Showa: live availability and table alerts
Takes some planning. 10% of the 30-day window was open at the last check, and a table opened up on 34% of those dates at some point. SnagRes has recorded 559 open time slots at Showa across 5,571 calendar checks. Of those openings, 0% were before 6:00 PM and 0% fell in prime time, 7:00 to 8:30 PM.
- Release
- Showa releases tickets on Tock 30 days ahead, at 12:00 PM PT.
- Holds for
- At Showa, a table for two stays bookable about 2.4 days once it appears; a table for four, about 3.7 days.
- Best odds
- Thursdays are the easiest night at Showa: 21% of them had a table open at the last check, against 6% on Fridays.
- Source
- SnagRes rechecks Showa on Tock throughout the day. The release time is confirmed against Showa's own booking listing. Last checked October 22, 2026.
Showa takes a bit of patience. About 10% of the next 30 days was bookable for two when we last checked, so the trick is being there when something frees up. One tip that helps a lot: of the 559 open slots we have seen here, none were between 7:00 and 8:30 PM, so an earlier or later seating is much more likely to work. We recheck Tock throughout the day and let you know when it does.
Planning ahead? When tables are released, how hard it is and the best way in are all in our guide to Showa reservations.
Booking statistics last measured 2026-10-22. How we measure this.
How hard is it to get a table at Showa?
Worth knowing before you set your heart on 8pm: across 559 open slots we have recorded at Showa, none were between 7:00 and 8:30 PM. The tables that do come free are earlier or later, so that is where to aim.
The times we see open run from 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM, and the single slot that opens most often is 6:00 PM.
We have never once seen a Monday or a Saturday come open, which usually means Showa is closed then rather than simply full.
Thursdays are the softest night on this calendar, open 21% of the times we checked, against 6% on Fridays. Moving your plan by one weekday is often worth more than moving it by a month.
A party of four is measurably easier here: 47% of the window was bookable at that size against 10% at the other.
Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Share of the 30-day window open, party of 2 | 10% |
| Share of the 30-day window open, party of 4 | 47% |
| Open slots falling between 7:00 and 8:30 PM | 0% |
| Time that opens most often | 6:00 PM |
| Range of times seen open | 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM |
| Easiest night | Thursday (21% open) |
| Hardest night | Friday (6% open) |
| Never observed open | Monday, Saturday |
| Booking platform | Tock |
| Open time slots observed | 559 |
The release time above is confirmed against Showa's own booking listing. Availability figures are measured from our own checks of Showa (559 open time slots, 5,571 date checks).
Which night is easiest to book at Showa?
Thursdays had a table for two open most often at Showa: 21% of our checks, against 0% on Mondays.
| Night | Open |
|---|---|
| Sunday | 13% |
| Monday | 0% |
| Tuesday | 12% |
| Wednesday | 20% |
| Thursday | 21% |
| Friday | 5.5% |
| Saturday | 0% |
Across 6 nights measured at Showa, Wednesday holds longest at about 4.6 days. A night that holds longer is a night you can still book after the release has passed; a short one means the table is gone before most people look.
| Night | Stays bookable | Times observed |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | about 3.7 days | 13 |
| Wednesday | about 4.6 days | 11 |
| Thursday | about 2.5 days | 12 |
| Friday | about 2.4 days | 13 |
| Saturday | about 2.4 days | 9 |
| Sunday | about 2.4 days | 3 |
What should you know before booking Showa?
- The restaurant's site sends reservations to its Tock page. (showaus.com)
- At opening in 2024 it served one seating a night for 18 guests, with every course going out to the whole room at once. (sfstandard.com)
What is the best way to book Showa?
- Check what is open at Showa right now. Start from the live calendar on this page rather than from Tock. It shows every date in the 30-day window with its current status, so you can see at a glance whether anything is bookable before you spend time on the platform.
- Aim at a Thursday. Thursdays are the softest night on Showa's calendar in our data, open 21% of the times we checked, against 6% on Fridays. Shifting the day is usually worth more than shifting the month.
- Widen your time to include 6:00 PM. 6:00 PM is the slot that opens most often at Showa. The full range we see open runs 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
- Try a party of four. Party size changes the answer here more than people expect: 47% of the window was bookable for four against 10% at the other size.
- Set an alert instead of refreshing. Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking. Cancellations arrive on no schedule at all, which is why refreshing by hand does not work. Star Showa on SnagRes and you get an alert the moment a table appears, with a link straight to Tock.
Where can you actually get a table instead of Showa?
These are SF restaurants close to Showa in cuisine or neighbourhood that were measurably easier to book at the last check. Ranked by how much easier, not by similarity alone, so there is always a good table within reach.
| Restaurant | Why it is similar | Window open |
|---|---|---|
| Hinodeya | also Japanese, Marina | 100% |
| Izakaya Rintaro | also Japanese, Mission | 87% |
| Akiko's | also Japanese, Financial District | 87% |
| Ju-ni | also Japanese, NoPa | 73% |
| Wako | also Japanese, Inner Richmond | 73% |
| Niku Steakhouse | also SoMa | 73% |
Frequently asked questions about booking Showa
- How hard is it to get a reservation at Showa?
- At the last check, 10% of the 30-day booking window had a table open for two at Showa, which puts it among the harder rooms we track, though 34% of its dates had a table open up at some point. The tables that free up here are earlier or later than 7:00 to 8:30 PM, so that is where to aim. SnagRes rechecks Tock throughout the day and alerts you when that changes.
- What time can you actually get a table at Showa?
- The open times recorded at Showa run from 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM, and 6:00 PM is the slot that comes open most often. These are the times left available, not the restaurant's full service hours.
- What is the easiest night to book Showa?
- Thursday is the softest night on Showa's calendar in our data, open 21% of the times we checked, against 6% on Friday.
- What is the best party size to book Showa?
- A party of four is measurably easier at Showa: 47% of the window was bookable at that size against 10% at the other. Tables for two are usually the most contested inventory, so trying an adjacent size often beats trying an adjacent night.
- Is Showa open on Monday?
- We have never recorded an open table at Showa on a Monday or a Saturday, which normally indicates a closing day rather than a full book.
- What time do Showa tickets open?
- Showa releases tickets 30 days ahead, at 12:00 PM. Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking. SnagRes also rechecks throughout the day for cancellations and off-schedule drops.
- How far ahead does Showa release tables?
- Showa releases tickets 30 days ahead, at 12:00 PM. A new date appears at the far edge of that window each cycle, and cancellations can surface at any point in between.
- Which booking platform does Showa use?
- Showa takes tickets on Tock. Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking. SnagRes rechecks Tock for Showa throughout the day and alerts you when a table opens.
- Why is it so hard to get into Showa?
- Demand outruns the room at prime time: across 559 open slots we have recorded at Showa, the ones that free up fell before 7:00 or after 8:30 PM. 10% of its 30-day window was bookable for two at the last check, so aim earlier or later, or catch a cancellation.
- Can you walk in at Showa?
- SnagRes tracks reservations rather than walk-ins, so we cannot see a live bar count. Showa is busy enough that a walk-in is a gamble, but many rooms like it keep a few bar or counter seats, so it is worth calling Showa to ask. For a sure table, star it and let an alert tell you the moment one opens.
- Is using a reservation alert legal?
- Yes. SnagRes only notifies you when a table opens; the booking itself is an ordinary reservation you make yourself on Tock, under your own name. It does not resell tables, run bots to hold them, or automate the booking, so it does not cross the lines a resale or auto-booking service does.
- Does SnagRes book Showa for me?
- No. SnagRes tells you the moment a table opens at Showa and links you straight to Tock with the date prefilled, then you complete the reservation yourself. It never logs into your account and never books on your behalf, which is what keeps your account in good standing.
More questions about Showa
How far in advance can you book Showa?
Showa releases reservations 30 days ahead at noon, and its calendar runs about 30 days deep in our checks. At the last check a table for two was bookable on 10% of the dates in that window, so the release is the best shot, and plenty more come back as cancellations.
Why is Showa so hard to get into?
Because the tables that exist are gone at the drop. Across 5,571 checks, Showa has shown a bookable table for two on 10% of dates, though 34% of dates opened at some point. We have recorded 7 release events there. 0% of the openings we have seen were between 7:00 and 8:30 PM. The seats you can actually get are the ones that come back when someone cancels, which is why an alert on the date beats refreshing.
When do December 2026 reservations at Showa open?
Showa's calendar reaches December 1 on Sunday, November 1 at noon, and each later date follows the same rule: 30 days ahead at noon. Hours are local to the restaurant.
More SF restaurants like this
- Book Showa on Tock
- All 60 tracked SF restaurants
- Also in SoMa: Benu, Enclos, Merchant Roots, Saison, Niku Steakhouse
- More Japanese in SF: Izakaya Rintaro, Ju-ni, Wako, Akiko's, Hinodeya
- Other Tock restaurants we track: Cafe Zoetrope, Ox + Tiger, Mister Jiu's, Enclos, Friends Only, Fu Hui Hua
- See all: Japanese restaurants in SF.
- Ranked nearby: the hardest Japanese tables in SF, the hardest tables in SoMa.
- Guides: How to get a table at Showa, SF reservation alerts, How to get SF reservations, Tock reservation alerts, when restaurants release tables, how these numbers are measured