Investigating Little Tokyo’s Izakaya Restaurants

by Hiroshi Kawabata

Japanese-style pubs, or Izakaya restaurants, seem to be popular these days. For me, the best thing about an izakaya is the big advantage of being able to eat and drink cheaply. As for the reason for the present popularity of izakaya, according to my research (!), the secrets are: reasonable prices, comparatively fresh food, and a large number of dishes.
In my personal opinion, the pre-requisite for a good izakaya is that it must be cheap and delicious, and you should be able to make yourself at home while drinking there. It also needs to be in as convenient a place as possible. And to a certain extent, it also must have a large seating capacity, so that even when the place is full, you might wait some, but you will still be able to enter soon. Just in case that doesn’t happen, however, it is desirable if there is another izakaya located nearby, which can serve as a back up.
This time I would like to report only on the area around Little Tokyo, where thanks to the recent development in the area, the number of residents has increased considerably. Happily for me, those restaurants that have set themselves up as izakaya have also increased.
Although it has now changed to become another restaurant, just a few years ago, “Yoro no Taki,” an izakaya chain restaurant from Japan - located in Honda plaza at Second and Central - was just about the only izakaya around. Today, though, there are no less than six izakaya restaurants open for business in Little Tokyo, and each seems to be prospering.
To begin with, an izakaya is an eating/drinking establishment that serves a variety of alcoholic drinks centered mainly on sake, and provides foods that match these drinks. The typical foods of an izakaya menu are based on fish and vegetables such as: sashimi, grilled fish, boiled fish, vinegared dishes, simmered foods, mixed vegetable dishes, deep-fried dishes, and pickled foods. These are items that form the basis of mainstream Japanese cuisine, and since izakaya restaurants have menus that emphasize these foods, and together with the current boom in Japanese food, they are attracting quite a lot of attention.
I introduce the izakaya restaurants of Little Tokyo here, so by all means seek out those that are to your liking. There is something special about the izakaya spirit, and I believe you will definitely get to like these unique establishments.

1st Street
East
329 East First Street
L: 11:30 am – 2:30 pm (Mon – Fri) 12 pm – 2:30 pm (Sat, Sun)
D: 5:30 pm – 10:30 pm (Mon – Fri) / 5:30 pm – 11 pm (Fri-Sat)
5 pm – 10pm (Sun)
213-437-0563

Japanese Village Plaza
Joy Mart
137 Japanese Village Plaza
11:30 am – 1 pm (7 Days)
213-680-9868

Honda Plaza
Raku
424 East Second Street
D: 6 pm – 1 am (Mon, Wed, Sun) / 6 pm – 2 am (Thu, Fri, Sat)
Closed on Tuesday
213-625-1751

2nd Street
Ebisu
356 East Second Street
L: 11:30 am – 3 pm (7 Days)
D: 5 pm – 1 am (7 Days)
213-613-1644

Haru ULALA
368 East Second Street
D: 5:30 pm – 12 am (Mon-Thu), 5:30 pm – 2 am (Fri, Sat)
Closed on Sunday
213-620-0977

Little Tokyo Square
Izakaya Honda-ya
333 S. Alameda Street
D: 5:30 pm – 1 am (7 Days)
213-625-1184