Yakitori Torito — Restaurant in Kyoto

Passed by this place on the way to a listening room. The bar was empty, decided to stop by. Greeted by young man with fantastic English. He asked if I had a reservation (when the bar is 90% open?), I told him no, he spoke to the chef briefly and they decided to let me sit - I was very grateful... I sat, took my coat off and was handed an English menu, very thoughtful. I attempted to order with my broken-Japanese, the young man was not having it, he spoke only English to me haha. Ordered my highball and food. Food came after a couple others who arrived after me were served, that's okay, nothing new. But what an experience it was, watching the chef grill right in front of me over the charcoal. With the fan and everything - loved it. Young man brought the food, "okay. that is everything you ordered" - interesting. I ordered more after he brought out my first round. The food was pretty dang good. Seasoned and grilled good. Mm. Other locals began coming in - no reservation needed to sit at the bar - and their jackets were taken and hung up on the wall behind the bar, very courteous, I was unsure why I received no such courteousy. On round 3, I asked for a recommendation, young man recommended the Ostrich; expensive, but fantastic! Especially with the sauces! Also ordered the meatball skewers, to my surprise came with a yolk, was tasty as well! As more locals came in I realized the difference in attention that was given to certain customers, I made no ruckus. Noticed I was the only individual at the bar who did not receive an otoshi - fine. Bill was brought promptly after asking. No service charge, hence the no otoshi. However, additional charge for the yolk which came with the meatball skewer, yet I did not order. Price was fine, definitely not cheap, but compared to Los Angeles, it was a steal! I understand the les than ideal situation of the amount of foreigners coming to Kyoto. But if you let me into your establishment, please treat me with the same respect as you treat your other customers. Integrity. Funniest part of the night, I realized for the entire hour I was there they only played American music on the stereo....I left confused! Moral of the story, really good food. Service was meh. If you are a foreigner, come through, they may let you sit, they may not, they may treat you well, they may...

We were a group of 6, including 2 little kids, and walked into this Yakitori restaurant in Kyoto right at opening (5:30pm). The place was completely empty, but the staff told us they had reservations and asked us to come back at 6:30pm. I specifically asked if we needed a number ticket or anything to hold our spot, and they told me no—just come back at 6:30.

So we took the kids for a walk along the Kamo River to kill some time. When we returned around 6:15pm, the restaurant was still mostly empty, with plenty of available seats—including a large table right at the front. However, the staff told us the big table was reserved and we could only sit there until 6:30. This was completely different from what they told me earlier. When I reminded the staff of what was said, the person flat-out denied ever telling me that.

I had read some negative reviews about how this restaurant treats foreign travelers, but I still decided to give it a chance. Now I regret it—I should have listened. In the end, we had to scramble to find another restaurant that could seat 6 people, with two hungry little kids in tow.

If you are a visitor from abroad and don’t speak Japanese, I strongly recommend...

Shameful customer service! Don’t go if you have nut allergies!

We arrived before 5:30 on a rainy evening and waited in front of the glass shop front. At 5:35, a young guy opened the door and I asked him in Japanese what time they would start. He answered in English, “5:30”. I told him we didn’t have a reservation and he gestured us in. Before I could enter, he noticed my dripping raincoat and asked me to remove my coat (guess he didn’t want me to drop on their floor). Standing outside in the rain, I took off my coat and prepared to enter. Suddenly, the guy started asking me about allergies. Yes, my son has nut allergies. At that point, the guy crossed his arms and said that they couldn’t serve us. No apologies, no ifs or buts. I was still standing in the rain without my raincoat. After recovering from the abrupt rejection, I scrambled to put my raincoat back on but it was too late. I was soaked to the skin.

Young man, when you are older, I hope for your sake that you learn either customer service or compassion. Is your damn floor more important than another...