Best izakaya on the Westside. Food is fantastic and delicious. This place brings me back to Tokyo everytime I dine here.

+6

WARNING: this place will change your LIFE! Pan fried ramen noodles made my brain tingle.. Gyoza… sent flavor currents through my soul Curry… had me hovering above the table. Insane Dining experience. Thank you!

Absolutely the izakaya experience you would expect/dream of: amazing beer and sake, well seasoned appetizers, and very friendly staff who seem to take pride in the quality of their food. The sashimi was a great deal, with really tasty uni and scallop on our day; the intestine hot pot is extremely well prepared, with none of the outstanding taste of intestine (that most Americans fail to appreciate), and all of its sweet fattiness; the combination of fibery sweet Chinese chive and fluffy intestine fat with a rich yet clear and refreshing broth is ingenious. A few details also caught our attention and reassured us of our luck right away: freshly grated wasabi, the sweet soy sauce whose quality is evident from the way it coats the sashimi-not to mention its taste, and a yuzu based hot paste that is honestly stunning. To enjoy this delicious, cozy meal in autumn—is pure joy. Thank you so much for the wonderful experience, we will be telling everyone we know.

The best neighborhood Izakaya’s you’re gonna find in West LA. And honestly, probably one of the best in LA in general. Super knowledgeable staff with a great Ramin all the way to great grilled items and raw fish items.

Hakata Izakaya is an absolute gem! The dining experience was fantastic, with incredible food and exceptionally friendly service. Our favorites were the uni with ikura and bluefin tuna, the ankimo, and the tonkotsu ramen – all were absolutely delicious. Highly recommend this spot for anyone looking for amazing Japanese cuisine and a warm, welcoming atmosphere!

Happened to stumble upon this restaurant while in town for work, searched “restaurants in Westwood” and found this gem. What a great meal. I’ve lived in other major cities (D.C.) with good izikaya but this is hands down the best food. Highly recommend.

A wonderful Izakaya experience despite the price. Great selection of food (mostly beef) and drinks. The sake that was recommended did not disappoint. Be sure to call ahead of time to make a reservation as this place is - understandably - very popular. We were very lucky to get a table without a reservation. Even the bar seats were reserved. I will be returning very soon.

Came here for dinner reservations on a Saturday night. Reservations are highly recommended as they get busy. Parked in the paid lot for $5 on weekends. The service was excellent as the waitresses were all friendly and helpful. They spoke Japanese and English. We ordered a bunch of stuff to try out and they were all delicious. Highly recommend the motsunabe Hot Pot and jidori stuffed chicken wings. They do have a few tables for outdoor seating in the alleyway. Definitely worth coming back for more yummy izakaya food.

My favorite restaurant in LA. A true hidden gem, especially for a true taste of authentic Japanese food.

Bit of a pricey spot, but so worth it! Got the intestine hotpot, gyoza stuffed wings, and oysters. Hotpot comes only with intestine, cabbage, chives, and noodles, so we ended up adding tofu pork meat. Such a good choice for a cold night. Fattiness of intestines was umami and not overwhelming, especially when paired with the yuzu kosho. Noodles were thick and the perfect texture. Wings taste exactly what the sound like and had a nice grilled flavor. Oysters were very fresh and refreshing.

Top 10 best restaurant in LA. If you want FLAVOR come and eat here. I love this place! The food is insane. I’m scared more ppl will find out about this place, which will make getting a table here even harder. They totally deserve it though.

Lily Mihyun Park

This place has been one of the best discoveries of the year for me and my boyfriend. We first came here in April, and it instantly became our favorite spot. Every dish at Hiro is delicious, the staff is always so kind and welcoming, and we always leave feeling happy and satisfied. The only thing we’d love to see is a wider variety of sashimi on the special menu! Must order : Taba gyo!!!!!!!

LC

Secret place of highest fun and quality and yes it’s priced accordingly and has great specials and a most complete menu so many types of foods it’s super fun and great sake flights

Anish Thakkar (Doc Thakkar)

Excellent, authentic Japanese food in a super cozy izakaya setting. Loved that premium bites are paired with Sapporo beer towers!! Their sashimi plate was incredible, loved their grilled eggplant (焼きなす), and enjoyed their choice cuts of beef as well. A truly delightful experience that is a bit pricey, but worth every penny. Chefs and service staff are primarily Japanese-speaking, which only added to the experience :)

Doris Huang

Very local Japanese restaurant! loved the stuffed chicken wings and the grilled pork belly with lettuce! The intestine hot pot was flavorful. Wish they had more options of foods tho. Great place for a sake night with friends!

Geoffrey Sasaki

Cosy Japanese Izakaya spot! Parking for a $5 flat rate after 5 p.m. in the back. Everything that we ordered was excellent, with a standout of the Chicken Karaage. Keep an eye out for the rotating specials on the first page of the menu.

Dennis Wong

I used to travel and work in Japan and this place reflects the honesty of small mom and pop places selling whatever is fresh that day. Savory nuanced traditional clean simple Japanese flavors. Love it!

Adam

5 out of 5 stars. Everything we tasted was absolutely delicious. Will be coming back over and over again. Loved it.

Nikki Lee

The food is absolutely delicious, like I will be having dreams about the skewers and wing gyozas because they were so juicy. Honorable mention to their smoked salmon because its become one of the best smoked salmon that I've had. The staff were so attentive throughout the meal as well.

Madhavi Roy

Our date night became so special. Wanted to come here from a long time and was finally able to make it. Every dish was so delicious. I enjoyed every spoonful. Staff is very sweet and helpful. Its a cute place.

Dolores Q

Very good, well seasoned and you can find some surprising items on their special menu. Will come back again!

Ananda Day

Get the gyoza- perfect perfect light dough - skirt steak, and the lettuce and scallion skewers. Some of the best service I've had in LA. Kitsch, cozy, perfect.

Sufan Siauw

A surprising authentic Izakaya restaurant in Westwood. The Shabu Shabu was delicious and generously portioned. Service is great as well in the characteristic Japanese fashion

Sasha M

It's an izakaya with a local atmosphere. The food was great and the atmosphere was so good. I totally recommend it. Curious about other foods too.

Very good, well seasoned and you can find some surprising items on their special menu. Will come back again!

Excellent. Everything here was excellent, and I felt like I was back in Japan. I can't say a bad word about this place. We ordered so many dishes and they were all bangers. Also, the sesame dessert was delicious.

It's an izakaya with a local atmosphere. The food was great and the atmosphere was so good. I totally recommend it. Curious about other foods too.

A surprising authentic Izakaya restaurant in Westwood. The Shabu Shabu was delicious and generously portioned. Service is great as well in the characteristic Japanese fashion

+1

5 out of 5 stars. Everything we tasted was absolutely delicious. Will be coming back over and over again. Loved it.

Get the gyoza- perfect perfect light dough - skirt steak, and the lettuce and scallion skewers. Some of the best service I've had in LA. Kitsch, cozy, perfect.

Our date night became so special. Wanted to come here from a long time and was finally able to make it. Every dish was so delicious. I enjoyed every spoonful. Staff is very sweet and helpful. Its a cute place.

The food is absolutely delicious, like I will be having dreams about the skewers and wing gyozas because they were so juicy. Honorable mention to their smoked salmon because its become one of the best smoked salmon that I've had. The staff were so attentive throughout the meal as well.

I used to travel and work in Japan and this place reflects the honesty of small mom and pop places selling whatever is fresh that day. Savory nuanced traditional clean simple Japanese flavors. Love it!

Cosy Japanese Izakaya spot! Parking for a $5 flat rate after 5 p.m. in the back. Everything that we ordered was excellent, with a standout of the Chicken Karaage. Keep an eye out for the rotating specials on the first page of the menu.

+6

Very local Japanese restaurant! loved the stuffed chicken wings and the grilled pork belly with lettuce! The intestine hot pot was flavorful. Wish they had more options of foods tho. Great place for a sake night with friends!

+6

Excellent, authentic Japanese food in a super cozy izakaya setting. Loved that premium bites are paired with Sapporo beer towers!! Their sashimi plate was incredible, loved their grilled eggplant (焼きなす), and enjoyed their choice cuts of beef as well. A truly delightful experience that is a bit pricey, but worth every penny. Chefs and service staff are primarily Japanese-speaking, which only added to the experience :)

+5

Secret place of highest fun and quality and yes it’s priced accordingly and has great specials and a most complete menu so many types of foods it’s super fun and great sake flights

This place has been one of the best discoveries of the year for me and my boyfriend. We first came here in April, and it instantly became our favorite spot. Every dish at Hiro is delicious, the staff is always so kind and welcoming, and we always leave feeling happy and satisfied. The only thing we’d love to see is a wider variety of sashimi on the special menu! Must order : Taba gyo!!!!!!!

Great food and loved everything we ate! Reservations are difficult (only via phone and sometimes they don’t pick up or call back). VERY noisy during dinner times

+2

Amazing service and spectacular food, very authentic. Highly recommend and there’s a nice tradition of buying certain sake bottles, writing on them and leaving on the restaurant walls. Do the hot pot, steak and pot stickers. Great for a birthday, staff is so welcoming. Consider smaller groups, space is limited and tables small!

My favorite Izakaya in LA. The menu leans more authentic Japanese than modern Izakaya which I really appreciate. The sake list is well curated and they always have some interesting seasonal options to mix things up. Service is always friendly. Just make sure to call ahead to make a reservation if you want to avoid a wait .

Galia Tully

Amazing service and spectacular food, very authentic. Highly recommend and there’s a nice tradition of buying certain sake bottles, writing on them and leaving on the restaurant walls. Do the hot pot, steak and pot stickers. Great for a birthday, staff is so welcoming. Consider smaller groups, space is limited and tables small!

Law Hsu

The best neighborhood Izakaya’s you’re gonna find in West LA. And honestly, probably one of the best in LA in general. Super knowledgeable staff with a great Ramin all the way to great grilled items and raw fish items.

Daniel Mano

My favorite Izakaya in LA. The menu leans more authentic Japanese than modern Izakaya which I really appreciate. The sake list is well curated and they always have some interesting seasonal options to mix things up. Service is always friendly. Just make sure to call ahead to make a reservation if you want to avoid a wait .

The food was great, but the seating arrangements could be improved. This was one of the best Japanese restaurants I've gone to since I moved to the US from Japan. It's worth trying.

JM

We went to an izakaya, and the food looked amazing! It wasn’t the typical factory-made menu you’d expect, but they’re creating their own unique options, like those made locally in Japan. For example, they have special menu items that aren’t found in regular izakaya, like Today’s menu. We walked in without a reservation and were lucky enough to snag a table because one was free. We also tried a bunch of sake, and we were really happy with the Santori draft beer. We ordered eight different menus, and all the dishes were delicious. However, the menu I picked was so long that it took forever to get served. That’s why we can’t give you a perfect score for getting three dishes and taking over half an hour to get the rest. The food and service were fantastic.

Isabel Yanes

*Delayed post from June ‘25 I came here to celebrate a friend's birthday after visiting Japan for a month earlier this year. While the prices here are crazy high in comparison to izakayas over there, the quality of the food at Hakata Izakaya was outstanding, despite long wait times to be served the various dishes we ordered. Our party of 3 arrived at 8pm on a Friday and spent over 1.5 hours since it became busier as the night went on. The Karage, or Japanese Fried Chicken, was well battered and featured dark meat, keeping the chicken moist and tasty, while allowing for an intense crispy on the outside. There were a few pieces of cartilage that snuck in though, so be careful when biting in. We also ordered Teba Gyo, Chicken Wings that are stuffed with chives and heavily seasoned with black pepper on the outside. The flavors oddly reminded me of egg rolls, but in a great way! The pork belly wrapped skewers took the longest to arrive, but were delicious. I highly recommend the chives and any of the other options that have bold flavors, as the lettuce we tried was rather simple. Lastly we shared a pot of Shabu Shabu, which included a variety of vegetables like cabbage, carrots and mushrooms, and thin pork slices to swish around. The broth was very flavorful, but they also provided ponzu sauce to add a zing of flavor as desired. The noodles served at the very end were not my favorite, unfortunately. They reminded me more of spaghetti and less of the ramen or udon noodles I fell in love with in Japan.

Michelle Nguyen

Made reservations on a Thursday at 6:30 pm for a party of 4, and was seated immediately. I felt like I was in Japan, very authentic. We ordered: Small intestine hot pot: soup was good, the intestines is clean and fatty Japanese oysters: super milky and thick Jellyfish: crunchy Stuffed wings: good flavors Fish egg roe: salty goodness Sizzling Kobe beef: it can be a tad chewy if you eat it medium rare

Made reservations on a Thursday at 6:30 pm for a party of 4, and was seated immediately. I felt like I was in Japan, very authentic. We ordered: Small intestine hot pot: soup was good, the intestines is clean and fatty Japanese oysters: super milky and thick Jellyfish: crunchy Stuffed wings: good flavors Fish egg roe: salty goodness Sizzling Kobe beef: it can be a tad chewy if you eat it medium rare

+2

*Delayed post from June ‘25 I came here to celebrate a friend's birthday after visiting Japan for a month earlier this year. While the prices here are crazy high in comparison to izakayas over there, the quality of the food at Hakata Izakaya was outstanding, despite long wait times to be served the various dishes we ordered. Our party of 3 arrived at 8pm on a Friday and spent over 1.5 hours since it became busier as the night went on. The Karage, or Japanese Fried Chicken, was well battered and featured dark meat, keeping the chicken moist and tasty, while allowing for an intense crispy on the outside. There were a few pieces of cartilage that snuck in though, so be careful when biting in. We also ordered Teba Gyo, Chicken Wings that are stuffed with chives and heavily seasoned with black pepper on the outside. The flavors oddly reminded me of egg rolls, but in a great way! The pork belly wrapped skewers took the longest to arrive, but were delicious. I highly recommend the chives and any of the other options that have bold flavors, as the lettuce we tried was rather simple. Lastly we shared a pot of Shabu Shabu, which included a variety of vegetables like cabbage, carrots and mushrooms, and thin pork slices to swish around. The broth was very flavorful, but they also provided ponzu sauce to add a zing of flavor as desired. The noodles served at the very end were not my favorite, unfortunately. They reminded me more of spaghetti and less of the ramen or udon noodles I fell in love with in Japan.

+1

We went to an izakaya, and the food looked amazing! It wasn’t the typical factory-made menu you’d expect, but they’re creating their own unique options, like those made locally in Japan. For example, they have special menu items that aren’t found in regular izakaya, like Today’s menu. We walked in without a reservation and were lucky enough to snag a table because one was free. We also tried a bunch of sake, and we were really happy with the Santori draft beer. We ordered eight different menus, and all the dishes were delicious. However, the menu I picked was so long that it took forever to get served. That’s why we can’t give you a perfect score for getting three dishes and taking over half an hour to get the rest. The food and service were fantastic.

+6

Maybe I ordered the wrong things, but they were all recommended by the staff. The Jidori chicken Kara-age was primarily small pieces of chicken surrounded by lots of batter that retained a significant amount of cooking oil, and it left an unpleasant film in my mouth. The sashimi sampler featured of a bunch of rubbery white fish (like Sea Bream) with thick skin attached (yuck per my taste), a few nice pieces of tuna (delicious), and a couple of large scallops (delicious) for $50. We asked for more wasabi and soy, which never arrived. Overall the staff was nice, the location is good, and there are outside tables. I’ll probably give it another chance, but next time I’ll be sure to stick to grilled meats and premium sashimi, and avoid the sampler, and the fried stuff.

Had high hopes for this place but everything was so mediocre that I don’t understand the popularity of it. Food was average (nothing stands out or memorable) but considering the price, it’s audaciously overpriced. Like for the price I paid, I would expect something similar to a one star Michelin restaurant but the overall experience was far from that. I sat inside and it was so loud that I had to cover my ears at some point. My head also exploded from the noise and I had to yell at my partner to have a conversation. Be prepare to spend a lot in a noisy tiny space. Would not return unfortunately.

1. Most dishes were very salty. We had to order white rice in order to complete the meal. 2. We were told today’s sashimi special includes sea urchin. We then ordered it. It came without sea urchin. We asked why, and were told that they had provided wrong information when we placed the order. Didn’t try to make amends.

We cannot recommend this restaurant, unfortunately. We are a small family of three with a 3-month-old son and had chosen this place because of its good reviews and atmosphere. We arrived about 1.5 hours before closing time, when a table was still available and the restaurant did not seem too busy. Nevertheless, we were turned away and told that they were “too busy.” To us, it felt more like they did not want families with small children. They also pointed out that having a stroller would be difficult, although we explained that ours is a compact travel stroller, foldable and easy to put aside. Still, they refused to seat us. Afterwards, when reading through older reviews, we noticed that this does not seem to be an isolated incident. Similar experiences have been mentioned in the past, which confirms our impression. For young families, this is very important to know so they do not even waste their time trying. We found this very disappointing, especially since our baby usually just sleeps through dinner and would not have disturbed anyone. From our perspective, it seemed unfriendly and unwelcoming toward families with small children.

I attempted to call and make an appointment. However, the person who answered the phone was very rude and repeatedly changed the available times within a minute. For example, when I asked to book at time A, they said they only had time B. But when I agreed to book at time B, they then said the earliest available was time C. This repeated change gave me the impression that they were unwilling to allow me to make an appointment. lmao

This was one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had in Westwood. We ordered the beef tongue steak, but it was so rubbery that we couldn’t even swallow it. We returned it, only to be told later we had to pay for it because the texture was “their style.” Even after explaining we barely touched it and spit it out, they argued with us and charged half the price. We came here to enjoy our night, but their attitude and refusal to handle the situation properly ruined it. We’ll never come back.

The waitress told me on the phone laud and clear that the reservation is not needed and walk-in is ok. After spending 35 dollars on taxi, we are told that we can only sit in the temporary shelter for such „fancy dinner“. All tables are already booked. If we need an inside table, we have to wait for one hour!

I had high hopes for this place, but unfortunately I was disappointed. There's a few big issues with this place. The food is not bad, but it is grossly overpriced. It averaged out to about $80 per person and nobody was full at the end of the meal. That's totally absurd for izakaya, which is supposed to be cheap and quick street food. Aside from overpriced, it took forever for the food to come out-- like a ridiculous amount of time. But don't worry, they remind you that you only have 2 hours to eat, after which you have to leave. What a nice way to start your dinner. The second big issue is the service. The people working here are really rude. Maybe I'm spoiled because I've lived in Japan in the past, but Japan is famously welcoming and nice in its hospitality. This place was not. It felt like being in the twilight zone. Even by American standards, the people working here are rude. It's hard to get your order taken, and they kept forgetting items we asked for. There's a bunch of nice izakaya places in Los Angeles. Somehow they manage to serve similar food for a fraction of the cost without making you feel like you're a bother to them. Go to them.

Mathias M.

We cannot recommend this restaurant, unfortunately. We are a small family of three with a 3-month-old son and had chosen this place because of its good reviews and atmosphere. We arrived about 1.5 hours before closing time, when a table was still available and the restaurant did not seem too busy. Nevertheless, we were turned away and told that they were “too busy.” To us, it felt more like they did not want families with small children. They also pointed out that having a stroller would be difficult, although we explained that ours is a compact travel stroller, foldable and easy to put aside. Still, they refused to seat us. Afterwards, when reading through older reviews, we noticed that this does not seem to be an isolated incident. Similar experiences have been mentioned in the past, which confirms our impression. For young families, this is very important to know so they do not even waste their time trying. We found this very disappointing, especially since our baby usually just sleeps through dinner and would not have disturbed anyone. From our perspective, it seemed unfriendly and unwelcoming toward families with small children.