Yakitori Taisho

It used to be so good, and now its just feels like a regular japanese restaurant. Nothing out of the ordinary anymore, their service is bit slow. The only thing still worth going for is their yakitori. They used to have two location and now its down to one place.

Nice yakitori place on St Mark’s — very popular with the student crowd, this little place down a few steps is pretty authentic and has good food for the price. Have a rice sake and some salmon tartar to start… then a platter for two! Fun place and it just is what is looks like from the outside — a little grungy, but fun!
Enjoy

So it becomes hard to review a restaurant when you don’t get your food. It was like an episode of Curbed Your Enthusiasm.
After everyone has eaten their food I have to track down the waiter and figure out why I haven’t been served. When I finally find him and ask he goes, «You didn’t order that.»
Nope, you’re right. I just came here to sit. Thank you for letting me sit in your restaurant! Nope, no food for me thanks!
I ask for my order to go.
20 minutes go by and guess what? He forgot to put it in.
On the way out he hands me a small bag to go. My food! It was a nice gesture. I open it up andddd that that wasn’t what I ordered. Thanks, though! We went to Mahmouds for falafel. Total wait: 30 seconds. Total wrong orders: 0.
Besides that the inside was incredibly cramped. You’re shoulder to shoulder with people, getting jostled every which way when someone moves.
I can’t imagine how hard it is to handle that kind of crunch of customers, but when the purpose of your business is to serve people food — and you don’t provide the food — that’s a 1 star establishment.

Went here on a Friday night and had to wait a couple of minutes. Food was priced pretty fairly. We ordered a couple of yakitori and other items of the menu. The food tasted good, not great. I would come back again and try different things.

AMAZING!
I love this place, even though it is small and sometimes cramped, the food is amazing. it’s always very crowded, and that can attest to how good the place is. It is also opened late and is the prime place to go for some midnight munchies.
I loved their tempura udon when it was on the special’s menu, and the A-​set is great for sharing. They have great fried tofu and FRIED ICE CREAM!

Considering all the positive reviews, I honestly have to say this place is a little overrated. I was expecting some grade-​A grilled meats.
A-​set: 2 each of Chicken, Chicken Skin, Chicken Gizzard, Beef Meatball, Pork Belly
The skewers were okay, but could use more flavor. They were cooked well with a nice char on the outside.
Takoyaki — a little disappointing. It could have been cooked a little longer as there was no crunch nor was the filling nice and steaming inside.
The menu is endless, so I’m sure there are other more satisfying options. The service is pretty good. Plus they are open late, which is great for a drink & middle-​of-​the-​night hunger.

Ah! Yakitori Taisho. I have been here multiple times over the years, and it is always great to eat here. Yes, this place is small with not a lot of tables. I consider this a large «hole-​in-​the-​wall» place just because the «hole» goes pretty far inside. It is a crammed place so I would not suggest coming here with more than four people. This is one spot that I like going to after a late night out and about.
The yakitori is what wins me over when I come here. I come here for that as my main dish and nothing else. It is always consistently good for me! As an appetizer, I have always gotten the Spicy Tuna bowl, which is a nice serving of spicy tuna! Quick and to the point! This has always hit the spot for me during the beginning of the meal.
As for the yakitori itself, what I like is that they have a bunch of predetermined sets of skewers (two of each) in three different sets:
A — Chicken, Chicken Skin, Chicken Gizzard, Chicken Meatball, Pork
B — Chicken, Beef Meatball, Scallion, Shrimp, Beef
C — Scallion, Shrimp, Shishito Peppers, Shitake Mushroom, Squid
My favorite set to get is A, as I like how the prepare the meat here. The chicken gizzard has a tough texture, so I can see people not being a fan of that. The meatballs (either chicken or beef) and the chicken skin are my favorites here. I feel I can eat the chicken skin all night I can just devour it. The skewers that I’ll also add on the side that I enjoy eating are the bacon wrapped scallops and beef tongue. These two in particular are my top skewers that I like for my taste buds!
Like I mentioned, I have came here many times so I know what I like. I’ll pass on the ramen here, but this place is called YAKITORI Taisho for a reason!

Being here a couple of times, I genuinely enjoy their food.
Ambiance: this place is always packed and cozy so you can’t really get too comfortable but then again that’s also the atmosphere.
Service: Actually wasn’t too shabby seeing as when we went it was pretty busy. You can tell they’re pretty efficient and everyone was working really hard despite how hectic the place may have seemed.
The fries definitely tastes yummy, I like fries where you taste the potatoes. The ramen appetizer wasn’t too appealing had a bite of it and that was it. We also got the skewers but in my opinion it wasn’t too appetizing. My favorite dish was the Avocado Charsiu. The sauce with the meat combined with avocado omgosh but then again i am bias towards anything with avocado. So I also tried their salmon avocado and it was not bad but i combined it with their avocado charsiu to make it really yummy. Their ramen is good, very basic nothing too different.
Overall It’s a nice little spot.
Would I recommend it to my friends? Occasionally. :)

Strongly recommended for small party friends/​couples dinner if you are looking for BBQ skewers and sake combination. Come here early around 6pm when they just open, otherwise the line is always pretty long. Seating areas are small so hard for large party to fit in. Pretty good quality of food especially skewers for this price (10−30/person depends on if you getting alcohol).
Recommend set B, pig feet (my fav dish here, well marinated and grilled!), and grilled rice ball (my first time trying). Soup is a bit salty.

Amazing place for those late-​night/​post-​drinks munchies, but also great for a cheap but awesome Japanese yakitori and ramen. Place gets filled up really fast, but trust. The wait is worth it.

Yakitori Taisho offers decent yakitori for a low price and street market feel.
Most of the patrons are young, slim, students with a poor sense of personal space.
Thankfully you can get really full with grilled combination sets.
Grilled chicken hearts and kidneys were my favorite.
Grilled scallions were much better this time around.
Just didn’t love that grad student who elbowed me once in the kidney and another time in the back.
Four of us ate like kings and total was $ 60.

This place was the Dive of Dive bars.
The Food is very good… Now for the bad.
Yakitori Taisho simulates the experience of eating in an alley-​way in Japan even though you’re indoors. Someone elbowed my wife in the back while we were waiting for menus. So I switch seats with her. I kinda went numb, but I think I was elbowed like 7 times.
So seating is not great.
Service is a little slow.
But once you order the food gets there quickly. It’s excellent.
We had Prawn skewers, chicken thighs skewers, meatballs, mushrooms, Peppers, cow stomach, chicken hearts, Scallion skewers.
We also had the scallion pancakes.
Everything was delicious.
The service was very fast as long as you can get the staff to pay attention to you.
After about the 4^th elbow it started feeling good. Lol.
So Great food, you sit close with your neighbors, there’s hanger racks for your coats. And it’s nice and warm inside.
I still like it.
Will be back.

Yakitori Taisho is an amazing experience in meat on skewers. You know it has to be good because Japanese teenagers line up around the corner before it even opens. Definitely get in early or be prepared for a long wait. Though the menu is pretty huge, with lots of pictures, you want to focus on the yakitori and build a meal around it. The sampler menus are a good start as well and get you most of the good items including the pork belly, chicken skin, and meatballs. Add on the squid and/​or calamari, and perhaps the fried baby octopus which are excellent. It’s always awesome to see your food cooked in front of you, and the big bar allows for a show with constant flames and an insanely packed grill. The space is incredibly authentic with lots of wood, staff chattering in Japanese, and a communal long bar and tiny tables. Try to avoid the bathrooms if at all possible. The service is lightning fast and food is a quick eat, so the line moves fairly fast. The meatballs were excellent with lots of flavor in a small bite. The chicken gizzards were very chewy and a little strange in texture, but not as scary as they sound. The skin was either great or way too chewy depending on the piece. The regular chicken was awesome with a great marinade and flavorful meat. The pork belly was the best, almost like chunky bacon on a stick. The squid was nearly as good as the pork belly, not at all fishy or salty. You’ll want a Kirin or Sapporo to wash it all down as well. There are tons of soju options, but the beer is limited to just these two.

I have never seen a yakitori joint that uses the microwave that much. A lot of the items on the menu are pre-​made and heated up just before serving, such as the Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake). It was was wrapped in cellophane and microwaved right before service. Most of the wrap probably melted right into the pancake. The unagi roll is microwaved as well.
I was equally taken aback when I realized that the ika shiokara was served out of a packet that read «made in thailand.»
Finally, I just can’t accept that all their avocado is served oxidized. Even if pre-​cut, I would expect them to squeeze lemon over it or drizzle some olive oil so customers are not served greyish avocado. The standard of Yakitori Taisho has plummeted so much that I can no longer bring myself to return.
It is a shame.

If you ever find yourself at Yakitori Taisho, this is your warning that you are going to be very tempted to order the ENTIRE menu. I’m not even kidding, I’ve never been so overwhelmed in my life there were so many damn things I wanted to nibble on but only 2 people in my party. I was seated at the bar and was watching all of the yakitori being made.
After sifting through the menu a good 5 times, my friend and I decided on Selection A meats, yaki unagi roll, salmon yakisoba with cream sauce, and takoyaki. Here’s my review of everything we got:
–yakitori meats: obviously a must get if you’re coming to this place, if you’re with a group each person can get a little nibble here and there so that everyone can experience the greatness
–yaki unagi roll (eel and avocado roll that is grilled): I thought this looked/​sounded incredible in theory, but the rice was REALLY mushy. I’m one of those people where if the texture throws me off, there is no coming back even on flavor. Although I must say that the flavor was nice and salty, just like what you’d expect from a regular unagi roll. Next time I’d skip over this just because I still can’t get over the mushy texture
–salmon yakisoba with cream sauce: I wasn’t sure what to expect here but I liked it. Although I’m a die hard cream sauce lover, the dish was almost TOO saucy. Aside from the sauciness, I thoroughly enjoyed the dish across the variety of flavors and textures from the salmon and yakisoba noodles
–takoyaki: it was my first time trying this and I was shocked to find out that such a little ball of food can be full of so much flavor
The service at Yakitori Taisho was relatively inattentive, but the place was PACKED so I can understand how things got lost in translation/​slow to respond. However, you really can’t beat the price and taste of the food. The restaurant is located in the middle of all the mayhem on St Marks and is a local favorite for late night eats.

2.5−3 stars. Wow I have never been so confused in my life. Last time I tried Oh! Taisho literally next door and was thoroughly disappointed, so I came here instead looking for a better Yakitori experience. Little did I know that this place is literally the mirror image of of Oh! Taisho. Same exact menu. Same exact set up. The only thing extra were these nasty flies that kept flitting around my food.
Food was hit or miss again, just like at Oh! Taisho. Tried the negi ramen, set C skewers, fried chicken, and eel and egg over rice dish. Half of set C was aite while the other half was not very appetizing. In particular, loved the mushrooms. The peppers were okay and the squid was rather inappropriately sweet rather than savory. The fried chicken was pretty good, but would have been better with a bit more salt. Ramen was good (just like at Oh! Taisho) and the eel/​rice dish was good but got a little overwhelmingly sweet at the end.
On top of everything service was SUPER slow. Took 10 minutes just to get water. Not really sure why this place has higher reviews than its twin, but unfortunately I know I’m not going back to either one any time soon.

How the mighty have fallen.
This place used to be my go-​to when I was roaming around the East Village late at night. Now the guys running the kitchen in the back have seemingly turned into a bunch of lazy bastards who don’t care much about anything.
Most of my yakitori was either overcooked or left to turn cold as they let it sit for long periods of time. The breaded and fried baby octopus was super rubbery and overcooked as well.
Only saving grace was the fries with cod roe mayo. I guess you can’t really mess that up, even if you’re a lazy bastard.

Luv the location here and luckily I don’t really wait for very long to get in every time I come here. It’s a great izakaya with high turntable rate. Guess that’s why and yeah it’s got too locations almost near each other. You can always hav so many good choices in a Japanese restaurant like this on St. Marks.
My friend and I had chahiu ramen for the very first time here. It was actually not bad and kinda beyond my expectation. After all, we don’t usually have ramen in a izakaya, you know.
Besides, we ordered some deep fried chicken and tofu and some seed weed salad. These are my favorites in this restaurant.
TIPS: if you want to dine in and the wait list is long, you can try the one with the same Taisho name next to it. I think the name is Oh Taisho. They are actually the same restaurants in separate nearby premises.

If I could, I would give Yakitori Taisho 3.5 stars. It was good, but there were small things I struggled with the establishment. Easy to find right off of Saint Marks, it does have a vibe of, hey, let’s go out and have drinks and have Japanese tapas.
FOOD: We got Set A, Set B, and the Mentai potatoes. To start off, the potatoes are highly raved here, but I guess I am a bit confused. The sauce is mighty delicious as it is probably Kewpie mayonnaise based (probably best mayo ever created and it is of course Japanese), but besides that, I found the price to be expensive for $ 6 for a small basket of fries.
Moving onto the sets, the skewers themselves were good. I really liked the chicken skin, pork belly, and beef meatballs the most out of them. Overall, the seasoning is very light, so you can add additional seasoning. I found the meat to be very juicy, which was good. If I came here again, i would chose one ONE of the sets as by the time we got to that many skewers, it was a bit much.
Overall, it does remind me of times I go to Taiwanese night markets and eat skewers, but the food overall was so so. The place seems like a fun place to get drinks, eat some skewers, and continue along my way on Saint Marks, but I could see how this place caters to the NYU college student crowd.

Best yakitori in town. Don’t bring your first date here though, unless you want to smell like charcoal and chicken skin.
Mostly bar seating and it’s a legit experience in itself. Don’t expect fast and good service, but do expect good food.

FYI: 10% off your entire bill if you pay in cash — so make sure you come prepared!
This place is little hole in the wall. Cramped and tiny. The food here is delicious though. Luckily we stopped by on a Tuesday so we didn’t have to wait at all for our party of 6. Only thing is that the service seemed a little busy and took a while to get our order etc. One thing I also found strange is that they don’t bring out your food at the same time. Kind of just give as it finishes.
Recommended foods — The salmon yakisoba was delicious. Creamy noodles and salmon yum. It’s a little on the smaller portion sized though.

Small but comfy.
Usually there is a long line to be seated. But in Columbus day, there was no line.
Great food. They were delish!

This place is great! I’m a huge fan of Yakitori. This place often gets super packed so keep in mind coming during rush hours.
Very small space and it’s very tight and cozy seating. We came here and ordered the Set B and C and also ordered off the menu.
It was great flavors and just hit the spot… My favorite is the chicken skin… I’m thinking next time I will just come to eat chicken skin.
The Set B is 16 $ totally worth it.

Absolutely dismal service, but I will pardon it because…
…it was Labor Day, so maybe they were short staffed OR their star server/​kitchen staff was off duty
…the food was decently delicious (but not mind-​blowingly delicious)
Would I come back? Maybe…
Normally there is a decent wait to eat at Yakitori Taisho, a popular, budget friendly Japanese izakaya for price-​sensitive NYU students nearby. It’s located near the sibling restaurant, Oh! Taisho, which essentially serves the same menu but for some reason has much higher Unilocal rating.
I came here on Labor Day with my boyfriend at peak dinner time (~7pm), and we didn’t wait at all for a table of two. After glancing at the menu that is identical to its neighbor, Oh! Taisho, I decided to go with the Taisho Don ($ 9.25), while my boyfriend had the Steak bento box ($ 12.75). We also got an order of Grilled Salmon Onigiri ($ 3.50).
The restaurant was full, but it still took way too long for the food to arrive. What’s worse, the food came out staggered. The waiter initially brought just the steak (the entrée was supposed to be served in a bento box with all the dishes), and then the miso soup and the rice, and finally — after we were almost done with the meal — he brought the bento box with salad, spaghetti, and potato salad. What?! I am guessing that they ran out of the spaghetti and had to make it from scratch…
My boyfriend said the beef itself was tender and seasoned well, but having all the little components of the dish come out separately really ruined the experience. Who wants to eat lettuce at the end of the meal?! Who wants to eat cold steak that was served way before everything else?!
The Taisho Don had three skewers of grilled meat (Beef, Beef Meatballs, and Chicken Thigh) over a bed of white rice, and topped with egg flakes, pickled radish, and kimchi. My favorite skewer was the beef meatballs. I loved the teriyaki-​soy sauce glaze, and the meatball was tender without being dry. The chicken thigh was quite juicy as well, but the beef was a bit on the dry side.
The dish was probably 80% rice though… wished there had been at least one more skewer to balance the rice to meat ratio. The kimchi on top tasted decent, but no where as good as the kimchi you would get at a Korean restaurant. Instead of the egg flakes, I wished it was fresh, medium-​rare egg scrambled like you would see on top of oyako don. That would have moisten the entrée and made it taste so much better!
The grilled onigiri tasted fine — the grilled rice was crispy. There was barely any salmon in the rice though… might as well have gotten the plain onigiri because it would have tasted identical. The size of the onigiri could have been either smaller or the shape could have been flatter to maximize the grilled, crispy rice.

Tiny tables. Don’t come here with big people or you’ll be cramped. We were given a table in the room in the back which could have attributed even more to the tight space.
We just ordered a couple of appetizers + skewers. The chicken heart skewer was my favorite. The squid was okay, but bland. The beef tongue and gizzard were unbelievable chewy. In general, the skewers are cheap, but so is the quality of their ingredients.
For appetizers, we ordered the takoyaki, fried baby octopus, and kabocha tempura. All three tasted deliciously fried but not a lot in terms of quantity. I recommend getting the kabocha tempura.
Service is inattentive, especially if you get seated in the backroom, so try to get the front if you can. This place is good for a late night snack and cheap drinks, but probably not worth waiting more than 20 min. for a seat.

Très bon restaurant! Un peu caché mais il vaut le coup qu’on s’y arrête. Les brochettes sont à tomber

So soooooooo