Yakitori Yakyudori & Ramen

Great service as usual with bomb ass food. Miso ramen is a recommendation. Their cream soda is also to die for. Worth the $ 4.50!
If you sit at the table by their door with the bamboo fence, you get a treat of napkin drawings! It’s so great to be able to recognize all the animé drawings hahaha.

Yes. Perfect.
This is a world class joint, run with that particular skillful loud Japanese enthusiasm. You know what I’m talking about.
The menu is a pure joy, almost manga in its bold simplicity. The food is delicious, hot fresh and spicy, and the beer is icy cold. They are open late and they have T-​shirts. What more could you want? I want one in my neighborhood.

I received such irritating service at Yakyudori today. They basically want to charge for food they’re not providing and then argue with you when you don’t want to pay. I’ve eaten here 2 times over 8 years and food was forgettable. So this basically sealed the deal, I’m never coming back.
I walk in, order the shoyu ramen pictured on the menu with an egg. The waiter says «it won’t come with the egg, ok, since you’re ordering it for takeout and you might not eat it right away, it’s a soft boiled egg… it’d be on us, our fault». Basically if I get sick I could blame them is what they’re saying. I’m bummed, but ok.
Except when it comes time to pay they charge me full price. So I point out they charge $ 1.50 on the menu for an egg as an add on so I kindly ask they reduce my charge by $ 1.50. Here’s where it gets irritating. I hate when a business tries to back up their random «policies» with bullshit. They defend their policy blindly with 1) oh we’ve never dropped the price before 2) it’s food regulation 3) that’s right, if you ate here and couldn’t finish it we’d box that egg up for you and 4) since you have a to go order, the packaging is extra so they’re justified in keeping the price as is.
After waiting 22 minutes for my food I leave without my food. So as I sit here at Ototo Sushi down the street where I waited 10 minutes for my takeout, I’m happy as a clam with my ramen and soft boiled egg…

Super good
Love the spicy tonkotsu ramen!
Beef tongue, and pork yakitori are also very good
Yum yum
Grilling yakitori on top of charcoal does add so much flavor
Will definitely come back on our next SD trip!!!

Im officially your new loyal customer since tonight. My favorite foods are: squid legs, smelt, beef tongue and ramen. I tried some different Japanese restaurants before but i didnt have an impression at all. Came here around 9.30 pm and was seated immediately. We ordered so many and didnt have to wait for long time to get our orders. Chiaki gave us a good service and she is so friendly. Nice place, nice food and nice service. Will be back for sure.

Decided to come back and give this place another chance and try the yakitori, since that’s what the place is named after.
Harami beef — chewy, flavor good, but weak
Negima chicken with green onion — not terribly remarkable.
Green salad — decent, but not enough dressing.
Again, this place is decent, but I haven’t found anything here to write home about
People seemed nicer this time, though, and service was better
Still, going to give it 3 stars to balance the overall rating, which seems to me too high.

Late night yakitori or ramen cravings?
Give this place a try!
We were hungry around 9pm on a Friday night and waltzed in here without a reservation. This restaurant is a little hole in the wall next to a Starbucks and away from all the Convoy madness.
We didn’t really know what to expect but ordered our favorites anyway:
— pork belly (pretty good with plum dipping sauce. A little on the oily side)
— chicken meatball (SKIP — very starchy, very little chicken meat)
— beef tongue (amazing here. Fresh and chewy and not too tough)
— liver (also amazing here. Tasty marinade and charred to perfection)
We ordered a shio ramen and it was actually very good. Clear but flavorful broth, el dente noodles, generous helpings of green onions.
The chicken wings are also really good but might not be for everybody. They are battered and fried with brown sugar. They taste delicious with a crispy skin and hot tender meat inside, but the sweetness can be overwhelming. Holding one up to your face, it smells a lot like cake batter.

Ordered the Ramen Nagoya, beef karage, chicken stick, fried chicken. Ramen Nagoya is bland and uneventful for me. Same for my friend who devours everything. He literally likes every food and rarely doesn’t like something but in this case he didn’t like the dish. Beef karage was decent.
My favorite was the chicken dishes which had a lot of flavor. The fried chicken was fried well and the chicken stick (not gizzard liver or heart) was tasty.
Unfortunately even with the great service the food was underwhelming which may stop me from future visits

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for the past four years, and I absolutely love here. This place is one of my top five restaurants in San Diego. I’ve seen this place grow bigger (the expansion took place several months ago) and become more and more expensive haha. And of course, more and more popular/​successful. They take all kinds of credit cards but not Discover.
Parking: Super easy to find a parking spot because this restaurant is located in a plaza. Right next to a Starbucks.
Reservations:
I usually make reservations beforehand. They recently expanded the restaurant, so I think the waiting time is shorter compare to the old days. Still, I highly recommend you to make reservations before you come here if you can. Save your time!
They don’t allow outside drinks in this restaurant. However, they do help you to put your drinks in the fridge, and give them back to you before you leave. (Bought drinks from Starbucks next door, and the servers put them in the fridge for us.)
Food:
Nagoya Ramen (⁵⁄₅)
My favorite ramen in San Diego. It’s a little bit spicy, but very tasty. It comes with minced pork instead of pork belly. The chives and the spicy bamboo shoots are both very delicious. Sometimes I’m not that hungry, I could still almost finish the whole thing.
Tip: I usually add an extra egg.
Teriyaki Chicken Wings: (⁴⁄₅)
These sweet and salty chicken wings can be a little bit greasy. There are four chicken wings in a plate, so I usually share them with my friends. They go well with the Ramen!
Teriyaki Beef Salad Bowl (⁴⁄₅)
This beef salad bowl is $ 6 for a small one and $ 9 for a large sized bowl. I think they cook the beef the Yakitori way, so its very tasty. Besides the beef, rice and simple salads are included in the bowl. There’s also a side of Mayo and some teriyaki sauce on the top of the bowl. I give this dish a four star because the ratio of beef/​salad and rice isn’t that perfect. (too much rice and relatively small amount of beef and salad)
Yakitori:
5 stars:
Beef tongues, chicken heart, chicken gizzard, and quail eggs.
4 stars:
Chicken liver, asparagus with bacon, Momo chicken thigh, and TEBR chicken wings.
Overall, amazing food and service here! I’ll miss the food here when I leave San Diego for sure.

Delicious bowl of ramen in a great Japanese environment! I literally felt like I was in Sasebo or Hokkaido! Took me long enough to get to this place!
–The wait was not long as I expected on a Saturday evening, however we were there right after the dinner rush.
–Once we got inside, you can just smell the delicious Japanese food in the air. Took me back to my port visits in Japan!
–Once we sat down, we got the menu that wasn’t too hard to interpret. I settled for the Shoyu ramen bowl with seaweed and a small Sapporo beer. We didn’t wait long for it to come out. Wow, was my ramen good! I’m not a huge fan of drinking the soup in any noodle soup dish, however I could have poured the ramen soup down my throat and would have been okay!
It was a chilly evening, and what better way to spend it with good company and ramen noodles! Next time, I will try their spicy miso ramen. My friend Bev killed her bowl, so it must have been good!

Spicy Miso All The Way
Upon entering this unassuming ramen restaurant ones senses are on overload from the enticing aroma drfting from the kitchen. I enjoyed walking in and watching the cooks prepare the food for all the patrons.
Thanks to one of my Unilocal foodie in crime friend Krystal who insisted on ordering for me being that I always want my friends dishes. I tried the spicy miso ramen. It had a deliciously creamy broth with stir fried minced pork, bean sprouts, corn and green onions.
I tried a tasty sake peach milk mixture that you can get into trouble with if you have too many.
The restaurant is bigger than it seems with seating around the corner from the main dining area. The menu was very authentic, mostly in Japanese with some English translations. This was a fun experience that I would recommend to any ramen fan.

I actually found Yakitori by checking on Unilocal to see which ramen places were good to try. I was so excited when i saw the amount of ratings this 4 star place had. So before coming here i had high expectations.
My family and I ordered what everyone ordered: The Shio, Miso and Shouyu. With a side of calamari, edamame and shumai.
I’m sad to say I was kinda disappointed in the ramen. For a place with such high reviews i was expecting the ramen to be super delicious. For such a low price i should’ve expected that you get what you pay for. My family and I all thought the same thing, that the ramen wasn’t our favorite on the menu here. I love ramen but i wouldn’t recommend coming here for that.
However, i WOULD recommend coming here for the small plates and Yakitori. This is the only place in San Diego that i’ve seen that has so many options on affordable small plates. From jellyfish, chicken gizzards, bowls and many other choices. So getting a true Japanese appetizer or menu experience i’d recommend coming for that. NOT the ramen.
Must try: Shumai, Yakitori

I honestly don’t get why people love Yakitori so much! I think it’s just average. For their normal bowl of ramen, they only give you 2 pieces of meat. There’s other toppings including corn, onions, and bamboo shoots. But, you can get that at any other ramen place. Maybe its their skewers that make them special… but I’ve never tried them before.
I really don’t get the hype and long wait. I had the shio ramen yesterday and it just tasted like any other ramen place. To be honest, I prefer Tajima which is down the street. I feel that the broth at Tajima is more flavorful.
Service was OK. Nothing spectacular, but it wasn’t terrible. I don’t know… maybe I’ll come back and try other food menus again, but if there’s a long wait… I’m not down.

So sad to say that this place has gone downhill for me):
Used to be my favorite ramen place but their portioning has gone down and prices have gone up. I always order either the shoyu and add corn or the miso ramen which comes with corn. I went there today and ordered my usual miso ramen but I didn’t see corn as it showed clearly on the menu and, being a regular, I am familiar with what comes included in the ramen. The waiter said that it doesn’t, so either he did not know what came with it or its now extra. which would be ridiculous for the near $ 10 I am paying! Either way both options were a lose-​lose situation for me. He could have been nice about it and double checked the menu for me but he seemed to just look at me like I was crazy instead. real nice.
The ramen broth is still one of my favorites of the ramen places in SD along with their delicious thick ramen noodles. Their yakitori sticks are also delicious but are pricey for what you get. My favorite is the harami beef yakitori, and dipped in their garlic sauce is just delicious. I could easily eat three servings of this but that would literally cost me $ 15. *NOTE: They only have yakitori after 5:30pm. The portioning of the ramen is also small compared to other places. I always have leftovers when I go to Raki Raki or Ramen Yamadaya but here, I am able to finish my ramen bowl, and sometimes still not be full.
The place is tiny with limited seating located in the same plaza as Starbucks and Dixieline. Coming at rush hours will leave you waiting a really long time (I have seen up to an hour wait time) so if you are not huge on waiting, come before or after the rush! I feel like this place gets more crowded the later it gets though.
Overall, even though the ramen is good the experience with the waiter and new expensive pricing for this place gets 2.5, barely 3 stars for me. Wouldve been a solid 4 stars if I had reviewed this a couple months ago before the revisions. Get yourself together Yakyudori!):

Absolutely long wait, typically an hour, but well worth it. Make sure not to come too hungry, or you’ll start off your meal hangry! Probably the best yakitori you can find in town! A very busy franchise and workers are very nice.
1. Yakitori Meatball ($ 4.50) was interesting. The interior was very soft and mushy and outside cooked and seasoned perfectly. Gizzard ($ 3.50) is very good, a tad bit salty but perfect. Not overly hard and chewy. Chicken heart ($ 3.50) was interesting when I tried it, maybe it’s not something for me. Beef tongue ($ 7.50) is delicious, not sure if it’s worth that much, but definitely a must try!
2. Takoyaki ($ 5) are octopus fritters, my favorite item to order any place I can order it. The batter was more green than I usually have it, which I enjoyed. And as it should be, crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside with a nice piece of octopus surprise in the center.
3. The Miso and Spicy Miso Ramen are both $ 9.50. I prefer the spicy miso over the regular miso. Wish the spicy miso also came with an egg because to add an egg it is an additional $ 1.50. I enjoyed their ramen here, except for the fact that it’s too salty and the broth needs to be warmer.
If you ask, they also offer a spicy red sauce, grated garlic, and mayonnaise sauces additional to their spicy sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, white pepper and spicy seasoning condiments on the table.

I’ve made this place a regular on my restaurants list. The must-​haves are the buta bara pork skewers, fried chicken wings, and fried mochi balls — you’ll thank me. I always get the shoyu ramen too.
The only problem is, there is always a ridiculous wait. I suggest you avoid peak dinner times and weekends. Tip: they start serving yakitori at 5:30pm, get there before 6 and you can skip the hour long waits.

This is my favorite ramen place and the fact that they have an amazing veggie option is very impressive as, surprisingly, most places don’t offer very good veggie options. Their noodles are really good, their yakitori is delicious, I love their frozen beer and they have great prices for their beer.
Their wall of napkin drawings is fun to look at and I always end up taking pictures of it when I go there. I even wound up drawing one of my own (orange girl, bottom right lol)! Some of the artists on that little wall are very impressive!
The service is always very attentive, informative and kind. Whenever I want ramen, I go here! The wait can be annoying but is always worth it and if it’s long you can grab a coffee with the awesome folks next door at Starbucks, have a seat, and chat. To me, this is all part of the fun! And usually my friends and I go over to Zion Market after our lunch/​dinner :D love it here!

I give this place 3.5 stars, but I can’t find it in me to «round» and click that fourth star for my rating. This place has good ramen, but I think I’m biased since I love Tajima too much.
Upon entering, my sister, her boyfriend, and I were seated immediately. The first thing my sister’s boyfriend ordered were things off the Yakitori menu: chicken liver, pork, and beef. 10 – 15 minutes later, since they took a while, we ordered our ramen. The wait felt forever. We ended up getting our ramen first, and the Yakitori skewers didn’t arrive until after we finished the ramen.
The ramen was my favorite part! I got the shio ramen since I was told its closest to Tajima, and I added a lot of the spicy chili powder. I asked if it could be mild, but the waiter told me it’s not spicy, so I guess I couldn’t adjust the heat level. I was disappointed when I realized the ramen didn’t come with seaweed, also.
I wasn’t a fan of any of the skewers. The beef one we ordered was the one I was more inclined to eat, but it had such a chewy texture I didn’t like. I didn’t even try with the other two.
I’m sure there are better things off of the menu when it comes to the appetizers and such, but I didn’t get to try them. At least the ramen was good! I guess the main reason why I couldn’t give it that fourth star – not even taking the appetizers into account – is because I felt like the wait was too long and the waiter was slow in taking our order/​filling up our water cups.

The best ramen and food right here. Closed to my school, and great food too. Lol. I love this place. Would recommend for groups or Couples or Singer to come. Hehe

I would of gave them 5 stars but the service kinda sucked. They only came to our table three times, to take our order, give us our food and to give us our checks. It’s a small place and seating is limited.
The food is very affordable and very good. This was our first time eating ramen and it was very good! We ordered the Frozen beer and it was the best beer I have ever had at a Japanese restaurant. It was very cold and refreshing. The bacon wrapped asparagus is a must order. It was sooooo goooood. And the steamed dumplings was to die for as well. I will for sure Come here again because of the good food and the cheap prices.

It’s been years since I was last here! Came here last night again with 3 other friends and ordered both grilled yakitori dishes and ramen. All of the yakitori dishes we ordered were delicious, although they are slow to come out and come one order at a time, which makes sense as they are delivered to you as soon as they come off the grill. However, it took us nearly an hour to get our ramen after ordering them, which was frustrating as we were very hungry, hence the 4 stars instead of 5.
Chicken Heart: yum! Usually I dislike eating animal internal organs and considered not trying a piece, but I sucked it up and tried a piece and was pleasantly surprised at how tender this was, expecting a tough and chewy texture.
Beef Tongue: one of my favorites of the night, it had just enough chew and was really nicely seasoned with a hint of sweetness, thumbs up!
Pork belly: also very good! Although personally I’m not a huge fan of very fatty foods.
As for the ramen, the table ordered Shio, Miso, and Shoyu, and lucky for me, I ordered the Shoyu which was my favorite of the night after getting a taste of everyone else’s. Next time, I want to try the Nagoya!

I am really disappointed that I need to write this review, but the manager left me no choice. I’ve been a customer since they had a store in Hillcrest. Several times a year for many years. In general I like the food, and feeling fairly authentic and a good value, but I had a bad experience lately that you should know about.
Do not order the sweet potato fries. We ordered them the other night and you are disappointed. They were fairly expensive, not particularly tasty, served cold, and don’t think they were actually sweet potatoes. We asked the server to take them back and take them off your menu. He said he couldn’t so he asked for the manager. The manager also gave us the same BS that when something is put in and served if can I come off the check. What if they make a mistake and mistakenly serve food that the client doesn’t want? This was a blatant lie, I pointed it out to which the manager really had no acceptable response. We ended up paying… What’s $ 5.50, and we didn’t think it was fair to penalize our server, but in retrospect I wish we had handed cash to the server and short of the check as we left.
Again, I really hate that I have to write this review, because I generally like the restaurant.

One of my favorite places to go for ramen!!!
Ramen starts off at $ 7.50+ a bowl, and then you can add toppings!
I love that they offer a variety of ramens to choose from, including:
Miso Ramen, Shio Ramen, Shoyu Ramen, Spicy Miso Ramen, Spicy Shio Ramen, and even a vegetarian Miso Vegetable Ramen!
The soup broths have great flavor.
They also have small appetizer dishes and yakitori!
Some of these dishes are really small portions though, but still good.
And not to mention, lunch specials!!!
Their bbq pork bowl for $ 6.50 is delicious!
And they also have daily specials.
Each day is a different special, and its usually a small bowl of ramen with a side of something else for $ 10. Not bad at all.
The restaurant itself is small, so do expect a wait if you come during weekends!
Doesn’t seem to be to busy during lunch time.
Overall, great food!

3 ½ stars Located right next to Starbucks this conveniently located eatery has parking in the shared strip center parking lot. Their early menu offers discounts on sides but are nothing to get to excited about.
I started off with the edamame and a side of fried oysters. My appetizers arrived within minutes and before I could down one oyster — my order of Shio ramen with added pork arrived. The ramen was generously sized and pretty good, although the pork was average and felt there wasn’t enough fat for additional flavor. I’ve experienced better ramen but the combination of my meal overall was satisfying.
When I return next time, I’ll lean towards the tapas plates.

Don’t let the tiny storefront deter you! This place offers great food at good prices. Very happy with my experience. If I lived nearby, I’d be here at least once a week!!! This is a great place to start ramen adventures!!! Now having tried a few other places, I know how fantastic this one really was. The staff was friendly and helpful. They get people in and out quickly, but that’s just their way of making sure we all get what we came for. Come early or expect to wait a few for a table. They accept reservations also. Huge variety of things on the menu besides ramen as well.
I had the spicy miso ramen. My waiter said it was their best seller. I added corn and spinach to mine. Wish I could have finished the whole bowl!!! Also ordered the gyoza. Perfectly soft on top and crisp on the bottom. This was the first time I ever made my own gyoza dipping sauce. Not bad, even if I do say so myself.

One of my favorite ramen and yakitori restaurants ever and definitely a go-​to. The restaurant itself isn’t very big so it often has a line, but it’s definitely worth the wait!
For small dishes, the Takowasa (Wasabi-​Soaked Raw Octopus, $ 4) is a nice thing to share and the wasabi flavor is not overpowering at all. The octopus pieces are small, but still plump and the combination is delicious.
The Teriyaki «Yakitori» Chicken bowl (Small — $ 4.50, Large — $ 7.00) is delicious too and I love the rice and juiciness of the chicken here. I think getting a small size is a good amount, especially if you get some yakitori dishes on the side.
Every yakitori item here that I’ve gotten, I really enjoyed. I’ve had the Chicken Momo ($ 4), the Negima (Chicken thigh with green onion, $ 4.00), the Tsukune (Meatball, $ 4), Chicken Liver ($ 3), and the Chicken Heart ($ 3) and they were all cooked the perfect amount and had amazing flavor. I forgot whether or not it was exactly the chicken liver or the chicken heart, but one of them was a bit pasty to me, which was a bit unique and weird. Not really meaty, but tasted more like eating solidified blood.
Overall, this place gives off a really cool japanese vibe where you can actually see the chefs cook your meal and there’s also pretty cool Japanese décor around the place as well. Parking around this area is plentiful, so you won’t have to worry about that. They give quality food and service and I would recommend this place to anyone!

One of my favorite ramen and yakitori restaurants ever and definitely a go-​to. The restaurant itself isn’t very big so it often has a line, but it’s definitely worth the wait!
For small dishes, the Takowasa (Wasabi-​Soaked Raw Octopus, $ 4) is a nice thing to share and the wasabi flavor is not overpowering at all. The octopus pieces are small, but still plump and the combination is delicious. There is also a jelly-​fish appetizer dish that is near this octopus dish on the menu which is absolutely delicious too and seasoned very well!
The Teriyaki «Yakitori» Chicken bowl (Small — $ 4.50, Large — $ 7.00) is delicious too and I love the rice and juiciness of the chicken here. I think getting a small size is a good amount, especially if you get some yakitori dishes on the side.
Every yakitori item here that I’ve gotten, I really enjoyed. I’ve had the Chicken Momo ($ 4), the Negima (Chicken thigh with green onion, $ 4.00), the Tsukune (Meatball, $ 4), Chicken Liver ($ 3), and the Chicken Heart ($ 3) and they were all cooked the perfect amount and had amazing flavor. I forgot whether or not it was exactly the chicken liver or the chicken heart, but one of them was a bit pasty to me, which was a bit unique and weird. Not really meaty, but tasted more like eating solidified blood.
Overall, this place gives off a really cool japanese vibe where you can actually see the chefs cook your meal and there’s also pretty cool Japanese décor around the place as well. Parking around this area is plentiful, so you won’t have to worry about that. They give quality food and service and I would recommend this place to anyone!

Came here around 7:30 on a Saturday night and had to wait approximately 30 – 40 minutes for a four-​top table. Worth the wait, if you are willing to! Many people put their name on the list and then wait at the starbucks, next door, which was a little misleading in regards to the wait time, so be forewarned! If you come with 2 people, it is likely your wait won’t be as long.
I would recommend the Spicy Miso Ramen and the Chicken Katsu Bowl. For Yakitori, we ordered chicken thighs, quail eggs, squid legs, chicken gizzard & beef tongue. Everything was grilled to perfection and had a yummy charcoal bits and flavor in every bite. You can tell that great care was put into getting each and every skewer off the grill at the perfect time.
Very charming space. Great dining experience and excellent food. I would suggest getting a rice dish or ramen to accompany your meal, or else it might take a lot of yakitori to fill you up.

#14 of 100 Unilocal Reviews 2016
Japanese cooking intrigues me. Something about putting a skewer into some meat and grilling it with diligence makes the food taste so good. San Diego has quite a bit of options when it comes to yakitori, and this time I ended up here, waiting in line while reading some Naruto Manga. When I used to visit SD on vacation years ago, I always made a point to visit this place.
This place tends to get crowded around dinner time and weekends so be mindful of when you visit. The parking situation is a little on the tight side in front of the store, but there are more parking spots on the side of building. It shares its building space with Starbucks and a optometrist that I visit.
Waiting in line can be quite common here. It is still cold at this time, so make sure you bundle up. The place small inside, so you can not wait in there. Put your name on the list, and let the phone surfing begin. Sometimes on nights where it is so busy and about to close in an hour, they tell customers that they can go to the sister restaurant Hinotez or risk not being served. Just an FYI guys. Like I said, come here on the weeknights when it is non peak time.
The inside of the ramen/​yakitori shop is small, cozy, and very similar to what you may find in Japan. The décor, furniture, and bar area are nice touches to that Japanese vibe. All sorts of people come in, from the hip young crowd, businessmen, to the families and their children. Sit by the grill if you can, so you can watch the cook care for the yakitori skewers and smell the flavors rise in the air.
Appetizers aplenty, I usually order takoyaki at Japanese restaurants. The bread octopus ratio is good, and they come out super hot. Be careful not to burn your mouth before getting the main dishes. They also serve different sizes of Sapporo beer in draft, which is an excellent way to wash down the food juices.
They serve all types of skewers, but I like the chicken thigh, bacon wrapped asparagus, chicken heart, and beef tongue. Kissed with salt, pepper, and yakitori sauce, they don’t need additional condiments. If you must, hot sauce and shoyu is nearby. The prices, similar to other joints, can easily skyrocket your bill. It’s quality over quantity here.
The ramen here has that fatty broth, thick noodles, and succulent meat cuts that keep me coming back for more. The shio and miso are popular options and are a great choice for first timers here. At 8 – 9 dollars a bowl, I felt satisfied and not heavy at all.
Service here is great on the non busy days, but regrettably it suffers during the rush. You have to flag them down for water refills and the check. I believe that they work their tails off, but you have to give them a gentle reminder if it has been a while since they have passed by you.
I came here many times before checking in on Unilocal and being more active. I will continue to come here on the weekdays, but there are other choices if my craving for yakitori lands on the weekend. Food here is great, just prepare yourself to wait if needed.

Came here for lunch and I got to try their ramen. The service was slow and the waiter told me that they were sorry because of a problem in the kitchen. It’s a shame because I’m Unilocal elite bro! Jk but kitchens get backed up, I get it. The ramen was average, their yakitori is their bread and butter I’d say
The pan fried gyoza did not have enough of a charred crispy crust on the bottom.

Been going here for a while now, and I love getting their yakitori and ramen!
Must try are their yakidori. Each order comes with 2 sticks fill with meats are are tender and individual flavor. I recommend getting:
Harami beef ($ 5) super juicy and flavorful
Beef tongue ($ 4.50) sounds weird but its really yummy and chewy
Chicken heart ($ 3)
Chicken liver ($ 3)
Harami beef rice bowl ($ 8 for a large) is their harami beef over rice. I love this dish and I always order this. I love the sauce they use for the beef because it gives the rice such great flavors.
Shio ramen ($ 8) came with soft boiled egg, green onions, bamboo, corn and pork. I love the broth of the soup. It has tons of flavor and not as oily as other places. Also their soft boiled is cooked well.
Overall, this place is worth waiting for. It’s a pretty small restaurant but it never disappoints me. Service is always nice and friendly. Getting their yakidori takes some time for them to make
Btw they only have yakidori during dinner time. c

The smell of grilled meats wafted out from the restaurant each time the door opened and closed. As a result, I couldn’t wait to try the food at Yakyudori.
After a 20 minute wait on a Monday night, our party of 6 were called in to take our seats!
Yay!
We finally made our way into this very small restaurant. There were so many papers and posters plastered on the wall, which I didn’t expect. Not very appealing for this first-​time visitor.
We started off with some drinks: sake and a delicious concoction called «Milky Peach». Strong, fruity, and just what we needed before our meal.
We ordered some of their more popular skewers such as the Buta Bara Pork, Harami Beef, Beef & Radish with Ponzu Sauce, Chicken Thighs, and even a few orders of their Fried Chicken Wings.
I’d say they had an in-​house yakitori master because everything we ordered was delicious. Everything he prepared from grilling the meats, the tenderness of the meats, the individual flavors, and even the chicken wings’ texture was excellent!
Our server was attentive and came to check up on our party to see if we needed anything else and to ask how everything tasted.
Tips:
* Come for the food and don’t look around :)
* Order in small quantities so you always have a hot, fresh skewer
* Try the Spicy Sesame Oil with your skewers
* Your clothes will smell… make this your last stop for the night (or, just shower and change after your meal), haha
Overall, I would come back here. It’s a great casual dining spot to grab late night grub and drinks. Just be prepared to wait.
Enjoy!
:)

I really like this restaurant. The ramen is cheap, tasty, and the portion size is decent. My favorite broth is their Shoyu. I cannot speak to whether or not there is a long wait because whenever I’ve eaten here, it’s been opening or near closing.
During my most recent visit, I (again) had the Shoyu Ramen and decided to try their Harami Beef yakitori. Shoyu Ramen never disappoints. Their beef yakitori was just okay, though. It was kind of salty and perhaps the chef sprinkled a little bit too much seasoning on my pieces (it came with two skewers).
Service is pretty good. Our servers are always attentive so that’s a plus. For me, this place is a good place for a late night snack but I don’t know if I would want to wait in line to eat here.
There’s a unisex restroom stall in the back so if there are many patrons waiting to use the restroom, it can get a little crowded.

My favorite ramen place in SD. My go to is the Nagoya with an added soft boiled egg. During happy hour you can get free rice and tea. This time I also tried the happy hour raw octopus for $ 3. I also split an order of popcorn chicken (forget what they call it on the menu).
The raw octopus portion was small but it tasted pretty good. The texture may be alarming to some but being Asian as hell, I enjoyed it. The popcorn chicken has a lot of chicken with a nice crunch on the outside without being too bready. The Nagoya is their «spiciest» but I enjoy adding the chili flakes and pepper they have in the tables to it. Best ramen for your buck in SD.

Definitely a fan! My girl friend and I were pretty hungry after playing beach volleyball and we were in the mood to eat something hot. The funny thing was that it very chilly this weekend — guessing as it is November — so we both decided on getting ramen. I had previously bookmarked a bunch of places and we decided to try this place out!
We carpooled and headed over. Surprisingly enough there was quite a lot of alternatives for parking, plus it’s nearby Zion supermarket if you end up not finding parking. When we got there, there was a small line going on. I signed us both in with the choice of sitting at the table or bar. We settled for either. Wait time was actually only 5 – 10 minutes and we were in!
It was pretty cool, sitting down and then grabbing the menus that were nearby our seating area. We got to see the guys at work prepping the food while catching up on gossip. We both each got ramen along with a side of spicy jellyfish to share. Had wanted to try the Fried Teriyaki wings Nagoya style but they apparently were out.
I loved my spicy miso ramen! I usually just settled for the shin ramen back home, but hey this gave a kick to my ramen taste buds. I believe my friend got the Shio ramen. She liked hers too claiming that it was not as oily as she had tried at other places. Needless to say we were pretty happy after devouring that meal.
Will be returning for this cozy lil place!

Sin palabras definitivamente el sabor japonés esta aquí satisfecha y Bendecida y venden una cerveza helada súper deliciosa todo Japón en este lugar

:Quick Review:
Service was okay. it was a full house when I went but the place is pretty small so I didn’t think it would affect service too much. Just have to call out to them or they won’t come over.
The food was okay as well, not terrible, but not great either. Good for late night eats.
:Food Review:
RAMEN, not bad.
The soup wasn’t overly salty.
The egg was hard boiled (I prefer my ramen egg to be marinated/​soy-​infused)
2 pieces chashu, no flavor, just tender. I had the rectangle slices instead of the usual round ones.
CHICKEN LIVER Skewers tasted like… liver. Very soft, light grainy texture. Similar to pâté on a banh mi. Don’t order if you’re not adventurous.
CHICKEN HEART was good, nothing scary so give it a shot!
TAKOYAKI was good, I liked it. Can be really hot at first so careful!

Went here on a Thursday during lunchtime because I was not feeling well. Never been here during lunch and I was happily surprised that they had specials. The Thursday special was a small ramen with kaarage and rice. If you ask for a large ramen, it’s just $ 2 more which is worth it. Honestly, this place has my favorite ramen which is Nagoya. It’s just so flavorful. I have been to quite a few ramen spots in SD and find this to still be my fave. I definitely need to come back during lunch!