Izakaya Carbondale

I love Izakaya! Great sushi and fast service!

We sat at the sushi bar and the sushi chef, John, was excellent! He was knowledgeable about the Japanese cuisine, very respectful and cultured. He was professional and a great multitasker, holding meaningful conversation in the midst of rolling sushi. He recommended the Carbontail sushi roll and it was an outstanding suggestion! We found out he normally works at Kenichi in Snowmass Village and we will definitely be heading there to see chef John again! Thank you so much for your excellent service.

Unfortunately it was too dark to take any pictures of our food, but it was surprisingly delicious! My husband wanted to get takeout but I coaxed him onto going out on the last night of our weekend getaway. We were happy we did. The flavors were unexpectedly elevated compared to some of the other restaurants we ate at in the area. We had the pork buns, tonkatsu ramen and cod. It’s also worthwhile to note that they have a good selection of nonalcoholic drinks.

We had a wonderful dinner here for my husbands bday! We ordered some items off the happy hour menu and from the special menu. Our favorites were the Wagu Beef Ribs, the eggplant veggie roll and the spicy edamame. Cz is an awesome server and gave excellent service! Bonus is that they allow dogs to dine with you on the outside patio. My husband grew up in Boulder and no dogs allowed even on patio in most restaurants so this was a happy surprise for us! We will be back!

There aren’t enough stars for Izakaya. By far our favorite place in Carbondale with an awesome staff and amazing food. We love that you can walk in and sit at the bar after a day of skiing or make a nice reservation for a special occasion. It hits all the marks.

This was my first night at Izakaya, and I can't stress enough how thoughtful and delicious everything was. I'm gluten free and they offered a gluten free menu with FANTASTIC choices, and Tamari like it was not a big deal. Me and my (non GF) finance both had wonderful options, great drinks, thoughtful service, and the food was DELICIOUS. The kalabi short ribs, the sushi, the spicy edamami, and the fried rice were incredible, as was the hot pot. For Carbondale it's on the pricier side, but compared to Aspen (and Kenichi, it's sister restaurant in Aspen) it's 100% worth it.

Nice place for sushi and Asian inspired snacks.

I absolutely love this place. Definitely the best Asian food in town. It’s definitely more expensive but if you are looking for a nice night out and are willing to pay a little more it’s a great choice. Amazing staff who are super knowledgeable and friendly.

My wife and I went for her birthday and had a fantastic time! The food was great, as was the service. The ambiance was top notch as well, there's a very relaxing vibe. Can't wait to go back!

Exceptional service from Forrest, he knows the menu and specials well and always has the best recommendations. The sushi and food are amazing Izakaya is a must try in Carbondale.

First time in my life I ate raw fish. It was ok for being raw. But the kazami sauce was excellent love that stuff! Thank you so much Kelsie Duty for the experience. You were awesome! The staff was super also!

Great fresh sushi! The interior decoration is really well done. Service was top notch. I'll definitely dine here again when I visit Carbondale in the future.

We went with some friends. Best restaurant I've been to in a while. The food was great and the waitress we had was awesome. She was on top of everything!! Thank you Kelsie for the experience!!

I got the garlic tonkotsu ramen, and it was amazing. Our server, Cheauxchi, was amazing, he was a great conversationalist, and gave me great tips about the area.

I LOVE Izakaya! The food was fantastic, great service in a calm environment yet big city restaurant feel. Will definitely recommend and go back!

Our waiter was fantastic. He helped us choose our food and sake. Made for a really good experience.

I cam usually tell how I feel about a restaurant after about a week. If I'm still feeling it was a great experience, then it's a winner. It's pricier than an every day dinner venue, which Carbondale lacks, but worth it. Great ambiance, service, and great food. We only had sushi, so can't speak to apps or entrees. 2nd time there, and happy even a week later. However, I was disappointed in their adding a kitchen "tip" to the bill. They need to figure out how to pool and split tips, or pay staff from the big bill we received at the end. I'd also like to see another cold sake that isn't a full bottle option....or the pricey by the glass choices. I'll go back again.....and again....and again!

Delicious food, great cocktails, and some great n/a drink options as well. While they do serve sushi rolls, highly recommend exploring the menu. The ramen is great but you really can’t go wrong with anything. Explore the specials too!

I really love this spot. the vibe, the service, the interior itself, all really great. but the food is amazing. so many unique takes on standard japanese dishes. like the gyoza with cherries, pork belly fried rice, all of their new-style sashimis, the yakisoba noodles are a take-home and eat for breakfast... and more. and dont forget one of the best desserts ever, the peanut butter cup. only critique would be that the traditional sushi menu isn't super deep, but even then, what they have is tasty, fresh, and they have specials that augment it regularly. the sazerac and smoky madre are also really well-thought craft cocktails. and dont forget one of the better sakes in existence, permanently on the menu - demonslayer!

Visited Izakaya during our trip to Aspen. Hubby and I loved the ambience, service and food. What was good? 1. Stylish ambience 2. Great drinks and selection of wine 3. Unique and delicious food choices 4. Prompt service What could be improved? 1. Vegetarian options - Very few options. I being a vegetarian found it difficult however my husband is not and he totally loved all of sea food options he tried. 2. Vegetarian ramen - I liked the vegetarian ramen. However it was super creamy and not authentic. Too many mushrooms and no veggies in the ramen. We enjoyed the experience over all. We will definitely visit again when we vacation at Aspen next year.

It's a Japanese chain from Kenichi Aspen but smaller menu. don't expect the food will be good as Kenichi. but it's acceptable. i mean it's still good. they are also provide the special menu. nice place and in the main street in Carbondale.

To establish authenticity of this review, I lived in Tokyo for few years and my wife is a native Japanese, who recently moved to the US from Yokohama, Japan. First - Food. We started with Karaage and Chicken Kushiyaki (Yakitori) as appetizers, and I will say the Karaage was very authentic and the best that I've had in the states. Yakitori was juicy and perfectly cooked as well. Highly recommend both of these dishes as they reminded me of the same dishes I enjoyed in Tokyo. Agedashi was great and authentic in form, but broth should be more concentrated/stronger. Salmon Tartare was also great in form, but lacked some flavor as it was missing something. Japanese Cowboy bowl was great in execution and combination in terms of the make-up, but the pork belly had uneven texture with some burnt pieces and some great chewy, moist pieces. Overall, food quality, presentation, and taste were good. Second - Drinks. Chu Hai was little way too sour (too much lemon juice) at first, and the server / bartender took it back to fix it. However, it just came out very syrupy in the end. But great service on the server's end to try to resolve the issue. Perhaps different drinks are tastier here. Service - Our server was absolutely great. He had his menu and specials memorized and checked-up on us in reasonable increments to make sure we were good. Amazing customer service and can't complain there. Ambiance - The interior of the restaurant was pretty cool. I felt like I was in an upscale Izakaya somewhere in Tokyo. It feels high-end inside with dim lights, and overall, good vibes all around. Overall experience was great and would recommend to those that want something other than regular sushi dining in the Aspen area.

We had dinner at Izakaya Carbondale last night. They accommodated our request to dine outdoors when we made our reservation. Courtney, our server, was excellent and friendly. The food was excellent and we understand the concept of izakaya dining, smaller portions, but items should be priced accordingly. The size of the sushi rolls was ridiculously small for the price. We use Sushi Den in Denver as our standard to compare. And this place does not compare well to Sushi Den.

Food was very mediocre. They get two stars for having plant based options. We ordered all 3 plant based rolls, they were extremely mediocre, much smaller portioned and overpriced compared to other sushi restaurants. Spent 50$ on 3 rolls and we were disappointed and hungry when we were finished.

I've been here 3 times now with visiting family/friends who wanted Japanese food/Sushi in Carbondale. Nice environment, decent service, but the Sushi and Japanese food is not very good. For the quality of the food, I'm also surprised how much they charge. I used to work as a sushi chef in Chicago many years ago and have family in Japan so I feel that I have a good idea of what decent Japanese food should taste like. Can't say I can really recommend any place in the valley for sushi, but I would say Kanpai in Glenwood Spring has slightly better food than here and at a much lower price. I really wish we had better Japanese options in the valley.

They silently overcharged me for $1 from my credit card bill. Not much money, but this was disgusting. Other than that, the food was OK, but some appetizer was overpriced. A single chicken skewer for $16. A male bartender was a bit unfriendly and ignored some of our requests.

We ordered pick up and did a group order. They didn’t provide 3 of the steamed rice for the 3 chicken teriyaki… Also price of the teriyaki was $19 on the menu. They charged us $21…. portion size was small and disappointed with the level of details. Barely any food. Would not ever come back.

We reserved a table in the bar and when we arrived, were told there was no available table for us. They had seated others at those tables. The hostess attributed this to a glitch in the reservation system—one they were aware of—that supposedly automatically relegated us to a high top next to the front door, the worst spot in the restaurant, which was an option we rejected during booking after having another previous bad experience at that same table when we thought we had booked something better. When asked if they could find us anything else, we were told, “sorry, we are fully booked tonight”—something we assumed we were part of when we made a reservation several days in advance! This is inexcusable treatment. Don’t reserve here unless you have a back-up plan.

Far from authentic Japanese food. Several dishes we had were not great tasting regardless. If you think they serve Japanese food, you do not know Japanese food..... Since it is owned by Kenichi, we should have known. The insult to the injury was the "kitchen appreciation fee" that was added on automatically to the bill. What in the world is that even.....? We would have left at least 20% tip like we usually do, but because of this, we left way less. Needless to say, we will not be back and would not recommend. It is a good thing they are located in a small town where there are not much of competitions.

I suppose it would have been easier if the host and bartender had simply said "we don't want to serve you and your party" because treating me and my family like we were like pond scum took some effort. "We are full" announced the host. "Big huge party coming in" (note they never showed up) "Nope can't sit at the bar, we are full" (note 2 seats open and in 15 minutes the bar was completely empty and they came back and asked if wanted to sit at the bar). Bartender was rude, host was rude. Drinks were good but I will never return. What anti-customer school did this staff attend?

I was massively disappointed in this restaurant. I paid $21 for a teriyaki dish that didn't even come with rice. I had to pay another $4 for only a tiny amount of white rice to complete what comes with this meal at any other Japanese restaurant. But the worst part was that I had to go out to get a second dinner, because the portions were insultingly tiny. The taste of the dish was average. The only positive thing I could say about this restaurant is that the staff was friendly. But we should not support any restaurant where we have to pay a premium to be put on a diet. This is BS

Unapologetically Terrible Service. (On a Tuesday.) Server never once came to check on us until we asked the hostess twice to locate her. It had been over 30 mins since we saw her last, during which we were waiting to order drinks, waiting to ask for replacement sushi for a child that inexplicably contained wasabi (server charged us nonetheless), and wondered where our appetizer once (ordered 45 mins ago by that point). When our server finally came outside (contrast other server who had come outside >30X by then), she said “I have a lot of tables. We’re busy like every other restaurant in America.” I guess that makes sense. We’re in America and in a restaurant, so I should have realized that we didn’t deserve service. Servers sometimes get tied up. I get that. But that “get preemptively mad at the customer so they can’t mad at you” ninja move was uncalled for.

I visited while on vacation in the area on September 20th, excited to try this place and fully prepared to spend good money, including on tips. When we arrived, the staff seemed to discourage us from eating there, implying we shouldn’t wait for a table. I told them I didn’t mind waiting, wrote down our name and number, but we never received a call back. It was hard not to feel unwelcome. Honestly, it seemed like they didn’t want “Mexicans” dining there. It shouldn’t matter who you are, if you’re a paying customer, you should be treated with basic respect. This experience left a lasting negative impression.

I not a person who do bad reviews,but today were insaine,we had previous good experiences and today we were after hot springs and we did like stay in restaurant,we were trying to place to go order and they told us to come in and order in bar,first bartenders were super arrogant and not nice at all,to ask to put to go order they said they can’t do it bcs they are busy,bcs u busy,i am happy ti take to go food and u can use my seat…i ask to call manager,bartender came and said he is manager,Zac he was rude to my husband and it’s not how u want that people can talk to u,it’s not hospitality,i really wish that this place improved communication skills,the way how they talked to us is unacceptable!!!We live in Carbondale,and i love the food there,but this bartenders are super rude!

My husband and I went here for our anniversary, we were automatically greeted rudely by the hostess. You could tell they just wanted to turn us and burn us. We were shown the happy hour menu and pushed to order from that when they handed us the normal dinner menus too. The food was bland, my husband had something chewy in the pot sticker and my cup for my water was dirty! All around disappointing.

I usually don’t comment or give opinion when I don’t have a good experience, I just stop going but I’ll make an exception this time. I visited last Saturday, Server ignored me when I asked for sparkling bottle, we ordered two rolls that never came to the table, we ordered a slider that we also got wrong, Server dropped check when we finished without offering dessert in a hurry to make us leave. After this I tipped 20% before tax and server charged me more in tips that I left.

You usually expect a small town to have a warm and welcoming atmosphere with friendly people. This was not it. We were expecting a restaurant that happens to also have alcohol. Instead the vibe is more of a bar that happens to have food. We had our two kids (1 year old and 9 year old) with us and were immediately put outside. Which is fine, but I’d assume if I’m going to be thrown outside, they’d at least feed us quickly so we can leave. Instead, everything took too long and some of the food that came out was cold. The food was overpriced for the portions, and we left not feeling satisfied. If you’re coming here to drink or on a date, then it seems like the vibe is right. If you’re hungry and want to eat good food with family, try something else.

The food is good but the service is really bad. They don’t arrange the tables properly. They arrange the 2 people sit in a 6-person table and keep larger groups waiting where there are more than one table for 2 person even for 4. The food came really slow and the waiter doesn’t come until we ask. Also, at last they charged $80 more than the amount we signed on the receipt!!!!

1 star because the old fashion was good. Service was terrible, wagyu dish cold, dishes took Forever to arrive, server had no idea if all the dishes had come out or not. We felt like an afterthought sitting outside. After paying, I took the fam to McDonald's, and that was a better meal. It's unbelievable that this place has this high of a rating.

Came here since the reviews were good. This place is SO expensive. I ordered a mock tail and it was basically watered down kombucha. The food was okay. Portions are small. Waitress made us feel rushed and didn’t check on us much, had to wait 15 minutes for the check and to box up my food.