Rakitori Japanese Pub & Grill

Ramen is one of my favorite foods so I love finding new ramen spots anywhere I can. I found this place from just walking by it in Hillcrest, it’s only been open for a couple of months, and did some more research on it through Unilocal.Walking into this place, I really liked the décor and we were greeted right away. We got there around 11:45am (ramen for lunch!) so there were only a couple other groups of people inside. The music they were playing was pretty loud but I liked hearing and seeing the different asian boy bands on the TV screen they were playing.
I couldn’t really determine who our server was exactly, there were two people coming over to our table constantly, but found out one of them was the owner/​chef! He was a very friendly restaurant owner who gave excellent customer service! The other lady took my bowl without even asking if I was finished with my food though, didn’t particularly like that.
I ordered the Rakitori Special Ramen which was overall good! Not the best ramen I’ve ever had but the taste was nice. The noodles were a little hard when chewing and the chicken yakitori that came in it I noticed wasn’t cooked all the way through (a little dangerous?); the soy soaked half egg was cooked perfectly, but the ramen wasn’t very hot at all when it was served. I also noticed they don’t have any tonkotsu flavored ramen bases, which is my favorite; they’re all miso based it looked like. You would think for an exclusively ramen place they would have a ton of different options. Their name «Rakitori» combining ramen and yakitori together. I didn’t get any in my ramen but I got a kick out of the little baby octopi they offered to put in the ramen (they were so cute!). They also offer fusion food like Bulgogi burritos, but I will have to come back here to try that another time. Also when you check in to Unilocal you get a free scoop of ice cream, your choice between green tea flavor or their own plum wine ice cream, there is no actual wine in the ice cream. I chose the plum wine flavor and it was an interesting flavor, but kind of tasted like a special type of bubblegum in my opinion. I can see that this place is desperately trying to be unique from other ramen places (they’re on their way there!) but haven’t quite reached the amazing appeal or right flavors to keep people coming back.
I think this place could potentially be an awesome ramen spot that all the locals will love but it definitely has a few improvements it needs to implement before it gets to that point! Still a good ramen shop but I would rather make my way over to one with more options.

Ox tail Ramen with spiciness of 8 was amazing! Matthew is a great server! We will definitely be back!
The only thing I would change is ordering the chefs choice skewers, we would have ordered individually.

Awesome place! Delicious grilled vegetables & meats/​seafood. Got the bao bao buns, tuna tartare (more like sashimi with seaweed salad), Rakitori combo (ramen + skewers/​6npc sashimi) great deal, & rainbow vegetable and filet mignon skewers.
Everything was very good and super reasonable! I.e. Ramen + sashimi ($ 12) filet skewers 2oz ($ 6)
Jon (owner) — Korean was very hospitable and visited our table frequently. The server Young was very sweet and informative.
Total bill $ 60. Gluten free available as well! Free ice cream with caramelized banana for checkin!

Food was amazing! If you love eel as much as I do, you’ll dig this place. Our server was sub par but the female waitress was on point. Flat soda twice too :(
Other than that, the food convinced me to come back!

Great quick food. Prices are really reasonable. I basically got all sushi and it was cheaper than going to a sushi spot. The bao buns are good but not the best I’ve had. The ramen was good, I love the soft egg that comes with it. Really good small bites spot.
Service was awesome. Young is super nice and took care of us.

Good food, quick and friendly. Got the Rakitori Ramen and takoyaki. Takoyaki was the best I’ve had at a restaurant with actual large discernable pieces of ocptopus unlike other places. The mustard and mayo worked deliciously with it. The mountain vegetables in the ramen were flavorful.
I look forward to trying the bulgogi burrito next time :9

Saw this place while wandering around Hillcrest on my lunch break. What drew us in were the $ 6.00 rice bowls
We were greeted and seated quickly. The waitress was so kind and explained the menu is great detail.
Food was amaze — I had the spicy tuna rice bowl. The tuna was so fresh and they give you a great amount for $ 6.00!
We will definitely be back

Overall: good service, but the price of the food did not match up.
Food ordered: baobao bun, Ahi tuna w/​seaweed salad, omakase yakitori.
Major comments will be on the yakitori. It seemed like they were not freshly prepared. As if they were pre cooked and simply reheated as evidenced by the lukewarm temperature they came out at.
When prices are relatively high compared to competition, it has to be either a) high quality or b) a large portion size. The pricing to quality ratio did not fit the bill in either category unfortunately. I’m not sure what all the rave is about beside the fact that it is a Japanese fusion restaurant in hillcrest.
In general, you should be skeptical of highly rated Asian restaurants in hillcrest as it usually is over hyped. I should have listened to my gut on this one. Oh well. Lesson relearned.

When I walked in I immediately thought wow this Japanese fusion restaurant looks like an Irish Pub and when I saw the servers it further solidified that fact. The inside looks a lot like an Irish Pub more than a Japanese restaurant despite the name. They had the Korean channel playing on the TV which only slightly made me feel that I was in an Asian restaurant.
The menu was interesting it had a lot of fusion items. I felt slightly more confident once I saw what they had listed in the menu. Our server went over the details of the menu (the last time I had this happen I was sorely disappointed with the food because they over promised and under delivered). I had the Rakitori combo with the Miso Ramen and Yakitori Skewers. The Ramen was mediocre at best. Too much going on and there was corn in there. Also it didn’t taste like Miso ramen. I also had the Yakitori Skewers and those were pretty good despite being only 2 skewers because the last one was just asparagus.
The price was ehhh. The Miso Ramen was $ 7 and to get the combo for 3 skewers, one of which was just asparagus, was $ 5 more for a total of $ 12. Normally I’d think that the price would be average but the fact that it was $ 5 for skewers and it was just 3 pieces and $ 7 for mediocre Miso Ramen I felt like I was jipped.
Would I come back? Maybe but I’ll probably try something else. Would I recommend? Maybe after my next visit.

First time.
Scenery: As described, japanese pub & grill feels.
Customer Service: Friendly
Food: Takoyaki — favorite
Bao Bun — soft bread
Bulgogi Burrito — love to have more meat on the inside
Would definetly return and try another item. Yummy

Went on a Sunday evening when the restaurant was very empty. We were immediately greeted warmly by our waitress who was very articulate and informative regarding the dinner options. To our disappointment, the oxtail ramen among other ramen choices were not available. Glumly, I ordered basic miso ramen with the yakitori combo. My man went for the bulgogi tacos. As apparent from the name, they specialize in ramen and yakitori, but they also give a Korean twist to many of their dishes. Hence, the bulgogi tacos. Those were wonderful, but a bit charred and overpriced at $ 4 each (two tacos for $ 8). My ramen was very solid although nothing extraordinary. It did hit the spot on a cold evening! The yakitori also was a nice addition. The meat was flavorful and I enjoyed the asparagus (when I usually don’t) as it was well seasoned.
Would like to give this place a try since I wasn’t able to experience their full menu. But, being in the same neighborhood as Izakaya Masa might make that very difficult to achieve.

I am very disappointed with the food here. And I don’t want to forget to mention– I was nauseous and throwing up for 2 days after eating here. 4.5 stars? No no no…
+ cold infused sake — Unilocal deal is 50% off which comes out to $ 6. We ordered yogurt. It tasted funny. When we ordered our second bottle I saw our waitress pouring the sake from a large bottle of sake you COOK with. House sake is usually served on tap… I’m pretty sure this is what upset my stomach.
+ bao buns — read about this app the most in the Unilocal reviews so my boyfriend was excited to try them. The pork belly has the worst texture– not crispy. No sauce except for maybe some gochujang and slabs of kimchi. Poor execution and presentation– the worst bao buns I’ve ever encountered.
+ Rakitori combo — we ordered the $ 12 miso ramen/​/​3 yakitori combo. Sounded like a good deal, but no. The miso ramen lacked flavor. Also the portion of the noodles and overall ramen dish is tiny. The yakitori lacked flavor.
+ Spicy chicken yakitori — it tasted like baked chicken glazed with gochujang. Very basic– poor presentation. Yakitori should have a bit of a «grilled» taste to it. This did not.
+ Kalbi yakitori — our waitress recommended this yakitori as something that was different. It was just a couple of pieces of short rib cut up. This is NOT yakitori– should not be advertised as yakitori.
OVERALL, their Japanese/​Korean fusion of ramen and yakitori concept was VERY POORLY executed and I will not be back.

Upon arrival to the restaurant, I was surprised that they had a full bar because you don’t see these much at an Asian restaurant. Unfortunately, their drinks weren’t that tasty or cold. I had the Salted Pearl and my friend got their martini. I would stick to beer or wine here.
The food was a blend between Japanese and Korean. The name of the restaurant is a blend between ramen and yakitori.
We ordered bro bao buns and pan fried kimchi dumplings to start with. The buns were delicious and a must for appetizers. The dumplings were very good too but they only give you three. I’ve never been to a restaurant where the give you fewer than six.
My friends and I also shared a bowl of their Korean oxtail soup and omakse yakitori. The oxtail soup came with 2 oxtails, roasted garlic, and ramen noodles. It’s a very light broth, some might say that it’s unflavorful.
The omakse yakitori was very yummy. You can tell them what you don’t want and they will do it. It comes with 8 skewers. We had the pork with shisu, ground chicken, hot dog, mushrooms, beets, shrimp wrapped in bacon, sweet potato, and two other meats I can’t remember. It’s 3 vegetables and 5 meats. Other choices they give you are Korean meats such as bulgogi to choose from.
They should have thought through their dishes are dark just like the table. The ambiance is a little too dark but the food is good.

Had the usual ramen craving and decided to try a new place. When we arrived on Friday around 9pm to an empty restaurant, not a soul was available to greet us. I was not too discouraged since I know new restaurants need time figure out kinks and draw crowds. Thankfully, a staff member quickly arrived and attended to my party.
Ambience
Truly too dark to appreciate. There were club lights strung about the ceiling, but at our visit, they did not yet have their liquor license and no club activities were in effect. There was a medium-​strong scent of antiseptic cleaning product. While I am ecstatic to know that a restaurant is clean, the overpowering smell did not add positively to my dining experience.
Service
I felt well attended to and enjoyed the quick refills of water.
Food
Good food is pretty much all I need to have a fantastic day. Sadly, my Rakitori Special Ramen was not good food. The confusing mix of items in my dish (hot dog, chicken yakitori, mussel) were innovative, yet a failure. The flavors of the broth were uninspiring and had a bit too much ginger for me. Since those individual items were edible, I could have overlooked this unholy mashup had it not been for the noodles. These noodles were way too soft and lifeless. I could have easily eaten them without teeth.
I hope Rakitori improves, but I cannot imagine returning.

this place was pretty empty for a Saturday night — which was super sad because the service was superb and the food was delicious!
I love their concept of Ramen and Yakitori combo. my boyfriend and I ordered a appetizer — ahi poke with seaweed salad — lovely presentation! — a few yakitori — chicken heart, spicy chicken wing, bacon wrapped asparagus, and rainbow veggie — all very flavorful and also arranged on a plate nicely plus we shared a bowl of delicious Rakitori special ramen.
my boyfriend also tried a drink called Iced Vinegar juice — at first i was thrown off by the name but our waiter assured us that we would like it — and we did — we tried the pomegranate flavored one — it was basically vinegar, pomegranate juice and distilled water. it was really refreshing and i didn’t taste the vinegar at all. is a must try for non-​alcoholic drink.
Our waiter was so friendly and I really love this enthusiasm! there was also a lady — i think is the owner — came around several rounds to check up on us and asked us how we liked the food.
Overall i would definitely come back for their great food and wonderful service.

I wanted to check this place out after arriving from the airport and felt like having something soupy… This pub has been open for about 3 months now, so it’s still kind of new and a little empty when we were peeking through the window outside.
Our server was super friendly and told us that their restaurant name is a combination of ramen and yakitori! Their menu items also include some Korean fusion items such as the Bao Bao Buns, which was highly recommended, so we ordered that to start with. He also suggested the iced vinegar juice, which didn’t sound very appetizing, but my boyfriend decided to order the blueberry version anyway. The buns were pretty good and the blueberry vinegar juice was interesting, but had a strange aftertaste.
We also got a couple of yakitori items (grape tomato/​bacon and jumbo shrimp/​bacon) and the miso ramen combo. The combo comes with a 6 different options, so we got the crunchy shrimp roll as the side item. Everything came out so fast and was presented beautifully– some dishes even had a pretty purple orchid for decoration. Although the presentation and service was excellent, I thought that the food was mediocre. The yakitoris were especially disappointing… I’m glad we only tried two of those LOL.

I love ramen and I have tried most joints in SD. I would put this place at the bottom of my list if I had to rank each joint based on taste. However, I understand this place is new so it still has plenty of time to change and improve the menu for those who still want to give it a try. I respect the Japanese-​Korean fusion dishes but sometimes it’s better to just stick to one cuisine to be more authentic.
I had the rakitori ramen special ($ 10).
First of all, I did not like the ramen noodles here. It taste like instant packaged noodles, which I have never liked. Too soft
and so it does not absorb the broth well. I hope they change the ramen noodles to something more authentic.
The broth on boyfriend’s miso & my special was bland as others have mentioned.
I didn’t like my toppings too. It had a hot dog, chicken skewer, kimchi dumpling, mussel and corn. Most of which tasted frozen and not fresh. Kimchi dumpling tasted weird too and I only had one bite.
I also noticed that our ramen came out lukewarm. Another thing that dissatisfied me.
I’d recommend sticking to the yakitori to be safe.

Dear Ramen,
I love you so much!!! For the rest of my life, I will continue finding the best Ramen joints!
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Was really really excited to try this place. Sadly, it was just A-​OK.
Their business name Rakitori is taken from the words Ramen + Yakatori (meat skewers) as that is what they are known for.
Made reservations for 4 for 8:15 pm on a Saturday night. There were maybe 2 – 3 other parties here, definitely did not need the reservations but props for having a system in place so that people could make reservations.
Location– ⁴⁄₅: The joint is nestled right around the corner of Hillcrest, right on University Avenue. Parking will be a nice walk, and there are side street parking if you are lucky. There are also some pay to park lots as well for about $ 3 dollars.
Ambiance ³⁄₅: I felt like the place is having a challenge with it’s identity. Upon walking in, you see awesome décor, wood based items, an old typewriter, still strobe lights. The waiters were wearing suspenders, and there is a pub in here. Music was a mix of Asian and American. I couldn’t tell if it was trying to be Authentic Japanese or if they were going for the modern twist on Japanese. Either way, I think it would be more successful if their identity was much more clearer. Unfortunately, the upscale interior led me to have high expectations of the food (which did not happen)
Service: ⁴⁄₅: Peter, our server was really nice. He was pretty attentive. However, what irked me a bit was how much they mentioned to write them a review on Unilocal.I heard from our server and the hostess. While it is true they are not asking for a ⁴⁄₅ star review on Unilocal,the nudging and the «free bowl of ice cream» in exchange for a review is just a personal preference for me in which I do not partake. I think reviews will come in time due to good service, good food and an open ear to improvements.
Food: ³⁄₅:
Takoyaki: These octopus ball are usually more crisp elsewhere, so I was taken aback how soft they actually were. They wern’t bad, they were just okay.
Oxtail Ramen: It came with oxtail, half egg, enoki, corn. I liked the half egg (cooked perfectly), and the enoki/​corn. Pretty disappointed with everything else however. First of all, the Ramen was just warm. Again, maybe a personal preference but nothing beats a nice hot bowl of Ramen. I didn’t have much oxtail except fat. The rest was disintegrated… I know this because my friend next to me had his whole at least. Broth was bland… it wasn’t simple yet it wasn’t flavorful. I added hot spice and sesame oil, and it still didn’t add much to the taste. Again, it wasn’t horrible… I’ve just had much better Ramen elsewhere.
Most importantly, the Ramen noodles here are soft. I don’t know about you, but real ramen is springy, and a bit chewy. From the
«A classic Japanese (though Chinese-​inspired) noodle made of wheat flour, salt, water, and an alkaline agent that turns the noodles especially wavy and springy. Despite their recent media attention, alkaline noodles are nothing new – just a wheat-​flour noodle with the addition of „lye water,“ or kan sui (an alkaline mixture) which imparts a signature „jian“ flavor. The alkaline salt turns the noodles yellow-​ish and keeps them springy and firm in hot broths.» In this case here, the noodles were soft. All of our noodles are soft, which led me to believe it is just their style.
I think for most people, this Ramen joint will satisfy. It has good portions, beautiful décor and presentation. However, there are just so many more flavorful Ramen in my opinion (Yamadaya, RakiRaki, Santouka, JinYA Ramen). The portions were large, and very filling. However, the flavors were lacking and the identity is still evolving.
Because they are fairly new, I hope to see them improve. I know these joints before here came and went. and came and went. I hope to see them succeed and thrive. Most of all, to listen to the suggestions others may make. Good luck!

I had a weird and confusing experience here. My friends and I decided to go for some ramen Saturday night and decided to try out this new place that seems to have good reviews on Unilocal.I don’t see how it is rated so highly. First when we walked in the restaurant, it was 100% empty in the front of the restaurant. No patrons, no host, no waiter, no bartender. They were all in back since there wasn’t any business and it was a weird sign and a weird feeling.
The décor was pretty nice and the wait staff was friendly, but that’s probably the only pros to the place. Rakitori specializes in yakitori and ramen. I tried mostly the ramen, but if the yakitori is like the ramen I would steer clear.
I had Rakitori Special ramen which seemed to be a soy-​based ramen, with corn, mushrooms, chicken yakitori, a mussel, soft-​boiled egg, and a hot dog-​like sausage. It was a unexpected mix of toppings. The broth wasn’t bad – salty with a strong sesame taste but no where as good as other ramen shops. The most disappointing thing were probably the noodles. Good noodles make or break ramen, and this ramen was BROKE. My ramen was not al dente at all and tasted like I cooked my instant ramen for 4 minutes instead of the recommended 3 minutes. I thought it might have been just my bowl, but I tasted 3 additional bowls of noodles and the noodles were still pretty nonredeemable.
This place is new and most likely going to improve. I was happy to try a new place, but I received a loyalty reward card from Rakitori and I do not plan on filling it up.

Nice ramen joint to hang with friends in hillcrest! Every single staff member, especially the chef was friendly which made the entire experience really enjoyable.
The dinner combo for $ 12 for ramen + another significant side (i.e. 6 piece sashimi plate) is hard to beat. Upgrading to different types of ramen does include a surcharge PLUS the price difference however. Yakitori options available (skewered grilled tapas style food). No liquor license yet, but they’re getting it super soon I hear.
The food is Mediocre. I ordered the spicy seafood which was really spicy! The sashimi is fresh. The plum wine ice cream was good. I would return again simply because the ambience was cozy and wait staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating. Makes for a good neighborhood spot, but there’s a lot of good ramen places nearby also.