Kuma., Baywood-Los Osos CA

The food is decent, but the quantity is much lesser than expected for the price. Didn’t feel too clean as well, but outside was cute with fire at night.

The young lady who was at the counter was great. She was helpful with the menu descriptions and very knowledgeable. She was also the waitress and was bussing tables. Food was good as usual. (I'm a local) I would whole heartedly recommend this place.just don't be in a hurry, and enjoy the atmosphere! The ramen is my favorite of local options, and the rolls are bomb too. Not cheap, but you get what you pay for. Tip and be kind to the staff, they are all good people! I will continue to be a patron!

High prices for sub-standard food quality. $21 roll with $3 worth of ingredients in the roll. Sushi chef with minimum skills. Barebones crew can hardly keep up.

This place used to be great. Now indistinguishable from generic, profit maximizing joints. They charge you before ordering and I gave them $25% tip upfront based on my previous experiences. I left very disappointed and felt ripped off after spending $100. Will never go back or recommend to my friends.

The one exception was the sea weed salad which was excellent.

Best sushi I’ve had in probably 3 years. I can’t remember where it was better so it might have been further in the past. Well, you know you’re in California when you ask Julia at the ace hardware where the best restaurant is, and she recommends a sushi spot on a side street. I had the special, roll and a bowl. The crunchy eel and the beef ramen more than filled my tank. If you get the chance, this place is a bright spot to experience. The waitress and chef were super friendly and the outdoor patio was decorated artistically. It had enough quirkiness to be considered modern art. Los Osos is a great little town meaning the bears and Kuma is Japanese for bear. Very Californian indeed. Enjoy!

If you want to enjoy good sushi, this is the place, or any dish you order from the menu, very good service, very friendly, interesting place to go to eat

This place is delicious! They have a vast and varied menu, complete with vegetarian and vegan options. Every time I have come here, the service is quick and polite. In particular, a tall curly haired gentleman made our experience (s) here really wonderful. We love this place!

Food is pretty good, although after COVID decided that service was not a priority. So now its kind of like fast, you walk up to order your food get a number and that's all the service you're gonna get. That in my opinion is pretty sad, at this price point people want and deserve good service. COVID is over stop using this as an excuse to chump out on giving people what they should be getting. Good service = increased profit, not cutting corners as many businesses incorrectly think.

Food was overpriced for mediocre ramen. Handrolls were fresh but not really worth $12. We were overcharged and not offered the happy hour prices.
Update: ramen was flavorful this time around and the waitresses were very attentive. An improvement from last visit 2 years ago.

Have heard nothing but great things so I decided to give it a try. The first couple times were mediocre at best, the tonkatsu broth is very watery and there is a ridiculous amount of ginger in every bowl. One time I ordered it to go, only the broth was cold. I ordered in store and waited until they gave me the to go order. I went for a sip of the soup on the way to my car and the broth was COLD! I asked the person behind the counter for a fresher warmer to go soup and she gives me an equally cold to-go cup that was sitting on the counter. I tell her this broth is also cold and she recommends I go home and microwave it like her mom does. At that point I knew Kuma simply did not care about the quality of their food. I eventually went back many months later since I was desperately craving and somehow their ramen got even worse. The noodles were soaked for far too long, had no spring, and were more water than noodle. The broth tasted even more watery than before, and the pork was burnt. I went to my girlfriend and we both agreed that we were eating the worst ramen of our lives. Seriously, I would have been happier with top ramen. They get two stars because their sake deal is the best I have ever seen, and they have a friendly staff. I would recommend coming here for some sake on the lunch deal then leaving for literally any where else to get some food.

As I write this I am begrudgingly paying for raku ramen because I need some soup and refuse to patronage Kuma (for their food) any longer.

To the owners of Kuma I ask if you have any shame? How can you serve this slop to people and sleep at night? I know you used to be a respected establishment so what happened? This place deserves to be yelled at by Gordon Ramsey.

Absolutely the best ramen I have ever had, the sushi here is also incredible and the service here is always great

Edit 2023: it’s been about 4 years since I have last been back here and I am editing my review to deduct a star. A lot has changed since then: ordering at the counter and seating yourself, price increases which is to be expected, different menu format - all of which is all super understandable! However the ramen and sushi quality has also changed…. Previously I would say this was the best sushi and ramen I have ever had, but since going back, the sushi quality for sure was the biggest noticeable difference, it just wasn’t very good. I ordered one of the specials, and almost didn’t even finish it even though it was $22 for a roll. The ramen broth and noodles were still great, but the beef has changed in quality, and there’s no longer bamboo shoots in the ramen. I’m going to give this a 4 star review based on the ramen but the sushi to me felt more like a three star for the price.

This place used to be my go to for ramen in the SLO area. I recently went there for the first time in several years and was extremely disappointed. I can only comment on their ramen but it’s much worse quality than it used to be. I wouldn’t even call the chashu pork “chashu” it was very tough and bland. The tonkatsu ramen broth now lacks the flavor depth and creaminess you would expect in tonkatsu. You are also nickel-and-dimed for most of the ramen toppings now. My ramen noodles had clearly been sitting around and were all stuck together and mushy. Gross! We also ordered the shishito peppers as a starter and they were burnt in areas and raw in others. Overall I won’t be returning to Kuma in the future which is a bummer because it used to be my favorite.

This is my family's favorite sushi restaurant. They're outside of the box and do different amazing things! They are known for their Ramen which you build your own which is fabulous! Their broths though are out of this world!

Amazing ramen and sushi here. Got the lunch combo, a bowl and a roll. Went with the Tonkotsu bowl with beef, which is tri tip, grilled, the flavor was great. Also got the garlic chip roll, very impressed with the presentation. No skimping on the fish, falling off my roll as I use my chop sticks. Everything taste fresh and even better in your mouth. Very helpful and friendly staff. Definitely will be back. Gotta try the wagyu-chorizo gyoza next.

Terrible place to go. Very expensive and tiny rolls. We bought 2 avocado rolls and the rolls were tiny. They were as big as round as my thumb nail. We go to sushia in san luis and pay less and get a bigger roll.