Yoshi's began in 1972 as a small, North Berkeley sushi bar owned by a trio of struggling students with plenty of dreams.
In 1997, Yoshi's was invited by the Port of Oakland to relocate to Jack London Square as part of a plan to revitalize the area. Together with Morimoto Architects, Yoshi's built a 250-seat restaurant and award-winning 350-seat jazz club with a state-of-the-art sound system and design. The club has continued to present the finest in jazz music, as well as world music, blues, soul, latin jazz and afro-cuban music. In fall of 2006, Yoshi's decided that it was time to elevate the menu to the quality of the jazz by recruiting Executive Chef Shotaro 'Sho' Kamio, one of the Bay Area's top chefs, to make the change. Chef Kamio (formerly of Ozumo) brought a whole new generation of modern Japanese cuisine to Yoshi's, which instantly put it on the map as a destination to dine in addition to the best place to hear great live music.