What a gem! Â If you're looking for a great karaoke bar you're in luck! Â A few friends of mine introduced me to this hidden spot in Chinatown. Â Downstairs is a restaurant and they have phenomenal sushi! This is the perfect place to get a drink and a meal in an intimate setting! Â
Upstairs is where it gets crazy. Â My former co-workers and I would come here straight after work and sometimes nights for the karaoke bar. Â This was our spot! Â The bar upstairs is huge and they have TV screens in the background for the karaoke. Â You can sit at the bar or you can sit at one of the lounge tables, which are comfy and good for groups. Â But if you really want to do it up they have private party rooms for you and your friends to enjoy a personal karaoke experience.
The karaoke song list is huge! And of course it always takes forever for me to pick a song because once again I'm indecisive. Â They have wireless mics so you can perform from anywhere in the bar. Â There are personalized music videos for each song too! That's always comical!
I always have a blast when I come here! It's the perfect spot to let loose with a close group of friends!
I've been here twice and have had good experiences both times. Â If you're a fan of karaoke this is the place to be. Â Invite some friends, rent a room for a couple hours, and sing your sorrows away! Â You can also order drinks and food, which they'll bring to your rooms. For those adventurous singers there's also the option of singing in front of a crowded room filled with strangers.
Review Source:I'm not a person who goes out often, but when I do, I think of Yaki, as it was the place my friends and I visited the most during our high school years and into college. Their food is solid, even if it's not out of this world, and I do enjoy their okonomiyaki(seafood pancake) very much. I've had their mini ramen, which has slightly false advertising, as there is no meat in it, and nothing special but still filling when you're not very hungry. Their udon gets the same review as ramen, though no false advertising there. Their katsudon left me wondering if katsudon really tastes like that, in which, if so, I would just stick with a chicken or pork katsu bento box. I like my fried food crunchy. I do find that the bento box is somewhat expensive, but it is very filling and good, so I still think its partially worth it....? Maybe.
Their yakitoris are pretty good, and my brother is in love with their bacon and quail eggs, especially on Tuesdays, with their specials.
I don't remember if they used to have fried oysters on the menu, but that is one thing I'm looking forward to trying the next time I'm there.
As for karaoke. It seems the standard type of station used in most karaoke places. Nothing special, nothing out of this world, just good old karaoke with friends where no one judges when you're behind closed doors, right? I don't know how often they update, and I don't keep up with music much, but when I look for a new song, at least it's usually already there. The only thing is, if you overstay your welcome, they will come in and turn off your machine while you are in the middle of singing and take away the mics. I know they're running a business, but there must be a better way to go about this?
So I come here at least once every time I come back to Philly when I'm away. It has two floors: the first level is its restaurant and the second is its lounge + karaoke rooms. Both levels have a bar. It's a great place to hang out with friends for a dinner or for a night to have fun at the lounge.
Entertainment
This is the reason for me giving it the 4/5 rating. This is one of the only few places in center city Philly that provides groups of parties their own private karaoke rooms. The prices are very affordable, especially if a group uses the free room promotion (buy enough drinks/food that cover double the hourly fee; use to be just the same amount, but not anymore). If you don't want to book a private room, the lounge is always fun. There is always people out singing their hearts out, which makes it super fun and hilarious. The con to entertainment, though, is that now it gets so packed that you have to book a table or room during the weekends, or you won't be able to get up there. Bar selection is decent; they have many drinks and house drinks as well. Definitely try the Tokyo Tea; a few of these can get you pretty tipsy.
Food
The food is pretty good. The prices vary from inexpensive to expensive depending on what you want to order. The daily specials they have are somewhat cheap, but selections are very limited. I usually come on Sushi or Skewer nights, because they are mad cheap. I love the quail egg, chicken, chicken and scallion, and the pork sausage skewers. As for taste, it's not the best I've eaten around in terms of Japanese food, but the selection is huge. You can also order food from both levels.
Service
Hosting is great and.. controlling? If you would like to go upstairs, they are really thorough with you in restaurant procedures and policies. Definitely great at the lower level restaurant. They come just enough so they don't really bother you, but are still attentive of you. As for upstairs, it tends to be confusing. If you're at the lounge and want food, you sometimes have no idea who your server is and you just have to approach staff. Sometimes, they're no where to be found and you might just have to approach a bouncer or the person controlling the lounge karaoke. Bar staff is sometimes short, and you really have to push through to grab drinks. Having your own room is good, since there is a call button. If it gets busy though, they might take forever to come. Different servers take care of you too, so be sure not to order the same thing twice. Making reservations is also very thorough; they'd like to call you twice
Recommendations: Order From Food Specials, Make Reservations For Upstairs Prior
Pros: Great atmosphere, very fun, friendly people
Cons: Somewhat expensive for things, crowded on weekends
I was there when Yakitori Boy first opened up in Chinatown. My first experience was with Karaoke; we booked a room for 8 people and spent over $200 on alcohol and food (mostly drinks). We were on the couch dancing and one of the server ladies made us put on these slippers. LOL. Of course drunken guys danced at our door. But it was amazing! Yakitori was THE IT place for my friends and me when it comes to Karaoke. Other places were shady or not known to us at the time. Since then, the place changed a lot in terms of their rules and regulations for Karaoke rooms and all. They became stricter and you have to register with your credit card to ensure that you do no harm to their room or equipment.
The food at Yakitori Boy, most are good. I always order the skewers as a snack. I love the quail eggs wrapped with bacon. AMAZING! The drinks are good too. I recently ordered a Lychee-Tini when I was there for a birthday party out in the lounge. I recommend Yakitori Boy for karaoke definitely; just make sure you book in advance. And 21+, they do check ID and will stamp you :)
I'm only rating the karyoke and drinks because somehow, in all of the times I've been here, I've never tried the food.
This place is great for karyoke! They have several rooms you can rent by the hour, and they usually cut you a deal especially during the week. For the smaller rooms, they usually waive the cost of the room if you have a drink tab of something like $40 an hour, and for the big room (which fits maybe 15 people), they set the hourly tab at $60 an hour. They usually have some sort of drink special running as well, so sometimes it's actually hard to meet that hourly minimum. You can either reserve a room in advance or just talk with the hosts when you first come in to work out the details.
The karyoke machines themselves have a good selection of songs -- boy bands, Madonna, Queen -- you name it! But they have some of the strangest music videos I have ever seen (obviously not the real music videos and most of them look like they're out of the 90s).
Mmmmmm no.
I mean, I only gave two because, to be forthright, I haven't experienced the Karaoke upstairs and they do seem to have a few good deals from time to time. And I wouldn't say that the food is terrible. In fact, if it wasn't for the bizarre vibe, their food and drink specials push them up to three stars in my book. This is really a two and a half star rating, but I must vent:
I notice this place has lines around the corner on some weekend eve's, this I have to chalk up to the effects of hype. As far as I can decipher, using my own sense of what is aesthetically conducive to a convivial and comfortable night life experience, there lies a great slippage between the Yakitori appeal and the Yakitori experience. Do not become a victim of fashion, as what often happens in this town, be your own man and cast a critical eye on the source of your own expectations. Really, because for all its fan fair what yakitori boiled down to is a weekend warrior-half assed fan boy-brushed aluminum-round eye yawn which is designed to equivocate toward a suburban image of downtown grit and glamor but with a touch of the orient.
Sushi was decent and it is acceptable, but since we are in the city, there are better places to go to. Â The price seems decent, at 4 pieces per roll for approximately $3.00. Â They have a few specialty rolls that was good. Â
Service was great, especially our waiter when we needed a good recommendation on sake. Â ("Thick and chewy" sake, only with his recommendation would anyone pick this sake from its description -_-)
They have great ambiance as well, the night we went, they had surprisingly a lot of birthdays doing around with their lighting torch/candle.
Great service, decent sushi. Â I may go back to check out their karaoke upstairs. Â Recommending to other people wise, if you are in the area, sure, try it out.
I went there last Sat for dinner and karaoke, their service staff and hosts were very rude and acted very snobbish. The last time I went here was before I moved to philly a year ago with my buddies and it was pretty good. But this place has definitely gone down hill. Â This might be the last time I go here.
I give one star for the great bartenders there. If it wasn't for the rest of the staff and just the bartender it would be 4.
I heard from one of my buddies that there is a new karaoke place opening in Chinatown on arch st. and hope their staff aren't as snobby and have as much of a bad attitude. Will be trying that place out next.
I would not recommend this place unless they get rid of the rude staff
This is a review of the upstairs karaoke ONLY.
I booked a 6-person room for 2 hours (which ended up being 2 hrs 15 minutes due to some telephone trickery with the reservation staff; I called to inquire about room availability on a saturday and they claimed that they only had one room left but it was from 5-7:15. i assumed they were helping me out with the extra 15 min or that it was some sort of standard added time. i was wrong and ended up being charged $12.50 extra for the 15 minutes. but i digress.) to celebrate my 30th birthday. We arrived 15 minutes early because that's what you do when you have a reservation. Â The staff behind the host stand looked super annoyed that we were there early and in general, seemed very indifferent to our existence. They made us sign a waiver and held a credit card for incidentals, you know in case we decided to get drunk and hurl a microphone at the karaoke screens. They then escorted us up to our karaoke room. At first glance, it was pretty cool. The karaoke selection was a touch screen and it had many different languages, songs, and artists to choose from. Â The actual function of the karaoke selection was a bit more complicated than it needed to be but after 15-20 minutes of playing around with it, we basically got the idea. I liked that we could queue up songs on a list and then just push play and keep it rolling. Our "waiter" was okay, though we only saw him once or twice at which point he was quickly replaced w/ a completely different waiter who did not introduce himself. Ok. Moving on, the food itself at Yakitori Boy is always great for me so I have no complaints about that at all. I do have a complaint about the fact that during the waiter change, my beer order was forgotten and I had to ask for it twice. If you've never done karaoke before, you must know that 2 hours goes by pretty quickly and while the service was pretty crappy considering the food prices and price of the room, we did have a wonderful time. As expected, the host staff didn't even glance our way as we exited the restaurant. They obviously didn't care about our business and that's great, because I probably won't be going back to Yakitori Boy again, unless they have a great Groupon or Living Social deal that I can take advantage of. I will most certainly be going elsewhere for my karaoke needs.
I must have been spoiled by the bustling scene of yakitori and izakaya beer houses in so cal because I was expecting something akin to that level of quality. The things I expect when I walk into a yakitori joint are: cheap-ish beer, and they need to Handle their grill and sushi bar. Bonuses include innovative appetizers or small dishes, and good soup-y dishes like oden or ramen for the visits on colder days.
My favorite yakitori meats are all the organ meats. This place served dried, over seasoned pieces. My second favorite things to get in yakitori form are veggies; theirs were unremarkable and overpriced. The worst part of the visit by far, however, was all the sushi rolls we ordered with any amount of raw fish. The only exception to this was the Mexican roll, in which the raw fish was saved by the spices pounded into it and the copious amount of sauce and chili powder that still went atop that was finally sufficient to mask the not-fresh-raw-fish-smell. The other sushi rolls that came with raw meat either inside or on top were unbearable. Very unpleasant fishy aroma and the texture was mushy and chewy at the same time confirming what the smell alone indicated.
There is a chance I will return if this is the Only yakitori joint in town, which I sincerely hope is not the case. Our waitress was nice, the hostess was nice blah blah. I honestly can't tell you about the decor or Um, Beyonce (ambience) because I don't really pay attention to things like that. It's just your standard Asian place that is reaching for that trendy crowd from what I can discern. That is also too bad because I miss how cozy izakaya houses tend to be in so cal.
I came here yesterday, which I thought was funny since I had just written a general review for Yakitori two days ago.. But anyway, now with a whole meal experience fresh in my head, I can leave a clearer review.
The place is really dim, and it was a little annoying to have to squint to read the menu via tea-candle light. But, I'm just being picky. We were seated quickly and shown the specials menu for the Tuesday dollar skewers. First off, I remember a time when ALL the skewers were a dollar off, save a few. Now it's just limited to a small selection which, if memory serves correctly, is chicken, chicken meat ball, chicken and scallion, bacon wrapped quail egg (there are 2 on the stick), asparagus (which is just 1 grilled asparagus), chicken liver, pork belly, and ginko nut. I might be missing a few.
The yakitori are tasty! (Again, what's to hate about meat on sticks?) But I was a little disappointed because I remember there being more meat on the stick? Maybe it's just the dollar special thing. And the one asparagus made me laugh - ONE asparagus.
On top of a few dollar skewers, I ordered the chicken skin skewer (which was crispy, a little greasy, and amazing) and the spicy toro roll, which was delicious, but I couldn't really differentiate between normal tuna? The prices for the sushi at Yaki are low, but keep in mind they only come in rolls of 4 pieces! I also had the warm bottle of house sake. I'm not really a sake expert, so I'll just say that it came hot and it gave me a good buzz.
One final note, service was extremely fast and watchful. I saw our sushi dishes sitting on the sushi bar for quite some time before they were delivered over to us, but other than that dirty plates were scooped up quickly, and I feel like they have one person just to refill your water! My glass was refilled at least 8 times during the entire service. Not sure of how much water I drank, but I am very appreciative that I never had to ask for more.
Sushi was priced pretty cheap but the quality of the sushi was not the best I've had in the city, I wouldn't even consider it good sushi since there are so many sushi restaurant competitions in the city. Â I gave the place a try because I had a groupon that made the food pretty cheap. Â
As for the service, it was great, our waiter was very tentative and recommended good sake.
I've been here twice. Once was for dinner with a friend which was really good. The other to enjoy some drinks and karaoke (not the rooms, just the bar). It was insanely crowded and the karaoke was poorly managed. I'd like to come back to try a room, but I will never go for the bar again. So four stars for the dinner and one star for the upstairs bar=two stars.
Review Source:This is a review solely for the karaoke. It was overall a good place for karaoke but the guy checking ids had the worst attitude ever. I've never been here before so I didn't know we couldn't bring liquids in and when he saw my bottle he asked me to finish my water. I asked if I could pour my water away instead and he said "Just drink from it". So I thought he meant that he just wanted me to drink a sip but then he continued and told me to "drink the whole thing" when the bottle was completely full and wouldn't let me pour it away until another guy just took my bottle and poured all of it away right in front of the door.
The karaoke rooms were decent with a good selection of songs so it was not bad otherwise.
Please note that this review has nothing to do with the upstairs karaoke fun rooms. Â Those rooms are a good time and drunken fun. Â
Unfortunately  the restaurant is nothing like the upstairs.  The food is not great, and there is very little description on the menu of what you're getting.  Let's talk about my last visit.  I asked the waitress what came in the salmon lover's roll, but consisted of more than the "salmon and cucumber" than she described.  I have no idea what the crunchy stuff in it was (not tempura) and it wasn't good.  The noodles in the udon soup were mushy- they had no flavor and disintegrated in before they hit my tongue. Â
Also- file under weird and new- the waitstaff is so quick to clear your table of dishes, that they will take away plates that you are still using (the hand roll was in my mouth, does that mean I'm done with the plate?). Â I had to grab my drink out of the waitress' hand because it was still a quarter full, and they took away my dessert before I could finish it. Â By that time I was over the whole place. Â The place wasn't busy and there were many empty tables around us.
There were some pros: despite the weird impatience thing, the staff seemed nice. Â Also, the sushi is tasty if you keep it simple- my yellowtail hand roll was delicious. Â The skewers aren't bad if you're looking for a quick and easy bite. Â
I've tried Yakitori Boy 3 times now, just in case it all was a fluke- you can get much better Japanese food somewhere else.
Three tips to properly enjoy the upstairs karaoke:
1. Come with a large group - this is to split the cost of food and overpriced drinks, plus to ensure that the room you ordered is adequately tiny and you're stumbling over each other to belt out songs.
2. Stay for a really long time - the true appreciation of karaoke and the staff only come after 2+ hours of claustrophobic singing. That's when, in your drunken state, you will realize that these poor servers have to put up with a lot of your lewd behavior, making this a true 4 star joint.
3. Order Soju - your liver won't thank me, but your entire group will. This is the only way to end a night at Yakitori Boy.
For visitors without proper US ID, you're required to bring your passport. This poor Canadian girl took a $20 cab ride back-and-forth to get in. It was worth every penny.
What place gives you the opportunity to act like you can sing and feel like a star? Yes that's right, Yakitory Boy does. A room full of intoxicated people and a mic can get crazy fun. If you're shy, no problem. Take a few shots of this liquor I call courage and you'll be singing in no time. For shits and giggles, Yakitori is the place for you and your friends. For high quality Japanese food, I wouldn't recommend it. However, I do like a few of their menu items: Yakitori Don, which takes 45 minutes to make..$1 Skewers on Tuesdays are also great as well as their drink specials. Yakitori Boy is a great place for groups. Where there is alcohol and karaoke, there is amusement.
Review Source:I love this place! I think it is the perfect spot for a date night, or a girls night out filled with sushi, drinks, and karaoke. What could be better? It can get kind of crowded so for the date ask to sit in one of the little curtained booths if you can, it makes the experience a little more intimate.
I think the prices are reasonable and the quality is good. I have enjoyed every roll of sushi I have ever ordered. I love their little kebab-esque sticks with different seafood, meat, vegetables, and other yummies on them. They are only a few dollars a piece for the most part and I get a little carried away with them because they are so yummy. I especially like the salmon, eggplant, and chicken with scallion. I also really enjoyed the Soba soup that I got.
The process to get in can be kind of annoying I will admit, especially since I got stamped after checking my license at the door...and then asked for ID again at the table when ordering drink. So I have to scrub my hand now for what? But it was a minor annoyance in an overall good experience. I will definitely be coming back here, and maybe even try my hand (voice?) at karaoke. Do re mi.... eh hemm. Don't mind me, just warming up my vocal chords.
Definitely check it out if you're in Chinatown!
I suppose any review of Yakitori Boy is necessarily a dual-consideration because it is the living embodiment of Jekyll and Hyde. The karaoke identity of Yakitori Boy is something like Jekyll, the good doctor; the food and atmosphere is the more devious Mr. Hyde, lurking insidiously beneath the well-meaning karaoke-inspired debauchery. It may, indeed, balance out to something resembling moral ambiguity, or at least a decent place to spend an evening, but I'm not sure.
First, to praise Dr. Jekyll. The karaoke bar on the second floor is impressive, including a large common room with drunk happy hour-goers belting Celine Dion to a crowded room as well as a selection of private rooms which really must be booked in advance. The wait for a private room on the weekends can be a month-long; for a weekday, a week's notice is generally enough. There is a fee involved with the rental, but if you spend enough money throughout the night - which is easily done - then the fee is waived. Our group of 8 or 9 easily covered the tab by ordering a few rounds of drinks and an average-sized dinner for most of us.
But, then there's Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is the drunken disorderlies waiting to happen, leaning sloppily against the bar and yelling out inane comments to whoever will listen. Fortunately, we in our private room could avoid the mayhem, but what we could not avoid was the food. The chicken skewers were basically the joints in between wings, the thick, chewy, fatty sections that have no meat to speak of. Ordering the sushi was a mistake because no matter how safe we played it - avocado and cucumber rolls - the taste was bland and somehow unappetizing. I'll admit the egg rolls were decent and the chicken teriyaki looked edible, but others' reviews were mostly noncommittal.
If you're planning an evening out at Yakitori Boy, here's how to make it a 4 or 5-star experience: reserve a private karaoke room; be prepared for lyrics including myriad typos; and order drinks and small, safe appetizers.
I reserved a room for 6 for this past Friday night as part of my birthday celebration. I definitely wasn't disappointed.
We arrived on time for our 10 o'clock reservation, and after the lengthy check-in process (ID verification, contract to sign and card on file for incidentals), we were taken up the elevator to our karaoke room. I was worried it would be cramped, but I felt that the 6 of us had plenty of space to sit quite comfortably. It was very hot in the room, but definitely not cramped.
When our first server came in, he adjusted the air conditioning without us even asking, which I appreciated. I also am really having a tough time understanding the previous poor reviews about the service here. There is a button right next to the door that says "service" that you press whenever you need anything, and it was literally seconds between pressing the button and a server walking in.
The drinks are a bit pricey, so I stuck with Soppora (sp?), a japanese beer. It was tasty. We ordered some skewers to share and they were very reasonably prices, and all delicious. The highlights for me were the short rib, pork belly and bacon wrapped quail eggs.
We told one of our servers, Akio, that it was my birthday, and he brought in some ice cream tempura served atop a crispy sweet wonton with a big obnoxious sparkler on top. It was very sweet of him to do for me. He was probably the server who spent the most time with us, and we really enjoyed having him. He was very prompt, never botched an order, and even helped us stay a little longer than our reservation by making sure there were no appointments after us.
All in all, I really want to thank Yakitori Boy for making my birthday party really exceptional, and I will definitely be returning.
Too bad this is the only karaoke place downtown. Subpar service makes this a disappointment.
Coming for karaoke? It's a decent time. The machines are reasonably up to date and the rooms don't cost too much. The touch screens can be a bit frustrating, especially when you want to enter Chinese songs but once you can find them, the selection is good.
Coming with a group to eat? Not such a good time. I don't believe I've ever come here and not had to argue about the bill. Several waiters take your orders and it seems they double charge for at least three plates per 6 people in your group. Yakitori comes out one skewer at a time, which is weirdly inefficient and takes up too much of the limited table space. Prices aren't that bad, and the specials seem to be pretty decent but the overall experience for me has never been too pleasant.
I'd eat elsewhere and come for karaoke given the option. Cheers.
I came with five other people. We spent over $100 (which probably isn't alot for a place like this), but left still hungry and ended up going out for appetizers at Percy's BBQ. If you've never been to Percy's in Philadelphia, you've got and have their pork belly appetizer.
We had some rolls, the chef's choice platter, the ribeye skewers (which were dry). Â As Yelp describes it, it's "ok" but not great. Â
The place was dark and not super crowded when we went around 6 p.m. on a weekday. Â
Recommendation: Â I wouldn't go out of my way to come here again, but if you're in the mood for some pretty good Japanese food, it's a "safe" place.
Wow. Rude managerial staff! Had a reservation for four and they gave the table away! Â Luckily they could sear us in reasonable time but that was ridiculous. Â Had a groupon and waitress said I could mark as used after she made me fill out this stupid form by hand. The manger came over and kept touching my back and shoulder as he spoke down to me that only he could mark it as used. Uh. Ten dont have your wait staff take the number and instruct people to mark it as used. My brother was two seconds from ripping this guy's head off for touching me. Will not go back.
Review Source:I was visiting some friends in Philly and we decided to go karaoke on our last night. We rented a room for the 5 of us for $30 an hour. The room was spacious and comfy and they had a pretty good selection of songs. From our choices they were only missing 2 - Taylor Swift's Trouble and Disney's Part of Your World.
We ordered a sushi roll which was okay but too pricey at $15. The yakitori were much tastier and a great deal with most priced at $1.5-$2.5. The pork belly, gizzards, and liver are all really good.
When we left around midnight there was a line at the door and the bouncer said they were at max capacity. They are so popular it's like a club so definitely make a reservation if you can! Also if you are able to go on weekdays they have specials where you can apply your drink and food purchases to the room rate.
Yup.  It had been a while since I visited Yakitori boy.  Just moved to the neighborhood  and had to check it out again. Â
I have to say - I've been here five times in the past two months! Twice for karaoke on Friday nights, always a great time. Â The people watching doesn't get any better!
I've been three times for sushi in the past three weeks! Their special rolls are fantastic, and their basic rolls are just as good! Â Used a groupon twice and another time went on a Wednesday for some cheap sushi, fantastic!
I'll definitely be back here many times!
Your best get? The Godzilla cans of Asahi, a full liter!
I am one of those special people who has not one, not two, but three "Karaoke Songs." These are songs I have selected that are within my voice range (no matter how many drinks I've had) and are crowd-pleasers. Needless to day I have been to Yakitori Boy multiple times, and I may or may not have a reputation among my friends as a mic hog. Oops. Just tried the restaurant so I thought I'd review!
UPSTAIRS
5 stars for upstairs-both the rooms (although, watch out these can get PRICEY,esp with those $5 sake bombs) and the regular karaoke bar ($5 for 3 songs, 2 mics, crowd varies) are AWESOME ALWAYS EVERY TIME.
DOWNSTAIRS
I've always ordered some small bites but never came for full dinner, so I decided to try Yakitori Boy for food last night (Groupon in hand, or course). I've been to a a few Izakaya's in New York and Japan, and always thought Philly kind of lacked that scene, but....here it is. Probably between 3 and 4 stars here. Not the best, but pretty good, and all we've really got, so beggars can't be choosers. Prices and portions were reasonable (even without the Groupon).
3 of us split (in order of recommendation)
--Mini Ramen ($6) w/ pork broth-pretty big, very good, full of stuff and not too salty.
--Tako Yaki ($6)- octopus in fried dough. Gooey, awesome, and delicious.
--10 piece Chef's Yakitori Combo (10 pc $15)-Great way to try lots of things and most were very good! Liked the chicken, meatballs, and chicken heart, thought the pork belly was pretty salty. Could have done without the sausages. A bit awkward to split b/w 3 because it was 2 of each stick, but we managed.
--Fancy Special roll who's name I can't remember ($12)-VERY GOOD. Not that spicy though. It had cream cheese and a buncha stuff in it.
--Pork Gyoza($5)- you can't really mess these up. They were decent.
--Shrimp and Veggie Tempura ($7) Only 1 shrimp and no sweet potato? Lame.
--Oyster shooters ($2.50)- I liked the sake and lemon taste, but otherwise meh.
--Spicy Toro Roll ($4)- more meh, not that spicy, and tiny.
TIP: Check for daily specials- Thursdays are $1.50 oysters, $2.50 oyster shooters, $3 Tiger bottles. Tuesday $1 skewers, cheap sushi Wednesdays, and cheap sashimi Sundays.
OVERALL: Definitely recommend upstairs, anytime, always, and recommend ordering food if you're up there, but I wouldn't come out of my way for just the restaurant unless you're really craving stuff on sticks and mediocre sushi.
SUSHI! gotta love there $2.5 sushi rolls wednesday nights specials! I went to that place a couple of time and mostly always had a good time. the food is great, the ambiance is chill the bill is not high. great combination! I would definitely advise you to try the egg quail wrapped in bacon. It s absolutely FANTASTIC! Â I had the chef roll and that was also pretty good. On another note, my friend ordered asparagus and they gave her litereally ONE asparagus.. i kinda laugh but seriously, I know it s not more than $2 for a portion but at least give two or three!
I would not advise you to go upstair if you do not plan on doing karaoke. the tables are small, the service is very slow and the seats are not very confortable to eat (yes, I need my confort so I can enjoy my food!)
I have been here a half dozen times, and realized I have never done a review.
I chose to do the rare 5 stars, because I have NEVER had a bad experience here. Â And to be that consistent deserves the reward.
I was really shocked at the decor the first time I came; and in a good way. Â Lots of big and small tables, with cultural decor that is very cozy. Â My only complain is the 2 person tables, they really are TOO close to each other. Â Â This past visit; the overly affectionate elderly couple next to us; kept us entertained with their banter of schmoopie, (we're so close even the table on the other side of us could hear them and laugh along), but every time she got up to kiss him (every 5 minutes), she'd stick her ass in our face. Â I'd rather they take out ONE table to allow for more space between. Â I'd rather wait longer than squish.
I've never had a wait for a table, and the service has always been fantastic. Â Food is brought out very quickly. Â My favorite roll here is the Mexican roll; they offer a decent selection of small rolls that both follow and break from the traditional menu.
I've found the sushi so enjoyable that I have never tried any of the skewers, or other items. Â
I introduced my friend to Mochi; which she LOVED; and always the perfect end to a meal.
I think they have done away with the half price sushi happy hour. Â I would go more often if this returned.
Yakitori Boy is a lot like that first date: Â you really have to know what you're getting yourself into; otherwise, you could be in for some seriously regrettable decisions.
Upon entering Yakitori Boy, you are faced with a crucial decision: Upstairs or Downstairs. Â And like all important choices in life, this pivotal moment will undoubtedly determine your destiny for the remainder of the night. Â Will you go downstairs to sample their satisfyingly adequate yakitori (pork belly) and binge upon 30 oz cans of japanese import beers? Â Or will you go upstairs to bear witness to the demoralizing monstrosity that is public karaoke (no seriously, get the pork belly)? Â Or maybe, brimming with liquid courage and haplessly caught up in a nostalgic haze from when you firmly believed that high school was the best time ever, will you muster forth to take the mic for yourself and forever be labeled as That Guy for the remainder of the night?
Do us all a favor, tell the bouncer "downstairs," and be satisfied with what has sated us for thousands of year: meat cooked on a stick over a fire. Â Those poor bartenders don't get paid nearly enough, and we all don't need to hear your personal rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody or Pour Some Sugar On Me, regardless of how talented you may think you are (despite what your friends may be telling you, they really don't have your best interests at heart).
And for a truly carnivorous experience, get a lil crazy and order the chicken wings (not on the menu)--they're awesome and come with a side of the spicy mayo, which really should be a wing sauce served everywhere.
I'm always on the look out for authentic japanese ramen and this place satisfied my craving!
They are a tapas restaurant so don't expect to get one thing and be full (unless you're anorexic). It's great to get several things, put everything in the middle and pig out!
When I went, my friend and I ordered some takoyaki balls (octopus): GOOD, a mini pork ramen: GOOD, pork cutlet: GOOD, several skewers: GOOD, and some green tea fried ice cream: GOOD! And of course some japanese beer: GOOOOOOOOOD!
I enjoyed everything a lot and I definitely plant to go there again because I still have a lot of things I want to try including their sushi!
I like this place a lot. Have gone a handful of times and I've always liked their food. The staff is so friendly and helpful. I had their udon, skewers, sushi, and a few cocktails and really enjoyed it. They have a karaoke on the second level, both private rooms and open mic at the bar. It's always packed when I go which is usually on weekends so that should say something about the place.
Can't wait to visit again!
I can come here alone or with friends and I always have a blast ! The staff is super friendly and knowledgeable. The really tall bartender Mark is great! He always makes an amazing drink.
The grilled corn is so tasty. The brussels sprouts special they have been running is delicious. I don't know what's in that sauce but damn! I want to drink it.
Karaoke here is always fun. Although sometimes I feel like they should adjust the volume on some of the "scream singers."
I don't know what's happening with their bathrooms but they are always freezing :(
Five stars for excellent service and food quality!
I came to this restaurant with family over the weekend and my boyfriend and I were told that they had amazing Japanese food! Our family booked a table beforehand and we were sat down immediately after we arrived in the restaurant. I was intrigued by the night-life and dim-lighted decor of the restaurant.It was unlike any other Japanese restaurant I've ever been to. They have  a karaoke section upstairs and a mini sports bar.
The menu had a variety of yummy and exciting Japanese dishes to try.. We started and ended off with different types of dishes. All of which were amazing! We tried over 10 dishes, so to make this review easier to read, I will review my top 5 favorite dishes from our dinner.
Takoyaki: I'm a huge fan of these deep-fried octopus balls! We really enjoyed the takoyaki that we ordered two of these dishes! Takoyaki was dressed up with bonito flakes, Japanese mayonnaise and special sauce. The texture of the takoyaki was just excellent! Rich, crispy, and crunchy goodness on the outside and rich, creaminess on the inside! Never really had octopus balls that were so crunchy on the outside. This was one of the BEST takoyaki I ever had and trust me, I've had a lot!
Brussels Sprout: Not sure if this was on the menu, but someone ordered it. Any ways, I never really was exposed to Brussels sprouts before. However, once I tried it I loved it. We had a small bowl of stir-fried Brussels sprouts which were absolutely delectable! I really enjoyed it and I wished we ordered more cause I couldn't resist the absolute yummyness!
Jimmy Rollins Roll: I never tried a sushi roll that was the name of an athlete before, so this was quite interesting. So this interesting roll consisted of: Spicy Tuna, Shrimp Tempura with a lobster salad on top and eel sauce. I was afraid the sushi would be spicy, but it wasn't. It was well composed and everything in it tasted great!
Yakitori Combo: I've never really had yakitori much at Japanese restaurants, but we ended up ordering it. Our combo consisted of: chicken gizzards - which were crunchy and yummy, broccoli & sausage, some type of fish ball, pork belly, and grilled chicken. All of these were great tasting!
Grilled Yellowtail: This dish was huge! I'm not a big fan of fish, but something about this dish with this fish was amazing and truly wow'ed me. Â The meat of the fish was cooked to the right texture and tender! . I wish we ordered another dish of it because one giant piece didn't seem to be enough for the 7 of us!
We tried a heck lot more than this. but these were my favorite foods that we tried at Yakitori Boy. I highly recommend trying this restaurant when you stop in at Philly because the food here is just top-notch and the service is quick and on point! I would most definitely like to return here again with my boyfriend to enjoy additional dishes that we weren't able to try before.
Tourists seem to wander over here and mix in with the local china town crowd on a regular basis. Â The karoaki system is in a strange bar-nightclub room with lots of lasers. Â A fairly decent song catalog, there's pretty much something for everyone.
Bar service is quick and friendly and the crowd is always more than entertaining. Â If you're here with more than 4-5 friends, I highly recommend getting your own room. Â A tip to the Dj gets your song up alot faster too.
Sushi is average, and it varies alot from night to night. Â The skewers are a great value and you should order a few with each round of drinks to soak up some of the alcohol and keep the night going longer (as you'll need it if you want to make it to your song actually coming up to be played!).
Yakitori Boy is a great place to spend an hour or two munching on snacks and imbibing with friends. It's got reasonably priced booze, decent food and, most importantly for this kind of spot, great service.
Drink prices vary, but if you stick to sake bombs with carafes of sake and the big cans of beer the bill's quite reasonable. Food is hit or miss. Avoid the sushi, as their offerings are forgettable and err on the oversauced side. There are better options in the city even at Yakitori Boy's price point. In contrast, going for skewers is cheap and delicious. I've sampled a large cross section of their yakitori offerings and haven't been disappointed with any. Standouts include the chicken hearts, short ribs, pork belly, and chicken meatballs. Two are perfect for a snack and you can make a meal of five to six.
The service and atmosphere at Yakitori are great. The layout is conducive to large gatherings and servers adeptly maneuver between your party members regardless of their sobriety (or lack thereof). Staff never rushes you and rarely messes up orders, even for huge parties of 20. Definitely a good spot for drinks and light eats for a group.
Never had any experience with the upstairs/karaoke area though, so can't comment on that.
I had high hopes for Yakitori Boy. Â I love karaoke so when someone suggested stopping in here on Saturday, I was excited. Â That excitement quickly went away when the elevator door opened to the club-like atmosphere upstairs. Â
I'm not a big fan of fist-pumping clubs, but I still clung to the hope that maybe because it was a karaoke bar it wouldn't be that bad, but it was. Â It was insanely crowded, with people shoving and elbowing and screaming at the top of their lungs along with the songs. Â Everyone was screaming along so loudly that I couldn't hear the music, lyrics, or the people with the microphones over the crowd. Â That's not karaoke to me... Â We had one drink and left.
As I've said in other reviews, I'm a big believer in second chances, so I would like to go back to try the food which seems to be a high point here, but I know for sure I won't be going back unless we do a private room.
The thing I love most about Chinatown is that it's typically cheap, quickly prepared yet fairly decent food, and you don't have to deal with as much of the BS crowd you do in areas like Old City, Manayunk, some places in Center City, etc.
Then I came to Yakitori Boy. Â I cannot stand places that artificially create an air of demand or exclusiveness then not follow through. Â I was done with that crap when I stopped going to McFaddens, Kildare's, Public House, etc. Â You know, the places that are "top-shelf" or "VIP" with a hot girl advertising their latest party then you show up, wait outside in the cold only to get inside and realize there was really nothing worth waiting for. Â I think in NYC they refer to these places as being filled with the B&T crowd.
So anyway...came here to meet with a group to see a friend in town for the night who loves karaoke. Â Arrived just after 10 to be told we couldn't go upstairs and had to wait on a list, despite there only being two of us and some of our friends being upstairs already (who arrived 15 minutes prior and went straight upstairs). Â Were made to wait in the downstairs bar area for about 20 minutes, paid double what other bars in the area charge for beer/wine, had our IDs checked 3 times (once when we walked in, then at the downstairs bar, then when we were allowed upstairs), then finally got to go upstairs. Â Our friend in town for the night was made to wait downstairs as well so all of us waiting to see him didn't get a chance to until around 11:30, even though he got there before 11 and it wasn't crowded upstairs.
Once upstairs it was not all that crowded, so not sure what the justification was for making us wait and got to pay too-high prices for more beer, get bumped into by a cokehead douche and his tall beast of a girlfriend all night, and watch people pass around a mic to sing songs off the screens behind the bar. Â Some decent singers, and it was good to see some friends but overall this place rubbed me wrong from the start and I don't see myself coming back.
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