Tokyo Playground

A Unilocal event in May 2013 brought me here — I knew that Karma Lounge sat next to Buffalo Wild Wings, but didn’t realize it has fuzed into this Japanese scene.
The food we sampled at the event was great and we enjoyed some drinks from the bar. Most notably were the female staff in their cute uniforms. They weren’t just there to look at though. The girls were all hard at work and friendly. I talked to several of them and they were all nice and happy to tell us about Tokyo Playground.
Not sure if the area we used as a dance floor is always open but at night there’s a great spot for dancing and comfortable seating all around the room, including some private booths that overlooked the open floor. A bar and sushi bar sit next to one another.
I used to live in Dublin and I imagine if I still did I’d make a point of coming here often for dinner, drinks, and dancing if it didn’t close down. It was a lot of fun. And we didnt’ even have to miss any of the games that were on because lots of screens had the sports going! Score! The large screen of music videos to go along with the DJ was pretty cool too.

Have you ever eaten old sushi out of a diaper that was pulled out of a dumpster in extremely humid, 100 degree weather? That’s almost as bad as this alleged «playground». I guess that part is accurate since it feels like this place is run and operated by 7 year olds.
It felt like the servers forgot we were there, the water tastes like it was ladled out of the toilet, and the food tasted like Quasimodo cooked it blindfolded with his nasty feet. Musty smelling building, TVs are too far away, music was obnoxiously loud, and my clothes were more revealing and scandalous than the servers’.
After leaving this place, I craved wet cat food because at least that’s a little appetizing. Seriously, I would rather eat a raw hamster that was marinated in human sweat for 72 hours. I’ve never left a restaurant and seriously considered getting a hepatitis shot until today.
Seriously, it’s not good. Nothing about this place is good.

We for a late lunch on the weekend went despite all the warnings on Unilocal,and were very disappointed with this place in general. There are flat-​screen TVs plastered all over the walls and very loud clubbing music constantly in the background. It was very hard to focus or have any sort of conversation since the atmosphere was a persistent assault on your senses.
There was only one waitress taking care of all the patrons, which is OK since there really wasn’t many people. However, it took a long time for the food to come out after placing our order. Really, with only ~15 total diners (most of which were already finished with their meal), it should not take half an hour to produce 4 pieces of nigiri sushi. The rolls took even longer (for which our waitress was apologetic), and though I liked my Pink Roll, they were just average quality that didn’t justify the price or wait.

Their rolls are standard, something you could get at any Japanese restaurant but you come here for the ambiance. Awesome bar, TV’s with every sports channel available, and half naked school girls dressed like every Japanese porno fetish, what’s not to like?
I ordered the Charlie Sheen roll and in classic Charlie Sheen fashion, it arrive really late. But it was fresh, spicy, and free of Tiger’s blood. I consider that «winning»

My co-​worker told me about this place and decided to check it out.
The worst sushi I’ve had in a long while; girls aren’t very cute neither. I’m not sure why people will go there. I know nothing is going on at Dublin, but hooters seems to be a better choice (can’t believe I’m saying that to begin with). Drive to SF or San Jose for better food /​entertainment combinations please.

Whoever said that this place is sushi meets Hooters hit the nail right on the head. The food is a solid three stars, but the ambience is what make this place unique. There are flat screen TV’s everywhere. The waitresses are scantily dressed, which isn’t bad. However, it makes for the perfect opportunity for under-​the-​influence patrons to flirt with the staff, which is quite the pet peeve. But anyway, I’m not penalizing for this… just saying. :)
Overall, I give this place 3 stars for the quality of food, but bump it to 3.5 for the ambiance. I may be back, but not anytime soon.

Hmm… sushi and themed up white chicks? I’ll check it out. Since I live down the street from here and had some friends visiting ehhhh why not? Well definitely not on a Wednesday night that’s for sure.
Sooooo, we get in and there’s probably only 3 other tables, couple of people hanging out at the bar (I think they were workers on break or something) and one really loud Blackhawks fan. So we get seated in the middle table area, where there was absolutely no one, and the one table we get is being propped up by about 87 and a half coasters, aiyah really? After we ordered some beers and having half of it empty upon putting it on the table, we were re-​seated by our waitress (who was 1 of 2 in the house).
Following a cursory review of the menu and being in the morose atmosphere, decided to just get appetizers and slide out. The tempura shrimp was like any old chain Sysco fried shrimp. The agadashi tofu actually wasn’t bad and well plated.
Overall I couldn’t recommend this place unless there was a game you wanted to watch and knew you would be able to get a seat here. To the waitress’ credit, she was still very perky in her little outfit and about the only saving grace for keeping it on point and being helpful, positive, and attentive. But unfortunately, she wouldn’t be enough to hang around there. Hopefully it’s a little better on a weekend. But I can’t recommend it during the week, it’s dead.

SAUCY!
Both the waitresses and the sushi were very saucy!
THE PLAYGROUND:
— High ceilings makes for louder music. Makes you wanna dance dance dance.
— Bartenders are friendly and makes fresh and delicious mixed drinks in a jiffy.
— Hot babes in skimpy outfits.
— Big TV screens for all sporting events.
— Cool hang out for sporting events.
— Good bar.
— Good place to host a grown-​up party. Not for kids!
— Black black black — walls, tables, chairs
THE SUSHI:
— Most of their sushi rolls are topped with ooohwiee goowie sauces. All you taste is ooohwiee goowie sauce with rice.
— Salmon nigiri tasted like it was freshly defrosted cold.
— White tuna nigiri was slightly warmer than room temperature.
— Rice was a tad on the sticky side.
— Edemame with teriyaki sauce was saucy.
GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THINGS:
If you like fusion-​confusion sushi with servers in cute cheerleader outfits, this is your joint. Don’t expect the quality of their sashimi to be perfect temperature, it varies for some odd and strange reason. However, if you just want to grab a drink and chill out, this is a great spot for that type of hang-​out.
NOTES: Lots of parking. Bathrooms are clean and modern.

I was quite surprise having tried this place out!
It’s a decent size venue. Very spacious.
They had a special-​climb up the ladder space, for the DJ which was totally cool. The DJ was totally rocking it with his great mixes and everyone was having a fabulous time dancing on the floor.
The sushi bar was delicious. I was able to taste different sushi rolls. I’m not a huge fan of raw food to begin with however their sushi chefs had great presentation and the texture and taste of the rolls was supreme!
Their bartenders and drinks were pretty delicious too and not at all as expensive as I thought it would be. Plus, they were cute eye candy :)
I recommend this play for happy hour or on a Friday night with friends.
Toodles for now~

Do not come for the food ! Go for the drinks, entertainment, and nice attentive waitresses. This is a sports bar /​night club not a restaurant. The drink bill was way more then the food. Had lunch with a friend who used his pickup truck to move a new BBQ. We both ordered the Bento lunch with salmon terriyaki, beef terriyaki, tuna roll, tempura and 4 piece sushi. The portions OK except the tuna roll which was tiny. The terriyaki is some kinda stir fry with lots of sauce on it. the beef was tough the salmon was OK. The rice was soft and mushy. Chocolate melting cake was very good.
Con’s– The food
The place was empty.
The menu was not cheap

Pro’s– The nice attractive waitresses.
The drinks (Sake’s and Beer) Asahi Black Beer
The TV’s
The parking
Service was excellent the waitress had nothing else to do but converse with us. The whole place was serving one table, the bartender and the Chef. Apparently, this is a club on Friday and Saturday nights.

Party sushi in da house tonight!
This place lit Dublin on fya! It was like a classy Japanese Hooters… but a high end Hooters! The DJ was spinning mash ups of hits back to back to back. My husband hates dancing, and after a few drinks (amazing bartender/​mixologist) the DJ got him on the floor! A task not easy to accomplish!
We went to the Unilocal Nomicon event and it was amaze craz.
The squid appetizer was a major fav of mine. And the salmon with balsamic.
I really appreciated the fact that the chef made a special roll of sushi with out avocado for me (I’m allergic I would die!) and he didn’t have to do that!
They earned so many points for that!
All in all, it was fun! I would return for sure. I just wish there were more options of sushi rolls without avocado and more creativity.

Recently I had my 2^nd visit to this location, it’s my «Anti-​Hooters» solution. It’s a sushi place where the girls wear a school uniform type sexy outfit, nothing trashy. The good part is that if you’re friendly and chill they will reciprocate. This place has a TV everywhere you look wtih sports on, normally local teams. the food was good, I only eat the Bentl boxes as I don’t like sushi, so plan on spending $ 15 – 20 on food unless you come to drink only, the beers are Japanese and they do make drinks at the bar. it’s a good chill experience, parking is the thing that makes this good, always a place to park. Yes I will be back

Ummm… welp, if you like mediocre sushi and looking at young girls in skimpy school girl outfits, this place is for you.
A male friend wanted to check this place out and I, too, was curious so we came here on a Saturday evening during an MMA fight. They charged a $ 10 cover which I thought was ridiculous to watch the fight in a little bitty place where you are elbow to elbow with your dining/​drinking/​watching patrons. It seriously looked like a bar with tables & chairs in the center of the floor. After the fight, they literally removed all the tables & chairs and turned it into a club/​lounge type of thing.
Maybe if I was 21 I would have digged a one-​stop-​shop for dinner and clubbing. but honestly it was cheesy at best. The only good thing was that they have fresh wasabi.

The first time we went there, I was thrilled we had a sports bar slash sushi place so close to where I live. The food was fine, except we made the mistake in ordering the garlic edamame, which was nasty. The big problem I had was the little girls who work there. Badass outfits, fo sho, but they have NO experience.
Been there three times, and each time, we are treated to silly girls who can’t answer questions, and are pretty dumb. Emphasis on pretty, because they are. Oh to be 20 again… I just can’t handle dumb.
Last night, we ordered the chicken gyoza, which is my favorite appetizer EVER! Didn’t disappoint. The tataki crisps were just delish too! Yummy. The shiro maguro was just okay. Hey, where’s my roll? The mackerel however had bones in it, and the Kobe beef was NOT Kobe, I’ve had Kobe sushi before and this crud was not good. Full of fatty tissue — I don’t think so. I almost asked for a knife. Yo, where’s my roll?
When we told the silly waitress about the bones and tissue, she gave us a deer in the headlights look and said shed let the chefs know. I told her I expected more than just an inform. Also, what’s the ETA on the roll? Oops, guess she never ordered it. Would we still like it? Um, never mind.
The bill came and I asked her why she included the mackerel and Kobe — gee, I’m not empowered to fix this for you, let me get the manager.
He was nice enough, and offered to comp the whole meal. I almost argued that I was happy with the other items, but if he wanted to comp us, why not?
We told him we’d been there three times and each time, disappointed with the lack of training and experience of the waitresses. Not sure if he’ll hire more qualified girls — maybe if we were there for the club effect, we wouldn’t care, but we go there for sushi.
I’d like to say ill go back, but never for food.

You are either going to love or hate this place. The waitresses were pretty perky and upbeat, super cute, and sweet. Yes, they do spend more time with their «boy» customers and more flirtatious, but we did not feel neglected.
They definitely do not have any knowledge on sushi or sashimi, but because they were so honest and courteous, it was ok. When our sashimi dish was substandard, she was more than happy to take it back. Same thing w/​drinks. Their cocktails are pretty good. I think it depends on the bartender, but overall pretty creative.
It’s becoming our fav sushi place around Dublin. HOWEVER, if you are anti-​tattoo, anti-​piercing, and just anti-​fun, you may not enjoy this place. I thought the girls were all fabulous and fun. We spent time talking about our tattoos and piercings. But I could see how more conservative crowd would feel «uncomfortable’ I say this because there was a couple sitting near us and the lady was talking trash about the waitresses the entire time. The waitresses did nothing wrong – I think she just didn’t like that fact that her husband/​date was drooling over the cute girls, haha

Congratulations it’s Hooters for redneck sushi. It’s a loud sports bar covered with flatscreens and waitresses in sexy school girl outfits. It’s distractions on top of more distractions, if that’s your guilty pleasure.
Sushi is good, so long as you prefer traditional sashimi or nigiri. The house rolls are adventurous and Americanized, meaning deep-​fried and have things like cheese mix and cheetos. Some dishes are nicely plated.
Establishment has the potential to seat large parties and offers quite the spectacle.

This place was so unprofessionally run it blew my mind. We went on opening weekend and the manager was schmoozing with some people next to us all night. The servers would come ask him questions and he couldn’t even be bothered enough to get up and help them. He just sat there and continued to eat and drink with his buddies.
Our server Danielle was awesome! She was the best part of the place. The food was ok… nothing spectacular. The gyoza I’m sure were frozen and the roll with the cheetos was so dry it was like eating sand. The didn’t have a happy hour at all, and they didn’t even know the prices for a pitcher of beer. The useless manager just arbitrarly made up a number and when Danielle rang it up it ended up being $ 4 cheaper than the useless managers answer.
I will NOT go back again… the experience was awful.

Tokyo Playground was a unexpected surprise for an eatery. Tokyo Playground has young ladies in japanese daisy-​mae style outfits. their role is to «host» the customers. the name is puzzling. beyond an initial greeting in japanese, there is nothing here to suggest this is a playground or tokyo is in da house. the menu is japanese fare.
lots of flatscreens, almost a sports bar ambience.
pour: speakeasy daddy tall (6.95) pt (3.95)
–only a few draft brands available.
eats: tempura (7.95)
–5ish pieces, nice tempera batter, not too thick, doughy
–not crispy nor doughy, inbetween, tasted housemade, not premade
hamachi nigiri (5.95)
–pretty fresh, rice fell apart
–good fish portion.
temaki:
–hearsay HH is being planned
–saw families coming in to dine.
–Karma Fusion takes over in the evenings
–service slow at times, roles of «hostess» conflicts with waitressing.
–food is above service for japanese fare
3.5 stars

I recently discovered Tokyo Playground from an online article on SF Gate, that was written about the place and soon after found a Groupon for $ 15 for $ 30 for two and that gave me a perfect excuse to go try it out on a Tuesday evening.
My friend and I, after getting lucky and finding a spot right up front, walked in and was greeted by a friendly hostess who seated us at our table.
Our waitress, Ken (Like Ken and Barbie — Her words :)) came soon after and took our drink orders, for me a tall Sierra Nevada ($ 6.95) and for my friend, a tall Saporro ($ 6.95) Looking for something a little smaller to drink? Pints go for a little less ($ 4.95). As a craft beer drinker, I wish they had a few more beers on tap, but was glad to at least see one of my favorites on the menu. Don’t drink beer? No worries, they have a full bar and a specialty drink menu (prices are around $ 10 for their specialty cocktails)
Looking around Tokyo Playground, you are surrounded by flat screens (and one large projection tv) showing a variety of sports. Tonight was Giants, A’s, Hockey, and Final Four Basketball. Whatever sport you wanted, they were sure to have it.
There are two bars (the second bar mainly to serve the weekend after hours nightclub this place becomes)
Sound is turned down on all the TVs and the jukebox music is turned up. So if your looking for a quiet intimate restaurant, this isn’t the place for you.
Looking over the menu, prices are a couple dollars higher than your average sushi restaurant, then again, this is not your average sushi restaurant!
After looking over their extensive menu, I finally settled on the Teriyaki Chicken Bento Box, which came with a side of steamed rice and a salad ($ 14.95) and added 4 pieces of sushi nigiri (2 Salmon and 2 Tuna) for $ 3 more. My friend got the Teriyaki Chicken Bento Box as well, but instead of adding sushi, he added a order of Teriyaki Beef for $ 3 more.
When our waitress brought out our food, we hadn’t expected as large of portions as we received. The Teriyaki Chicken (with slivers of sauteed zucchini) was brought out on large plates and not the typical bento box portion you would get at other restaurants. A side of steamed white rice (more than enough) a side salad with miso salad dressing, and 4 pieces of sushi nigiri completed my meal. Everything came out perfect and tasted good. My only minor complaint would be that the soy sauce ramekins are a little small and would need to be refilled if one were to order a lot of sushi, but for me, it wasn’t a problem.
After finishing our main dishes, we decide on another round of beers and finish watching the A’s and Giants games and we got to meet the manager who asked how we heard about them and for our feedback.
As a new business less than a month old, there is sure to be a few things to be worked out (please add your menu to your website!), but overall I had a good time and with friendly, beautiful waitresses, good service and good food, I will definitely be back.
I hope to see from them soon, a happy hour menu. When that debuts, I’ll be sure to stop by a few times after work.

Very nice! Found this place just a few hours ago Searching for a sushi near Livermore and this little gem popped up! The more I saw online, The more intrigued I was. And it did not disappoint in person. Great service great food great atmosphere. Rush was the best waitress and most helpful sushi expert we have experienced in a long time. I am from the Dallas area visiting Livermore frequently for work, and I will be back!
Thanks again guys!