Shin-Sen-Gumi’s original Gardena location specializes in yakitori.
(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
12 of the best spots to try yakitori in Los Angeles, and what to order when you’re there
There’s much more to yakitori than grilled chicken on a stick, though that is, at first glance and by name, the long and short of it. One of Japan’s most pervasive cuisines, the simply monikered craft of “grilled chicken” dates back to the 19th century and can be found in street stalls, Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurants and everywhere in between. The cuisine — and its kushiyaki counterpart of other grilled meats and vegetables — requires hours of preparation, a steady hand and dedication.
The social-media enigma is spreading the gospel of Japanese grilled chicken one skewer, pop-up and video at a time.
Nearly every part of the chicken can be grilled and skewered, then arranged whether crudely or artfully, sometimes uniformly or interspersed with vegetables or other varieties of meat or seafood. Yakitori and kushiyaki often come dressed with shio (salt) or tare (a sauce of sugar, soy sauce and sake or mirin), though a new wave of Los Angeles chefs is drawing on local and global inspiration, reimagining what’s hitting the grills and their binchotan charcoal. L.A. is home to traditional-minded yakitori masters as well as more modern spins on the skewers, and both can draw hourslong waits — so make a reservation when possible. Here are some of the region’s best restaurants for yakitori and kushiyaki, and what to order when you get there.
Showing Places
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Torimatsu
Gardena Japanese Restaurant $$
To watch Shoji Ishikawa behind the grill is a privilege. One of the few yakitori masters working in the L.A. area, Torimatsu’s chef-owner diligently and gracefully assembles skewers, brushing and dipping his onslaught of kushiyaki orders into tare so effortlessly it looks like it’s second nature to him. Sometimes he does this in real time beside the grill, despite the hours of preparation he and his staff spend on it before doors open, a testament to its popularity. His yakitoriya is an offshoot of the Tokyo restaurant of the same name, where he trained, and serves a sizable menu of kushiyaki. Quail eggs, fried tofu, duck, shishito peppers, ginkgo nuts and eggplant all arrive piping hot, one or two at a time, all tinged with the scent of the grill. But when it comes to meat, chicken is king, and Torimatsu serves some of the best in Los Angeles. The wings, bones charred, impart new layers of flavor with every bite. The tsukune, or meatballs, come three to a skewer, soft but not without elasticity. Most remarkable of all are Ishikawa’s specialties: vegetables stuffed with chicken, the ground or pieced birds finding their way into the divots of lotus roots, mushrooms and bell peppers, or wrapped with shiso or tofu. The yakitori and kushiyaki can be ordered as seven- or 10-course omakase selections or a la carte — and supplemented by chicken soups, karaage, scallion salad, grilled onigiri, sake, plum wine, soju and more. Just be sure to sit at the counter for a view of Ishikawa’s mastery.
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Yakitoriya
Sawtelle Japanese Restaurant $$
At Sawtelle’s intimate Yakitoriya, where seats at the L-shaped counter are highly coveted, chef-owner Toshimitsu Sakamaki treats chicken with the utmost respect for tradition. He visits the market each day of service with the goal of not wasting a morsel, and often serves his skewers simply to let their natural flavors shine. At Yakitoriya the focus is, unsurprisingly, on the bird, with little else in the way of skewers. Don’t let that be a deterrent. The mouthwatering, platonic ideal of tori is served as stacks of plump gizzards, massive grill-marked wings, perfectly seasoned tsukune and more, though a specialty of Sakamaki’s is more vegetal. The chef loops thin sheaths of chicken around a produce aisle of vegetables — eggplant, onion, zucchini, okra, asparagus or peppers — for a textural, flavor-charged, unique bite. His yakitori can be ordered a la carte or as five- or nine-skewer omakase sets. On an accompanying menu of small plates and appetizers, a number of dishes are also chicken-centric: deep-fried soft bone, karaage, a paper-thin scallion salad topped with sliced, charred skin, and the chicken ramen. A cup of chicken soup, the broth piping hot and simmered for hours, is a must-order addition, at the very least. Should you find Sakamaki’s love of yakitori contagious, his photo-referential cookbook, “Chicken Genius,” is available at the shop or online.
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n/soto
Mid-City Japanese Restaurant $$$
This izakaya with a hyper-seasonal bent and keen attention to detail is the latest project from n/naka chef-partners and wives Niki Nakayama and Carole Iida-Nakayama, offering a glimpse of the exquisite flair found in their Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant. Here, in a serene and sleek space in Mid-City, it’s seen through a more laid-back lens with small plates that shine — especially when it comes to skewers. At this 101 Best Restaurants pick, the kushiyaki menu offers 10 or so skewers and they’re all worth an order, with many representing slightly modernized versions of the classics. The negima is tender and light and the sausage is plump and bursting with savory juices. Some of the less ubiquitous items are a highlight, like the lamb chop: succulent and grabbed not by a skewer but the bone, and swimming in a decadent garlic, soy and butter sauce that requires an impressive show of self-control to avoid lapping up every drop. (For a vegetarian spin, the mushrooms, also lush, come stacked over that same sauce.) The beef shoulder is remarkably tender; the lengua is hearty and practically falls apart upon a bite. For best results, order and share them all along with signatures like the warm, custardy house-made tofu, nigiri and miso-baked bone marrow.
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Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori
Torrance Japanese Restaurant $$
While most of the Shin-Sen-Gumi restaurant empire specializes in Hakata-style ramen, it all began with yakitori. Owner Mitsuyasu Shigeta launched what would become a sprawling local chain with a small yakitoriya in a Gardena strip mall in 1992, and that location is still serving some of the best skewers and izakaya signatures in Los Angeles. The dining room is electric, day or night, with excited conversations, glasses clinking and the scent of the grill smoking and charring one of the most extensive kushiyaki menus in the region. The tsukune is some of the best in L.A., fluffy, brightened by bits of scallion and dripping with salty-sweet tare, while the skin — folded into ribbons and charred into almost every crevice — is textural and flavorful to the point of otherworldly. While the focus is on chicken, kushiyaki such as pork-belly-wrapped enoki mushroom or the succulent beef cubes with garlic sauce are not to be overlooked. Yakitori can be ordered a la carte or as part of heaped-high combo plates featuring salad and rice, while a range of small plates, such as soft-shell crab, agedashi tofu, chazuke or even the brand’s signature ramen can complete the meal. If possible, grab a seat at the counter, where chefs grill behind the cabinets filled with stacks of prepared kushiyaki ready for the coals. Shin-Sen-Gumi also operates yakitori-focused outposts in Fountain Valley and, most recently, Alhambra.
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Tsubaki
Echo Park Japanese Restaurant $$
At the ever-ingenious Tsubaki, included on the most recent 101 Best Restaurants guide, chef-owner Charles Namba’s California-hued izakaya whips up seasonal small plates that pair with an equally thoughtful sake program by co-owner Courtney Kaplan. Nestled on the list of sashimi, crab chawanmushi, simmered cod and yakisoba are the kushiyaki, all grilled over Japanese charcoal. Some are served still on their wooden skewers, while others are removed and artfully plated. The yakitori itself — be it oysters, tails, hearts or otherwise — can be found in its own breakout section on the menu, and often is traditional-leaning. The tail is fatty, its little scraggly edges just barely burnt, the gizzards succulent and rich. The broader kushiyaki and yakiniku veer more modern, often with additional sauces, dips, salts and accouterments: a canvas for Namba’s ample culinary creativity. The head-on Caledonian blue prawns, fanned out and heads slightly blackened, come dripping with green-garlic butter that’s good enough to sip, while the koji-and-honey-marinated pork loin — sourced from Southern California regenerative farm Peads & Barnetts — is one of the best, hearty and unctuous with a shiso-laced shishito pepper chimichurri. For more of Namba and Kaplan’s offerings, visit their James Beard Foundationaward-winning sake bar, Ototo, next door.
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Torihei
Torrance Japanese Restaurant $$
The room is constantly humming at Torihei, the chief yakitori and oden specialist in Torrance. Guests rotate through the dining room at all hours, hoisting pitchers of beer and tapping call buttons on their tables to place more orders for hearts, tails, thighs, gizzards, cartilage, skin, wings and liver. It’s hard to see the grill even at the bar seats due to the high counter and the array of sake bottles on display, but the smoke, always rising due to the onslaught of orders, plumes behind a glass panel. Torihei’s substantial yaki selection is matched by its menu of fried goods (gingko nuts, gizzards, squid legs and more); oden, or stew, offerings; rice dishes; and sides like marinated quail eggs, chilled chicken skin with ponzu, and raw octopus with wasabi.
But the grilled skewers are central to Torihei, each a cosmos unto itself. There are smoky tomatoes in garlic sauce, incredibly soft hearts with fresh lemon and a light chew to them, tender chicken breasts under squiggles of ume paste and slivers of shiso, and excellent pork-belly-wrapped tomatoes buried in bonito flakes. When it comes to yakitori the house specialty, however, is the tsukune, available three ways. The light-as-air meatballs are made with a secret blend of chicken meat, its cartilage, onion and herbs for pops of texture and flavor, and its outer sphere sports edges grilled golden brown. Three come stacked on a skewer and can be enjoyed simply with tare, under a blanket of melted cheese, or alongside a small ramekin of poached egg for a richer dunk and coating. Why choose when you can order them all?
But the grilled skewers are central to Torihei, each a cosmos unto itself. There are smoky tomatoes in garlic sauce, incredibly soft hearts with fresh lemon and a light chew to them, tender chicken breasts under squiggles of ume paste and slivers of shiso, and excellent pork-belly-wrapped tomatoes buried in bonito flakes. When it comes to yakitori the house specialty, however, is the tsukune, available three ways. The light-as-air meatballs are made with a secret blend of chicken meat, its cartilage, onion and herbs for pops of texture and flavor, and its outer sphere sports edges grilled golden brown. Three come stacked on a skewer and can be enjoyed simply with tare, under a blanket of melted cheese, or alongside a small ramekin of poached egg for a richer dunk and coating. Why choose when you can order them all?
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
Torigoya
Little Tokyo Japanese Restaurant $
When one of L.A.’s most lauded yakitoriyas closed, the door to another opened. In the former Weller Court location — and run by some of the former staff — of the long-running Kokekokko, Torigoya carries on the tradition of its forebear with expertly grilled chicken in that same comfortable, wood-paneled space. There are seats throughout the small dining room, but the prized 14 chairs around the grill are the best spot in the house, the kind of place to linger with a matcha beer and watch as the chef hand-forms the tsukune. Chicken reigns at Torigoya, where the options skew traditional, are all executed well and can be ordered a la carte or in five- or 10-course skewer omakases. Chicken thighs, livers, breasts and gizzards come stacked closely on the skewer, some lightly sticky with tare, others seasoned simply with shio. The tsukune is one of the juiciest in L.A., oblong and piping hot. The kushiyaki is limited to a small selection of vegetables also worth an order; tomatoes are especially beautiful here, smoky and lightly salted, each orb full of flavor and juice, skin just barely cracking and loosening around the edges. The four supplemental sauces — yuzu, ginger, fresh wasabi and habanero — are all worth dunking into, while sides like chicken-and-tofu salad, gizzards with spicy miso, and octopus in wasabi, plus rice bowls, ramen and chicken soup, offer even more room for exploration.
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Isla
Santa Monica California Coastal $$
Some of L.A.’s most intriguing kushiyaki isn’t coming from a Japanese restaurant at all. Isla, the latest project from Crudo e Nudo’s Brian Bornemann and Leena Culhane, weaves coastal-Mediterranean and California flavors for wood- and charcoal-grilled produce from the nearby farmers market alongside meats and locally caught seafood, resulting in options like duck rillettes with sherry-and-onion jam and charred whole cauliflower with tahini and bottarga. But the most colorful and creative focus of the Santa Monica restaurant can be found in the “charcoal skewers” section of the menu, where duck hearts, meaty prawns, trumpet mushrooms and more are thrown on the grill, natural flavors coaxed out by binchotan and augmented with the likes of pink peppercorns, fresh peaches, sherry glazes and Thai basil. The koji-marinated kanpachi skewers are some of the finest, thick-cut with crisped skin and buried under glowing orange roe, while the juicy duck breast features a slathering of rich cherry-and-black-garlic jus. At Isla’s new brunch service, find these skewers as rice-bowl combos with avocado and pickles too.
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Robata Jinya
Beverly Grove Japanese Restaurant $$
Tomo Takahashi has kushiyaki in his blood. The founder of the prolific Jinya chain grew up in his family’s own robatayaki concept in Ehime, Japan, and by the time he launched Robata Jinya on West 3rd Street in 2010, Takahashi had spent years studying and training in Japan, opening multiple restaurants there before making his ramen and yaki debuts in the U.S. At Robata Jinya, which pays homage to his father’s shuttered restaurant, Takahashi serves traditional skewers but in a sleek, modern, low-lit setting, supplemented by quality sushi and other izakaya staples such as house-made tofu, karaage and teppanyaki. The selection is fairly extensive, with roughly three dozen skewers divided between “land,” “sea” and “vegetable.” Chicken-thigh oyster skewers, one of the most prized pieces of a bird, arrive with a layer of skin beautifully blistered and crunchy from the heat; large oyster mushrooms fan out across the plate, playing with a dichotomy of texture between the just-singed edges and the chewier stalks, and are brightened by a squeeze of lemon; and the single hunk of beef tongue — so hefty it needs two skewers — is so tender it melts, and made all the more complex once dipped into its accompanying hot mustard. In addition to wines and regionally grouped sake, look for cocktails that riff on Japanese flavor with options such as a “yuzutini,” strawberry highballs and soju with matcha.
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Izakaya Bizan
Little Tokyo Japanese Restaurant $$
All walks of diners manage to find Izakaya Bizan — formerly Honda-Ya — practically hidden on the third floor of the indoor Little Tokyo Shopping Center. Some are seated alone, an AirPod in one ear, and others huddle more intimately on dates. Larger parties carouse at the izakaya’s bigger tables, filling both main dining rooms with boisterous cheering, shots of shochu and multiple beer towers. From the communal table near the entrance, guests can watch chefs grilling kushiyaki over the coals from behind a glassed-in booth, turning out smoky scallops with mantles still attached, lightly caramelized pork belly brushed with chile paste and sprinkled with salt, asparagus spears thick and perfectly toothsome, and chicken skin that’s fatty and gloriously charred. The classic and casual izakaya with sushi, onigiri, deep-fried foods and rice bowls epitomizes the traditional ties between yakitori and drinking culture, with an array of skewers to pair with beer, shochu, Chu-Hi and green tea plum wine — especially during late-night happy hour and weekend hours that run until 1 a.m.
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Hatch
Downtown L.A. Japanese Restaurant $$
While Daniel Shemtob’s claim to fame was slinging Cali-Mex tacos and quesadillas from the Lime Truck, the chef more recently turned his attention to coal-fired Japanese skewers downtown. Hatch, found at the base of the Bloc DTLA complex, is a modern yakitori concept from a winner of both “The Great Food Truck Race” and “The Great Food Truck Race All-Stars,” where Shemtob riffs on izakaya tradition with California touches. He brushes corn skewers with yuzu compound butter, then sprinkles them with togarashi and lime in an ode to L.A. street corn; adds squid ink powder to the karaage batter and ume into the mignonette for the oysters; braises beef tongue multiple hours before plating it over a tangy shiso-and-lime variant of a salsa verde; and lightly coats the eggplant kushiyaki with miso caramel. When it comes to the yakitori, Hatch uses organic chicken in a variety of ways, including the more standard hearts and negima, or thighs with green onion, while the oblong tsukune is dipped in a combination of tare and sous-vide egg yolk and the bacon-wrapped breast adds a layer of flavorful singed fat to the plump meat. The restaurant’s bestselling skewer, however, is the pork belly: fatty, gloriously salty and filling. Enjoy with Hatch’s array of Japanese whiskys and gins, plus highballs and cocktails — and desserts like a brownie grilled over the binchotan coals — for best results.
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(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)
No. 1 Kazoku
San Gabriel Valley Japanese Restaurant $$
One of the San Gabriel Valley’s few restaurants with a true yakitori focus, the casual No. 1 Kazoku — meaning “family” — serves yakitori and kushiyaki classics grilled over Japanese charcoal, alongside omakase and sushi. Its utilitarian skewers come served with a piquant bowl of yuzu pepper sauce for dipping and heat. Kazoku’s skewers are served at dinner only and involve options such as succulent chicken tails, negima with extra-grilled green onion, bone-in wings, and hearts pounded flat and tender. A few variants are notable beyond the basics: Here the delectable chicken skin is so light, puffy and crisp it’s practically the poultry version of chicharrón, while the beef tongue is sliced thin and folded like ribbon on the skewer, yielding a deliciously fatty chew. The head-on shrimp is succulent, sauced in a lightly sweet glaze. Opt for dishes such as unagi fried rice to round out the meal.
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