Hinotori

Their staffs seem not happy to work, except the male staff who is always smile and is more willing to talk to customers. The food is poor when the shop gets busy, feeling like the cook just wants to get the food done but tasty

Great yakitori place! It’s casual and perfect for friend hangouts. Food was tasty. Price was decent. Service was a bit slow though, maybe because we came on a Saturday night. Glad we made the reservation ahead of time. I will definitely return!

Yummy yakitori but the meats I like always are sold out or not available. They also charge for extra lemon. Meh

The stuffed shiitake mushrooms are soooooooo good and different from everywhere else. Other food are just okay. Arcadia don’t have much Japanese skewer places, so this is always the one me and my friend would go when we are craving for some skewer and sake. This place can get pretty busy. They do take reservation, so if you are coming with a group you can call ahead of time.

Great spot for family or singles. Meat on a stick. What more can you ask for?! Flavor on all the grill meat were really good. Would not recommend the ramen.

The to-​go place for yakitori at East LA.
Loved everything here, sometimes it’s crowded and long wait. Skewers here are amazing. Get the cheese ball, chicken thigh, chicken gizzard and heart.
I also love the eggplant with miso, the shio ramen, the tofu salad. It’s nicely priced and I love the atmosphere.

Don’t know why the ratings are so low, but the food is really really good with decent price. This Japanese owner prepared and cooked his food with patience. The beef tongue was so juicy and the texture of the meat was exactly right, same as the short ribs… mmm so yummy and the chicken was so soft and with perfect flavor. The chicken rice bowl is a must order one too. Don’t forget to order the pork belly, coz it’s very tasty. Love this place and will definitely come back for more

For real, the best yakitori I have had in the US. I always miss the real yakitori because it is hard to find a Japanese chef and I am originally from Japan so none Japanese chef’s yakitori place had never made me satisfied. My friend introduced me to this place because she told me yakitori tastes great and the chef is Japanese and he told her he went to yakitori school (which really exists) to train him. The first yakitori I had was gyutan (beef tongue) and I was like OMG it tasted as same yakitori as I had in Japan. I also tried their ramen, Tsukune, zuri, hinotori salad, etc and no kidding, they all tasted GREAT. It’s definitely my favorite yakitori place. If you know what good yakitori is, then you would love this place. If not, then sorry yakitori that you tried were fake. Definitely recommended.

I stopped by with my family and I thought everything was pretty tasty. We ordered a bunch of plates, I didn’t taste them all but I tried most of them. I ate the shrimp skewers, quail egg skewers, the meatball skewers, the tempura shrimp skewer, the stuffed shiitake mushrooms, the brie and toast, and the baked mochi. Everything was quite tasty but my favorite were the quail eggs. They were delicious and adorable!
I recommend making a reservation if you plan on going during a busy time. It’s a small place and when we arrived every single table had already been reserved. Fortunately we made a reservation before hand.

Decent Japanese food in the corner spot of an Arcadia strip mall. Don’t think there are a ton of authentic Japanese places around here. Menu is not as huge as like a Kappo Honda/​Honda-​Ya, but for a small place it gets the job done. We shared chicken thigh, chicken gizzard, chicken heart and pork belly and then a yakitori don just to fill out the meal. Seems like if you like sake, this place would be an oasis.

Love there bbq scallop and chicken heart. It’s fresh and tender, but Ramen just so so.

I think for our area, due to the lack of yakitori restaurants, it makes this place a lot more attractive than it really is. Don’t get me wrong. The yakitori is quite delicious. But I can’t tell by the time I’ve waited hours long for this tiny hole in the wall.
A bit on the pricey side but which (quality) yakitori place isn’t. I’ve been here on 2 occasions. The first time I came at 7 and half the restaurant was reserved so we had like 3 – 4 parties waiting outside while half the restaurant was empty. Then about an 1 hour in, and tables were slowly clearing up, we were told they were out of chairs. Hence the free bar top tables but not enough chairs.
The second time around, service was a lot more efficient. Flavors were not bad.
Probably not a place I’d recommend but not a shabby place to swing by since it’s so close.

Instant fan!
There are several items here that I would order again and some that I wouldn’t touch with a 10-​foot pole.
I don’t remember the names (which is unlike me), so I’m going to do my best and remember or describe it as best as I can.
I loved the Kobe beef, corn, pork belly, cartilage, and green tea ice cream.
I would hard pass on the chicken liver, chicken heart, and intestines. You can see what they all have in common. So you know that phrase «Don’t knock it ’til you try it»? Well, now I can knock it!
I am taking a star away because it was incredibly hot in there. I thought it was Bikram Dining. The little fan at the entrance was a dead giveaway. Hopefully the AC was just temporarily not working.
Parking is easy. Just make sure you’re not in the 20 minute parking.

This is the best yakitori restaurant I have tried in California, I highly recommend it to everybody who would like to try Japanese BBQ.
I cannot pick and choose a specific item from the menu because I’ve been there so many times and I have pretty much tried everything they have to offer and everything I have ever tried tasted awesomely delicious.

Ordered a variety of skewers and ramen. Nothing was spectacular that made you want more. Taste was bland other than the ramen base which was salty. Quite pricey for snack food. Each skewer is small, «cute» for little fingers, as how I saw it. At least I know yakitori isn’t for me.

I got food poisoning. No.
I think it was the spicy cod. Idk if that cod was bad already and was served or it was meant to taste disgusting but I was sick all night with the most intense stomach pain of my life. Just. No.

Is it worth it?
Heck yeah!
Is it delicious?
Heck yeah!
Ordered:
–beef tongue– Delicious !! Seriously it was flavorful and and perfectly made in every way! I highly recommend this!
–yaki ramen– the best recommendation the server suggested. Definitely less broth but that was already told to us beforehand. We asked for spicy and in actuality it wasn’t that spicy. But gave it the perfect hint of spice. Omg and the egg. I’ve never had such a great tasting ramen egg in my life!!! Two thumbs up for this ramen.
–chicken and green onions– it’s not bad but wasn’t my favorite yakitori.
–Kobe — overly priced and tastes just ok.
–potato croquettes — there’s two pieces. I think it’s a little overpriced for this as well. It’s pretty much like a smooshed potato with panko crumbs outside fried.
–scallop — not bad. I actually liked it how it was prepared. And it wasn’t chewy.
Yakitori is what they specialize in. So I would definitely recommend coming here for that. If you come late then they may run out of the good stuff like chicken hearts. It does add up so be prepared to spend a hefty penny but it’s worth it. Service was great. Staff were attentive and very fast with everything. So two thumbs up from this Unilocaler!
Tips:
*closed Sunday
*takes reservations
*shared parking lot with other businesses
*takes credit cards and cash
*serves alcohol
*indoor seating only
*staff speaks English really well
*you’ll walk out smelling like bbq

The food quality is average to above average. The issue here is the owner. They take reservations and would rather have empty no show tables than to seat walk ins. Please understand the place is small and was a former sushi joint. They have a converted sushi bar that stores their meat and has about 8 seats. This is pretty much for walk ins or twosomes.
The issue I had was the corner cutting by the owner. They are usually understaffed and actually had the nerve to want to charge me for a side of lemons. I personally like lemon in my water and on my meats, after using the two slices in my water, I asked for more and was told it would be .50 cents for more. The waitress blamed the owner who is the guy on the grill. Who in their right mind thinks charging customers for lemon is a smart business choice???
Beware the cut corners, those are the things that drive customers crazy due to the stupidity.

I’ve never actually been to a yakitori restaurant, so this was a WHOLE new experience for me.
BRIE CHEESE YAKITORI: This was my absolute favorite!!! I love brie plain on crackers, so this took brie to a new level. It was GRILLED BRIE, (yes I did say grilled), on a plain grilled baguette drizzled with honey and served on a stick. What could be better.
CHICKEN MEATBALL: I thought this was pretty good, they got a lot of flavor into the meatballs, and the meat itself was very tender.
PORK BELLY: Okay, usually I don’t eat the fat on the pork belly, (I know, it’s a crime), because I really hate the texture, but their pork belly was different. Maybe because it was on a stick, I don’t know, but I ate EVERYTHING.
WAGYU BEEF: Now this one was REALLY flavorful, and tender and juicy, and just everything good.
YAKI MOCHI: I’ve actually never had yaki mochi until now, and BOY was it good!!! I already am obsessed with sweet mochi, so having a savory mochi was just mind blowing.
I think this review should have you drooling by now, so I’m gonna stop here, but seriously GET HERE ASAP

I ordered the Kushiyaki Course ($ 39), with Japanese Sweet Potatoes and Garlic (as my 2 grilled vegetable options).
Overall, it was very good.
The meatball, kobe beef, sausage, garlic, and sweet potatoes were EXCELLENT.
The chicken breast/​thigh were «okay» … somewhat plain in flavor.
The Miso Yaki Onigiri was «okay».
The shrimp was good, the scallop was very good (despite the somewhat fishy part on the side).
Strangely, they bring you the chicken soup at the END of the meal.
Service was decent, parking was easy to get in the lot.