Hojoko hits you before you even sit down. You walk in and the place hums at its own frequency. On the right, the bar is already working overtime, tossing cocktails and kamikaze shots into a crowd that looks like it has been waiting all week for this exact moment. Beyond it, the open kitchen glows with steel and fire, cooks moving with a rhythm that feels almost cinematic. Then you notice the pool next door, separated by glass, a surreal 50s hotel tableau pressed right against the dining room. It should feel strange, but it works. It is Boston trying on a different skin for the night.
Once you sit, the noise settles into something closer to a pulse. It is loud, it is chaotic, and it invites you to stop pretending you wanted a quiet dinner. People are celebrating, laughing, living a little bit outside the lines, and you feel like you should be part of it. This is not a place for restraint. This is a place to lean in.
The service is friendly and stretched thin at the same time, the way any good party gets ahead of its hosts now and then. My Sapporo took longer than it should have, and the food drifted out at its own pace. It was a busy night. I was ready to move faster, keep the fun sailing along at a steady clip, but sometimes the tide is not yours to control.
When the potstickers arrived, they were gone almost instantly. Pork and shrimp packed tight with a dipping sauce that had a little kick but never tried to prove anything. Four of them, which is too few for people who enjoy eating, but just enough to make you want the next thing even more.
Then came the burger, the dish that carries the weight of reputation here. The Wagyu Cheeseburger is not subtle. It is rich, salty in the right ways, and built with the kind of confidence that does not bother asking how you want it cooked. They know what they are doing, and they do it well. The shoelace fries are the right choice. Crispy, light, perfect for scooping up whatever spills out of the bun. It is the kind of burger you could eat twice and still want another bite.
The Sapporo, once it finally landed, was a clean, easy drink. Light enough to go down fast, familiar enough to not distract from the food. It paired well with everything, especially the burger, which demanded something cold and uncomplicated.
Portions were exactly what they needed to be. The potstickers, good but fleeting. The burger, perfectly sized and gone too soon, in the way that all great burgers disappear.
When the night wrapped up, the standout was obvious. The burger alone is worth the trip. The only disappointment was waiting for that first beer, watching the party start around me while my own spark waited for a match.
Hojoko is the kind of place where the noise hits first, the grill smoke follows, and before you know it you are swept into a night that feels louder, faster, and more alive than you expected, all anchored by a burger worth crossing the city for.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Erik/MaryAnn
The chocolate cake was to die for! But the hiramasa was so good, both will be fighting for real estate in my brain. Skip the Brussels, good at first then mushy inside, tbh.
Patrick
Hojoko was such a fantastic, lively vibe! And the food and drinks were outstanding as well. Best Raman chicken thigh bowl we've ever had. The soft boiled egg was heaven in mouth š
amber
honestly i never do this but the food and service here were not good. my salad and chicken came out 15 minutes after my fiance got his food. his burger also, so small for the price. it came with a small mcdonalds fries. also the server said nothing to me about the salad. i found him and asked if it was coming. no apologies no comp. it was just a sad experience for me because i had high hopes. i had an empty cocktail glass for like 40 minutes and never once did he come in to check on us or ask if we needed anything. i don't know. i just don't recommend sadly
Becky Arnold
We were in Boston visiting our daughter, enjoyed a terrific dinner for 4, family style at HoJoKo. We especially enjoyed the Karaage Chicken, Spare Rib appetizer, cucumber avocado sushi and mushroom sushi. Everything was delicious and creatively presented. Five stars!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Laura
Good Service but food was very bland and overpriced. Paid $21 for sushi that had no taste. Will not be coming back.
Riley V
Man, I used to tell everyone I knew to go here. Ive been here so many times. But their prices surge, their food becomes mid as do their frozen cocktails, and the service just isn't cohesive. There's not enough communication among back and front of house. Your entrees are NEVER delivered at the same time as your company's. The frozen drinks have tanked in quality. Every time I go, which is like at least twice a month, the quality differs completely amongst the food. By the time Im done with my lukewarm overpriced waffles, my friend's souffle pancakes arrive ...deflated. Totally embarrassing to continue recommending this place to friends and dragging them there. The chicken is delicious and Ive had some incredible sashimi but I can get both of those things at many other places. In general , oof, after the last 3 times being misses here, I have to throw in the towel on Hojoko. Bummer. (edited to say: I have literally been coming here for years. Pretty sure since it's opened.)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Meghan
Was not even acknowledged when we arrived. Went up to host stand to tell them I was a little early for my reservation but wanted to check in and was not even greeted with eye contact. A confused conversation then began with myself and the male host to me replying whenever you have time to seat me! Was seated at a 2 person table and went to sit down and immediately my body slopped to the right. The back screw holding the base of the chair to the back of the chair was gone. I switched out chairs and let a waitress know to remove the chair from the floor because another customer sat on chair before me and told her waitress and her waitress swapped out chairs but instead of removing the chair put it at my table (the customer later came and told me this because she saw what I needed to do). I know waitressing can be hard work but even my daughter who is a waitress back home said our experience was not a memorable one (our waitress only spoke to us when taking our order) later just set the bill on the table. We stayed at the attached hotel and thought this would be a high end experience. Found the atmosphere to be dingy and dirty and furniture beat up. As for the food, $132 food bill for 4 rolls of sushi, 2 drinks and attitude, RIDICULOUS!!!!! We got better food and service in Salem on Halloween and they were busy, this place was not.
Steph
Great variety - from sushi to fried chicken- and quality. Amazing burger - best of Boston is no lie!
red Flower
I visited the restaurant for the first time, and it will definitely be the last. I do not recommend anyone to visit it. We ordered sushi and some appetizers ā there were three of us. They started bringing the food in parts, especially the sushi. When I asked the waiter why it was served piece by piece, he replied, āThereās a crowd and not enough chefs.ā Thatās not my problem ā I came to enjoy my meal, and i didnt pay the bill in installments. Usually, sushi should all come together so a person can enjoy eating it properly. In the end, the sushi looked like everything except sushi, and the prices were extremely high. It doesnāt deserve more than one star. Worst experience ever
An incredibly detailed review of an evening that was very very good with a few ups and a few downs and a few exceptional moments and a few misses.
1. Letās talk the vibe. The vibe was stellar! Such fun. We had no idea this was in a hotel. Or hotel-adjacent, as it were. We have lived here for many years, had our kids here, grad School here etc. and are frequent visitors to Isabella Gardner. Afterwards we decided to grab a bite and found good reviews of this place online. We wanted something eclectic, and this did not disappoint. With incredible drink names like āa pack of Newportsā this place managed to both be sexy and down to earth. If thatās possible. The vibe is 5.0.
2. Letās move on to the drink menu. My Mai Tai was good. But, itās disappointing that they are charging five dollars for a topo Chico, thatās pretty much a one dollar drink, if thatā¦they were just giving them away for free at the head of the Charles. I think Topochico is trying to become a thing, but hopefully they donāt price themselves as a thing, because itās just a seltzer, so a little disappointing there. Really, we just wanted some seltzer from the bar, but they did not have any. So that was a disappointment. I would rate the drinks out of 3.5, becauseā¦ Who does not have just seltzer from the gun at the bar? 3. The food was mixed. I loved my Hamachi sashimi. The charred cauliflower was good. The shrimp toast was good, but it was a little greasy, so please dial back a bit on that. The spicy miso Ramen that I ordered āto goā was good. The wasabi roulette was tons of fun! Truly the highlight! When I lived in San Francisco, there was a chef that always used to ādoseā one of the pieces if you ordered 12 with a lot of wasabi. This was similar, but it was so much more fun with the Horchata baby bottle. I love this idea and you should not get rid of it. This was truly a highlight, and tons of fun. Chicken tails were great. If all we had were that, I would give the food 5.0. Although, the shrimp toast was a little greasy. But my husband ordered the burger, and they said that it was one of the best in Boston, and it wasā¦ OK. Nothing to write Home about. So Iām going to give the Food 4.5, because everything else was super creative, but the burger was just sort ofā¦meh. 4. Service was spectacular. A 5.0. They were super sweet about dealing with us and all of my questions and although one of the drinks came a little bit late, our server was upbeat and interesting. I would love to go again and play the wasabi roulette with friends. Did I have it all on my own? yesā¦ Yes I did. And I would do it again. But it would be more fun with friends. Again, please keep that concept. Maybe make the shrimp toast a little bit less greasy, and definitely investigate while youāre charging five dollars for topo Chico. I can get them in Mexico for a quarter. I know itās not Mexico, and I donāt know why topo Chico has suddenly become a āthingā, but five dollars is not really how that should be priced. Better yet, consider getting a gun with soda water in it, because thatās all we really wanted. We will be back, at a minimum for the wasabi roulette! Letās get some soda water on tap before then.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
OM 75
Unreal in many ways, not the least of which is the Howard Johnsons vibe. Great Izhakaya food. Wasabi challenge. Solid tiki drinks. Just awesome. One of the best meals I had in Boston.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ana Carolina Rocha
I just didnāt like the food. The noodles at least were descent and the pinĆ£ colada. But not a big fan of the menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 5
Jon-Peter
Ordered weekend brunch items, chicken & waffles were great, but everything else mediocre and overpriced. Love the decor and arcade table for kids to play.
Kyle Wilson
Very eclectic take on a Japanese restaurant. There is a mix of traditional Japanese to unique adaptations of Japanese cuisine on the menu with something for everyone. Like someone in our group mentioned, where else can you get quality sushi, noodles, hotdogs, hamburgers, and tacos under one roof. All the food we tried was excellent for taste, quality, and freshness. Service was well executed and staff is friendly. I highly recommend Hojoko for anyone looking for a fun atmosphere with great food and service. For added fun, order the Wasabi Roulette for your group (with horchata antidote).
Hojoko hits you before you even sit down. You walk in and the place hums at its own frequency. On the right, the bar is already working overtime, tossing cocktails and kamikaze shots into a crowd that looks like it has been waiting all week for this exact moment. Beyond it, the open kitchen glows with steel and fire, cooks moving with a rhythm that feels almost cinematic. Then you notice the pool next door, separated by glass, a surreal 50s hotel tableau pressed right against the dining room. It should feel strange, but it works. It is Boston trying on a different skin for the night.
Once you sit, the noise settles into something closer to a pulse. It is loud, it is chaotic, and it invites you to stop pretending you wanted a quiet dinner. People are celebrating, laughing, living a little bit outside the lines, and you feel like you should be part of it. This is not a place for restraint. This is a place to lean in.
The service is friendly and stretched thin at the same time, the way any good party gets ahead of its hosts now and then. My Sapporo took longer than it should have, and the food drifted out at its own pace. It was a busy night. I was ready to move faster, keep the fun sailing along at a steady clip, but sometimes the tide is not yours to control.
When the potstickers arrived, they were gone almost instantly. Pork and shrimp packed tight with a dipping sauce that had a little kick but never tried to prove anything. Four of them, which is too few for people who enjoy eating, but just enough to make you want the next thing even more.
Then came the burger, the dish that carries the weight of reputation here. The Wagyu Cheeseburger is not subtle. It is rich, salty in the right ways, and built with the kind of confidence that does not bother asking how you want it cooked. They know what they are doing, and they do it well. The shoelace fries are the right choice. Crispy, light, perfect for scooping up whatever spills out of the bun. It is the kind of burger you could eat twice and still want another bite.
The Sapporo, once it finally landed, was a clean, easy drink. Light enough to go down fast, familiar enough to not distract from the food. It paired well with everything, especially the burger, which demanded something cold and uncomplicated.
Portions were exactly what they needed to be. The potstickers, good but fleeting. The burger, perfectly sized and gone too soon, in the way that all great burgers disappear.
When the night wrapped up, the standout was obvious. The burger alone is worth the trip. The only disappointment was waiting for that first beer, watching the party start around me while my own spark waited for a match.
Hojoko is the kind of place where the noise hits first, the grill smoke follows, and before you know it you are swept into a night that feels louder, faster, and more alive than you expected, all anchored by a burger worth crossing the city for.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
The chocolate cake was to die for! But the hiramasa was so good, both will be fighting for real estate in my brain. Skip the Brussels, good at first then mushy inside, tbh.
Hojoko was such a fantastic, lively vibe! And the food and drinks were outstanding as well. Best Raman chicken thigh bowl we've ever had. The soft boiled egg was heaven in mouth š
honestly i never do this but the food and service here were not good. my salad and chicken came out 15 minutes after my fiance got his food. his burger also, so small for the price. it came with a small mcdonalds fries. also the server said nothing to me about the salad. i found him and asked if it was coming. no apologies no comp. it was just a sad experience for me because i had high hopes. i had an empty cocktail glass for like 40 minutes and never once did he come in to check on us or ask if we needed anything. i don't know. i just don't recommend sadly
We were in Boston visiting our daughter, enjoyed a terrific dinner for 4, family style at HoJoKo. We especially enjoyed the Karaage Chicken, Spare Rib appetizer, cucumber avocado sushi and mushroom sushi. Everything was delicious and creatively presented. Five stars!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good Service but food was very bland and overpriced. Paid $21 for sushi that had no taste. Will not be coming back.
Man, I used to tell everyone I knew to go here. Ive been here so many times. But their prices surge, their food becomes mid as do their frozen cocktails, and the service just isn't cohesive. There's not enough communication among back and front of house. Your entrees are NEVER delivered at the same time as your company's. The frozen drinks have tanked in quality. Every time I go, which is like at least twice a month, the quality differs completely amongst the food. By the time Im done with my lukewarm overpriced waffles, my friend's souffle pancakes arrive ...deflated. Totally embarrassing to continue recommending this place to friends and dragging them there. The chicken is delicious and Ive had some incredible sashimi but I can get both of those things at many other places. In general , oof, after the last 3 times being misses here, I have to throw in the towel on Hojoko. Bummer. (edited to say: I have literally been coming here for years. Pretty sure since it's opened.)
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Was not even acknowledged when we arrived. Went up to host stand to tell them I was a little early for my reservation but wanted to check in and was not even greeted with eye contact. A confused conversation then began with myself and the male host to me replying whenever you have time to seat me! Was seated at a 2 person table and went to sit down and immediately my body slopped to the right. The back screw holding the base of the chair to the back of the chair was gone. I switched out chairs and let a waitress know to remove the chair from the floor because another customer sat on chair before me and told her waitress and her waitress swapped out chairs but instead of removing the chair put it at my table (the customer later came and told me this because she saw what I needed to do). I know waitressing can be hard work but even my daughter who is a waitress back home said our experience was not a memorable one (our waitress only spoke to us when taking our order) later just set the bill on the table. We stayed at the attached hotel and thought this would be a high end experience. Found the atmosphere to be dingy and dirty and furniture beat up. As for the food, $132 food bill for 4 rolls of sushi, 2 drinks and attitude, RIDICULOUS!!!!! We got better food and service in Salem on Halloween and they were busy, this place was not.
Great variety - from sushi to fried chicken- and quality. Amazing burger - best of Boston is no lie!
I visited the restaurant for the first time, and it will definitely be the last.
I do not recommend anyone to visit it.
We ordered sushi and some appetizers ā there were three of us. They started bringing the food in parts, especially the sushi.
When I asked the waiter why it was served piece by piece, he replied, āThereās a crowd and not enough chefs.ā
Thatās not my problem ā I came to enjoy my meal, and i didnt pay the bill in installments. Usually, sushi should all come together so a person can enjoy eating it properly.
In the end, the sushi looked like everything except sushi, and the prices were extremely high.
It doesnāt deserve more than one star.
Worst experience ever
Food: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
An incredibly detailed review of an evening that was very very good with a few ups and a few downs and a few exceptional moments and a few misses.
1. Letās talk the vibe. The vibe was stellar! Such fun. We had no idea this was in a hotel. Or hotel-adjacent, as it were. We have lived here for many years, had our kids here, grad School here etc. and are frequent visitors to Isabella Gardner. Afterwards we decided to grab a bite and found good reviews of this place online. We wanted something eclectic, and this did not disappoint. With incredible drink names like āa pack of Newportsā this place managed to both be sexy and down to earth. If thatās possible. The vibe is 5.0.
2. Letās move on to the drink menu. My Mai Tai was good. But, itās disappointing that they are charging five dollars for a topo Chico, thatās pretty much a one dollar drink, if thatā¦they were just giving them away for free at the head of the Charles. I think Topochico is trying to become a thing, but hopefully they donāt price themselves as a thing, because itās just a seltzer, so a little disappointing there. Really, we just wanted some seltzer from the bar, but they did not have any. So that was a disappointment. I would rate the drinks out of 3.5, becauseā¦ Who does not have just seltzer from the gun at the bar?
3. The food was mixed. I loved my Hamachi sashimi. The charred cauliflower was good. The shrimp toast was good, but it was a little greasy, so please dial back a bit on that. The spicy miso Ramen that I ordered āto goā was good. The wasabi roulette was tons of fun! Truly the highlight! When I lived in San Francisco, there was a chef that always used to ādoseā one of the pieces if you ordered 12 with a lot of wasabi. This was similar, but it was so much more fun with the Horchata baby bottle. I love this idea and you should not get rid of it. This was truly a highlight, and tons of fun. Chicken tails were great. If all we had were that, I would give the food 5.0. Although, the shrimp toast was a little greasy. But my husband ordered the burger, and they said that it was one of the best in Boston, and it wasā¦ OK. Nothing to write Home about. So Iām going to give the Food 4.5, because everything else was super creative, but the burger was just sort ofā¦meh.
4. Service was spectacular. A 5.0. They were super sweet about dealing with us and all of my questions and although one of the drinks came a little bit late, our server was upbeat and interesting. I would love to go again and play the wasabi roulette with friends. Did I have it all on my own? yesā¦ Yes I did. And I would do it again. But it would be more fun with friends. Again, please keep that concept. Maybe make the shrimp toast a little bit less greasy, and definitely investigate while youāre charging five dollars for topo Chico. I can get them in Mexico for a quarter. I know itās not Mexico, and I donāt know why topo Chico has suddenly become a āthingā, but five dollars is not really how that should be priced. Better yet, consider getting a gun with soda water in it, because thatās all we really wanted.
We will be back, at a minimum for the wasabi roulette! Letās get some soda water on tap before then.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Unreal in many ways, not the least of which is the Howard Johnsons vibe. Great Izhakaya food. Wasabi challenge. Solid tiki drinks. Just awesome. One of the best meals I had in Boston.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I just didnāt like the food. The noodles at least were descent and the pinĆ£ colada. But not a big fan of the menu.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 5
Ordered weekend brunch items, chicken & waffles were great, but everything else mediocre and overpriced. Love the decor and arcade table for kids to play.
Very eclectic take on a Japanese restaurant. There is a mix of traditional Japanese to unique adaptations of Japanese cuisine on the menu with something for everyone. Like someone in our group mentioned, where else can you get quality sushi, noodles, hotdogs, hamburgers, and tacos under one roof. All the food we tried was excellent for taste, quality, and freshness. Service was well executed and staff is friendly. I highly recommend Hojoko for anyone looking for a fun atmosphere with great food and service. For added fun, order the Wasabi Roulette for your group (with horchata antidote).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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