Kauboi Izakaya — Restaurant in Reno

I was very excited to try Kauboi, everyone in Reno had touted it as the best restaurant in town. I may have had an atypical experience, but my overall impression is that this is fine dining for someone who’s never experienced fine dining. This is a restaurant for people who think Hibachi is inherently fancy because they cook in front of you.

The server told us that we should order several dishes, they would come out one by one. So, I picked two from the starter section, one from the robota, one from the yakitori, one from the tempura, and a couple of cocktails.

The old fashioned was made with small ice cubes, which is criminal for $15 drink. Youre an upscale restaurant with a full bar, you can get big ice cubes. The drink that I got tasted almost identical, felt like a waste of a menu spot to have an old fashioned and then an old fashioned with slightly more bitters. We opted to switch to sake, which was terrific.

Instead of the dishes coming out slowly, the shishitos came, then the hamachi, and before we could take a bite or pictures, the baby octopus and the yakitori meatballs were being dropped off and crowding our very small table. We’d had 3-4 minutes before the Japanese Fried Chicken came out, at which point the server asked if we wanted to order more food.

To be honest, I have no idea. I haven’t had a chance to enjoy anything and now I have to rush through it before it gets cold. We were one of 4 tables in the restaurant, your chef should be able to time a dish. Or your server is incompetent and fired everything at once.

The fried chicken was excellent but the bites were horribly sized. It was impossible to tell which part of a chicken it was and the multiple bites required for what should’ve been 2 Max was off putting. The baby octopus was essentially charred rubber. The cashew pesto was good but the octopus itself was inedible.

To finish the meal, we ordered the wicked fried rice with duck cracklins and duck meat… not a single cracklin to be found. The duck meat was terrific but the rice was mediocre at best.

For a $200+ meal, I was extremely disappointed. I can’t tell where the fault lies, but it reeks of someone who’s never actually eaten somewhere nice. There are 50 Japanese spots in vegas with better service, experience, and 1/3 of the cost. I recommend the Kauboi staff eat at one of them and take notes.

Also, I forgot to add and came back to edit: turn your damn music down. It’s insane there are multiple reviews addressing this and you’re still blaring your Spotify wrapped at us. Why?!? We had to move tables to be able to hear each other, which the staff was incredibly kind and accommodating about. Then the second table, SAME...

We came in around 7:20pm and they were packed! I have heard their food is really good so I had to try even though the wait time was 45 minutes. We were out on the waitlist by a staff member very soon after entering. The interior has dimmed lighting with a large bar seating on the left and about 7 tables on the right. The middle section has stairs I believe goes down to their kitchen. It was a lot smaller than I expected coming here. For parking, I parked across the street and there was a fair amount of street parking since it's a Thursday night. We waited next to the windows and were seated in just over an hour at 8:30pm. We were a group of 3 and there were 2 tables open, but 2 other groups were seated before us. Not too sure if the waitlist was checked. After we sat down, our waters came in about 5-10 minutes and we started ordering because they stop taking orders at 9pm.

We ordered: Giant Squid: soft, not too chewy, comes with yuzu mayo, 5/5 Charred Broccoli: great flavorful, crunchy and not overcooked, 5/5, definitely recommend! Wild Shrimp Gyoza: spicy, warm filling, the wrap is thicker than expected, 5/5 Spicy Soba Noodles: not too spicy, refreshing noodles, comes with perilla leaves, avocado, tomatos, 5/5 Okinomiyaki: crunchy noodles on bottom, bean sprouts, cabbage, savory pancake, and fried egg on top, 4/5 Ten Layer Port Tonkatsu: mustard wasabi is very strong, black garlic sauce, moist meat, crunchy outside layer, 5/5, definitely recommend! Yakitori (Meatball): warm tender meatballs, raw egg yolk as a sauce, 5/5, definitely recommend out of the Yakitoris Yakitori (Thigh): soft, warm, meat is dryer compared to the meatballs, 3/5 Battership Curry Fries: thin fries in a bed of warm curry, comes with very tender meat and cubes of mozzarella cheese, crispy fries, 5/5

Overall, the food was great! The music is very loud and it's hard to have a conversation, but I believe that's their theme. When the check came, it was $190 for 9 dishes, 4 beers and 1 old fashioned. We were not entirely full, but they were closing soon and it is quite pricey. Service and food was good. The only downside was the wait for a table. Each of the dishes came out fairly quickly and we always had something at the table. I think it would definitely help their business to expand to the businesses next door because I watched a lot of people leave after hearing the average wait time...

Update: I decided to give this place another shot has been a few years since my last review. I am NOT impressed. This place sucks...

I ordered a couple bowls of ramen and some appetizers over the phone. They refused to take cash and had me read my entire credit card including security verification over the phone. Included a MANDATORY 15% tip for a pickup order. No utensils we're included, nor even a bag to carry the food (SERIOUSLY?). The Raman was pre-mixed meaning the noodles got soggy on the way home. My total bill for two bowls of ramen and two appetizers was $70.

Honestly, your money will be much better spent at one of the many better restaurants in Reno. Don't let the trendy menu distract from the fact that this place is grossly overpriced for the quality and quantity of food they're serving.

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We've entered an age where the novelty of a Cuisine is more important than the execution. Kauboi Izakaya aspires to capture what many Japanese taverns succeed in delivering but at twice the cost and lacking execution.

Running down the menu, most of the appetizers and chard dishes are tasty but not where they should be for their price points. The chicken skewers are crazy overpriced and the hearts and skins that I had were overcooked. The ramen is the worst deal on the menu at $16 a bowl, which is ludicrous considering it's considered fast food in Japan. The sake menu is good, again, but very overpriced given how affordable good sake is. Frankly, I don't mind the price points of many of the menu items, but the ambience doesn't lend itself to clientele that are looking to spend over $100 on a meal for two.

This restaurant just recently opened, however, so I'll be interested to see where it goes with flavor profiles and price points after the novelty rush wears off. Reno is significantly lacking in high-end Asian Cuisine Fusion restaurants and I'd like to see kauboi adapt to the market and demographic of the area while maintaining a high...