Hot towel to clean our hands. That is purdy awesome. BUT everything else was meh though. Maybe I ordered the wrong things almost everything was bland: Chicken skewers(Both sauce and salt), even the chicken katsu don ): The black pork sausage were delicious though. mmmm Pretty meh. Nothing memorable. read more

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Super Authentic Japanese restaurant. Brilliant small plates. Very impressive food with a very nice variety. Everything from some seafood to chicken. The chicken is their specialty but they had things from Albacore Sashimi Salad, Oyakodon to a Chicken Ceasar Salad that were all amazing too. Ask for a variety to try as much as you can. We saw other plates that were served to other people that we wished we had room to order and try. Best of all, our kids loved the place too - they have the cutest kids' plates!!! Definitely friendly for the whole family. read more

Small Japanese restaurant that is mainly small dishes (appetizer style). We had their salmon and roe (Sake and Ikura) rice bowl. It was generous for $13.95, wish their sushi rice in the bowl was more room temperate than cold. We also had their unagi meshi, looks delicious. It is rice in a hot pot with unagi pieces and a runny egg. Here's the disappointment part, they basically made to order - they put the rice and unagi in the hot pot and serve. The purpose of the rice hot pot is cook the rice in the hot pot so to have the crunchy rice on the bottom of the pot. Another disappointing part - their runny egg is cold (ehh!) Other items we ordered was the hamachi Kama - very good! And they chicken skewers. It was good but really nothing to rave about. Overall probably not coming back. read more

We got four of us into this place Friday night after waiting almost 45 min for a table. The waiter gave us two detailed menus and two paper-like menus with more stuff-of-the-day. After the long wait of almost 45 min we ordered drinks and appetizers just in case the kitchen has a line as well, and well, we were hungry... We got the drinks few minutes later but the first appetizer got ten minutes later. And 2nd appetizer... well we had to re order it but then they found out they already prepared it so they delivered it. Moving in the evening several other incident of delay and Poor service. Bottom line Service - bad Food - good but small sizes Price - high ($150) for four peoples read more

I was disappointed that The Red Crane was no longer in business. When my family noticed this restaurant had taken over the spot, we decided to give it a try. First the good: the chicken breast skewers were perfectly cooked. We also had the chicken curry with naan which was a lot like Roti. The food is decent. However the atmosphere could not be worse. The place is not properly ventilated for the Yakitori grill. The result? So much smoke in the restaurant that your eyes will water and your lungs will hurt. In addition, the music they were playing was too loud and ridiculously bad - like 80s pop knock off stuff. Overall, the food wasn't so great that it compensated for the ambiance. My advice? Order take out from here. read more

My friend and I came to Ajito 15 minutes before closing and they were happy to serve us. We ordered the ramen, agedashi tofu, and seaweed salad. As the agedashi tofu was perfectly crispy on the outside with a soft and warm inside, the seaweed salad was honestly the best I have ever tasted. Seems like Ajito is a popular traditional restaurant because none of the patrons were speaking English... probably a good sign. read more

I rarely ever write reviews but I feel very compelled to do so for this restaurant. The basic gist: Food was good, but service was almost non-existent. I'm very understanding and don't get huffy about service, but this was almost no service at all for a restaurant where you kind of need basic attention so you can at least order your food. If you're fine with waiting a long time for your food or not receiving certain orders, go ahead! The details: We got a reservation for 7:30pm. Came 10 min earlier and the lady asked us to wait until 7:30 since another family was still dining, which was totally fine. We go back at 7:30 and there's no one at the front. Wait a bit. Someone else finally comes, but doesn't greet us, and just sits down and looks at the checks (I'm assuming). Okay, I wait a little more and let him finish up. But then it becomes clear that he's just really oblivious because we made awkward eye contact. Fine. I go closer to him and say, "excuse me.. We had a reservation for 7:30 and we're back. Is there something wrong?" He's clearly flustered because I had to call him out for not greeting us. We get seated, order our drinks, and they got that order wrong. We decide what we want, but it takes us forever to flag someone down. They finally come back to take our order after 20 minutes and, in the end, they did not bring out one of our plates. They charged for that plate in our bill and we had to tell them. They really need more wait staff for the number of tables they have, or more attentive people. The food: we got sushi salad, chicken skin, chicken breast skewer, unagi don, soboro don, and grilled whole squid. Everything tasted pretty fresh and the flavors a were good. I recommend all of these dishes except the chicken breast skewer, since it wasn't anything special for what you pay for (a small piece of chicken meat for ~$2). So much potential... if only they had better service. Now I finally understand why good restaurants care so much about service. We probably would have enjoyed the meal if we didn't feel like our time was wasted. read more

The chicken skewers are perfectly cooked. I tried breast, heart, liver, skin, thighs, spicy wing and they are all good. Chicken soup is out of this world, best broth ever! Sashimi is made with high quality fish. Other items are equally delicious and very well prepared. Service is friendly. I went there twice and planning to go back soon. Love this place! read more

By far the best yakitori place I've been. The food comes out fast! I could easily eat 40 chicken hearts mere moments after I desire them. Item added to the menu because we ordered it so much? Yes! They will do that, just look for the deep-fried chicken hearts... You're welcome. The liver skewers are big for liver. Now with the addition of duck on the menu and a full-size squid this place is one of my favorites! read more

I'm really digging this place. Usually no waiting, good service, interesting bamboo faucet in the bathroom - what more could you ask for? Oh right, onto the food. I know it's a bit odd to order garlic fries at a Japanese restaurant, but the seaweed really adds additional depth, and as tacky as it may sound, it adds a little Asian spin. The best part of this place, however, have been the skewers and corresponding sauces. I'm not a huge fan of the plum sauce, but the spicy mayonnaise with roe is AMAZING. Oh my god is it amazing. What a creative, and ultimately delicious idea. And that's why the mayonnaise sauce gets its own paragraph. The majority of skewer flavors here are from various parts of a chicken, but they do have stuff like beef tongue and pork belly. The chicken breast and chicken thigh skewers are actually really tender, moist and flavorful, but if I had to pick, I'd get the thigh. What can I say? Boobs are always win, but I guess I'm more of a legs kinda guy. The chicken tail is a pretty unique offering and it's pretty good, but the cartilage in it kinda throws me off. Also, I don't care about what you've failed to accomplish in life, but if you order the chicken skin, your life will be COMPLETELY vindicated. read more

Lot's of low-carb options. Skewers were good. Price was very reasonable. read more

Thank you Ajito The food was awesome. We came in with a group of friends and basically ordered a bunch of almost everything from skewers to grilled beef tongue. The owner is very nice and sweet. Service was awesome Will be back here for sure . Remember the sake list, it's really good. read more

Try the squid ink noodle because it's unique and flavorful. Also beef tongue dishes and skewers. I love that they have menus you can't get just anywhere. read more

Walking in and seeing predominately Asian patrons was a promising sign that we were in for a treat. Yakitori is one of my favorite types of Japanese food and while Kokko in San Mateo is still my favorite, this is a close second. On the plus side, the yakitori portions are generous. I believe I got 8 pieces of heart on one skewer. The hearts were a win and did not taste metallic or iron-like. We also got breast, thigh, chicken meatballs and scallops. All were tasty except the scallops which were a little bit overcooked and thus, rubbery. On top of that, we got the sashimi salad, pumpkin croquettes and yaki onigiri. All were amazing and highly enjoyable. Prices are very reasonable and the atmosphere is nice but casual. Would definitely visit again! read more

Pretty good place for skewers and beer. Loved their chicken liver skewer and scallops skewer. Beef tongue was a must try. The only thing needs to be improved is the Ramen, not as good as we expected. read more

The staff are always so friendly and the food is always delicious. One of my favorite places. The salmon avocado tartar, the mochi agedashi, and the genmai cheese risotto are dishes one must try here. Excellent yakitori and tapas place. read more

If I lived closer, I would be a regular. Great menu especially if you want a more authentic experience a range of variety that's not on the typical Japanese restaurant menu. I appreciate the authenticity especially compared to a lot of the non-japanese owned restaurants that try to bilk you with overpriced rolls draped with sauce. You'll have to time your visit, but fortunately they take reservations. read more

This place really does their yakitori exceptionally well. Everything is grilled to perfection and I didn't see a single burned spot. Meat is super tender and fresh. There is a nice pictorial of the chicken with its parts so you get an idea what you are eating, where it's coming from, and some nutritional content. --------------------------- Beef Tongue: one of the most tender, melt-in-your mouth beef tongue I've ever had. Chicken Heart: juicy and tender Special Chicken Heart: I couldn't tell the distinction other than it being more expensive. Chicken Skin: fried and fatty, just the way I like it Liver: I actually don't like liver, but it would be good for those that do [has the iron taste] Chicken Tail: it's like a hybrid of chicken skin and cartilage, mostly on the cartilage side [crunchy and fatty]. I did not like it. Gizzard: juicy Soboro Don: minced chicken, fried egg, and yakitori sauce over rice. I actually loved this dish the most. Great flavor from the yakitori sauce. ---------------------------- Service was friendly, but slow. It's nice that this place is opened for lunch now. If you want good yakitori, this is the place to be. read more

I need to come back! Here's why. They serve gluten-free foods! It is difficult to find GF Asian establishments as most don't care about gluten content of their food. I don't know if my order was 100% gluten-free, but I appreciate their kids menu being GF as well as their "soy sauce" (wheat-free Tamari sauce). Thank you for being considerate! I ordered the mochi agedashi that came with tiny dollops of horseradish. Didn't expect the topper, but it added a punch to the tasty fried mochi. Since this place is yakitori place, I had to order some skewers. I ordered the chicken thigh and liver. I appreciate that they serve organic chicken per other review. I ordered them both with sauce to see what the sauce was about. It was pretty good, but I have had better. I want to try out the shiitake and okra next time. Maybe try a skewer with salt rather than sauce. The chicken and lettuce wrap was classic. Delicious, good flavor. Nice crunch from the water chestnut. By the time this dish came out, I was getting full so I didn't get to enjoy it 100%. I did get a reservation so that helped with having no wait. The service was pretty prompt, and we were able to leave at a reasonable time. Food came out decently fast except for the lettuce wrap. I thought they forgot it. All in all, I would give it 4.5 stars but rounded up to 5 because they have gluten-free items. read more

Jeez Louise, this place was so gooood. There was barely a wait around 8pm on Friday night. We came for the yakitori because....why wouldn't you? Ordered (forgive me but I only remember the English names) chicken skin, thigh, gizzard, tail and cartilage skewers, oyakodon, black pig sausage and salted fish guts. The only thing I didn't like were the fish guts - slimy yet not satisfying. All the different yakitori were perfectly seasoned and had a really nice charred flavor to them. You can tell the yakitori man takes his craft very seriously. The oyakodon was also quite good - I would definitely come back for another bowl in the wintertime. The waitresses were so kind and sweet! Just a small downside though - none of them ever realized our water glasses needed to be filled.. The meal was fairly savory, and we only had one glass of water to quench our thirst. Will come back again! read more

I'm so glad Ajito opened in my neighborhood! I dined in once and had take-out twice (ordered sashimi to go). Get it: + Moriawase assorted sashimi - always super fresh. + Karaage - this looked different from other places, more like large popcorn pieces but not but not as pried and not as salty; very tender; slightly oily. + Spicy wing skewer - tasty. Also good: + Shiro maguro tataki (seared white tuna sashimi) - again, super fresh. + Soboro don (minced chicken, yakitori sauce over rice) - good flavor. + Chicken skin sauce skewer - I'm not really into skin, but my husband liked it. Just okay: ~ Kurobuta sausage (black pork sausage) - Hot dog like, a bit salty. The ambiance is calm and relaxing. You can eat to the soundtrack of piano lounge music, like the kind from Korean dramas. I noticed a number of families and a lot of Japanese customers. Ajito seems to be Japanese-run, so the food seems authentic. It looks like the menu has also expanded since my last visit, which means time for another meal at Ajito! read more

A little overwhelming for a yakitori virgin. The menu was all over the place: starters here, appetizers there, yaitori menu in the rear, hot pot special, udon this, "fresh" sashimi...... ahhhh I just wanted some BBQ sticks of meat and veggies. After a few minutes we found a few interesting things to try out: Salmon TarTare: not my fav. avocado made dish heavy Monkfish Liver Pate: also ok Soboro Don: delicious! the yakitori sauce and the runny egg made it memorable Salmon Skin Salad -Pretty good, although I suggest having all components of the salad in each bite. This will balance the flavors just right... acidity of dressing, saltiness of skin flakes -Needed more of the shredded pickled veggies and spinach at the base Yakitori -Shiitake w/Sauce: the WINNER of the night! that sauce was magical -Okra w/Salt: should have gotten it with the sauce instead -Chicken Thigh w/Sauce: good, nothing extraordinary -Chicken Skin w/Salt: RUNNER UP There were a few things on the menu that I initially did not feel comfortable with: organs and parts that I do not typically eat but if I can have it all glazed in that yakitori sauce then that might ease the thought of eating "special heart", "tail", or even "black pork sausage". I guess the saying goes..... with the right sauce everything taste like chicken. Not sure how new this place is but they didn't seem to have there facility all together. The lights randomly shut off in the middle of service twice. Ventilators were not working properly or at all and caused a dim, fog like atmosphere. After an hour or so the AC came on an it was on full blast. Overall I felt very scattered with my thoughts about this place. I wouldn't come back and probably would try another yakitori type restaurant so I have some basis of comparison. read more

I went to Ajito twice this past weekend, that pretty much tells you how much I liked the place, lol. Ajito is a hybrid of Sumiya and Gochi. They have a good selection of yakitori but also a good selection of cooked dishes as well. And it's a great place for big parties since it's still relatively new and unknown so no 2 weeks advance reservation is needed like in Sumiya and Gochi. We had a party of 10 and actually got same day reservation for a Friday night, that itself would be an impossible task at similar restaurants. Their yakitori is pretty decent, I especially recommend the chicken thigh, chicken skin and beef tongue. Their cook food in my opinion is a notch better than their yakitori. Some of my favorites include cheese risotto, salmon tartare with chips, and soboro don. By the way, if you are into those flavored soju drinks, their yuzu honey soju was off the chart (they also have a virgin version), definitely a must try. Oh and did I mention their pricing is very reasonable also. All of us can really eat and we paid about $30 per person including 18% tips, not bad at all. read more

we rent for a late dinner at around 8:45pm. Not too bad for yakitori, except they should twist the menu a little bit, not of the items aren't too clear in terms of quantities...we almost ordered 8 pieces of sausages as one order got 4 pieces.....the minced chicken pouched egg don was something I thought they can twist a little by putting salmon roe on it. I was expecting more favorite on their chef's special chicken skin dish...but we both thought the yakitori was better compared to the dish. Anyway, not a bad experience afterall. read more

WARNING* REALLY smokey from the grill, if you have sensitive sinuses, I DO NOT RECOMMEND you come. The smoke STINGS. If you don't have a complicated palate, then this place is indeed for you. The yakitori is nice, as it does live up to its reputation. The ramen: on a personal take of it, the noodles have a GREAT texture to them. Unfortunately where they lack in, is the pricing, waitresses, and quality of the broths. The pricing is ridiculous. $2.50 for one skewer, which is roughly 5 pieces. The waitresses are 50/50. Theres those that could care less about you, and others that just smile at you awkwardly. Finally, the quality of the miso soup, and the ramen broth were just so watered down, and felt like it was from the bottom of the pot. Bland, and wayyy to hot. Overall, I would give this place a nice solid 3 stars. read more

I've been here twice - once with Dennis, once without Dennis, but he happened to be there already anyway! (Explains why we couldn't invite him to come along:)) The first time I got the chicken curry, which was a katsu-don with a nice curry-ground-chicken sauce. The curry was the perfect binding to bridge the gap between the crispy chicken cutlet and the gooey rice. Crispy chicken and gooey-perfect rice are great, but the curry gravy sauce is often missing most other places. The sashimi Dennis had looked very, very fresh, and very, very generous. The second time everyone else got the special. They have different specials every day and they always look great. This place is a special little secret - within view of the cupertino home depot, but you'd never know it, even from the parking lot. Inside it is very peaceful and clean. This helps us easily zip in, sit right down, get lunch, and back to work with time to spare to pick up that hedger and #16 deck screws for the weekend project. The staff is super-friendly and I feel very welcome there, even though I am generally ignorant about this kind of cuisine they are very patient and helpful. Oh, I forgot they use all organic chicken- and waste nothing! This place is a hidden gem- If you can't find it, too bad for you! ***Not open Monday Lunch*** read more

Very good experience. Food: good value for price. I like how they serve the black cod in miso. Good portion for the price. The rice balls could use a bit more filling, but still was very tasty. Chicken soup slightly bland, but still quite delicious. Beef tongue was awesome. Atmosphere: a bit crowded, but so is every other good japanese place in this area. Service. Great. read more

REALLY good. Gizzard and liver skewers tasted amazing. Chicken skewers were really soft and the miso soup really tasty. We'll come back to try the more dishes! The only things is that the restaurant inside lighting is really dark. read more

Ajito - Miao soup - Japanese Near Me - Cupertino, California

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Hidden away in a strip mall across from Home Depot. Authentic Japanese place. The have a good selection of yakiniku and yakitori. The food was good. The portions are small - you only get one skewer per order. Pricing is on the high side based on the portions. Service was OK but could easily be much better. read more

Had the Cheese Tofu, which was super yummy. The honey helps bring out the tofu and vice versa. Chicken skin, beef tongue, pork belly was all bomb. It felt more home cooking than restaurant style which is what I like. Some people here are a little too bougies. Definitely coming back. read more

Ajito - Cheese Tofu - Japanese Near Me - Cupertino, California

I came here yesterday night with my boyfriend. It wasn't too packed on a Tuesday evening. We mainly came here for the yakitoris (skewers). We decided on 2 orders of the salted chicken skin, 1 with sauce, 1 pork belly w/ salt, 1 chicken tail, 2 chicken gizzard, 1 cartilage salted. The skewers weren't as tasty as we thought it would be. The only one that tasted really crunchy and had a good texture was the chicken skin. We also ordered the salmon tar tar--presentation is quite pretty. This was one of the raved items posted on Yelp so we tried it. It was delish, I am a big fan of salmon and avocado and the two combined is pretty amazing. Another item we ordered was the curry dip w/ naan bread. I wished the naan was a little bit more dense and less soggy. The naan was placed close to each piece so some of it became super soggy which made it hard to dip into the curry sauce. We also had the adegeshi tofu--you can't go wrong with this dish. We also had two rice balls extra crispy one salmon and one plum. We both thought the plum one was way too strong. The salmon one was pretty decent. It is literally rice and salmon but because it was burnt on the outside--it made it that much better. Overall decent food, but we will probably not come back. read more

Outstanding quality and taste with relatively reasonable price compared to other renowned izakaya restaurants in south bay area. Definitely deserves 5 stars! :) read more

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I went here to try out this place place 3 days ago with friends & the food that we ordered came out super fast. (We came at night!)The restaurant overall is a bit small so I worry about getting a reservation but the day that we went they had a table made fast for us to be seated. We ordered the Cheese tofu dish & it was REALLY GOOD, I just WISHED they gave more of the quantity of the bread!! The salmon tartar avocado was also really good (the ones with the chip picture) . . The food in general was good, I crave! Would come back again! : ) I wanna try the "deep fried rolls with chicken breast & cheese" next time! We also got the Salmon Sashimi with bowl of rice roe, it wsuper fresh! read more

We ordered the salmon tartare, risotto, salmon salad, fried squid, lettuce wrap and some skewers. The food was decent but the service was slow despite their courteous manners. The most upsetting about this dining experience was that the skewers took so long to be delivered. I would return if I plan on having no skewers or a three hour long dinner with skewers. The skewers came once every 20 mins and since we ordered six different types of skewers, we got some of them an hour and a half after we finished our other dishes. It was very frustrating waiting for 3-5 tiny bits of meat for 20mins only to wait another 20mins for another few tiny bits. read more

Loved the skewers! Got the chicken thigh (sauce and salt), breast, and spicy wings. Wasn't feeling adventurous enough for some other things but the ones I tried were delicious. Also tried Cod Roe Onigiri. Was pretty big but the rice didn't have much flavor. Still good though. Friend got chicken sauce katsu don and said he liked it. Would definitely come again! read more

I love this place, although it's not consider cheap but I think $40 per person and leave with a very full stomach for the rest of the night it's very reasonable. I love their chicken breast yakitori because I never been to a place where they can grill the breast meat and still be so tender! My friend and I order the sashimi salad and almost tried everything on the meun for her birthday. We were very satisfied with everything. read more

Ajito - I forgot what this is call but it's fish related, very delicious! - Japanese Near Me - Cupertino, California

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Yay! im a fan. Will come back here again. came here with a group of 8, waited about 20 minutes. food came quick, service was a little slow, but i can tell, the servers were very attentive to the tables they were serving and running around all over the place. maybe understaffed on the servers? We ordered off the izakaya grill menu, and some appetizers. items well priced, nothing stood out(maybe we didnt order the right things), but all the food ordered were decent. read more

Came here for dinner on Saturday night. I had made a reservation 2 days in advance, but when I arrived, they couldn't find it. Regardless, they put a table together for us and had great service. The Anikimo, chicken skin and rice ball were awesome. read more

Too, too many delicacies to taste. Everything we had was delish! Cheese risotto--excellent (portion was small but very tasty) Smelt--excellent Pork belly--good Sashimi salad--excellent Black cod--esp. excellent Chicken cartilage--excellent (generous portion) Chicken skin--excellent (generous portion) Garlic fries--excellent Squid ink ramen--excellent (watch for blackened teeth/lips, which was considered very sexy in olden days) The portions are exactly right for a tasting. We licked the bowls clean. Service was efficient and friendly. A bit noisy with the some heavy drinking businessmen but there were also a lot of families there, too. Can't wait to return!! read more

This is probably my favorite restaurant. Every single dish I have tried has been delicious (and I've tried many things). Service is great, just wish yakitori options were always available but I understand they have to limit options due to Covid. read more