greasy at all and again, you can get anything deep fried! If it’s not on the menu– bring it in and they’ll fry it up for you!

Although I lived at Library Gardens (apartments right next to Sumo Grub) for a year during my sophomore year in college, I never would’ve known about this place if people hadn’t told me about it. Sumo Grub is placed conveniently for Berkeley High School students, but not very visible/​close to most UC Berkeley students.
I love how this place is open late at night! Two of my friends and I came here for the first time around midnight, but we had to leave and stop by the bank (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Chase are at the intersection of Center and Shattuck) because this place is cash only.
We were curious about how a lot of the food offered tasted deep fried so we shared tempura vanilla ice cream, oreos, twinkies, and mac and cheese. We got free oreos and twinkies because we used our Munch On Me deal! Yay! The food came out pretty fast, and we started with the ice cream first. There was way too much tempura? on the ice cream that it tasted too… bread-​y? So I ended up eating just the vanilla ice cream. The twinkies were okay… It tasted way too unhealthy and heavy for me that I could barely finish half a twinkie (the twinkie comes cut in half). Oreos were very sweet and tasted better than twinkies in my opinion. THE MAC AND CHEESE WAS LEGIT! It was really good, and easily my favorite. The sauce complimented the mac and cheese very well! I just wish that the mac and cheese wasn’t as hard and deep fried as it was.
My friends and I felt so disgusting after we tried our best to finish… I definitely felt my arteries clogging, and a food coma was hitting me super fast. I started having headaches too lol… This place is definitely a one time experience for me… I think I’ll lose a year of my life if I eat here again…
OH! NO FREE WATER! You have to buy water for a $ 1… so either bring your own water, or just pay for the water. You’ll get really thirsty after eating all the deep fried food… My friends and I were very thirsty afterwards, so we ended up chugging gallons of water at Crossroads (dining commons for UC Berkeley) lol…
I would also like to share that for the Sumo Grub challenges… 2 people are on the Hall of Fame… while 48 people are on the Hall of Shame. Completely understandable…

it was worth trying once. but i’m the type of gal trying to stay away from processed food. Sumo Grub brands itself well as a junk food stop that challenges visitors to go a step beyond junk food into the fried junk food realm. Their menu doesn’t contain any spam musubi however, which to me, is a classic, but anyway. Their menu does contain a bunch of fried ‘n’ processed delights like twinkies, muffins, snickers, mac n cheese, and much much more. I’m sure if you wanted to you could bring in something, ask them to fry it, pay for it, and eat it there.
I tried the fried mac n cheese myself expecting it to be amazing after hearing that they make their own panko bread crumbs. I’m also a DIE HARD mac n cheese fan, but I digress. The innards, the mac n cheese itself, was unmistakably the blue box mac n cheese (or some permutation thereof) that I so despise paying for… at a restaurant no less! Pinky raise. I was displeased with that… Anyway, the thing came out piping hot. It’s tasty enough when you dip it in the magic italian mayo sauce. But I won’t return. It’s just not worth it – eating something that doesn’t taste that good, costs too much, and increases my risk of coronary disease? No thank you. If it’s going to hurt me it better be friggin amazing.
As for the location itself, it’s in a nice area close to the downtown berkeley bart station with enough seating for 4 groups of 4 or any combination therein. Though I wouldn’t go again, it may be worth it to stop by if I’m ever in the neighborhood to see some poor berkeley high kid gorge on one of the fried food challenges. That’s fun right…

painfully delicious
Sumo Grub has a glutton’s challenge– Tempura Triple Bipass– it’s three tampura fried patties, topped with two onion rings x3. that’s nine ¼ lbs patties in total to be exact– and they dare you to eat it all in 15 minutes.
Quick note– this challenge cost $ 25: the meal is free if you win, you get a tshirt, and a picture on the hall of fame. –lose and you don’t get your money back, you get a nice full tummy of yummy food, and your picture on the hall of shame.
Side note-​lucky for me somebody sent out a challenge on wordswithfriends saying that who so ever beats them and gives them their first lost– wins $ 20. i used that money to help fund the Sumo Grub Challenge. :) thanks ricky!
with funding secured and courage in hand– challenge accepted!
i consider myself a very big eater, a fast eater, and i was very happy to take it on! the odds were stacked high against me (and myfriendrafa who also decided to try it) no one who ever dared take on the challenge lasted beyond the first stack. there were many who tried and all ended up on the wall of shame.
the burgers were painfully delicious. they give you the choice of toppings which is a nice, and offer you as much water as you want, which was cool as well… renee our host for the evening was the perfect commentator for the challenge. he teased and heckled, as well as cheered us on.
but alas though the burgers were delicious. it just proved to be too much. there is a very gross flip video of the two of us taking on the challenge, but i’m hesitant to put it on youtube. i’m not sure if i want to relive the experience. there is however a picture of me on the wall of shame, and there is no shame in that.
it’s better to have taken a bite and lost, than to have never had a taste at all.
until next time,
cheers!

I saw this on the Food Network and had to try it! I came here last night with my gf and ordered chili cheese fries, fried oreos and twinkies. It was delicious and I didnt even feel gross haha even after eating a lot earlier. The batter is amazing since its pure tempura fried. There is barely oil and fat sticking on. Jason is the man and I even got a pic with him! Great late night food up in this place!
I will be joining the tempura challenge soon! Watch out for me!

Sumo Grub by the numbers:
12 tempura Oreos
6 tempura Twinkies
2 tempura scoops of ice cream
1 tempura cheesecake
Whip Cream
Chocolate Syrup
As I looked into the depths of the bucket set beside me, I wondered, how much until my big bird food ends up in the metaphorical baby bird’s mouth? I waited, anxiously, for something I would never order, something I’d never even consider ingesting, but there I was alone in my state of food panic, awaiting a platter of fried death.
With 15 minutes to eat this challenge, appropriately dubbed «Tempura or Die,» I dug deep to my inner Kobayashi and came up a Twinkie late and an Oreo short. Actually, I barely ate a quarter of the food.
Even if you’re not here to partake in the food challenge menu, you can score other edible delights like chicken wings, tacos, hoagies, rice plates, burgers and sausages. You know, the good stuff! What’s more, owner/​maven, Jason Sum, is a pretty cool dude.

All my life, I have had a passion for fried foods. My family even had KFC on a bi-​daily basis.
There used to be a pastrami shop at a gas sation near my place that sold fried Twinkies, Oreos, PB&Js, cookies, and some other stuff. To my misfortune, the day I tried visiting was a week after the place was shut down (no, they didn’t kill anybody). I was sad, and Unilocaled the Bay Area for more. I eventually got impatient, so I ended up buying a pack of Oreos with a gallon of Bisquick and went crazy at midnight on New Years.
Someone mentioned Sumo Grub in one of the threads, so I bookmarked it. I was ridiculously excited, ready to eat myself to five hundy!
When I finally did, it was a Saturday after. I had BARTed from Fremont for my first meal of the day, to be greeted by a note on the door that told me it was restocking day and that they weren’t open until 4:30PM. Boo! So, I ran to a local café and loitered for two hours, and then sat next to hobos at the public library.
When I did return, it was about 6PM. I had some papusas and platanos maduros, so I wasn’t as hungry as a sumo man. Still, I ordered tempura mac n cheese, pizza, Oreos, and a Twinkie. I first had desserts while waiting at the BART station and the rest while I was on the train. The mac n cheese and pizza were like nothing I’ve had before. There was cheese drizzled on top, and I slathered on the sumo sauce like there was no tomorrow… Oh lawdy.
There was a pain in my stomach, one of the happy kind. You know, the party in your tummy that’s trying to handle 150 occupants when the limit is 100. Dang.
After that, I knew I had to return for more. Fried Kit-​Kats, ice cream, Snickers, cheesecake: I had to try everything!
I forgot about it for awhile. Not about Sumo Grub, but about my longing for more tempura deliciousness.
I came back the other night, desperate for tempura mac n cheese and sumo sauce. Somewhere along the road, somehow, I ended up taking the Grub or Die challenge.
…Wut?
Six Twinkies, twelve Oreos, two scoops of ice cream, and cheesecake (which ended up being a stupid brownie because they ran out of cheesecake), all fried with some whipped cream and a slathering of chocolate syrup. All of it had to be gone within fifteen minutes, and none of it could end up in the bucket they gave me.
I never had fried Twinkies before Sumo Grub, but I figured it was okay… NOT. Ugh, I ate maybe half. The fried part of the ice cream was actually very tasty, but the ice cream was a brain freeze. The Twinkies were good until I ate too many. The Oreos hardened after awhile, along with the tempura shell… Having someone trying to shove brownie in my face made it all the worse. Ughhhhhh.
There was even a boy cheering me on by repeating, «Go Nancy!»
They gave me a five-​minute extension, but I still failed miserably. They even have a picture of me on their Wall of Shame to prove it (I am Anastasia Beaverhousen). Never again!
In the end, I wasn’t left feeling full, but I did feel sick of Twinkies and Oreos. I wanted chicken wings, but they ran out. I wanted to fill my bucket with tears…
On a brighter note, I’ll be taking a blood test soon and I can now be sure that I have diabetes and high blood pressure. Hooray!

Something on the lighter side.
She said, «I don’t throw up.» Then she proceeded to demonstrate.
This place comes to you courtesy of Satan. I’d not before adventured in, as really at first glance it’s not my cup of sweet tea.
So, in the house last night there was a daredevil, a suicidal maniac, a superstar, a compact wonder woman with a desire to have her immaculate complexion on the wall of fame. I watched as she undertook the Sumo Grub Fried Dessert Challenge. Let’s see if I can remember — six fried Twinkies, a dozen fried oreos, a fudge the size of a fat pb&j sammich, something that looked like a pork bun but filled with ice cream instead (two of them). Is that it? I think that’s it.
I had fries and Coke and watched while she choked half of it down. Sadface. Wall of shame, not wall of fame.
It’s right around the corner from the other places I more frequently frequent, thus my stumblage upon the venue. It’s open until 2:30 in the morning, which will guarantee a visit after everything else is closed, to ward off the constable before the drive home. The fare ranges from the fried dessert to wings and burgers and hot dogs and mac n cheese (fried). Irrespective my desire to sample some of the fried sweets, it all looked quite yummy and tempting.
The fellows that run the joint are most excellent chaps. Friendly, funny, quick with a bucket if you’re silly enough to try to gobble a platter of their sweet goodness.
Five stars, and a vomit bag to go please.

The novelty is fun, it’s the idea of all those fatty fair foods you always hear about, but now you don’t have to wait for the fair to come around. Atherosclerosis? Don’t even worry about it, it’s just one meal. or snack. or dessert. Live a little :)
Tempura everything here. Well, almost everything. We came at 8:16pm and they did not have any wings left, which was an abysmal calamity, because I was really looking forward to those. Ok, I am exaggerating, it was actually just a slight disappointment.
The tempura mac and cheese (a MUST GET!!!) was delicious, but when we wanted to order seconds, they unfortunately had to break the sad news that they were out for the night. I cried a little at the counter, and the staff reassured me that I was going to live. Thank goodness he shared those comforting words, or else I would not have been able to make it through the rest of my night to come home and write this review. I settled for a tempura cheese pizza slice, which was also good, but not as good as the tempura mac and cheese. Tempura oreos were deceivingly tasty. Don’t let the texture fool you.
The winner? That crazy awesome white sauce that comes with the tempura-​ed goods. I don’t know what it’s called, but I’m just going to dub it «white magic» because it was magical.
Also, how can you not love this place when the walls and curtains are ORANGE inside!!! :D :D
they have happy hour and combos and all sorts of deals.
warning: cash only.

Sumo Grub is a fat girls dream. Luckily, I have the spirit of a fat girl. I am talking cellulite, muffin top, and EEE gazongas. Usually, I try hard to lock this part of myself away, but at Sumo Grub, I get to indulge and let the fat accumulate in my arteries like snow across the Midwest.
I have had two delightful, let my jelly flag fly free moments so far. First, I had a simple burger coated in peanut sauce. This wasn’t your Thai place’s peanut sauce, this literally was ground up fresh from peanuts. beats ketchup on fries! Second, the tempura Mac and Cheese. I have heard it’s a legend in these parts. The tempura was crunchy and flaky, almost like a fish stick. The mac and cheese did tasty a little dry and didn’t ooze out of the casing like I may have hoped, but the whole concoction was drizzled with cheese sauce and some other sauce which made me want to bathe in it.
I shall be back. Along with my inner bootyliciousness.