We came to the restaurant to celebrate our daughter's birthday, and our server was very kind, allowing us to have a wonderful time.
Jon
Awful, one of the dishes was literally chopped raw vegetables and ranch. The salmon sashimi still had the skin on. The chicken meatball had no flavor. The eel tasted fishy and came with a “chicken broth” that was totally watered down. Everything was overpriced and they didn't even give a dessert for my birthday. Staff tried to be friendly but no compensation for awful food. My sense is that the staff in the kitchen has given up. The one bright spot was skewer with chicken and green onion.
Jaap van Rijn
The Sashimi was amazing! All was super tender! Albacore, yellow tail, scallops, tuna & salmon with real wasabi. Absolute recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lana M.
Food was not very flavorful and lacked seasoning. Service was good but confusing with the use of iPad (had to ask about items from iPad menu if they were available).
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Alex
Somewhat confusing ordering experience - you are handed an iPad with a list of dishes under like 50 categories. Some are greyed out, but available. Some are shown as active, but not available. Whatever you do, don't click "Send to kitchen", wait for waiter to come back and take your order as you confusingly scroll through the options. Food description on the iPad is shortened to a few words, which requires clicking on each and every dish to find out what it is. It's almost like visiting a soft opening, where all pieces of the restaurant tech are not working properly just yet.
Lucy XU
Poor service and waited for so long for every dish
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Ritoban Basu Thakur
Great service and space, but the food is just not good. Japanese food is all about balance and subtlety... The food here was all way to heavy handedly seasoned.
randall
Our whole group of 4 enjoyed are first time there. Ordering from a tablet was interesting. Especially after a few drinks. We are going back though. Cheers!
Rich
Lunch menu was minimal with a limited selection to choose from. No sushi 🍣... just ramen and skewers.
Erik
Brought my family on a Monday to celebrate our wedding anniversary and we had a great time. The food was delicious! Definitely recommend the spareribs! One thing I did not like was getting charged $32 for 2 salmon cut rolls. At any sushi restaurant, this traditional cut roll would be 8-9 dollars a roll. I know because my daughter orders this every time. I definitely felt this was a scam. I get it wasn't on the menu but it is not a premium $16 roll. Overall, a good experience with a slight bad taste in my mouth.
We decided to come back to Izakaya Taberu after having fond memories of dining here about a year ago. Back then, I would have given the place a solid 4/5. Unfortunately, this recent visit was a major disappointment.
Ambiance (3/5) Seating was quick, but they’ve switched over to iPad menus, which felt impersonal and frustrating. If the goal was to free up servers to be more attentive, that didn’t translate into the experience.
Food (1/5) We started with the truffle fries, hoping for something comforting after walking around town. Instead, they were thin, bland, and nearly flavorless—honestly, any fast food chain fries would have been better. We ordered a mix of skewers, but only the chicken and tomato skewers were decent. The tempura set (onion, okra, shrimp, eggplant, asparagus) was poorly executed: the onion slice was too thick and undercooked, the asparagus still had tough ends, and the okra was overly slimy. The volcano roll was another miss—because the menu gave no description, we were surprised to find more French fries inside the roll, which just didn’t work.
Service (1/5) We constantly had to wave down the waiter for refills or any assistance. The lack of engagement really stood out, especially with the shift to iPad menus.
Overall, Izakaya Taberu has unfortunately taken a big step back. What was once a place I’d recommend has become one I can’t see myself returning to until they make some serious changes.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Xinxin Xu
I waited for 1 hour after ordered food and only 2 appetizer come. Then the waiter said there was something wrong with their kitchen order. Why you guys did nothing before I asked? I have been here for like 5-6 times since I live in DTLA, not going to come any more, very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Gary
The moment you step inside, you are greeted by an immersive display of modern Ukiyo-e style painting. Taberu's menu is an ode to Japanese street food traditions, elevated through creative plating, technique, and balance. Whether you are a sashimi purist or an adventurous izakaya grazer, you will find your flavor.
Audi A
Not impressed. Disorganized and unattentive staff. Food was expensive and not particularly good.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
B I
I really enjoyed this restaurant — every dish we ordered was absolutely delicious. We started with oysters, and they were huge — gorgeous, royal-sized, and so fresh. The ramen was excellent; we tried two different kinds, and both were rich and flavorful. For dessert, we had a matcha cake and a tiramisu, both of which were outstanding. We also ordered caviar and beef, and again, everything was perfectly prepared.
The service deserves special mention — the waiters were attentive and friendly, and the host and staff made us feel very welcome. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the experience and would gladly come back.
We came to the restaurant to celebrate our daughter's birthday, and our server was very kind, allowing us to have a wonderful time.
Awful, one of the dishes was literally chopped raw vegetables and ranch. The salmon sashimi still had the skin on. The chicken meatball had no flavor. The eel tasted fishy and came with a “chicken broth” that was totally watered down. Everything was overpriced and they didn't even give a dessert for my birthday. Staff tried to be friendly but no compensation for awful food. My sense is that the staff in the kitchen has given up. The one bright spot was skewer with chicken and green onion.
The Sashimi was amazing! All was super tender! Albacore, yellow tail, scallops, tuna & salmon with real wasabi. Absolute recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food was not very flavorful and lacked seasoning. Service was good but confusing with the use of iPad (had to ask about items from iPad menu if they were available).
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
Somewhat confusing ordering experience - you are handed an iPad with a list of dishes under like 50 categories. Some are greyed out, but available. Some are shown as active, but not available. Whatever you do, don't click "Send to kitchen", wait for waiter to come back and take your order as you confusingly scroll through the options. Food description on the iPad is shortened to a few words, which requires clicking on each and every dish to find out what it is. It's almost like visiting a soft opening, where all pieces of the restaurant tech are not working properly just yet.
Poor service and waited for so long for every dish
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Great service and space, but the food is just not good. Japanese food is all about balance and subtlety... The food here was all way to heavy handedly seasoned.
Our whole group of 4 enjoyed are first time there. Ordering from a tablet was interesting. Especially after a few drinks. We are going back though. Cheers!
Lunch menu was minimal with a limited selection to choose from. No sushi 🍣... just ramen and skewers.
Brought my family on a Monday to celebrate our wedding anniversary and we had a great time. The food was delicious! Definitely recommend the spareribs! One thing I did not like was getting charged $32 for 2 salmon cut rolls. At any sushi restaurant, this traditional cut roll would be 8-9 dollars a roll. I know because my daughter orders this every time. I definitely felt this was a scam. I get it wasn't on the menu but it is not a premium $16 roll. Overall, a good experience with a slight bad taste in my mouth.
Restaurantji Recommends
We decided to come back to Izakaya Taberu after having fond memories of dining here about a year ago. Back then, I would have given the place a solid 4/5. Unfortunately, this recent visit was a major disappointment.
Ambiance (3/5)
Seating was quick, but they’ve switched over to iPad menus, which felt impersonal and frustrating. If the goal was to free up servers to be more attentive, that didn’t translate into the experience.
Food (1/5)
We started with the truffle fries, hoping for something comforting after walking around town. Instead, they were thin, bland, and nearly flavorless—honestly, any fast food chain fries would have been better.
We ordered a mix of skewers, but only the chicken and tomato skewers were decent. The tempura set (onion, okra, shrimp, eggplant, asparagus) was poorly executed: the onion slice was too thick and undercooked, the asparagus still had tough ends, and the okra was overly slimy. The volcano roll was another miss—because the menu gave no description, we were surprised to find more French fries inside the roll, which just didn’t work.
Service (1/5)
We constantly had to wave down the waiter for refills or any assistance. The lack of engagement really stood out, especially with the shift to iPad menus.
Overall, Izakaya Taberu has unfortunately taken a big step back. What was once a place I’d recommend has become one I can’t see myself returning to until they make some serious changes.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
I waited for 1 hour after ordered food and only 2 appetizer come. Then the waiter said there was something wrong with their kitchen order. Why you guys did nothing before I asked? I have been here for like 5-6 times since I live in DTLA, not going to come any more, very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
The moment you step inside, you are greeted by an immersive display of modern Ukiyo-e style painting. Taberu's menu is an ode to Japanese street food traditions, elevated through creative plating, technique, and balance. Whether you are a sashimi purist or an adventurous izakaya grazer, you will find your flavor.
Not impressed. Disorganized and unattentive staff. Food was expensive and not particularly good.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
I really enjoyed this restaurant — every dish we ordered was absolutely delicious. We started with oysters, and they were huge — gorgeous, royal-sized, and so fresh. The ramen was excellent; we tried two different kinds, and both were rich and flavorful. For dessert, we had a matcha cake and a tiramisu, both of which were outstanding. We also ordered caviar and beef, and again, everything was perfectly prepared.
The service deserves special mention — the waiters were attentive and friendly, and the host and staff made us feel very welcome. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the experience and would gladly come back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Loading...