RFK Rankings · Beverly Hills
Best Counter-Only Restaurants in Beverly Hills 2026
Sushi counters & omakase rooms · Beverly Hills · 6 counters ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Derek Wilcox is the only Westerner to finish a seven-year apprenticeship at Kyoto's three-star Kikunoi, and in January 2026 he opened an eight-seat counter above Rodeo Drive. That is the kind of room Beverly Hills counts as counter dining: no tables to hide behind, the chef an arm's length away, the seat itself the whole meal. In this zip code that almost always means sushi, and the field has just deepened, with Daisuke Nakazawa of Jiro Dreams of Sushi opening on Robertson weeks ago. Here are the six counters worth booking, who each one suits, what it costs, and how to get a seat. Ranked on the chef's craft, the fish and value rather than the address alone.
1.Miura
The most exacting Edomae counter in Beverly Hills, a Kikunoi-trained chef and fish flown from Japan. Book it for a serious sushi night.
Miura opened in January 2026 on the second floor of Two Rodeo, in the small room that was Urasawa until 2020, and chef Derek Wilcox runs an eighteen-course Edomae omakase for 320 dollars before drinks. Wilcox is the only Westerner to complete the full seven-year apprenticeship at the three-star Kikunoi in Kyoto, and the discipline shows: wild seafood flown in from Japan with no farmed fish, rice and cures handled the old Tokyo way, a counter of roughly eight seats run at the chef's pace. Michelin added it to the California selection in 2026. This is the booking for the diner who treats sushi as the main event, not a backdrop.
Reserve two to three weeks out on Tock for the Wednesday-to-Saturday seatings, take the earlier one for a quieter counter, and let the chef lead rather than ordering off-script.
Book on Tock; take the early seating and follow the chef's order.
2.Sushi Nakazawa
Jiro's filmed apprentice runs the counter and the state's deepest sake list. Reserve it when the pairing matters as much as the fish.
Sushi Nakazawa opened on South Robertson on May 13, 2026, the West Coast home of Daisuke Nakazawa, the apprentice from Jiro Dreams of Sushi whose New York counter earned a Michelin star in 2019. The room seats sixteen at the counter, where a seven-course classic nigiri omakase runs 190 dollars and an expanded chef's menu at 295 adds hot and cold plates and pieces finished over Japanese charcoal. Beverage director Dean Fuerth has built what the restaurant calls the largest sake list in California, which is the reason to sit here over a purist room. The dining room takes tables too, but the counter is the seat to book.
Reserve on Resy a couple of weeks ahead, ask for counter seats rather than the floor, and take the sake pairing if the list is the draw.
Book on Resy; request the counter and consider the sake pairing.
3.Nozawa Bar
A Michelin-starred ten-seat room behind Sugarfish, twenty courses of nigiri. Take it for the classic Edomae run without the Rodeo Drive bill.
Nozawa Bar hides behind the Sugarfish on Canon Drive, a ten-seat counter that has held a Michelin star and runs a twenty-course omakase, mostly nigiri with sashimi and hand rolls, for 225 dollars before the service charge. In 2025 chef Jay Sada was chosen by Kazunori Nozawa and the Sugarfish partners to lead the counter, and the house style stays close to Nozawa's warm-rice, restrained-soy Edomae template. It is the most classic run on this list and the easiest of the destination rooms to read for a first omakase. Seatings are at six and eight-thirty, Monday through Saturday.
Book on Tock two weeks ahead, take the early seating, and tell the chef if there is anything you do not eat before the run begins.
Book on Tock; take the 6pm seating for a calmer counter.
4.Sushi by Scratch Restaurants
Phillip Frankland Lee's torch-and-tweezers nigiri for $185, ten seats inside the SLS. Go when you want invention over orthodoxy.
Sushi by Scratch sits inside the SLS hotel on South La Cienega, a ten-seat counter from chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee, whose Montecito original holds a Michelin star. The Beverly Hills counter runs a seventeen-course omakase-inspired menu at 185 dollars, sixteen pieces of nigiri and a dessert bite, built less on Tokyo orthodoxy than on the kitchen's own touches, smoked and torched and seasoned pieces you will not see at the purist rooms. This is the counter for a diner who wants the format loosened and a little theater with the fish rather than silent reverence. Reservations open on the first of the month for the following month.
Set a calendar reminder for the first of the month, book on Tock when seats drop, and come ready for a chattier, more playful counter.
Book on Tock the first of the month; expect invention, not orthodoxy.
5.Matsuhisa
The original Nobu sushi bar since 1987, black cod with miso and all. Sit at the counter for the room that started the empire.
Matsuhisa opened on North La Cienega in 1987, the room where Nobu Matsuhisa fused Japanese technique with Peruvian heat and built the black cod with miso that went on to circle the world. It is a full restaurant with tables, so it is the one entry here that is not strictly counter-only, but the eight-stool sushi bar is the seat to book and the chefs there will run an omakase off the day's fish. Forty years on it still draws a Beverly Hills crowd, and the counter remains the best vantage on the cooking that launched the Nobu empire. Plan an upper-end spend for an omakase at the bar.
Reserve on the restaurant's site or OpenTable, specifically request the sushi bar rather than a table, and ask the itamae for omakase.
Book direct; ask for a sushi-bar seat and order omakase from the chef.
6.Sushi K
Chef Tomo's $88 omakase is the value counter on Robertson. Pencil it in for a weeknight sushi run that won't break the bill.
Sushi K took over the former Rockpool space on South Robertson and built its name on price, an omakase at 88 dollars and shorter nigiri sets at 43 and 78 dollars for a quick sit-down. Chef Tomo, from Fukuoka, brings more than twenty years behind counters in Japan, Hong Kong and Los Angeles, and The Infatuation has flagged the room as the bargain of the neighborhood. It is not the rarefied fish of Miura or Nozawa Bar, but it is an honest counter run by a real itamae, and the only one on this list you can reasonably do on a weeknight without a milestone to justify it. The most walk-in friendly room of the group.
Book ahead on a weekend or chance a weeknight walk-in, take the 88-dollar omakase over the sets, and sit at the counter for the chef's pace.
Book direct or walk in midweek; take the omakase over the nigiri sets.
Not for a counter night
Great rooms, but tables, not counters
Spago. Wolfgang Puck's Beverly Hills flagship is one of the best dining rooms in the city, but it is exactly that, a room of tables with a garden, built for a long lunch or a celebration. It is not a counter where the chef cooks in front of you, so keep it for the occasion and book a sushi seat above for the counter night.
Funke. Evan Funke's pasta palace draws a deserved crowd, and the open pasta lab is a sight, but you eat at a table with a full Italian menu rather than at a counter run as omakase. Go for the hand-rolled pasta; come back to Rodeo or Robertson when you want a stool in front of an itamae.
How to book a Beverly Hills counter
Treat these as fixed-seating rooms that sell out, not restaurants you drop into. The destination counters, Miura, Nozawa Bar, Sushi by Scratch and Sushi Nakazawa, release seats on Tock or Resy weeks ahead, and the weekend seatings go first, so book two to three weeks out and take the earlier sitting if you want a quieter chef. Sushi by Scratch opens the next month's tables on the first of the month, so set a reminder. Sushi K is the one you can chance midweek.
Match the counter to the night. For the most serious Edomae fish, Miura and Nozawa Bar are the picks; for a deep sake list and a marquee name, Sushi Nakazawa; for invention and a livelier counter, Sushi by Scratch; for the room that started Nobu, the sushi bar at Matsuhisa; and for value, Sushi K. At any of them, tell the chef what you cannot eat before the run starts, sit at the counter rather than a nearby table, and let the omakase lead.
Frequently asked
What is the best counter-only restaurant in Beverly Hills?
Miura on Rodeo Drive is our top counter. Chef Derek Wilcox, the only Westerner to finish a seven-year apprenticeship at Kyoto's three-star Kikunoi, runs an eighteen-course Edomae omakase at 320 dollars, with wild fish flown from Japan and no farmed seafood. It opened in January 2026 and joined the Michelin California selection that year. Book two to three weeks ahead and take an early seating.
Which Beverly Hills sushi counter is the best value?
Sushi K on South Robertson is the value pick by a wide margin. Chef Tomo, who trained in Fukuoka and worked across Japan, Hong Kong and Los Angeles, runs an omakase at 88 dollars, with shorter nigiri sets at 43 and 78 dollars for a quick sit-down. It is the counter for a weeknight sushi run rather than a milestone, and far easier to book than the Rodeo Drive rooms.
How much does an omakase counter cost in Beverly Hills?
Counter omakase in Beverly Hills runs from about 88 dollars at Sushi K to 320 dollars at Miura before drinks and the service charge. Nozawa Bar is 225 dollars, Sushi by Scratch is 185, and Sushi Nakazawa runs 190 for the classic nigiri menu or 295 for the expanded chef's menu. Most rooms add a service fee, so plan on roughly twenty percent over the menu price.
Do Beverly Hills sushi counters take walk-ins?
Rarely. These are ten to sixteen seat counters that run fixed seatings, so they sell out and need a reservation, usually on Tock or Resy. Nozawa Bar, Sushi by Scratch and Miura release tables weeks out and the weekend seatings go first. Sushi K is the most walk-in friendly of the group. For any of them, book ahead and take the earlier seating for a quieter counter.
What is the most famous sushi counter in Beverly Hills?
Two have the deepest names. Matsuhisa on North La Cienega is the 1987 original where Nobu Matsuhisa built the black cod with miso and launched the global empire, and its sushi bar is the counter to book. Sushi Nakazawa, opened in May 2026 on South Robertson, is run by Daisuke Nakazawa of the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, whose New York counter earned a Michelin star.
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