Bento Xpress

I came here for lunch on a weekday. There were about 10 people inside eating when I got there, and there were a lot of empty tables. I went to the counter to order lunch special #8, which had chicken teriyaki, tempura, and potstickers. I waited about five minutes for my food to come out, and then I ate! The tempura was my favorite part out of all of it — it came out piping hot so the outside was super crunchy and toasty. When it got cold (er) as I ate my meal though, it became less good. The breading is actually pretty thick on the shrimp. The potstickers I’m pretty sure they microwaved to reheat it; it wasn’t fresh and the bottoms weren’t crunchy (though they were properly browned so they should be crunchy — this is what tipped me off about them not being freshly heated). The teriyaki chicken was okay; chicken was fine, not too dry, and the sauce was a bit too sweet and gingery for my taste. Rice was just okay too. There was a salad with a lot of dressing on top and some bean sprouts too. For $ 10.33 including tax, this was definitely a lot of food, but the quality of the food isn’t superb. Not too bad though.

It doesn’t taste good. More like a fast food place. I asked for green tea, and got a tea bag.

I crave this place when I’m in the South Bay. The beef and chicken they use is very lean (love teriyaki). I had an issue just once with my order being incorrect when I brought it home, but the chef was so kind to make it up to me during my next visit. Excellent customer service.

You can tell there is Hawaiian culture in this place and it’s cool. I took my mom there and was pleasantly surprised. I got some tempura veggies and veggie potstickers were all really good. My mom got a bento (can’t remember which one) but there was more then enough food for left overs. The prices are decent for japanese food in the bay area. I would go back again and recommend it to people. I’m pretty sure it’s family owned, too. The service was friendly and warm.

A real whole in the wall kind of place, but good food. We got a bento box combo, 3 items 10.95. Good price for the amount of food. Best California roll I have every had. Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura ok, nothing special. We also got the chicken katsu, which was similar to fired chicken. The restaurant was very clean and the service was nice. We would go back.

Great hospitality ! Feels just like home ! Food is very delicious if you are from Hawaii you will understand the freshness and the great FLAVORS they have to offer is amazing !!! Keep it up braddahz!

I was in charge of throwing a small party (~20 people) in the area of this restaurant. Not being from the area, I did my research and found that this place has a really good catering menu with reasonably priced party trays.
So we decided to go with them. We faxed in our order because that was an option (three different trays; our order came to about $ 120). But not only did we fax it, we called after we sent the fax to make sure they received it; the lady who was working (afternoon/​evening of 3÷1÷16) repeated our order and assured us it would be ready on Sunday. No deposit was needed she said. Because I would’ve gladly given my credit card, in fact, we offered it. But she said it wasn’t needed. Fine. Can you tell by my tone that this isn’t going to end well?
We arrived on Sunday to find that our order wasn’t ready and not only that, the employees had zero clue about my order. I panicked because the party was set to start in less than an hour and I had NO FOOD (NO FOOD! WHAT THE HELL?! I was seriously going to cry). I was very upset. The poor girl working that day was like a deer in the headlights… she had no idea what to do. She had to call her manager over the phone and then passed the phone to us. lol. The manager was quite rude, completely denying that we sent an order in. And not only that, they didn’t apologize or even offer to quickly make the order. We passed the phone back and forth a couple times (I’m assuming they were trying to figure out if they should do the order or not when it really shouldn’t have a been a question) until I realized I really had no time to sit here and discuss it because there was a party waiting for me to bring the food. I REALLY NEEDED TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO GET FOOD SINCE THIS PLACE DIDN’T SEEM TO WANT MY BUSINESS. We left with not resolving the issue with the restaurant. No one has called to apologize since. I suppose our faxed order just disintegrated into thin air.
Do not order party trays from this establishment. They cannot be trusted with such an important piece to your party. Thank goodness I was able to find another restaurant nearby willing to complete my order in less than 20 mins! See how easy that was Bento Xpress?

Not pricy but delicious. Ordered katsuton and veg I donburi, both are authentic and delicious.

I came here with my mom and tbh I didn’t expect much as I went in but as soon as I got I was greeted so joyfully (by the owner I think) and the atmosphere was a little different but nice.
It was my first time coming here so I wasn’t sure how the process of ordering was but he explained and as I ordered he did as well. I very much appreciated how much patience he had and the food came out after about 10 mins and is pretty quick to me considering they were TWO bento boxes.
Food quality was good. Their salad dressing is very good!
Good food for a good price! Very satisfied, will most def come back soon :-)

Walked in and immediately reminded me of small quaint plate lunch places in Hawaii, saw good reviews and tried takeout. Ultimately disappointed with the portions, taste was OK, probably not coming back.

Everything tastes like airplane food. I got the loco moco with a side of mac salad, boyfriend got the teriyaki chicken bowl.
Loco Moco:
Rice + a very dry jumbo burger patty (like the frozen kind from Costco) under an over-​easy egg, all drenched in instant powder gravy
Mac salad:
Sort of sour, like vinaigrette, also tasted store-​bought from Safeway or Lucky’s
Chicken Teriyaki:
Meh. Standard chicken teriyaki, lots of sauce
Complimentary Miso Soup:
Powered miso flavoring with water
My boyfriend was nearly done with his chicken teriyaki before my food came out. Overall it wasn’t worth the visit. Not coming back.

I’ve been here two times, each time getting takeout. I’ve had the bento box, three items: chicken teriyaki, California roll, and the shrimp & vegetable tempura. It is so filling and delicious. I’ve had the same gentleman take my order twice, (I think he is the owner) he is so nice and has great customer service. I think the location is easy to find, and always has ample parking.
I will be coming here more often!

I’ve been coming to Bento Xpress for a little more than a year already. I’ve tried quite a bit of their dishes and never ended up dissatisfied with the food, nor with the service. What you will most likely be coming here for is their bento boxes. They serve you a variety of items like chicken teriyaki, tonkatsu chicken, shrimp and vegetable tempura, curry chicken or the California roll (rice and salad come included). I tried their Hawaiian Saimin and their loco moco dishes. They’re not bad either; with the loco moco, you can also substitute white rice with brown rice. I always look forward to eating their macaroni salad.
I think I’ve met most of the employees at this restaurant by now, and they all are very friendly. Some of them even have conversations with you, which I don’t mind. If they ever end up opening up another Bento Xpress restaurant, they should! They can then bring all of the festive Hawaiian music to other locations in the Bay Area.

Xpress… as in fast-​food? We certainly like fast service, but Japanese fast-​food doesn’t sound so great. To say my hubby and I were a little hesitant was an understatement, but after reading all of the great reviews, we decided to give it a shot.
The fact that the restaurant wasn’t busy during the lunch hour was both good and bad: good that we didn’t have to wait since we were eating on a schedule, but bad because it could possibly mean it wasn’t popular with other lunch goers.
But keeping an open mind, we walked through the door and found a «surfer-​themed» restaurant with bright yellow tables, blue pastel walls, and surfboard paraphernalia strewn throughout. Décor was definitely Hawaiian influenced. As the word «Xpress» implies, we ordered our food at the cash register.
The menu showcased the typical food you would find in a Japanese restaurant, minus the rolls. The owner manned the register and he was such a friendly man, all smiles with a super mellow personality. For our lunch, my hubby and I both ordered bento boxes (obviously!). He chose the beef teriyaki with shrimp and vegetable tempura, while I got the tonkatsu chicken with shrimp and vegetable tempura as well.
We weren’t given a number, but we went ahead and found a seat near the window. There was one guy who was in charge of bringing out the food to the patrons, but without actual table numbers, he was frequently confused about what dish belonged to whom. They certainly need a better system because he was walking around blind, needing to ask people what they ordered.
The portions here are MASSIVE. Each bento box came with a side of salad, rice (either white or brown), sauteed bean sprouts, and a slice of orange. My hubby quite enjoyed his beef teriyaki, noting how the taste of beef was never lost in the sauce. However, there were some pieces that were colder than others. My chicken had a nice crispy crust, but I wasn’t too fond of the oyster sauce that came with it. The sweet undertones were strange, so I ate the chicken with soy sauce instead.
The one thing that really impressed the both of us was the tempura. Lightly breaded and golden, the batter retained its crisp texture, but had very minimal oil. They were also quite generous with their shrimp, giving each of us two giant ones, and a variety of vegetables including carrots, sweet potato, yams, and even mushroom! There was one of each vegetable so we got to try everything.
Our apprehension upon arrival to Bento Xpress was clearly misplaced because even though the food came out fast, the taste didn’t suffer. It might not be a fancy Japanese restaurant, but the flavors were pretty good. If you’re ever in the mood for a cheap, quick, and simple lunch, Bento Xpress will do!

I stopped by this joint because I saw some pretty good reviews about this place online. When I walked in the place looked a bit old, but that’s not a problem. My friend and I were quickly greeted by the cashier who was very nice. She was very patient with us and smiled the whole time, which made the experience pretty pleasant. Together, my friend and I ordered a 2 item bento, a 3 item bento, and spam masubi.
I had potstickers and tonkatsu. The sauces were good. Tonkatsu was crispy, bean sprouts were nicely seasoned, mac salad was good. Overall impression was good.
My friend had chicken curry, California roll, and teriyaki steak. The steak was tasty, California rolls were good, and the chicken curry was good as well. They accidentally make katsu curry instead of chicken curry, but were very nice and gave us the order of katsu curry because of the mistake.
Overall, my dinner experience here was enjoyable. The staff was nice, the music was great (I love reggae and island music), food was good. I’d definitely come back.

Bento express… it’s express so don’t expect anything fancy. It’s called bento for a reason because that’s what they are known for and that’s what everyone gets! When I came here for the first time I noticed EVERYONE had a bento box. Not a single person had ordered anything else. I should have known. Should have gotten just that but nooo I thought the other food would taste like L&L and it was nowhere as good as L&L. The kalua pork was dry and I didn’t finish it. The loco moco was burnt and dry and I didn’t finish it. Both plates were very disappointing and tasted nothing like real Hawaiian food (I’ve been to Hawaii and eaten real Hawaiian food made by real Hawaiian people that’s how I know) and even a franchise like L&L has better kaula pork and loco moco. The main problem was taste and dryness. The mac and cheese was very sour. I didn’t finish that either. Everything I ordered I took a few bites and tried to force myself to finish because I hate wasting food but it was really that bad. I was even more disappointed with the spam musubi. First of all it isn’t made with real spam. It’s made with luncheon meat which is a lot cheaper so it should either be called luncheon meat musubi or change the recipe to real spam. Second there was so sauce. How are you going to serve spam musubi with no sauce? It was dry as can be. Third it was $ 3.95! All it was one piece cut into 4 piece so it «looks» bigger but you get the same thing at L&L for $ 2. I couldn’t believe I was paying $ 4 for a dinky piece of rice, meat, and seaweed. Total rip off and it made me more mad that it had no sauce and wasn’t made with real spam. On the bright side, the bento box was good. I have no complaints about that. No wonder everyone ordered that. That’s the only thing that’s good here. I should have known. It was a lesson learned. I’m only going to order the bento boxes when I come here from now on.

cook with soy oil.
I have eaten here several times in the past & always had a good meal, but sadly I can’t go back as they now cook with soybean oil, to which I am allergic now.

This place has always been my go-​to spot when I want a quick Japanese food/​bento box fix. The prices are decent and you get a good amount of food. They have a two item or three item box with choices like tempura, pot stickers, Mac salad, California rolls, etc. My favorite order is chicken teryaki and shrimp/​vegetable tempura. I’ve never been unsatisfied + the little side salad and miso soup it comes with is so good! I would definitely call myself a regular. It’s the perfect spot just to pick up some quick Japanese food, nothing extravagant, just right.

This place kind of reminds me of L&L with some of their food, but they offer a more Hawaiian and Japanese food. They do have katsu, curry, mac salad, loco moco… etc.
I havent tried much here except for their bbq pork ramen, but only bc there are no ramen places nearby): It’s pretty good for fast food ramen, but most def loaded with a TON of MSG. The soup base is good, but there is SO MUCH SALT. i drink water like a fish everytime i eat here.
the one thing you should avoid is the SPAM MUSUBI –_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​– they charge up the ass for one spam musubi and its literally a piece of spam, rice and seaweed. I’m sure they dont even cook the spam bc there was no sauce and it was cold. THey cut one up into 4 pieces and charge almost $ 4 for it. what the fuck…
I would prob come here again just because their bento boxes seem like a good deal. The customer service isnt bad either. WHoever is working the register is always friendly and they serve you your food while you wait at your table.

This place used to be my Go-​to spot in Highschool… and I’m not so sure why it regrettably took me so long to come back here.
The service here is great & the owners are really nice. The menu consists mostly of BENTO items (teriyaki, tempura, California rolls, potstickers). They also serve Katsu. Donburi, spam & udon.
Although they do serve a few maki rolls, this is NOT your go to spot if you’re looking for sushi/sashimi/nigiri.so go elsewhere.
5 stars for GREAT service & reasonably priced good food.