Tokyo · Food & Drink

Best Izakaya in Tokyo

19 places, each checked by our team.

• Akabane Ichibangai 赤羽一番街Akabane — The capital of senbero, "get drunk for ¥1,000", where locals drink from 9am at old-timer izakaya and the narrow OK Yokocho alley glows with lanterns…
• Ameyoko Uokusa アメ横 魚草Ueno / Ameyoko — Tiny standing seafood bar inside Ameyoko market run by fishmongers, serving sashimi and sake from noon.
• Asakusa ASA Tora 浅草 ASA虎Asakusa — Seafood-focused izakaya in an Asakusa backstreet near the Tobu station, opened in 2021, with high-quality sashimi and fried dishes.
• Ebisu Yokocho 恵比寿横丁Ebisu — A neon-lit indoor food alley of around 20 tiny stalls in a former market building. Loud, sociable, and one of the easiest places in Tokyo to end up…
• Harmonica Yokocho ハモニカ横丁Kichijoji — A postwar black-market maze opposite Kichijoji Station, its narrow stalls lined up like harmonica reeds. Shops by day, standing bars and grills by…
• Hoppy Street (Asakusa) ホッピー通りAsakusa — A street of open-front izakaya just west of Senso-ji where locals drink hoppy and eat beef-tendon stew at outdoor tables from noon.
• Iseya Koen-ten (Kichijoji) いせや 公園店Kichijoji — A smoky, cheap and cheerful yakitori institution on the steps down to Inokashira Park, run by the Iseya family business that dates back to 1928.…
• Kaikaya by the Sea 開花屋Shibuya (Maruyamacho) — A buzzing surf-shack izakaya on a Shibuya backstreet, famous with visitors for its grilled tuna 'spare ribs', fresh-caught seafood and a staff who…
• Kishidaya 岸田屋Tsukishima — Classic Tsukishima izakaya, an izakaya since 1966, whose beef nikomi stew counts among Tokyo's 'big three' nikomi.
• Kita-Senju Nomiya Yokocho 北千住 飲み屋横丁Kita-Senju — A web of narrow lanes off Kita-Senju Station's west exit where Showa izakaya, standing kushikatsu bars and tiny counters have served Adachi's…
• Oimachi Higashikoji 大井町 東小路飲食店街Oimachi — A tight postwar grid of lanterned alleys beside JR Oimachi station, packed with tiny counters serving yakitori, oden, motsuni and cheap draft beer,…
• Omoide Yokocho 思い出横丁Nishi-Shinjuku — Smoky postwar alley of tiny yakitori counters squeezed against the JR tracks at Shinjuku West Exit. Lanterns, grill smoke and salarymen shoulder to…
• Tachinomi Fujiya Honten 立呑 富士屋本店Shibuya (Sakuragaoka) — Long-running Shibuya standing bar, reopened at street level in Sakuragaoka in June 2026, with cheap classic snacks and DIY shochu highballs.
• Takeno Shokudo 多け乃Tsukiji — Showa-era seafood diner and izakaya in a Tsukiji backstreet, open from 11:00 with sashimi, tempura sets and market fish.
• Tatsumi Shinmichi 辰巳新道Monzen-nakacho — A one-person-wide postwar alley off Monzen-nakacho's main crossing, crammed with about 30 tiny bars, snack bars and izakaya, Tokyo's friendliest…
• Torifusa (Tateishi) 鳥房Tateishi — A Tateishi chicken butcher whose whole fried half-chicken, crisp skin outside and juicy inside, started a Tokyo craze; eat it in the cramped izakaya…
• Toriman Honten (Kamata) 鳥万 本店Kamata — A huge, bustling Kamata izakaya steps from the station with a menu of 200-plus dishes, cheap yakitori and an after-work crowd that has made it a…
• Torishiki 鳥しきMeguro (Kamiosaki) — Often called the hardest yakitori reservation in Japan: a Michelin-starred counter by Meguro Station where Yoshiteru Ikegawa grills single-origin…
• Uchida (Tateishi) 宇ち多゛Tateishi — Tokyos most famous offal-skewer standing-room bar, open since 1946 in Tateishis Nakamise market; queues form before the 14:00 opening and the house…